NOVEL NEXT Confession and the Flute
I heard the groans of a man and the dull sound of impact against the door. They're fighting! Elise is in danger! I have to do something too.
As I struggled to cast an unlocking spell with my female magic on the door, Elise called out in a calm voice, "You can come out now."
Cautiously stepping outside, I saw a man in black lying on the ground.
"I tried to capture all three of them, but two got away. Well, one is enough. I need to ask him some questions before the magical police arrive," Elise said, putting away her flute with precision. She calmly filled a bucket with water, still smiling, and threw it over the unconscious man. Terrifying.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
"There are some things I need to ask you. Who sent you?" Elise asked.
"Like hell I'll talk!"
Still smiling, Elise pressed a knife against his throat. Terrifying.
"I'm good friends with Chief Inspector Eric. We used to be... very close. Should I ask him to handle your interrogation?" she said sweetly.
"Screams I’ll talk! I’ll talk!"
I didn't know who this Eric was, but judging by how scared the man in black was, he must be infamous for his ruthless interrogations.
"First, tell me who you work for. Edge Hope Corporation? Or Edge Defense Corporation?"
"Edge Hope! We were ordered to eliminate the two who killed Witch Aria!"
It seemed Elise had some idea about the identity of the attackers.
"I see. So they sent people after Largo too."
Forte is in danger! As I tried to grab my saxophone to rush to her aid, Elise stopped me.
"Don’t worry, Akira is watching over her. He’s been following her to protect her."
Akira... Forte's father. I hadn’t realized. When did he...?
While I stood there in surprise, Elise continued her interrogation.
"Who orchestrated this?"
"I... I don’t know what you mean."
"Don’t play dumb. There’s no way Forte would suddenly decide to head for the witch’s place without something prompting her. Did you give her information or...?"
Elise swiftly drove two knives into the ground near the man’s sideburns.
"Screams I hypnotized the boy! I made him think it was his idea to go after the witch!"
What?! This was all a setup from the start? Does that mean there's still some kind of hypnosis on me now? I looked down at my own body, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"Don’t worry," Elise reassured me. "The magic seems to have worn off. Now, why did you want Witch Aria dead?"
"The witch... she used to be a senior member at Edge Hope Corporation. As a researcher, she was useful, but she was becoming too expensive. She accumulated too much tacit knowledge, wasn’t helping with knowledge management, and she was hindering the development of younger members. You know, the usual 'old guard' problem. We needed to get rid of her to refresh the organization."
"I see. So you framed her with a murder charge to justify getting rid of her. Is that it?"
"Yes. We never expected civilians to take her down, though. They saved us the trouble."
"Thanks, I get the picture. Now, what’s your department? Medical Magic? Volunteer Management?"
"I... I can’t tell you that."
"Oh, I see. Well, no matter. Edge Hope Corporation is an NGO under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic, right? I’ll have Chopin lean on them a bit."
Chopin? I didn’t know who that was, but from the way Elise spoke, it seemed she had connections with some dangerous people.
"I’ve told you everything I know. Can I go now?"
Elise gazed into the distance for a moment, then shrugged. "Fine."
The man in black quickly fled, running toward the village’s main street. I nervously turned to Elise.
"Is it really okay to let him go? He might come back with reinforcements."
"Don't worry. I’ll make some calls and use my connections to handle things. I dropped Chopin’s name for now as a bluff, but we’ll see how effective it is. Edge Hope does seem to fear him... but we’ll take things as they come. Now, how about some chiffon cake? A friend brought it back as a souvenir from another world, from America. It’s delicious!"
"Um... sure..."
Is it really safe to be this relaxed?
If you’d like to know more about Akira, Elise, Eric, or Chopin, please read 'Voice Academy Diaries.'