It was wonderful to see Yurine walking with a teddy bear in her hand. The fact that she was attached to the gift Yu gave her and carried it with her was a source of happiness in itself.
“You're sure about this, right? You'll be the first target.”
He took his eyes off Yurine and looked at Sivina. He wanted to check her resolve about their plan one last time.
“According to you, I am already the first target.”
Sivina's eyes had the determination Yu wanted to see.
Yu admired his courage. Making oneself an open target was not something that everyone could accept.
---
“A vow of revenge?” Sivina looked at Yu, trying to understand what he was saying.
“I don't think I said anything difficult. A vow of revenge.”
They still didn't understand exactly what he meant. Yu began to explain the plan.
“At the moment we are working on the theory that the killer did not like knights and chose them as targets. Our guess is that the killer also tried to kill Sivina, a knight. Don't you think he would want to tie up loose ends?”
“Are we going to use her as bait?”
“Yes.”
Yurine quickly figured out Yu's plan. Yu was glad that his partner was a smart girl.
“You're trying to use us...” This time Raul was trying to suppress his anger.
“I am presenting to you the logical choice that can be made.”
“I don't like plans that put others at risk, and I don't want Sivina to be used as bait.” Ana was calmer than Raul.
“Then let's hear your plan.”
Yu had no intention of wasting his energy dealing with unnecessary politeness and stupidity. Of course, if it was Yu or Yurine who was the bait, he wouldn't like this plan either, but that was another matter.
Without a plan, Ana fell silent.
“So, do you have a plan, Raul?”
“Let's keep looking for the killer instead of luring him to us. It's less risky.”
“But it will take a long time and there is no certainty that it will lead to anything,” Sivina said.
“But Sivina!” Raul stood up to object to Sivina.
“You can't risk yourself like that, there must be another way!”
Ana also moved to support Raul, but Sivina put them both in their place. Unlike her friends, she took a moderate approach.
“Let's hear it.”
“Even if we're not going to use her as bait, the killer targeted her once, so there's every possibility that he will come after her again. It's better to have a plan before that happens. Instead of the killer coming at us unexpectedly, we can semi-control the situation with our plan and be prepared.”
It was the first time he had used the term semi-control. He wasn't even sure there was such a term, he had just made it up.
“Tomorrow we will go to Rolderhelm and Sivina and I will meet with the Berry family. Sivina will appear as the head of the investigation and will interrogate our interlocutors. If they refuse to be interrogated, she will create a bit of a ruckus and talk about avenging the murdered knights.”
Some of the dead were people who deserved to die, but their aim was to provoke the killer. And the fact that he had committed a few justifiable murders did not change the fact that he was still guilty.
“Are you saying the Berry family supported the killer?” Lylphia asked.
“It's just a theory. Killer may or may not hear that Sivina is looking for him. The real purpose of interrogating the Berry family is to find out why William killed the knights, or to get a clue. If Sivina is the one who stands out in the meantime and the Berry family informs William, that's good for us.”
“What if he doesn't inform? The ties between the killer and his family could be completely severed.”
“That's why, Sivina, you're going to stand in the middle of the Redchapel square and swear an oath of vengeance. We must make sure everyone hears it.”
---
“Hear my voice, people of Redchapel! I am a knight whose friend has been killed! The dishonored murderer of Redchapel is targeting knights. In the name of all knights, in the name of all my slain colleagues, I will take revenge on that dishonored murderer! As a knight, I, Sivina Ecues will behead the murderer!”
---
Speaking in public could be embarrassing. He commended Sivina for her impromptu speech on the day they made the plan without any preparation.
“Don't misunderstand me, Sivina. I have no intention of gladly sending you to your death. I only made this decision because I thought it was the most logical choice.”
“I know, I agree.”
He wondered about their true feelings. Both Sivina's and his own.
What was going through Sivina's mind? Did she think, like the others, that Yu was using her? Was she angry with Yu? Or did she think Yu's plan was the most logical choice?
