A few hours later, under a brooding morning sky heavy with slate-grey clouds and oppressive mist, they reached a port. Upon reaching it, Manabu and the others, with guns pointed at them, were told to walk out of the ambulance. He shoved Taiju from behind, pointing at a distant maroon Velo-Giraffe car, and told them to get inside. The old man was bald, his white skin etched with old-age lines, and his posture strikingly upright for his age.
No one dared to resist; the old man's gun made 'get Inside' a threatening command. Resistance would only trigger the gun, and they could do nothing but be kidnapped and exported.
That old man was somewhat repulsive; he kept blabbing his nonsense and smoking cigarettes, but talking alone felt hollow, like a news general's monologue. He yelled at them, "Don't you have a fucking tongue? Or do I got to pull it out?" He then intimidated Mai, yelling at her through the car's front rearview mirror. She was intimidated.
Minutes later, they reached the port passenger walkway—their final ride to Lafiaza. Being exported had never looked so fine. They were escorted from the vehicle and transferred to one of the world's finest cruise ships—Alloy-1880. This ship could carry a thousand passengers in a three-class configuration. They were led inside through a gangplank and taken to their room. Manabu and Mion sat together; Taiju and Mai took opposite seats. The interior was luxurious, far beyond anything they'd seen. The seats were plush, the air scented with wealth. Taiju had experience traveling on them twice; he glanced outside. The old man waved, gesturing "five minutes."
Mai was losing it. In the past few hours, she'd faced a near-death fight with a six-foot sonless bastard, barely saved a dying friend, and now was being kidnapped and exported by cruise ship to an unknown place, cut off from her parents, owing to the likelihood that their existence would be vaporized completely. She had even dissuaded Taiju from involving her; she had sniffed danger.
At that immediate moment, a car pulled onto the way. Manabu watched the old man toss his seventh cigarette and begin waving at the car. Leon stepped out, tall in a black suit and loafers, with two middle-aged men in tailored grey shirts with an avocado-green textured weave, reminiscent of a Hugo Boss linen-cotton blend. The old man extended a handshake to Leon, gestured collegially toward his shoulder, and indicated the ship with a nod. Leon boarded, sitting across from Manabu and Mion; the old man piloted the ship. It was roughly a two-day journey.
Taiju and Mion stared daggers at Leon, while Mai was terrified and Manabu was just a question mark.
"Now talk. Who are you? Why'd you do this? What do you want? And who's the man you were talking about?" Taiju asked, quite demandingly. Leon, overwhelmed by the barrage, said, "Taiju, we've got time. I'll explain everything." The ship departed and sailed off. They leaned back.
Leon eyed their clothes—messy and blood-stained. "I'd recommend you getting clean first. There are clothes, showers, bedrooms, and pantries here." They refused; they only demanded answers.
Leon sighed and began with some clarifications. "First, the Santa case has nothing to do with you. It's a professional job, issued by an interior military organization, also known as CPUS-Units. You guys are a different matter." Then he glanced at Mion, " I'm sorry about Naomi, but I did not plan to kill her; it was Daima. He murdered her just to bait me, to get me killed."
Upon hearing it, Mion snapped. "That's a lie! You, that investigator, and Daima planned it together!"
Leon does not like being interrupted when he talks. He raised his index finger, gesturing "Shut up" in a repulsive way. Then he began: "I was sent to Feropia to hit criminals who'd fled Lafiaza in October, and Daima was indeed my partner for this hit; I was sent along with him." Though Leon did not know if those hits were authorized and approved by the Feropian administration—even though Lafiaza and Feropia had an alliance, such matters can lead to war crimes.
On December 25, 1899—Leon got a call from Daima, redirecting him to DSHSC Children's Park. When Leon arrived, he found Naomi and her father's dead bodies. Shocked, he asked, "Why'd you do this? Why did you kill them? Who are they?!" Daima stood nonchalant while he said, "I don't know them; someone also witnessed me murdering them, and he escaped."
"Someone…witnessed you murdering them? And he managed to escape?" Daima nodded; he wasn't lying—or Leon would've known—thus, it seemed like he was scheming something. "Why would you do that?" Suddenly, Naomi coughed while bleeding on the ground. She was wailing; she was gutted, and the knife was still embedded close to her navel. For an instant, Leon tried to raise her, but then Daima leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"Would you save her? She might expose you. She had seen you with me, hadn't she?" He began and didn't stop his temptation. "Or would you kill her? What would you do? Do you trust CPUS-Units? Lafiaza? The president? Would they grant you the freedom you are craving so much? You know we both will be exterminated in the extermination camp, don't you…Did you not yet received your orders to exterminate me?" Leon paused; his head was in his own hell. Leon didn't want to think of it anymore. A few people had arrived by then, but Leon pretended as if he had just discovered those bodies, without being sabotaged by Daima.
