Chapter 47: The Suspect

Alarm bells ring in her head like a fucking bank robbery.

Her sixth sense rarely goes wrong.

"Here are your black coffees," the waiter arrives, carrying two steaming hot coffee cups. 

He gently places them on the table with skill.

"Thank you," Deedee Lang hands him her credit card. 

The waiter expresses gratitude and heads towards the cash register. 

The detective then looks at her coffee cup. 

It seems like she's thinking about what to say and how to say it.

"So, he's passionate about curses like you, buddy? Interesting, tell me everything you know about this Strauss Wagner. For instance, what class does he have?" Deedee's expression becomes serious, although she tries to conceal the tension.

Kanna would like to start talking like a train, but she hesitates, noticing the change in her friend.

"Why do I feel like all of a sudden, this has turned into an interrogation?"

"No, no, buddy... Why do you say that? I'm curious to know everything about the man who has captured my friend's heart."

"Deedee, I know you well. That's the look of the hunter."

"I'm just a bit stressed about a case I'm working on. That's why I wanted to meet you."

"I figured it wasn't just a simple reunion. It's been years since we caught up."

"I'm sorry, buddy. I'm always focused on work."

"Why did you want to meet me?"

Deedee opens her bag and searches frantically, then takes out a book and places it on the cafeteria table. 

She opens it to the page where she left the bookmark. 

She turns the book toward Kanna and points to a passage with her hand.

"Is it possible, with a curse, to provoke a reaction in a person like the one described here?" Deedee asks.

Kanna reads the point indicated by the detective, intrigued.

"Yes, as described in this book, which I seem to have read before, theoretically it is possible," the professor nods, continuing to read.

"I figured you knew this book. When it comes to curses, you're a nerd of the worst kind, buddy."

"You're overestimating me, and besides, these are ancient writings. There are no accounts of curses like that in modern times."

"What if I told you I witnessed a situation where a cursed person bled from the eyes and inflicted physical harm on themselves just to avoid revealing the identity of the curser?" the green-haired woman revealed.

Kanna knows that when it comes to her investigations Deedee never jokes and everything she says is because she means it.

"Do you really think so? Don't you believe you might be jumping to conclusions? These symptoms can be justified in various ways." 

Kanna is a scholar of curses. She knows they are dangerous and real. 

However, being a scholar, she understands the importance of maintaining a certain level of skepticism when analyzing events and avoiding hasty conclusions.

"My instincts don't deceive me. I think if you had witnessed the scene, you would probably also think there's something unnatural going on."

"Are you saying this individual was a slave to a demon?"

"A demon or someone using demonic magic. I may sound crazy, and perhaps I am becoming so... But coincidences lead me to these conclusions."

"What else makes you think curses are involved?" Kanna asks.

"Can curses kill from a distance?" Deedee responds to the woman with another question.

Kanna takes some time before answering. 

She takes a sip of coffee to energize herself. 

She reflects, delving into her mind.

"It's possible. A curse of this kind can indirectly kill a person if that person triggers the negative conditions. In simpler terms, if the cursed individual takes an action that activates the curse, the hex is activated, causing a negative effect. It could be pain, either physical or mental. However, this is a specific type of curse that is very similar to a contract, and a contract requires endorsement from both the cursed and the curser. The typical curse, on the other hand, is a passive effect that prevents an action or imposes a penalty, but it cannot directly cause death," explains Kanna Merfal in full professor mode.

"Hold on a second, Prof!" Deedee interrupts, trying to process the information. 

"Are you telling me it's a 'contract'? This confirms the demon theory."

"Theoretically, yes, if the deaths were caused by this 'curse.' How did these people die?"

"They were all students of this school. Nikola Drusla hanged himself in his cell."

"Drusla?" Kanna is surprised. 

She taught Drusla. He wasn't a good student, but she distinctly remembers his air of a drug addict. 

She was aware that he had been arrested for drug-related crimes, but she was unaware of his death until now.

"Not only that, Reis Vonner was killed in a brawl in prison."

The woman with long black hair knows Vonner only by name. 

Being in his first year, she hasn't had the opportunity to teach him.

"They died in different ways; could they just be coincidences?"

"I shouldn't give you all this information, but fuck it, I want to get to the bottom of this. You see, buddy, the two apparently ran a drug trafficking operation disguised as potions, along with other students from the school," explains the woman, slamming folders onto the table from her bag.

"Such a disgraceful thing, here in the Academy..." comments Kanna.

"We arrested them all and dismantled the drug trafficking. The case should be closed."

"So why are you still investigating?"

"They're all dead, Kanna... One after another. In different ways, days apart. But all the arrested ones are dead."

Kanna turns pale. 

This is too much to be a coincidence.

"What does the police say? How do they plan to handle this?"

Deedee bursts into laughter. 

"The police don't give a fuck. The fucking case is closed. The drugs are gone from the market. Some shitty dealers are dead? Good, more space in prison and fewer costs for taxpayers."

The woman doesn't know what to say to Deedee. 

Knowing the ranger, she knows that when she becomes obsessed with something, she never lets go.

"You know what's absurd? None of the arrested ones is an alchemist, buddy. The formula for this new drug conveniently made into a potion magically appeared in the black market... That's the convenient theory that closes the case."

Deedee looks Kanna straight in the eyes.

"Do you know who was Reis Vonner's classmate?"

Vonner was in class 1st - C, the same as...

"Tell me the truth, buddy. Strauss Wagner has a talent in [ALCHEMY], doesn't he?" 

The hound has sniffed out its prey.

Kanna Merfal feels the world crashing down on her.

No.

It can't be.

She loses her breath.

"Answer me, Kanna."

"I-it's not what you think... These are inferences..."

"What did you teach him about curses, buddy?" 

Deedee has already drawn all her conclusions. 

Kanna knows what kind of person she is. 

Her brain picks up every subtle signal and processes theories that instantly become reality for her.

Deedee Lang's philosophy is better safe than sorry. 

If she's wrong, when she's wrong, she'll apologize, but in her mind, she has already found the culprit.

Kanna, on the other hand, is starting to have doubts.

But she can't believe it.

Knowing the theory of curses is one thing. 

Making them is another. 

They are particular magics. They are demonic magics. 

Demons and their servants can use them.

Is Strauss a Warlock? 

It's not possible.

Kanna thinks about his smile.

She thinks about the time spent together.

To the love they made.

She then thinks that she gave him a book, a compendium of curses.

She thinks that he asked her everything about curses. 

How to counter them. How to identify them.

No, it's not possible.

"KANNA!" the detective yells, bringing her back to reality.

"D-Deedee, I think maybe you're exaggerating..."

"Don't escape from reality! Your life is in danger! He might have cursed you!"

Kanna realizes the possibility that this might be true.

Could this love she feels be just an illusion?

Has she fallen into the spider's web?

An expert in curses, has she been cursed herself?

Kanna stands up from the chair. 

Her head is a whirlwind of emotions: fear and anguish. 

She reflects on Strauss's words.

"Professor, I don't have money problems."

He was willing to spend seven thousand credits on that weapon. 

A potentially cursed weapon. 

How does he have access to so much money?

Is it because he produces drugs, as Deedee implies?

Has he deceived her all this time?

Has he lied to her about Welze Juble and is he doing the same with all those girls around him, Rero Sansanti and Luysia Camclair?

In the grip of terror, her mind races, thinking of the worst.

No, it can't be.

No, she can't give in to despair.

If this love is true, she must trust Strauss.

She clenches her fists.

"There's a way to know if I've been cursed. Let's go to my apartment."