And how did Yu feel? He was really using Sivina for his own purposes right now. Not only her, but Raul and Ana, and if he had lived, he would have used Satoshi too.
“I use... I use people. I use them for myself.”
He knew it was wrong, he knew it was bad. It was painful just to admit it inside, he couldn't imagine himself saying it to their faces.
“Was it here?”
Opposite them was a blue mansion with a large garden. The house, with an outbuilding attached to the main building and a lodge built in the corner of the garden, must have belonged to the Berry family according to the directions they had received.
“Walk ahead as I say, ask the questions I tell you.”
Yu had told her in advance what to do and made her memorize the questions to be asked.
“Okay.”
Sivina went ahead of Yu and Yurine and their group arrived at the gate of the mansion. There they were met by a guard.
“What is your name, Dame?”
The guard took in Sivina's white uniform and, recognizing her as a knight, addressed her by the title used for female knights.
“Sivina Ecues, these are my escorts. We're investigating William Berry.”
The guard's cheeks tightened. Apparently the name he had heard was a name he did not like to be called. He told them to wait here and went inside.
“That's ridiculous, who's going to stop us if we go in without him?”
In the world, security would have telephoned inside and decided whether to let the guests in or not, but here he had to leave his post. This was a security breach.
“Will they let us in?”
“Probably.” Yu answered Yurine. “If they refuse to meet with the people who are investigating William, their family could be suspected of being in cahoots with the killer. I think they spoke most of the people who are after the killer. After all, the Berry family is a merchant family and it would be very unpleasant for them to have their reputation tarnished.”
And even if they refused to meet with ordinary adventurers, the knights has a title and they believed they would not turn them away.
After a short time, the guard came back and said they could enter the mansion. The servant who came with the guard accompanied the group.
It was bigger than Lucia's house, its garden was more ornate than Lucia's garden. There were tiny statues in the grass, on the edge of the marble path. If Yu remembers correctly, they were called garden gnomes, they colored the path with different colored hats.
The only things Yu didn't like about the mansion were the color of the building and the outbuildings. Other than those two things, it was a place he would like to live.
“Welcome.”
When they entered the mansion, they were greeted by a red-haired woman. She was wearing a red dress like her hair, with blue eyes and a round face. Yu guessed she was no more than thirty years old.
“The weather is nice today, would you like to talk while we take a walk in the garden?”
Sivina looked at Yu to ask if it was okay. When Yu nodded, Sivina said it was okay and accepted the offer.
“My name is Mathilda Berry, I'm the sister of the person you're looking for.”
“Sivina Ecues, nice to meet you." She turned around and pointed to Yu and Yurine. "Yu and Yurine, my companions.”
Mathilda smiled coquettishly at Yu and curtsied with holding her skirt.
“I'm such a pussy magnet, I swear I'm falling on myself...”
“I don't like the look on your face.”
After three and a half weeks with Yu, Yurine had learned what it was like to see his satisfied expression when his ego was bursting.
His eyes squinted slightly, his cheeks relaxed and one side of his lip slyly lifted up.
But probably Mathilda's attitude towards him was not because of his good looks but because of the clothes he wore.
Yu always wanted to look good in people's eyes, so he didn't mind spending a significant amount of his money on clothes. With his current appearance, Yu could definitely be considered a rich man.
“What questions do you want to ask, Dame?”
“Are there a lot of researchers coming to ask you?”
Instead of directly questioning her, she began to talk as if she were having a friendly conversation.
“Yes. If it was my father, you'd probably be turned away at the door, but as the rest of the family we don't want to think we're in cahoots with a murderer. Every day my brother is out, our family's business suffers.”
“So you want him caught?”
“Don't get me wrong, he is my brother and I love him in spite of everything. But he has hurt too many people and in doing so he is hurting his own family.” Mathilda's full lips curled downwards, she had mixed feelings towards her brother. “I love my brother as much as I love my other siblings and relatives, and I don't want him to sully the Berry name any further.”
