F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!

Chapter 334: An Apple

"Where the hell have you been?" I murmur, looking at Evelyn. I’m up on the college rooftop, it’s already pretty late, and I’m kind of embarrassed about what happened yesterday in the bathroom.

"It’s not that easy to kill people who can’t see ghosts. It seems those people suffer fewer physical interactions from the ’ghosts,’ so I was meticulous not to draw attention," she tells me with a dismissive wave.

"...Cut in half by a steel cable that snapped from the tension, but not before having her face mutilated by wire strands..." I recite to Evelyn the exact description going around campus of the "accidental" death of one of the girls who used to bully me.

"Yes, I could have killed her physically, used my hands, or my powers, but that would make it kind of obvious someone was guilty, wouldn’t it? I told you I’d kill her without leaving a clear culprit. An accident is more practical," Evelyn says in a cold tone.

"She... she really died?"

"Obviously. What human could survive being split in two? Besides, it took a while, since I made a point of destroying her pretty little face first so she’d suffer a bit, and only then did I kill her."

"..."

"Did... did you have to be so cruel?" I ask, kind of uncomfortable.

"No, I didn’t have to be. But did you want me to be less cruel?" She turns the question back on me.

"...I-I don’t know." I don’t know what to feel. A person died because of me. I made that deal, and seeing someone die over it doesn’t give me the joy I thought it would. She deserved to pay the price for what she did, but something about this brutal death is... uncomfortable.

"So, Shizuka? What do you feel?" Evelyn asks, leaning against the rooftop’s guardrail.

"..."

"Answer me. Was the deal worth it? Or do you think killing that person is too heavy a burden for you?"

"...I-I... I’m not sure. I think... I think she deserved it... but... m-maybe you went too far. You could have just killed her. I-I heard she spent ten minutes in agony before being split in two by a cable..."

"Shizuka, you spent years being attacked. Are ten minutes of suffering really such a big deal?"

"...N-No, but... I don’t know... it feels different?"

"..." Evelyn looks down before looking back at me.

"That one over there is another one of your bullies, isn’t she?" She asks, pointing at a girl messing with a cellphone, seems like she’s on a call.

"Yeah..."

"So let’s test it now? I’ll kill her right now. I’ll give her a quick death. In exchange, how about you masturbate by rubbing yourself against the rooftop’s guardrail?"

"W-W-What? A-Are you serious?" Why is she like this? Evelyn is simply terrible!! No wonder she’s the devil.

"It’s just supply and demand, like I mentioned before."

"..."

"Too heavy for you to watch someone die? You know, I need someone who can kill for me. If this is too heavy for you, then I’ll leave."

"W-Wait... a-are you serious about leaving?" Something about her leaving feels really bad. Even if she’s the devil, even if she’s corrupting me into someone evil, she’s still one of the few doors to a possibly better life.

"Yes, I am. I have limited time. I can’t waste it on someone who’s no use to me."

"...D-Do you realize how disgusting it is to ask me to masturbate while killing someone right in front of me?" Even if I’m far away, even if we’re hundreds of meters apart, I can see her from here.

"I know. It’s terrible, isn’t it? It’s a truly disgusting cruelty, but it’s equivalent payment. You decide. I’m just laying out the rules and rewards. You’re the one who’s going to start this game..." She says, looking at the girl down below.

"...I-I don’t want to... I-I don’t think... it’s right."

"I see. So that girl who drenched you in dirty water in front of everyone in the cafeteria, who threw insects in your food over and over, and who deliberately knocked you down in the classroom so everyone would laugh, making jokes about why you’re so skinny — she doesn’t deserve to die?"

"The same one who always mocked you for getting beaten by your parents while flaunting the power her family had, who made you eat scraps from the trash, and who once forced you to swallow five pins that could have killed you... Yes, she definitely deserves to live. It’s not like she hasn’t bullied others and used money to make problems disappear."

"H-How do you know all that?!"

"Me? I don’t know anything, Shizuka. I just read your diary. You’re the one who knows too much. And do you know what happens to people who know too much?"

"..."

"Hahaha, I’m kidding. I doubt that girl would ever go so far as to kill you... but who knows, right? Maybe she’ll try. After all, a lot of people who suffer extreme bullying end up with really shitty lives. But hey, be glad you’re not the only target."

