Memoirs of the Returnee

Chapter 132: Lion Cub (1)

Lion Cub (1)

Still, the museum was filled with the resonating sounds of classical music. The bodies of the two men who had tried to resist the villains were removed, and the rest, trembling in fear, held their breath.

──Just. All you need to do is stay here. That is your role.

Elise suddenly looked at her wrist. There were small pebbles on the spot where Shion had grabbed her, arranged like letters.

[I’ll explain later. Just stay still.]

After reading, she shook her wrist, and the pebbles scattered.

──As before, pointless courage and resistance only lead to meaningless slaughter. So, please rest comfortably.

The man obsessed with classical music left. His place was taken by a female masked figure. The woman who had attacked her. She approached the mages tied with electrical wires and gestured with her chin.

“Get up.”

The other masked figures forcibly stood up the mages, including Elise. Some resisted, but they were suppressed by the crackling—! high voltage current.

“Take them away.”

Elise glared at the masked female figure. It was essentially a threat. Remember my face – she seemed to say.

The masked figure didn’t flinch, and Elise was dragged away.

It was a prison.

There was a prison in this museum. A prison that had been restored for viewing, which had actually been used in ancient temples.

“.......”

Elise scanned the doors lined up in the long corridor. Each one was a solitary cell.

Her heart tightened for a moment.

Creak—

The female masked figure stood Elise in front of a solitary cell and opened the door.

“Go in.”

Elise instinctively resisted.

“......Go in.”

The masked figure pushed her hard. Elise shook her head. She struggled with all her might.

The masked figure sighed lightly and grabbed the back of her neck.

Crackle-!

The current ran, and with her strength drained, she was finally pushed inside.

Bang-!

The door closed.

─The door closed.

──The door closed.

Elise looked around the inside. It was all dark and completely blocked off.

“.......”

Her mouth was dry. Her breath was short. Her breathing was not continuous.

Crackle-! Crackle-! The pain from the electrical wires, which she could bear until now, suddenly felt as if her whole body was being drilled with an electric saw.

“Haah...... haah.......”

Just when her mind and body were about to give out.

Swoosh-

The sound of something opening.

Then, a slight light seeping in.

Elise quickly lifted her head.

A small square window attached to the iron door of the solitary cell. The observation window that the jailer had opened to monitor the prisoner.

Behind it, a masked man was standing at an angle.

Sssssssss...... Pebbles flowed in through the window gap and formed a shape.

[Are you okay.]

Elise just stared at it.

[It seems like these guys really don’t intend to harm the hostages. I’ll stay by your side, so hang in there.]

She slowly regained her senses. She stood up her drained body.

[You saved me before, too. So, we’re even.]

Thanks to that, her mind calmed down, and at the words ‘we’re even’, a faint smile formed on her face.

Elise leaned against the iron door, quietly sensing him beyond the wall.

“Pfoooh....”

A sigh of relief slipped through the tape-wrapped seams of her mouth.

“Thank you.”

She even managed to whisper a few words. Shion let out a low, hollow laugh.

But then.

─C03.

There was a presence approaching. Elise jerked away from the iron door.

It was that damned masked woman.

She shoved Shion aside and alternately looked at herself and Shion inside the cell.

─Why did you open this window on your own?

─......

Shion didn’t answer, and the masked woman, grinding her teeth in anger, asked in a furious voice.

─Who are you?

At that moment, Elise felt a strange stomachache. It was a pain as if her intestines were being cut off.

─Take off the mask. New novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

Bang-! The window closed.

She was plunged into darkness again.

“Ugh!”

She wanted to shout no, but her mouth was already sealed. No, doing so would only advertise that he was on her side.

So, there was nothing she could do.

“......”

Elise leaned against the iron door.

What will happen to Shion now?

He’s not on their side, so if he’s exposed, he might...

Be killed.

...Because of me?

In addition, I utilized a relatively new feature of the 「Notepad」. I ‘extracted’ some memories from the unconscious man’s mind.

‘C03.’

His codename was C03. He was insolent and didn’t bow to his superiors.

Having absorbed his memory, I pretended to be C03.

I didn’t know where and how they would kidnap Elise, so I stayed in the cave, waiting for an opportunity.

──One day ago.

