The Truth

This is the first time Jorgen stayed in the ward and was visited by Mardias Shaw. He felt uncomfortable all over. The afternoon sun shone in through the windows, causing his head to ache again.

"Do you know how mad that woman was? Through the study of black magic, she gave her own heart to her servant. That's why the little guy couldn't be killed and had great strength." Mardias said.

"Like... Frankenstein?"

"Exactly. Still, to take a few hits from that guy, your body is not bad."

"Of course, because after the first hit I passed out."

The relationship between the superior and subordinate over the years has always been full of tension. But this conversation was so harmonious that it was somewhat strange.

This series of murders is over, Jorgen thought. In more than a month, three people died, which was not a huge loss, much lighter than cases Jorgen had experienced in his youth, such as "the madness of the Twilight Cultists" and "the Strangler of Crimson Spine Mountain".

Next, Jorgen knew clearly what he had to do.

"Mardias, how did you find me?" he asked.

"They committed too many crimes and made mistakes that recidivists often make - too flashy. When you were first carried out of the basement, my patrolmen noticed something was wrong."

"So I survived purely by luck?"

"You can put it that way. Of course... it's not very healthy to think like that."

"No, you're lying to me," Jorgen said. "You knew about this whole thing from the start."

Mardias rested one hand on the rail at the foot of the bed and looked at Jorgen with a focused and utterly indifferent expression, saying nothing.

"You were the 'fifth man' in the siege of Gothalo Van Cleef. Although you were little then... let me think, fourteen years old. But you already had the ability to make someone disappear from the files, after all, your grandfather, the founder of Military Intelligence Section Seven, was still alive at that time."

"An amazing conspiracy theory. Where did you get this strange idea from?" Mardias said.

"Gothalo's diary. I was very fortunate to just flip to that page... barely readable without a mirror. 'No one dares to provoke Mardias, because arguing with him will be imprisoned,' he wrote. Haven't you collected that diary as evidence yet? Be careful with that."

Mardias' face changed slightly.

"There's one more thing I figured out an hour ago - Oliver Sandler himself had no background, his wife was untrustworthy though noble, and with his cautious character - he was a man who could secretly meet with other women for more than a year without his wife knowing - he would naturally not casually reveal the uprising plan of the Brotherhood to an official of Stormwind. The only official he knew was you.

"In addition, I am not sure whether you benefited from Raiden Fandaron's false report of the Brotherhood's population. But given your identity, it would be natural to do such a thing without punishment. Under your leadership, Military Intelligence Section seven possessed information about many officials taking bribes, even I knew that - Come to think of it, much of that information was obtained by me! If Bartholomew didn't insist that Raiden was acting on orders from a specific person, I might not have thought of this.

"That's right, Mardias, you knew from the beginning - you concealed your identity as the 'fifth man' and leaked information about the other four to Mrs. Greshana. Otherwise, Mrs. Greshana would have had no reason to find the 'enemies' one by one for revenge after so many years. You used her to eliminate those who proved your bad record, because you never get your hands dirty yourself - that's how you stay clean.

"Unfortunately, your plan had two accidents. One was my involvement. You didn't know that Mrs. Greshana thought I was the 'fifth man'. Two, Mrs. Greshana stabbed Elin on her own initiative to warn me, the 'fifth man'. Mrs. Greshana went too far, which was unfavorable to you, so you hoped to use me to get rid of her. But in the end I also failed, and you had to show up. Tell me, when did you start sending people to follow me? Was it the day I lost the little note when I was drunk? Or was it the day I found Raiden's body? Being saved for such a reason does not make me happy."

After a moment of unspeakable silence, rhythmic but emotionless clapping sounded in the ward.

"I have to carefully consider whether to officially reinstate you, Jorgen," Mardias said after three claps. "I have always respected you more than Elin. There's nothing in your head but work."

"Is this a compliment to me?"

"Jorgen, what good will it do you to say this? If I were you, I would choose to remain silent. After all, the dead are dead, you just have to survive. Right?"

"I have always lived alone, so this no longer makes sense to me," Jorgen said. "Even if I am repeatedly labeled as 'knowing nothing but work', I accept it. I just want to live honestly."

"Since you have always lived alone," Mardias said, "then dying alone now should be no problem, right?"

Mardias drew a dagger from his waist and held it to Jorgen's throat.

It was the dagger with the letter "J" engraved on the blade, its smooth and new blade casting a shadow on Jorgen's neck.

"Just a joke, don't look at me with that frightened expression," Mardias said. "I said I respect you. Why else would I save you from Mrs. Greshana? This dagger was originally yours, now it's back to its original owner."

He placed the dagger on the table by the bed.

"I have to go to work, Jorgen. Perhaps next time we meet, I will assign you a new mission."

"What if I refuse?"

"'Wanting to live honestly', didn't you just say that a while ago? How could you forget so quickly? You won't refuse, Jorgen. Living alone, dying alone, busy between life and death, that's you."

Not long after Mardias left the ward, for some reason Jorgen felt a sense of relaxation that he hadn't felt for a long time. He felt less pain in his head.

The sun shone a clear line of light and shadow on the blanket covering Jorgen. Microdust in the air danced chaotically on both sides of the line of light and shadow.