Chapter 4: Search
Several hours later, night had fully set, and the red-light district was at its bustling peak of activity.
In the blind alley beside the brothel where Takahisa had murdered the young master, a group of twenty-odd rough-looking men were solemnly gathered. The young master’s corpse was still lying on the ground, but the rain was falling so heavily, the puddle of blood beneath him had washed away.
The group of men all paid no heed to the rain falling on them as they looked down at the young master’s corpse with looks of clear grief. Then, they looked at the single man they had surrounded.
The man was the receptionist of the brothel Julia worked at. He was also the man who had first discovered the young master’s corpse. It had taken him roughly half an hour to find the young master’s body, upon which he had hurriedly informed the appropriate higher-ups. That was what had led to this gathering of men, but...
The receptionist was pale and trembling as he prostrated himself on the ground. He had just finished reporting what had happened to the man in his midforties before him, who was standing with a terrifyingly angry look on his face. As soon as he finished listening to the details the receptionist gave him, the man in his midforties opened his mouth.
“So...” he began slowly. Everyone immediately shuddered as though the air had gotten colder.
“In short, you were watching the store when Sammy went outside to educate Julia. She then came back alone and ran up to the second floor, then ran back down and rushed out of the store.”
“Sammy” was the name of the young master; the man in his midforties gave the summary of the receptionist’s report himself.
“Y-Yes, Mr. Norman!” The receptionist nodded through his trembling disposition.
“You found that strange and left the brothel to question Julia, only to see her running away with an immigrant kid who wore noble-like clothes. That kid was Julia’s customer just moments prior. Is that right?”
“That is exactly right!”
“Hmm. I see. You may raise your head,” Norman said, ordering the receptionist around in a voice devoid of emotion.
“Y-Yes sir... Gah!”
The receptionist tried to raise his head gratefully, only to be met with the sight of Norman’s shoe swinging at his mouth. Blood and teeth splattered across the ground. The receptionist was knocked back from his kneeling position, falling onto his back.
“Wha?!” The receptionist held his mouth as he fell back heavily onto the wet ground. Blood rushed from his mouth.
“Are you kidding me? What do you mean you returned to your post after you saw Julia leave? You were just standing in the store like a fool while Sammy was dead?”
Norman looked down at the writhing man with bloodshot eyes.
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” the receptionist slurred, slamming his head against the ground over and over again in apology.
“You being sorry won’t bring Sammy back to life!” Norman yelled, aiming a kick at the receptionist’s shoulder.
“Gah!” The receptionist flew back once more and writhed on the ground.
“Am I wrong, huh? What will you do now? What will you do about this? Sammy was my one and only nephew, you know? And now that precious nephew of mine is dead. How will you atone for this, hmm? Let’s hear your excuse. Go on.”
Norman stepped down on the receptionist’s leg, grinding it into the ground.
“Aaah! The rain! The rain was falling! So I thought the young master was done with Julia’s punishment! I thought he went to check on the other brothels! There were customers in the store so I couldn’t leave the front counter! I’m sorry!” The receptionist was so terrified of Norman’s irrational violence, he desperately pleaded in an incomprehensible way.
“Ah, it’s such a shame...” Norman stepped down on the receptionist’s leg until the bone was fractured, then began to stomp on the fracture like he was tapping his foot impatiently.
“Aah! Aah! Aaah!” The receptionist tried to escape by crawling away, but the men around Norman didn’t allow that. Several men pinned the receptionist’s torso to the ground. However, they all avoided looking at his face as though they were pitying him.
“Phew!” Norman took a deep breath and stopped moving his foot. He then fixed his gaze on a certain man. “Hey Nick, what do you make of this?” he asked.
“Let’s see...” Nick crouched down by the young master’s corpse and studied it.
After some time, he slowly stood up and offered his opinion. “I can’t say much without any proof, but this wound was definitely made by a sword. The tip was plunged in from the front without any resistance. It would’ve been a single strike. Normally, that brothel worker named Julia and the brat she disappeared with would be the most suspicious. The fact they’ve gone missing implies they have something to be guilty of.”
