Moving back a little, the rat casually stood up before moving to the door, where he leaned. He was probably trying to see if there was anyone outside.
It was only once he was sure that there was no one that he turned his attention towards me again, his stereotypical dimples moving further up his face.
“…You sure you’re not hiding something? I mean, you did say that you’re the one who did it. But aren’t you a regular person? How would someone like you be able to handle an anomaly like that?”
“….”
Nothing.
I didn’t have any words to reply to him.
He was right.
How could a regular person like me handle an anomaly like that? I’d normally be able to come up with an excuse, but there wasn’t one for this situation.
The way that I took care of the anomaly was not something that I could reveal.
’Even if I say that I took advantage of Kyle’s and Zoey’s distraction to attack the little girl, I’m sure they won’t believe me since the little girl was obviously controlling everyone. Plus, knowing just how the rat is, he probably planted several pieces of evidence to show he’s the one who was responsible for solving this case.’
In this situation…
I really had nothing to say.
“If you really did do it, then you can go ahead and tell all of this to the Section Chief. I won’t stop you.”
“….”
“He likes you quite a lot. I’m sure he’ll believe whatever you say.”
“….”
“Of course, he’ll become suspicious of you. Maybe he might figure out the thing that you’re hiding.”
The smirk on the rat’s lips pulled even tighter as he looked at me. Looking at his face, he looked certain that I was hiding something.
I wanted to rebuke him, but I didn’t know what to say.
I was indeed hiding something.
But…
’I still have to say something.’
Silence would only serve as affirmation of his thoughts.
With a sigh, I leaned back against the pillow and looked towards the ceiling.
“…If I were hiding something, I wouldn’t be lying here. I was just shocked to see you change so suddenly. You really had me fooled.”
“I did?”
The rat tilted his head slightly, looking a little surprised.
“To be honest, of everyone here, you are the last person I ever thought I could fool. It’s been quite clear that you’ve deliberately kept your distance from me.”
“I’m keeping my distance from everyone. I don’t like people in general.”
“…Hm, maybe so.”
The rat tapped his hand against the bridge of the door.
“Maybe you’re right, but I still don’t buy it.”
He smiled at me again, pulling the door open.
“I’m sure you’re hiding something. Whatever it is, however, I won’t pry. Well…”
He stopped, his dimples lowering.
“…That is as long as you won’t pry in my business.”
With that, he stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him. The last thing I saw before he disappeared was his smile.
That was the one thing that never faded from his face throughout the entire conversation.
Clank—
Lying in silence inside my room, I replayed the conversation in my mind.
’In the end… He turned out the same as I imagined him to turn out. This might probably not be the last time he’ll try to pull some bullshit like this in the future.’
The thought made me sigh.
But at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t just let him be.
We had reached a point where neither of us could co-exist.
’I’ll have to think of a way to deal with him.’
*
The next day.
I was discharged rather quickly from the hospital.
In the end, they claimed that the only reason I had passed out was due to exhaustion. But deep down, I knew the truth was far more complicated than that.
“Looks like you’re feeling much better.”
Kyle was waiting for me at the hospital entrance, standing beside a car of some sort. It was entirely black and looked rather clean. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t recognize the logo.
The sun blazed above, basking me in its warm light, a welcome change from the relentless rain back on Sire Island.
“Get in.”
Kyle opened the door for me.
“I’ll bring you to the Guild.”
“Oh, sure.”
From my understanding, we were back on Malovia Island. The island where the Guild was located.
’Thinking about it, I don’t really know much about this island.’
All I knew was that the island consisted of a single city, divided into sectors, with a massive population. I had never taken the time to truly explore it, usually spending most of my days confined to my office, focused on programming my game.
’Maybe I should take some time to properly explore the place.’
“Alright.”
Opening the door on his side and entering, Kyle looked in my direction. I was sitting in the seat next to his.
“…Once we get into the Guild, you should go directly to the dorms and rest. You’ve been given a couple of days off.” Kyle paused, looking a little troubled. “…Not that it matters much to you since you don’t actually work.”
“Yeah.”
Rowan was the only one who attended my therapy sessions.
I only worked at the Guild in name.
I didn’t actually do anything besides focus on creating my games.
“Well, since that’s the case, I guess it doesn’t matter what you do. Just have some rest and then do whatever you want. I’ll probably do the same.”
“…Sure.”
“Good.”
Kyle turned his attention to the steering wheel and proceeded to drive.
He was just about to turn on the radio when I stopped him.
“Hm?”
“…I prefer the silence.”
Not really.
I was just reminded of a certain incident in the past. One involving a certain conductor.
I no longer trusted radios.
“Err.. Okay.”
Kyle looked somewhat annoyed, but let it go.
Looking at him drive, I suddenly lost myself in my own thoughts as I turned my attention towards my phone and opened the Dock app.
’It’s been a day since I last checked. Maybe the situation has changed a little…’
[Sales: 62,129]
“…..”
Looking at the numbers, I was left speechless.
While I anticipated a decline in sales, I hadn’t expected it to be this steep. The game had sold fewer than a thousand copies since the last time I checked.
And the game was still new!
It was quite obvious that Nova Studios had messed even more with the game sales.
’It looks like I’ll quickly need to program the multiplayer mode for the game. No, but that might not be enough…’
Multiplayer was only going to boost the sales for a short moment.
It wasn’t going to address the problem.
I needed to think of a way to address the problem directly.
However, that was easier said than done.
Nova Studios was quite far from where I was, and they were a very big gaming studio. At least, they were massive compared to me. Fighting them directly was only going to put me at a massive disadvantage.
’If only there were a way that I could directly curse those bastards who did this so that—’
Suddenly, I paused.
Thinking about something, I hastily pulled open my stats window.
It was there that I stared at my two nodes.
[Containment Vessel], and [Trait Transfer].
Looking at the two nodes, my eyes fell onto a certain name.
Mr. Jingles.
’Wait, what if…?’