Memory 21 (significant negative)

[thinkoutsidethebox]

"I like you." / 84 pieces of evidence. [EP6] Form of a sheet of 6 gold star stickers. 5/6 remaining.

The setting is a guest room in the guesthouse! Erika has given up on setting things up for the night and is laying in bed while Dlanor stands on duty nearby.

Note: As usual, <brackets> mean the word is in English. ALLCAPS means the word it was written in katakana (which Dlanor does at the end of every sentence).

It was so quiet that the sound of the ticking clock rang out clearly.
DLANOR: .........Lady Erika. May I ask a QUESTION?
ERIKA: Depends on what it is. Answer's probably <no> though.
DLANOR:..................
ERIKA: ............Well, we're just killing time anyway. What is it?

Erika was probably bored as well.
......Or maybe the sound of the rain was making her sentimental.

She assented, which was very unlike her.

DLANOR: WHY? ......Why do you hate magic, Lady Erika?
ERIKA: ......Ah. ......You mean that thing downstairs with Maria?
DLANOR: That was nothing more than a foolish trick to deceive CHILDREN. Everyone knew THAT. ......Was it really necessary to go so far to destroy that ILLUSION? ...I cannot UNDERSTAND.

Erika didn't need Dlanor to tell her that it had been a childish fight.

ERIKA: ......Well, I am a self-proclaimed intellectual rapist. I can't stand having magic confuse the truth.
DLANOR: And so, you feel pleasure from exposing THAT? ......I sense a different EMOTION.
ERIKA: A different emotion? .........What's that?
DLANOR: To me, it feels less like pleasure, ......and more like a different, negative EMOTION.
ERIKA: Hah, ......you really are a murder doll, aren't you? Even your eyes are like knotholes.
DLANOR: .........My APOLOGIES. Please forgive ME.

Erika rolled over grumpily, turning her back to Dlanor.
So, Dlanor couldn't see her expression.
......Even so.

For some reason, she could guess that this completely unobserved expression was one of pain...
Interpreting this to mean that Erika wanted her to go away, Dlanor gave a bow and made to leave.
Then, Erika suddenly spoke.
The words had come so far out of the blue that Dlanor doubted her ears, and she had to ask Erika to say it again.

DLANOR: ......What did you SAY?
ERIKA: I like you.

It really had been out of the blue.

Dlanor wanted to see what Erika really meant, but the latter still had her back turned, and her face was out of sight...

DLANOR: ............Thank you very MUCH.
ERIKA: I was going out with another girl a while back, but we've completely broken up. The others might talk about us out of envy, but please ignore them.
DLANOR: ..................
ERIKA: I'm gonna devote my whole life to you, so I want you to do the same for me. Let's find happiness together.

Dlanor avoided asking what she was talking about and stood there in silence.
For a while, Erika kept on dully and emotionlessly repeating soppy phrases that might have popped up in some shoujo manga...

Then, unexpectedly, she once again followed up with a complete non sequitur.

ERIKA: .........A new wallet.
DLANOR: ............?

Of course, she had no idea what Erika was saying.

However, with her back still to Dlanor, ......Erika kept on saying disconnected words.

ERIKA: A strange cat keychain. A different style of cologne. A music tape that's not his style...which he said he borrowed from a senior at theater. ......His senior was going so he couldn't refuse. He suddenly had this part-time job to go to. Talked with a friend on the phone for a really long time.

Made too much curry.
Went to theater practice more often.
The way he folds paper towels.
Thanks, I've already eaten.
He knew stuff about cosmetics.
Sorry, I was sleeping.
The toilet seat was left down.
He spent the night over at his stage friends' place.
My acting friends had a party here earlier. Someone must have left it behind.
The drain and sink were cleaned out.
Receipts and point cards from places he doesn't usually go.
The muddy soles are evidence that you went out on Monday when it was raining. That matches the strange symbol on the calendar. None of your theater friends have hair this long. That's a leading question. How do you know the plot of a movie you haven't seen yet?

Evidence, evidence, circumstantial evidence. Observation, surveillance, tracking, tailing. Information gathering, wiretapping, asking about, questioning.
I found tons of evidence that I loved you.

I found tons of evidence that you loved me.

But I couldn't find any evidence that you haven't been cheating on me.
Give it a rest. If you love me, then trust me...
If you can't do that, then you don't love me anymore. How could I love someone like that? I'll treasure you for all my life, but I want to do well in theater just as much. You said you liked seeing me act, right? So why are you telling me to stop acting now? Why do I have to choose between you and acting? What's wrong with you? I'm seriously worn out, alright? Come on, if all we do is fight when we see each other, maybe we both need some time to cool off, okay? I need to concentrate for my next performance anyways. There's this senior girl who suddenly said she wouldn't be able to perform. I need to rewrite the script by tomorrow. I don't have the time for this.
If you really find it that hard to trust me, we're through. Stay away, just go home, bitch, I don't love you anymore. Don't cry dammit, it's disgusting. Just die. Stop shouting, dammit, you're annoying the neighborhood. Just get the hell away from me and never come back.

ERIKA: ......Without love, it cannot be seen? ............Hah. That's backwards.
DLANOR: ........................
ERIKA: Because of love, you end up seeing things that don't even exist.
......It's nothing more than an illusion, one that no one except you can see, and one that even you can never touch.

