It would be one thing if she’d done it with gusto, but performed so awkwardly, it just made his protective instincts take over.
“D-Detective Rogue? I-I’m the Saint, Catherine? The Third Witch! My deferred beheading is three thousand eight hundred years?!”
She must have thought he hadn’t heard her, because she was doing it again.
“……I heard you.”
A gust of wind blew though the room.
“Er, um, okay.”
Catherine put down her hand and hung her head. She glared up at Miseria through her lashes.
“……Miseria!”
“Oh? What’s wrong? You look like you swallowed poison.”
“You tricked me!”
“I did? That’s not nice. I may have suggested that if you nail that pose, the newbie would be intimidated. Nothing more.”
“So it is your fault! You made me… Made meee!”
“It’s for the best. Good for a speedy introduction. Rogue, Catherine is always like this. Let’s move right along.”
“Wait, Detective Rogue! I’m not always like this! I’m very talented!” Catherine wailed, almost pleading.
“Not anymore,” Miseria said sorrowfully, shaking her head. “She may have been fearsome once, but now she’s simply a disaster. Time is a harsh mistress.”
“You shut up, Miseria!” Catherine shrieked. “Detective Rogue! Let me help with the case! Get me up to speed!”
“Uh…let’s just go.” Rogue sighed.
“Augh!” Catherine looked crestfallen.
Miseria shrugged. “Dealing with her will simply waste daylight.”
“Oh, not you,” Rogue said to Miseria.
“Huh?” Miseria blinked at him in confusion. That was a new look for her.
Rogue patted himself on the back for that and turned to Catherine.
“Let’s talk where she’s not around. We need to catch up.”
“D-Detective Rogue!” Catherine gasped, eyes sparkling.
“You’re casting me out?!” Miseria cried. “That makes no sense! I must protest!”
“On what grounds? All you do is slow things down! Can you not go one minute without fucking with people?”
“I cannot.” Miseria brushed back her white hair with the utmost pride. “It’s what I live for.”
“Get a life.”
“This will never do, Rogue. All of us have principles by which we live—”
“This way, Detective Rogue!”
“Coming.”
“Rogue?!”
They found an empty room with a desk in it. Miseria had followed them halfway there, but when they ignored her protests, she stalked off, sulking. Or pretending to.
“Th-thank you, Detective. I really appreciate it,” Catherine said earnestly.
Those jade eyes and delicate features could inspire awe in the beholder, but her brows—scrunched with worry—largely ruined the effect. The collar on her neck made her look like a shy girl with a secret love for punk rock who’d forgotten take off her choker.
“I just don’t know how to handle her. She teases me relentlessly,” Catherine admitted.
“I sympathize completely. I’ve had it up to here with her,” Rogue said.
“O-oh? That bad?”
“Enough about her. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Here’s the case file.”
He’d printed out the files from his phone and spread out the pages on the table.
“……Interesting,” Catherine said, gravely looking them over.
“Did my predecessor work this case?”
“……”
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you!” Catherine wailed, bursting into tears.
“Er, uh…what’s wrong?”
“I mean, I mean…” She sobbed. “He was such a good man! But Miseria made him kill himself…and I thought we were going to be friends! Augh!”
“S-sorry, guess that was a sore spot.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” she said. “Oh! I never gave him back the book I borrowed! Wahhhhh!”
“How can I not worry?!”
This was too much for him.
But it was also a distraction. Rogue cleared his throat.
“So—I take it you’re willing to help work the case? Most people here seem to want nothing to do with me.”
“I’d be glad to!” Catherine said, dabbing her face with her handkerchief. “We cannot let this vicious killer remain at large!”
The timid look in her eyes was gone. She looked genuinely invested in bringing the killer to justice.
But…
“……You mean that?” Rogue asked.
“Mean what?”
“The vicious-killer thing. I dunno what you did, but that idiot Miseria seemed hell-bent on hurting as many people as she could. The others aren’t much better. I can deal as long as you’re helping, but if you’re just using the case as an excuse to indulge in your whims, that’s a problem.”
