Memoirs of the Returnee

The Mine (4)

Thud——!

I struck down the skeleton with the pickaxe. Elise, startled, grabbed my shoulder.

“What are you doing-”

“So, are you going to tell them?”

I shook off her hand. I looked into her eyes and said,

“You go out and tell people. ‘I’m Elise of the Petra family, this mine is haunted by ghosts. This corpse was buried alive by the Libra family to cover up the ghosts.'”

“……”

At that, Elise’s complexion calmly settled. She stepped back slightly, crossed her arms, and glared at me.

“Go out there and say that. Fight with Libra. I’ll cheer for you.”

Clap, clap- I even clapped in front of her nose. Elise remained expressionless.

“You can’t, can you? You, too, against Libra.”

At this point, no family can match the power of Libra. Petra ‘or the like’ are not a family that can stand against them.

Especially now, with the re-election of the council only 1 year and 9 months away.

“……So.”

Elise finally opened her mouth.

“You’re going to clean it up voluntarily?”

“Yeah.”

If Jade’s side happens to find the corpse, it will be melted in molten iron.

Even if they don’t find the corpse, it will be buried here forever.

Rather than that, I’ll take it.

“I’ll clean it up. Why not.”

I disassembled the skeleton with a pickaxe. Collarbone, shoulder bone, femur, tibia, fibula, skull, rib, jawbone, sacrum…… I divided them into manageable pieces and stuffed them all into a duffel bag.

“You’re out of your mind…… I’ve seen all kinds of loyalty.”

Elise mumbled with a blank look in her eyes.

“Well, it’s better to be a pet dog of Libra than to live like a dog. It’s quite a fitting survival strategy for a parasite like you.”

Suddenly her tone turned cold. Raw contempt stabbed my eardrum.

“Do you think they’ll recognize you for that? Libra, an orphan like you?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I shouldered the duffel bag full of remains.

“Whatever.”

Elise, who quickly loosened her expression, sat on a chunky rock. She crossed her legs and continued.

“Struggle on your own. I’m curious to see what will happen.”

——Screech!

Suddenly, a horn sounded. A shout came down from above.

—Are you okay down there!

It was the rescue team.

I quickly turned to Elise.

“Hey. You go up first. And, we were never together. You didn’t see any ghosts.”

I pushed Elise and handed her the duffel bag. Elise furrowed her brow.

“Why are you passing it on?”

“They’ll suspect if I have it.”

“……What a nonsense. Why would I protect Libra-”

“Oh, then say it? Go up and say it? That you saw a ghost here?”

“……”

“If you shit your pants, Jade will think it’s good. Right? He was bragging about reopening the mine.”

Elise, who bit her lip slightly, seemed to be considering, then let out a small sigh. Then she spread three fingers.

Middle finger, index finger, thumb. Magic formed a triangle at her fingertips. It clung to the duffel bag and shrank its ‘size’ to that of a thermos.

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My eyes bulged.

“Wow, what’s that.”

“First time seeing a shrinking spell?”

“……It’s the first time I’ve seen a high schooler use it.”

“Pitiful.”

Elise sneered and put the duffel bag in her pocket. Just then, the rescue team shone a light down.

I hid myself, and Elise walked towards the spot, waving her hand.

“Over here. Over here.”

—Ah yes! We’ll lower the rope!

I sat back and retreated. I should wait for about 5 minutes.

—Come up!

“Yes. I’m coming.”

While Elise was climbing up, I opened Hans’s work diary again to kill time.

Reading each page as if chewing it over, the last sentence of the last page.

The words he had written with such force gripped my hand.

—I wanted to give a birthday present… Dad is sorry…

The father buried here was one of the countless people killed by Libra.

One of the countless victims who lived an ordinary life and then died meaninglessly in an instant.

Someone’s father, like my own.

“…Why are you sorry.”

Why are they all assholes?

I clenched my teeth and closed the diary.

“Hmm?”

But this time, something caught my eye. A rabbit doll, lost and rolling in the dark corner of the cave.

Of course, it wasn’t Hans’s.

Then…

—Is there anyone else there!

“Ah. I’m here! There’s someone here!”

I stuffed the doll into my arms and shouted.

* * *

The task was temporarily suspended under the pretext of lunchtime. In the meantime, the Libra family—more precisely, the ‘execution team’ was dispatched, and they temporarily blocked the collapse of the underground and resumed the class.

“…I will end the College Board’s task.”

So, at 7 p.m.

The students who came out of the mine after half a day of mining were all covered in sweat and dust.

Chedric said, looking around them.

“I heard there was a small disturbance. However, such things are commonplace in mines.”

Elise peered around for Soliette. The girl at the front had a bulging duffle bag and was covered in black dust.

She must have worked hard.

“Therefore, I hope that disturbance can also be considered part of the task. The total score for this task is 4CP. Not only magical abilities but also endurance, perseverance, and quick-wittedness can be evaluated…”

Whether the seniors are listening to his words is unknown. They’re all exhausted and panting.

“Now submit the magic stones.”

Elise immediately approached Chedric and offered her duffle bag. Chedric raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve collected a lot.”

“It’s simple”

She gave a slight smile and turned around, and one person suddenly came to mind.

Shion Ascal.

