Chapter 170 - <13>
The day after Ritz’s release and Anil’s outburst.
By the time they had all gathered at the inn for the first time in a week and exchanged information, a heavy atmosphere had settled over the group. Even Anna, who had been delighted to have everyone together again, was now sighing.
Even Ritz, who should have been in the mood to enjoy his newfound freedom after being released from his cell, couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh in this gloomy air. Combining the hypotheses he, Franz, and Anna had discussed based on the two incidents with the information Edward had gathered, the four of them could only arrive at a somber conclusion.
If the culprit was a relative of the victims, there were three relatives of the murdered Ashok: Kamala, Anil, and Barat. Considering past grievances, Faye could also be included. But Faye was disabled and couldn’t move on her own. If they were to suspect her, it would mean that someone acting as her hands and feet committed the crime. But that seemed unlikely. Naturally, Faye was excluded.
Furthermore, if the female victim had approached Ritz knowing who he was, it was safe to assume she had some involvement in this first incident. But even including these two, there were only five potential culprits.
And then there was the second incident. The murdered female victim was Barat’s sister. In that case, the relatives would again be Barat, Kamala, and Faye. If he were an exceptionally good actor, Anil could also be considered a relative, but according to Anna, Franz, and Edward’s assessment, the possibility was close to zero.
Besides, Anil had an alibi of being at the inn with Franz at the time of the incident. Considering the careful handling of the female victim’s body and the careless abandonment of Dayaram, Anil, who adored Dayaram as a father figure, might not be involved. And Faye was excluded for the same reason as in the first incident.
This meant the suspects common to both incidents were Kamala and Barat. But it couldn’t be definitively said that the perpetrator of the first and second incidents were both the same person.
Considering that, they couldn’t rule out the suspects from both the first and second incidents, leaving the culprits to be one of Kamala, Barat, Faye, Anil, or the female victim. And if Franz’s hypothesis was included, it meant there were two culprits among them.
Even if the culprits of the first and second incidents were different, given the many commonalities, at least one person must be common, meaning there were three culprits among the five.
“I wonder if there are any other ways to think about this…” Anna murmured, looking lost. Ritz wanted to offer her some alternative, but he didn’t possess that kind of intellect. If anything, he was the type who thought it would be faster at this point to find the three of them one by one and squeeze the truth out of them.
“Shall we try to organize it once more?” Edward muttered with a sigh. Their repeated deliberations were reaching a dead end. Perhaps it was impossible for amateurs to play detective after all. But even though Ritz had been released, he hadn’t been given permission to leave the city. Ritz himself was still a suspect.
That said, it wasn’t in their nature to just wait. Leaving the case as it was felt unsettling. They had already gotten involved, so it was only natural to want to see it through to a proper conclusion.
And just as the Autonomous Guard was in disarray, so too, perhaps, was the holy land, as there had still been no contact from them. At this rate, they would undoubtedly be trapped in Tashkur for the winter. The distant mountains Ritz had seen from his cell were already covered in snow. This place, too, would soon be snowed in.
Though the city had been bustling a week ago when Ritz was imprisoned, it was now as quiet as if they had come to a different place entirely. The innkeeper had said the last of the merchants would likely depart within a few days.
There were several months until late spring. Until then, the group had no choice but to wait patiently for a summons from the holy land. It wasn’t an urgent journey, so they didn’t need to worry about time, but their finances were a bit tight. However, that matter was settled when Edward agreed to lend him money on the condition that he work for the Kingdom Army after their journey ended and they returned to the Royal Capital, which put Ritz’s mind at ease.
Come to think of it, it was unlikely that Edward, a former king, would have planned to travel on a shoestring budget from the start. Anna, who hated debt, had surprisingly agreed to this arrangement. It seemed she had come to the conclusion that debt was unavoidable as long as there was a proper way to repay it.
Despite everyone exuding a sense of weariness, they had nothing else to do, so they silently gathered at the table in Edward’s room. Wordlessly, Franz took out the ink, pen, and paper he had set up there for daily use. As if cued by Franz’s preparations, Edward began to speak.