“So you think the same...”
“However...”
“What is it?”
“That immigrant brat who was dressed in high-quality noble clothes... He visited the brothel completely unarmed, right? That’s what bothers me.”
“Huh? Are you saying there’s another suspect?”
“Perhaps so... I mean, it’s possible the receptionist could be lying,” Nick said, looking down at the man crawling on the ground.
“Eek! I-I’m not! I’m not lying! Neither of them were holding a sword when they were running away either!”
The man who had been enduring his pain through his groans realized they were suspecting him and desperately began to yell.
“Hey! You better be telling the truth, got it?! You’ll regret it if you lie!” Norman said threateningly, landing another kick to go with his question. But what more was there to regret after being beaten up this much?
“Wha?! I-It’s true, it’s the truth! The young master himself checked that the brat was unarmed and alone with no guards!”
The receptionist was completely curled up in pain and fear. He definitely didn’t look like he was lying. It would take someone with serious guts to lie in a situation like this.
“Calm down, Mr. Norman. This guy is our only witness, so go easy on him. Besides, he might not be lying; maybe the brat was actually armed without appearing so,” Nick said, casually placing his hand on Norman’s shoulder. Although Norman had a higher status than him, Nick showed no fear before his fury.
For some reason, Nick possessed a sharp air to him. Like the ruffians around him, he was well-versed in fights, but he had the intimidating aura of a warrior that had made a living from war, not violence. He wore a simple, bland-colored coat with a sharp sword at his waist, and looked more like a mercenary or adventurer than a thug.
“Hah? What do you mean?” Norman also paid proper attention to Nick’s words.
“If that brat is truly a noble, he might have access to some preposterous artifacts. Like an invisible sword or something.”
“So that brat is suspicious after all.”
“Indeed so,” Nick agreed.
I’ve heard of the heroes, who possess Divine Arms they can summon at will too. An immigrant brat in noble clothing with an invisible sword... Could it be?
He narrowed his eyes at the young master’s corpse while pondering the mystery of the murder weapon.
“At any rate, we’ll find that immigrant kid and kill him no matter what. I’ll do it with my own hands... You all better not think you’ll be getting any sleep tonight. Find the two who disappeared,” Norman ordered the thugs around him, shaking with anger and frustration himself.
“Yes sir!”
The thugs shrank back and mustered their voices to yell their reply. The men gathered in the blind alley were members of an illegal organization based in the red-light district and slums of the Galarc Kingdom capital. That organization had just decided to put all their efforts into locating Takahisa.
“Nick.”
“Yes?”
“I’d like you to find out more about the brat’s background. If the brat comes from an immigrant family, there shouldn’t be too many candidates.”
“I’m a mercenary. I wasn’t born in this land either. Shouldn’t there be more suitable people for the job?” Nick asked with a shrug.
“You can use the younger ones in our group however you want. There’s no one better for the job,” Norman said, entrusting the job to him.
“Fine. Give me one night. I’ll sneak into the noble district and see if anything’s changed. Any accomplices will just get in my way, so I’ll go alone.”
“I’m counting on you. I’ll get the others to search everywhere else.”
“Got it. I’ll be off, then.”
As soon as he said that, Nick walked off.
I thought a mission like intelligence gathering in the capital would be boring, but if that kid is really a hero, things are about to get fun. But with how big this matter is, I better report it to Mr. Reiss quickly.
With his back to the organization members, Nick smiled and disappeared into the night.
◇ ◇ ◇
On the west side of the royal capital, over a kilometer away from the red-light district in the south and around the time Norman and his men noticed the young master’s death, a young couple ran through the pouring rain and into an inn. The two wore hooded cloaks and were completely drenched.
“Welcome.” The man at the counter of the inn greeted them in an unmotivated voice.
