"Hey, sorry for the wait! We can go now." Henry apologized to Judai with an awkward smile.

Judai gave Henry a deadpan look. "It's fine, as long as this is the last stop before we start our mission. Or at least, that's what you said...correct?" Judai asked, making Henry understand how mentally exhausted he was from all the meaningless meandering his superior had subjected him to all day.

"Yes, yes, I did say that. No need to remind me." Henry waved him off before he passed Judai. The latter sighed before following the cowboy by his side.

"Would you mind if I ask something?" Judai asked, completely tired of Henry's antics.

Henry shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not." Henry started to whistle a familiar tune that Judai had heard once in his past life, which made him feel nostalgic for the first time since he went back in time.

Back then, it had been one of the few times when Judai became calmer. Not enough to forget what Yoshino had done to him, but enough that he started to panic less. Judai soon realized that he never got to thank that version of Henry for what he had done for him. Another thing to add to my ever-growing pile of regrets...

"Why are you doing this?" Judai asked with an unreadable expression.

Henry stopped whistling and blinked a few times before answering. "Doing what? I am just whistling...do you want me to teach you?" Henry offered.

Judai rolled his eyes at the cowboy. He wouldn't mind learning to do it at another time, but only when they weren't under orders. "No, seriously, you've been going around the city all day, wasting time with human activities without doing anything to accomplish our mission. We haven't even started looking for the one who ambushed me. Do you even have a plan in mind to find them?" He asked that last part with a bit of frustration in his tone.

Henry grew a confident smirk at the question. "Yes, in fact, I have the (second) most important part of my plan right..." He trailed off as he moved his index finger in circles before landing on Judai. "Here!"

"Huh? Me?" Judai leaned his head at the old western gunslinger with both confusion and bafflement. In Judai's past life, Henry didn't need his help to locate Yoshino. When Judai thought about it, he realized that he never knew how long it took for the cowboy to locate her. He was too occupied with his own misery to notice as time around him became a blur.

Henry lowered his hand. "Yep, your sub-species, konchu-shonen, has the unique magic to control insects in a large area and see through them, correct?"

Judai's eyes widened in surprise. "H-how do you know that?"

Henry just shrugged. "I worked with one of your sub-species before. Both of you are actually not that different personality-wise. Dare I say it, you probably would get along with her."

Feeling slightly interested by both what Henry had said and the prospect of learning what could be useful information, Judai decided to ask more. "How's she right now?"

Henry didn't answer the question immediately. When Judai turned slightly to see what was wrong, he saw, for the first time in both his past and current lives, a completely unreadable face. If Judai hadn't met Life already, he surely would be sweating buckets. After what felt like an eternity, Henry finally opened his mouth. "Dead, or at least...the closest thing to death that we can get."

"I-I see..." Judai said, not really sure how to follow through with that.

As he picked up on the nervous tone in Judai's voice, Henry hurriedly tried to salvage the mood. "H-hey, come on...she only died because they were caught lacking. As long as you stay level-headed and pick your battles wisely, you're gonna live way more than she did...hopefully, at least." Henry said that last part as he tried to force a smile on his face. The air around the duo became awkward.

Wanting to get back on track, Judai asked, "A-anyway...about your plan?"

Henry fake coughed before continuing. "Yes, yes, the plan. See, you will search through the entire city with your insects, looking for any leftover traces of magic until the target is found. Any questions?" Henry asked, his attitude returning to what it was before.

Judai immediately raised his hand. "Yes, what if the culprit has already left the city? What then? And even if they do, how am I gonna know if I found them?" Despite his mental exhaustion, Judai felt certain that asking these questions was crucial—though he suspected Henry already had answers or, at the very least, would try to provide some useful information.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it, trust me. And about you knowing if you found them, well...if your fight-or-flight instincts suddenly kick in during your search, then we have found our target." When Judai was about to interject, Henry interrupted him. "And before you say anything, it's okay. It happens with the best of us; there's no shame in that."

Judai scowled at him for a few seconds. Nothing Henry had said was wrong, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. "Whatever. Where to next?"

"Well...I was planning for us to go to the city's park. If we go there, we will be more or less at the center of the city, allowing you enough range to search through it without needing to go to more than one place. Any objections?" Henry tilted his head.

