Bad Born Blood - Chapter 38



Only Noblemtl

038

Let’s summarize the situation so far, Detective Luca.

The person who mainly harassed Barbara was Calesa Cano. And Calesa was in a position to follow Giselle’s orders, and Giselle was the one who instigated the harassing of Barbara.

But the person that Giselle was truly afraid of was Barbara.

‘… … Given the circumstances, Barbara wanted to be bullied herself.’

It was not understandable with normal thinking.

‘Giselle Custoria is afraid of Barbara.’

Giselle was unable to move, as if Barbara had caught her weakness.

‘This matter is slowly slipping out of my control.’

I had that thought. If Giselle is being threatened, I should report it to the captain of the guard. If my daughter is in trouble, he will take some action.

I reported what had happened so far to Captain Heilas through the terminal hologram. After hearing my story, he answered without changing his expression.

-Luka, just act as you see fit. I’ll leave it to your discretion.

At first I thought I had misheard. I wanted to ask back right away, but my soldierly instinct locked my lips.

“……All right.”

I frowned as soon as I hung up the phone.

‘There was a reason he sent me to the Kratzia Academy. It was also the reason he kept Giselle Custoria by my side. The captain of the guard was convinced that I would fall prey to Barbara’s curse.’

It is no accident that I became deeply involved in this case.

‘why?’

I had a question.

If the guards were to step in, they would quickly uncover the truth of the incident. Unlike the security guards, the guards had the authority to do so. However, the guards indirectly intervened in this incident through me and watched.

‘Even the incident involves the captain’s daughter… … .’

I wiped my face with the palm of my hand.

People were drawing big pictures over my head. I was just a pawn following their hand gestures. That’s the role of a soldier.

‘But it’s annoying.’

I opened my eyes between my fingers. I didn’t like it.

‘Barbara’s curse is… … .’

The evidence suggests that it was Barbara’s own doing. However, no one has yet found evidence of the android’s rampage.

‘Detective Jillian isn’t stupid either. Judging from how she handles things, she’s quite capable. As he said, it’s hard for Barbara, who comes from a lower class background, to control an android.’

Based on the information I have so far, I have put the puzzle together. I have more information than anyone who has tried to approach Barbara’s curse. No one has come closer to the truth than I have.

I sped up my thinking and pieced together the incident from all angles. I tried every possible hypothesis, picking out only the ones that made the most sense.

As I repeated deduction and elimination, the tangled thread began to unravel. After finishing my thoughts, I opened my eyes wide.

“… …Giselle and Barbara are the accomplices who caused the android rampage.”

I let out a laugh. If my reasoning was correct, this was going to be a headache.

Giselle is a member of the Custoria family. If it is revealed that she is the culprit behind the android rampage, the Custoria family’s status and honor will be greatly tarnished.

While I was fiddling with my terminal, I contacted Enrico Lagan. He has a crush on Giselle.

* * *

There are several places in Krachia Academy that are rarely visited. Since the majority of the students are nobles, there needs to be several places where they can have private conversations. In order to protect the students’ privacy, patrol drones and androids only travel on the main roads.

The garden where I was standing was also quiet. The sunset was dyeing the garden red. It was a scene that would make the heart flutter for a sensitive person.

I was watching the situation in the garden while hiding behind a tree.

“Okay, I like it. Miss Giselle Custoria.”

Enrico Lagan was making a brave confession. Giselle, who had been summoned by Enrico, was standing in front of him.

Giselle’s face was haggard, as if she hadn’t slept well. She glared at Enrico with sullen eyes.

“Is this all that matters?”

Enrico was greatly embarrassed by Giselle’s barbed words. I closed my eyes feeling a little sorry.

I pushed Enrico’s back to confess to Giselle. I was the one who said that now was the time to succeed.

“Oh, I, um… … .”

Enrico couldn’t continue speaking, perhaps because he didn’t know he would fail.

“I’ll talk to you while we’re here, Enrico Lagan. I’m not interested in you. No, more than that, I find your presence uncomfortable. I wish you would stop hanging around me for no particular reason.”

Wow, I didn’t know you would go this far.

If Enrico Lagan ever needs my help in the future… … I will gladly help him. I have a conscience, too.

