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Deduction Time
「……mhh……ah, kahaah.....!」
I felt like my head was spinning around. My mouth felt extremely hot. Wrong. It was swollen. There was a slimy sensation in my mouth. The slap earlier probably cut something inside of my mouth and caused bleeding. There was also the smell of vomit and something else, I suddenly felt disgusted. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Ahh, oi, don’t strain yourself!」
Such a voice called out from above when I tried to get up.
That voice, Wyst, huh. I looked around me. The surroundings were pitch black, and faint starlight shone in from the north side. So, this is our usual room. But, he was not the only one inside the room.
「Stay in your bed!」
Kovol said, with an unusually tense expression on his face.
「Are you.....alright?」
Dee was also looking down at me, looking worried.
And Dona - crouching on top of Wyst’s bed - was sobbing the whole time.
「Ah……」
The key to the office - which I always hung around my neck - is missing.
「Aah, I took....the key」
Wyst told me while turning his gaze away, looking hesitant.
He knows. What was lost was not the key, but trust. He hesitated to tell me because he thought it would make me sad.
I wonder how things ended up like this?
I think Myluc was deeply hurt. He treated me as more than a slave and cherished me. He called my real name when I was about to die in the stable and he even allowed me to enter and exit his office freely even today. He also discussed various important matters related to business. I ended up betraying his trust.
No, I did not betray his trust. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Hey」
Kovol moves his face closer.
「Is it true?」
「……what is?」
「That.....everything!」
Everything. The fact that Detel was dead. And, the fact that I secretly placed the letter to Tamaria informing her of the truth. Of course, the latter can not be the truth.
「Noor-kun, is not at fault」
Dona - still crouching on Wyst’s bed - muttered in a tearful voice. Kovol flinched at the strong will inside her low voice. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Noor-kun, wouldn’t do something like that. If, he wants to tell someone, he will talk with them. He wouldn’t have secretly left a letter like that」
「S, sorry! That, that’s right, isn’t it」
Feeling pressured, Kovol flailed his hands while sitting on a chair and tried to explain himself.
「Anyway」
I raised my upper body while feeling lightheaded.
「Water...I want to rinse my mouth」
The moon was hanging high in the sky. Is it, midnight already?
I gave them a brief explanation.I keep part of the letter a secret but.....in any case, the person who took in Detel resold him to a noble without permission and resulted in his death because of that. When I found out about the truth, Myluc told me to keep quiet. And even though I should have not told anyone about it, for some reason Tamaria knew about that fact after dinner.
「Is it true?」
Kovol keeps repeating that. Wyst then interrupted, perhaps he got fed up with it.
「So it was already decided, isn’t it? And you didn’t even tell me about it?」
Well now.
I had told you all the information on my side. But, there were 2 things I would like you to tell me as well.
「……Tamaria, how is she?」
Dee looked left and right when I asked that, but eventually she started talking.
「Right now, Jusa-san and Jill-san are beside her all the time.....she is sleeping in the medical office. Myluc-san said, it’s going to be dangerous for her to be alone」
「I see」
Then, it would probably be fine for the time being. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
Even so, that bright and cheerful Tamaria.....it was just as Myluc had said. She was, so to speak, putting on a brave face.
Last time when it was just the 2 of us, I asked her if she had any reservations about being a prostitute. She said that even living in a poor village, life is still miserable all the same so that kind of life is still a worthy choice. But, in the end, that was just an understanding in her mind, nothing more than logic. Even she must have wanted to grow up in a normal family and have a normal wedding. Even if it was nothing more than a poor or miserable life, no matter how severe.
To say nothing of her being a Ruinian (ルイン人). Her grandparents were from Aldiniaアルディニア region. That means, there is a high possibility they were believers of the Celiphas religion.
Unlike other regions where polygamy is being recognized, strict monogamy is the common practice in Celiphasia. There were widespread values where prostitution was considered the lowest way of life and premarital sex was unacceptable.
As someone raised while witnessing such a moral consciousness, how does Tamaria come to terms with being a prostitute? She might not have any other choice but to become a lewd woman.
But, now that I knew about it, what could I do at this point? Letting her go on without ever knowing the truth, with a medal in her heart, that was the only kindness I could offer her. Although she ended up becoming a prostitute, her younger brother will become a fine merchant.