“Feel free to interject if you have an opinion.”
Just as Edward said that, Ritz’s slightly better-than-average ears caught the sound of footsteps approaching the other side of the door. The furtive sounds undoubtedly stopped right in front of their room. Noticing Ritz listening intently, Edward looked at him. Ritz silently pointed to the door with his thumb, and Edward nodded wordlessly. Understanding that he meant to catch the person without being noticed, Ritz nodded back and stood up from his chair, careful not to make a sound.
“What’s wrong?”
With a gesture, Ritz signaled for the carefree Anna and the suspicious-looking Franz to be quiet, then approached the door. With the gazes of the three of them on his back, he focused his attention on the other side of the door. He could tell someone was trying to listen in on the room. But he felt no killing intent. It seemed safe to open it.
He yanked open the inward-swinging door, and the person who had been pressing their ear against it tumbled ungracefully into the room. It was a grimy-looking person dressed in a mix of Birdfolk women’s clothing and the attire of a prostitute who might have come with the Sarnian merchants. Franz shot to his feet with a loud clatter.
“Kamala…?”
At Franz’s whispered words, the person who had tumbled in began to tremble in fear and tried to flee.
“Franz, how is this person Kamala? Kamala was much prettier.”
Ritz unceremoniously grabbed the person by the scruff of the neck. Their face, hidden by a scarf, was revealed. A squarish face with clumsy makeup, contorted in terror. It bore no resemblance to the Kamala Ritz had seen once.
“…”
Ignoring Franz, who sat back down in his chair without a word, the suspended figure let out pathetic whimpers, frantically looking around and kicking their legs. The legs peeking out from under the skirt-like garment were thick-boned and rugged, completely devoid of the softness characteristic of a woman.
“Ritz, you shouldn’t treat a woman so cruelly.”
“…How is this a woman?”
He replied with a sigh to Anna, who had lectured him in her usual tone. Anna’s eyes widened in surprise.
“She’s not?”
“No. I might grab a child like this, but I wouldn’t do this to a woman.”
“Huh? Then this person is…”
“A man.”
With that, Ritz casually tossed the man into the room. While glancing at the man who had tumbled ungracefully, Ritz closed the door. It was too cold to leave it open. When he turned back, the cross-dressing man was huddled on the floor, hiding his face and trembling violently.
“Hey.”
Ritz stood before the man with his arms crossed.
“I said hey. At least lift your face.”
Though he hadn’t spoken particularly harshly, the man didn’t raise his face and produced a thin, woman-like voice.
“Is Kamala…”
“Kamala?”
“Is Kamala here?”
The cross-dressing man asked fearfully. He still didn’t raise his face. It seemed this man was frightened in reaction to the name Kamala, which Franz had just spoken. Realizing this, Anna stood up from her chair, walked over to the man, and knelt down beside him. Since they didn’t know who this man was, he was undoubtedly dangerous, so Ritz moved to a position where he could protect Anna.
“Kamala-san isn’t here.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. It’s cold, would you like some warm tea?”
Anna said softly, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man flinched for a moment, then timidly raised his face. His already clumsy makeup was a mess, looking more like a child’s prank than cosmetics. His terrified expression, combined with the makeup, was utterly bizarre, and Ritz couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Um, well…”
Anna too was momentarily at a loss for words at the man’s disastrous makeup, but she quickly smiled. Naturally, she didn’t burst out laughing like Ritz.
“Would you like to fix your makeup? Or would you rather take it off?”
“…I’ll take it off.”
Though still appearing frightened, the man said this and slowly sat up. Seeing this, Anna took a cloth for wiping her face from her luggage and, being careful not to burn herself, poured a little hot water on it from the iron kettle hanging over the fireplace.
After waving the steaming towel to cool it slightly, Anna handed it to the man, who was sitting as if all his strength had drained away.
“Here you go. I think it’s just the right temperature now.”
“Thank you.”
