The atmosphere in the conference room, where Luke was summoned to investigate the witch weaponization plan experint, was solemn to the utmost degree.
Soone spoke to him.
“Luke Aegis. If you know anything about the witch weaponization plan, please disclose it all. Even if you have a history of cooperating and committing cris regarding this plan, we will grant you leniency if you confess here. Don’t even think about hiding it.”
Upon hearing those words, Luke let out a small sigh that could be genuine or feigned.
Sylvia felt his gaze sweep across the crowd, lingering slightly longer on the position where Astra sat.
When their eyes t, he gave a bitter smile and let out a small sigh.
Understanding his feelings, Sylvia also inwardly released a bitter smile.
Astra, who already knew quite a lot about the plan, was present in the room.
If he attempted to deceive them poorly, it was unavoidable that it would clash with the information Astra knew.
That was bound to be quite a headache.
However, given the situation, Sylvia could only hope that he would act wisely. She soon witnessed Luke taking a deep breath before opening his mouth.
“…One day, at a college reunion, I t my forr classmate Satoru. At that ti, I was troubled by the limitations of saving people through dicine alone. So, I consulted Satoru about that, and he told he was researching sothing. He said if he completed it, I could achieve my goal as well. At that ti, I was willing to do anything, as long as I could save people, so I agreed to help him. It was there that I first heard about the plan to create weapons that could control the power of witches. I thought that with such weapons, it would be possible to defeat the lesser demonic beasts without sacrificing people, and thus, I decided to participate in that plan.”
Luke’s words began like that.
One by one, the things done to create weapons from the materials of witches flowed from his lips.
Experints close to torture that were conducted on test subjects.
Sylvia could see the faces of those listening to his story gradually turning to shock.
Most of the mbers of the Central Committee were cowards who prioritized their own safety, but fundantally, they weren’t that bad.
As they had a generally accepted moral compass, the contents of the experints were surely shocking to them.
There even ca a mont when soone turned pale and slightly gagged while listening to the story of the emotional homunculus.
However, even so, no one regarded Luke as a re criminal.
Yoon Si-woo was continuously informing them that his words were the truth.
Since the motivation behind his actions was solely to find a way to defeat the demonic beasts without harming people, it was not easy to simply bla him for the thod being wrong.
“And that was when discussions arose about disposing of the tenth test subject and preparing for the next one.”
And at that mont, Luke, who had been speaking all along, paused briefly with those words.
Sylvia instinctively understood from the small deep breath he took.
It was probably just about to start.
And so, Luke made his first false testimony since entering this conference room.
“A large fire broke out at the place where the experints were conducted. I don’t know what caused it, but it was a huge fire that consud all the test subjects and facilities. Since the most important material, the witch’s essence, was gone from the plan, we were in a situation where we couldn’t continue the experints. I thought it was a good thing. I had been feeling doubtful about whether this was the right path while continuing the experints. So, I declared to Satoru that I would withdraw from the plan due to that incident.”
“It’s the truth.”
The false words were transford into truth by Yoon Si-woo.
However, no one thought to doubt Yoon Si-woo.
To be precise, it wasn’t that they couldn’t doubt him; rather, it was that they wouldn’t.
To doubt him would be tantamount to denying the innocence he had previously proven.
Sylvia thought it was a favorable battle.
Just as she was thinking that Scarlet’s identity might not be revealed and would quietly pass by, the First Elder gazed at Luke with a look of suspicion.
“…So, are you saying you completely distanced yourself from the plan afterward? Satoru showed signs of rebellion even when we ordered him to cease the plan. He claid to have found sothing thought to be gone. So we suspected that the test subjects we thought were lost in the fire might have actually escaped. We were suspicious that Satoru was trying to recover that test subject and continued the plan independently after cutting off contact with us. Your cooperation must have been indispensable to his plan. Did Satoru really leave you alone? Isn’t there sothing you know about him?”
At the persistent questioning, Sylvia slightly stiffened her expression.
Claiming the test subjects were lost in the fire would have been shot down by that last question.
Of course, she could understand why the First Elder was so fixated on Satoru’s whereabouts.
To avoid tarnishing Astra’s honor any further, he would need to stop Satoru from doing anything reckless.
Not knowing Satoru was already dead, he was probably anxious about him causing a big incident.
In fact, Sylvia had hoped he would just keep quiet, but from the First Elder’s perspective, it was an action for Astra and himself, so she couldn’t stop him.
At that mont, when Sylvia was anxious that this might reveal Scarlet’s actions if mishandled, Luke smiled bitterly and opened his mouth.
