Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 70



Only Krnovel

＃Returner’s Notepad Episode 70

handshake

It’s 1 a.m. after the script reading and part-time job at a meat restaurant.

As soon as I left the small theater, I caught a taxi.

“Please get off here.”

The taxi stopped in front of an alley in Geldio, near the capital city of Edsilla.

Arriving at this place, prepared to pay a night surcharge, this is the place where Nightmare first appeared and committed murder.

The victim was a fourth-year student at Edsilla Magic University’s Knight Department. Berio Tan, a promising knight who was considered certain to join the Council of Knights, and heir to the prestigious ‘Tan’ family.

Event Name: The First Nightmare.

“Are you here?”

Someone was already in that alley.

It was Soliet, a hooded monster.

“I’ve read a lot of this first case file, too.”

She said, swinging around.

“However, since it happened more than a year ago, there will be no evidence left, so can we come here and reconstruct it?”

“There is no evidence.”

I shook my head.

“It’s everywhere.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“here. excuse me.”

He pointed to the road surface of the alley. Solliet muttered in a confused tone.

“… … Sword marks?”

“uh.”

The asphalt still had dark scars from two years ago.

It was the traces of a man desperately trying to survive and a nightmare that tore him to pieces like a toy.

I bent down and touched them.

“What are you doing there?”

“… … wait.”

I’ve always been curious.

Are the memories that ‘Notepad’ can bring up only limited to mine?

It’s not that it’s not, but the notepad we know has many other functions besides saving and loading, right?

Why, even ‘files that I didn’t write’ can be ‘downloaded’ and opened.

Now I’m trying to do those things.

Cracks carved into the asphalt.

Download the memories contained in these traces and the process of that day into “Notepad”… … .

Tsuzu that is—!

A sword energy that instantly rubs like a thunderbolt.

The scene where Berio Tan’s resistant sword cuts the asphalt several times, and one of them slightly cuts off Nightmare’s shoe, passes through my mind like a bullet.

The price is close to 30% of horsepower.

“What is it?”

Solliet’s face suddenly swelled up like a puffer fish. Because it was the scene of an incident, he seemed very sensitive.

“There was a piece of shoe in the evidence list, right?”

“yes. “It was the remains of an ordinary shoe.”

“also… … Ugh-”

I almost collapsed from acute anemia while trying to get up. Solliet made a mouth shape that didn’t even resemble a smile.

“Hmm. Berio Tan cut off some of Nightmare’s shoes at the scene. “Quite a lot, too.”

If it had been a regular size shoe, at least the big toe would have been cut off.

“But Nightmare didn’t even shed dead skin cells, let alone bleed.”

When the shoe was cut, Nightmare did not bleed. If it were because of the machete, my skin wouldn’t have clogged my shoes and I wouldn’t have gotten tired of them.

“Are you saying you wore big shoes on purpose?”

“uh.”

“That’s pretty common. “It’s the easiest way to hide yourself.”

“Isn’t it strange though? “It was the same size as the foot size of the suspect who was later falsely accused.”

Nightmare deliberately lied about his footprints as being 310 mm, and the ‘fake’ feet that were falsely accused were also 310 mm.

“… … yes. “That’s true.”

“also.”

I pointed to the wall of the alley. Berio Tan died when his sword was stuck in the wall, but Nightmare did not bother to retrieve his weapon.

“He left the sword at the scene.”

“Are you talking about left-handed people?”

“uh.”

“It is true that he is left-handed. “Most of the stab wounds of Berio Tan and all the victims were caused by swords wielded with the left hand.”

When a right-handed person swings a sword and a left-handed person swings a sword, the position, rotation, and scars of the sword are clearly different.

Soliet and the investigator would have obviously caught this fact, but Nightmare revealed that he was left-handed.

“The person who was falsely accused is also left-handed.”

“yes. That’s right.”

“Isn’t it amazing? “It seems like he decided who would be framed from the moment of his first murder.”

Test for a left-handed male with 310 mm feet.

It’s not a very rare condition, but if you add the condition of ‘a skilled person who can easily play with and kill the Berio Tan who is almost certain to join the Council Knights’, the spectrum narrows in an instant.

In reality, the person who was falsely accused was also an expert from the desert.

“More than anything, do you know why Berio Tan came to this alley?”

“yes. “They say he was on patrol.”

“An alley like this?”

“You don’t have to, it’s called volunteering.”

“no. “He came here to buy drugs.”

I made a decision. Solliet flinched and shook her head.

“no. Variotan had a pretty good reputation. He is rumored to be an exemplary human being-”

“It’s stupid to believe such rumors… … No, that’s naive. Have you seen nobles just licking each other once or twice? “Take this.”

I threw the [Berio Tan background investigation file] to Solliet. Soliet suddenly accepted.

“If you want to know the person who killed you, you must also know the person who died.”

“… … .”

She read it in silence.

Details of Berio Tan’s text messages with someone, SNS messages containing slang for drugs, and even call details and use of cash of unknown origin.

There are all kinds of experts on the dark web, and among them, cyber robbers are the most common and obvious. This is information obtained from them.

“This back alley was a meeting place for drug dealing.”

“… … ah?”

Solliet’s expression became serious. I shrugged my shoulders and looked across the alley.