The man took it, pressed the cloth to his face, and let out a huge sigh of genuine relief. Eventually, the man forcefully wiped off all his makeup, took off the scarf he was wearing, and raised his face. Faintly tanned skin, soft-looking, straight, dark walnut-colored hair, and though he was considerably emaciated, his well-defined features were still apparent.
The moment Ritz felt he had met him somewhere before, the memory of that one night came flooding back. The woman he met at the counter, spent the night with, and whose fate he learned of only after she was already gone from this world.
He looked exactly like the female victim from the second incident, whom Ritz had spent time with. He involuntarily crouched down next to the man, grabbed his face, and peered at it. The more he looked, the more they resembled each other. Come to think of it, that woman had a twin sibling.
“You’re Barat, aren’t you?”
The man’s eyes widened. Behind him, Franz stood up with a clatter. Anna, holding the returned cloth, also widened her eyes and gasped.
“How did you know?”
“…How? You look just like your sister.”
“I see. You met Baradi, didn’t you?”
Barat said, smiling weakly. Ritz learned for the first time that the murdered woman’s name was Baradi.
“Why don’t you have a seat? I’ll have some warm tea and something to eat brought over.”
Without rising from the table, Edward spoke to Barat with a gentle smile. Unlike Franz, who was standing there dumbfounded, he was, of course, perfectly calm. Edward, smiling gently again at the still-timid Barat, gestured with a soft motion for him to sit at the table without saying a word.
This smile of Edward’s had a tremendous compelling force, and few could resist it. Since they had met, Ritz had never been able to resist it. As expected, Barat too stood up as if being manipulated and sat in the chair Edward indicated. It was the seat Ritz had been in until a moment ago.
“Ritz, since you’re already standing, could you fetch us a light meal?”
Though his words were a request, Edward wore a smile that brooked no argument. Sighing, Ritz put his hand on the door.
“It’s okay, I’ll go!”
Anna, snapping back to her senses, put her hand on the door before Ritz could.
“Ritz, you stay here and sit.”
Since it was always Anna who made a move at times like these, Ritz was about to indulge her, but he caught Edward’s gaze and shrugged. Looking at the time, it was almost lunch. If he asked for a light meal at this hour, he would likely be asked for a reason. Anna might let slip that Barat was with them. That would be troublesome, so Ritz should go—that’s what Edward’s gaze was saying.
“It’s fine. I’ve been in a cell for a while and want to move my body. Don’t worry about it.”
Saying that lightly, he placed a hand on Anna’s head and, as she looked like she wanted to say something, he ruffled her hair with a swoosh.
“I’ll be right back, so get the tea ready.”
“Hey, I told you it’s a pain if you mess it up!”
While Anna puffed out her cheeks, holding down her disheveled hair, Ritz opened the door and left the room. Closing the door behind him, he went down the cold corridor to the lower floor. As expected, in the dining hall, the family that ran the inn was in the middle of preparing a meal. He gave them a plausible excuse, got some leftover bread and a few pieces of fruit from breakfast, and quickly returned to the room.
When he returned to the room, the small table was filled with tension. The cups of tea, presumably made by Anna as instructed, had warm steam rising from them, but the only one sipping from a cup was Edward, who maintained his usual calm expression. Not only Barat, but even Franz and Anna, the one who had made the tea, were sitting uncomfortably in front of their cups.
Naturally, Barat was the one who was shrinking, but what was strange was that Franz’s gaze on Barat seemed exceptionally harsh. They should have been meeting for the first time, so what kind of feelings could Franz possibly have? Ritz couldn’t understand.
“Here you go.”
He said lightly, as if to dispel the tension, and Edward smiled.
“Thank you for your trouble.”
“It’s nothing. For Your Majesty, it’s no trouble at all.”
“It seems a week in a cell hasn’t cured you of your sarcastic quips. How about a little longer?”
“You’re joking. I’d rather not, thank you.”
As they bantered, Barat managed a faint, though strained, smile. Before that smile could fade back into tension, Edward offered him the food Ritz had brought.
“I thought you might not have eaten?”
