Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded - Book 3: Chapter 1: (1)

Episode 4 Do the right thing: the face of a thousand lies

Nyath’s memory of the last time he looked at his hometown was the sight of a port city engulfed by flames.

The Zambenikan troops were starting the pillaging, and his mother was pulling him by the hand as they were running towards the very last Moz. ¹

His mother was just the average Farbanian peasant, but to his young self she was the world’s most beautiful woman. 「Hurry up, Nyath」 She was trembling in fear of the attackers and, breathing heavily, she would turn around time and time again. She was desperate to flee from the attackers as quickly as possible. 「We have to hurry」

Several bodies were lying on the road. Even corpses of people Nyath knew. Neyani, the Mildita with the scary face. The old man Nuza who was always giving him Moray shells. Catinna, the craftsgirl from the neighborhood that he played with countless times. All these people that laughed and cried, they were all lying dead on the ground. 「Don’t look. It’s just a little longer until we get to the Moz」 At that moment, he felt a woosh above his head, and heard a nasty sound. As he raised his eyes, he saw an arrow that had pierced his mother’s head from the side. The tip of the arrow was sticking out of her other cheek, and her right eye was in an odd position. 「Ny…」 A strange voice leaked out of her throat.

His mother began falling slowly in his direction. The warmth of the fresh blood on his face, and the weight of the body both left a lasting impression on him. Nyath screamed as he was crushed by his mother’s body, and began to cry uncontrollably.

He could see the Zambenikan archers getting closer, despite his sight being blurred by his tears.

It was an organized rank. They were wearing the silver masks that imitated the man-eating demons from Obiza. The completely merciless murder squad was coming to get him.

One step, and then another step.

Within the ever lingering smoke and fire the troops kept getting closer…

Nyath Maybell woke up from his dream. The morning light coming in from the gap between the curtains was dazzling. He reached for the Seiko alarm clock on the side of his bed, and squinted at it. It was one minute before his alarm rang. 「Ahh…」 He flipped the alarm’s switch, and languidly got up. That was an awful dream. A dream about back when he was over there. It was a dark and distant memory.

He didn’t have that dream all the time. Maybe once a month, or even less than that. He felt as though it had become even less frequent recently.

The nightmare where he failed his language knowledge exam was a lot more common. He had become able to use English in a non-awkward way, but to learn Latin on top of that! What a stupid decision that had been.

There was a knock on the door

「Hey, Nyath? I heard a scream, are you okay?」 「Ah… yeah, I’m fine dad.」

His adoptive father, Stan Maybell, opened the door, and leaned into the room.

「The usual dream?」 「Yeah. But I’m okay. I’m already used to it」

Nyath forced a smile, and in a very Dorini-like gesture, shrugged. Stan glanced carefully at him, and subtly nodded several times.

「Oh okay. Mom’s making breakfast. Come down soon.」

He heard his mom, Polly, humming downstairs in the kitchen. Stan vanished behind the door. Nyath washed his face and tidied his hair in the bathroom, came back to the room and changed into his Sherwood School uniform, and stood in front of the mirror.

No problems. He couldn’t really call himself the cool type, but at least he didn’t look like a lame Semani farmer. He hung his bag full of notebooks on his shoulder, and went to the dining room.

「Good morning, mom」 「Oh good morning, Nyath」

Said Polly while serving the same scrambled eggs as always. There was also some crunchy bacon, and the previous day’s leftover chili beans.

Nyath stuffed his breakfast quickly while looking at his watch. It was a normal day for this household. No particularly important conversations were taking place. As always, Nyath was going to school, Stan was going to his Apple Hills office, and Polly was heading to her part time job at T-mart, after finishing the housework. Nothing special, just a normal morning.

Stan was changing the channels on the TV. The weather was good, and the temperature was also warm.

「So how’s school, Nyath?」 Asked Stan

「Nothing special. It’s normal. Why?」 「No. Since you’re going to that kind of school. I just wanted to know you weren’t having a rough time」 「Nope. It’s full of rich kids, but I’m not just a little kid that gets bullied, just because I’m the Semani with the scholarship」 「Alright, then that’s fine」 Stan nodded and took a piece of bacon to his mouth.

「By the way, how’s it going with that girl?」 This time it was Polly who asked.

「Um… that girl. Norue. She’s been giving you a ride recently, right?」 「Ah… there’s nothing going on with Norue. We just live in the same direction, that’s all.」 「Is that so? That’s a shame, she’s really pretty.」 「Please stop that」 「But Nyath, I think she’s great for you! She also seems really modest… you think so too, right?」 「Mom…」 「I really wished you could become friends with a girl like that. How about asking her out just once? She could come here and-」 「Mom!!」

Without holding back, Nyath raised his voice. Stan and Polly had stopped eating and were looking at Nyath startled. 「I, asked you, to stop that…!」 He was heavily irritated. And emphasized every word with a stifled voice. The two noticed their situation and came back to their senses, hanging their heads to the side.

