Even an unwritten story, however, has an audience.
After the officers had left, the room echoed to the sound of delicate applause.
"...What are you doing here?" The chief grumbled vexedly without turning to look. Obvious disgust showed through in his voice, which he loaded with enough pressure to crush the soul of a small animal.
Thereupon, the owner of the applause poked her face out of the shadows.
"What's this? It kind of feels like you're giving me the cold shoulder. Can't I drop in even if I don't have business?"
It was a girl who appeared to be in her mid teens. She wore a gothic lolita-style dress with black and white keynotes, and clasped an over-decorated umbrella despite being indoors.
"At the very least, this is no place for outsiders."
"Oh, so I'm an outsider now? You've sure gotten high and mighty, newbie."
The girl giggled and twirled her umbrella. Despite her peevish remarks, she gave the impression of being in high spirits.
"Still, that was a masterpiece. How'd it go? 'You are justice'? What a performance. If I was judging the Golden Raspberry Awards, I wouldn't hesitate to nominate you for Worst Actor!"
"I wasn't trying to put on a show. I only stated the truth."
"Oh? What's this? Could it be that you seriously believe you're justice? You're one of the perpetrators of this grand scam, remember."
"I am."
The girl burst into a cackle at the chief's unflinching response.
"Wow! I wish I had your nerve! That's not very patriotic, is it? I mean, f you really loved this country, you'd never call all this 'just'!"
"It may be true that I am no patriot, and no pious man of God, but I do take pride in the fact that my actions are the results of just beliefs." Sounding more as if he was trying to convince himself than the girl, the chief continued: "Of course, I won't claim that our justice matches the Grail's. Should circumstances demand it, we may end up making enemies of not only the Association and the Church, but the Grail War system itself as well."
"Don't worry so much. Ruler won't be in this War."
The girl waved a hand as she spoke, as if to mock the words the chief had uttered with such determination.
"What?"
The next instant, the tone of the girl's smile suddenly changed.
"And even if Ruler does show up after it switches over to the real Grail War, it'll be too late."
It was still an innocent smile, but now it had taken on the cruel look of a child rhythmically stomping on a line of ants.
"The Snowfield Holy Grail War will be elevated from a fake to the real deal, and veer off course. Once that happens, Ruler won't be able to stop it, or even intervene. We'll be able to rape the Grail War all we want!" Her breath whitened as she went on triumphantly, sunk in ecstasy. "Don't you see how wonderful this is? I never thought I'd get another chance to have my way with that holy maiden, then turn her into a pile of cinders that aren't even good for pig slop! Oh, it's incredible! It's the best! I hope Ruler does come! I couldn't manage to break her spirit back then, but this time she won't be a hero whose work is done! She'll die as a Ruler who wasn't able to do her duty! I'm sure that will get to her!"
At that point, her smile suddenly returned to normal and her excitement leveled out.
"Don't you think it's just wonderful?" She asked the chief.
His answer, however, was curt.
"...I will do it if it becomes necessary, but I do not consider it a laudable action."
"You're so uptight. A real stick in the mud," the girl teasingly addressed him, twirling her umbrella. "Don't you ever get tired of being a hero? It's so much easier when you know you're the bad guy, you know? Whatever you do, you can just pass it off with a 'Because I'm the bad guy.' Acting crazy is easy, too. You can just pass off anything you do with a 'Because I'm crazy.'"
Then, with a malicious narrowing of her eyes, she added a final, sarcastic remark.
"Oh, but justice works the same way! Sorry about that!"
With that, the girl turned to go, but she abruptly stopped, looked back, and asked the chief:
"Oh, that's right, didn't Mr. Fake Caster want a woman? If he does, why don't I go and keep him company?"
"Hurry up and return to headquarters. Without any unnecessary detours."
Getting a response pregnant with rage so intense it was practically homicidal, the girl shrugged her shoulders and turned her back on the chief again.
"Yes, yes, I'll wait my turn like a good girl..."
After he had watched the girl open the door normally and go, the chief spat:
"Play the mastermind as long as you can, you old bitch."
But there was no smile on his face, and no sense of composure... Anyone who saw him would have taken his words for the excuses of a sore loser.
But even if they were, his mind would remain unclouded. His conviction had already reached a place beyond his pride, or even his life.
Originally Posted by hayate
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