ch49

People often say that an incompetent allied commander is more terrifying than the enemy.

…Then how cautiously should one treat a competent enemy commander?

“……”

After dragging me into the office prepared in a corner of the command center, I quietly gaze at Ann Grisha, who sits facing me.

I reached the truth of the disappearance case, but I didn’t understand her true intentions.

She suspects that I stole important classified information, but she has no concrete evidence.

However, it’s difficult to say that the situation is advantageous.

In a world where there is law but only judgment without trial, there is no use in asserting the principle of presumption of innocence. With a few words from Ann, the person in power, a criminal record will be immediately added to my citizen ID… or, at worst, I will be disposed of.

But it’s not just because there’s a way to survive in case of emergency, but anyone who has seen or heard her confession.

No one would believe that Ann had been holding back, trying to do something to Helena or me.

Before you call me a fool, even though it’s safe to say that we’ve already turned our backs on each other, I couldn’t take my eyes off her, who still wore a gentle expression.

Eventually, Ann began to speak.

“Asha… this is a stage I’ve been preparing for a long time. I can allow you to participate as an audience member, but you can’t try to take away the fun as you please.”

“What… what are you talking about…!”

As her hand reached towards my face, as if gently unwrapping the wrapping paper of a long-awaited gift box, I unconsciously flinched and dodged.

If it were the usual benevolent Ann, it would be different, but facing her pupils, which had begun to fill with ominous flames, a sense of rejection surged first.

“There’s no need to lie even here. Even I, who have only known her for five years, find it difficult to suppress my impulses when I just look at Lena… How much have you, Asha, who has been watching her by her side for a lifetime, accumulated…?”

“What do you mean I’ve accumulated…?!”

Suddenly!

Ann, who had stood up from her seat, grabbed my cheeks and forced me to meet her gaze.

“……If we exclude the basic convenience Implant, we, who can’t even put a single steel pin in our bodies, can only be shadows of society no matter how hard we try. Always crawling on the ground… trampled by countless feet… and if we receive light after hardship, we disappear without a trace.”

“……”

Clotted and twisted jealousy, inferiority complex, and above all, an affection that has grown in the wrong direction and borne fruit.

I realized too late the identity of the dark fuel that was constantly being poured into her rampaging heart.

“Modern people are all sick and crazy… but they’re busy pretending to be fine and perfect on the outside. Lena is always beautiful and elegant. To be able to live with idealism and still have the ability to carry it out… isn’t that unfair…?”

I didn’t know how to react to the confession that the foundation of Helena Valentine, who was loved by many users, was an unbearable light to someone.

“……You said you loved Helena? Then was that a lie?”

As if I were saying something foolish, Ann’s face, emitting uncontrollable heat, stuck so close that our foreheads touched.

I wasn’t trying to pick at her wounds.

I was just trying to alleviate the burden weighing down on Ann’s reason, even with a weak touch, as a listener….

“…I love her. To death. Enough to die for her.”

“That’s……”

This wasn’t a topic brought up impulsively.

Suddenly, an ominous thought came to mind. If Helena’s foundation is idealism and the belief to carry it out, what is the foundation that makes up Ann?

“I always want to see the clean and noble Lena despair.”

“I want to drink the tears of Lena, who is hurt, broken, and collapsed.”

“I want to see if Lena also sheds bright red blood.”

“Ugh?!”

My mind became dazed by the torrent of perverse stubbornness.

I could clearly feel that each one was filled with twisted sincerity. You can fix broken things, but I don’t know how to deal with a person who is completed by being broken.

“Didn’t you say… that blood is difficult to deal with?”

“…? That’s right. Since a long time ago, it’s been difficult for me to suppress the urge that boils up whenever I see blood.”

…A seductress who didn’t completely hide herself with lies, but hoped that I would look inside the veil she had drawn while gradually revealing her inner thoughts.

I was late to realize it because every moment was sincere. I wasn’t prepared to be stabbed when I shared a piece of my faith with someone.

Or… you can blame my stupidity for vaguely assuming that it couldn’t be, because she was Helena’s best friend.

“I’m sorry for only talking about myself…. Now, is it Asha’s turn?”

…What?

I stared straight at her, who was showing an attitude of being ready to listen, with sparkling eyes.

“……Ha.”

Now I could accurately understand the reason why Ann Grisha had been kind to me and the misunderstanding.

The fact that she willingly entered the secret room with me, who wasn’t particularly disarmed, and brought up these things, as well as her unreserved contact and attitude.

