You were chosen from the day you were born. You must remain conscious of this.”
“Yes, father.”
“We are the chosen ones. It is our duty to guide the foolish common folk.”
“Yes, father.”
“Look at them, crawling in the mud. There is no value in their lives. Were it not for our compassion, they would die as miserably as they live.”
“Yes, father.”
“Their very blood is tainted. Their world is not yours. You must never speak with them again. Do you understand?”
“… yes, father.”
“Yes. You will be staying there for some time. Arrangements have already been made for your education. Remember, you must such as to bring honor to our family, Sakuya.”
“Yes, father.”
“Also, doctor Iwamine is in residence at the institution you will be attending. He is a prestigious doctor. It would not be exaggerating to say that our current glory is thanks in part to him. Do not disrespect him.”
“Yes, father.”
With that flashback out of the way, we return to Ryouta and the crew in the maintenance office.
“The doctor and Yuuya must have seen her. What happened in there? … they must both be lying.”
Yuuya has been helping us all this time, and I don’t want to suspect him. But he’s clearly been hiding the truth…
“Could Yuuya be covering for the doctor…?”
“We don’t know that for sure. The mongrel could be lying to cast doubt on doctor Iwamine…”
It’s not impossible, but… from what we’ve seen so far, the most likely conclusion is that they’re working together.
“Sakuya… you were the one who said we needed to remove our biases. We need to solve this.”
“… I am aware.”
I want to go confront them now, but with only Anghel’s testimony, our evidence is a little weak. They’ll probably slip out of it again if we go now. They’re both much more eloquent than I am, and they’ll try to dodge the issue…
Which means—
“We need to… search the infirmary.”
“Do you intend to go in without asking?”
“Yeah. The more stealthily we do it the better, right? If the doctor finds out, he’ll come up with some way of stopping us, for sure…”
“… understood. I will go to the lab and keep them occupied, while you search the infirmary.”
“Thank you, Sakuya!”
“Mister Leone!”
“I have something for you. Sorry for being late, I was somewhat delayed.”
“What are these?”
“The first is the Massive Key. It should open just about any of the simple locks in the school, and is as Bright and Massive as its owner. The other is a stungun. If you need to protect yourself, use it.”
“You will have more use for those than I, Kawara. Hold onto them.”
“Right. Thank you, mister Leone!”
Maybe I should write in the notes before I go to the infirmary.
Ryouta jots down his recent findings. Meanwhile, in the lab, Anghel is, er, confronting the doctor.
“I wonder what the doctor is doing?”
“Please stop breaking school property, mister Higure.”
“I have returned from Judecca to defeat you! As long as you live, Calamitous Sorceror, the world will be wrapped in Eternal Despair!”
“When he says things with such conviction, I almost find myself believing them…”
“Please, that isn’t funny.”
“Yes, yes. Come on, Higure. Let’s go back to the gym, okay?”
“No! Stop! Do not throw me out like some wretched doll!”
Anghel kicks and flutters out of the room of his own accord.
“I suspect he has suffered from megalomania since birth.”
“Megalomania? Whatever do you mean?”
“Delusions of grandeur. Eschewing societal standards, he lives his life in the midst of some bizarre fantasy. Perhaps it is genetic.”
“There would be no helping it then, would there?”
“He is unusually active in the destruction of his surroundings, especially given his physique. Internal prejudice is a terrible thing, I suppose. He is no doubt exerting to the limits of his capacity at all times.
The most dangerous part of his ability to bring his surroundings into his fantasy. Though, I seem to be less affected than you.
… and since, although I invited him to the school, I have yet to find a use for him, the whole thing has been nothing but a waste of time.”
Kazuaki blinks, suddenly seeming a little more alert.
“Did you say something just now, doctor?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
Sakuya arrives on the scene.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, hello, Shirogane. What’s going on? Where did Kawara go?”
“He is investigating another area at the moment.”
… only doctor Iwamine and Nanaki here now.
“Isn’t Sakazaki here?”
“I think he’s walking around to calm his nerves again. He’s very brave, to be out and about with that scarecrow on the loose.”
“Not brave, just imprudent.”
Stupid mongrel! Stop pretending to be migratory and get back here so I can distract you. I wanted to occupy both of them, if possible, but… at least they don’t realize that we suspect them yet. Just the doctor should be enough.
“Doctor Iwamine, I came here to ask your opinion of something.”
“My opinion? I fear I will not be of much use to you there.”
My body has never required me to visit the infirmary. I have not had much occasion to talk to the doctor since moving here, but I can read his expression perfectly well all the same.
It says “I’m not telling you anything”.
