Chapter 132: Interlude. The Detective Who Becomes a Thief 7 Days Later (22)

With the morning sun at his back, Herbert appeared.

Walter jumped off the carriage and grumbled.

“You’re only showing up now? You arrived about an hour ago, but you’re awfully cautious.”

“I’m fine with it, but my subordinates worry too much. They wouldn’t let me come until they confirmed you were really alone.”

“Is that a threat? That your men are waiting down there?”

“Of course not. I didn’t even let them enter this area. You know better, don’t you? You’ve been watching from atop the cliff this whole time.”

It was a casual conversation that seemed more fitting for close friends than sworn enemies.

“The goods?”

“In the carriage. Check for yourself.”

“No need. You’re not the type to bluff about something like this.”

Herbert waved his hand and laughed.

“We know each other well, don’t we? Right?”

Walter silently nodded.

It had been five years since their last proper reunion, yet not a trace of awkwardness could be felt.

Everything was exactly as it had been back then.

Perhaps that was only natural.

No matter how much time had passed, their minds were still stuck in that moment five years ago.

“Five years ago, when you killed Casey and ran away.”

In a low voice, Walter asked.

“How did you manage to escape? No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find a trace of you. I didn’t know you had a talent for running.”

“Ah, that?”

As if he thought there was no point in hiding it anymore, Herbert answered frankly.

“It was nothing special. The Grand Duke Katrin backed me up.”

Walter’s eyebrows twitched.

“So the Grand Duke was behind you even back then? But at that time, you were just a murderer.”

“I was a useful soldier. Someone who didn’t hesitate to get his hands dirty. The Grand Duke tends to favor talent like that.”

“…Don’t tell me the Herbert Clan was established from the very beginning with the Grand Duke’s will involved?”

“Half and half? But it was also what I wanted.”

Herbert shrugged.

“With such a clear distinction between ally and enemy, it couldn’t be more convenient.”

He knew.

That was the kind of life Herbert ultimately sought.

‘But…’

It was strange.

He was so clear about distinguishing enemies from allies.

Yet even at this very moment, there was no trace of hostility in Herbert’s eyes.

“Let’s end it here, Walter.”

Herbert smiled with gentle eyes.

“It’s true you put me in a bit of a tough spot, but you brought back the stolen goods, so that’s enough. I can smooth things over up to this point. Let’s just forget everything and go back together. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“…Friends?”

“Yeah, well. Even if we did have a little quarrel.”

Herbert’s sense of things was deeply twisted.

It was as if he couldn’t even perceive Walter’s hostility.

“These past five years…”

Walter’s voice trembled.

“Do you even know that I’ve been tracking you?”

“Of course I know. How could I not keep up with how my friend is doing?”

Knowing that, how could he be so calm?

He was about to shout that.

But Herbert was one step ahead.

“It was always the same. I took the lead, and you followed behind me.”

Walter’s heart pounded fiercely.

“I was chasing you to kill you! To take revenge!”

“What? Are you serious? But Walter.”

Herbert tilted his head in bewilderment.

“In the end, you accepted my offer, didn’t you?”

“……What?”

“I suggested we leave together. To live a life more suited to the battlefield than to daily life. You refused my words, but in the end, you lived that way, didn’t you?”

Herbert whispered like a sly snake.

“Our ways of life weren’t that different. You don’t trust others, you eliminate enemies, and you succeeded that way. In the end, you admitted my way was right. I only acted for your sake, and you accepted my way. So why would you hold a grudge against me now?”

He wanted to shout that it wasn’t true, that it wasn’t like that.

But Herbert’s words became poison, seeping deep into Walter’s heart.

‘Isn’t that… right?’

The war had long since ended, yet a soldier’s life that would do anything for a goal.

That had been Herbert’s life, but at the same time, it had also been Walter’s.

For the sake of his objective, he would brand people he didn’t even know as enemies.

He inflicted violence, hurled abuse, and even betrayed trust.

‘Just moments ago, I deceived Mr. Hayes to steal evidence.’

Of course, he planned to return it.

But he had also considered the possibility that he might not be able to.

Even if countless people died as a result, he thought it couldn’t be helped.

If it meant getting revenge on Herbert, if it meant achieving his goal.

‘Can I really say that I’m any different from Herbert?’

Herbert caught on to Walter’s confusion brilliantly.

“See? You might not have realized it, but deep down, you were following me all along.”

Once again, a hand was extended toward Walter.

A familiar hand.

The very hand he had never forgotten, not even for a moment, whether in nightmares or sweet dreams.

“Let’s go together this time. Take my hand. After all, no one else in this world will reach out to us. So at least we should hold each other’s hands.”

It was such a sweet offer.

He could understand why so many people followed Herbert.

But how strange.

At that very moment, Walter’s mouth opened involuntarily.

“No, that might not necessarily be true.”

A man’s face flashed through Walter’s mind.

The detective, Hayes, who was impossible to tell whether he was clever or stupid.

That man was an extraordinarily hopeless good-natured fool.

He would risk his own life to save others, he would carry Walter on his back and run away.

And yet, he didn’t specifically help only those worthy of being helped.

Even when he learned that Walter had deceived him.

He didn’t get angry that Walter had tricked him; he got angry that Walter couldn’t accept pure goodwill.

Hayes seemed to genuinely take all of that for granted.