「Ah… I’m sorry. In any case, we’re not like that. I’m sure if I told her something like that, I’d be troubling her. So I’d rather not.」 「I’m sorry, Nyath」 「No, it’s okay」 「I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that…」 「I get it. Anyways, I’ll get going.」

He felt like he needed to get away, and so he left the table. He could see his adoptive parents completely frozen in the reflection on the glass door. He picked up his bag and went out of the entryway, running to the bus stop a few blocks away.

The streets felt fresh, with the locals walking their dogs or jogging, and cars going back and forth to work or to school. A refreshing morning scenery in contrast to his dark and gloomy mood.

There was nothing between him and Norune. Honestly, she was just giving him a ride, that’s all. She may have been a pretty and kind girl, and it’s true that they were good friends, but that was most likely just some Semanian affinity.

Nyath had never achieved anything other than a good school performance to begin with, and what kind of appeal could a poor kid like him even have? Besides, his good grades only meant that he had been making an effort more intensely than other people for a while.

Sherwood was a rich and prominent school in the area, and it was expected to get there by car. Its students’ luxury cars were always neatly lined up in the parking lot. Considering that, Nyath’s commute by bus all the way from North Zalze, which was barely within the school district, was probably something to laugh at.

For anybody to fall in love with someone like him…

What a boring life. A school life with no changes.

His future was probably going to be the same. Maybe he’d be able to afford a decent car, but that would be it. (Even though he was never interested in cars to begin with). He would handle his tedious everyday life flawlessly, become bored of it all, and turn into a middle aged man.

In that case, why was he going through the trouble of being a scholarship student anyways? Learning those boring chemical formulas, or remembering all that grammar by heart, staying up late reading Plato or writing a report… what kind of purpose did all that serve?

Even asking himself that, he had no idea.

Nyath saw the school bus drive casually by West End about two crossings in front of him. If he didn’t get on that one, he’d have to wait ten minutes for the next bus.

「Shit! I have to hurry!」

Nyath hurried. He would make it in time if he ran. But just as he was about to cut through the crossing right in front of him, he got into a small accident. Someone had come flying from the side at the corner, and rammed right into him.

「Ow…」

The moment he aggressively hit the ground, the contents of his bag scattered all over the sidewalk. His notebooks, writing materials, and his paperbacks. Nyath addressed the other person, as he hastily gathered his belongings.

「I- I’m sorry. Are you o…kay…?」

He stopped mid-sentence without thinking.

The person that had run into him was a girl in a school uniform. For some reason she was carrying a baseball bat case on her shoulder. Her hair was long, and her eyes were big. Her skin was smooth and shiny. A girl so pretty she looked straight out of a CG anime. She still had a youthful air to her, while also having a smug presence.

Basically, if it weren’t for her sitting right there with her legs spread open like a letter M, probably feeling a pain on her tailbone so strong it made tears well up in her eyes, she would’ve stolen Nyath’s heart.

「U-um…」

And with that, Nyath’s gaze went straight into her skirt, clearly gluing itself to her thin underwear. From where she was sitting still, he could see it was wonderfully snow white and cerulean. And with horizontal stripes on top of that! It was not flashy, but there was a modest cuteness to it.

「Ugh… ah… eh?!」

Having overcome the pain in her butt, it seemed like the girl had finally noticed her immodest position. She hastily closed her thighs, and lowered the hem of her skirt.

「D-don’t stare that much! You rakebye!²」 「I-I’m sorry」

Nyath, surprised at her insulting him in Farbanian, averted his gaze. Those features, and that accent. This girl was a Semanian, just like him.

「Are, are you hurt?」 「Obviously. I can’t just get bumped into and shrug it off like you. If I were normal, you would’ve torn my gorgeous body in half!」 「Eh?」 「Nevermind, forget it. Anyways, you should at least look in front of you when you’re walking, you crapdunce!」

That wasn’t a very elegant way to speak. It definitely irritated Nyath.

「That’s not even a word, is it? And weren’t you also ignoring what was in front of you? I even worried about you and asked if you were okay, what the-」 「Oh!」

With just a glance, they saw the bus at the stop, and passengers had just begun getting on and off. The girl smacked her lips, stood up and started ferociously sprinting towards the bus, leaving Nyath behind.

「Ugh… I can’t be late on my first day after transferring…」 「Hey, wait」

The girl crossed the street at full speed, and ignoring the several cars that honked at her or had to stop on their tracks, rushed to the bus right in front of her. She barely made it in time, and the bus slowly drove away.

That uniform. It was the same as his Sherwood uniform. He thought he was the only student in the area. But even more importantly, him being late was a problem. However, the bus had already left. 「What am I going to do…?」

Nyath gathered his scattered belongings, shoved them into his bag and looked up to the sky.

1. Semanian for transport ship
2. Semanian for idiot