Chapter 13
[You haven’t seen the newspapers, have you? There have been a lot of reports about people going missing or being horribly murdered by attackers. The world is really dangerous these days. Miss Cherry, please be very careful when walking at night.]
“Horribly murdered by attackers…”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
While I dawdled like this, it seemed the world was steadily preparing for its end.
“Thanks for the update. Then tell Harrison to bring the item I requested personally. Tell him Eden Duncan Lancaster is currently in this village. If I say he’s investigating that item, he’ll understand.”
If Eden discovered the firearms, it would be a serious problem.
There wasn’t much time left, and I could either face the apocalypse while under investigation, or worse, encounter it locked up in the police station jail.
[Yes, I’ll pass along the message, Miss.]
I put down the receiver and the mouthpiece, taking a moment to breathe.
If only Eden would just return to the capital, all problems would be solved.
The immutable law of the original story. I thought of that ominous phrase and shook my head vigorously.
I will break the immutable law of the original story and survive.
For that, I had to prepare even more thoroughly.
On my way out of the train station, I took a notebook out of my pocket to check the shopping items I had written down.
Now I need to go look at furniture.
Do you know what’s most important for creating an excellent shelter?
Money, of course.
I headed straight toward Kintney’s furniture store district.
Brunel Village Police Station
Eden sat in the station, flipping through files on incidents in Brunel and its surrounding areas.
[Westmore Urban Legend Case]
One file from last year caught his attention. Perhaps it was because Cherry and Vanilla had talked about Westmore recently.
The Westmore urban legend case, which began circulating last year, was quite well-known within the police. Ten Westmore residents had gone missing.
Around this time last year, there had been reports that screams could be heard nightly from an abandoned house in Westmore.
After the screams, there was always something that sounded like animal noises.
However, police who investigated the abandoned house thoroughly found no trace of humans or animals.
It’s similar to the Notium Street 61 case, but different.
In the Notium Street 61 case, there were multiple witnesses and a monster eventually appeared—but the Westmore case was different.
There were only rumors, no witnesses. That’s why it was called an “urban legend.”
No wonder the case was quickly buried.
Even the address of the abandoned house wasn’t included in the Westmore case file.
Tch. They didn’t even record it properly. They really didn’t do their job right.
Eden clicked his tongue, irritated.
Then—Wahahaha—
Loud laughter echoed. Villagers had gathered inside the police station, sitting together, sipping tea, and chatting.
A restaurant owner, who had stopped by out of boredom, suddenly brought up Cherry.
“That girl in the abandoned house… she’s kind of strange, isn’t she?”
Once he spoke, the grocery store owner and bookstore owner who had accompanied him joined in.
“She keeps hauling stuff into that abandoned house.”
The villagers’ chatter continued. Why did these people gather at the police station for gossip? Don’t they usually avoid the station?
Well, seeing Chief Hans of the Brunel Police happily join the conversation, I suppose that explained part of it.
“They’re fixing it up, though. Even abandoned houses can be repaired well.”
“If the repairs are good, the structure’s fine. It’s originally a villa owned by nobles. Perfect for committing a crime and hiding it, don’t you think?”
“Oh my, could it be that the girl in the abandoned house…”
Hearing their conversation, Eden briefly entertained the thought.
Cherry Sinclair always drew public attention with everything she did. Recently, there was that 100 million gold loan incident too.
That was quite a big issue.
It was a reasonable suspicion: perhaps she caused some trouble and then hid in this village.
She said she was hiding her identity, right?
If Brunel were a big town, Cherry’s identity would have been revealed soon. The media loved news about Cherry Sinclair.
But Brunel was a very small rural village without a train station, and the residents had never left. If she chose this village to hide her identity, it was a brilliant choice.
Or maybe she’s really hiding because of the firearms smuggling incident.
Cherry was clearly at the center of recent suspicious incidents, and Eden couldn’t ignore that. He quietly monitored her, waiting for the right moment to arrest her.
“Hey, what’s that?”
At that moment, the villagers outside the station started turning their heads.
Eden also looked up, curious. Through the open door, a strange sight caught his eyes.
A woman was casually dragging four giant scarecrows tied together with rope.
It was none other than Cherry Sinclair, the same girl who had been the subject of gossip moments ago.
Watching her, Eden thought: Cherry Sinclair was no ordinary strange woman.
She’s definitely not normal.
Nothing she had done so far made sense within Eden’s common sense.
“What the heck are those scarecrows?”
“And she’s carrying all of them by herself?”
The people inside the station whispered among themselves. Perhaps hearing this, Cherry lifted her head.
Because the door was open, her eyes met those inside.
“You’re all gathered here, aren’t you? Hello!”
She waved at them, greeting them warmly.
“Why are you taking the scarecrows?”
The grocery store owner, trying to be polite, asked. Cherry shrugged.
“Just practicing a bit.”
“Practicing what?”
“I need to study how to neatly… remove the head.”
Remove the head…?
The villagers’ faces went pale. Cherry quickly waved her hands.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand! Just kidding! Ahahaha!”
She scratched the back of her head, laughed, and the scarecrows tumbled to the ground along with the rope.
Cherry lightly lifted the scarecrows again and waved to the villagers.
“Well, see you…!”
After she left, silence fell over the station.
Eden knew Cherry Sinclair was the type who hated physical labor.
Watching her carry four huge scarecrows with ease, he thought:
How is this a delicate greenhouse flower?
Suddenly, he recalled what Cherry had said recently:
“I tend to be misunderstood. I like luxury and do silly things. People think I could easily commit crimes.”
“I’m fine. I’m used to being misunderstood.”
Perhaps, he thought, it really was just a misunderstanding.
After all, the firearms smuggling was Howard’s doing.
Of course, Cherry Sinclair was far from free of suspicion herself.
But one thing was clear: though unusual, she was not as arrogant or reckless as the rumors suggested.
I’ll keep watching her closely.
Eden continued observing her retreating figure and asked the villagers:
“Does the girl from the abandoned house come to the village often?”
There was a brief silence. The villagers exchanged curious glances.
Finally, the innkeeper spoke.
“Oh, don’t even mention it. Yesterday, she cleared out the grocery store.”
He pointed to the grocery store owner beside him, who nodded vigorously.
“Today, she cleared out the general store?”
The general store owner nodded.
“She practically took everything, as if preparing for war.”
“I don’t know where the girl from the abandoned house gets her money.”
Eden barely suppressed a laugh. For Cherry Sinclair, that probably wasn’t even that much money.
“But why is our new young officer so interested in the girl from the abandoned house?”
“Why do you think? She’s really pretty, isn’t she?”
Eden was speechless. Of course, he admitted Cherry was strikingly beautiful, but appearances weren’t the point.