“…Yes. I haven’t had anything but water for the past two days.”
“Then eat for now. We’ll hear your story after that.”
“Yes.”
Though he hesitated at first, he must have been extremely hungry, for Barat soon began to eat ravenously. Ritz, having lost his seat, reluctantly settled down on Edward’s bed. But since he didn’t know what Barat was thinking, he kept his nerves on edge so he could move quickly.
After a while, having eaten everything, Barat let out a sigh and, with a more composed expression than before, bowed his head to Edward.
“Thank you very much.”
“Not at all. This much is nothing. You looked like you were in pain.”
At Edward’s gentle words, Barat’s expression momentarily looked as if he might cry. He then sat up straight in his chair again and looked around at everyone.
“I came here to ask a favor of you all.”
As he said that, Barat took something wrapped in a white cloth from his pocket and carefully placed it on the table. He stared at the long, thin object for a while, then, as if he had made up his mind, he quietly unwrapped the cloth.
The moment they saw what was inside, Franz and Anna gasped, and Edward let out a small sigh. Ritz, realizing what it was, stood up from the bed, picked it up, cloth and all, and stared at it intently.
There lay a single, blood-soaked decorative dagger. It had a familiar ornamentation, and a dark brown liquid was caked onto it. Indistinguishable from the one he had seen a week ago, this dagger was undoubtedly the weapon that had killed Ashok.
“…This is the same one I was made to hold when Ashok was killed.”
In the dead silent room, his sigh-laden voice echoed clearly. Franz and Anna, who had frozen as if time had stopped, fidgeted back to their senses. Amidst this, a hollow voice murmured.
“This is the dagger that took Baradi’s life.”
“You killed her?!”
Anna, snapping back to her senses, pointed at Barat with a shout, but Barat shook his head weakly.
“No. I didn’t do it.”
“Then why do you have this?!”
“That’s…”
“It’s strange for anyone but the culprit to have this, right?”
“I know.”
“Then why? Why is this here?”
Anna turned to Ritz with a confused expression. He nodded back and gently patted her shoulder, then looked at Barat, whose eyes were still dark.
“You said you came to ask a favor.”
“Yes. It seemed like you were the only ones I could ask…”
“I don’t know what the favor is, but first, tell us everything. Depending on what you say, we might be able to help, or it could be the opposite.”
“Yes. I came prepared. Will you hear me out?”
That question was directed at Edward. Barat’s last resort was likely Edward’s status. Ritz could guess that he had come here after hearing about Edward’s true identity from Faye.
“Speak.”
At Edward’s gentle tone, Barat let out a small sigh and began to speak with a weary expression.
“The incident began when my relationship with Kamala was discovered by Ashok.”
Naturally, for Ashok, who was considering the expulsion of immigrants, a relationship between his daughter and a half-blood was by no means acceptable. At first, Kamala had told Barat, “I will definitely convince my father,” and had diligently tried to persuade him.
But her father vehemently opposed Kamala, and on top of that, he began to propose an immigrant expulsion plan, disguised as an entertainment district improvement project, to the Birdfolk elders. The relationship between Kamala and Barat became tied to the expulsion of immigrants and half-bloods, and as her father pushed the matter forward as a racial conflict, ignoring his daughter’s personal feelings, Kamala’s anger grew.
Kamala’s plea for him to focus on the personal issue of a relationship between his daughter and a half-blood was out of the question for Ashok. The conversation devolved into him claiming that Kamala, a pure Birdfolk daughter, was being seduced because of the existence of the entertainment district and immigrants.
Even after a year, the conflict between daughter Kamala and father Ashok continued. By this time, her younger brother Anil had also been drawn into the squabble, and while he sided with Kamala, he apparently did not approve of Barat’s weak-kneed attitude.
Kamala and Anil were siblings who harbored intense emotions in their hearts, siblings with a strong will who would never stray from their chosen path. In contrast, Barat was a man who had navigated the world by watching the faces of those around him. He had developed a personality he himself disliked as a result of always being conscious of people’s gazes, but he had resigned himself to the fact that there was nothing he could do about it now.
