Cli Cla!

When the lights turned on, color returned to the stage as Joseph was again in the bakery.

Compared to the previously oppressive atmosphere, the atmosphere was now a lot less suffocating.

[....]

Sitting in the same spot, Joseph remained quiet the entire time until he lowered his head to rub his face.

[Face... What did his face look like?]

There was one clear disadvantage to the visions.

It was that he couldn't remember the faces of the parties involved.

[Damn it.]

But it wasn't without hope.

[White shirt, brown pants, and undervest...]

He could remember the clothes he had worn and the location of the incident.

Coming down from the stairs was his assistant Elbert who pushed his glasses back up.

[I wasn't able to find any evidence. The place is clean. It's unfortunate, but we might have to look somewhere else for clues.]

His steps eventually stopped not far from where Joseph was.

[What about you? Have you found anything...?]

[....]

[Detective?]

[....Uh, ah right.]

Joseph snapped out of his thoughts and looked back.

[What did you say, again?]

[Did you find anything?]

[Oh, that.]

He shook his head.

[No, not really. I do have some ideas though. Troublesome, but... Haa, I need the money, so I have no choice.]

Finally standing up from his seat, Joseph took a long and dragged out a breath before turning around and heading towards the exit.

[Detective? What are we doing here? This is the fifth house that we've visited. How is this supposed to help us?]

[Just wait.]

The scenery changed. Coming out of the bakery, they appeared before a large wooden door and knocked.

To Tok

[How can I help you?]

Greeting them at the door was a familiar figure. Instantly, the atmosphere around the theater turned tense. And yet... For some reason, that faded the moment they noticed the warm smile on the figure's face.

To the audience, he looked like a very friendly person. A vast difference from the person in the vision.

The stark contrast made a few uncomfortable.

'Is that really him?'

'It can't be the same person, right...? How does that even make sense?'

Removing his hat, the detective introduced himself alongside his assistant.

[Let me introduce myself. I'm Detective Joseph, and this man over here is my assistant.]

He too greeted the man with a polite and warm smile.

[A detective?]

[Yes. I'm sorry, but could we ask you some questions?]

[....But of course.]

The man invited them in.

But just before he let them in, he introduced himself.

[Oh, before I forget. My name is Azarias. It's a pleasure to meet you.]

[Azarias? What a nice name.]

[Thank you.]

The scene once again shifted.

They were now all sitting around a wooden table. On the table sat a small tray bearing three cups of warm tea.

[I'm sorry for this. It's all I can offer.]

[Oh, there's no problem.]

Taking a sip of the tea, Joseph joked.

[I can't tell the difference between good tea and bad tea anyway. It all tasted like grass one.]

In return, Azarias smiled.

[I can't say I'm any different.]

The atmosphere was lighthearted and warm. It seemed to be a regular and friendly talk between two friends.

That, however, took a more serious turn when Joseph started his investigation. Just slightly, his demenour shifted, becoming a lot more serious.

[I'll start off by asking a simple question. Where were you yesterday night at around 10 P.M?]

[At around 10 P.M?]

Despite the sudden shift in Joseph's demenour, Azarias didn't seem to be phased as he started to seriously ponder.

[Hmm, I'm not sure... I think I was at my store. If you don't know, I'm the owner of a flower shop.]

[A flower shop?]

[Yes, I love to take flowers.]

Glancing around, Joseph did indeed notice that the place was filled with flowers.

[You seem to like roses.]

[....I've been told that a lot. But it's not really the roses that I like. There are several others that I like.]

[Hmm, I see.]

With a nod, Joseph went straight to business.

Opening his coat, he took out a small portrait and placed it down on the table.

[Emily Stein.]

He tapped the portrait with his finger.

[That's the name of the girl that has been missing since yesterday. Have you perhaps seen her before?]

[....]

Azarias only stared at the photo for a couple of seconds, and yet... For some reason, the atmosphere felt suffocating. Even with his warm features and expression, there was something offsetting about him.

Gradually, he picked up the picture and took a look at it.

[I think I've seen her before, I'm not quite sure where.]

[You have?]

[Yeah, but I'm not quite sure where...]

[It's a small town. She worked at the bakery down the street. Perhaps that's where you've seen her.]

[Ah, that's perhaps where.]

Azarias smiled yet again, slowly placing the portrait down and shaking his head.

[I'm sorry, but I wish I could help you out more. If there's anything that I can do to help the investigation, I'd be more than willing to help.]

[That would be appreciated.]

Turning around and staring at the flowers, Joseph had a sudden thought as he voiced out.

[That store of yours... You won't mind if we visit it, right?]

[My store?]

Confused, Azarais tilted his head.