His duffle bag full of bones is now in my pocket.

In other words, he doesn’t have a tool to collect magic stones.

“…What’s with that guy?”

Just then, Kain muttered. Shion was in the place he was looking at.

Shion, standing in front of Chedric, took out the magic stones from his pocket, not a duffle bag. It looked about twenty.

“Heh. Looks like he was properly trapped.”

“No, Kain! It’s because of you that Shion ended up like that! Why do you lock people up like that!”

Layla, who had come up beside him, puffed up her cheeks.

“What? Why are you suddenly like this.”

“You’re a bastard!”

“What’s with you. Did you eat something wrong?”

“….”

Elise crossed her arms without a word. She shook her head back and forth.

“Pathetic.”

“Sacrificing your grades for Libra won’t make them recognize you. The ‘talent’ they want is not at your level.”

“We will grade based on the quality and quantity of the submitted magic stones. The grading results will be announced this Sunday. Now, dismiss.”

Finally, Chedric announced the end of the task. The students began to disperse one by one.

“Kain. How many did you dig?”

Layla asked. Kain smiled proudly.

“About 500.”

“You’re lying! 500 won’t fit in a duffle bag!”

Elise glanced at Shion as she walked down the road with her group.

He was already with some officers.

—Shion student. Can we talk for a moment?

Was he caught?

Well, if he has the guts to show Knightmare in front of Soliette, he’ll handle it well.

“Elise. What are you doing?”

Layla leaned into her face.

“Nothing.”

Elise was startled, but she passed by pretending not to care.

* * *

“Shion student. Can we talk for a moment? About this incident.”

At the entrance of the mine. As I was about to go down to the index, a man showed his police ID and spoke.

[Edsilla Police Department]

[Inspector: Eldgell]

“If it’s okay with you, shall we go? You must be busy studying, so there’s no need to go to the station. Let’s talk inside.”

He pointed to the police car parked on the side of the road. I looked him up and down.

He seemed to be in his mid-forties, model-like, slim yet sturdy. He was neat from head to toe, but his sunglasses were annoying.

Could he be one of Libra’s people?

“Yeah, fine.”

I got into the passenger seat without a word. The inside of the police car was tidy. There was a radio, a magic spell injector, a black box…

“What did you see there?”

The man asked as he sat in the driver’s seat.

Instead of answering, I stared at his sunglasses.

“Why are you wearing sunglasses in the car? It’s even night.”

“Answer the question.”

“Then I have no choice but to ask if you have a warrant.”

“……”

His lips twitched. I leaned back into the car seat and said,

“Let’s be courteous in the car.”

“……Sigh.”

He sighed and took off his sunglasses. I looked into his eyes.

Iris holding a gray hue.

“Now answer.”

“Ha.”

I laughed without realizing it. I knew right away because of his eyes.

‘Belingham Kantar’ from the northern part of Edsilla, Krael.

“Don’t laugh. What did you see there?”

He is a vassal of Libra. But he’s not Jade’s man, not Derek’s man, not Gianna or Zia’s man.

He is a man of Cyril, precisely Cyril Draka Libra Mullick’.

“The current head who oversees the succession competition of Libra, the monster who elevated Libra to its current status. He’s been serving the guy who harbors billions of worms inside him for over a decade, so there’s no need for unnecessary lies.”

“I saw a ghost.”

I answered honestly. Then, one of Belingham’s eyebrows moved slightly.

“Did you see it alone?”

“Yes. Alone.”

This was a lie.

“……Huh.”

Belingham swallowed a small breath. I added a word while looking at the rearview mirror.

“There was also a corpse there.”

“A corpse?”

Belingham pulled out a file. He frowned as he speed-read it.

“You didn’t mention this to the rescue team.”

I answered indifferently.

“Of course I didn’t. I didn’t mention the ghost either.”

Then he looked at me. I turned my head and faced him as well.

“Why?”

He seemed to be asking for an explanation, and I gave him one.

“Because I disposed of it.”

“……”

Suddenly, his gaze tilted slightly. His eyes scrutinized me from my shoes to the top of my head.

“Please properly maintain the floor. There, it seems like strong magic stones have been produced as the mine regenerates. So it can withstand even a magic stone explosion. Concrete won’t do.”

It was my advice.

Belingham, who had been listening silently, asked calmly.

“Why did you dispose of the corpse?”

“Why? You know. Didn’t you investigate?”

A response in the form of a question.

Belingham shook his head.

“……We, the police, don’t just go around investigating people.”

“Ah.”

I smiled. Why are you acting like an amateur?

“Police never work alone. The principle is to work in pairs. And this, this car. The black box doesn’t work, does it?”

I tapped the black box. Even when I pressed the button hard, it was unresponsive.

Those Libra guys strangely hate video recording.

“……”

Belingham was momentarily speechless.

Was it because things were too sudden, or did he think it wasn’t necessary to be perfect when dealing with a student?

Or, did he intend to ‘clean’ me up casually?

I looked beyond the car’s front glass.

“You just asked why I did such a thing.”

The scenery was bleak. The sun that had set was dark, and the mountain range had already turned pitch black, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

“It’s simple.”

My dry voice flowed from between my teeth.

“Because I’m also a person of Libra.”