Anil had dismissed Barat’s personality as cowardly. Naturally, his lover, Kamala, had deeply loved him while scolding and encouraging him. Perhaps they were each seeking the strength and kindness that the other possessed. But from the outside, it only looked like Barat was being dragged around by Kamala, flustered, and that must have been extremely unpleasant for Anil.
Around that time, Kamala learned that Barat had a twin sibling. At the same time, she learned that Barat and Kamala were cousins, and that her own father was among the Birdfolk who had killed Barat’s mother.
It was only natural that Kamala would confront her father upon learning this. But the answer she received left her stunned. Ashok had spat with disgust and said, so she was told:
‘If you don’t want to suffer the same fate, you’d best abandon that half-blood.’
“At that moment, Kamala must have thought that if things continued as they were, she would be confined to the holy land just like my mother, and robbed of all her freedom. To fight back, she had no choice but to fight…”
And so, she began her activities, calling herself the Tashkur Liberation Front.
“So the Tashkur Liberation Front is…”
“The Liberation Front is composed of those who secretly hold similar aspirations, but it’s a fluid group. The only one who was constantly active using the emblem was Kamala.”
At first, Kamala had tried to gather all the weak in spirit power, the immigrants, and the half-bloods in Tashkur to form a powerful force to confront the anti-immigrant faction, including Ashok. But the immigrants and half-bloods, understanding the “Special Autonomous Region System” that implicitly existed on this continent, hesitated to openly clash with the Birdfolk.
In the end, the activities of the Tashkur Liberation Front ran aground.
“That was the situation until about two months ago. But then, she suddenly changed.”
“Two months ago?”
“Yes. She wouldn’t tell me the details, but she told me one thing. She said, ‘The Messenger of the Black Wings will guide me.’”
“The Messenger of the Black Wings…?”
“Yes. I don’t know the details either. But after that, she began to consult the Messenger of the Black Wings about her fight with her father, Ashok, instead of me.”
Barat’s anxiety grew as Kamala was swayed by this mysterious entity. It wasn’t that he feared her change of heart, but that he feared her fight was heading in a terrible direction.
One day, Barat was asked by Kamala to summon his sister, Baradi. It was then that he was first introduced to the Messenger of the Black Wings.
“When I saw that man, I was terrified. He spoke in a gentle tone, but his gaze, as he looked at me with his slender eyes, was always cold and freezing. And he was the first… member of the Clan of Darkness I had ever seen.”
“…The Clan of Darkness.”
Anna gasped and whispered softly.
“Yes. He had a slightly similar impression to Ritz-san.”
Anna’s anxious eyes looked up at Ritz. Ritz also knew who this Messenger of the Black Wings was. Kuchiba, who had declared to Anna that he would meddle in the darkness of people’s hearts before disappearing. Kuchiba, who had vanished from Roshozu, had gone ahead of them to Tashkur. But it was so fast. Had he crossed a distance that would take two months even using the merchant routes in an instant?
“The plan proposed at that time was to seriously injure Ashok, set someone up as a scapegoat, and in the meantime, Kamala would disguise herself as Baradi and escape the city.”
Without noticing their agitation, Barat continued to speak matter-of-factly with dark eyes. It would be meaningless to miss the details as they approached the truth of the matter, so Ritz steeled himself. He could think about Kuchiba later. There would be no other chance to hear Barat’s story.
“At that time, the Messenger of the Black Wings and I were supposed to switch places and leave the city. After we escaped, if the Messenger of the Black Wings and Baradi made a fuss about someone impersonating them and leaving, the connection between our disappearance and Ashok’s injury would be understood, and the captured person would be released. It was explained that as long as it was someone who wouldn’t be killed, there would be no problem. Besides, my sister Baradi didn’t have a proper job in the Sarnian city and was living as a kept woman by the wealthy. So she also took on the job of luring the scapegoat.”