“Ugh, ugh, huuuuk.”

Enrico stood there dumbfounded, then began to cry. He ran out of the garden as if he was running away. Giselle put her hand on her forehead as if she had a headache.

Giselle also tried to leave the garden. I revealed myself after confirming that Enrico had completely disappeared.

“Giselle Custoria.”

Giselle frowned at my appearance.

“somehow…….”

Giselle quickly grasped the context of the situation.

“I figured you wouldn’t respond to my call, so I did this. Even if you do, you’ll probably come with Barbara. You might even be able to move the android again.”

With Barbara by her side, she couldn’t get the truth out of Giselle. Judging from Giselle’s reaction, her fear of Barbara was deeply embedded like a thorn.

“I can’t stand it anymore. Your rudeness to my father… … .”

“It’s no use. I also reported to the captain of the guard that you were involved in this incident. There was no response. One of two things. Either he doesn’t care about his daughter, or he already knows the truth to some extent. Maybe both.”

Giselle stumbled as if she had been hit.

“Oh, you told your father? To your father? You, you?”

The reaction was more intense than I expected.

“It is natural for subordinates to report to their superiors.”

Giselle was chewing her thumbnail without answering. She glared at me with a vicious look. Her face was so grimaced that it almost ruined her pretty face.

“Your father knew? Your father… … Uh, how far did he, did he say?”

“There’s no reason for me to tell you that. You’re not my superior, and you’ve always been uncooperative.”

Giselle walked around in circles, not knowing what to do. She looked panicked. She couldn’t think straight.

Sorry to say this, but Giselle’s panic was exactly what I was aiming for. The more anxious a person is, the more they want to lean on someone. In a state of extreme panic, it’s human nature to lean on even people they normally dislike.

“If it’s now, I can still help you. Just tell me everything you know.”

“You, it’s because of you. If you hadn’t come, this wouldn’t have happened, it’s all because of you… … .”

Giselle’s vocabulary was becoming simpler, indicating that anxiety was eating away at her mind.

“I am on your side. Remember, I am a cadet of the Royal Guard.”

I said as I approached Giselle. At first Giselle pushed me away, but soon she grabbed my collar and held on to me.

“I… … did nothing wrong. I… … .”

“If you cooperate with me, I will help you in return.”

“You, you can’t help me. This is a matter of my standing in our family. You’re just a mere cadet.”

I opened my lips and then raised my voice.

“What if I become a member of the Custoria family?”

Giselle looked up at me with wet eyes.

“Hey, what did you just say?”

“Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter. I may one day become a member of the Custoria family. Even though I am a cadet of the Royal Guard, isn’t it strange that you, a noble person, should act as my guide?”

I said it calmly. It’s the truth, so there’s no reason to lie.

“You’re becoming a member of the Custoria family?”

“If I build my career smoothly, it will be possible. I am considered one of the few prodigies that comes out of the cadets every few years. I even received a medal of honor not long ago. It wouldn’t be strange if a military family recruited me. It’s embarrassing to say this myself, but the captain of the guards is quite fond of me. If I were to join the Custoria family, my position wouldn’t be so narrow.”

I pushed Giselle away slightly and met her eyes.

“Jin, is it true?”

“No matter what your faults are… … I will support you. If I can handle this matter well, my chances of becoming the captain’s adopted son will increase. If our interests are aligned, we can trust each other.”

I sat Giselle down on the bench. She looked at the floor and muttered.

“I, I… … No, I manipulated the android. I created Barbara’s curse.”

The true nature of the curse and the evil relationship came out of Giselle’s mouth.

* * *

I listened to Giselle’s story and sorted it out.

Barbara and Giselle’s relationship began three years ago. They entered the Kratzia Academy at the same time.

Barbara entered the Kratzia Academy under the patronage of Custoria. After graduating, sponsored students serve and work as servants or vassals of their patrons.

Giselle wanted to be close to Barbara, who would become a vassal of the House of Custoria. This meant that she would have one more vassal who would support her in the future.

Since the two had similar majors and interests, it wasn’t difficult for them to become close. In fact, they became close almost too quickly.

“… … In fact, Barbara was like my first friend. She was the first person I could call a friend, not just an acquaintance.”