Yu is fed up with Mathilda's constant claims that they are victims.
“We get it, you're a victim.”
Yu could only see half of the girls' faces because he was walking from behind, but it was enough to form an idea of their feelings. Sivina's feelings were also complicated.
“Your brother will be executed,” Sivina said. Mathilda was silent as Sivina pulled herself together and said the sentence sternly. “Why... Why does he kill people? Do you know why?”
“Why did you take us in if you're not going to talk?”
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Mathilda was silent again. She folded her arms across her chest, indicating that she didn't want to talk.
“Why doesn't William Berry like knights? Maybe you can answer that.”
Instead of answering the question, Mathilda responded with another one.
“Are you really going to kill him?”
“If he is caught he will be prosecuted and if he does not surrender he is too dangerous to leave alive.”
This was not a helpful answer. Even if the Redchapel Killer was caught and put on trial, even if an army of the best lawyers in the world were hired for him, he would not get off.
“We are aware that the killer chose the knights to kill. We want to know why.”
“Do you've heard of Thomas Chember?” Mathilda was squeezing her own arm with her hand.
Thomas Chember was the first person Yu and Yurine explored together in Redchapel.
“It was his first murder in Redchapel,” Sivina said.
“He killed our mother and sister.”
When Sivina and Mathilda stopped walking, Yu and Yurine had to stop too. Yu listened, unperturbed.
“Killed is an understatement to describe the atrocities that took place. Thomas Chember raped our mother and sister, and despite all he did, he continued to walk free.”
“How?” Sivina's muscles contracted for a moment.
“I still believe that if William had been patient, the case would have solved itself. But he went mad every second Thomas Chember was free to roam. Finally, one night he ran away from home, and then there were reports of murders.”
If the story was true, things turned out as Yu had thought. The murder of Thomas Chember was a revenge killing and the killer believed he had gotten justice.
“I can understand this murder, but what about the first man he killed? Or the other people he killed after him?”
“The first person he killed was testifying in favor of Thomas Chember in court, I don't know about the ones after them.”
“You have no idea?”
Mathilda shook her head no. She claimed that there were only two murders she knew the motive behind, and they were the first two.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Just before the murders began.”
“You never communicated afterwards, maybe through intermediaries?”
“No, we had no contact after that.”
Yu didn't think Mathilda would confess even if they were in contact.
“Would other members of your family say the same thing if we asked them?”
After Sivina's question, Mathilda paused for a few seconds and then answered after some thought.
“They probably will.”
“Then you don't know where he is or where he might be.”
“I don't know.”
The only new information they learned was the motive for the murders. As Sivina's questions continued to receive negative answers, Yu intervened.
“Can we meet your other relatives?”
“Not possible at the moment.”
“Why?”
Mathilda also gave Yu a negative answer. Yu thought that the Berry family had sent the person who knew the least about the events to give them a pass.
“They're not here today.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me?”
Even if Yu wanted to enter the house and search the other family members in turn to test Mathilda's honesty, he did not have the authority to do so.
Mathilda shook her head again. “That's all I know.”
***
“Sorry, I didn't learn anything useful.”
“I didn't expect much in areas other than fighting power, so there were no disappointments.”
And he had no right to blame Sivina for not learning anything useful. Yu was the one who told her the questions to ask.
“There wasn't much we could learn. Even if she really had information about the killer that could help us catch him, I don't think she would have given it to us. Even if she is in contact with the killer, soon the killer will start to see you as a problem and will come to kill you.”
“Yes.”
“It's good to know the killer's motivation.”
“What good will it do us to know that?”
“It's technically useless, but our curiosity has been satisfied.”
The killer's motivation was important and when he found out his motivation, he thought they could set a trap for him, but if he did it for revenge, they couldn't do anything different from what they are doing now.
They went from Rolderhelm's wealthy quarter to the Guild Quarter, and from there to Lucia's adventurers' guild.
