"Sit down."
Makoto forced Siu into a chair. Siu gritted his teeth so hard it felt like his molars would break from the pain shooting up from his ankle. The ankle was swollen to the max from being jostled during the car ride and Makoto constantly tapping on it. However, it was hidden under his clothes and not visible.
"Ah... It fucking hurts..."
"Hey, snap out of it. Why are you making such a fuss?"
"Fuck, my bone's broken. You bitch."
"Bi, bitch?!"
Makoto jumped in place at Siu's words. A bitch?! She had never heard such vulgar language in her life. Are all people from Trinity like that? If so, it was understandable. Unlike the great Gehenna, the backwater Trinity is a lowly place!
The thought formed in an instant. Makoto snorted and plopped down onto a nearby chair.
"Alright. Let's start the interrogation. Name?"
"Park Siu."
"Cooperating smoothly, I see. Interesting."
"What could I possibly do even if I resisted?"
"Kikikik, you catch on quick for a Trinity resident."
Makoto snickered as she scribbled Siu's name in a notebook she pulled from her pocket.
"Hobbies?"
"Observing the night sky."
"Favorite food?"
"...Chicken."
"Then, least favorite food?"
"...Pickles. But what are you trying to do right now?"
"Huh? Can't you tell? This is why Trinity's no good."
Makoto clicked her tongue and thrust a pen in front of Siu's eyes.
"An investigation, of course! If I bring information about you, the subject of the rumors, to the Gehenna Intelligence Department, wouldn't that bring me closer to becoming the next student council president!"
"That's fucking stupid."
"Shut up!"
Makoto shouted as she slammed her palm down on the vehicle's bumper. Impressed by her forcefulness, Siu tightly closed his lips. Even though he didn't like the current situation, he had no intention of acting out like a mad dog. Because he had no confidence he'd survive if he did.
"Tch, what's your favorite animal?"
"Cats."
"Least favorite?"
"Bugs."
Several more questions and answers followed. Siu answered her questions while thinking, what the hell is this bullshit situation? A few minutes later, perhaps having run out of questions, Makoto tapped her lips with the pen and glared at the ceiling. In the meantime, Siu spoke first.
"There's something I want to ask."
"Asking questions when you've been kidnapped! But fine, since Lady Makoto here is in a good mood today, I'll kindly answer. Ask away!"
"...That 'rumor' you mentioned. What exactly is it about?"
He was more curious about that than the pain in his ankle.
Rumors were actually easy to create. Because if someone opened their mouth and spat out false information, if it was interesting enough, it would spread in an instant. Information passed from mouth to mouth gradually grew in size, and by the end, it was mostly quite twisted from the original information.
The rumor Makoto spoke of must have been transmitted in that way.
But if you thought about it even a little, you could realize that wasn't the case.
'There's no way the Gehenna Intelligence Department wouldn't know about a rumor that bastard knows.'
The contradictions were no small matter. A rumor that didn't spread in Trinity spread in Gehenna? But the Gehenna Intelligence Department doesn't know about that rumor? If that were true, that Intelligence Department should be shut down. It's no different from proving incompetence.
"You don't know the rumor related to you?"
"Yeah. Trinity wasn't interested in me from the start anyway. But why did a rumor about me spread in Gehenna?"
"Kikikik! This can't be helped! For your stupid sake, Lady Makoto here will kindly explain!"
Makoto stood up abruptly with a triumphant expression. It was an expression that made you want to punch her repeatedly. But the moment he did that, it wouldn't be her face but his fist that would get shattered. Unable to do anything, Siu swallowed his anger and waited for Makoto to open her mouth.
"So... that day was an ordinary day. I was driving a tank after ditching school like usual. Then, someone called out to me."
"...."
"Daring to call Lady Makoto so casually is a crime worthy of death ten thousand times over, but that day I was in a pretty good mood, so I kindly approached him. And I heard about you from him. He said, 'A suspicious black-haired man is wandering around Trinity. Investigating him will help you become student council president.'"
"I said it would make it easier to join the Intelligence Department!"
