mygo, but Cthulhu

"Looking at this situation, did they have a quarrel?"

Mizukuran's expression turned serious, and Aine nodded silently.

"Well, I guess so. She seems to really not want us to get involved in this kind of case. Her strong reaction is a bit strange. And our drummer also happens to have a bad temper, so..."

"It seems she's worried about you guys, so she reacted this way."

Mei Zhulan nodded gently.

"In that case, I don't think your conflict is too serious. Find a chance to have a good talk with her later. The misunderstanding can definitely be resolved."

"Thank you for your guidance, senior,"

Aine nodded gratefully, said goodbye to them after thanking them, and turned towards the ring with a heavy heart.

On the way, she also saw Eri and the others with nervous expressions. She must have followed Mizukuri's advice and went to the police station. However, she didn't care about this now. She just quickly returned to the door of the practice room, took a deep breath, and raised her hand to open the door.

Deng and Li Xi immediately turned their heads to look over. Li Xi realized the situation and sighed after seeing that she was the only one who came back with a complicated expression. Deng couldn't help but ask softly despite having a premonition.

"Xiao Ai, Su Shi...didn't she come back?"

"I'm sorry, Tomorin, Soyorin ran so fast that I didn't have time to catch up with her. It's all my fault. If I hadn't mentioned it, Soyorin wouldn't have reacted so strongly."

Aine gave a wry smile, and Deng shook her head vigorously to deny her self-blame.

"That's not the case. Xiao Ai is not wrong, and Su Shi is not wrong either. I believe we just had a communication problem for the time being, and we can make up for it later."

"Yeah, I can't blame you this time. It was Su Shi who overreacted... But I don't mean to blame her. Let's go to her house later and talk it out."

Riki sighed helplessly, and Aine shook her head after thinking about it.

"If all of us go, it might put a lot of pressure on Soyorin. Otherwise, I'd better go alone. I know Soyorin very well now, so I should be able to comfort her."

"That's fine. You were the one who went to talk to her last time she got into trouble."

Li Xi nodded, glanced at the clock on the wall, and sighed for the missed practice today. At this time, Le Nai saw that they had finished talking and also moved closer to Li Xi skillfully, looking up at her seriously.

"Rikki, don't you have practice today? If not, matcha parfait."

"Huh? You're so nervous about ordering a matcha parfait?"

What she said reminded Li Xi of the finishing blow she had just used to trigger the situation, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"Wildcat, can you learn to read the mood in the future? Su Shi was clearly in a bad mood just now, but you insisted on provoking her. You are at least half responsible for today's situation."

"Huh? I didn't provoke Su Shi, I just told her what she was thinking."

Le Nai blinked doubtfully and shook her head slightly. Li Xi was already used to her reaction and could only shake his head helplessly.

"Anyway, don't speak casually about this kind of thing in the future. If you want to talk, you have to ask me first. Got it?"

"Got it. So, matcha parfait?"

"...I'll buy it for you later."

Li Xi sighed lightly, waved his hand and began to pack up, and the others also helped.

At the same time, Eri and the others also found the police station. After a moment of hesitation, they finally walked in and mustered up the courage to look at Junda Sosuke who was sitting at the front desk drinking coffee.

"Hello, police officer, we would like to ask you something, is that okay?"

"Please go ahead,"

He spread his hands, and after hearing the address Eri said, he paused drinking his coffee.

"My brother's name was Fujimura Some. He and Mai's brother died at this address last night. We are all deeply saddened by this."

"However, with the help of our classmates, we've learned some strange details about this case, so we'd like to verify as much as possible... As the victim's family, can we review the relevant case files?"

"…I'm sorry, but the higher-ups are taking this murder case very seriously, and we have to abide by the rules. The case file cannot be made public for a few days."

He was silent for a moment and then shook his head, while Eri asked anxiously,

"Really? Our classmate wouldn't lie, so that means there must be something suspicious about this case. Please re-investigate the specific circumstances of my brother's death. It doesn't seem like he was killed by humans, right?"

"We will re-investigate, but the case file cannot be made public. Please come back in a week."

