"Fufufufu..." Marie let out a low, almost mocking chuckle, her voice carrying a sly tone that seed to linger in the air. "Well, I guess as long as it has a hole, you’d go for it, huh? That’s the kind of man you are. Honestly, I find myself baffled by your way of thinking—completely absurd, really—but at the sa ti... I can’t exactly say I dislike it." She tilted her head slightly, her smirk sharpening as she studied .
"Don’t make sound like so kind of degenerate," I shot back. "I’m not so much of a horndog that I’d try sothing with just anything that happens to have a hole in it." My words ca out firr than I intended, and I caught myself narrowing my eyes at her, though I couldn’t stop from glancing at her face again, trying to read what was really behind those expressions.
"You really are persistent," she continued, her eyes narrowing with amusent, "trying so hard to peel away at , to get to know . But you should understand one thing—I won’t give you anything that could be useful for Jas. No matter how much you push, you’re not going to get it."
"Like I said already," I told her, leaning back slightly, "I’m not that desperate to know about Jas. And even if I was, there’s no way I’d get anywhere with you clamming up like that. So, instead of wasting my breath, I’d rather just ask about you."
Marie’s expression shifted—softened, almost. She let out a small, dry laugh before speaking again. "There’s nothing interesting about an old woman like ," she said flatly. "I’ve lived my whole life alone, never tied to anyone. I never felt sparks with any of the n I t. The concept of love, of falling in love—it’s sothing I’ve never co to understand. And truthfully... I don’t think I ever will."
Her words hung heavy in the room, a mix of confession and dismissal.
"So, what you’re saying," I said slowly, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my tone, "is that there’s absolutely nothing about you that’s worth noting, and even sothing like love—a basic thing everyone else feels—completely slipped past you?"
That’s what it sounded like anyway. Either she truly had no interest in the subject, or it was because she never bothered to care that love had never taken root in her life. Whichever way it was, I still felt there was more beneath the surface—sothing Marie was deliberately keeping tucked away.
"I don’t have anything worth your ti," Marie replied calmly. "So if you’re trying to use as so roundabout thod to get at Jas, you’re wasting your efforts. It’s not going to happen."
I already knew that. She was iron-willed, the type who could be tortured, threatened, beaten within an inch of her life, and still not say a damn thing. If there was anyone capable of taking secrets to the grave without flinching, it was her.
I exhaled, long and tired. "Well then... looks like I’ll just have to co back again another day," I said. "And if I want to pry sothing out of you, maybe I should lean on your so-called wisdom. You’ve been around long enough, after all—you’re old enough to have sothing useful buried in there."
Her lips curved faintly, as if she found amusent in my jab. "Well then, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you again," she said, her voice calm and steady.
With that, I turned and stepped out of the cell.
That’s when I noticed Elise waiting for outside.
"Here you are, Leon," she said, relief in her tone. "I’ve been searching all over for you. You told you needed for sothing."
"You’re the leader of an organization, right?" I asked directly.
"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "I’m the leader of the Arachnid Sisters."
That admission made things much simpler.
"Earlier this month," I began, my tone sharpening, "an assassin was hired. The job was so kind of theft—I don’t know if it was production goods or company secrets—but she was caught by the shadows before she could get far. That assassin just so happens to belong to the very organization you lead."
Her eyes widened instantly. Shock spread across her face. The idea that soone under her command had the nerve to move against clearly rattled her.
We made our way to where the assassin was being held.
When Elise finally stood in front of her subordinate, her gaze sharpened. She looked down at the woman’s wrist, and there it was—the unmistakable mark of her organization.
"I would’ve never expected soone from my own group to have the audacity to target you—my brother," she said, her voice cold. "I guess I never made it clear enough just how important you are to ."
"Did they even know I’m the leader of the Leonamon?" I asked.
"I didn’t tell them," Elise admitted.
"Then it’s not really their fault for not knowing," I replied. "Still, we should question her. Since you’re her leader, you should have more sway over her than whoever hired her."
Right then, the woman stirred, her eyes fluttering open. The mont she registered Elise, her body tensed.
"L-Leader?! W-What are you doing here?!" she cried, her voice panicked.
"You should be the one answering that," Elise shot back, her tone razor sharp. "What are you doing here, trying to steal sothing from my brother?"
"B-Brother?" The woman’s eyes widened even more, her head snapping toward . "H-He’s your brother?!"
"That’s right," Elise said.
"Eeek!"
A shrill cry tore out of her as realization slamd into her. Her whole body trembled, fear written all over her face.
"I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!" she babbled. "I was just following the job my employer gave , nothing more!"
I looked at Elise, and she only shrugged, as if to say she wasn’t surprised.
"Unfortunately, I don’t keep track of who employs my subordinates," she explained. "I have no clue. Our policy allows them to take jobs anonymously. But we don’t accept jobs that would endanger us or the entire organization. So—tell . Who’s your employer?"
"I... I don’t know his real na," the assassin stamred. "But he told to call him J.M. That’s what he went by."
For anyone else in this world, those initials would’ve been aningless. But for , who carried knowledge beyond this place, the answer was clear. J.M. could only an one thing.
Jas Moriarty.
The elusive bastard himself.
And now... that man had made his move against .
As my thoughts turned heavy, piecing together what that ant, a sharp sound suddenly cut through the silence.
Beep.
"Kuh...!"
Instinct jolted through . I didn’t even know what was about to happen, but my body reacted before my mind could catch up. Guardian wrapped around the woman’s body like a shell—
And a split second later, her body convulsed violently.
She exploded from the inside out.
The sound was deafening—blood, flesh, and heat bursting into the air like a grotesque firework.
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