The Chief, who had been fiddling with Siu's smartphone, blurted out. Makoto slightly frowned and looked back at her.
"No. He clearly said it would help become student council president."
"What are you talking about? He said it would be easier to join the Intelligence Department? We were together, couldn't you even hear that properly?"
"No! What I heard is correct!"
"No, it's not. I'm right."
Siu cut in between the voices of the two who had started bickering.
"So who was the person who told you that?"
"Ha! I remember that clearly. Unlike that stupid Chief!"
"Me too. Unlike Makoto, I have a good memory."
The two glared at each other for a moment, then opened their mouths simultaneously. But no voices came out. They just gaped their open lips. Siu frowned at the sight, but the two were equally bewildered.
Who was that...? Him? Her? A beastman? Or a robot? What clothes were they wearing? What did they look like? What was their voice like? Height?
They couldn't recall a single thing. But it was certain that someone had been there.
A bizarre sensation. The Chief and Makoto trembled as if bugs were crawling all over their bodies, an unpleasant feeling. The more they thought, the more severe the discomfort became. A hazy fog covering their memories interfered with their thoughts. The two muttered vaguely about that fact.
Siu listened quietly to their story. Around the time it ended, a name suddenly came to mind.
'Gematria.'
Could it be that those bastards were involved?
Of course, it was just a simple, baseless suspicion with no physical evidence. But the name lodged in one corner of his mind refused to disappear and muddled Siu's thoughts.
If it was true that they were involved, what purpose did they have and why did they intervene? And using an indirect method like 'rumors' instead of coming directly.
Moreover, the target they told the rumor to wasn't a Trinity student but a Gehenna student. He couldn't grasp their intentions at all.
Maybe it wasn't Gematria's doing... but then it was more problematic. Unlike Gematria, whom he had faced directly, it meant some bastard he hadn't even met face-to-face was targeting him. The danger level suddenly skyrocketed.
'Damn it.'
Siu licked his lips while cursing inwardly.
There was a lack of decisive evidence. All the thoughts popping into his head right now were merely suspicions based on circumstantial evidence, with no clear truth grounded in facts. So, continuing to rack his brains was nothing but meaningless dog work.
"Alright, got it. That matter is done now, so can you untie me? I really feel like I'm gonna die from the pain."
This was sincere. The pain in his ankle, which he had been feeling since earlier, had now intensified even more. He was worried that if left alone, he might never be able to use his foot again. However, Makoto and the Chief were firm.
"No! I can't untie you yet! The investigation isn't over!"
"Right, right. Ah, and can I take just one photo?"
"Ugh, pull up my pants. I think it's completely fucked up right now."
"If you let me take a photo!"
"Ha... fuck... hurry up and take it."
"Yay!"
The Chief smiled brightly and put her arm around Siu's shoulder. She then took a selfie using Siu's smartphone. The Chief checked the cleanly taken photo and smiled sinisterly.
"Uhehehe..."
After checking that the photo was saved properly in the gallery, she entered Momotalk. Then, she skimmed the three messages at the top of the unread messages.
[Nagisa – Mr. Siu, the manager said you left work early today... (56)]
[Seia – Where art thou? I thought thou mightst be sleeping, so I went to the kindergarten but... (59)]
[Mika – Siu, where are you? Are you hurt somewhere? If you read this, reply right away. (82)]
The amount of messages from each was unusual. They were even updating in real time right now. When she checked earlier, the unread messages for all three were in the twenties, but now they had far exceeded that.
'These are all Trinity students, right?'
Then picking a fight unilaterally was legal. The Chief giggled and invited the three into a group chat. The response was explosive. Messages shot upward at an unreadable speed.
It didn't matter anyway. She had no intention of reading them.
Ignoring their messages, the Chief pressed the plus button next to the typing window and went into the album. Then, she threw the photo at the very front into the group chat.
It was a photo of herself smiling brightly and Siu with a distorted expression of pain.
"Now, what are you gonna say!"
The Chief flicked her tongue and waited for the three's reactions.
But after the uploaded photo, no more messages came up.