## Chapter 62 – The Hunter and the Hunted
The world as I remember it was like this:
A place where people lived their lives busily, navigating a terrifying world where even a touch felt like it could shatter me. How they lived so strongly, I couldn’t fathom.
Perhaps this place was the same.
In this world where life and death could be decided in an instant, seeing people live like that inspired a bit of respect in me.
Right now, I was the one taking lives, but looking at the silver-haired woman radiating murderous intent before me, I wondered if I wouldn’t rather die than be interrogated by her.
“That’s what happened.”
Unlike my own lack of confidence, the guards calmly reported the events as they occurred.
Deborah listened to their words, glancing at the notes being taken by an officer beside her, and then pursed her lips, letting out a small sigh.
She lifted her thick-lashed eyelids, glaring at them suspiciously, but they remained unfazed.
“So, you’re saying that Lady Delena de Druella swung her sword at an unarmed suspect, but when you rushed over to check, the sword was lodged in her own neck?”
“Exactly. At the time, we assumed it was a rookie mistake. We thought the victim lost her balance, dropped her sword, and it bounced off the ground, piercing her neck.”
“……… Alright. You may return.”
With Deborah’s words, after a moment of contemplation, the guards bowed respectfully and turned to leave.
As she watched them go, Deborah noticed someone approaching and fixed her gaze on them.
I belatedly realized that she was looking at Anne, the suspect from the previous murder scene.
The two women faced each other in front of the flower bed.
They were strangers with different positions, but they seemed to instinctively know that they had business with each other.
Deborah, perhaps sensing the atmosphere and the reason for the sudden summons, spoke to Anne, who wore an equally uncomfortable expression.
“Are you Lady Anne de Monehen, from the Monehen baronetcy?”
“Yes, I am. Anne de Monehen. I was contacted by the academic affairs office.”
“You have been summoned as a witness in the recent important incidents at the academy. I have a few questions for you regarding those events.”
“But you haven’t introduced yourself, have you? If I’ve identified myself, shouldn’t you at least do the same as a matter of courtesy?”
Even a rotten baronet was still a noble.
The aristocratic ethics committee was particularly zealous when it came to specific breaches of etiquette, so publicly mistreating a noble, even by another noble, was problematic.
Especially for Deborah, who wasn’t a noble.
Anne seemed displeased with Deborah’s attitude and adopted an aggressive stance, momentarily silencing Deborah, who reluctantly introduced herself.
“I am Deborah, a mid-level investigator with the Public Security Police. I apologize for the discourtesy.”
A commoner with only a name, lacking a noble surname.
Anne sighed upon hearing the name.
“I don’t intend to make an issue of it. Morning practice is soon, so please get to the point quickly.”
If she were to assert her authority, how would she be any different from Vivian?
With Deborah’s polite apology, Anne didn’t want to push her authority either and readily backed down.
“I, too, hope this can be resolved quickly. I came to discuss the disappearance of Ladies Vivian de Grenot and Ranier de Berdran, as well as the stabbing death of Lady Delena de Druella.”
‘Vivian, Ranier, Delena.’
As Deborah continued to speak, Anne’s expression grew increasingly stiff upon hearing those three names. Deborah subtly observed her reaction, sensing an instinctual warning.
‘Something’s there.’
She didn’t know exactly what it was.
But at least it wasn’t entirely unrelated.
Watching from the side, I also recalled the past events and tensed up, feeling nervous.
Even though they were temporarily absent, the story of Vivian and Ranier, who were currently in my lair having their crotches probed by tentacles and emitting blissful moans, was not entirely unrelated to me.
However, Deborah, like the others, didn’t seem to suspect a monster was involved and was interrogating Anne, the most likely suspect.
“First, let’s discuss the Druella heiress’s death, as it has the most connections. Does the Monehen heiress, who is currently a suspect, have any involvement in the victim’s death?”
“What do you mean? Are you asking if I killed Delena? If so, the answer is no.”
“Then, could you tell me about the situation at the time?”
“Delena rushed at me, and I fell backward trying to avoid her. After I fell and regained my senses, I looked at Delena again, and she was already…”
‘Wait a minute… this is force majeure…’
It was a lie that Anne had spent nights agonizing over.
But it couldn’t be helped right now.
If she caused trouble at a time like this, she knew how far the Monehen family’s reputation would fall.
