Chapter 34

I was filled with regret.

No matter what he might have thought of it, I should have shared my secret with Saeki.

On top of that, I should have strongly warned him that Saburo Yamazaki was a dangerous murderer and that he shouldn’t get near him.

With Hosotani-san being followed by Saeki’s disappearance, our company’s name even made the media.

A swarm of reporters rushed in, forcing the company to temporarily suspend operations.

TV crews also approached me for interviews, but I put on a mask and fled from the cameras.

Even so, information always leaks out somehow, and a man claiming to be a magazine reporter even came to my apartment.

I was honestly creeped out when I found out that man had gone so far as to ask the neighbors—Shimizu-san and her daughter—about my character.

As for that matter, I immediately called Shimizu-san and her daughter to apologize.

I actually wanted to meet them in person to apologize, but there was no telling who might be watching where.

If the media caught wind that even Misa-chan’s father had gone off the grid, things would only get messier.

That was why I decided to refrain from contacting Shimizu-san and her daughter for a while.

Tomorrow would mark seven days since I last killed a person.

If I didn’t kill someone by nine o’clock tomorrow evening, I would die.

However, I had already made up my mind on my next target.

Saburo Yamazaki—the murderer who likely killed Hosotani-san and Saeki.

Avenging people wasn’t exactly trendy in this day and age, but Saeki had been my close friend since preschool.

He could be slick, but he was a good guy.

I couldn’t just leave his killer unpunished.

“Saburo Yamazaki… I’ll definitely kill you.”

I muttered those words while staring up at the ceiling from my bed.

Early the next morning, making sure no reporters were around, I stepped out of my room.

Chanting the spell “Ngarinse,” I closed my eyes and pictured the hateful face of Saburo Yamazaki.

Immediately, Saburo Yamazaki’s figure projected onto the back of my eyelids.

Ngarinse was a clairvoyance spell.

It was a spell that consumed 6 MP, allowing the caster to track the current movements of anyone whose face and name they had matched.

“Still asleep, huh…”

Saburo Yamazaki was currently fast asleep at home.

I could see his condition as clearly as if I were holding him in my palm.

I had already checked his home address yesterday, so that wasn’t an issue.

Saburo Yamazaki seemed to live in a detached house just two kilometers away from the apartment where I lived, along with his wife and child.

The house was a single-family home with security cameras at the front entrance and yards completely covered in anti-theft gravel to deter intruders.

Perhaps he was still afraid of being targeted himself.

I headed toward a park near Saburo Yamazaki’s house.

Sitting down on a bench there, I closed my eyes and searched for Saburo Yamazaki’s movements once more.

Still in his pajamas, Saburo Yamazaki saw his wife and child off at the entrance before moving to the living room, turning on the TV, and lying down on the sofa.

It seemed he didn’t have any work today.

For a while, I kept my eyes closed inside the park and continued observing Saburo Yamazaki’s behavior.

Yet, he showed no signs of going outside anytime soon.

My plan was to kill him outdoors, but it seemed my expectations missed the mark.

If it came to this, the security cameras would be a pain, but should I break directly into his house?

If I was going to do that, right now—while his wife and child were out—was my best chance.

Thinking that, I decided to immediately put the plan into action.

Leaving the park, I walked while avoiding the road in front of the convenience store.

Since it was the countryside, I had already factored in that as long as I watched out for the convenience store’s security camera, there wouldn’t be any surveillance cameras at all.

Passing through the gate with a nameplate reading [Yamazaki], I slipped through the yard.

Because I had cast a stealth walking spell in advance, my footsteps didn’t make a single sound even as I walked over the anti-theft gravel.

Closing my eyes once more at the front entrance to verify, I confirmed that Saburo Yamazaki was currently dozing off on the sofa.

Indeed, if I was going to do it, it had to be now.

Bracing myself, I slowly slid open the front door.

Making my way down the hallway and reaching the living room, I found Saburo Yamazaki snoring away on the sofa.

Pulling out the kitchen knife I had concealed, I aimed straight for the sleeping Saburo Yamazaki’s neck,

Die!

And swung it down with all my might.