Sosuke Junda shook his head expressionlessly. Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded by Eri and the others, they could only leave in frustration. After seeing them walk away, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

...Perhaps their classmate told them these things out of good intentions, but their attempt will only bring bad luck to themselves.

He gave a weak, bitter smile, and after some hesitation, he prepared to pretend that nothing had happened. However, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw one of his colleagues sitting next to him with a complicated expression.

"Juntian, what did the three girls who just came ask you?"

"...They didn't ask anything, they were just curious."

After a moment of silence, Sosuke shook his head, while his colleague sighed and patted his shoulder.

"You're still soft-hearted.

...Actually, I just heard that they are the relatives of the deceased from last night's incident, right? The one with red hair is Yamanaka's sister. He mentioned her to us before."

"..."

Sosuke remained silent, and his colleagues' expressions became increasingly unbearable.

"I understand you, Sosuke. After all, they are all children, still at the age of blooming flowers. One of them is even Yamanaka's younger sister... I can't bear it either."

"But the principle of secrecy is the principle of secrecy. Even if we don't want to, there's nothing we can do. I wasn't the only one who heard it just now. Everyone else knows that you were the first one to receive them."

"Anyone who knows or may know of those things must report them to the committee in a timely manner. This is our obligation and we cannot refuse."

“…They will die,”

After a moment of silence, Sosuke spoke softly, while his colleague sighed.

"Yes, but their deaths have nothing to do with us. They suffered this fate because they explored too much. And it wasn't us who did it anyway, so you don't need to blame yourself."

"How could I not blame myself?"

Junda Sosuke smiled bitterly, gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in unwilling anger.

"They're just children. They don't understand anything. They just noticed something they shouldn't have. They just want us to help them get justice... But I want to push them into the abyss with my own hands? How can you expect me to do that?"

"You have to do it,"

His colleagues stared at him.

"Sumidada, you have a daughter named Mana, right? She's an idol now, right? I've seen some promotions about her, she's a very cute kid."

"If you knew about this and didn't tell anyone, not only would you be in trouble, but she would also be removed from the whitelist of police officers' families. Just like how Yamanaka acted so recklessly, his sister has now been removed from the whitelist and is no longer eligible to sign a confidentiality agreement."

"Think about your daughter, Juntian. What would happen to her if you died? If she were to come and investigate your death like these kids, who would protect her then?"

"……I see,"

After a long silence, Junda Sosuke nodded weakly. He stood up numbly and walked to the back. His colleagues around him also cast complicated and sympathetic glances at him.

After arriving at a secret room, he silently picked up the special mobile phone on the table and dialed the number.

"This is dispatch. What can I do for you, Officer Junda?"

After a moment, a calm female voice sounded, and he sighed heavily.

"The family members of the deceased want to investigate last night's case. Their names are Eri Fujimura, Mai Yamanaka, and another friend of theirs."

"One of their classmates told them about this. To avoid suspicion, I didn't ask any further questions. They only have suspicions at the moment and don't know much."

"Thank you for your report, Officer Junda."

The female voice still responded calmly,

"Don't worry about what happens next. You will receive a bonus within three days. The specific amount is..."

"I don't want a bonus."

He gritted his teeth and said no word by word, but the woman remained calm.

"Okay, thank you again for your diligence. Do you have anything else to report?"

"Gone,"

Sosuke Junda suppressed his anger and hung up the phone. He looked at the phone for a long time, and the anger in his heart gradually turned into fatigue and powerlessness.

After a long moment, he sighed softly.

"sorry."

Chapter 31 Guilt

"Grandma, how are you feeling lately?"

Hachiman Hailing gently rubbed the old woman's stiff shoulders and spoke softly, while she smiled and nodded.

"Thanks to your help, Hailing, I've been feeling much better lately. You're such a fool! You just bumped into an old lady like me by accident. Why did you keep coming to see me until now?"

"I'm just worried about you,"

Hailing shrugged and stopped after making sure her body had stretched a lot.

"But you have to go out more often. You can't stay in bed all the time. Your body will rust."