“Where is mister Kawara? Did you have a falling out? He did seem to be suspecting me based on nothing but his own prejudice… a pity.”
“I agree, sir. To doubt someone based merely on one’s own preconceptions is… balivernes, sir. It is nonsense.”
That’s right. I must be perfectly logical in all things.
“You are renouned as one of the most intelligent birds in the world, doctor. I do not think that you could be involved in such a grisly crime as this.”
“It is an honor to be so praised by the heir to the Le Bel family.”
Completely flat. Does he never speak with emotion?
“I hold a deep respect for you, doctor. You might not be aware, but my father owes his life to your medicine.
A few years ago… your work allowed the Le Bel family to continue on to even greater glory.”
“Is that so? I had not known. I am afraid that I know little of the fates of the drugs that I develop.”
“The life of but one bird may not be significant to you, but we of the Le Bel family will never forget.”
“Hohoho, how wonderful. I take it your father is a figure of great respect?”
“Of course. The family head must always be honored.”
“It would seem that you hold your own biases even more dearly than mister Kawara holds his, almost like the foundation of your very existence.”
“……”
“… I would rather like to see the expression on your face when that foundation collapses. Hohoho.”
He smiles unsettlingly, and Sakuya is left troubled as the camera returns to Ryouta.
Has it been locked ever since the alarm this morning? The doctor went straight to the lab to begin the autopsy, and I think he’s been with somebirdie else ever since.
“Let’s see, maybe that Massive thing mister Leone gave me will do the trick…
……
……… Yes!”
I need to look for evidence that Tera was in here, quickly…! But, where do I start? The longer I spend poking around in corners, the bigger the risk that I’ll get caught…
I need to remember… I’ve been in here a lot, every time I got sick. Where would the doctor hide something he didn’t want anyone else to see…?
“… didn’t he forbid even his assistants from touching his desk…?”
It would seem he keeps his drawers locked tight.
“You’re up, Massive thing!”
The Massive Key is once again deployed.
Inside are… medical records? He’s probably supposed to keep personal information locked up… Though I never reslly thought of him as the respectful type.
There are only one, two, three… Four files. The names are—
Kawara Ryouta, Thielle Tera, Fujishiro Nageki, and Shirogane Sakuya.
“What…?”
I’m not surprised to see a file on me in here, but… Tera and Sakuya never had any reason to be in here. And—
“Fujishiro Nageki…”
Looking closely, Nageki’s folder says “St. Pigeonation’s Medical Center” on the side, while the others don’t. And the date is from five years ago. Did he take this from the medical center?
Since it’s here… he must know something about the fire back then. Are the other three… records from physical exams? They’re full of strange symbols and numbers, and I’m not sure what they mean.
“Huh?”
Sakuya’s has a second piece of paper in it. It looks like some sort of memo or—
A sudden, blinding pain in the back of my head. I can’t move. I fall, unconscious.
……
………
Some time later, Ryouta comes to again.
“U… uurgh…”
Where am I…? I feel dizzy…
”!
That’s right, I was looking for evidence in the infirmary…!”
The medical records are gone.
“Somebirdie took them…?”
I managed to get knocked out even with the stungun mister Leone gave me. Darn it! I don’t know who attacked me, but those records must have been important, to get stolen away like that.
“Aargh! Darn it! Why did I let myself get taken from behind like that!?”
I had our records. Even with those, it would have been hard to prove anything… Whoever attacked me must have been the criminal. They probably wouldn’t leave anything, but maybe they missed a clue in here somewhere?
“… huh?”
I hadn’t noticed earlier, but there’s a card under the desk, in a corner I wouldn’t have seen if I weren’t on the floor.
“This is… Tera’s student ID…”
There’s blood on the corner. So it wasn’t dropped here by accident before she was killed.
“… it must have happened in here.”
But for some reason, I still feel unsure. I almost feel like this is too good to be true. Like I’m being led along…
If the doctor were behind it all, surely he could avoid casting so much doubt on himself? Just what is he after, anyway?
… but, I’m not worried about who is doing what and why. I’m worried about finding the one who did this to Tera. I need to talk with Sakuya.
Sakuya is still in the lab, discussing distractions with Shuu.
“Correct. Even if she were cut up last night and distributed this morning, it would involve a good deal of physical labor.”
“Sakuya?”
“… you again.”
“Can we go to the maintenance room? We need to talk.”
“Very well.”
As Sakuya turns to depart, Shuu calls him back.
“… mister Shirogane.”
“Yes, doctor?”
“Just as an aside… it would be impossible for one such as myself.”
“Even with the knowledge and tools of a physician?”
“Even so. I am not a particularly healthy person.”