Later, when Kenzo issued the problem to the CPUS-Units, the order was issued: Exterminate Daima…
"I was not allowed to ask any questions, only to obey; however, extermination was not possible for me yet, because Daima said someone had witnessed him committing murders, and I had to find him—otherwise, there would've been a serious issue. The work of mine, which would've likely been accomplished within three months, had to be stretched to six months. So then, I decided to set the hit aside and work on Manabu—joined DSHSC. Luckily, after my first day at school, Kenzo got a phone call from Hojo, who'd seen Daima slaughtering them, but he remained silent because of the fear of getting involved in such serious cases and getting slaughtered while the killer roamed just in the corridor. But in the end, Hojo told Kenzo everything."
"Kenzo ensured Hojo remain silent. 'If he knows you saw him, he might even kill you. Until we gather proof, stay quiet, Mr. Hojo,' Kenzo said."
Leon believed his plans were cruel yet necessary. He had orchestrated deaths to execute his other plans, but it also stands that Hojo did not kill Naomi. Mion's tears fell as she realized she had killed an innocent man, believing he murdered Naomi, while Leon just kept on speaking: "Realizing Naomi and Futaba were your closest, as well as Manabu's, I came up with a plan, but in order to accomplish it, I had to take a few major steps to become your friend—I approached Manabu, celebrated your birthday, reminded you of Naomi daily, gained your trust, and then framed Hojo, twisting his past until you believed he was guilty. It was imperative, Mion." Each word stung her like a dagger.
However, Manabu asked, "Why didn't you kill Hojo yourself?" He couldn't find a reason why he had to be so cruel to Mion when he could've just killed Hojo himself. But Leon had been under this contract, which condemned any unauthorized act, nor could he hire anyone to exterminate him, since it would've brought him the same fate as Daima. He even claimed to be honest about Hojo's past, but he figured it up to Mion to make Hojo guilty. "Using you to kill Hojo was enough; your murder became my leverage. I needed to take Manabu for my final job, so I used you to drag him along and kill Daima, and shut the Mr. Santa case file as well."
Taiju and Mai sat in stunned silence, falling into a void of unthoughtfulness. Leon waved casually, his voice light. "I know, I sound insane or evil, but I had no choice, Mion. I'm sorry, but I truly had no choice."
Mion's fingers curled into fists; rage filled her—even the sight of him frustrated her. She had this one question: "Why me? It could've been anyone; you could've used anybody. You saw me, didn't you? You've seen me suffering! You just could've spared me, couldn't you?... Because of you, Naomi and my father died. I trusted you so blindly; I murdered an innocent man; I brought my friends this misery…You could've just shown some mercy on me, couldn't you?" she began like a baby. Leon just stared at her; his eyes reflected nothing—so dark, so cold. Then suddenly, Mion's face twisted. "What do you think the value of human lives is? You monster, you are nothing but just a lap dog of that organization. They order, and you bark, bite, crawl for them. You will find no mercy from me—all of it was YOUR fault."
"Don't be ridiculous, Mion. None of this was my fault. I never intended to bring you, nor those two—" Leon said, pointing at Taiju and Mai. "Just Manabu. Taiju just happened to be there; he overheard our conversation, even dragged Mai into this. How was that me?!" He scoffed. "I knew things might spiral, but not like this. Daima suddenly began acting insane; he wouldn't go down easy. Things had gone south to west—don't act like I'm the only one to blame here, Mion! Since they're here by their own will, I can't let them go. If necessary, I'll kill them too." Leon held onto himself and let out a long breath. He then glanced at her—her eyes furrowed deeply, tears in her eyes, burning in fury, teeth clenched in a snarl. It was her WRATH…
"Mion, if anything else had been in my knowledge, I would've let you know, but trust me—I am not in a position to make decisions, nor did I want to kill Daima, Hojo, or anyone. I am just…leashed with a slave contract, but one day, I'll explain myself, Mion." Leon despised the way they looked at him; he had to say it out aloud. "None of it—the moments we shared, none of it was a lie. I was genuine; I was happy, so much I've never been in my life, but it was for very short moments. Forgive me, for I have wronged you all."
'Superior orders is no defense when moral choice exists…'