Even so. I was starting to get irritated. It might seemed a little cruel, but I have had enough of human relations like this. How did it come to this?
The reason Myluc was angry was that he trusted me, and the reason Kovol, Dee, and Dona are here is because they trust me. But honestly it is all a pain. To being with, who am I? And where am I?
I am a slave and this is a slave’s housing facility. Even if Myluc had good intentions in his actions, that was his own business. I would eventually be sold and the earnings will go to him. Of course, the children are carefully raised by him with his own hands. So it was just a matter of a give-and-take relationship. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
The other children around were also under the exact same conditions. Some become servants of a noble house, some become a craftsman or a prostitute. But, once you leave this place, there was usually no longer any connection between each of our lives anymore. To put it simply, it was the same as the elementary school in my previous life. Given that even something like a class reunion could not be established, it was fair to say that our relationships are even more distant than that.
Even back in my previous life, relationships has never brought me any good result. It only adds unnecessary baggage. To me, familial bond - which should have been the strongest - become the heaviest burden instead.
In that sense,I may be lucky that I was in this world. I don’t have a hometown anymore. And once I leave here, yet another past will vanish. If I gotsold in the next auction, everyone would have forgotten about me in 5 years. I was just making an unnecessary worry right now because of such a flimsy relationship.
It seems like I had become too friendly with them. Because I was a little more brilliant than others, Myluc promoted me and had me look after the other children - and before I knew it -, all kinds of unnecessary thread of relationships had become tangled around me.
Whatever the case, we are going to separate soon. If I felt like it, I could just become a bird and fly away tonight. There is no need to deliberately choose to become a slave. The reason I remained here, was because I had no other means of living, and I could not even speak the language well. In short, this place is simply a checkpoint in my life. Right now, there is no longer any need or meaning for me to stay here.
But….
「So.....Dona? Can you talk?」
She flinched when I called out to her. But, after stiffening for a moment, she stopped sobbing, and turned to look at me with a resolute expression on her face. There are still tears in her eyes.
「Whaat?」
「The letter Tamaria read. I didn’t tell anyone. I also didn’t slip it into her room. But, I want to know how did that letter got into Tamaria’s hand. Did she got it herself, or did someone give it to her?」
She blinked, her mind still clouded with excitement as she tried to understand my question. But, she quickly explained it in a firm tone. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「We returned to our room together after dinner, and a piece of paper was at our feet. I noticed it because I stepped on it, and it made a different noise than usual. It looked like a letter so Tamaria picked it up while saying “why was this in this kind of place”... and “It’s really wrinkled, what if it’s a love letter”...」
She tried her best to remain calm, but her emotions were probably triggered because of remembering the incident that happened after.
「She read it without saying anything. I was thinking of asking the contents of the letter inside the room later, but things started getting weird. Before I knew it, she already dropped the letter. She said she’s feeling dizzy and wanted to go out of the room so I followed here. Then she suddenly started running, went to the kitchen to take a knife and started to rage. She said, “I’m going to kill him, I’m going to die”. Then you saw the rest」
She clenched her small, white hands tightly as she explained. Dona did not break into tears partway through as she firmly kept her emotions in check and finished her story.
「I understand. Thank you」
Although what should I do now. Someone stole the letter and threw it to their room. The most likely suspect for that was still me. There is no evidence to clear the suspicion on me.
It’s enough. Let’s just quietly leave this place.
「Everyone, thank you. Whatever happened, there’s nothing we can do about it. You all should return to your rooms and rest. It’s late already」
「Wait」
It was Dona who interrupted.
「Noor-kun, what are you going to do?」
「What do you mean?」
「You didn’t do it, right?」
「That’s obvious, but you know」
Would Myluc glare at me and make my life difficult from tomorrow? There was no need to worry. I could become a bird. And if I felt like it, I could sneak into Myluc’s room, steal his valuables, and escape. In fact, I could even take his life. Well, I don’t think of doing that, though.
……let’s quietly slip out once everyone is asleep. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Then, you should properly say it」
「He won’t listen. You saw it too before, right」
「So, you’re going to leave it like that?」
「I can’t be helped, can it?」
Rather, anything’s fine. It became a really good medicine. As expected, nothing good comes out of getting close to people.
「No」
「What d’you mean, ‘No’」
「You absolutely have to make him understand, so no」
But, it seemed like Dona did not intend to remain quiet.