“Not a healthy person…?”
“The doctor is slightly impaired down his right side, you know.”
“He is…? I never knew.”
“I was injured, long ago. My right wing never fully recovered, though it rarely poses problems in daily life. A human corpse is heavy. It seems like a bit much to go dragging around with one wing, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it’s all true. It’s even recorded in the faculty medical records.”
“It is? I see… thanks, I’ll remember that.”
“I think so, yeah. I wonder about the other records, too. Why you, me, and Tera all together? Could that really be a coincidence?
Did you go there often after you moved here, or anything?”
“Not once. Nobility knows no illness.”
Yeah. I’ve never seen him sick, and he always seems pretty lively.
“I hadn’t known about the doctor’s injury… kind of a bad thing to find out now.”
“Bad? Because it is inconvenient to your theory? We must remain just. No harm can ever come from learning more of the truth.”
I guess so… Maybe it’s because he’s not very active, or because he never leaves the infirmary, but guess I’ve never really had a chance to notice his disability.
“If he couldn’t have done it alone, it makes it seem more likely that he was working together with Yuuya.”
“Blasted mongrel… no good can ever come of his presence. He merely confuses the issue.”
A familiar voice drifts down the hallway.
“Salutations! Were you gossiping about me?”
“What a pickle! I guess I’m the topic of choice among the boys as well as the girls, now. Not that I mind.”
“Don’t let it get to your head, mongrel. We weren’t saying anything good about you.”
“That’s right, Yuuya. From your point of view, we were subjecting you to vile slander and ill gossips!”
“You’re very frank, Ryouta. Nothing wrong with that. What kind of slander? Perhaps you shouldn’t say, lest my fragile heart shatter like a maiden’s crystal glass, dropped by an unkind lover.”
It should be obvious what we were talking about from our faces alone, but… he’s completely relaxed. I doubt his heart is made of glass, though. Used tires, maybe. Something that is completely impervious to abuse.
“Your unsolicited presence saves us the trouble of looking for you. We demand answers from you.
You lied. You met Thielle in the infirmary yesterday. Did you kill her?”
“… so, you doubt me. I’d love to see your evidence.”
“We found her ID, stained with blood. In the infirmary.”
“You are duty-bound to answer. What did you see in the infirmary yesterday? And what did you do?”
“Well, I… can’t tell you anything. Sorry. I can’t say… anything at all.”
“Cease this foolishness! You know sommething, don’t you!? Do not attempt to dodge the—”
An increasingly loud scraping noise interrupts the interrogation.
!
“Run, you two!”
“Such terrible timing! Nobirdie likes a man who can’t read the atmosphere, mister scarecrow.”
“Is this the time for jokes!? Run! Go!”
All three flee, Ryouta first, Sakuya and Yuuya shortly after, stopping only to catch their breath.
“Well, it doesn’t look like it’s noticed us. I guess it’s not too keen on chasing people.”
“Your idle flirtations sicken me! Filthy mongrel!”
“Ssh! Do you want it to hear us? Hmm… how about this. I’ll go first, and lure mister beanpole-man towards the cafeteria. You head for the maintenance room while it’s distracted, okay?”
“You plan to act as a decoy…? Don’t think this will stop me from suspecting you.”
“I wasn’t asking you to. I’ve been your ally until now, so why stop now?”
“Our ally…?”
“Anyway, run for it as soon as we’re out of sight. Adieu!”
Yuuya gives a light salute before putting his plan into action, Sakuya running for the maintenance room.
“I was worried that maybe you got caught…”
“… indeed.”
“Isn’t Yuuya with you? We never got him to answer anything…”
“I do not know. He ran in the opposite direction.”
“Hmm… we don’t have much time left. I think the only thing to do is get him to talk to us and then confront the doctor. He’s been helping us this whole time, but… I don’t know if we can still consider him our ally.”
“Our ally… indeed.”
He looks pensive.
“You’ve always been separated, right? So, you don’t really know how he usually acts, or… if he’d be likely to do something like this, or—”
“How could I know? He and I live in… different worlds. As my father said. I couldn’t know.”
“I’m an only child, so I don’t really understand siblings, but I… think I know how you feel about him, Sakuya.”
“Do not make me repeat myself. He and I have no connection. But… I want to believe that… he is not my enemy.”
Looks like Sakuya isn’t entirely sure what to think. The prime suspects are the doctor who aided his family and his own half-brother… if I were given the same situation, I wouldn’t be as calm as he is.
We should write in the notes, and then go talk to the doctor. … go find out exactly what happened in the infirmary.
The game is saved.
