Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded - Book 3: Chapter 1: (20)

“Translator: ClefRunner”

“”

Matoba left the interrogation room, and called Detective Tony McBee who was in charge of the investigation related to Mendoza’s finances.

「Tony. What are you up to?」 「Kei, I’m currently at San Teresa Bank’s security center. We were just checking their security video databank.」

Security center? Why was he in a place like that?

「There was this guy who had a very suspicious account, so I was just checking that up. And well comparing the videos and everything takes time, so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it or not. But fortunately, something interesting just popped up」 「Okay I get it, just tell me already」 「Geez, what an impatient guy. You see, the person using that account…」

~o~O~o~

Nobody was waiting at the bus stop. Tilarna came up right next to the bench, took a deep breath and looked around her. Cars would occasionally pass by, and she would see a pedestrian walking every now and then. Not a single person looked even slightly like Nyath.

She waited for a minute, and Nyath still wasn’t showing up.

Should I look around for him? Or just keep waiting there?

Just as Tilarna was starting to get confused, her phone began blinking and vibrating. It was an unknown number, but not from a payphone this time. She answered immediately.

「Nyath?」 「Tilarna. Did you come to the bus stop?」 「Yeah, I’m here. Where are you?」 「I’m close by」

A bell rang. Both from beyond the fence in front of her, and almost immediately from her phone as well. The afternoon classes were starting.

「Are you in school? Why aren’t you coming?」 「Don’t move from there, Tilarna」 「What’s going on?」 「It’s alright, just stay there. And please listen to what I have to say」

She felt an indescribable tremor all over her body. She didn’t know what it was, but she could tell that something horrible was going to happen. That hunch grasped her and never let go.

「I get it, okay, so just come here. I’ll do anything I can to help you. So please…」 「To be honest, Tilarna, Norune wasn’t killed by those drug dealers or whatever」 「What?」 「Before I put an end to them all, I got a lot of information from their leader, that Mendoza guy. They were only selling some drugs. They weren’t the ones that fucked Norune and killed her. It was true that she had died from their drugs, and they got what they deserved but」 「I don’t get this. Nyath, please–」 「Shut up and listen!」

He spoke with a voice that she had not heard from him before, a threatening voice.

「… please listen to me. This is something that I want you to hear. You’re my friend, aren’t you?」 「Yeah」 「Thank you. So… I pulled it out of that Mendoza guy. Who he had sold the drugs to」 「And who was it…?」 「It was Emma. Emma Sehlam」

No way.

Emma? That cheerful girl that was just getting fired up about some western style sweets a few minutes ago?

「That’s impossible. Isn’t that… some sort of mistake?」 「No, it’s not. Mendoza had her phone number saved on his computer, along with a record of their business. He had been selling them to her for over half a year」 「That’s…」

That was all she could say

「The night Norune died last week, she was hanging out with Emma and the others. I didn’t hear about it in detail, but she was there for sure. She had dressed up in a bizarre way, and then… that happened to her. I even know who did it, Emma and the others toyed with Norune and killed her」 「I’m sure that’s a misunderstanding」 「No. I even got some evidence. And that guy who’s always with Emma, that Ghili, he knows for sure. I got it out of his buddy Mike. I went over to his house last night, and called him on the phone… well, and then a lot happened」

Tilarna thought back to the cafeteria a few minutes earlier. That very male student was absent. His name was Mike

「What did you do to Mike?」 「He also let Norune die. When they threw her out on the street, the one who was driving was Mike. He confessed it himself」

He wouldn’t answer Tilarna’s question. Mike was probably no longer alive.

「There’s no doubt about it. Emma and the others did it.」 「But that’s strange. There’s no way several people would simply… let their classmate die like that, and then go so nonchalantly to school every day」 「That’s exactly why I won’t forgive them! Those people moved on like it was nothing! Those fucking dorinis! They’re all full of lies!」 「Nyath. I’m sure you’re wrong about this」 「No」

She heard something on the phone. It sounded like a zipper, and some fabric rustling. Did he pull something out of his bag? Since he was holding the phone with one hand, it took him some time and effort.

「Tilarna. The reason I told you to go there, is so you won’t get caught up in what’s about to happen.」 「Wait. What are you going to do?」 「No matter what, do not come back to school. Stay there」

She could hear short, metallic sounds coming from the other end. That was the sound guns made when they were being loaded. She knew it after hearing it countless times from her partner.

Nyath was somewhere in school, and he had pulled out a gun.

「Nyath…!」 「Bye, Tilarna. Bahli somda Lubarna, zanmoth nar thégi met daiti¹」 「Stop it, Nyath!!」

He hung up the phone.