"That girl is just a bitch who thinks money and perfect grades protect her from everything. By the way, I heard she’s going to graduate with honors. Makes sense, her grades are excellent, way above average, and definitely way above your mediocre grades."

"Oh, and did you know she got a new car? She hasn’t shown it off yet, but she’s wanting to do a little reveal. She’s just waiting for someone to rub her success in their face. And it’s a really expensive car, like, the price of it would pay for a house and financial freedom for about three years if it were money you had."

"...Kill her."

"...What did you say? Sorry, I didn’t quite hear that?" Evelyn plays dumb.

"Kill her, devil!! KILL HER!!" I speak while crying, biting my lips until they bleed. I hate people like her so much, people who have everything good while I have a shitty life. And the worst part is that people like that bully others.

Our lives are already hard enough. We don’t need successful people putting us down even more and trying to crush us.

"So we have a deal?"

"YES!! JUST KILL THAT WHORE!!" I scream at her for dragging this out.

"But Shizuka, if I kill that woman, it means you’re worse than her. In my world, as my puppet, you’ll have wealth, power, influence. Many will be beneath you. Don’t you want to be better than your tormentors?"

"I DON’T CARE!! J-Just... just don’t let them get away unpunished..." I fall to my knees, crying at the feet of the devil. If what Evelyn said is true and my parents really want to sell me, then my life is only going to get worse. Meanwhile, she has a bright future. Is that fair?

"...I know what you’re thinking. And no, life isn’t fair. There are billions of people, and only a small portion have good lives. Many have lives worse than yours. That’s just it, Shizuka. It doesn’t give you the right to kill people. So what you’re doing right now is ugly. It’s wrong. It’s... monstrous."

"So I’ll give you the chance to kill her with your own hands..." Evelyn gives me a look that almost seems like pity, but it’s not, is it? Can the devil really feel pity for someone?

"This thread. Pull this thread and a thin line will tighten around her neck. When you finish pulling, her head will be decapitated and fall to the ground. It won’t be a quick death or a slow one. It will be a death that happens on your terms," she says, handing me a thread, shifting her proposal a little.

"...I-I..." I look at her. It’s no longer about killing her slowly or quickly. It’s about me choosing. I no longer have room to question or criticize the speed at which Evelyn kills someone.

"..." Still, even if it’s not fair, Evelyn is right. Killing her is an equally bad choice. So I pull the cord, but I pull it all at once.

"...So you’re someone merciful... I like that. I don’t like killing either, Shizuka, but killing is sometimes a necessity for beings like us. I am a queen. I need to take lives so that other lives may live. And you are a weapon. You need to take lives so your master can get what they want," she says as I look through the bars of the railing, seeing the girl down below dead. The sight makes me feel kind of nauseous.

"...H-Hic..." I collapse on the ground, crying over the horrible thing I had to do, but that was my choice. I could have just refused.

"You don’t need to masturbate. I changed the terms of the deal, so consider this a fulfilled contract. And I hope you remember this moment."

"To kill or not is a choice, but torturing goes beyond a mere choice. It’s a direct part of character, and I would not accept a weapon that tortures others for fun."

"Here..." I look up when Evelyn extends her hand to me, handing me a completely golden apple. It almost looks like it’s made of gold, so shiny and beautiful.

"This is a fruit I like. If to you I am the devil, then you are like Eve from the biblical story, since you sinned for me. The apple seems like great symbolism, doesn’t it? I adore symbolic things. After all, I’m someone quite theatrical."

"I’m truly sorry about your situation. You deserved better in this world. But since you didn’t get it, I ask that you think genuinely and truly about the better life I can give you in a world where you’ll be able to help many people avoid becoming another you."

"After all, the world isn’t fair, but those with power are the ones who define what justice is. I, your future master, have decided that my path is justice. My path — which, when it reaches its end and the war I face is over, I will live in peace caring for a people who will be able to see a brighter tomorrow." Her smile makes my heart race as I take the apple.

"I’ll see you tomorrow, Shizuka." She just gives a wave of her hand, leaping from up here all the way down, while I bite into this fruit. The taste is good, but it’s kind of strange. Maybe this is the taste of sin?