Vol 6 Chapter 2 (2/2)
Mr Murdoch’s shock was unsurprising Our inforh ere not to mention our source
“We were told by an investigator by the name of Hartnett,” Seron replied nonchalantly He probably saw no point in hiding the truth at this point
“I see…” Mr Murdoch sighed It see with Hartnett
“If you’d told the police that you’d made an honest mistake, Mr Murdoch, then you would have been spared the brunt of the legal trouble,” Seron continued, “fros turned out fine for you in the end, but I don’t understand why you continued to claim the man was your brother”
Seron had a point
The claim that the man was not really Burt Murdoch was a lie fabricated by the Sou Be-Il embassy for his protection, but it was theoretically a convenient one for Mr Murdoch as well
“Maxwell…” Mr Murdoch said, “do you have any siblings?”
“Yes A younger sister”
Leena Seron’s sister, four years his junior
“Then answer me this,” Mr Murdoch continued, “when does your sister stop being your sister?”
Seron could not respond
I knehat the ansas If one had to say, she would stop being his sister only in death
The others must have understood as well
“He is my brother,” said Mr Murdoch, “he will always be my brother My family”
Seron, myself, and the rest of the club listened quietly
“Even if I were arrested, I would never have claier”
“I see”
We quietly waited, leaving Seron to continue
Larry see to say, but he remained silent as well It was very sweet how much he trusted Seron, and I had to say that attitude of his s
“Wasn’t there any other way? A here you wouldn’t have had to hide your brother?”
“No,” Mr Murdoch uttered
“What about paying back the pension?” Seron asked Larry winced That was probably the question he had wanted to ask, which Seron picked up on and asked instead
“Twenty years’ worth? I couldn’t afford that —I admit if I’d sold my house, land, and assets, I could have afforded it,” Mr Murdoch confessed with surprising courage, “but that would leave e”
I had to give hi answer It was certainly wise to plan ahead for old age Insurance didn’t cover all of one’s medical bills
Generally speaking, a Roxchean’s largest household expense tended to be housing, which should not go beyond 30 percent of one’s income In other words, if one didn’t have to worry about rent or es, one could live comfortably off their pension
I could see why Mr Murdoch was reluctant to let go of such a valuable asset as his own ho happily together without the things afforded by the pension
I could not coree with Mr Murdoch’s decision, but I understood where he was co from I couldn’t speak for the others, of course
Seron asked another question
“About how you ordered your brother to kill us in the basement—”
That was indeed a cruel order, co the brother he had imprisoned to kill his students To be fair, the brother also had reason to take our lives
Next to Seron, Meged of us all that day, being a Westerner herself
I supposed that Seron would ask why Mr Murdoch gave that order But he surprised me
“What did you think would happen when you gave that command?”
It would be no difficult task to hold Mr Murdoch responsible for his command But whatever his actions, wethe attempted murderer before us why he made the attempt
“Who knows”
That was his answer
In other words, he had given the co ould happen—not even to himself
Everyone deflated Nat uely sy That was a habit of his
Jenny alone stood proud and unchanged
“So you weren’t thinking,” Seron said h his only intention was confirmation
Mr Murdoch’s reply was just as plain “That’s what happens when you panic Especially in places like battlefields”
Larry’s expression changed, as a fellow military man His pout shi+fted into a serious look
Seron seemed to be satisfied with the answer “That’s all I wanted to ask Anyone else have any questions?”
Seron’s previous question seemed to have rendered everyoneIn fact, everyone—myself included—shook their heads
I did not fully understand Seron’s intentions, but it sees were now completely cleared between Mr Murdoch and us
The incident had never happened We had no energy and no reason to say anything to Mr Murdoch anymore
Jenny grinned It see as the club was allowed to exist
“Thanks a lot, Mr Murdoch We’re counting on you Would you like so up at Mr Murdoch I almost wanted to kno exactly she would celebrate his new position, but Mr Murdoch’s reply dashed my hopes
“I’ve had h poison for one lifetime”
Not a bad retort, I had to ad
Mr Murdoch turned “I have no intention of drinking poisoned tea in this office If you need anything, you will come to me at the faculty office I suppose I could take care of whatever paperwork you need done from me,” he hissed, and left
The door slammed shut and left several seconds of silence in its wake
“UGH! What the hell?! Where’s he get the nerve to look his nose down at us like that?!”
As expected, Nat was the first to speak She whipped her fingers against the strings of her guitar, strurily
“It is so stunning that I cannot speak!”
Megh I couldn’t tell what it was that angered her most
Indeed, at face value Mr Murdoch’s parting reant one But Jenny and Seron had seen the truth behind them, it seemed Seron was as calm as ever and Jenny sauntered to the sofa to take a seat
As for Larry, he noticed the distinct lack of anger in Seron’s eyes and held himself back I was impressed
So I took it uponquestion It wasn’t such a bad role to take
“I notice that you are looking quite untroubled by this, Seron Jenny,” I said, though I already knehy
“Hm?” Seron seemed to be surprised, but he quickly understood the intent behind my question “Yeah Noe have free rein on club activities I’s out clearly
“What’s thatabout?” Nat, Megmica, and Larry asked one after another It see such a cool head
“Mr Murdoch said that we had to go see hi,” he replied
“Yeah The stuck-up pig,” Natalia spat
“He is a reed Larry, however, waited for Seron to continue
“In other words, he’s saying he won’t come to the office”
Indeed Perhaps Mr Murdoch was giving us space out of a sense of guilt towards us
“What’s that supposed to mean? Explain it so a dunce like Larry can understand,” Nat urged, neveran opportunity to make a jab at Larry, but Larry was not affected by many of them
“Fro that he’ll be our supervisor, but only on paper He’s not co to our office because he wants to let us do whatever ant”
“Huh” “Oh et it”
Nat, Megmica, and Larry finally understood Everyone was on the sae
Jenny finally spoke up, as though asserting her position of leadershi+p
“Now the newspaper club is an officially recognized club at the 4th Capital Secondary School This is cause for celebration!”
No one disagreed
“My favorite part about being in the newspaper club? The fact that things aren’t as dull as they used to be”
When I said so at the newspaper club’s first official tea party, Natalia replied between sips of tea, “makes sense It’s just one surprise after another around here”
“This kind of thing and a normal student life is much different! It is difficult that I cannot report mica chimed in, troubled
To note, Lillia was Megs-on to her An ordinary secondary school girl mica to quit the club if she heard about our exploits
“It’s definitely spicing things up a lot,” Larry nodded with a chuckle
Seron simply sipped his tea in silence
“Too bad I can’t write an article about this,” Jenny sighed in a demonstration of her dedication to the club
Nohat more could be in store for us?
I aiddy with anticipation