As if thirsty, Barat gulped down his cold tea in one go. In place of the stunned Anna, Ritz poured him a refill. Though it was a bit cold, it would be just right to quench his thirst. Waiting for him to finish the refill Ritz had poured, Edward spoke.
“But aren’t your faces known to the guards at the fortress?”
“They are. But while this city has a strict entry inspection, the exit inspection is lenient. As long as the names of those entering and leaving match, they don’t look at anything else.”
“I see. So the checks were lax in various places. Just like how you transported Ritz to the assembly hall by wagon.”
“…You knew.”
“Yes. But what’s strange is how you knew of Ritz’s existence. Who was it that suggested using Ritz as the scapegoat?”
Edward asked, looking straight at Barat. Barat answered matter-of-factly, as if it were obvious.
“The Messenger of the Black Wings. He told us a suitable person would be coming to this city soon. And just as he said, you appeared, and we had my sister seduce you.”
Unable to look Ritz in the face, Barat lowered his head slightly and apologized. “I’m sorry.” Ritz sighed at his own failure to realize Baradi’s all-too-natural seduction was a trap. She probably had a lighthearted attitude, thinking Ritz would be released soon even if he were trapped. That’s why, even to Ritz, who was used to women in that line of work, he couldn’t see any seriousness in her.
In place of the dejected Ritz, Edward prompted Barat to continue and get to the heart of the matter. Barat nodded slightly and continued his story.
“After Baradi put you to sleep with the medicine she got from the messenger, Kamala went to meet Ashok, whom she had summoned as the Tashkur Liberation Front. Although the security is strict, it’s not a problem for one person to sneak in through a room window undetected. And this was Kamala, who possesses strong wind power. She returned in just a few hours. But her hands were covered in blood…”
As if recalling it, Barat trembled slightly and shook his head.
“I had a bad feeling. But things were already in motion. The next morning, Baradi, dressed as a man, and I, worked together to put Ritz-san, whose hands were stained with the blood of a chicken that had been drugged and butchered for food, into a bag and loaded him onto the wagon that cares for the winged creatures. I had said the day before that I would hire a helper because the cleaning that day would be tough, so Baradi and I rode the wagon to the assembly hall without any problems.”
What they saw there was the murdered Ashok. The siblings, who had never thought he would be killed, were shaken, but they couldn’t very well take the sleeping Ritz back with them. In the midst of a terror that threatened to make them scream, the siblings silently placed Ritz there, and as instructed, they were about to leave the room, which was half-bolted.
But at that moment, Barat made a mistake. Unable to bear the sight of the gruesome death, and the pathetic face of a man killed by his own daughter, he had gently covered him with an unused sheet from the corner of the room, just for the duration of their work.
But the shaken Barat forgot to remove it and left the scene. The half-latched bolt on the door he had closed forcefully was now firmly shut. And so, desperately hiding his fear, he participated in the cleaning of the bird coop with Baradi. That was what caused that incomprehensible situation.
“When we got back home, we blamed Kamala fiercely. But she said with a puzzled look, ‘But if I had explained from the start that I was going to kill him, you absolutely wouldn’t have cooperated, would you? Now we can live together without leaving this city. I killed him because I loved you, so why are you blaming me?’”
At that time, Kamala was even smiling, looking blissful. It was then that Barat realized for the first time that she had been mad ever since that man she called the Messenger of the Black Wings had planted this plan in her mind.
“We were utterly terrified, and my sister and I fled from Kamala. But we couldn’t leave the city. Kamala’s eyes were always on the fortress, and she was constantly searching for me.”
After that, Kamala must have started desperately searching for Barat. Edward and Franz had witnessed her doing so.
“Unable to find me, Kamala finally located Baradi. Baradi hadn’t told Kamala where she was staying. It seems Baradi was planning to leave the city and live with her brother, and she was wary of the slightly hot-tempered Kamala.”
Ritz remembered Baradi, with whom he had spent only a few hours. For a woman in her profession, she was unguarded. ‘Sightseeing costs money, you know. It can’t be helped, right?’ she had said, laughing cheerfully even after revealing she was a prostitute, and had brazenly demanded money from Ritz, which had made him burst out laughing even as he held her.