“A room for two, please,” one of the customers said simply. Her face was covered by her hood and pointed downwards, but her voice was clearly feminine.
“That’ll be four large bronze for two. Meals are five small bronze per person.”
“No meals for now,” the girl said, placing four large bronze coins on the counter.
“Use the room up the stairs and at the end of the left corridor.” The man held out their room key and glanced over at the other customer.
The other customer stood in unmoving silence with his face pointed down. His hood was hiding his face as well, but he had the stature of a man. The glimpse of his nose and mouth through the gaps revealed that he was a young man, and that the color of his skin was as pale as a ghost...
“Let’s go.”
The girl took the key and started walking. The boy said nothing as he dragged his legs like a puppet. The girl led the way up the stairs, reminding him to watch his feet, but he remained silent.
What creepy guests, the man at the counter thought, immediately looking away in disinterest.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Come inside.”
The girl took the boy’s hand and dragged him into the room on the second floor. She then stuck her head out the door and checked no one had followed them into the inn before finally closing the door.
“I think we’ll be okay for tonight,” she said, removing her hood. The face that was revealed was Julia’s. She sighed in relief and removed her cloak.
“Take off your cloak too, Takahisa,” she said, helping him remove his cloak. Takahisa allowed her to move him about without any resistance. The cloak was waterproof, so he hadn’t lost any body temperature, yet he was trembling from head to toe. When his hands that had been hidden by the cloak were freed from the fabric—
“Huh?!” Fear suddenly filled Takahisa’s face. It clearly had something to do with how he had killed the young master a mere hour ago.
Thump. The dull impact of the young master’s chest being pierced still weighed heavily on Takahisa’s arms.
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay, Takahisa. Let’s sit down.”
Julia hugged Takahisa tightly. She patted his back like she was soothing a child and sat down on the bed beside him.
“I... I...” Takahisa hung his head, guilt smeared across his face. His gaze was still fixed on his trembling hands. “What should I do? I...”
He killed a man. He was a murderer. The words looped in his head.
“You saved me. That’s why you’re not a bad person, Takahisa. They shouldn’t be able to find us here for a while.”
Julia softly wrapped her arms around him from the side. Incidentally, the two were only able to hide themselves in the inn like this thanks to her. Right before fleeing the scene of the crime, Julia had risked everything by returning to the brothel and retrieving the money they needed to flee from her room.
Thanks to that, they were able to buy cheap coats from a street stall and hide Takahisa’s conspicuous appearance before running into an inn. They’d been able to run around in the rain with these coats before arriving at this inn, so there was no way anyone could locate them here unless they had been following them the entire time.
Takahisa continued trembling despite Julia’s embrace. Although he had been spurred on by Rio being his rival in love, he had always felt a strong aversion to killing people in this world where lives could easily be taken. There was no way he could break out of the shock of his first murder so easily.
“Mmmph?!”
The next moment, life returned to Takahisa’s eyes. Or rather, his eyes were opened wide in surprise. Why?
“Mmgh...!”
Because Julia had suddenly covered his mouth with her own in a kiss. Takahisa tried to pull away from her in a fluster, but—
“Mmm...” Julia forcefully grabbed his face and continued to demand his lips. They continued like that for over ten seconds, both of them forgetting to breathe.
“B-Buh! Wh-What...? What are you doing?!” Having finally been released, he hurriedly pulled his face from Julia and pressed his hand to his lips, blushing as he questioned the reason for the kiss.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s really cowardly of me to do this in a situation like this, but...” Julia moved Takahisa’s hand from his lips. She then drew her face close to his again.
“Eh?! Wha?! Huh?!” Takahisa squeaked, voice cracking from shock. The fact he had killed someone was completely blown from his mind, leaving no trace of his earlier pain.
“I’m going to make this clear upfront,” Julia said as preface, making eye contact with him from close up. “I’m in love with you, Takahisa.”
She pushed him down onto the bed and passionately kissed him once again.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, in the Holy City Tonerico, Holy Kingdom of Almada...