“…Yes, well, as you say. Once I quit, I began receiving relentless calls from Satoru. He believed the test subject had escaped and wanted to find that subject to continue the experints. Although I repeatedly rejected him since I didn’t wish to help him anymore. However, so days later, he called to say he had recovered the test subject and wanted to restart the experints.”
“!! Is that true? Where is that Satoru? We need to find him and make him stop the experints imdiately—!”
The composure he usually had seed to have vanished, replaced by a face filled with urgency as he shouted at Luke.
Interrupting such words, Luke muttered in a calm voice.
“There’s no need for that.”
“What do you an by that? If Satoru is conducting such experints again—!”
“Exactly, there’s no need. No one will be conducting experints anymore.”
Sylvia looked into Luke’s eyes as he murmured that.
A gaze that seed familiar.
The First Elder, who just claid to have no faults, had those very eyes.
Upon seeing that look, Sylvia suddenly felt as though she understood what he was about to do.
So, she tightly shut her eyes in despair.
She didn’t need to see what he was going to do; it was clear enough.
“Satoru is dead.”
Alone, he,
“I killed him.”
He intended to take it all upon himself.
“…It’s the truth.”
Sylvia heard Yoon Si-woo’s trembling voice painfully assert that it was the truth.
What kind of feeling is it to turn soone they know into a murderer with just one of their words?
Yoon Si-woo surely wouldn’t have wanted that.
However, it must have been a choice made by Luke to protect Scarlet, so he had no choice but to speak.
From the standpoint of soone who knew, it was a regrettable matter, but those unaware could only be utterly bewildered by his words of having killed soone.
“…You’re saying you killed him?”
“Yes. I killed him. I had no other ans to stop Satoru from continuing.”
“No, even so, to commit murder…”
As people muttered about how he could do such a thing, Luke replied.
“It was unavoidable. Satoru crossed the line.”
“Crossed the line, you say…”
“Satoru was trying to create a demonic beast. Using the essence of witches he had collected from the magic and test subjects.”
“Gasp!”
People gasped in shock.
That one statent altered the severity of the situation.
Despite many attempts, it was proven that demonic beasts were utterly uncontrollable.
This was the reason why the private use of magic was regarded as terrorism and could be t with imdiate execution.
What if the essence of witches was added to the demonic beasts, resulting in the creation of sothing uncontrollably powerful?
That could truly be a disaster.
“Satoru had completely lost his mind due to a series of failures. He was like soone who had forgotten how to stop and was trying to produce so result by any ans necessary. To stop him, there was no other choice.”
So much that most people would consider the act of killing as sothing they did well to prevent such a threat.
Sylvia had no choice but to acknowledge that this thod of placing most of the bla onto Satoru was sowhat rational.
It would tarnish Astra’s reputation a bit, but perhaps it was Luke’s consideration to make it to be seen as a personal whim of an individual.
Even while contemplating taking on the murder charge himself, it made her think of Scarlet’s actions, leaving her with a bitter feeling.
Regardless, even if most accepted that it could be deed justifiable, there would always be a minority that wouldn’t condone such extre thods.
The head of Dolos, Diakonos, spoke to Luke.
“Still, there was no need to kill him, was there?”
“…Ha, are you really saying that at Dolos? If it weren’t for Dolos, I wouldn’t have had to go that far. The magic he was trying to use for the experint was found in your company’s storage. What were you thinking when you handed it over?”
“I do rember that you allowed it for research purposes. I sent it believing it was soone from Astra; I never thought it would be used for such a purpose…”
Seeing Diakonos’s expression hardening, Sylvia felt this was a sign that Luke had crafted an explanation after much thought.
It wasn’t just a re justification; he had also thought politically.
With that remark, all three great houses were entangled in this issue, and it was likely they would feel burdened to question it further.
She could sense people around her hesitating to voice their thoughts.
“How did you handle Satoru’s corpse?”
“I burned all of them along with the experintal equipnt.”
“So, what about the witch’s essence that Satoru recovered…?”
“To prevent such experints from continuing, I disposed of it in the sewers. I have no idea where it flowed to after it rained heavily the next day after I threw it away.”
“…I see. Well done.”
In the end, it was only the First Elder who posed a few more questions to Luke.
After that, no one else had any further inquiries, and the eting concluded naturally.
“…Then let’s discuss the punishnt and further investigation concerning those involved in this matter again tomorrow, and dissolve this session. Luke Aegis and the First Elder of Astra, please follow for now. It seems that you will need to spend today in custody.”