Baradi, a carefree woman who never considered being deceived, was probably no match for the straightforward and fierce Kamala.
But it was still hard to take, the story that the woman he had held was used and killed. And by Kuchiba, no less, who seemed to be targeting their group.
Sinking into depression, his face occasionally pale and trembling, Barat shifted his gaze. Ritz sat down heavily on Edward’s bed again. Barat’s story continued, unrelated to Ritz’s feelings.
“That night, when I visited Baradi, I heard that Kamala had visited during the day and became terrified. I wrote an anonymous letter to Dayaram of the Autonomous Guard. I thought Dayaram would listen to our story, so I asked him to protect us, saying I would tell him everything I knew. No one else would do. They wouldn’t likely protect us, who were connected to the Ashok case.”
An answer from the acquainted Dayaram, delivered by a wind spirit, arrived immediately for the siblings who had delivered the letter to the Autonomous Guard in disguise. Dayaram had agreed to Barat’s request. It was written that he would be free that night and would visit them.
Deeply relieved, Barat told Baradi he would be back by the time Dayaram arrived and left to get food. But the number of merchants had dwindled, and Barat, who could only buy from merchants who didn’t know his face, had a very difficult time. In the end, with only a small amount of food in hand, Barat returned to the room to find the brutally murdered body of his sister and the body of Dayaram.
At a loss for words at the gruesome scene and controlled by fear, he couldn’t leave his sister’s mutilated body as it was. Crying, Barat folded her hands on her chest. Born and raised in this city, Barat didn’t know the Sarnian way of burial, so he had no choice but to mourn her in the Birdfolk style. And he covered her with a few freshly washed sheets that were stacked up.
But Dayaram’s body was too heavy, and there was nothing Barat could do. Unable to even pull out the sword that pierced him, he had no choice but to leave Dayaram’s body as it was.
He then noticed a single letter pinned to the wall with the bloodstained dagger, the murder weapon. Trembling, Barat removed the dagger and read the letter. There was only one sentence written there.
‘Why do you run? I love you enough to kill you.’
He screamed in terror. He genuinely thought he would be killed. He had to run, to get far away from her. But he didn’t know where to run. The next day, he spent the whole day hiding in various places around the city. But he had reached his limit. When he came to his senses in the middle of the night, he had arrived in front of Faye’s brothel.
Looking up from the street, the windows were shattered. Fearing that Kamala might have been involved, he rushed into the brothel and met Faye, who was awake. It was there that he heard they were searching for the true culprit, and so he came here.
Barat’s long story finally came to an end.
Ritz remembered the strong sense of unease he had felt on the day of the incident and sighed. When he was talking with Anna, he had thought he was bothered by why the sheet was white. But the unease he had felt intuitively at that time wasn’t about that.
His greatest sense of unease at the scene had been Kamala’s attitude. She had known from the beginning that her father was in that room. That’s why, the moment she opened the door and saw the scene, she had removed the sheet from the bed without any hesitation. If she weren’t the culprit, she should have first asked Ritz:
“Where is my father?”
And yet, from the beginning, she had acted as if she knew her father was dead. Perhaps she had wanted the Autonomous Guard to discover the body. A situation where the body was exposed before her eyes must have been ideal.
But the body had been covered with a sheet by someone. That must have made her anxious. That’s why, unnaturally and without any hesitation, she had thrown off the sheet from the bed where the body lay.
“The culprit… is Kamala…”
Franz muttered, stunned. But he continued, staring intently at Barat and groaning.
“But there’s no proof of that. It’s possible the man right there is the culprit.”
“That’s not true! I didn’t kill anyone!”
Barat let out a scream-like voice at being suspected at this stage. But Franz’s expressionless pursuit continued.
“You’d say anything to escape punishment.”
“You’re wrong!”
After strongly denying it, the trembling Barat let out a sigh and relaxed.
