Kirigiri Novel Book 5

Chapter 11- Part 5- Daily Life

A white space, It's so cold here that our exhaled breath turns white. The structure here is like a spacious hall with no windows, only the ventilation fans behind iron bars on the opposite wall are slowly rotating. There are no furniture or decorations on the walls and floor, there is a white bed in the center of the room, and a small cabinet next to it with an LCD monitor, that's all.

The shape of a person is bulging from the bed, as if someone is sleeping on it, but the person's face cannot be seen.

The reason is— his face is covered with a white cloth.

"N-no way..."

Tsutsumi was the first to speak.

I also said the same thing in my heart. No way.

I didn't expect it to end like this... Kirigiri and Lico got closer to the bed. Lico took off the white cloth.

Beneath the white cloth is the serene face of Ryūzōji Gekka.

"He suffered from a fatal disease. He never told the people around him what that disease was until the end, but when he saw it back then, he knew that the disease would be devouring his life bit by bit."

"Lico...you knew about it before?"

"Yes, after all, I have been by his side for half a year. Even though he had the intention to hide it, I still found out."

That's right— he also took a lot of medicine in front of me, at that time he was already walking towards the abyss of death step by step.

This is the end of the hero known as the 'Armchair Earl' who once saved countless people.

To die alone in a place like this— What was he looking for?

Was he ever rewarded, even a little?

"Could it be that he was in a wheelchair because he was sick?"

"No, the inconvenience of his legs and feet is the sequelae of his injuries caused by a criminal when he was a police officer."

"He was a police officer before?"

"Yes, it's precisely because of that that there are so many of his followers in the police, and why he had such a great influence on them. He did not quit after he got paralyzed, and he fought crime as a police officer, but one day, a prison escapee killed his wife and daughter, and in the next month he resigned as a police officer. A man who insisted on fighting crime and was proud of it, just walked away without remorse."

"So... he then became a detective?" "From his resume, that's what happened." I looked at Ryūzōji's face again.

What does his serene expression mean?

'Sacrifices are inevitable to achieve pure relief— that's what I've come to realize.'

I recalled what he said.

I always thought that the meaning of this sentence is simply to say that in order to save one person, one can sacrifice another one, but a thought suddenly passed through my mind— the one who sacrificed the most was him. Maybe Mizuiyama wanted to save him because she understood this.

"It hasn't been a long time since he died."

Kirigiri said while examining the body. At such a time, she did not forget to investigate, it's her style after all.

"He's holding something in his hand."

She took off the cover and checked the thing in Ryūzōji's hands. A remote control.

Kirigiri pressed the remote control button without hesitation.

The LCD monitor powered on at once, and started playing a video.