Back home, after a simple wash and changing into new clothes, Shiho sat on the bed in her newly bought pajamas, quietly watching her sister.
"Sister, what exactly happened?"
"Are you asking what happened to me? Or what happened to Lord God?"
"Everything."
Shiho was greedy. She wanted to know not just a part, but everything.
Seeing her sister's desire to know it all, Akemi smiled softly, leaned over, and hugged her, just like when they were children.
"Actually, some things happened faster than I imagined."
"Everything felt like a dream. Yesterday, I was constantly searching for the whereabouts of that one billion yen. That was Gin's task for me, and I believed it was the condition I could use to save you."
"That guy…" Shiho immediately understood. It was nothing more than a deceptive task. Gin would never consider giving her up for one billion.
That was just another cruel trick he used to toy with her sister.
"Sister, you should never believe anything Gin says. He's a liar. And with that cold face of his, it's impossible to tell when he's lying."
"But precisely because of that, you should treat every word he says as a lie."
This was Shiho's hard-earned lesson from her time with Gin.
But Akemi only smiled bitterly. "I didn't know he was lying to me. No, I should say I foolishly hoped he was telling the truth, so I treated his words as truth."
"I planned the one-billion-yen bank robbery."
"But what surprised me even more was that someone in the team assembled to rob the bank wanted to embezzle everything. Because of that betrayal, I spent the entire day yesterday searching for his clues."
"However, finding one person in a city is incredibly difficult, and with the increased Police patrols on the streets, my search became even more arduous."
"In the end, I found nothing and returned home, and waiting for me was Lord God."
"He showed me Gin appearing in my house, and then my fate."
Akemi tapped her forehead with a bitter smile. "Lord God is truly cruel. He shattered my hopes in an instant. He showed me Gin, after getting the money, unhesitatingly shooting me in the forehead."
"It was only at the moment of death that I realized my foolishness."
"After Gin, then it was Moroboshi Dai."
"Lord God tore open my heart. He exposed my intention to use Moroboshi Dai. Just as he wanted to use my relationship with you to gain a chance for a core member recommendation, I also used his guilt."
"But in the end, I was played again."
Akemi's heart held only that bitter aftertaste. Her so-called cleverness was laughable. She lacked the ability to see through people's hearts, so once again, her fragile hope was crushed.
"That CIA undercover agent…"
Seeing her sister's regret and pain, a fire ignited in Shiho's heart.
But in the end, she could only sigh helplessly. "Sister, it wasn't their fault. For us, it was just mutual exploitation, only different in method."
"That guy also seized on the fact that we had no other choice. He was always betting on us, the two sisters, being willing to gamble."
"In the end, we couldn't handle the pressure of that gamble and lost to him."
Having lived in that organization for so many years, Shiho had learned one thing: threats were meaningless there, and gamblers who couldn't withstand pressure should never sit at the table, because they would surely lose.
But even knowing that truth, she, like her sister, still couldn't withstand the pressure.
So in this situation, she knew the two sisters needed to admit their failure and accept their loss.
In fact, Shiho had been prepared for death ever since Rye's exposure.
Because she knew Gin would one day point his gun at both her and her sister.
She had originally thought there would be no more chances to see her sister, but who knew there would be such an unexpected turn today.
"There's no need to talk about that guy. I also agree with sister's plan. This isn't your responsibility alone. It's mine too."
"Okay, we won't talk about it anymore."
Akemi nodded slightly, casting aside that unpleasant topic.
"Continuing with the scene Lord God showed me after I returned home yesterday, he peeled back my hidden secrets, leaving me completely exposed."
Rough words, but the meaning was clear.
Shiho understood that in such a situation, it was almost equivalent to being stripped bare.
All information was controlled by the other party, and even the deepest thoughts and plans were known. In such a situation, it was inevitable to be influenced.
Once the heart was opened, perhaps any con artist could have taken advantage of her sister.
But her sister had encountered a special existence at that time.
"Lord God gave me a choice: whether to change my destiny."
"Betting everything, my loyalty and faith for the rest of my life as chips, I chose to change my destiny."
"So, I received the power bestowed by Lord God."
"And with Lord God's help, you were rescued from that prison."
Hearing her sister's explanation, Shiho could roughly understand.
Her sister had sacrificed everything just to rescue her from the organization.
From the outcome, her sister had successfully achieved her goal, but she had also lost everything for the rest of her life.
The transfer through shadows, and the ability to drive hundreds of people completely mad—all of this made Shiho realize that the title Lord God was not an exaggeration, but a deserved one.
Her sister had bet everything and truly gained equivalent power.
But looking at her sister, who had sacrificed everything just to save her, Shiho felt not only moved, but also deeply burdened.
Just as Akemi felt she had burdened her sister, Shiho also felt she had burdened her sister.
If she didn't have such talent and gifts, then the organization wouldn't have valued them, and the two sisters wouldn't have been trapped on its fringes, constantly searching for a way to break free.
If not for her talent and gifts, she wouldn't have dragged her sister, who could have lived a promising life, into the organization.
(To be continued.)
***
For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on P/treon to read 30+ advanced chapters: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves
(Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)