“No, I can’t say it’s entirely wrong. I’m the one who cornered her, and I’m also an accomplice to the crime.”
A calm voice was directed at Barat, who was covering his face and trembling. It was Edward.
“I understand the story. Now, what is your request?”
Everyone’s gaze fell on Barat. They remembered that he had originally come here to ask for a favor. As everyone waited in silence, Barat raised his face.
“Please protect me. I… am a coward. I’m afraid of Kamala.”
“Protection?”
“I want you to imprison me in the Autonomous Guard’s barracks. But I don’t want to be killed by them. That’s why I want you to be my backer.”
It seemed he was asking to be protected in a prison cell, in exchange for telling them everything. A prison cell would indeed be the safest place to escape from Kamala.
“Please, I beg you! I don’t want to die yet. I’m afraid of dying. I’m not strong like Kamala or Anil. I’m just an ordinary person!”
At Barat’s whimpering cry, Franz, who had been watching him with cold eyes until now, widened his eyes as if startled, then cast them down. Ritz felt he understood, just a little, what that meant.
Franz had a part of him that felt inferior for being ordinary. But although he couldn’t say it out loud, from Ritz’s perspective, there were times when he thought that very ordinariness was Franz’s most important quality. Because he was ordinary, because he struggled and grew, Ritz felt he was understanding something about humanity in general, which he didn’t understand well. For Ritz, who had lived his life based on his own assumptions, Franz was an important yardstick to measure himself by.
In fact, Franz, who was present, might be able to understand Barat’s feelings on a more personal level than Ritz, who was also present. Unlike before, the eyes of Franz, who was looking at Barat with a gaze full of anguish, certainly held a color of sympathy, not just pity. Ritz could vaguely understand Barat’s thinking, but he couldn’t sympathize. He couldn’t understand the mindset of fearing one’s lover and trying to run away.
He couldn’t help but glance at Anna. Even if Anna were in the same situation as Kamala, she would never kill her father and frame someone else. She would surely keep talking for decades until he understood.
But if Anna were to fall into a situation like Kamala’s, and by some chance committed murder, Ritz would probably carry Anna and flee the city without any hesitation. And if he couldn’t do that, he would use force to eliminate anyone who stood in Anna’s way. In that case, Ritz would be the murderer, and he wouldn’t mind taking all the blame and becoming a villain.
Even if she didn’t want him to.
Thinking that, a smile crept onto his lips. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Barat’s feelings. It was that he was emotionally closer to Kamala. That was what was amusing. He wondered what Anna would think if she knew that. He could easily guess that she would really dislike it.
“I understand. I will write a letter. Take it and go with Ritz to the Autonomous Guard headquarters.”
Letting out a small sigh, Edward smiled gently and gave Franz a look. Ritz stood up and gave the dazed Franz a light nudge from behind. Snapping back to his senses, Franz took out paper and a pen and handed them to Edward.
“But Barat, I believe you are the only one who can persuade Kamala to turn herself in.”
Edward suggested, implicitly, that he should persuade her, who was somewhere in the city, and go to the headquarters together. Barat lowered his head slightly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you not inclined to do so?”
“I’m sorry…”
Barat groaned in a barely audible voice and covered his face. His shoulders, which were not broad to begin with, trembled slightly.
“I’m sorry… I’m at my limit. I’m really afraid of her. How can she do such things? How can she kill people so calmly…?”
Groaning as if talking to himself, Barat continued to murmur with trembling lips.
“Why… Why did I have to fall in love with her…?”
He’s right, Ritz thought, looking down at Barat’s trembling shoulders. But on the other hand, he also thought: People are attracted to each other because they’re different. But being too different can be both a blessing and a curse. In the case of Barat and Kamala, it was likely a tragic combination.
Then, what about himself?
As he watched Anna gently place a hand on the shoulder of Barat, who had started to cry from fear and misery, he thought about such things.
A few hours later, Barat, under the protection of the Grand Duke of the Yuresla Kingdom, was taken into protective custody under the pretense of arrest in the same solitary cell that Ritz had been in until yesterday.