Though he had been staring at the stream the whole time, looking as though he were lost in thought.
Angel could confirm through Extrasensory Perception that his emotions were taut. Especially after he and Laplace arrived, that tension had only grown worse.
Clearly, he was far less calm inside than he appeared.
And though he seemed to be watching the water, he was actually paying an enormous amount of attention to Angel.
His emotional fluctuations made that obvious.
"Is he spacing out?" Although Angel knew the man was tense inside, he still asked according to normal logic.
Laplace shook her head faintly. "No. He's thinking about how to respond if you sneak up behind him and attack."
Angel: "...Huh?"
Why would I attack him? Angel looked utterly baffled.
Laplace said, "That's just the kind of person he is. He may look cold and ruthless on the surface, but the thoughts in his head rival a theater staging a full-fledged play."
"However, that theater in his mind only performs one show—"
"'Killing and counter-killing.'"
In his inner theater, he simulated all manner of killing scenes and methods. Naturally, he himself was the executioner holding the blade.
He also simulated every kind of counter-killing scenario in that inner theater. For instance, upon seeing Angel arrive, his inner theater would simulate Angel launching a sneak attack, while he would evade it and then counter-kill him.
Angel said, "...Is he really that bloodthirsty?"
Laplace shook her head. "No. He simply enjoys fighting."
As her words fell, they had already arrived behind the burly man. Only then did he slowly turn around, revealing an utterly ordinary face.
The only thing worth mentioning about that face was a vertical scar, slashing from below his left cheek, across his nose, and up to his right cheek.
What