(Zhenya Pov)

“Nirve!?” All the players from that night are now assembled. The Detective boy, who sheds light on the beginning of this tragedy. The survivor whose memories are rusted over in mysteries. And the Dungeon avatar who knows how the tale of these poor twisted bodies end.

Gathered in a place no human ear can reach.

“I kidnapped him, so we could shed light on this tragedy.” A song on her voice, we definitely played into the avatar’s hands. “The innocent suffer both in life and in death. While the true perpetrators have moved on with their lives, happy, free.”

“Dammit, old man.” Freddie's silent swear wasn’t lost on me.

“The conclusion I’ve come to after listening to miss Fredrica. Is that the Dutchy was behind the attack on my darling.” The gnarled corpse of the once unknown client, the scum of the earth according to her gaze.

“By darling, you would be referring to the gem Su attacked, correct?” This time it was Nick asking the question that’s been plaguing everyone’s mind. And that has now infected Nirve’s ears.

Dungeons. Well, the new ones, having a core is nothing new if not somewhat obscure to someone uninterested in the subject, but actually seeing one? Now that’s the stuff of legends.

“And you’re dating it?” Freddie piped up, getting instantly reprimanded by the avatar.

“He. And I’m his wife, thank you very much.” She huffed before getting back to business.

“Now then, where were we? Ah, yes. I believe the culprit to be closely intertwined with the Dutchy, far more than some awol soldier wearing a set of ancient armor.”

“N-No, that can’t be.” Nirve’s brain finally finished processing reality. “The one who killed them is Sushila. It has to be!”

“And how are you so certain.” The avatar quipped back.

“Yeah, you keep saying Su was the one responsible for killing your brother and friends. But we have a third party here, who we know from Su’s testimony of the events leading up to the killing, had specifically requested her group.”

As much as it hurt Fredrica to paint her own country as the villain. She couldn't just ignore an innocents cry for help, especially when Su has already suffered injustice for who knows many years.

“But she did admit her guilt, did she not?” She who pieced the full story pipped up. Much to our collective dismay.

“How did you-” Freddie was caught off guard by the avatar’s sudden betrayal.

“Know? A woman has her ways. The flower maiden gave a slight giggle. “But what I said was not a lie, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t.” I replied, still cradling Su’s unconscious body. “She confirmed it herself while pouring her heart out.”

“But, but, but. I don’t believe we have the full picture yet.”

Feeling Nirve’s quizzical stare, the avatar clapped her hands. Causing a seat and two counters to appear, one in front of us and one in front of Nirve. With her all too naturally taking a seat on the gnarled tree, letting her have full view of the island.

“Is this supposed to be a court of law?” Remarked Fredrica.

“No. For my purposes, this is a court of discussion. And I the moderator.” This caught everyone’s attention “Now then, to put this tragedy to rest once and for all. We shall iron out all falsehoods until we are left with nothing but a clean truth.”

The avatar declared to our resounding silence. “Oh come on! Don’t leave a girl waiting.”

This was sudden... But Nirve jumped at the chance to prove that beyond the shadow of a doubt, Su was the one responsible for this.

Gathering up all the evidence he had dedicated to memory, the detective boy’s eyes hardened with purpose. This was what his life had led up to.

“Sushila, once human now Drowned. Does not have a body like most. She does not feel as others do. She cannot feel pain, and her emotions are dulled to non-existence. Her heart beats cold, making her little more than a walking corpse, a puppet. In other terms perfect, qualities for a dog of the elder council.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She saw a chance to please her masters and took the opportunity.” Nirve motions at the corpses who have become both victim and audience. “She attacked the dungeon’s core resulting in the deaths of those we see now. Including many more trapped inside the dungeon at the time of the incident, injuring countless civilians and armed forces.”

Nirve gave a solemn throat clear, signifying the end of his opening statement.

He ain’t spewing lies. At least as far as I can tell observing the girl. She doesn't feel physical pain, or she’s really good at hiding it. Su just keeps going and going until her body gives out. Hehe, not the time. But her flopping up like a dead fish was hilarious in retrospect.

But as for her emotions being dulled, I’m not so sure on that front...

“If you didn’t know, Su had no intentions of entering the dungeon for such reasons. It was actually the client who insisted and revealed the existence of such a... person.” This got Freddie an approving nod from the avatar. “And the operation took place only days later. I hardly believe she could send and receive orders in that time frame if she is such a dog as Nirve believes.”

“Still, it may have been of her own volition.” The baby-faced detective countered.