Yu and Yurine would then go to the inn where they were staying, but first they could drop Sivina off at the guild on their way.
“When are we going back to Redchapel?” Sivina asked. She had turned around before entering the guild.
“On the twenty-ninth, we have business to attend to.”
Today was the twenty-fifth of September and the first match they distributed their letters for was to be played on the twenty-ninth. Yu wanted to watch the match.
If the Vesthelm Storm won the match, he would have to deliver letters again in Redchapel. So he had to wait until the match was played, and if Vesthelm Storm won, he had to return to Redchapel with the letters.
Sivina nodded and turned around, she was about to enter the guild when she was stopped by a blonde elf coming out of the guild.
“Welcome. When I saw Sivina at the door, I hoped you would be here, and you were!” Lucia approached Sivina, crossing her arms under her breasts. “You look depressed. The Valarfins are here, but where are the others?”
Sivina swallowed, the words wouldn't come out. Lucia immediately knew something was wrong and hold Sivina’s hands.
“It's been a long time since I've seen one of my own kind. Or should I say, felt it?”
At the appearance of the girl, who resembled a loli but also had an adult expression, Lucia stopped instead of starting her words and turned to Yu to introduce the girl.
“Mr. Valarfin,” she said. “The sword fairy I told you about, Nerissa.”
She was short. She wore a one-piece black dress, the same color as her black hair. She had big black eyes and white skin. Unlike Yurine, she didn't have a tail or cat ears, but the ears sticking out of her hair were a little long and pointed, though not as long as Lucia's elf ears.
The vibe Nerissa gave off and the vibe Lucia gave off were similar, they both gave off an ‘onee-san’ vibe. Whether Nerissa claimed to be fifteen or twenty, Yu would believe her.
“This is Yu Valarfin and his daughter Yurine Valarfin. The ones I told you about.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Nerissa smiled as Yu and Yurine approached them. They were planning to leave Sivina and go to their inn, but their plans would be slightly interrupted by Nerissa's sudden appearance.
“We are pleased too,” Yu said. He was also speaking for Yurine.
He was more excited than Yurine, who was currently clueless. The idea of being separated from Yurine, even for a short time, gave Yu a restlessness he couldn't describe. He could feel his legs would start to tremble if he let go of control.
“When she says one of my own kind, does she mean Yurine?” Sivina asked.
“Yes.”
He didn't want to tell people about Yurine's kind, but if she knew Nerissa, she couldn't hide it from her anymore.
“Let's go inside,” Lucia said after seeing that Sivina didn't question the situation. As they walked into the guild, Yurine grabbed Yu's arm and tugged.
“What's going on here? Why did she mention us?”
“We thought you should make friends.”
“What makes you think I want friends? Why are you doing this without asking me!”
Yurine was right to be angry. Yu didn't want to anger her further by making excuses.
“I'm sorry.”
Yurine chose not to argue and they entered the guild. The guild was as quiet as the first time they had come here and there were not many people inside. As Sivina went up to her own room without lingering, they turned to two people sitting at a table chatting.
“Gal, look who I met.”
Of the two people at the table, one was a woman and the other a man. At Nerissa's call, the male of the two at the table turned around and looked at the arrivals.
“Who did you meet?”
The boy Nerissa called Gal looked about the same age as Yu, and their faces were somewhat similar.
He also had brown hair, but the color was lighter. The shape of his eyes was similar to Yu's, but a little feminine, and the violet of his eyes was much lighter and brighter than Yu's. He was handsome enough to displease Yu.
“Fucking asshole.”
An empty sword scabbard hung from the boy's waist. His left hand was wrapped in a bandage.
“My name is Galahad,” he said. He stood up to greet me.
“Yu Valarfin.” As they faced each other, Yu saw that he was taller than him.
"Wasn't that Galahad the guy from the War of Heroes?"
He learned a bit history in Yurine’s accelerated world history class. Goddess of Moon İselle had seven children. Men called them Seven Sins. The one called Envy was named Galahad. He had fought against his brother Gluttony and won the Battle of Heroes. Then story continued as he married Goddess of Earth Rhea and went to heaven.