Walter himself hadn’t been that altruistic even when he was five or three years old.

Walter thought of it as foolishness and exploited it without hesitation.

But at the same time, he thought.

Maybe the world wasn’t such a hopeless place after all.

Maybe people like him and Herbert weren’t the only ones in existence.

So—

“You were wrong after all. No, we were wrong.”

Walter spoke with conviction.

“So it would be better for this world if people like us, who can only give answers like this, disappeared.”

“…If that’s your answer, then I’m disappointed.”

Herbert suddenly kicked Walter’s knee.

But this time, Walter withstood it.

“Too bad, but I’m fine now!”

A desperate struggle began on the wet, slippery rocks.

Herbert had an overwhelming physique, but Walter had chosen this location as his stage.

Using his relatively better sense of balance, Walter cornered Herbert.

But it was only a moment before Herbert’s thick arm subdued Walter’s left arm and pushed him to the edge of the cliff.

“It’s over, Walter.”

Herbert chuckled.

“You’ve been completely subdued. What are you going to do now, huh?”

A waterfall flowed before their eyes.

A fierce waterfall with white foam.

If he fell down here, it would be hard to survive.

“If you had accepted my offer a moment ago, we could have gone back together.”

Herbert shouted over the deafening roar of the water.

“But you didn’t leave me any choice!”

Step by step.

Herbert dragged Walter closer to the cliff edge.

Finally, just as Herbert was about to push Walter down the waterfall.

“You let your guard down too much, Herbert.”

“What?!”

A revolver popped out of Walter’s right sleeve.

The gun was already loaded, and even with his deformed hand, he could pull the trigger.

Bang!

Hit in the thigh, Herbert lost his balance with a scream.

“Walter—!!!”

With a roar, Herbert fell.

But he didn’t go alone.

At the last moment, Herbert grabbed Walter’s ankle.

“Hrk!”

Herbert disappeared into the white foam below the waterfall.

Walter, barely hanging on to the cliff edge, thought.

‘What now? Can I survive?’

Climbing back up the slippery rocks was obviously impossible.

His deformed right arm had exhausted all its strength just by pulling the trigger.

He was holding on with the strength in his left elbow, but he didn’t know how long that would last.

He was in a state where he could slip and fall at any moment.

‘…Is there any reason to struggle so hard not to fall?’

Suddenly, Walter thought.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to just let go and find peace?’

That had been the plan from the beginning.

Kill Herbert, and die himself.

He had thought that was the right ending.

But he wanted to live. To an unfair degree.

‘How fickle the human heart is.’

A weak laugh escaped him.

He could feel the strength in his supporting elbow slowly fading.

He was at his limit.

But there was no one to save him.

As always.

“……!”

Suddenly, his strength gave out, and his body began to slide.

As he closed his eyes tightly, anticipating the coming fall, at that moment.

Through the fierce roar of the water, a familiar voice reached him.

Thump!

“Got you!”

A heavy, cold sensation grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.

Hayes, his face deathly pale, had extended his cane and pulled Walter back to solid ground.

“What the hell…”

A storm of emotions raged within him.

After a long while, the words that came out of Walter’s mouth were these.

“…Is this even possible for a human?”

“You’re lighter than Miss Posha, you know. Ah, is that rude to Miss Posha?”

What, he had done something similar before?!

“I told you before, right? Mr. Walter’s weight is only about as much as a bag of flour.”

The detective, boldly bluffing, had bare feet covered in blood.

“What happened to your feet?! Where are your shoes?!”

“I left them on the other side of the cliff. It was so slippery I absolutely couldn’t cross over with them on.”

“You crossed from the other side of the cliff to here? How?”

“On closer inspection, there was a path behind the waterfall.”

Hayes pointed, and sure enough, there was a path behind the waterfall.

But could that even be called a path?

“Are you insane? You crossed a precipice where you couldn’t even properly place one foot?”

Not even a rabbit would use that as a path! His soles were shredded by sharp rock fragments, and if he had slipped, he would have been finished!

“If you had just taken a slight detour, that would have been fine! Why risk your life for this?!”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

Hayes flicked his fingers, excited.

“Why risk your life? You could have just taken a slight detour!”

He launched into a lecture at Walter.

“That was a stupid judgment. Of course, I admit that Mr. Walter is smarter than me, but this was really stupid! Do you always have to decide things alone? Can’t we think about it together?”

Hayes said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

As if he would be willing to discuss Walter’s problems with him next time.

As if, after that, if he judged it necessary, he would share the risk.

‘See? You were wrong after all, Herbert.’

Walter burst into laughter.

Long enough to completely erase Herbert’s afterimage, without stopping.

Finally, when the laughter subsided, Walter spoke.

“I lose.”

He could no longer see the world so crookedly.

He couldn’t fall into the waterfall and die with his old beliefs.

If that was the case, then he had no choice but to live.

But in a different way than before.

‘For the rest of my life, living according to this absurd man’s beliefs wouldn’t be so bad.’

Watching Walter smile lightly, Hayes thought.

‘What’s he lost all of a sudden? Is he surrendering in advance because he’s afraid of getting hit?’

Well, he was quick on the uptake.

‘But I’m still not going to let him off easy.’

Walter, immersed in his emotions, still didn’t know.

Hayes’s grudge was going to last for quite a while.

At this very moment, Walter had well and truly been snared.