He waited for her response. Would she angrily declare she wasn’t like them? Would there be more waterworks? Or…would he get a glimpse of what made her a witch?
After a solid ten seconds, Catherine beamed. “You’re a good man,” she said.
“Dunno what that means.”
“I mean, you’re actually interested. Most people hear ‘witch’ and don’t even ask.”
“……That doesn’t make me ‘good.’”
“It does. I can tell!”
This rattled Rogue.
Miseria and the others clearly didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. But Catherine? She seemed downright benign.
No, I can’t let myself assume that.
The girls there were all witches.
There was no such thing as a benign witch. That made no sense. By definition, witches were malignant.
“You don’t want to leave this place?” Rogue asked.
“I do. I dreamed about it at the Andewurs and every night since I came here.”
See? They all want to escape.
“Detective.” Catherine frowned. “Are you aware of the perks for helping with your investigations?”
Even witches didn’t work for free.
“What do they give you?”
“Stuffed animals, books… Oh, and better food!”
“That sounds downright exploitative.”
“That’s not true! We’re even allowed to watch television on Fridays!”
“……”
“And they might grant our requests. Even…our release.”
“That’s in the cards?!” he yelped. That was a bombshell.
“It’s nigh impossible,” Catherine said, wincing. “Even Miseria hasn’t pulled it off. You’d have to literally save the empire in its hour of need. Only that would make the Two Great Noble Houses relent.”
“But they wouldn’t let you stay in the empire, right?”
“No. We’d be exiled. Blindfolded and dumped in a strange land. With our collars still on, and not a penny to our name.”
“Sounds rough.”
“But hardly surprising. Anything they do to witches is justifiable. Witches are evil.”
“……You’re including yourself there?”
Catherine nodded.
“……Once, I did my best to help people. I used my spells to save people all around the empire. But…” Rogue held his tongue, waiting. “Eventually, I blew it. So many people… Tens of thousands. And my magic—”
Her voice was a croak.
Catherine turned away from him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be sharing this. We’re short on time.”
“……Yeah.”
He couldn’t tell how genuine she was. But it left him wondering whether every girl declared a witch was truly a villain.
If what she’d done had been an unfortunate accident—if the damage was great enough, her intentions might not have mattered.
It was easier to deal with the obviously twisted witches. Easier if he was certain they were evil.
“Detective Rogue, let’s follow this military lead. Um…and thank you for listening,” Catherine said.
When he heard that—Rogue made a choice even he couldn’t believe.
“Right. For military stuff, Daniel at Popmart in the Third Ward’s our best bet. He’s like a Peeping Tom for army dirt—constantly keeps an ear out. If you tell him you’re acting on my orders, he’ll tell you everything he knows.”
“……Huh?” Catherine blinked at him.
Rogue was kicking himself already. He couldn’t believe he was revealing his source to a criminal. Bad idea. But it was too late now.
What am I doing?
“Uh, so yeah, mm-hmm. Time’s a wasting, so let’s split up. I’ll hit a different broker to verify—”
“Detective!”
She threw her arms around him.
That getup hid a lot. He could feel a soft weight against him.
“……!”
His thoughts dulled. The sensation took control of his mind. What was that pressing up against him?
“……Le—”
“Le…? What’s wrong? You’ve turned bright red!”
“L-le…ggo!”
“Lingo? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Catherine moved her ear right up against his lips, straining to hear him. He could count the individual hairs on her head. He could smell her shampoo…
Rogue fought valiantly, but it was a full minute before he secured his freedom.
Miseria came over to him five minutes later. She opened the door and stopped dead, sniffing the air like a dog.
“Oh dear,” she said.
“……What?” Rogue asked, exhausted.
“Never mind. I have my own problems,” she said. “Come, Rogue! The interloper is gone, and we’re back on the case!”
“……I’ve had enough of you.”
“I’m not about to let you rest! We’ve only just met, but I would imagine you’d have worked that out by now.”
“Listen, witch, people don’t give up that fast.”
“Then I’ll just have to work harder. We’re going to be good friends.”
“Put a sock in it.”
“Your protests have grown rather uncouth, Rogue!”
He felt better. Served her right.