It was night, around the same time Takahisa and Julia were running into the inn. Pope Fenris Tonerico was shut in his office, sorting through the paperwork that had accumulated during his absence. There was no one in the room besides the pope, until—
“Hey, big brother. I’ve come to give my report.”
A young girl came inside through the open balcony door, breaking the tranquil silence. Her white outfit resembled the clothing affiliated with the temple, but the pope’s office balcony was located twenty meters above the ground. A sudden entry like this was quite the concern—how did she even get there?
“You’re late,” Fenris said with a sigh, pausing his writing.
“I went around the capital after talking to Rio. It was quite fun seeing the world on the surface after such a long time,” the small girl—Eru—replied, without any hesitation. She had called out to Rio and Sora in the city and spoken to them at the restaurant today. It seemed she had been exploring the capital ever since.
“I see your tendency to come and go as you please hasn’t changed. Good grief...”
“Not as much as you.” Fenris shot her an exasperated look, but Eru merely giggled.
“So how did meeting him go?”
“It was a success. First, he isn’t the Dragon King we know—he didn’t show any reaction to my face. So he’s either lost his memory, or he’s someone else with the Dragon King’s power,” she said.
“So it’s as we thought...”
“On top of that, he didn’t come here on Lina’s orders. I believe there’s very little chance of his receiving Lina’s orders at this point in time.”
“What makes you believe that?”
“He didn’t seem to know why he came to this land himself. He suspects that something happened here, but he doesn’t know what. It was more like he had come here to find proof because he didn’t know anything.”
“I see...”
Fenris stared into empty space and hummed.
“If he’s wary of this land creating a problem, we should be fine to just let him be for now. Although I’d personally like to interact with him more.”
“Please refrain from making unnecessary contact.”
“I know. I’m just saying to keep leaving it to me if you wish to pry into his movements from here. Didn’t you have things you wanted to get done elsewhere while he was here? That’s why you came back for the golem, right?”
“I still intended on staying here for a little longer...”
Rio had left the Galarc Kingdom, scattering the combat power of his side. It was the best chance to take out all of his forces individually, but Fenris was hesitant. And the reason for that was...
“Are you still worried about that girl?”
“Yes. Even without any orders, Lina must have foreseen him coming to this land.”
Fenris suspected Rio had made preparations for this situation where he was away from the Galarc Kingdom with his forces scattered.
“Perhaps that’s what she’s aiming for. Hinting at her presence to control her opponent’s movements is one of that woman’s devious tricks. How many times have we regretted sitting back and watching carefully?”
“Right...” Fenris sighed heavily, as though to express how much he hated fighting the Wise God Lina.
“Besides, there’s a limit to that woman’s precognition. There’s nothing she can do about helpless situations even if she predicts them. That’s why I think we should take the offensive and move how we want. Especially for plans that normally would have a high chance of succeeding.”
“You’re being very encouraging today.”
“Because it sounds more interesting this way, no?” Eru said, her smile full of curiosity.
“Good grief...”
“Besides, you’re about to mobilize the golem you’ve kept stored away so carefully for the past thousand years. I doubt anyone besides the transcendent ones and their disciples could stop that thing. If they could, it would be proof there are other transcendent ones or disciples besides the Dragon King out there. That’s why it isn’t a bad idea all round. You could even go all out and mobilize multiple at once.”
“You have a point. If we’re going to be stepping on the dragon’s tail anyway...” Fenris hummed as though he had made up his mind.
Just then, a knock came from the door of the pope’s office. Eru immediately retreated to the balcony with a shrug, not wanting the trouble of explaining her presence.
“You may enter,” Fenris said.
The door opened and his secretary Anna Mendoza entered the room.
“My apologies for the late visit, Your Holiness. Someone has asked for an urgent audience with you. We would normally have turned them away at this ridiculous hour, but he was in possession of an article with your personal emblem on it...” the priest said with a shameful look.