After Yu and Galahad exchanged greetings, the girl sitting at the table stood up and offered her hand to Yu.
“Vilonet dri Elo.”
Vilonet was in her early twenties. She was a beautiful woman with light white skin, blue eyes and light blue hair. Yu would even say she was more than beautiful. She was as beautiful as Rie and Sivina, and maybe a bit more.
She used the suffix 'dri' to give her name. This suffix is one of the titles of nobility in this world and was given to dukes, duchesses and their children. You could tell from the title that this was a very important person.
“That's a nice waifu. The whoreson found himself a beautiful waifu...”
Yu was envy at Galahad. As he shook Vilonet's outstretched hand, he noticed a purple line suddenly appearing on Galahad's face. The line disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
“And this cute girl’s name is Yurine,” Nerissa said. When she approached and put her shoulder to her shoulder, Yurine immediately stepped back to create some distance between them. “I'm excited to meet one of my own kind.”
Unlike Nerissa, who continued to talk without breaking down, Yurine didn't seem excited. On the contrary, the expression on her face was as if she wanted to get it over with and leave.
“Yurine's face is usually like this, don't take it personally and get upset.”
“Hmph.”
Yurine turned away and avoided Yu.
“Even though my heart is filled with love and I open my hearth to you, it is very sad that I don't get the same response from you. Maybe talking to someone similar to you will help you overcome your shyness.”
“Hmph!”
This time she turned her back.
“You might enjoy a walk with a friend for an hour or two. And this time of year, when the sun is out, you can't not take advantage of it. What do you think?” This time Lucia asked.
Yurine was a bit resistant at first, but after some persistence she accepted the offer.
---
“Come back before sunset, I will wait for you at the inn. Remember, come back before sunset.”
“I'll come back when I want, I won't ask you.”
“Why did she suddenly get so cold?”
Yurine started walking with Nerissa towards a park up the road. It bothered Yu that the park was opposite the inn where they were staying, for a moment he even considered following them.
“I don't think it will be a problem.” Lucia was aware of Yu's concerns. She put her hand on his shoulder and spoke. “Nerissa is trustworthy and Yurine is a smart girl.”
“I trust them, but I don’t trust the people they’ll meet.”
Yu watched them until the sword fairies were out of sight.
“Sivina seemed a little upset. There were more of you when you left, and I don't want to think of anything bad, but...”
“Satoshi is dead.”
Delivering the news of a death was not an easy task. Yu decided it would be better to say it all at once, rather than prolonging it and making it harder.
Lucia was a little stunned at first, looking around, not knowing what to say. Then she looked into Yu's eyes, which had lost their joy, and began to speak.
“Do you know-”
“I'm sorry.” He apologized for interrupting Lucia. “I feel like you're going to tell me something I don't want to know, like something I'd feel bad if I knew.”
He could more or less guess what Lucia might say and he had no desire to hear it. He wanted to keep his mind away from anything painful.
Lucia gave him a bitter smile.
“How did it happen?”
“The Redchapel Killer came to our inn. We found Satoshi dead.”
“I see.”
He felt himself sweating. Even though it was not very hot, there was a pressure in his chest. Yurine had left him and without her he is like a soldier who have lost his shield. His enemies grief and regret saw it.
“I wonder if Satoshi would be alive today if I hadn't come to Rolderhelm. I think about him and forget about him. Does his death make me sad? Or maybe I don't really care, and the reason I think about him and suffer is just my tendency to punish myself.” He avoided looking at Lucia. “I mean, a normal person would be upset. I wouldn't be a normal person if I didn't feel sorry for him. It bothers me not knowing the answer.”
What was he going to achieve when he felt sorry for him? What was the difference of Satoshi from any other people he can see on the road?