Even so, it had been like this for a while, Dona always seemed to take my side. She was usually quiet and always just stared quietly at me but.....she also tried to protect me when I was about to be kicked earlier, and even now she firmly believes in my innocence. Although I didn’t really remember ever doing anything in an obvious manner.
「I also agree with Dona」
Wyst spoke. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Isn’t it strange? You’d also feel bad if kept getting pushed around, right?」
「Me too, I also feel sick! That person also did an awful thing to Tamaria. We can’t leave it alone」
The conversation continued to progress, leaving me out of it.
「Wait a minute. That, what should we do then? We don’t have any evidence, you know?」
Wyst looked at me with a face that seemed to say, ‘What are you saying now?’, when I protested.
「That’s what you should think about, right? You’re smart after all」
In the end, they threw the most important part to me.
Well now. I have not done it. What about Myluc? No way he would do that. Jill? Jusa? They had no reason to do that kind of thing, and Jusa probably had no idea about Detel’s death. Sensei, and the 2 guards are the same.
So, someone.....who was it?
Just when I racked my brain, Kovol opened his mouth.
「You didn’t do it. Then, someone did it, right? Someone who snuck into the office」
Dee retorted at such simplistic thinking.
「Kovol is an idiot」
「What’d you say!」
「The office is locked. The only people who are allowed to enter are the adults, and Noor」
Right. It would be a different story if the lock were broken, but the lock is not that weak.
「Maybe you forgot to lock the door!?」
「No, the door was properly locked. I also remember unlocking the door when entering」
Wyst interrupted. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Ah, maybe you just don’t realize it? You actually forgot to lock the door, then someone snuck into the office, and locked it themselves?」
「I can’t say that’s not possible but....it shouldn’t be like that. Also, every time I leave the room, Myluc checks to see if the door is locked or nota little while after」
Of course, that made sense. It was not normal to entrust a slave with the key. To say nothing of the fact that the slave is a kid. There would probably be times when I might inadvertently forget to lock the door. So it was natural for him to check and make sure it is locked.
「So the only way for that person to enter is when I forgot to lock the door, or when Myluc also didn’t check.....another possibility is that if that person stole the key from me, which is not the case this time. If that’s the case」
I reflected. Who broke into the office, and for what?
「I wonder what that person was doing in the office? Say if everyone can enter the office, 」
Everyone tilted their head to the side at my question. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「So, in short. This is how things ended up as a result but that person should not have know about the letter’s existence in the first place. Even I don’t know about it until I read the letter.....if, I had forgotten to lock the door - which I don’t think happened - and someone must have gotten inside before us, they must have heard the conversation between me and Myluc. And then they knew about the letter’s existence….in other words, even if they hate me or Tamaria, they didn’t sneak in to hurt Tamaria at the start. Do you understand?」
Dee tilted her head at my lengthy explanation and said.
「Dee...it's not that I don’t want to enter that room」
「Eh? Why?」
「I mean, there are sweet treats there」
That was right!
True, normally we don’t get that many opportunities to eat sweets. It was only my privilege. And even I don’t eat them all the time. Since it will already be too late once you get cavities. After all, the toothpaste in this world is incomparable to the modern Japan.
「No, but even so」
I reorganized my thoughts while at my wits’ end.
「If I happened to forget to lock the door at that time, how would I realize that? Does that person check whether the door is locked or not every time I go in or out? I don’t forget about things that often, y’know? Much less Myluc」
That’s right. Once you are inside the office, you can get your hands on sweets. This gave the culprit a motive to regularly enter the office. But, the possibility of that was just too low. How would that person get their hands on sweets, passing through my - and Myluc’s - check.....no, wait a minute?
『I certainly said you can drink the tea and eat the sweets in this room while working, but don’t you think you are eating them too much? I am not being stingy or anything, but you will have a cavity if you continue like that. Slave with cavities will not sell, be mindful of that』
「That’s right!」
「W, what is it?」
Kovol was surprised at my shout, but I didn’t pay attention to that.
「Myluc said it before. Recently, the sweets have been decreasing quickly. But, I hardly eat any of them. Myluc is the same. Why didn’t I realize it until now?」
「Is that, really true? That means.....」
Wyst’s gaze sharpened. Looks like he also realized it. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「That means. Regardless of how that person does it.....that person sneaks into the office and has his own way of entering」
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