She tried reaching out to him, but he wouldn’t answer. No matter how many times she tried, she received no reply from him.

「How did this happen…」

Tilarna immediately dashed towards the school entrance. While she was running, she was calling the Police Department’s headquarters’ security center with her phone, and reporting the situation.

「There’s a risk of a school shooting at Sherwood High. There’s an agitated student in possession of a gun within school grounds. His name is Nyath Maybell. Sixteen years old. Male Semanian. I’m requesting for emergency support」

She couldn’t remember the police’s communication code. But she had to communicate the circumstances to them, so she explained it briefly.

「Understood. We will send any surrounding patrols we have」

Then she called Matoba’s number. He answered right away

「Did you catch Nyath? Tony was investigating some dirty money and they found out about a few things. I’m heading that way right—」 「Kei! Things turned out pretty bad. Nyath is somewhere in school and he has a gun and it—」

At that precise moment, the sound of a gun being fired resonated from the school’s east wing.

~o~

The first victim of the shooting was Rod Burns, who was in the French classroom. He was a part of Ghili’s gang, and a regular player for the basketball team. He had dated over ten different girls, and his school results were passable. His father was the head of a fast food chain or something like that.

According to Mike during his interrogation the previous night, Rod was also a participant in Norune’s assault. He laughed and told her to “Néje Shiya²” as they threw her out on the street.

The moment Nyath entered the classroom, he was sitting in the back, swinging his leg back and forth looking somewhat bored.

Nyath pointed the barrel of the Tec-9 submachine gun he had gotten his hands on when he visited Mendoza’s apartment at him, but even then he didn’t seem to fully grasp what that meant.

There was no need for any cool one liners.

Nyath pulled the trigger with no hesitation, and more than ten 9mm bullets shot right through Rod’s chest. Blood came flying out of him, and Rod fell over his chair. Nyath felt like laughing at his surprised expression.

The students in the classroom shrieked noisily and ran out of there, or dropped to their hands and knees.

Let’s just ignore that noisy crowd. It would be a waste of bullets.

「Ah… ah…」

Lying on top of the pool of blood that had formed almost instantly, Rod was moving his arms and legs restlessly. Nyath pointed his gun at his head, and shot once. So his last words were “ah, ah”. What a pathetic bastard.

Nyath felt fine. So taking a person’s life was that easy.

He felt free. He felt motivated.

And he felt like he was actually alive. He had forgotten about that. Even though he had known about it all along. About that time when he was young, in that coastal town.

He had killed a Zambenikan soldier. He lowered his guard because Nyath was just a child, but as he got closer, he grabbed an arrow and pierced his neck with it. A large amount of blood came flowing out of him, and before he could even realize he was going to die, he was already gasping for air. Nyath could now remember that soldier’s face more vividly than ever before.

That omnipotent feeling was being revived within him.

「Okay then, next would be…」

He had to be nimble now.

The two girls cowering next to the wall were Donna Carry and Jessica Marshall. They were almost like attendants to Queen Emma, and they were always waiting on her.

Donna was a cheerleader, and Jessica was a tennis player. Both of them had very rich parents. And they probably had jumped from guy to guy countless times. The only words Nyath had heard from them since he arrived at that school were “out of my way” and “why is an Alien here?”.

Donna and Jessica had made Norune drink a fairly strong cocktail after being already under the effect of drugs that night. They hated Norune, so they stripped her clothes off, and they incited the guys at the party to do as they pleased with her. And when Norune died, they were the ones that came up with the idea of “throwing her out” like that.

The two of them were pleading for their lives with tears in their eyes

「He- help u—」

Nyath emptied the Tec-9 on just the two of them. The instant he shot, Donna tried to use Jessica as a human shield, but after being doused in Jessica’s blood and pieces of her face, and knowing what true horror felt like, she was also hit by the bullets, and left there to die.

Okay, next one.

Nyath hurried three classrooms east, as he reloaded his Tec-9. Students trying to run away, and teachers who looked surprised by the sound of the gun were already crowding the hallway.

But just as he got to the chemistry classroom, he bumped into Mr. Kiffer. The teacher that would bring up “the fact that Semanians like you even exist is unscientific by itself” at every opportunity. Maybe that was his idea of a joke or something.

「Ma- Maybell? What in the world are you—」 「Please move」

Nyath shot several times at his feet. Kiffer jumped and fell on his back, and then wriggled out of the room like a frog. He wasn’t going to kill him. Him making discriminatory comments was completely unrelated to Norune.

Kiffer would not be a problem anymore, so Nyath strode into the classroom.

1. In the name of Lubarna, I will carry out a trial of justice and harmony
2. Sleep tight

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