Volume 2 Chapter 6.1
Inverted Reality, Nightmares Always
Have Beautiful Faces Part 1
Translator : PolterGlast
[The <White
Knights> have annihilated enemies that threaten the peace of the empire!]
Another proud piece of
news has arrived. The antisocial organization <The Great Iron Hammer>,
which had been holding radical demonstrations around the capital for some time,
was annihilated in a raid by an elite unit of the <White Knights>. The
heroes discovered a hideout in the basement of a restaurant in the outskirts of
the capital and, after a desperate battle, vanquished the enemies of the
empire. The organization was effectively destroyed.
As a result of this
battle, Nacht Grossman, the ringleader of the <Great Iron Hammer>, and
all of its executives were killed. Meanwhile, no casualties were reported on
the side of the <White Knights>.
All of the executives
were killed─the information, which
seemed to have been supplemented by necessity, was burned into her retinas and
wouldn't go away.
The national newspaper
was read by the butler as part of her daily routine. Nina, who was nine years
old at the time, made it a habit to look for news about the <White
Knights>, to which her two older brothers belonged, first thing in the
morning.
She was 13 years old
apart from her eldest brother, Victor, and 10 years old from her second
brother, Haine, and had no recollection of ever having played together before.
Now that they have graduated from the Heiberg School and joined the <White
Knights>, the only way to connect with them was through newspaper articles
describing their activities.
─Are they really my older brothers?
Such a question always
lingered in her little head.
It was hard to believe
that Nina, who had no choice but to live her life lying to everyone around her
about her psychic abilities, and these people, who continuously fought the
enemies of the country as heroes of salvation, had any blood connection at all.
Above all, the
ruthless and confident atmosphere they wore was something Nina could never
understand.
On a day that seemed
to end in a mundane and boring manner, an unexpected change occurred.
As usual, Nina was
playing with a frog doll in her room when a voice called out to her from
behind.
"Hello Nina, are
you playing by yourself as usual?"
Nina felt a shiver as
her head was being patted along with a gentle voice.
She didn't have to
turn around to know. This voice, this cold hand, this touch─.
"......Haine-niisan."
"It's been a
while, Nina. Can you show me your face?"
When she turned around
to do as she was told, there she saw a vacant smile that she hadn't seen in two
years.
His slightly permed
hair has the same platinum color as Nina's. His eyes are a slightly deeper
shade of indigo than Nina's, and he cast a penetrating glance at her.
An inhumanly
good-looking face, as if designed by a heartless being based on cold
calculations.
Although he wore a
soft smile, she knew very well that it was nothing more than an elaborate
fabrication.
"......Why are
you here, brother Haine?"
"I just finished
a big job and got a short vacation."
"What big
job?"
"Well, I've been
fighting some bad guys."
─Surely, it was about that article.
Nina, who had
extraordinary insight even back then, saw the truth hidden in the abyss beneath
her brother's eyes. Nonetheless, she was only nine years old and didn't know
much about how things really worked around the world. She couldn't help but put
a lid on the questions that popped into her head and smile as if nothing had
happened.
But before she
realized it, her lips were moving.
"Hey, why did you
kill all those bad people? You should have just arrested them......"
"Haha, Nina sure
says some interesting things."
Her brother's next
words imprinted an unforgettable horror in the young Nina's heart.
"There's no point
in keeping a toy that you've finished playing with forever, is there?"
◇
"............~!"
What awaited Nina upon
waking up from her nightmare was another kind of nightmare.
She was seated in a
wooden chair, her hands restrained behind her back with ropes. In the dimly lit
room stood Emma Licorice, with her icy eyes, pointing the tip of a knife at
her.
Her still hazy mind
chased the remnants of the nightmare.
Why did I remember
that now?
Was it because that
was the moment I first felt the fear of death?
Was it because I
regretted having drifted to a place like this?
The conclusion Nina
arrived at was no more helpful than either of those.
Emma, who was trying
to kill her, is a member of the <White Knights> and a pawn of the
school's headmaster. Naturally, she would have inherited the same mindset as
the heroes of salvation.
─I would be killed.
In the most cruel way
imaginable, in a manner that would never be published in the national
newspapers.