Moreover, she knew how much harder her parents, who were still struggling with the merchant guild’s problems, would have to work, even while supporting her so diligently without a single complaint.
Therefore, the mechanical longsword that she had used to stab Delena had disappeared from the scene at that moment, and she had to take advantage of the fact that Delena’s own sword had inexplicably taken its place.
She was only hiding the fact that she had stabbed Delena, but the fact that Delena’s sword had pierced her own neck remained unchanged.
She had no idea what exactly had happened at that moment.
“I see…”
Deborah nodded, confirming that the testimonies matched, and fell into thought.
The fact that the testimonies matched could mean two things.
One was that the testimonies were simply telling the truth.
The other was that Charlotte, the acting Marquis of Polignac, whom she had just met, was hiding something and had intervened to cover up Anne’s case.
However, Deborah couldn’t see what Charlotte would gain from doing so, so she moved on to the next question, bringing up Vivian and Ranier.
“I haven’t seen Vivian since the day she harassed me. I encountered Ranier about a week later when she attacked me with Delena… After I knocked Ranier down while escaping, I was too busy dealing with the other gang members to pay attention. I haven’t seen her since then either.”
Deborah couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease at Anne’s answer.
As Anne answered, Deborah received a note from a subordinate and read it, her eyes narrowing.
“It sounds like those who attacked the Monehen heiress have either disappeared or met their deaths.”
Anne’s eyes widened with anger at the seemingly accusatory statement.
Her only sin was being involved with such vile people.
Just as Anne was about to respond to Deborah’s statement, which seemed to openly accuse her of being the culprit, Deborah cut her off, glaring at her with sharp eyes.
“That’s just a rude assumption. I didn’t do anything…”
“This is testimony that the Grenot heiress and her classmates have been bullying the Monehen heiress. The Berdran and Druella heiresses were also included.”
Deborah’s eyes began to shine as she shook the note that her subordinate had brought.
“And… I heard that your family’s merchant guild has recently been subjected to commercial attacks orchestrated by the Grenot heiress? And that you’ve also received threats related to your sister, Marie de Monehen? Isn’t the correlation and motive clear?”
“That’s…”
Anne was momentarily speechless.
Deborah, as if circling her prey, subtly moved behind her and then slowly walked back in front of Anne, continuing to speak.
“And, that you’re wearing right now… a Barmhausen mechanical longsword? It’s too extravagant for a mere baronet family to buy for their child, isn’t it? It would take at least a marquis family like the Grenot or Polignac families…”
Deborah, with her keen eye, recognized the mechanical longsword at Anne’s side at a glance, without even seeing it in action.
Anne was completely speechless from that point on, unable to say anything in response.
From here on out, there was truly nothing she could know.
How could she know the truth that only I, the large sunflower who had watched everything from beginning to end that day, knew?
Anne could only speculate that it belonged to Vivian, but even so, there was no way for Anne to know the truth.
“I’m just holding onto someone else’s belongings due to unavoidable circumstances…”
“Who is it?”
“That’s… a personal matter that I can’t disclose…”
“That’s quite suspicious. We’ve also secured testimony from the merchant who bought your sword. I heard that you sold your sword to raise money for your sister, Marie de Monehen, due to her recent hospitalization… And then, as soon as that happened, you’re using that precious mechanical longsword that you ‘received’ from someone…”
Deborah seemed to have already completed a thorough investigation of her every move, tightening the noose around her neck with her sharp remarks. It seemed that this battle of nerves was a defeat for Anne.
“It’s just a coincidence. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”
But in the end, these were only circumstantial.
The fact that nothing had been actually revealed was Anne’s only, and most certain, weapon.
Anne, trying to make the most of it, was trying to end the conversation, emphasizing that she didn’t have much time.
“We will continue the investigation for the time being, so you may go about your business. We’ll contact you if we need any further information.”
Deborah seemed to know this as well, as she quietly bowed and slowly turned around.
Like a snake trying to snatch its prey that had fallen within its range.
A subtle passion and conviction burned within her deep blue eyes.
My situation with Anne, where I had unknowingly boarded a sinking ship with the shackles of a small favor.
As I watched Deborah’s triumphant appearance, I trembled with a sense of crisis at the impending problem, and I was lost in thought about preparing for the things I might have to do.
