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ArabicArknights: The Scarlet Devil of Terra — Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Suspect Flandre
Under Flandre Scarlet’s bewildered gaze, the two women argued their way from the front doorway straight into the living room, carrying their dispute from the sofa all the way to the front of the game console.
The way they relentlessly bickered while aggressively playing Happy Kitchen together was an incredibly amusing spectacle.
Flandre didn’t interrupt their chaotic interaction. Instead, she reached out through her mental link, curiously asking Alina why the way these two got along was so incredibly strange.
Upon hearing the little vampire’s confusion, Alina transmitted a sudden burst of laughter. Through their deep blood connection, Flandre could vividly feel that the Elafia on the other side was laughing so hard she could barely stand up straight.
“They don’t like each other, so why can they still play together?”
Flandre expressed that she didn’t quite understand their dynamic. They clearly found each other completely unpleasant, yet they could sit shoulder-to-shoulder and play a cooperative video game. Whenever Flandre encountered someone she didn’t like, she would just choose to squeeze them until they popped into a bloody mist. She would absolutely never play games with them.
‘So, they don’t actually hate each other,’Alina explained gently through their link.’In fact, in my opinion, they are likely very good friends. It’s just that they find issues with certain aspects of each other’s personalities or habits, so they loudly voice their opinions.’
Flandre looked doubtfully at Beatrix and Ch’en Hui-chieh. The two L.G.D. officers were mashing controller buttons while aggressively accusing each other, their faces leaning in so close they were almost touching. The little vampire made a strange, pinched expression.
Could friends really have such an awkward relationship?
Flandre’s small face was filled with immense confusion. After all, in her view, even if friends weren’t like the quiet, comfortable relationship between her older sister and Patchouli, they should at least be like her sister and Reimu Hakurei, or how Alina acted with Talulah and FrostNova.
The way these two glared at each other, calling them mortal enemies seemed far more accurate. However, their faces were practically pressed together, and they weren’t actually trying to scratch each other’s eyes out. Could this be the ‘tee-tee’ dynamic mentioned in her inherited memories?
So weird!
Flandre didn’t dare to look!
Flandre covered her eyes with both hands, then immediately parted her fingers to peek through the gaps, secretly observing the aggressively interacting pair.
The two officers stayed until the sky outside began to lighten near dawn. They fell into an endless cycle of game failures, mutual accusations, physical catfights, continuing the game, failing again, accusing again, and fighting again. Eventually, Ch’en Hui-chieh—who had won countless consecutive physical brawls on the living room floor—stared ahead with a pair of bruised panda eyes. She walked out of Flandre’s house with her head held high, maintaining a perfectly dignified air despite her disheveled state.
Swire also sported two massive dark circles under her eyes. Rubbing her sore waist, the Feline complained bitterly about how utterly ruthless Ch’en’s strikes were, specifically warning Flandre not to learn such barbaric habits from her.
“Forget it, I’m absolutely not going out looking like this!” Swire huffed, crossing her arms. “Flandre-chan, I can sleep here tonight, right?”
Looking at her two pitch-black eyes that heavily resembled a species of Ursus unique to Yan, Swire firmly decided to crash at Flandre’s house for the night.
“Of course. The house is very big. Beatrix, you can sleep wherever you want!”
As soon as Flandre finished speaking, she was suddenly scooped up off the floor by Beatrix.
“Then tonight, I’m going to sleep while hugging Flandre!”
“Hahaha! Beatrix, don’t nuzzle me, it tickles!” Flandre giggled brightly for a long time as Beatrix affectionately nuzzled her face against the back of the little vampire’s neck.
The next morning, when Flandre woke up, she saw Beatrix lying on the large bed nearby, tightly hugging a plush doll.
To avoid the tragic fate of being used as a human body pillow for the entire night, the vampire had secretly replaced herself with the stuffed toy shortly after the Feline fell asleep.
Because she had played video games until the early hours of the morning, Beatrix was completely exhausted and never noticed that the soft thing in her arms had changed. By the time the Feline finally woke up and stretched, Flandre had already finished a full set of morning exercises out in the yard.
