Chapter 66: The Catalyst for Change, A Tale of Hatred for Fate and Pity for Home...
Completely unaware that half of his disguise had been exposed, Big Cat rushed home in a panic.
[I only took a nap, how come it's already dark! Wait... I've left Fimini and the others at home for almost ten hours!]
Today seemed quite fulfilling, but thinking about it, nothing really happened.
[First, in the morning, because of the large number of murders, I was ambushed by Pepe and Clévy, and was also told that Fontaine doesn't have the death penalty...]
[Next... after failing to get confirmation from Teacher Navigette, he encountered Frynn, who was anxious about the lynx. He tried to comfort her a little, but was then caught and forcibly taken to the Opiclie Opera House.]
Even now, Mainkuhn remains puzzled.
Why pretend to be a god when you're already suffering so much?
Humans are so complicated; they always seem to be asking for trouble. It's terrifying.
And then what happened? Ugh... a case I couldn't stand? And what was it again...?
As the half-demon ran, he turned his sluggish cat brain, the lingering effects of the stress making his thoughts even more blurred.
A lingering sense of terror, the agonizing pain of vomiting.
If the collar around her neck were still there, she would feel much the same as she did at the Fireplace House.
“.
Hey Maine, there are no brother hugs in the Fireplace!
Those torturous instruments of torture have long since broken; now, all I wear around my neck is a light and harmless collar ornament.
*Smack*
Cat God happily jumped up and hid on the roof of a nearby house.
What replaced it was a melancholy and quiet boy.
His ears drooped, concealing his emotions along with his face.
Who can know his true nature? How many people can see through his true heart?
Only the bow tie, delicately tied around the boy's wrist, was visible beneath his loose robes.
Neuvillette
The bow tie and its embroidery are precious treasures in Mainkuen's life, which has been torn apart by hardship.
So when Rougete stopped him in the alley outside his house, Mainkuhn only wanted to run away.
“Mr. En, no, Mr. Lynx! Please listen to me!”
"Justice in Fontaine is corrupted. Excessive poverty and greed have divided humanity. The powerful and wealthy have countless ways to escape punishment, while the poor can only weep over the bones of their children. The scales are tipped with unfair weights!"
"......?"
Mainkuhn had never seen such a look before.
Rouge, captain of the guard, a traitor to rules and laws.
Why do you look at that boy with eyes that seem neither like he's looking at a person nor a beast?
"Mr. Lynx! Join us!"
Humans displayed the evidence of their crimes they had hidden. White's trench coat was faded by the drug, but there was no longer a trace of blood or alcohol left on it.
"Perhaps it's the only thing you can do, perhaps only you have this ability—"
He draped his faded gray trench coat over the young man's shoulders, his demeanor as solemn as if he were crowning an emperor.
"Please become our brothers and sisters, and stand with us—"
The murderous aura drifted into the half-demon's dazed mind.
"Destroy all inequality and injustice in this world!"
Luger hadn't originally intended to take such a drastic step.
He did indeed gather some partners who were dissatisfied with the justice system in Fontaine, and he did submit his resignation to his superiors, preparing to wander the world, to be a chivalrous knight-errant, to do good and eliminate evil, to help the weak, and to let his beliefs take root and sprout in Fontaine.
But after this former member of the law enforcement service spent several months in a real lull due to a serial killer, his mindset changed completely.
How can a lukewarm reform compare to extreme violence? The deterrent effect of blood and sword can surpass even a thousand immortal laws!
"I will use your unbelievable power to erase all injustice from my beloved homeland..."
The human murmured, his eyes burning with a wilder ambition than fire. He lowered his head, his red hair falling to the ears of the thin boy.
“Mr. Lynx, you have slain countless villains and protected countless weak people. You must be able to agree with my ideals.”
Rouget was very confident that recruiting this petty serial killer would be a piece of cake.
After all, while the child's method of using violence to combat evil was bloody, it was in line with his own sense of justice.
What reason could he have not to join? We're all like-minded people!
"......No."
So when the boy under his palm finally spoke, Rougete almost thought he had gone deaf.
"What?"
"I... said..."
The child had fierce, cold, beast-like eyes, yet his voice trembled like a floating duckweed:
"No."
"Mr. Lynx? Why?"
Luger could not understand:
"Don't you want an ally? I can use our network to provide you with more villains and help with the cleanup, just like this trench coat—"
"No!"
Mainkun hadn't uttered such a loud refusal in a long time. He twisted his body, supporting his trembling form, to avoid human gaze.
"I,"
"I don't want to."
His thin tongue felt dry and his vocal cords were slow, but for the sake of Rouget's eager gaze and the returned trench coat, Mainkuen forced himself to speak.
"kill."
Honestly, Rougete, I didn't understand a single word of your talk about scales, weights, and ideals. Can't you just speak plainly? I listened intently, even with my cat-like ears and murderous intent, and could barely grasp your main point—
[Lynx, let's kill all the bad guys together!]
"...don't want."
Now that I know that murder is a bad thing, I will not knowingly commit it!
"Get out of the way."
Stay away from me with your wild fantasies! I would never intentionally do anything to upset my brother and teacher... Losing control is always accidental!
