The silence carried on for the next few seconds.
It was only a few seconds, and yet, with each second that dragged on, it felt as though the air was being stripped from the surroundings as the Enforcer stared in my direction.
"...I’d like to know exactly what happened. I didn’t get the chance to properly speak with you about what had happened."
He took a step forward.
Clank!
The door closed on its own, leaving the two of us in the room alone.
Oh my~
For just a moment, a thin silence stretched between the two of us as neither he nor I spoke. But eventually, as the tension in the room dragged on, I reached into my pocket and tossed something in his direction.
"Instead of telling you, how about you check it for yourself? I’ve got a recording of the entire situation."
Extending his hand, the Enforcer caught the orb I tossed in his direction and paused to look at it. He already seemed to know how it worked, because not long after, images began to play across its surface.
With his focus entirely on the orb, I remained seated where I was, my lips slowly pulling as I rubbed one of my fingers.
’It should work, right?’
***
The Doctor’s words had made Brandt far more sensitive than he had expected to be. Before he knew it, he found himself in the room where Osvald had been put to rest, and he immediately began questioning him.
Unexpectedly, Osvald didn’t seem any different from usual. His tone and appearance were exactly as he remembered, and even the item he had received from Osvald belonged to him, displaying footage from his body camera of the entire situation.
’It could all be a ruse. I’ll still keep a close eye on him. For now, this is more important. Let me see exactly what happened back in that place.’
Even now, the Enforcer didn’t forget.
He hadn’t forgotten the Butcher’s appearance or power. It was still deeply seared into his mind, the thought of its strength making the back of his scalp tingle.
That thing...
Whatever it was, it was far more powerful than he had originally expected. But that wasn’t the thing that bothered him the most. He had faced anomalies of such strength in the past.
What bothered him, however, was the fact that it was learning.
It was... growing.
’Even if I tried my best, I probably would have had a hard time defeating it.’
He wasn’t completely hopeless, but the way that it was growing made it hard for him to believe that he would be able to defeat it. Perhaps if he did it quickly...?
’Whatever it is, it’s none of my concern. This is something that the others will handle.’
The Enforcer began to play the recording. From that moment, he began to witness everything. From Osvald’s infiltration process to the identity of the ’Team Leader’ and eventually Seth’s appearance.
"⎯⎯!"
The more he witnessed, the greater his shock became, his usually calm and unshakable expression beginning to show signs of it as his eyes eventually fell on the knife in Seth’s grasp.
"So that’s how it is."
It was also in that moment that something became clear to him.
That thing...
It was no anomaly. It had been a human from the start. No...
It was all the knife.
"A sort of tool that can temporarily absorb an anomaly’s power? A growth-type?"
Ripples formed in the Enforcer’s heart as realization dawned on him. Lifting his head away from the orb, his gaze fell on Osvald. Seeing his current state, he finally understood a lot of things.
"So that’s what happened."
"Yes," Osvald replied with a nod, pointing at the orb. "The one responsible for this is the one that I was tasked to target. I wasn’t aware that he was in possession of such a tool, so..."
"Mhm, that’s understandable."
Even the Enforcer could tell that the current circumstances were way outside of Osvald’s control. In fact, the fact that he was still alive was a miracle in itself.
Shifting his attention back to the orb, he found himself quite impressed by Osvald’s next set of actions. He was also impressed by this so-called ’Team Leader,’ which made him feel a slight sense of pity for what he had done before, though that feeling lasted only a few seconds before his expression shifted.
"Hm?"
His eyes narrowed especially when he noticed that the orb had suddenly stopped showing any more images.
He shifted his attention back to Osvald, who shrugged from where he was.
"Don’t look at me like that. The entire place blew up. Just before it, I even asked for backup. I’m sure you saw just how powerful that explosion was. It’s only natural that the recording stopped there. What could I have done?"
Brandt’s eyes narrowed for a brief moment, but he eventually nodded as he muttered, "That’s a fair point."
He did feel the explosion firsthand, after all.
He hadn’t been quite there yet, but the shockwaves could be felt from a long distance away.
"I’ll keep this with me. I’ll make sure that the others see what has happened."
"...I see."
Osvald didn’t seem to have any objections to this arrangement before his brows suddenly furrowed. After which, he mused for a moment before suddenly asking, "What about... Seth. The Butcher. What is going to happen to him? If he somehow managed to get out of this situa⎯"
"That won’t happen."
The Enforcer interrupted Osvald calmly.
"...You’ve seen it yourself. There’s no way that he can be okay after what has happened. That was very likely his last-ditch attempt at trying to save himself. Even if he somehow does something like a body-switch, it’s impossible considering that the knife has very likely consumed his brain."
With all his experience and after having witnessed everything, the Enforcer was almost certain of his guess. It was also for this reason that he felt that Osvald wasn’t as suspicious as the doctor had suggested.
Having witnessed the entire sequence of events, there was no way for him to do anything. It was also all recorded.
But then again⎯
’The cleaner he feels, the more careful I should be.’
There was also a very easy way for him to check if the Osvald standing before him was a rat or not.
Step!
Taking a step forward, he moved in Osvald’s direction.
Osvald was still sitting on his bed as he raised his head to look at the approaching Enforcer. As if expecting his actions, Osvald didn’t look at all flustered before the Enforcer stopped before him.
A tense quiet followed as both sides looked at each other, until eventually, the Enforcer reached in Osvald’s direction, seemingly trying to reach for his shoulder.
"I’ll be done quickly. Just stay still."
His hand had just started to move when Osvald’s voice whispered in the air. It was just audible enough for the two of them to hear.
"If there are no cameras here, but we’re being monitored. Do you think someone of the Warden Decree would be able to disable everything for a split second?"
"Huh?"
Not even a second after the whisper sounded, a soft giggle spread through the air.
The Enforcer’s face changed abruptly, but before he could even react, a dark figure appeared right behind him, clinging directly to his body. Subsequently, the space behind the two cracked, and the Enforcer felt a hand press against his chest.
"Off you go~"
"⎯!!"
It all happened so fast that the Enforcer didn’t even have the time to properly activate his nodes before he was pushed into the crack and faded completely. At the same time, Osvald waved his hand, and the crack faded.
"....."
Silence filled the surroundings as Osvald slowly stood up, staring at the portal in silence while turning his attention towards the ring on his finger.
"Haish."
Osvald sighed, rubbing his hair.
His tone reflected that of a man filled with guilt.
But it was just his tone.
".....Surely he won’t mind having a guest at this time, no?"