“Ah… Flandre-chan, sleeping here is actually much more comfortable than at my own house,” Beatrix murmured, stretching her arms. “Maybe I should just come here to sleep from now on!”
Her bright green eyes stared at Flandre, sparkling with clear mischievous intent.
“Dame~!” Knowing the older girl just wanted to use her as a convenient, temperature-controlled body pillow, Flandre firmly crossed her arms into a big ‘X’ in front of her chest.
“Flandre-chan, you’re so heartless!” Beatrix feigned exaggerated grief. She lunged forward and hugged Flandre’s waist, burying her face in the girl’s side, looking as if she absolutely wouldn’t let go unless the vampire agreed.
“But you can’t always sleep while hugging Flandre,” Flandre replied, her tone turning slightly more serious. “Because Flandre isn’t sure if she might lose control at night!”
“Lose control?” Beatrix asked in surprise, blinking her green eyes.
Flandre nodded her small head. “Flandre’s ability is very special. Although it hasn’t gone out of control for a really long time, if it does, there will be serious destruction. That’s why Flandre usually lives alone.”
“Didn’t you just say it hasn’t happened in a long time? I believe you can perfectly control yourself.” Beatrix reached out to gently touch Flandre’s soft cheek, her tone warm and reassuring.
“But…”
“No ‘buts’. Starting tonight, I’m moving in. How about that empty bedroom right next to yours? I’ll arrange for my people to come and tidy it up in a bit.”
Before Flandre could voice any further refusal, Swire unilaterally declared the matter settled. The wealthy Feline then walked out of the room, happily humming a little tune.
Flandre scratched her blonde head. What was she supposed to do when Swire was being so overwhelmingly enthusiastic?
Forget it. It didn’t really matter to her anyway; it was just one more person sleeping in the massive house at night.
That afternoon, completely unexpectedly, Ch’en Hui-chieh, Hoshiguma, and Swire all arrived at the villa together. Flandre, who had been comfortably watching cartoons in the living room, heard a loud commotion outside. She hopped off the couch and opened the front door to investigate.
“Why are they arguing again?” Looking at the dark-faced Ch’en and the fiercely glaring Beatrix standing on the lawn, Flandre helplessly directed her question to the most emotionally stable person present, Hoshiguma.
Hoshiguma let out a heavy sigh, then looked down at the little vampire.
“Do you remember the mother and son you had a conflict with at the amusement park yesterday morning?”
Flandre shook her head without hesitation. She couldn’t be bothered to allocate brain space to remember such utterly unimportant people.
“Don’t remember.”
“Well… their whole family is dead,” Hoshiguma said, her tone grave. “The cause of death was having all the blood in their bodies completely drained. Because many bystanders saw you having a public conflict with them yesterday morning, quite a few people at the station suspect you were the one who did it.”
“But Old Ch’en and Missy both heavily deny this. Because according to the forensic doctor’s estimation of the family’s exact time of death, you were physically with them at that time.” Hoshiguma continued to patiently explain the grim situation to Flandre.
“Then why are they arguing again?” Flandre didn’t pay any attention to the issue of the family’s gruesome death at all. In her view, the demise of some random humans really wasn’t nearly as important as figuring out why Beatrix and Ch’en were fighting again.
“It’s simple,” Hoshiguma replied, gesturing to the bickering duo. “Old Ch’en feels that although the two of them can perfectly prove you have no problem, she should still strictly follow procedure and take you down to the L.G.D. headquarters to officially assist in the investigation.”
“But Missy completely disagrees. She believes that since there are two high-ranking Superintendents who can clearly confirm your whereabouts, and there are numerous security cameras in this villa district to corroborate that you never left, then you absolutely shouldn’t be dragged into the L.G.D. as a murder suspect.”
“The two of them have been arguing about this the entire drive here.” Hoshiguma rubbed the back of her neck, expressing her own helplessness. But this time, an entire family had been wiped out. In a city like Lungmen, this was a severe, high-profile case that fell directly under the jurisdiction of the Special Inspection Unit. That was exactly why the tall Oni had rushed the two Superintendents over to Flandre’s side before an official arrest warrant from the L.G.D. could be formally issued.