“Oh? Who is it?”
Only a select few people were in possession of Fenris’s emblem. At the same time, there were only a small number of people aware that he had returned to the holy capital.
“A mercenary named Nick.”
Was it a coincidence? The name Anna uttered was the same as that of the mercenary hired by Norman in the capital of the Galarc Kingdom, currently investigating the death of the young master.
“Is that so...? Tell him I would love to speak to him. Escort him to this room instead of the public audience hall. There will be no need for guards.”
“Right away.” Anna bowed respectfully and left to fetch Nick.
Nick should be undercover in the Galarc Kingdom capital right now. A report with this timing is intriguing. What will he have to say...?
Fenris smiled in delight as he leaned back in his seat.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, at the mansion in the Galarc Kingdom, the same night Takahisa killed the young master...
“...”
Unable to sleep, Ayase Miharu repeatedly sighed into the darkness. Naturally, the source of her woes was Takahisa’s disappearance.
“I don’t like you, Takahisa. I hate you. I won’t be with you. I don’t want to be near you. Don’t show your face in front of me ever again.”
The words she had said at the height of her emotions looped in her head.
Was it because I said that to him? Because I slapped him...?
Miharu looked down at the palm of the hand she had used to slap him and pursed her lips bitterly.
“You’re in love with me, aren’t you, Lily? Aren’t you saying such horrible things for the sake of your kingdom, because you don’t want me to be with Miharu?”
The moment she saw Takahisa verbally attacking Lilianna, she had been unable to hold back the anger overflowing from her heart.
After all, Miharu had already informed Takahisa that she couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. So why had he been insulting Lilianna as though Miharu had responded to him? Why had he been speaking so badly of Lilianna? That was what Miharu couldn’t understand. She couldn’t forgive him for hurting Lilianna like that, and she couldn’t forgive herself for not rejecting him more clearly before. Before she knew it, her body was moving of her own accord and slapping him.
It was the first time she had felt that much anger towards someone. She didn’t know what else she could have done at that moment, and she’d believed what she did was right at the time. But now that Takahisa had disappeared...
What should I have done instead?
Was it her fault she had rejected him? Should she have accepted his feelings? Would things have gone better if she had responded to his feelings? Just what would the right thing to do have been? Those were the questions Miharu pondered to herself.
And that wasn’t the only thing on her mind.
That dream...
Miharu recalled the words in the dream she’d had just the other day.
“You will have to make a decision at some point.
“An extremely vital decision.
“I highly recommend you choose the wrong choice.”
In her dream, an unfamiliar woman’s voice had spoken to her. It was strange—it had definitely occurred in her dream, yet the memory was oddly vivid in her mind.
Was the wrong choice to forgive Takahisa?
Miharu seriously considered the advice she’d received in her dream. Did the woman in her dream know what would happen in the future? Was that why she’d given her that advice? If so, did she know where Takahisa was right now? If she could tell what would happen in the future, it wouldn’t be strange for her to know where he was.
There was no end to Miharu’s questions.
If I can see that dream one more time...
Would she be able to learn anything?
Although she didn’t feel sleepy in the slightest, Miharu went to lie down on the bed.
◇ ◇ ◇
Before she knew it, Miharu was standing in a white world.
“Wha...?!”
It was the same dream... There was no mistaking it. Miharu glanced around with a gasp.
“You’re late,” a woman’s voice said from seemingly nowhere.
“Ah!” Although she couldn’t see her, Miharu recognized the voice as the same one that’d spoken to her last time.
“It’s your first time sleeping in two days, so you were knocked out as soon as you went to lie down,” the owner of the voice said to Miharu.
“Huh?” Unable to understand what the voice was telling her so suddenly, Miharu tilted her head blankly.
“You didn’t sleep a wink after slapping him yesterday, remember? That’s why you were sleep-deprived today.”