We’ve figured out a lot of things, but… there’s still a lot that remains a mystery. It’s 6 PM. We don’t have much time. Can we solve this and get out alive in only four hours…?
“All right, let’s go, Saku—”
Huh?
Sakuya is nowhere to be seen.
“… Sakuya?”
“Your friend already left, young one.”
”!
Wh-why didn’t you say so earlier!?”
He’s planning to confront the doctor alone!
Ryouta hurries off after him.
By extension, the doctor who saved his life must also be valuable. I must not disrespect him… because that is what father told me.
My brother, born of a low father, is a worthless being. Thought he looks noble, his veins flow with filthy, impure blood. I must not associate with those of low birth… because that is what father told me.
But I am no longer sure. What is blood? Why does it divide us so?
Sakuya has already made it back to the lab.
“… where is the doctor?”
“He said he was going back to the infirmary. Maybe he forgot something there.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re going right after him? Don’t you want any tea? … well, be careful.”
By the time Kazuaki’s finished, Sakuya’s long out the door.
“……
He looked rather troubled… I hope he’s all right.”
“You look quite fatigued. Would you care to rest for a little while?”
“You… you are wrong, are you not, sir?”
“Whatever could you mean?”
“I wish to learn the truth. What did you and Sakazaki do? Which of you decided to kill Thielle?”
“That’s not something to say without proof, mister Shirogane. But then… we have but little time left. Perhaps I shall explain things to you.
I did not kill miss Thielle This is the truth.”
“……!”
Of course. How could I let myself be swayed by idle rumors? The doctor could not possibly carry out such an atrocity.
“Mister Sakazaki did not kill her, either. Which raises the question… who did?”
“Sakazaki admitted that he was involved in the crime! He cannot possibly be—”
“I merely said that he did not kill her. I did not say he wasn’t involved. Of course, the same applies to myself.”
“The two of you did not kill her, but were involved…? But then… Who did kill her…?”
Shuu simply shakes his head.
“Oh, dear me… this won’t do. Talking to you makes me feel like I’m about to fall asleep. I suppose these are the limits of a mere mongrel.”
Sakuya’s expression twitches with confused indignance.
… what did he just say?
“Doctor, I—”
“Could you be quiet for a minute, mister Shirogane? You bore me.”
A malicious grin crosses his face.
“You filthy… low-born… mongrel.”
“Wha… what are you saying, sir!? I am not like Saka—”
“You did well. Thanks to you, mister Kawara has found almost everything he needs. Just one more push, and he’ll be done. Thank you, mister Shirogane.”
A glint of white steel. His left wing slowly traces an arc through the air.
Why was I left behind…? I can’t think…
“……
………
…………?”
Less dead than expected, he opens his eyes again.
“Stop that, Isa! I told you not to touch my brother.”
Suddenly, Sakazaki Yuuya blocks out the sun. Blood is spreading across the floor. I am unhurt…? Whose—
“Y-your wing—”
“You were the real hero all along, of course. I only promised that I wouldn’t tell other people. Not that I wouldn’t tell him himself… or that I wouldn’t kill him.
And after all that work to steal the records from mister Kawara, too.”
“… yeah, you’ve always been like this. A coward and villain to the core.”
“Oh, such flattery.”
“What are you doing, doctor? Why? Why are you doing this!?”
“I told you, remember? You bore me. Now that you have helped mister Kawara as much as you can, I have no more use for you. Why should I put up with your babbling now that I am done with you?”
“I do not understand, sir. What did you and Sakazaki—”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about. I have no responsibility to explain to you.
… goodbye, mister Shirogane.”
Shuu raises his scalpel again.
“No! Don’t move, Sakuya!”
Before anything transpires, Ryouta bursts into the infirmary.
“Sakuya!”
“… oh, mister Kawara. We were just discussing you.”
Yuuya standing over Sakuya, blood running down his body. The doctor, standing next to them. There is no question about what’s happened.
“Doctor! So it was you all along!”
“Was it? I wonder about that. Hohoho.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t die just yet. I’m sure you’ll enjoy a confession or two, so ask him all you want.”
“Wait, doctor—”
Suddenly, another interloper joins the fray.
“Th-the scarecrow…!”
“There you are, Labor 9. I was waiting for you. Come, let us go.”
“… aa… aaah……”
Labor 9? Is that the scarecrow’s name? So, he was working under the doctor this whole time!
“Just a little more, mister Kawara. Do you think you’ll remember soon?”
“Stop running away! You killed Tera! I will never forgive you!”
“I’m glad you’re so lively. That’s good. … I shall be waiting for you, deep beneath the surface. Chase me, mister Kawara!”
I can’t reach.
