Chapter 195: Albedo's Painting 2
"A ghost! There's a ghost!"
The suspect's terrified shriek ripped through the twilight quiet. Conan Edogawa's head snapped around, his eyes following the man's trembling, pointing finger. He saw nothing but deepening shadows and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
"What?!" Conan muttered, turning back to the man. The suspect's face was a mask of pure terror, his gaze fixed on a point just behind them.
"You… aren't you already dead?" he stammered, his voice cracking.
Conan was utterly bewildered. He scanned the area again, his sharp eyes finding nothing out of the ordinary. What could this man possibly be seeing that he couldn't? Still, he refused to entertain the notion of the supernatural. In his world, ghosts didn't exist. Every seemingly inexplicable phenomenon was merely a trick, a carefully constructed illusion with a human hand behind it. A logical explanation was always waiting to be found.
Farther down the path, Mouri Ran heard the cry of "ghost," and a violent shiver ran through her. The sky was rapidly darkening, casting long, eerie shadows that made the forest feel menacing. Even the usually unflappable Sonoko looked unnerved.
She grabbed Ran's hands, and the two girls huddled together, their own nervous gazes fixed on the direction of the scream.
Seeing their genuine fear, Lisa offered a helpless, gentle smile. She walked over, wrapping an arm around each of them in a comforting embrace. "Don't worry, there are no such things as ghosts in this world," she soothed, her voice a low, reassuring murmur. "It's most likely just someone playing tricks. And with Kaeya here, you're perfectly safe."
What Lisa didn't realize was that while someone was indeed playing a trick, it wasn't the cornered murderer she imagined. The true puppeteer was Albedo—a person she would never have suspected.
Under Lisa's calming influence, Ran and Sonoko's breathing evened out, the raw panic in their eyes subsiding.
Back near the suspect, Conan turned his head for another look, but the woods remained stubbornly empty. Unwilling to give up, he shifted his gaze to Kaeya and Noelle, trying to read their expressions. They both appeared just as confused as he was, their faces a picture of bewilderment. Even Kaeya glanced around, a slight frown on his face, but it was clear he hadn't spotted anything either.
However, Conan missed the subtle shift that followed. Once the boy looked away, Kaeya's eyes flickered toward Albedo, the corner of his mouth twitching into a barely perceptible smirk. He knew. Kaeya knew, with near certainty, that the suspect's bizarre behavior was Albedo's handiwork. He just couldn't figure out how he was doing it.
Unable to contain his curiosity, Kaeya sent a private message through their shared system, his expression never changing. 'Alright, Chief Alchemist. Care to enlighten me?'Albedo received the query without a single flicker of his eyelids. His gaze remained locked on the suspect, his posture one of absolute focus, as if he were guarding against a sudden attack. No one could have guessed he was multitasking.'As soon as I arrived on this mountain, I discovered the remains buried beneath the tree,'Albedo's reply came, cool and clinical.'Before the rest of you arrived, I indulged my curiosity. I sketched a reconstruction of the person's living appearance based on the skull. I have just used my alchemy to give that image form, and I took care to position it outside the child's line of sight. Only our suspect can see it.'Kaeya was still trying to process the information.'Even if he saw someone who's supposed to be dead, he shouldn't be this terrified, should he? From the looks of it, he's a high-ranking member of some criminal element. Is he really that cowardly?'A beat of silence.'Perhaps,'Albedo replied,'it is because he only saw a head. I only painted the head, after all.'Kaeya's mental voice short-circuited.'…' No wonder the man was so convinced he was seeing a ghost, nearly scared out of his wits. Who wouldn't be terrified by the sight of a disembodied head floating silently in the air?
Seeing that Kaeya had no more questions, Albedo refocused his complete attention on their target. The man still seemed to possess a shred of rationality. It was time to add a little more pressure. Albedo quietly manipulated his Geo energy, causing the spectral head to lurch violently toward the suspect.
As expected, the man's expression twisted further in horror. His eyes bulged. "Don't come over here!" he shrieked, waving his hands frantically as if to ward off an insect. "I'm not afraid of you!"
"I wasn't afraid of you when you were alive, and I'm certainly not afraid of you now that you're dead! I—I'm telling you, I can kill you once, and I can kill you a second time!"
The words were meant to sound brave, but his flickering eyes and trembling lips betrayed him for the posturing coward he was.
Then, the man took a ragged, shuddering breath and swallowed hard. To Conan's absolute horror, he suddenly ripped a pistol from his coat and fired three shots in rapid succession at the empty space he'd been staring at.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunshots were deafening. Before Conan could even process the danger, a strong arm scooped him up. Noelle, who had been watching him like a hawk, lifted him effortlessly and took several large steps to the side, moving them both out of the line of fire. If they had stayed put, given the suspect's unhinged state, a stray bullet was a very real possibility.
After firing the three rounds, the suspect stared at the spot, and a strange sigh of relief escaped his lips, as if he had truly hit something. In that moment, the spell of terror finally broke, and the cold reality of his actions crashed down on him.
He looked at Albedo and the others, his eyes now dark and hard. There was no point in making excuses; he knew that saying anything now would be meaningless.
But his situation wasn't hopeless. He just had to ensure these few people could never speak of today's events again.
A cruel sneer twisted his lips. He raised the hand that held the gun, aiming it squarely at the person who had blocked his escape and caused this entire mess to unfold.
"Big Brother Albedo, look out!" Conan shrieked, his eyes wide with terror.
He was just about to twist the dial on his belt, preparing to kick an instant soccer ball, but he was once again restrained. Noelle held him fast, ignoring his struggles as she carried him farther from the scene.
"Conan, don't struggle. It's very dangerous right now," she said, her voice firm but gentle. "Let's get to a safe place first. This is no time for children to be playing detective."
Noelle had kept her attention on Conan from the very beginning, determined not to let the boy slip away from under her nose again. That vigilance was why she was able to stop his reckless plan in time. The man had a gun, and who knew how many accomplices were hiding in the woods. Conan's soccer ball might take down one person, but it was just as likely to provoke the gunman and make the boy a primary target.
In Noelle's mind, the top priority was getting Conan out of the danger zone. Mr. Kaeya and Mr. Albedo could handle the rest.
But Conan didn't know what she was thinking. He continued to squirm, desperate to break free from her protective hold.
Albedo, however, simply sidestepped the bullets with an almost casual grace.
Seeing his shots miss and Albedo's utterly calm, composed expression, the suspect's face contorted with rage. His gun was empty. He sneered, raised his right hand, and gave a sharp signal.
From the darkened woods behind him, dozens of men emerged, holding a variety of weapons. Some brandished pipes and bats, while a few held firearms of their own.
Conan's eyes widened in shock. He recognized the rough, menacing look of these men—they were yakuza, or something very similar. The suspect who could command them had to be a high-ranking officer in a major criminal organization.
At that moment, Conan stopped struggling. He understood that now was not the time to cause trouble for Noelle and the others.
Even so, a knot of worry tightened in his stomach. He knew that members of this mysterious "Teyvat" organization, like Kaeya and Albedo, were incredibly skilled. But they were facing dozens of armed men. Could they really win?
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