" Hem~ hem~ hem~ "
Under the warm glow of the bright morning sun, a girl in her high school uniform walked with a light step, letting a soft hum drift gently from her lips.
When she arrived home, the girl paused for a moment. She opened the door, stepped inside, and made her way upstairs. Until she saw something she never could have expected.
"D-Dad...?" the girl murmured, staring at her father, or as we know him, Arthur, who lay collapsed on the floor with a dagger buried in his stomach.
Beside Arthur's body lay the body of a woman believed to be Arthur's wife. With the last of his strength, Arthur pointed toward the girl... or rather toward the wall behind her, his hand trembling violently as though jolted by a powerful electric current.
"Mur-murderer..." Arthur murmured, before finally breathing his last. His heart was still, and the eyes of the girl beside him widened as she stared at her father's chest, no longer moving.
"DAD!" The girl screamed, shattering the silence of the room. She threw her arms around her father's body, sobbing uncontrollably. That moment was one she would never forget, for as long as she lived.
Several hours passed before the police finally arrived and began their investigation into the brutal murder. They moved back and forth throughout the house, yet in the end, not a single clue was found.
One of the uniformed officers approached the girl, who sat in the corner of the room still wearing her school uniform. "You... you're Erika Sterling, aren't you?" the officer asked.
The girl didn't move a muscle. Another uniformed officer came over and placed a hand on the shoulder of the one who had questioned her.
"Come on... she just lost her family. How do you expect her to be calm enough to answer your questions?" the second officer said in a gently scolding tone.
The first officer felt embarrassed, blinking a few times and scratching the back of his neck. "Fair point. Alright then, if you remember or find anything later, let us know, okay?" he said, waving at Erika, who sat there lost in her own thoughts.
"Alright, let's move!" called out one of the other officers. After that, the officers moved both of Erika's parents' bodies away for autopsy and further investigation.
The room was completely empty, leaving only Erika alone in the corner. She blinked a few times. Like a connection suddenly snapping back online, Erika recalled something that felt important. Right, her father had pointed at something behind her in his final moments, and that memory was now coming back to her.
So Erika began searching every corner of the room for anything suspicious. Eventually, she found a small lever disguised as a bent, rusted nail wedged into the wall. She slowly tried turning it.
Zz-t
The sound of metal grinding against metal rang out, echoing through the room.
Not long after, the wall rotated, revealing a dark, empty space behind it. The lights came on automatically, blurring Erika's vision for a few seconds. She stepped inside, glancing around with wide, curious eyes. Within it were all sorts of gambling equipment.
A billiard table with a stack of cards on top, casino machines, and a dartboard pinned to the wall. Erika blinked a few times. " Is my dad a gambler? " she thought to herself.
She walked slowly, scanning every inch of the room with a sharp gaze. Until she found a photograph... a photo of six unfamiliar people and her father standing in the center. The faces of the others were blurred out, with only her father's face clearly visible.
"W-who are they?" Erika murmured, her eyes widening at the unclear photo.
Erika dropped the photo to the floor and rushed over to a nearby bookshelf. She pulled out the books one by one, reading through each of them with careful attention. The shelf was quite large, packed with many books.
The following morning, Erika called the police to investigate the room. But their response was nothing like what she had hoped for.
"Haha! This... this isn't the Artha Mandala Organization," the uniformed officer replied, handing the photo back to Erika.
Erika was confused. Was there something funny about the photo? She stared blankly at the two officers laughing at her. Though she herself didn't quite understand what they were saying, since Erika had no idea what Artha Mandala even was.
The second officer spoke up. "Right, that organization should have been gone since a year ago," he said with a shrug.
"Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, the raid last year. That was exactly one year ago from yesterday," the other officer added.
Erika said nothing, blinking a few times. Indeed, it had been a year since the raid, and a year since the organization was taken over by the Seven Deadly Sins . Had this happened because the Seven Deadly Sins won the bet? No one knew.
A short while later, the officers left Erika without offering anything of worth. They didn't even take what she shared seriously... or maybe Erika hadn't really said anything at all. Right now, there was only one path left.
Erika stood up with a sharp stomp, staring up at the ceiling with both fists clenched tight at her sides. Right, the only way forward Erika could think of was to launch her own investigation.