“But you know…” He smiled like it’s a joke. “…of course you don’t know but I mean, I am sad for Stella. I meet her when we were at Wizarding Academy. She was lost her son, and cried for it. Seeing her cry, I still think about her. I wonder if someone else but me could save her son, and protect her from tears? I wonder why I am the chosen one to see all of it.”
Suddenly another name came to his mind. Camaeron Don. The victim he killed with his own hands. He didn't have the courage to talk about him.
And thinking about Camaeron brought that scene back to his mind. His sisters, covered in blood after that accident. It was because of Yu.
“I am a murderer,” he thought.
“But I need you,” someone else said.
His eyes reddened as he tried to hold back tears. If he had let them flow in the first place, he would have lost only a few drops. But from this point on he could not let them flow, because he could not count the number of tears that would fall.
Suddenly soft hands grabbed his head and pulled it down. Her head was on the elf's soft chest. Her earth-colored hair was stroked by elegant fingers.
“You are a cute boy,” said Lucia. “Try to smile often.”
“I am smiling always, you see.”
“But not sincerely.”
He should have been satisfied with the situation. A beautiful woman was showing him affection. But even in this situation, all he could think about were the people he had killed.
“You like me,” he said. “But what you like is my packaging. It is shine and pure but inside I am someone you don’t want to hug like that. I'm just an expired product.”
“I don’t understand what you are saying,” she said. “But yes, I like you. I think you are a good boy. You take care of a lonely girl, you are sad for your lost friend.”
“It’s just because I am handsome. If I were Satoshi you would not want to hug me.”
Satoshi hadn't found the love he was looking for. The reason, of course, was that the world did not give him a pretty face. As Lucia confirmed, Yu was loved because he was a beautiful package.
A life without love... He mocked and insulted him. The more he thought about him the worse Yu felt. He didn't even realize he was crying at the end.
“Are you feel better?” Lucia asked.
“Yes,” Yu answered. “Thank you.”
***
“It's normal for her, though.”
Lucia must have faced more death than Yu could bear. It was a curse of her long life.
“She gave me attention, yet I feel depressed.”
When he returned to her room at the inn, the first thing he did was throw himself on the bed. He thought about what Lucia would have said if he had let her.
“Maybe she would have given a good life lesson, why didn’t I listen? No, I'm sure she would have said something about her long life and that would have depressed me even more.”
He realized now that he liked the attention Lucia was giving him. He hadn't found Lucia's interest romantic, and Yu's feelings weren't romantic either. It wasn't romance or sex that he wanted. He just wanted someone to hold him and stroke his hair and say nice things to him.
He was feeling better. Actually, he didn't feel good at all. It was just that his mood had gone from minus ten to zero.
But after a while he realized that anger was coursing through his veins. Despite the moment with Lucia, he continued to blame himself. He hit the bed, his anger had not left. He put his hands to his face and breathed.
“What should I do? It's the first time we've really been alone.”
It was the first time Yu had been alone since he came here. He was so used to having Yurine by his side that he didn't even know what to do without her.
“Now that I think about it, I haven't done it since I got here.”
The last time he did it he was in his own world. Nearly month had passed since then and he still hadn't done it.
“Then it's time, I will finally use it.”
He had an hour or two to spend alone, and to make the most of it he took out the magazine he had hidden in the wardrobe in his room.
He had brought this magazine from his world. The magazine had pictures of models in it that some people would call inappropriate. Yu had hid the magazine so Yurine wouldn't find it, and since it was the only one of its kind in the world, he didn't want to lose it.
“Let's lock the door, just in case.”
As he sat on the bed, it occurred to him that the door was unlocked. It was best to lock the door in case of a sudden raid. He got out of bed.
“After all, I'm a human being, so...” He waited a moment. “Fuck off.”
He threw the magazine. I was not in the mood. He sat again and started to think.
“But what should I think?” He stood up again. “I hate being-”
The feeling he knew and hated visited him again. Yu knew what was coming and could do nothing in the face of the trouble.
“I am sorry. Please.”
He fell to the ground with a shudder.