“So, you suspect there are other Sarkaz Blood Fiends hiding in Lungmen?” Flandre asked, tilting her head.
“It’s very likely,” Hoshiguma nodded. “also, the news of your flashy appearance at the amusement park yesterday was widely circulated online. The other party might have heard this news, tracked down the mother and son who had a conflict with you, and then deliberately ‘helped’ you kill them to frame you. This is the specific scenario we think is most likely.”
Hoshiguma, truly the calmest and most rational of the three officers, quickly summarized the grim possibility they had debated during the car ride.
“Then should we go to the crime scene to take a look first?” Flandre suggested, her red eyes gleaming as she looked at the three of them. “Flandre is very curious about what her ‘kin’ actually wants to do!”
Although she genuinely didn’t care which random humans had died, she wanted to try her best to keep everyone from arguing. Arguing was bad, and it ruined the fun atmosphere.
Hearing her words, all three officers stopped their bickering and looked over.
“That’s right. If it really was a Blood Fiend who committed this gruesome crime in Lungmen, then naturally it would be much easier for Flandre to track them down.” It was Beatrix who spoke up first. Having been by Flandre’s side all day yesterday, she was the one who most fiercely believed in the little girl’s absolute innocence.
“Could taking her there be too dangerous? After all, the opponent might be a powerful, unknown Blood Fiend,” Hoshiguma asked, her brow furrowing with concern.
“Aren’t we here?” Ch’en Hui-chieh countered smoothly, confidently patting the hilt of the longsword resting at her waist.
Since both Ch’en and Beatrix fully agreed with Flandre’s active suggestion, Hoshiguma naturally wouldn’t refuse. The tall Oni gestured for them to get in, and soon she was driving the other three directly toward the cordoned-off crime scene.
Meanwhile, in the backseat, Ch’en took out her encrypted phone and pulled up the classified case materials she had photographed from the crime scene before rushing out of the L.G.D. headquarters.
With just one brief glance at the horrific wounds on the victims’ bodies, Flandre immediately stated that this definitely had absolutely nothing to do with her.
The reasoning was incredibly simple. The fatal wounds on the three corpses were scattered haphazardly all over their bodies. Rather than saying they were cleanly sucked to death by a predator, it was far more accurate to say they had been butchered, left to bleed out in agony until they died.
Flandre proudly stated that she was a vampire with refined taste. Sucking blood was only meant to get full, and she would never make such an ugly, unappetizing mess of a person.
Regarding this bold claim, Ch’en frowned and asked her if other Blood Fiends would do something like this.
Flandre shook her head, her blonde pigtails swaying. “Flandre isn’t sure what others are like, but one thing is absolutely certain. If you viewed that family as your dinner, would you let your food end up in such a disgusting, messy state?”
Hearing these blunt words from Flandre, the three seasoned officers were momentarily rendered completely speechless. Although what the little vampire said was coldly logical, when it entered the ears of these human listeners, it still felt deeply, uncomfortably strange.
What exactly does she mean by ‘viewing people as food’?
“So, this wasn’t done for the purpose of sucking blood. It was just a cruel, deliberate slaughter?” After firmly shaking off the messy, unsettling thoughts in her mind, Ch’en distilled the core meaning from Flandre’s casual observation.
“Very likely,” Flandre agreed. “And with the blood drained so thoroughly from the scene, it means the other party might indeed have a special way to make the target’s wounds bleed incessantly. Or perhaps, they have a method to forcibly control the blood inside the target’s body, making it flow out from the wounds on its own.”
Flandre analyzed the situation after studying the gruesome appearance of the corpses in the photos, using the sharp eyes of both an apex vampire and a magical girl.
“There’s another thing,” Flandre added, raising a small finger. “If the whole family died, and the blood was sucked completely dry so there was no metallic scent of blood left to attract insects or neighbors, how were they discovered the very next day?”
Flandre pulled out a pair of plain, oversized glasses from seemingly nowhere and pushed them up her nose, happily starting to cosplay as a great detective.
“It was their parents. They came to their house at noon today because Beatrix’s words had caused their family to suffer severe losses…”