“Nightmare already knew. About the article called Beriotan. “His wealth and what he will do here.”

A road filled with rotten fish and cigarette butts spread like grass. At the end of the darkness, a pure white full moon rose.

“I knew… … .”

Soliet stretched out the case file she was holding in one hand. She looked around at the sword swings around her with sharp eyes.

“A stranger… … . However, the victims of the subsequent murders are too unrelated to each other to be considered acquaintances. “One of the victims was a driver in his 60s.”

The official name of the Nightmare Incident is the Indiscriminate Knight Murder Case.

In fact, the only thing the victims have in common is that they are ‘knights’, and it seems as if Nightmare just goes and kills any knight without any correlation.

“Not a stranger. “There are other possibilities.”

“which-”

“Murder for hire.”

“!”

Solliet’s eyes opened wide. Her whole face lit up like a moon.

To her, I told her what I had been thinking.

“Berio Tan was the weak heir of the ‘Tan’ family, and now his younger brother, Bella Tan, has taken over the throne.”

The truth that the future Soliette had been pursuing.

“From the first murder, a doll was prepared to frame the case, and there was a planned intention from the first murder.”

The answer that I tried to save even if it meant risking my soul.

“The Nightmare we know is… … “It may have been a contract killing designed from start to finish.”

It may be much larger and denser than anyone’s imagination.

“It’s still a possibility, but if that’s the case, there would be a lot of high-ranking nobles involved that we don’t know about.”

There may be a darkness lurking that is difficult to handle.

“… … .”

Solliet was silent for a moment. I also stood still.

Hwii… … The night wind blew. The streetlights flickered faintly, as if they would break at any moment.

The scene of the incident was extremely quiet.

“… … “It’s a reasonable inference.”

Soon Soliet spoke. I lowered my gaze slantingly. She looked somewhat confident.

“It’s reasonable… … .”

Looking at Soliet here and now, I think of Soliet in the future.

The most imperfectly completed being that bloomed at the most precarious end of a cliff.

“If we dig into these cases, won’t we be in danger too?”

What path did Solliet take at that time?

What did you want and what truth did you reach?

“Are you scared?”

… … What on earth did I see that made me have no choice but to kill myself?

I didn’t find out until I died.

“no. No way.”

Therefore, from now on, we will find out.

“I’m rather curious.”

The truth that only you knew.

The darkness you never told me about.

I will shine with you, and I will not leave you to walk alone.

I will not let you die.

“then… … . Let’s go together.”

Solliet looked at me and said. The eyes under the hood shone like stars.

“… … “That’s reasonable.”

I held out my hand to her. She hesitated for a moment, but then she held my hand with a relieved look on her face, as if she realized there was no need to worry.

As if a swordsman was holding his sword.

“yes. “It’s reasonable.”

* * *

30 minutes later.

A 24-hour restaurant in the city near Geliodio.

After parting ways with Soliette, I am sitting by the window and having a late dinner.

I was almost inhaling French fries, cola, five hamburgers, one chicken, chicken nuggets, etc.

[Is it delicious? You are enjoying it.]

A certain sentence was written in the shared notebook. I looked out the window and was startled. Soliette, wearing a hoodie, was staring blankly right in front of me.

I thought you went home.

I wrote a reply in my notebook.

[uh. why.]

Then Solliet swallowed her saliva and entered the restaurant. She ordered while looking at the counter.

“Just give me a plate of ham and a burger.”

“Are you talking about the set?”

“set?”

“yes.”

“Give me anything.”

“yes~”

Soon she sat down with a hamburger set. Chop Chop – After chewing a few times, he wrote something down in the shared notebook with a slightly strange expression.

[It’s not very tasty.]

I laughed quietly.

The Solliette I know is not a gourmet. He doesn’t like to eat anything, and thanks to that, ironically, he’s good at eating anything. There is no difference between eating bugs or hamburgers.

She gulped down her hamburger. His face looked almost like he was being tortured.

[See you next Sunday.]

Then, after 3 minutes, he got up and went outside.

Without thinking much, I focused on eating again.

“Eh? what.”

Suddenly, an employee approached me.

“Hey, sir. “Did you see the person sitting here?”

“… … “I just left.”

I pointed out the window.

“Oh, really me! “It’s like eating without a gun!”

The employee ran out. Unfortunately for Solliet, she didn’t get far and was soon caught by staff.

—Oh there! Aren’t you calculating? Report it to the police!

-yes? Oh right.

—It looks fine!

—… … Huh.

She rummaged through her pockets. As if she had nothing on her face, she suddenly looked at me intently in her window. Like a dog asking a person for help.

I didn’t intend to do that.

“You have to try it to know for sure.”

Of course, this may be because they are not used to paying in cash. Solliet is the forbidden leaf of ‘Arcne’, a family with a much more historic history than Petra, and is at least the same level as Libra in terms of rank.

I got up.

—Don’t you have any money? It’s 10 ren?

-I… … .

Solliet’s eyes were still fixed on this side, but I pretended not to notice.

—Oh, I’m going crazy! If I don’t have money, I can even do the dishes!

The employee grabbed Soliet and threw him into the kitchen. Even as Solliet was being dragged along, she kept looking at me.

Clink-!

“No! “What if I break it!”

I left the restaurant after hearing the sound of breaking dishes.