Judge felt like he was staring at an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, except most of the pieces were either missing or worse— completely blank. He needed to gather the fragnts and make sense of all this madness.
'So,' he muttered to himself, trying to maintain calm though his mind was racing, 'there is a person called Mina, who just happens to be working on an ethercraft, coincidentally though, it was on the sa topic as the father of the Mina he knew was researching on.'
This was not a re coincidence, he would not have taken it this seriously if the nas were not the sa. But two researchers, possibly linked by a common na and subject matter? It was enough to raise alarm bells.
Even a fool would know not to take this lightly. He ran through the puzzle pieces, narrowing down possibilities. And then he weighed the two most plausible scenarios.
First, it could be a pure coincidence. After all, human greed and ambition often gave birth to similar types of research. The pursuit of power, especially through manipulating magical energies, was nothing new. He had seen many ambitious fools who destroyed themselves to their ambitions.
But then there was the other, 'I hope it is not' scenario. The one that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. The Mina that Percival ntioned was working on research that she kept from her father, an ethercraft that supposedly ate at her life.
What if she was researching on sothing that kept her alive, sothing like... immortality? It would make perfect sense for the scene, but that was far too stretched out to be true.
And even if she had achieved immortality, keeping the na would not make sense. If she lived through all these years without aging, that would definitely raise a few eyebrows. Judging by the state of the room in which he found the diary, more than a century had definitely passed.
lina had said that ethercrafts were all about bringing creativity to life through the implications of principles, so research would an trying to create new principles and trying to improve them to cost less ether. And immortality was not entirely out of the question.
He hoped it was a coincidence, because he could not do anything else but hope. But he was not a huge fan of hope. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to dismiss his more anxious thoughts. This was no ti for guessing gas. He needed more facts.
Judge continued to question Percival after deactivating his enhanced cognition. "Well then, tell more about this Mina. Her past I an, she seems to be sohow connected to your... ti circumstances."
"Mina is a good person!" It was Clara, she seed too eager to defend her. Mina might be the researcher who took her in. "She would never make Percival disappear." She was practically screaming at this point, but very weakly.
Judge was not surprised but her sudden outburst. He had guessed that Mina might be the first guardian who showed her affection, and this just confird his thoughts.
Lucifer, who was standing aside all this ti, stepped forward. "Master, the researcher is known as Lara." He said softly "So, Mina might be an alias that people close to her might be calling her, though I am unsure about it."
Judge's eyes flashed toward Percival, who had managed to stand up, holding Clara in his arms, her small body now resting against his shoulder. She looked exhausted, her outburst having drained her completely.
"Is that true?" Judge asked, narrowing his eyes at Percival, searching for any sign of deception.
"Yes, the only people who call her Mina are and Clara," Percival confird. "Others call her Lara, her legal na."
Judge was getting calr, but he could not shake off the feeling of unease in his mind. Maybe he was just overthinking things, it was stated in the diary that she died, but the researcher never went to confirm his daughter's death. Maybe these two were different Minas.
He knew that there would not be any more useful information, so he needed to ask a question that he knew Percival could not answer, then he could say that the answers were not satisfactory and leave.
"Tell more of your first experiences with ti turning." Judge felt as if he already knew the answer.
Percival looked hesitant at first but then spoke, his voice low and resigned. "I traveled through darkness," he said slowly, adjusting Clara on his shoulder as he tried to make sense of the mory. "When I woke up, I found myself in a world where everyone was asleep. But before I could even look around, I also fell asleep... and when I woke up again, ti had reversed."
Judge was surprised by the answer, it was not what he had anticipated, Judge felt a flicker of surprise. That was not the answer he had expected. He had assud it would be the typical experience of an unintentional ti traveler— sothing sudden and panicked. But this... darkness? A world where everyone was asleep?
That was far more unusual and disturbing.
Still, he kept his composure. "I already know of that," Judge said dismissively, though in truth, his mind was now filled with new questions, desperately asking for answers. "Anything else? Because from what I can see, your ti-turning is not sothing you control."
Percival looked up at Judge, confused. He had hoped that his honesty would earn him Judge's help. But hope, in his life, had always been fleeting. He should have known better. Life was nothing more than a cruel reality, one that never failed to disappoint him.
Judge eyed Lucifer, he could not delay killing Percival any further. If the person who was behind all this ca to check why there was no killing happening, he was not ready to fight any supernatural entities.
'kill them both' He ordered ntally, 'But only after I give you the signal.'
Judge stepped closer to Percival, not the best move but he needed the flair. "Rember," His voice was cold and indifferent, "Hold on to your life, if not for you, then at least for her sake." He pointed to Clara, who was now asleep on Perciavl's shoulder.
He then looked at Lucifer and nodded in affirmation, Lucifer stood straight from his lazy posture, and went back to the sa pose.
Two heads rolled on the ground, Percival who was yet to register that he was killed. And the unfortunate child, Clara, who still had tears on her face. He eyes were closed, her face was that of a child who was dreaming a nightmare.
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