Giselle added sadly.

It was hard to imagine Giselle, cold and aggressive, being friends with someone from the lower classes. But perhaps… … her aristocratic appearance was a made-up mask. Her true personality was probably affectionate and soft. A hint of that was revealed in Giselle’s panicked appearance.

Barbara was a sociable girl who smiled a lot. Giselle fell for Barbara because of her unique bright appearance. Furthermore, Barbara was a gifted student who had been admitted to the school with the support of the Custoria family. It was hard to believe that she was from a lower class, but she had a lot to learn from.

“At that time, a boy approached Barbara aggressively. Barbara was popular because of her bright personality and smile. I thought Barbara didn’t like him. But she confessed to me that she liked him. But I… … I didn’t want to lose my only friend to a boy. I was also very young at the time.”

It started with petty jealousy.

“At first, I hated that boy and just wanted to tease him. So I made a fake android. A robot that looked like an android.”

Giselle used the robot to threaten the male student. She put an audio file in the robot telling him to stay away from Barbara and made him chase her around in the middle of the night.

But the little prank brought about consequences that were too much for Giselle to handle.

“The boy who fell suffered a serious head injury. The aftereffects were so severe that he had to drop out of school.”

Giselle disassembled and disposed of the robot. However, the accident had spread to cause injuries, so an investigation was underway.

“Barbara was the first to realize what I was doing, because I often built robots in front of her.”

I had a gut feeling that this series of events was not a coincidence.

‘Giselle is trapped.’

It has reached an uncontrollable state.

“Barbara told me she had a good plan. She said that if I became another victim, no one would be suspicious.”

“Since it was an internal incident within the Academy, the investigation probably wouldn’t have gone into depth. If we had just kept quiet, it would have just been swept under the rug.”

I interrupted the conversation. Giselle clenched her fists tightly against her thighs. The backs of her hands trembled.

“I was young at the time and didn’t know that. I was just scared.”

“So you volunteered to be the second victim of the curse?”

Giselle nodded.

“I used to maintain androids on campus. At that time, I attached the chip that Barbara gave me to the android. It seems that the AI ​​cannot be manipulated by external input, but I don’t know how it works… … After that, the android came to me and malfunctioned and ran wild. I could have become the second victim.”

“I guess the rumor started spreading from then. They say that if you become close with Barbara, you’ll get involved in an android rampage incident.”

Giselle bit her lower lip hard. Blood dripped down her chin.

“That’s when Barbara started getting weird. She started making strange demands on me. Like, to become a perfect criminal, I have to isolate myself on campus… … She needs to have a victim periodically… … .”

“It’s not that she became strange. She was always like that.”

“Now that I think about it, yes. I just wanted to graduate quietly. That’s why I really hoped no one would approach Barbara.”

There were a few questions about Giselle’s story. But Giselle would not have lied. This was all she knew.

Chijik.

There was a noise. At first I thought it was coming from my terminal.

-You told our secret… to the man?

There was a noise from Giselle’s terminal. As she was from a prestigious family, her terminal’s security level would be extremely high. However, her terminal was hacked.

-… …Traitor, Giselle. But my beloved Giselle.

I listened. It wasn’t just the sound of the terminal that was the problem.

Woohoo.

There was a faint propeller sound. There was a drone nearby. The location was not immediately known.

My intuition and senses were sounding the alarm loudly. I had to get out of here, now.

“roo…….”

I hugged Giselle tightly and ran sideways, rolling around.

Pee-pee!

It was a thin gunshot, characteristic of a silencer.

… … Damn, my left side hurts. I looked down and saw a hole big enough for a finger to fit through. Blood was flowing out like a wide-open faucet.

“Hmm.”

I didn’t make a fuss. Instead, I bit the sleeve with my front teeth and tore it. Then I rolled up the torn cloth and roughly stuffed it into the wound. This should stop the bleeding to some extent.

“Hey, even if the guards get shot, it doesn’t hurt, right?”

Giselle looked at my belly and asked a stupid question. She seemed so embarrassed that her intelligence was going down.

“Of course it hurts! That’s what I’m talking about.”

I rolled my eyes in annoyance.