As soon as the eting ended, the First Elder and Luke received handcuffs on their wrists.
After all, they had committed cris and thus would seem to be confined to a solitary cell until their sentences were determined.
Despite being treated like criminals, they both didn’t seem displeased, judging by their expressions.
Murder, concealing a body, participating in and abetting illegal experints.
Neither Sylvia nor anyone else knew how severe the sentences would be.
Although they could tell that it would likely be lighter than the actual charges.
The only concrete victim was Satoru, and he bore the largest responsibility for the incident.
Moreover, both were mbers of the three great houses.
Nevertheless, it could be said that the suspicion towards Scarlet was nearly eliminated with this outco, so the objective was indeed achieved.
However, Sylvia didn’t feel a sense of accomplishnt.
She quietly gazed at Yoon Si-woo, who was seated across from her, looking exhausted.
Her own face was likely reflecting a similar weariness.
Ironically, Luke’s expression seed the brightest among them all while being transported.
Perhaps it was because he had already fully resigned to everything from the start.
If only she had realized it a little earlier, could she have changed his mind?
The next day, Luke, who had been held in solitary confinent, was found dead.
It appeared the cause was a lethal pill hidden in his mouth.
From his pocket, a letter seemingly written in advance was discovered, leading to a ruling of suicide.
The letter contained sentints like he had long been tornted by guilt over the experints he had conducted.
He felt responsible for not stopping his foolish accomplice, and that he intended to atone for this by following him.
At the end of the letter, a simple statent was jotted down.
“Brother, I’m sorry for being a useless younger brother.”
“M-my foolish brother…”
Mark, upon reading that letter, lanted the foolishness of his younger brother and wept for a long ti.
Sylvia, receiving the news of Luke’s death, sat there for a while in a daze.
It wasn’t a question of why he did it.
In fact, she could roughly guess why he acted that way.
To ensure it.
To completely conceal Scarlet’s existence.
Originally, the investigation was scheduled to start today.
In terms of investigation, magic was quite an excellent ans.
Unlike psychotry, which renders the place’s mories volatile over ti, magic used for investigation could trace actions from weeks past, as long as sufficient ti and costs were invested.
There was just one condition, though.
That it only applied to living people.
There was no magical thod to delve into the past actions of the deceased.
Necromancy had been obsolete for ethical reasons for a long ti.
Thus, Luke chose the most foolproof thod to eliminate the slight chance of his actions being tracked down, which could shed light on Scarlet’s existence.
He had already harbored enormous guilt about Scarlet, so it wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand his feelings.
She understood.
She understood, but could not at all condone it.
It was a way that didn’t factor in the feelings of those left behind.
Would Scarlet truly wish for you to sacrifice yourself like that?
Did he perhaps know that?
Feeling a pang of resentnt, Sylvia quietly asked the empty air.
“…Did it really have to co to this?”
Naturally, there was no response to that question.
In the midst of that bitter expression, her phone suddenly vibrated, and Sylvia could not help but be startled.
“…How is this possible?”
She received a text from the number that Luke had used to contact her with the ssage.
[The place we t last ti, under the desk drawer.]
Could it be a ghost sending a ssage?
After a mont of panic, Sylvia quickly reached the conclusion that it couldn’t be.
There was only one explanation.
It ant that the ssage was pre-scheduled to arrive at this ti.
Regaining her composure, Sylvia hurriedly left the mansion.
If it ntioned the place they t last ti, only one location ca to mind.
The abandoned building where she had gone to consult with Scarlet.
Rushing to that place, Sylvia opened the firmly shut shutter and entered.
Turning on the light, she spotted a mobile phone lying on the desk.
It was the very phone used to contact her.
Ignoring that, she searched under the desk drawer as per the ssage’s instructions and found a letter.
On theoutside of the envelope, it appeared to request her assistance with a ssage like this.
[Miss, could you deliver this letter to Scarlet?]
Sylvia made a face upon seeing that.
What would make her want to fulfill a request from soone who had left like that?
Thinking that she would tear up the letter if it contained trivial content, she opened the envelope.
“…Hah.”
Sylvia couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.
It seed he had so knowledge after all.
He likely intended to do this from the very start.
Looking at the comncent of the letter, starting with an apology, it was clear.
Reading the letter, Sylvia pondered his feelings while writing it.
Thinking, and thinking, and after much consideration.
Finally understanding him, Sylvia could only clutch the letter to her chest with tearful eyes.
“…You know I’m sorry, so I’ll deliver it.”
“Be happy,”
was the last line written in the letter.
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