At the End of Revenge, There You Are ~The Scum Who Killed My Beloved, Prepare Yourselves! I Will Drag You All to Hell... Wait, What? Why Are the Heroine and the Demoness Coming After Me, a Woman!?(GL) - Chapter 7

It’s gone…

Gone.

Why?

I thought maybe I had made a mistake, so I returned to the main search screen and entered the party name again.

But the record I had just been watching was no longer in the list.

Why?

Was this what that bullshit errand was really for?

Did someone notice that I was watching the footage and use an order that would guarantee I had to leave—just so they could erase it?

Was that why the report I wrote had been deleted too?

And the only reason it was still in the backup server was because the deletion hadn’t fully synchronized yet?

Damn it. They got me.

And now, there was no doubt—

Someone in the Guild didn’t want this case investigated.

Damn it, who?!

The image of Yuzuha—shoved to the ground—flashed in my mind.

What happened after that?

What led to her brutal death?

I could feel the evidence slipping through my fingers.

I clenched my fist, ready to slam it into the monitor—

…but before I could, someone grabbed my wrist.

It was the boss.

“So, it really was erased.”

How did he know?

How could he possibly know?

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“What do you know? Tell me everything! Now!”

I grabbed him by the collar, demanding answers.

But he didn’t even flinch.

“Nothing. I don’t know anything.”

Bullshit.

There’s no way he didn’t know something after everything that just happened.

“So that’s it? You’re refusing to talk? You don’t care about Yuzuha anymore? You heartless old bastard!”

“No matter what you say, the investigation is over. That’s just how it is. Go home.”

“And then what? Come back tomorrow, pretend like nothing happened, and just do my job like normal?”

“Exactly.”

“YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT OLD MANNNNNN!!!!!!!”

I threw a full-force punch.

Of course, I expected him to block it.

Or dodge.

I wasn’t exactly a fighter.

Kimura was stronger than me.

Gen-san had trained me, sure, and as an investigator, I’d fought monsters before.

But my skill set wasn’t combat-oriented.

And my skill points were still untouched.

But—

“Ugh…!”

My punch landed.

I was more shocked than anyone.

Did he just take it on purpose?

Why?

If I could hit him once, I could hit him again—for all the workplace harassment, unpaid overtime, forced weekend shifts, and sleepless nights.

But now wasn’t the time for that.

For some reason, landing that hit made me calm down.

Kimura knew.

He had realized it the moment he saw the footage was gone.

Someone inside the Guild had erased it.

Someone who didn’t want this case investigated.

This was bigger than just an unfortunate run-in with a monster.

This wasn’t just about Yuzuha’s party encountering a demon and losing a member.

There was something else.

The way her party members acted.

How they cornered her.

The absence of any visible demon in the footage.

And the Guild’s attempt to bury it.

And Kimura.

I understood now.

If this was how he was going to play it—

If he was going to actively help cover this up—

Then I had no choice.

This wasn’t just a case.

This was a conspiracy.

“Calm down.”

“LIKE HELL I WILL! I QUIT, YOU CORRUPT BASTAAAAAAAARD!!!!!!!”

For the second time that day, I slammed my resignation letter against Kimura’s forehead.

“STOP HANDING IN YOUR RESIGNATION, DAMN IT! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, GO INTO THE DUNGEON ALONE?! YOU’LL DIE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! PEOPLE DON’T JUST GET RESURRECTED LIKE IT’S SOME COMMON OCCURRENCE!”

Kimura kept yelling something, but I wasn’t listening.

I didn’t care.

I didn’t care at all.

Back home, I found myself drowning in sorrow.

At the Guild, I had been in a rage, running on pure adrenaline when I threw my resignation at Kimura.

But in the end…

I still didn’t know what had really happened to Yuzuha.

I had been so close to the truth, only to have it ripped away at the last moment.

And I didn’t even know who was responsible.

It was frustrating.

Infuriating.

The rage was enough to drive me insane.

Maybe that’s why…

Why I ended up falling asleep without even eating dinner—

And having that dream.

A dream from when we were in middle school.

Back when Yuzuha and I were still carefree, greeting each other with a silly—

“Hey, bestie~!”

Our school had a dance event every autumn for second-year students.

It was a simple partner dance—

Nothing fancy, just a casual extension of gym class.

But to us teenagers, it was a big deal.

Naturally, I planned to dance with Yuzuha.

But the teacher said no.

Apparently, it had to be a boy-girl pair.

How ridiculous.

I had wanted to protest, but it was a long-standing tradition at our school.

No one questioned it.

If they had simply allowed anyone to choose any partner, most of the girls would have paired up with each other—

Leaving only a handful of boy-girl couples and a bunch of awkwardly forced boy-boy pairs.

But with the rule set in stone, the students reluctantly found partners of the opposite s3x.

Including Yuzuha.

The ace of the soccer team—one of the most popular boys in our class—

Asked Yuzuha to be his partner.

And she said yes.

I was shocked.

I felt like Yuzuha was being taken away from me.

A younger, sillier version of myself…

How foolish.

How adorable in hindsight.

As for me?

I never got a dance partner.

Why?

Because some idiot thought it would be romantic to grab my hand and waist while asking.

So, I drove my fist into his stomach and left him writhing in pain.

Technically, he was still my partner, but…

Well, let’s just say he was mysteriously absent on the day of the event.

But Yuzuha danced.

With a boy.

And at the end of the dance—

That boy confessed to her.

And then…

He kissed her on the cheek.

I had been watching her the entire time.

I heard everything.

I saw everything.

And my heart raged with jealousy.

It was absurd, wasn’t it?

A best friend finding a boyfriend should have been a happy thing.

But all I could think was—

“She’s going to leave me.”

So when Yuzuha turned him down, I felt relieved.

Because it meant she was still mine.

Still by my side.

Yuzuha…

I loved you so much.

But then high school came.

We got busy with our futures.

We drifted apart.

And I…

I forgot these feelings?

I woke up.

The room was still dark.

What the hell kind of dream was that?

But that dream…

It made me realize something.

I loved Yuzuha.

I was in love with her.

I wanted to keep her all to myself.

I wanted to be the one to kiss her.

That night with her…

It had been the happiest moment of my life.

Which meant…

I couldn’t just take revenge.

That wasn’t enough.

That’s why my heart had felt so empty.

Because revenge alone wouldn’t bring her back.

I want to bring Yuzuha back.

No matter what it takes.

Then there was only one thing to do.

I had to go into the dungeon.

Dungeons were filled with incredible items.

There had to be something—

Somewhere in that vast abyss—

A miracle that could bring her back.

Maybe it just hadn’t been discovered yet.

But I’d find it.

I’d search until I did.

I had already quit my job.

There was nothing holding me back.

I was going into the dungeon.

Just a little more rest…

And then… It was time to begin.