Chapter 92
And if they managed to solve this case, if they succeeded in capturing the perpetrator behind all these murders.
Then they would not merely be putting an ordinary criminal on trial.
They would be interrogating an Abnormal directly.
They would obtain information from the primary source about that time-spanning entity—about how it operates, about its motives, about all the mysteries that have long hovered over the world of timekeeping.
Arya, standing beside her, also smiled.
He had read the thoughts of his captain from those two blinks earlier, understanding that this hunt had suddenly turned into something far more significant than an ordinary murder investigation.
Yet behind that smile, behind the curiosity beginning to surge within her, something else stirred in the depths of Nirma's heart.
Something older.
Something deeper.
Something personal.
The Sinking Mire.
A rumor that had haunted her for a long time—a rumor about a place outside Constantinople that swallowed merchants, pilgrims, and travelers who attempted to pass through it.
No one had ever returned to tell what truly happened there.
No bodies had been found.
No witnesses had survived.
Only stories whispered with trembling voices in taverns and city markets.
Until now, Nirma had suspected that the Sinking Mire was also inhabited by something abnormal—something not human, something that might originate from the same world as the Abnormal they were now hunting.
Another red thread began stretching across her thoughts.
If this Abnormal truly was the mastermind behind all the murders in Constantinople, if it truly was a creature that enjoyed altering history by extinguishing lives that should have continued to exist.
Then it was entirely possible that the Sinking Mire was one of its hiding places.
It was entirely possible that the missing merchants and pilgrims were its other victims—victims never recorded in official reports because no one knew exactly when or where they had died.
Nirma raised her hand, signaling Ashita and Tegar to remain where they were.
In the corridor that was beginning to grow quiet, with soldiers still standing guard in the distance yet far enough away not to hear whispers, Nirma opened her mouth and spoke in a voice utterly foreign to the soldiers' ears.
Old Church Slavonic flowed smoothly from her lips—ancient words understood only by a handful of people in the world, words that ensured no one in the corridor except the four of them could grasp their meaning.
"Азъ бо вельми радъ есмь о малѣ семь вѣсти, юже ми повѣдала еси."
Nirma looked sharply at Ashita.
Her eyes no longer held the anger that had appeared earlier, but rather a deep curiosity.
"Нъ что ради повѣдала ми еси сиа? Кую имѣши вину?"
(TL: I am very pleased with the small piece of information you have given me. But why did you tell me this? What is your motive?)
Ashita smiled.
A wide and sincere smile—like someone who had just heard an extremely funny joke.
She glanced briefly at Tegar, then looked back at Nirma with sparkling eyes.
When she spoke, her language shifted again into that strange mixture of modern English and Indonesian slang that forced Nirma to listen with extra attention.
"Oh my God, Nirma, you're so cute when you're confused, you know that?"
She let out a small laugh—light and almost sweet—before continuing in a slightly more serious tone, though still wrapped in her peculiar style.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you the real reason. Sebenernya, gak tega aja lihat kalian. I mean, look at you two."
Her hand pointed alternately at Nirma and Arya.
"Kalian jalan di kegelapan, meraba-raba, searching for clues, trying to make sense of things, while we, like, already have the whole picture. It's kinda sad, actually. Kasian gitu loh."
Ashita stepped forward again, closing the distance between herself and Nirma more than before.
Her eyes met Nirma's directly, and for a moment there was no mask there—no flawless acting—only the raw honesty she had hidden all this time.
"We're from the Linear Time Police, Nirma. Kami punya akses ke informasi yang bahkan tidak bisa kalian bayangkan. We know things. Lots of things. Tapi kami juga punya aturan, we can't just spill everything to everyone.
Tapi you? You're different. Lo pernah membunuh orang tua gue, dan lo bahkan gak tahu siapa gue sebenarnya sampai sekarang. That's, like, really really ironic."
She laughed again, though this time the laughter sounded slightly bitter.
"So yeah, I gave you that info because I felt bad. Kasian lihat lo muter-muter gak jelas, while the answer is literally right in front of you. Lo boleh anggap ini sebagai, I don't know, compensation? For my parents? Atau mungkin karena gue simply suka lihat ekspresi lo when you're surprised. Priceless banget, seriously."
Ashita raised her left index finger and slowly rubbed her left eye, almost as if wiping away a tear that wasn't there.
The movement was strange.
Too theatrical for merely scratching an itch.
Too deliberate to be an ordinary gesture.
Nirma watched with narrowed eyes, trying to decipher what the woman in front of her was truly trying to convey.
And then Ashita spoke again—still using that strange mixture of languages—but now her words jumped erratically, like someone feverish or possessed.
"Okay, so, like, this is gonna sound really random, but hear me out."
Ashita looked at Nirma with eyes that had suddenly turned serious, even though her tone remained light.
"Waktu itu, you know, time, itu bukan cuma garis lurus. It's like, a circle, atau spiral, atau maybe even a tangled ball of yarn that some cosmic cat has been playing with for centuries. Dan di dalam semua kekusutan itu, ada lima agama besar yang saling tarik menarik, like they're playing tug of war with the fate of humanity.
Islam, Kristen, Hindu, Buddha, Konghucu.
Lima agama, lima kekuatan, lima cara memandang waktu dan keabadian. Dan Abnormal ini, dia bukan sekadar anomali biasa.
Dia adalah seseorang yang mencoba mengubah keseimbangan itu, yang mencoba menarik satu tali lebih keras dari yang lain sampai seluruh simpulnya kendor."
Ia berhenti sejenak, menarik napas, lalu melanjutkan dengan nada yang semakin tidak jelas.
"Kadang gue berpikir, maybe we're all just characters in a story that's already been written. Tapi kemudian gue ingat, kita punya free will, kita bisa mengubah alur cerita itu. Atau setidaknya, kita bisa mencoba. Dan itulah yang dilakukan Abnormal ini.
Dia mencoba menulis ulang cerita dengan caranya sendiri, dengan menghapus karakter-karakter yang seharusnya penting. Beberapa riwayat dalam keagamaan, misalnya.
Dia kecil, dia tidak terkenal, tapi dalam jalinan waktu yang rumit, kepergiannya bisa mengubah segalanya. Like a butterfly effect, you know?
Seekor kupu-kupu mengepakkan sayapnya di Konstantinopel, dan seribu tahun kemudian, sebuah kerajaan runtuh di tempat yang bahkan tidak pernah ia dengar namanya."
Arya, beside Nirma, frowned as he tried to understand Ashita's scattered words.
Tegar, standing behind Ashita, remained silent with his usual flat expression.
Yet at the corner of his eyes flickered a faint glint—one that suggested he knew exactly what his companion was doing.
To be continued…