The outrage of assuming that I also harbored twisted feelings for Helena because our situations were similar and we had many things in common.

I couldn’t easily think of what answer to give to such an excessive leap of thought.

While I was repeating the act of opening and closing my mouth like that, I pulled myself together from my distracted mind due to a sudden call.

• …Asha, I’m sorry, but could you go back to your house or… some motel first? My sister found one of the missing people… and it seems like things are getting a bit big…. To what extent… um… I might have to ask Grandpa for a new identity…? –

…Damn it. Even though I didn’t intentionally share dangerous information, Helena was approaching the center of the storm on her own.

I had barely figured out the cause that would completely change her life… but I had missed all the time and opportunities to convey this in a refined way.

In any case, the option of quietly backing down due to that just disappeared.

Since a desperate catastrophe is bound to be waiting if we continue like this, I may not be able to change Ann, but I should try to clash my heart as well.

“Oh my…?”

First, I carefully pushed her shoulder so as not to provoke her as much as possible, and made her sit back in her seat.

I don’t know if my words will reach Ann, who is intoxicated with her selfish ego, but if the madness that has finally been expressed is the real Ann Grisha, I was prepared to face it head-on.

I organize my words and sentences while looking at her eyes, which are stained with a madness that I want to turn away from.

“…I was a little jealous. Of her superhuman talent, and of her integrity. In fact, I think anyone would be envious at least once if they actually faced a hero who is loved by the destiny called Helena Valentine.”

“So Asha too…!!”

“But Ann…!! I don’t want Helena’s downfall or change like you do. On the contrary, if I could become like her, I would want to pursue an impossible idealism.”

I resolutely pour cold water on the fire that is trying to grow.

I’m sorry to Ann, who showed a bright expression even at the smallest bit of sympathy, but I couldn’t bring myself to affirm her ideology.

Helena will be the most hurt when she learns the truth about the project and the person who has been hiding it, but Ann, who heard my denial… looked as desolate as if she had been betrayed by a lover she had believed in.

“Why…? Why…? I thought Asha would definitely be similar to me…?”

“……”

Her pupils, which had become empty in an instant, trembled uneasily, and her voice trembled no less than that.

Even if you ask why… it can’t be helped because it’s natural for me.

Even if all reality is reversed overnight and heaven and earth are turned upside down. Because I decided to somehow protect the values I believe are right, insist on idealism, and return after reaching a happy ending.

If I give up even this, I will no longer be me. I couldn’t give in absolutely.

“……”

Twitch, twitch.

Her shoulders, which had been drooping towards the floor, shook.

A force that could be boldly asserted as atrocious gradually emanates, and she mutters in a voice that doesn’t hide her disappointment.

“Still, it’s a relief. Even if it’s Asha who isn’t like me, there’s a role that suits her well enough.”

“…What is it?”

While calmly asking back, I stealthily move my hand to my thigh.

Her head turns back this way, and her glasses glinted because of the changed angle.

“…I also think it would be a good picture to see my precious younger sister on the operating table.”

Click…!

I immediately drew my gun and aimed it at Ann, who was smiling defenselessly.

…If you thought that I would obediently go along with this nasty business even after coming this far, you’re mistaken.

A suitable role, my ass…!

I’d rather end this nightmare with my own hands right now than be treated as a simple hostage….

“…Why are you so calm?”

Even though death, which is equal to everyone, is right in front of her, she continued to smile.

Her attitude of not caring at all even if I fired made me uncomfortable, wondering if I had overlooked something.

“Although my stage will be a mess… it will be hard for Lena to bear the fact that her only younger sister is killing her friend.”

“That’s…?!!?!?”

Pazzzzzik—!!

…Ah, you idiot. To make such a mistake.

When the muzzle briefly lowered due to an unexpected point, a taser gun, which was skillfully drawn in the blink of an eye, was stuck in my nape.

How much did she practice to make such precise shots without even a reinforced Implant… An absurd thought came to my mind in the middle of the darkening.

A dullard who only envied without making any effort was a skill that could never be reached.

…Pitiful. A better, more optimistic future must have existed somewhere.

Why couldn’t Ann, who even joined Mega Corp with her own strength and effort without the help of machines, see it?

In the fading vision, I could vaguely see brown hair swaying.

It was difficult to explain why… but for some reason, the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland suddenly came to mind.

If I had known that what I was chasing without realizing it was a brown rabbit with a painful heart, would I have rashly put my foot in the rabbit hole?

…No, maybe on that night when I inadvertently looked at Ann’s pigtail swaying like a pendulum. I might have already been possessed by that madness.