The doctor and the scarecrow are gone.
Wracked with frustration, Ryouta turns back to Sakuya and Yuuya.
“D-don’t speak! You’re still bleeding!”
“Don’t worry… who the hell do you think I am? I’ll be… fine… I know my limits better than anyone else. I won’t die… to a little scalpel. Getting whacked with a cleaver would have been bad, but…”
“There are plenty of bandages here! Sakuya, wait here, I’ll go get mister Leone!”
“Wait, Ryouta. I have… things to tell you. Can you wait long enough… to hear my confession? Like the doctor said… there’s no time to waste. So let me tell you… everything I can. … this might be our last chance.”
“It’s too late, Sakazaki! If you were involved, why didn’t you tell us before…!?”
“Ahaha… we had… a deal. Of course, he broke it without a second thought…
The doctor and I… did not kill her. That is the truth.”
“B-but then why did he—”
“She died… in this room. After school, yesterday. That… is also the truth.”
“Then there was someone else?”
“Yes… right as always, Sakuya.”
“And that third person killed Tera…? Who was it!?”
“…… I’m sorry. I can’t tell you that. … I think… you’ll figure it out…
I have to… apologize to you. The doctor and I were the ones who cut her up.”
“……!”
“So you stuffed her into those boxes…?”
“It was… the time. The doctor needed to be sure of when she’d be found. He decided morning… would give time for the most humans to gather. I suppose… he probably thought putting her in the print boxes was funny, too…”
The most humans? Why would…?
“… looks like I’ve stayed on the fence to the very end. I didn’t have the resolve to go either way… If only things… had been a little different… -cough- -cough-“
“I-I thought you said you’d be fine!”
“Are you… worried for me? I’m honored… Could you… go outside for a bit, Ryouta…? We’ll go to the maintenance office afterwards…
… just for a little… I want to talk to Sakuya, alone…”
A little reluctantly, Ryouta dutifully leaves the room.
But your new father says he doesn’t want your brother. He says he can only feed you if you leave the egg behind.
Mother is sad. He is her son, too.
I will go. I will throw my brother away, mother. Give me the egg.
The new father killed my father. I know he did. He killed him so he could take mother from him.
I waited. Until she laid a new egg. Until she laid an egg with the new father’s child inside…
I had hid him away, in the mansion. And I switched them. So he will raise my brother as his own son.
The new father hates me. But he will love my brother. He will give him nice food, and nice clothes, and a nice bed. My brother will not know. No one will know but me.
I hate the new father. I took the new egg… and I smashed it.
“You’re… the same as me, Sakuya. We were never half-brothers… you are my real brother.”
“Im… impossible…! I am the heir of the Le Bel family…! Father told me so! Everyone told me so…! I was raised for no other purpose…”
“I never told anyone… that I’d switched the eggs. If father found out now, he’d throw you away…
I did it for you… no, maybe I didn’t. Maybe I just did it to spite that man… I killed the child he had with mother.
That was… the cross I had to bear. It was never your problem. I was happy… just to see you living in luxury…”
“Y-you… under what authority…!”
“Ahaha… none. You’re right, I only ever listen to myself. … but the doctor noticed. He must have realized… I guess I was doing what he said all along… since I took your lineage.
The fact that I killed the Le Bel— the other father’s child will never leave me… I’ve never been able to forget. If you’re blamed for that child’s death, you have to press on… … you can’t let it stop you.
I always worried… about whether I should tell you or not… and now it’s too late. So…”
“F-fool…! To deny me my lineage now…!”
“I’m sorry, Sakuya… I should have told you long ago… I was never as sure of myself as you…”
“If… if I am not of the Le Bel line… what am I…?”
“I knew you’d ask that. Straightforward, as always… Ahaha.
Leave this place, Sakuya. And… think about it, long and hard. You have a lot more to worry about… than just who your family is, after all…”
“No! Wait, Sakazaki! Stay with me! There is still much for you to tell me…!”
“Haha, it’s been a long time since we talked this much. I talked to you every day, when you were still an egg…”
“Pull yourself together, Yuuya! You can’t leave like this! You said a little scalpel like that couldn’t kill you!”
“… I should apologize about that, too… remember the headmaster…? That was nerve toxin…”
“You mean that scalpel had…!?”
“Go on, Sakuya… leave your liar brother, and go… the doctor must have a way… out of here…
… you are… yourself. Never let anyone… tie you down… Later… buddy…”
As the trend has been, the chapter ends as the body count rises. How many more will be lost before this nightmare ends? How many more mysteries are left to unravel, and how far down the rabbit hole will those unspooled mysteries go? Until next time, everybirdie.