"Haha, an old woman like me doesn't care about this anymore."

The old man smiled, then seemed to remember something, and his expression became a little painful.

"But, my granddaughter also likes to nag me like this, just like you, always asking me to go out more often. At that time, I could only smile and agree under her coquettishness... How did she encounter robbers?"

The old man couldn't help but cover his face and cry, and Hachiman Hailing couldn't help but pause at this time. She sighed silently, and there was a bit of depressed haze in her eyes, but her voice was still natural and concerned.

"Don't be sad, grandma. At least the robber has been put in jail. He has been punished."

Ridiculous lies,

"Yes, it's thanks to the police that they were able to catch him. If he had gotten away, I, the old woman, would have cursed him to death no matter what I offered in exchange."

The old man still nodded somewhat angrily, and Hachiman Kailing also forced a smile of approval.

"Yeah, it's better for this kind of scum to die."

The hypocrisy is disgusting.

"Well, let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about something else."

The old man sighed and stopped talking about this sad thing. Instead, he chatted with Hailing about recent interesting things, but the latter's ears were still lingering with malicious whispers.

You're such a damn bastard, chatting with her so happily? If she knew what you did, she would just strangle you to death without hesitation, right?

"...Sorry, grandma, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. I need to go to the bathroom first."

She closed her eyes, tried hard to support herself to say the last words, then turned and left in a hurry without waiting for the old man's response.

It was not until she locked herself in the small toilet cubicle that Hachiman Hailing finally could no longer bear the pain and guilt. She covered her face with her hands tremblingly and gasped for breath.

"sorry Sorry sorry……"

She still remembered the terrified expression on the little girl's face before she died. Not long ago, when she was dealing with a corpse, she broke into that remote warehouse, probably because she was looking for a place to play hide-and-seek. She was also frightened by the bloody corpse and wanted to escape in a panic.

...According to the principle of confidentiality, anyone who saw the scene cannot be kept, including children. After all, if too many people know about the case, it will be difficult for the police to continue to cooperate.

…If I let that girl escape, the characteristics of my outfit would be known, and the committee would know I had let her go, and the result would be death.

The strong feeling of self-loathing made Hachiman Hailing laugh miserably. She looked down at her hands, as if she could see the bloodstains on them.

She joined only out of hatred. She did not pay attention to the meaningful words of the white-masked hunter, nor did she pay attention to the "secret principle" that was not clearly stated in the contract terms.

But after joining, she finally realized her own stupidity and recklessness. The hunter's duties did include searching for strange things, but that was only part of it. The more important part was to safeguard the horrible truth in the shadows and to keep the public ignorant of it.

"Well, now that you've joined, I think you'll regret it... Hunter sounds like

It's the police in the dark, right? But if you really think that, you're dead wrong."

"We are bloody executioners, we are the rags used by the committee to wipe away stains. We must obey orders, otherwise we will be destroyed. And what we do most often is to kill those who know the truth or want to explore the truth."

"I know what you want to ask. Aren't those who accidentally learned the truth also innocent? Haha, you're right, but the committee won't allow them to live, so we can only obey."

She seemed to still hear the sneer of the white mask in her ears, causing Hachiman Hailing to grit her teeth in pain, trembling and curled up half-crouching on the ground.

"As for the truth, haha, according to the rules, we can't actively learn about it. Although you can gain some relevant experience later, don't expect any teaching materials for you."

"However, I can explain something to you in advance... Imagine, Hachiman, if from now on, everyone in the world suddenly possessed a weapon that was difficult to detect and trace. Anyone could use this weapon to kill people as long as they wanted, and it would have no problem with modern tracking methods. What would the world become?"

"Yes, it will become a mess. This kind of weapon is actually special knowledge. This is what we are wary of. Because any weapon created by humans can be controlled, but the knowledge that exists in the mind cannot be easily identified."

"This forbidden knowledge will make people fearful yet unable to resist exploring. And when a person possesses special powers, it will naturally be difficult for him to abide by the law."

When Hachiman Hailing's trembling finally stopped, she struggled to get up drowsily and looked at her exhausted face in the mirror.