[Night Moon] finally briefed their operation. They planned to dig under the Partium Museum. They had detected some sort of ‘ancient artifact’ vibrations beneath it.

Their plan was to take the museum visitors hostage, steal the artifact, and then make a smooth escape.

──6 hours ago.

I found Elise at the Partium Museum. She had already been knocked out by B04, and when she woke up, she seemed to be trying to resist with the help of other mages, but [Night Moon] was too much for Elise to handle at the moment.

I approached her before she could do anything foolish or suffer unnecessarily. I firmly grabbed her wrist and took off my mask.

‘......?’

Elise’s expression at that moment was quite something. Her dumbfounded face was so funny that I unknowingly smiled and put a finger to my lips.

Shush.

──Present.

“Why are you suddenly acting up?”

I confronted B04. It was a behavior based on C03’s personality.

“......I misunderstood. Put it back on.”

B04 shrugged her shoulders. I grumbled as I put the mask back on. B04 asked in a somewhat softened tone.

“Why did you open the surveillance window?”

“I just looked because the face seemed familiar. B04. Don’t you know who that person is?”

“Shush.”

B04 put a finger to her mask’s lips.

“I know. The negotiation is already over.”

“You know? You’re holding her even though you know?”

“......Petra’s daughter. We’ll secure her as a hostage once we receive the promised money. Then we’ll abandon her in the middle of the desert.”

It was a crazy talk about making the entire Petra an enemy.

“And if she dies? You’re going to turn Petra into an enemy?”

“No.”

B04 glanced around subtly. It seemed like a matter not yet disclosed to the lower ranks.

“We’re saying we’ll kidnap her if we get the money from them.”

“So what does that mean.......”

I suddenly stopped talking. My head was spinning.

If we receive the ‘promised money’, we’ll kidnap.

Not extorting money after kidnapping, but ‘if we receive the money’, we’ll kidnap.

Receiving ‘money’ as a reward for kidnapping.

For some reason, those consecutive words in my ears...... sounded as if they were ‘doing a favor’ by kidnapping.

Something’s strange.

Either these guys have a screw loose, or they misspoke, or.

Or.

I slowly tilted my head. I looked at B04.

“......I also received the information in a hurry. If you understand, don’t make a fuss about it. We’ll get our fair share.”

At that remark, a certain person comes to mind.

Elise’s father── Gen Petra.

I knew him well.

A body as solid as diamond and a face resembling a lion.

He was already a ‘complete’ human being.

That’s not necessarily a good thing.

He was someone who wouldn’t allow anything other than his own beliefs to interfere. A man who could not be stained.

Someone who could never, ever be persuaded.

He was a knight like a furnace, relentlessly pursuing what he believed to be right, and infinitely fulfilling his own ambitions.

“Ah......”

Somehow, it was strange.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed so.

Elise, for a child of the Petra family, was oddly involved in many incidents.

She had been the target of too many crimes.

She had been kidnapped, even had an entire passenger plane she was on hijacked, and had been the target of bomb terrorism and attempted assassinations at least half a dozen times.

Elise changed through these countless incidents.

She became a monster greater than Gen Petra, growing the Petra family’s stature into a giant without regard for means and methods.

Beside such a complete monster, there was a father who was satisfied.

To such Elise, Gen Petra willingly left all his inheritance.

“Go back. Leaving her alone is ‘their’ intention. We are thorough in negotiations.”

“......Just in case, I’ll stay by the door.”

“Permission granted.”

B04 stepped back, and I walked down the corridor of the solitary cell.

I stood in front of the place where Elise was imprisoned.

I stared at the tightly closed iron door.

Grawl is inside, so it should be fine. The worst situation won’t happen.

“......”

But, my heart feels a bit strange.

Is this sympathy, compassion, or a ‘Eureka’ moment after fully understanding Yael’s intentions?

I leaned against the iron door. Looking at the ceiling, I murmured softly.

“You too......”

Gen Petra probably made contact as soon as Elise got involved with [Night Moon].

But instead of rescuing her, he would have demanded a different ‘situation’.

“It must be hard, huh.”

A lion drops its cub off a cliff.

Even if the whole world condemns it as lunatic behavior, at least the lion would think it’s doing the right thing.......