An apostle?
That's ridiculous… I wasn't even a demon.
Not in the literal sense.
I looked back at my sister, who just shook her head.
"What exactly do you mean by apostle?"
"Exactly that! I want to be your apostle, Sir Ivan! Just like the Church has cardinals, I want to be the one who aids you in your mission!"
"And that… mission is?"
"Judgment!""?"
"To pass judgment on those who deserve it! To punish the wicked! I believe that's what you are doing, Sir Ivan!"
Is this girl… alright?
"I don't know how or why you came to that conclusion… but you're wrong."
I stood up and walked toward Carly.
"Don't misunderstand me. I'm doing what I do because it's necessary. Whatever happens as a result of my actions… I don't care. If I have to kill, I will. If I have to steal, I will. If I have to torture… I will. Everything… is for—"
"It's okay!"
"Huh?"
"It's okay! I don't care. I know that whatever Mr. Ivan does… it's okay!"
…You know what?
I don't care.
This will all be over once this trial ends anyway.
"Do whatever you want."
"Yes!"
I sat down on the bed.
Honestly, my body was screaming, and my mind wasn't in the right place at the moment.
"I had a laptop with me. Where is it?"
"Ah… that? Lucia!" Carly shouted.
From the other side of the door, a little girl came in.
She had long blonde hair and green eyes.
"A kid?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise.
"Who are you calling a kid!? I might be small, but I'm older than you!" she snapped.
No matter how I looked at her—she was a kid.
Couldn't be older than fifteen.
"Mr. Ivan, I know it's hard to believe, but Lucia is indeed older than she looks. She was like this back when I was a little girl," Carly explained.
"No way," I replied almost instinctively.
"Hmph! Here you go!" Lucia said, handing me the laptop.
It was Lex's laptop.I entered the password and logged in.
But when I looked at the screen…
"So, they already made their move," I said.
"What do you mean?" Carly asked.
"The local disk is empty. Someone got in and erased all the data."
"No way… but… nobody touched the laptop."
"You don't need physical access if you know a bit about computer science. In fact, just a few MeTube videos are enough, especially if they used Active Directory."
Still… to do it in such a short time and leave no trace…The one behind this must be quite skilled.
I smirked.
Unfortunately for them…Everyone leaves a trace.
[Michelle's POV]
A few minutes had passed since that demon started doing… whatever it is he's doing on the laptop
.Man… I feel so out of place here.
I looked at the girl staring at him with admiration in her eyes.
I shuddered at that look.
I still remember when that little girl looked at me with those insane eyes—When I told her I had to come with them… she looked at me like I was trash.
But I couldn't help it, okay!?
I don't want to be here!
Why am I even here in the first place!?
This is all Dad's fault!
I have to stay close to this demon, or he'll kill me!I don't want to go through that pain again!
Although… he did surprise me.
Seeing Dr. Kurata here
.Of course, he wouldn't remember someone like me,But I saw him once—Back when I first started my internship at Almenio's Hospital.
He's the idol of all of us studying medicine.
Haa… I should've talked to him.
Anyway, what the hell is this guy doing?
This silence is driving me crazy.
"Um… Mr… Demon?"
"Call me Ivan," he said without looking up from the screen.
"So, Ivan—"
"Mr. Ivan, for you!" shouted the crazy girl.
Hmph.
"So, Ivan, what exactly are you doing?"
"Why do you want to know?" he asked.
"Well… I'm bored…"
The demon stopped for a moment to glance at me, then sighed.
"I'm looking for the people who stole my information."
"You can actually do that?"
"It's not that hard… Although… we might have a problem."
"That's it?"
"Seems like I'm not the only one looking for someone," the demon said.
PAM
In an instant, all the lights in the mansion went out.
"Wha—what!?" I shouted.
"They found us," the demon said.