“That is why I would like to direct your attention to exhibit A.” She gestured towards the client’s body. Pointing out the several weapons stuck in the fossilized knight’s back. “Whatever this guy did sure made him popular.” This was a stretch even for Freddie.

One which was instantly shot down. “You have any evidence? Then it is equally as likely that the Drowned stabbed him herself.”

“With everyone else’s weapons?” Freddie continued. “Yeah... The easiest way is usually the most plausible.” Just as the boy detective opened his mouth, Freddie cut him off. “Exhibit B. You see anything unusual? Or rather in common with how they’re facing.”

He takes a quick glance, immediately connecting the dots. “They have their backs to the exit.” The words stumbling right out of his mouth.

“Weird, no? If they had an escape route, why didn’t they escape?”

“Well, if you’ve perhaps forgotten. The route back was one only a Drowned could comfortably navigate.” And there goes Freddie’s flow. “If anything, she ran with the prize leaving her ‘allies’ to their gruesome deaths.

But let’s stop tiptoeing around the subject, toying with conjuncture and what-ifs, playing the historian. The Drowned admitted to striking the dungeon's core, setting everything into motion!”

Nirve cut straight to the heart of the matter. Killing any plans Freddie had of slowly picking apart the allegation at large.

While this was going on, my eyes were glued on the pale girl, who was the subject of debate. Every back and forth affected her in some way as she squirmed in my arms.

Su... She's fighting something, a monster buried deep inside of her.

While maybe an invasion of privacy. I did happen to catch a glance of Su’s notebooks here and there while working at the inn these past couple of weeks.

From the snippets I remember, they were tales somewhat reminiscent of the one we are retracing now.

The poor girl must be drowning herself in what-ifs and regrets.

Maybe this debate is just what she needs to straighten her head out.

“Come on, Su. I’ll take you ice fishing when you pull through. Promise”

(In Sushila’s head)

The group slew the beasts and lived happily ever after.

Snippets of tales played out one after another. Each one, a lie that the girl had embellished over reality.

Fleeing from the darkness that nipped and gnawed at her limbs. She broke free, returning to friends.

Sushila was not deaf to the outside world, just numb.

With each statement that came to pass, another layer of her false reality peeled away.

As he held her in his arms after a battle well fought, his heart swept the young princess to lands unknown where they lived happily ever after.

It was tiring, witnessing her lies be extinguished. Bringing her ever so closer to the heinous truth.

Walking through the gardens, friends of yesteryear reunited. The end.

The warmth that alit her cold body seems so distant. ‘Reis’ Her internal self muttered, living through a memory instead of a false reality this iteration.

As the name settled in her subconscious, Sushila found herself back on the white beaches of her homeland. She saw herself being hugged by her childhood friend and hero. Whispering those honeyed promises into her ears.

That transient warmth soon died with the eclipsing sun as she relived the true events of that night. An exact one to one as she had described to her... friends. Did they consider her a friend or simply a charge to be taken care of? That matter quickly left her mind as her memory came to a quaking halt at her client’s scream.

There had to be something, her mind pondered. Why had she listened to him?

The more Sushila thought, the more she felt the icy grip of the sea take her. She was sinking back into the abyss with only the light of the moon goddess gracing her.

‘Whys’ Were almost all but gone as the cold penetrated her mind.

Slipping away, Sushila called for help as she did the first time she was drowned. But unlike last time, as the cold stabbed its way into her soul, Su’s memories resurfaced again. The young boy Nickolas who she used to look after now trying to cheer her up. Diana, her old friend who never gave up on her even after she secluded herself in the dark.

Then there was Fredrica and Zhenya. Two names that she had never uttered before in real life. Sushila found herself calling for those four as the abyss took her. They had saved her before. They could be trusted.

She was sure they could save her from this fate!

And like that, the abyss of her origin dissipated. Replaced by a winter wonderland conjured up from the northern girl’s descriptions.

In her place now stood a young girl with tan skin. The cold chill was different, comfortable. Guiding where the cold abyss consumed. So she followed, all the way into a rusted cave where memories were long since sealed.

Pushing past the decrepit gate of chains, its locks crumbled into dust.

Walking up to the most pertinent display, she watched the frozen figure of her client start to move. The meaning of the word he shouted was lost on her, but it gave her the feeling that she had to attack, to strike. Other than that, she recognized it as a dead dialect native to the Islands.

Though why a man of the Dutchy would come to know much less understand the language was lost on the drowned assassin.