After thinking of
this, Nina realized she was wondering why she had not been killed in the
gunfire earlier.
"You have the
look of someone who doesn't know why she's still alive."
Emma pulled a shiny
black pistol from inside her black coat.
"Taser - a
non-lethal weapon that ejects a wired needle charged with a high-voltage
electric current. That's all."
"......What's
that? I've never seen that before."
"Of course not.
It's not even available in the Empire."
"......Why would
Emma have such a thing?"
"It would be
unnatural for a death by gunshot to take place at a school for psychics. That
is the only reason."
Death by gunshot.
Nina couldn't hide her
fear that such a disturbing word was coming out of Emma's mouth.
From the moment they
first exchanged words, Emma had always been disguising her true nature. She had
no idea that the real Emma was such a ruthless, thorough, and terrifying
person.
─From the very beginning, I was the only one who
thought we were friends.
It's all too late.
There is no hope left.
And yet, Nina still
didn't want to let go of her life.
"....... You have
good guts, by the way. Don't you know what it means to antagonize me?"
Even if she is
helpless and there is no way out.
"It's only
because of my mercy that you're still breathing, you know?"
Even though fear and
despair are driving her crazy.
"At the count of
five, you must disappear from my presence, Emma-san."
Even if the memory of
having laughed together is shattered and sharp shards pierce her skin.
"...... What's
wrong? Do you want to be dismembered?"
Still, Nina kept up
her bluff.
There was no longer
any need to act tough. She could no longer even put on the mask she wore. Like
a helpless child, she just threw out words that had no substance.
The girl in front of
her chuckled as though she could see through Nina's weakness.
"You're not
convincing if you say that to me while crying."
Droplets of water
trickling down Nina's cheeks dripped onto her feet.
She was so distraught
that she herself didn't even realize she was crying.
In such a state, there
was no way she could perform in a way that would make the other party believe
her.
Nina, who had
gradually become calm, noticed another fatal fact.
"A......A......"
Here she is in the
hidden room in the attic.
A room that can only be accessed by holding the longest bamboo broom upside down in the cleaning kit compartment, stacking crates for height, and climbing a rope ladder that descends when certain spots on the ceiling are pushed up.
No one but them knew
of the room's existence.
"...... What
happened to Jin?"
Emma did not reply.
"Where in the
world is he!? How did you know about this room!?"
There was no answer.
"Hey, tell me,
....... Jin is my accomplice, without him I am nothing, and he is my
first-......"
With despair
overflowing from the edges of her heart, Nina was at a loss for words.
The <White
Knights> will do anything they can to force their targets to disclose
information. The fact that Emma, who follows their will, is here, in other
words, indicates such.
Nina could not imagine
what kind of torture had befallen Jin.
"Please, Emma,
tell me......"
─I have been deceiving people for so long, what am I
crying about?
Her calm self inside
her head asked sharply.
That's right.
I have no
right to blame Emma for deceiving Karen, Casper, and so many other people whose
names I don't even know.
I have no
right to wallow in grief or demand answers.
Losers are
losers, and the only thing they can do is to say nothing and accept their
fate......
"...... Emma,
you've gone too far."
From the corner of the
darkened room, a dismayed voice could be heard.
With desperation, Nina
turned her eyes toward the voice.
Jin came out of the
darkness with an uncomfortable expression on his face.
"I've told you
many times that Nina is not a psychic. So don't be so cautious. And please
untie her restraints."
With a reluctant look
on her face, Emma approached with a knife in her hand. Nina unintentionally
braced herself, but the only thing being cut was the rope that tied her to the
chair.
"What the-, eh?
Eeehh~!?"
"......Well,
sorry for deceiving you. There were a lot of circumstances."
Nina alternately
looked at Jin and Emma's faces.
─Don't tell me, these two were in cahoots?
But Emma is the
<Shepherd's Dog>, the target they were looking for, and they couldn't let
her know who they were, so this situation is absolutely strange......
"Ah, I knew it
was confusing."
"W-What the hell
is going on!?"
"...... Fine,
I'll explain it to you."
Emma opened her heavy
mouth as she put the knife away inside her black coat.
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