“Oh, right...” Miharu nodded, taken aback by how the words meant she had been watched the entire time. But she soon snapped back to her senses. “Umm, do you know where Takahisa is right now?!” she asked the voice.
“Cutting right to the chase, I see. Well, I guess you could say I do.”
“Please tell me!”
“I can’t.” The owner of the voice rejected Miharu’s request curtly.
“Wh-Why not...?”
“I’m not trying to be mean. The future that I know of isn’t something I can share with others to begin with. Doing so would break taboos and levy a penalty upon me, so it’s too risky. Well, there are some things I’m willing to risk the penalty for—but not this one,” the voice said, explaining the reason she couldn’t tell Miharu the future.
Miharu’s expression indicated how much she wanted to know the answer anyway, but she didn’t say anything out loud. She held her silence in frustration.
“More importantly, you seem to be confident that I know the future. You don’t think this is a regular dream, do you?” the voice continued, breaking the silence.
“I do, but...”
But what? Miharu herself didn’t know what she wanted to say and struggled for words.
“It’s because you’re grasping at straws, isn’t it? Do you really want to know his location so badly?”
“I do.” Miharu nodded immediately.
“Didn’t you say you’d never forgive him? You never wanted to see his face again, right? Why do you care where he is?” the voice asked sadistically.
“That’s...” Miharu was at a loss for words.
“Is it because you didn’t think this would happen? Impulsive actions come hand in hand with regret, you know?” the voice pointed out as though she could read Miharu’s mind.
“Yes...” Miharu nodded glumly.
“You’re not the brightest, but at least you’re honest.” The voice sighed in disappointment. “The reason I can’t tell you his location is because it’s too late already. The future has already branched,” she explained.
“The future has branched? And what do you mean by ‘too late’...?”
“Yes. The slightest decision has the potential to create infinite branches into the future. When you rejected him yesterday, the future branched into the most troublesome route.”
“So when you said to choose the wrong choice...”
“Yes, you had to forgive him there.”
“Wasn’t that a little hard to realize...?” The warning hadn’t even come to mind back at that moment.
“Like I said earlier, the future that I know of isn’t something that can be shared. In order to avoid the penalty, all I could do was give you a hint.”
“Then you can give me a hint about where Takahisa is right now too,” Miharu suggested hopefully.
“I will not.”
The voice specifically answered with “will not” instead of “cannot,” curtly and bluntly. Pressured by the force of that response, Miharu swallowed back her next words.
“There’s no need to make that face. I also said this earlier—the future has already branched. I don’t need you taking unnecessary actions to make it branch even further in a worse direction. After all, I no longer have the power to see the future.”
“So what will happen to Takahisa from here?”
“Umm, hello? Were you listening to me at all?” the voice said, exasperated.
“Huh...?”
“I cannot tell you the future so easily.”
“Oh... R-Right. I’m sorry.” Miharu lowered her head in a fluster.
“Honestly, why does this woman have to be so stupid...” There was a clear tone of irritation in the voice’s sigh. Miharu held her tongue awkwardly.
“Well, whatever. I’ll just have to work harder to make up for how hopeless you are.”
“Huh...?”
“Unfortunately, time’s up. From now on, I’ll be choosing the memories you get to keep. I don’t want you making unnecessary decisions based on the information you gain from your dreams.”
“You can’t—” Miharu tried to say something in a hurry.
“Besides, there’s nothing I need to rely on you for in the near future anyway. If anything, this branch in the future means an event beyond your capabilities will occur.”
“What...?” Miharu started speaking, but quickly stopped herself from asking what kind of event it would be midsentence.
“At least you’ve learned a little. Keep showing me your intelligent side and I’ll rely on you again someday. Do your best.”
“R-Right.”
“Oh, and one more thing...” The voice paused as though she had just remembered something.
“I need to borrow your body for a bit,” she said out of the blue.
“What...?”
“There’ll be a big reward for you at the end, so look forward to it,” the voice said while Miharu was still dumbfounded, and Miharu’s consciousness cut off there.
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