"What are you talking about? You're a lynx! The lynx that slaughtered fifty-three people in one go—and you're telling me you don't want to kill? At least make your excuses more believable!"
Luger didn't believe a single word.
“.
Humans always misunderstand me, make unwarranted expectations, and get angry on their own. It's so annoying.
Mainkuen lowered his head, carefully covering his face with his scarf, and turned to leave.
Thank you for returning my trench coat, but I'm just a cat who occasionally transforms into a human; justice and such are irrelevant to me...
"Lynx! Stop right there!"
But then came angry roars from behind.
What? The core assassin, Lynx, isn't joining at all?! Oh my god! How am I supposed to implement my new plan now?!
"return!"
As the human reached out to grab the half-demon's back, he frantically searched his mind for a way to win him back.
The lynx's overwhelming strength and the reputation it has built among the common people over the past few days must be seized! I've got it—
"Mainkuhn!"
When the Water Dragon King first saw the boy outside the opera house, he immediately distributed the half-demon's name and characteristics to all the guard captains, including Rougete.
But Rouge hated the existing justice and the hypocritical judges, so he did not pass the information on to his team members, nor did he report the boy who came to deliver the wanted criminal.
"!"
"Mainkuhn! Lynx! I don't know what mistake you made that led to the Supreme Inquisition's targeting and manhunt..."
Facing the boy's frozen back, Rougete chased after him with all his might, using his words to persuade him:
"But I can help you! Just like I helped you remove the bloodstains from your trench coat—ooh!"
A muffled thud exploded in his chest. Luger felt his body lighten, and his vision blurred. The bricks in the alley moved forward wildly like an inverted image.
"...Pfft cough."
He only realized it when he spat out the blood clots in his mouth.
Nothing moved forward.
He himself was sent flying more than ten meters by a single palm strike from this thin boy.
[I am not—!!]
Ruge saw the boy grab the droopy ear, lower his body, and scream silently, but when the boy's chaotic gaze fell on him, it immediately turned into overwhelming terror.
No, that's not right.
"Little Mei? I think I heard a stranger calling your name inside the house just now?"
A pink figure leaped out of the large house in front, and Clementine saw Rouget lying on the ground, barely alive.
"So he found out who you are?"
[Yes, I don't understand him at all—ahhhhh!]
Clang!
Maine used his dark, sharp claws to block the downward slash of her sword:
[What are you doing?! ahhhhhh!]
"Huh? Obviously, I'm silencing them!"
Clementine looked completely innocent, her face devoid of the naivety and kindness she possessed in childhood.
[...]
"Don't look at me like that, of course I know I'm doing something bad~"
[Then why...]
"But little Mayin, you need to understand."
Clementine freed one hand and gently tugged at Maine's drooping earlobe:
"To me, sisters and brothers, Peipei and you, are a million times more important than those vague notions of right and wrong."
[!]
Mainkuhn felt a jolt of numbness from the sudden physical contact.
Seizing this opening, Clementine once again raised her sword at Rougete!
No one is qualified to judge my sins.
"After all, my wish has always been the same—the happiness of my family!!"
The sword was incredibly fast. None of the survivors of the House of Hearth lacked martial prowess, and the executor's daughter was among the best. Clementine was certain that it was too late for Mainkun to stop it now!
Mission accomplished!
A smile almost appeared on Clementine's face.
Even if you're a god or a saint, if you block my brother's path, you must die!
But something heavy, oppressive, and scalding struck the girl's heart directly.
"Waaah!"
Just as the blade severed Rouge's head, the terrifying half-demon, who had resisted along with his family, suddenly stood up and gave his sisters a long-awaited hug.
"What!?"
The sword had already gone astray, but Clementine had no time to care.
"Little Maine!?"
She exclaimed in surprise:
Are you feeling better?
No.
The boy in her arms was still trembling as if he were seriously ill, but his arms around his family never flinched.
Don't kill anyone because of me.
Mainkuhn didn't speak; he knew Clementine would understand what he meant.
That was a crime you shouldn't have committed.
"...It's just shedding the blood of innocent people...This little crime is nothing compared to my crimes of murdering my mother and killing my relatives."
Clementine understood, but had no intention of complying.
[It's different, Clementine. Before, we had no choice; we had to hold a knife to our brothers' and sisters' throats to survive.]
[But now, Navisette says that anyone can be happy as long as they follow the rules!]
The cat's eyes shone brightly, filled with a naive anticipation and hope:
That happiness is something I'm destined never to have.
[But you and Peipei still have a chance!]
The two share the same concept of putting their family first.
They were exactly the same from the very beginning.
"......"
"Idiot! Idiot!"
Clementine pushed the trembling half-demon away and watched him slowly calm down amidst his fear.
"If it means losing your happiness, then I'd rather not have it at all! You big idiot Mainkun!"
The pink-haired girl cursed wildly, but obediently followed her brother's wishes and put away the potentially dangerous sword.
Perhaps even they themselves have forgotten, but Mainkuhn still remembers.
Clementine's desperate gaze after her first murder, and Pepe's calm anger.
Ah, ah, if only we could grow up together in an ordinary way, living like normal people, following ordinary rules.
How wonderful that would be.
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