Without love, humans would never need to sift through truth and lies.

Because we can see those, ......we doubt. We suffer. We cry out loud.
ERIKA: .........Right now, I am happy. ......Though it may be temporary, I have become the Witch of Truth. ......As I am now, ......I no longer need to worry about being tormented by non-red words.
DLANOR: ............
ERIKA: ..................What about you? How would you have countered my endgame?
DLANOR: How would...I?
ERIKA: That useless man wouldn't play the part of my opponent in that game. ......I was wondering how you would have countered it?
DLANOR: ..................

Dlanor was suddenly thrust into the position of Erika's opponent in the witch's game she had once challenged that man with.
Dlanor shared in the Fragments of Erika's past and was made to grasp the full situation.

The board was reproduced in full inside their heads...
The situation...was one-sided.

Erika's side had constructed a blue truth based on countless bits of circumstantial evidence, had turned all of those into pieces, and was already cornering the opponent.

For some time, Dlanor thought in silence......and announced her by-the-book response.

DLANOR: First MOVE. ......I demand that you provide evidence that I have been CHEATING.
ERIKA: Counter with the blue truth. I present 84 points of circumstantial and physical evidence.
DLANOR: Counter with the blue TRUTH. I present 6 points of circumstantial and physical evidence that I still love YOU.
ERIKA: <Good>. Blue and blue cancel each other out, but the number of pieces used to construct each is overwhelmingly unbalanced.

When both opponents meet with the blue truth, the decision is almost always based on which side has more pieces of evidence, regardless of the actual circumstances. ......This is especially true in the human world.

So, by the standard rules, Erika would win...

ERIKA: First point to me. Your next move?
DLANOR: ............I will attempt to switch offense and DEFENSE. I ask that you, Lady Erika, provide proof that you are not CHEATING.
ERIKA: Perpetual check. That's a forbidden move, since it'd result in an endless repetition of the same question going both ways.
DLANOR: Then I frankly declare that, despite a lack of proof, I still love Lady Erika even NOW.
ERIKA: Not the red truth, so that's ineffective. Even if it was red, that'd be a stalemate. After all, I'd have no move to counter with.
DLANOR: ..................

Dlanor remained silent for a while.

Then, she quietly responded to Erika's moves until they reached checkmate.
A stalemate is a forbidden move in the game of witches, since it means the ruin of the game.
However, in chess, it also represents a draw.
Because of this, it is a splendid final move that the weaker player can pull off if they are already unable to win outright.

In this situation, Erika clearly had the advantage.
......On the other side, it was natural that Dlanor would seek a stalemate to obtain a tie.
However, that would only be the case in chess.

......In the game where witches fight over the truth, it is a forbidden move.

So, it was already checkmate from the very beginning.
Dlanor had no way to turn the game around...

However, regardless of what the real truth had been, .........this game would...............

ERIKA: ......Any other moves? O witch-hunting archbishop, protector of the truth?
DLANOR: .........NO. ......I RESIGN.
ERIKA: See? There you go. ............Hmph...

Erika had succeeded in crushing her opponent with the truth she espoused...that her former boyfriend no longer loved her and was cheating on her.
Her opponent had no way to argue back.

.........After all, humans are not allowed to use ――――.
A splendid game, a splendid finish from a superior position.

Regardless of the truth of her opponent, Erika could win.

A splendid......victory.
Dlanor could only respond with silence.

And with that, Erika spoke no more.
......She was probably done talking and wanted Dlanor to leave.
Dlanor understood this, but even so...

......Before leaving, she wanted to tell Erika one thing.

DLANOR: A splendid game, Lady Erika.
ERIKA: It's only natural that the detective wins.
DLANOR: Even before you became Lady Bernkastel's piece, you truly were a splendid wielder of the blue TRUTH. .........However, Lady Erika. Humans are only allowed to use the blue TRUTH. And the only thing that can counter blue truth is red TRUTH. And humans are not allowed to use the red TRUTH. ............In that case, ...how should your opponent have shown his TRUTH?
ERIKA: ......Who knows. ......Maybe he should have used that gold truth or whatever, which is supposed to be stronger than the red truth at times.

DLANOR: ..................You certainly were the victor in that GAME. However, allow me to say this as a protector of the TRUTH.
ERIKA: What? ......I imagine it's something unpleasant, so say it and go away.
DLANOR: ......YES. .........This game is your VICTORY. However, ......you still have not denied the six points of blue truth evidence that I showed to claim that I still loved YOU. ......Even you are HUMAN. You cannot use red truth to deny those POINTS.
ERIKA: Later on, I used the detective's authority to have all 84 points transformed into red truth. By the power of my master...! I am human, yet superior to humans. A detective and a witch. I am the Witch of Truth, Furudo Erika. Any other questions? Parting remarks?
DLANOR: .........I have NONE. ......In that case, please excuse ME.

Dlanor bowed and disappeared.

......After that, all that remained was a single Witch of Truth laughing off a bitter past with an equally bitter smile...
Judging by the bedside clock, it was almost exactly 24:00.

ERIKA: ......Okay, guess I should get a little sleep. The curtain has finally opened on the second day, October 5th. ......I wonder if the murder this time is happening somewhere about now. I hope our victims leave us some interesting dying messages this time. Ehheheheheheeheheheheheheheheheh...!

Notes:
- Eurghhhh feelings!!