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“So you’re saying when you woke up, you found yourself in that place?”

Matilda asked without looking at me.

I nodded frantically, trying to capture her line of sight.

We were riding in what seemed to be a police carriage. The windows were covered with curtains, blocking whatever could be seen outside. It was about a size smaller than our carriage at home, and though not fashionable, it was st.u.r.dy.

In this small s.p.a.ce were Matilda, Edgar, Elizabeth and I.

Ridiculously tense!

Matilda would not look at me, and Edgar would occasionally throw me a glance of disgust, clicking his tongue.

Elizabeth was the only one smiling.

It made me so nervous!

“Um, so the one who committed a series of murders, with this body… Gray Starling? What exactly did he do?”

I timidly tried to ask a question, but no one answered.

They could at least tell me something!

 Besides that, will I be able to go back to my own body?!

I suddenly started feeling scared and bit down on my tongue. Feeling tears start to well at the corners of my eyes, I hurriedly turned to the side.

Wrapped around my wrists were hoops shining with pale light. They were a special type of handcuff that, no matter how much force someone implemented, could not be broken.

So this was the type of treatment a criminal gets.

Did I do something to upset the heavens to get myself in this kind of situation?
“Uh”

Elizabeth spoke to me with concern.

“Don’t worry. We just need to conduct a hearing. Probably.”

What does ‘probably’ mean? That didn’t give me any comfort at all!

I slightly waved my head to try and hold back the tears, glaring intently at the sky.

Nothing will change if I cry.

There is no one here on my side. I have to persevere!

Soon, the carriage stopped.

As I exited behind Matilda, a huge stone building appeared before my eyes.

It had already become dark, and there were lights shining in the windows. I looked around quietly, but because there was a great fence wrapped around the building, nothing of the outside world could be seen.

“Walk.”

Matilda turned her attention towards me, who stood there, ordering with a low tone.

I hurried and started walking.

Soon, a few of what most likely were police officers began to crowd around me, walking through the corridor.

  A series of murders, huh.

The face I had seen in the mirror was a boy not too far off from my own age. It was unbelievable he had such a crime history.

Giving in to the tense atmosphere, I was forced by Matilda into a certain room.

“Excuse me, Chief.”

Matilda called out to the man in the room. The door closed with a slam and the click of a lock.

It was probably so that I–Gray Starling’s body couldn’t escape. I nervously observed the man in front of me.

The man, sitting at a large desk with stacks of doc.u.ments, didn’t even look up.

His flowing black bangs fell in front of his face, causing him to flip them out of the way. He had fussy features and a monocle revealed on one side.

Because he had such a respectable position, you would think that he would be much older, but his age wasn’t that different from Matilda’s. Probably in his mid-twenties.

“Chief.”

“I hear you. Is it true that Starling escaped?”

He signed the doc.u.ment in front of him, quickly moving onto the next.

“If it’s true he performed a personality transfer, then that is correct.”

“What a pain.”

At that moment he– the man who was called “Chief”, turned his face upwards and stared at me coldly.

Why is it that the Magic Supervision Police is full of such cruel-hearted people?

And I’m the victim here!

“Um”

I opened my mouth to speak but the Chief interjected, cutting me off.

“Was the corpse of Ariel Augustine found?”

“Wait a-“

“No.”

Matilda nodded. “That funeral home lost its owner and was closed, so there were no eyewitnesses. There were four bodies of young girls found underground. We are still continuing identification, but I fear that they are the missing ones…”

Funeral home?

Four bodies?

I regained some of my dizziness.

Those “dolls” were definitely corpses. Having been so real and all.

But there were only three bodies in that place… oh, except for the coffin-like thing on the floor. Could it be…?

I suddenly started to feel sick again, so I took some deep breaths.

“There’s a possibility that this is just an act by Starling. Trying to get us to think he performed a personality transfer— “

The Chief looked me down calmly, and then went back to his doc.u.ments.

“It’s not an act!”

I shouted without thinking about it.

“Where is my body?! Can you get me back to it?!”

After shouting once, I couldn’t stop.

I stood in front of his desk, pounding my bound fists on it and yelling.

“I don’t want this kind of body! Also, what do you mean by perpetrator of a series of murders? I haven’t done anything, yet you keep insisting!”

The Chief looked at me with a deeply upset expression.

“You’re getting on my nerves so please step down. Even though you’re a man, using that kind of speech.” *

“I’m a female!”

“You’re really disgusting me.”

“That’s rude!”

I looked at Matilda, driven by rage. “Who does this guy think he is?”

However, Matilda also put her hand on her forehead, looking worn.

“I mean, it is kind of gross to hear Gray speaking like that…”

Edgar nodded quietly next to me.

“Anyway, let’s talk about this in the investigation room.”
Without seeming to care, the Chief spoke, glaring at his mountainous stack of doc.u.ments as if they were an enemy.

“They never end.”

“It must be hard, Chief.”

Matilda suddenly let out a sly laugh. “Keep doing your best until the director comes back.”

“…do you find this entertaining?”

For a moment, it looked like the Chief gave Matilda a pitiful expression, but he quickly pulled it back in.

Matilda released her smile and grabbed my arms, walking me out of the room.

The questioning was long. They kept asking the same sort of thing, and it was irritating. I held my patience.

Because they said that when the questioning was over, they would let me see my parents.

As I faced Matilda in a tiny room, I was able to gain tidbits of information for myself throughout our conversation.

What I came to understand was that Gray Starling was a truly evil person.

Probably more than I had ever dared to think up until that moment.

“Can you open the first few b.u.t.tons of your shirt?”

I stared down at my body as I tilted my head.

I don’t want to see it.

It’s not like I had that big of a chest to begin with, but right then, it would be completely flat.

I want to cry, I want to explode!

“On your chest, there’s a carved seal that proves his magic license was taken away for eternity.”

“Huh?”

“If a person with that seal uses magic, the Administration of Justice Department is notified immediately. That’s why we were able to identify his whereabouts.”

I looked at her and frowned.

“Since Gray’s license was revoked a year ago, he hasn’t used any magic at all.”

No one would use it in that situation knowing their whereabouts would be revealed.

While letting my mind wander, I thought about this, using my still captive hands to undo my shirt just a bit.

As I did so, a crest glowing with a pale blue light appeared. Spread across my entire chest, it felt like it had the power to blind someone.

“Anyway, I realize you really are not Gray now.”

Matilda let out a big sigh. With an extremely reluctant expression, she continued.

“I don’t know how we would find Gray in a body without the seal, and it’s bothering me.”

Are you saying there’s no way to find him?!

I moved my mouth rapidly, but no words came out.

TN:

*she’s speaking really femininely here (it doesn’t come across as well in English)