Miss Detective’s Escape Diary [Western Fantasy]

[Sorry, please don't get invested. I can't write this. I'll remove the paywall in three months, tentatively on 2025/3/7.]

On the first day Grace gave up her career as a detective, her agency received a case.

"Please help me. My friend was murdered," said a handsome young man named Ivy, his eyes brimming with tears as he handed her a bag of gold coins.

Grace reluctantly accepted the case and solved the first magical murder in her career.

Later, Ivy brought her a second case, then a third.

Grace: "Why have so many people around you died?"

Ivy: "Maybe that's just my tragic fate."

He started crying again.

After solving the Nth case, Grace invited Ivy to dinner.

Grace: "We've known each other for a long time. There's something I have to tell you."

Ivy blushed.

Grace: "You're the murderer, aren't you?"

Ivy: "Which case?"

Grace: "Every one of them."

The next day, Grace left Ivy's life.

Two years later, the same methods appeared again. While living in another town, Grace received a case and ran into Ivy at the crime scene.

"Are you involved again?"

"You've got the wrong idea about me." The young man began to cry again. "I never hurt anyone."

He leaned toward Grace and whispered gently in her ear.

"Miss Grace, I won't hurt anyone until I've killed you perfectly."

[A very nasty and selfish lady detective × a "helpful" suspect who's squeamish at the sight of blood]

1. One-on-one romance, both devoted only to each other, a love-hate reunion after a breakup.

2. I revised the blurb, but the premise is unchanged.

[Upcoming novel: How Not to Get Wiped Out by the Hero's Party. Third-person narration]

[Heroine's point of view]

I'm the hardworking, dependable tank warrior of an adventuring party.

As our party reached the boss's door, the hero suddenly went dark.

I'd always thought there was something wrong with him. I'd warned everyone to watch out for him.

No one listened to me, the bunch of assholes. No one listened!

And now everyone's dead...

When I opened my eyes again, I'd gone back to the day I first met my teammates.

The hero smiled warmly and invited me to join the party.

Trembling, I held out my hand and took the hand that had killed me and my teammates.

I knew I had to do something.

First, I couldn't kill him. If he died, we'd be killed by the Demon King.

Second, I couldn't pursue him. He went dark because the princess rejected his advances.

In the end, I thought, all I could do was shine the light of justice into his heart.

Hey, gloomy guy, stop brooding and look at the world. It's beautiful!

[The Hero]

Every time, I watched my friends die at the hands of the Demon King.

Their deaths were horrific.

I did everything I could think of to prevent that ending.

In the end, it all failed.

I fell into despair, or maybe I went mad. In one of the loops, a terrible idea took root in my mind.

If there was no way to escape the ending where we all died, then perhaps I should be the one to give everyone a gentle death.

I killed the priest. Even at the end, his brown eyes showed no hatred toward me.

I killed the mage. She fought back with all her might, but her magic still couldn't hurt me.

Finally, I killed the warrior. I waited until her breath was gone, then leaned my lips toward her ear.

"I love you."

It was a secret I'd planned to tell you only after we won the battle.

[A gloomy, melancholy but good-hearted hero × a sunshine-loving, lazy, slacking warrior who has no choice]

Theme: Turn away from evil and punish wrongdoing