Judai considered the location for a moment before he slowly nodded. "Hmm...no, I suppose that's a solid decision...if your assumption about the target still being in the city proves correct, of course."

Satisfied enough with Judai's answer, Henry nodded and focused on the path ahead. After they walked for a few minutes, they both found themselves in front of the park's entrance.

As they walked inside, Judai couldn't help but notice the glances from the few people who were still at the park, or more specifically, at Henry. It didn't take long for Judai to realize why that was the case.

"Do you need to wear these clothes everywhere we go? Aren't we calling too much attention?" Judai whispered to Henry's ear as he looked around them.

Henry chuckled. "Actually, no, I don't need to." He raised an eyebrow at Judai. "Have you, perhaps, already forgotten that time when I took off my clothes during the hot springs? And about everyone's attention...let them be. They will move on after a while. Humans are quick to accept weird stuff. As long as we don't bother them, they will not bother us."

Judai rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure that specific situation wouldn't count. And also...wouldn't they notice me using my ability? I don't think they would just accept that."

"Relax, as you said, it's me that they are staring at. You can just rest on a tree a little bit away from me and it will be okay. And also, why are you worried in the first place? It's not like regular humans can see our magic."

Judai turned to look at Henry with a confused expression. "They can't?"

"Yeah, unless of course, they were directly exposed to it, like trapping them inside one of our barriers...wait, you didn't know that?" Henry asked with genuine curiosity.

"No...I didn't." Judai said honestly. In his past life, before his first encounter with Yoshino, Kurai always made sure that his tasks never involved harming innocents while also ordering him not to do so, just in case. After his first encounter with Yoshino from that time, he wasn't in the right state of mind to test that out even if he wanted to.

"Huh, well, I guess it makes some sort of sense. I mean, we were explicitly told not to reveal our true selves publicly and never to harm innocents, so I guess it makes sense that sort of information never became relevant." He shrugged. "Oh well, better later than never, I suppose."

"If you say so." Judai said monotonously as he walked ahead of Henry and made his way to the shadow of a nearby tree. After staring at the tree up and down for a few seconds, he nodded and turned to face Henry right before he sat on the grass with his back against the tree. "This spot will do, don't bother me." Judai said before he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Henry blinked a few times at Judai before slowly nodding. "Oh, okay..." Henry searched for anywhere in the park he could wait until his eyes landed on a park bench nearby. "I guess I'll wait right here then. Warn me when you found it." Judai answered with a silent nod.

Without further interruption, Judai's eyes opened up and saw what appeared to be the entrance to a dark sewer. At the same time, he saw what appeared to be a leftover meal that was on a kitchen sink. Again, he saw an alleyway trash can that was bathed by the light from a lamp post. Judai saw it all at the same time. His mind was linked to thousands upon thousands of insects around the city. He not only saw their perspectives but also controlled each of their movements as precisely as if it were his own body.

Judai wasted no time. He mobilized every single insect in the city simultaneously with one goal in mind. To search for wherever Nozomi would be right now since she would probably have the strongest magical signature between her and Yoshino while the latter would most certainly be near the former at this time of day. And even if Nozomi didn't accompany Yoshino, the latter could still be eliminated by Henry and that would be one less threat out of the way for his revenge against the former.

After a few seconds of searching, he found Nozomi as she was watching a movie on a cinema screen with Yoshino by her side. And just like Henry had told him, his survival instincts instantly flared up, making Judai snap out of his concentration and open his real eyes wide.

Now back at the park, Judai breathed in and out, attempting his absolute best to calm himself down. His vision soon became hazy. The only sound he heard was the exhausted breaths that came from his mouth. The only thing he hadn't allowed to go into disarray was his mind, knowing how much of a slippery slope that would be for him.

After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, he soon heard the faint sound of something nearby. As he relaxed, the sound became clearer to him. He eventually realized it had been a familiar voice, Henry's voice. "Hey, bud, are you okay there?"

Judai looked up from where he sat and saw Henry standing by his side, with a worried expression that showed hints of understanding. Now calmer, Judai just waved him off. "Yes...I'm fine. More importantly..." He slowly got up before passing by Henry. "I found the target. Let's go."

Henry scratched his head, surprised at how quickly his colleague brushed off their panic. "Oh, er...lead the way then." Both soon left the park and went where their target would be found.