Joseph continued, this time, his demenour was less serious than before as it returned to the friendly one from before.

[I've been meaning to buy a few flowers for my wife. I might as well take advantage of the opportunity. I hope you don't mind. Plus, I can do a small checkaround. If you're innocent, I'm sure you won't mind, right?]

[Ah...]

Azarias's eyes flickered slightly. It was only brief, barely noticeable if one didn't pay close attention. But...

To the audience who was indeed paying attention, it was all seen.

Unfortunately, nobody could tell whether Joseph had noticed or not as he happily smiled and received the keys to the shop from Azarais who didn't follow him out.

[Haha, I will be coming back shortly to return the keys. Please don't run away.]

Though he said that jokingly, Joseph ordered his assistant to stay on guard outside of the house.

Clank

Once the door closed, Azarias was the only one remaining in the room.

[.....]

Silence gripped the surroundings as he stood by himself with a warm smile on his face. It was a smile that lit up the room.

But gradually...

The smile started to change flavor.

It slowly started to grow unsettling. Almost chilling.

The lights started to dim, and right before the audience, the colors started to fade, gradually turning the entire world gray.

But strangely enough, in the gray world, one color remained.

It was the red from the roses.

With Azarias standing in the middle, the curtains started to close, signaling the end of the first Act. In the last moments before the curtains fully engulfed Azarias, he opened his mouth to speak as a familiar cold and dry voice echoed out loud.

[....I'll see you soon.]

The curtains fully closed then, and the theater turned dark.

....The first Act had ended.

"Huuu."

Aoife stood behind the stage and took a deep breath. The lights slowly turned on for the first intermission as the audience sat with their mouths closed, eyes still fixed towards the front.

From their expression, it was clear that they were heavily invested in the play.

"That's good..."

Aoife sighed in relief.

It was clear that she didn't disappoint with her performance.

But even so...

"...."

Staring towards a certain man, who was currently heading towards his private room under everyone's watch, Aoife lowered her head.

It was still not enough.

She...

Was still not good enough.

'Just how much more do I need to do to keep up with him...?'

She was honestly scared. Especially since their scene was about to come up. Aoife felt like she was in top form, but even that didn't seem to be enough.

'More.'

Her current form was good, but not good enough to keep up with him.

She had to do more.

Especially since 'he' was watching her. Aoife couldn't let herself be swallowed by Julien's acting. With a soft 'huu' Aoife massaged her cheeks and took out the script.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Ah...!"

It was almost falling apart, as she had to try her best to prevent some of the pages from falling.

Making sure that all the papers were in order, she focused her attention back on the script.

Perfection.

She would only stop at perfection.

***

"Huh..."

Coming back into my room, I sat down and took a deep breath. I was mentally exhausted, and my head hurt a little. Staring at the script, I flipped through the lines before putting on my makeup.

Flip, flip, flip!

The next scene was the scene where I would kill Aoife.

It was another small flashback scene.

However, this scene held great importance as the play was still in its introductory phases. My role was to 'highlight' Joseph's ability.

My death would come not long after. Compared to the whole script, I didn't have a lot of screen time. Even so, my role was important.

I had to make sure to leave an impact on the audience.

But...

It was that part that stumped me.

"I still can't get a proper grasp on this."

I tossed the script over the desk. It was annoying. Regardless of how hard I tried, I still struggled to come close to understanding the character.

....It was just impossible.

Azarias was a total psychopath. Someone whose mind and emotions were hard to properly understand. For a brief moment, my gaze wandered towards the four-leaved clover tattoo on my forearm.

If there was one method that could help, then...

"No."

I was quick to throw the idea away. The wheel was a gamble. I could very well end up with an emotion that would have the complete opposite effect.

"Huu."

If only I could get into Azarias's mind...

"Ha."

I massaged my forehead.

"What a troublesome situation."

To Tok!

"The play will start shortly. Please make your way into the stage."

Hearing the organizer's voice, I took a deep breath and adjusted my clothing.

Making sure that everything was on point, I reached for the handle and opened the door.

What greeted me was a long and narrow corridor.

"Hm?"

I looked around.

Where was the organizer...? And why was it so dark?

"....!"

WOOOOM!

Something streaked past my cheek. I was hardly able to react on time as I tilted my head just slightly to the right.

Drip...! Drip.

I felt a sharp pain by the side of my cheek and frowned.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

From across the space, a subtle and repetitive scratching sound caught my attention as a figure stepped out from the darkness.

"You dodged that?"

His voice was hoarse, almost croaky as I remained silent.

"...."

I stared at him without saying a word. Slowly, his appearance became known to me, and I lowered my head.

So you're finally here...