“There.”

A few days had passed since the Apocalypse Cleaners had properly formed up, and under Anten’s directions, the three members now stood before a small town.

“You sure that’s the place?” Dauma remarked as he stared at the houses in the distance.

“Somewhat. I can definitely sense something coming from around there, even though it’s weak. It has to be a lead.”

“Hmm…”

When they had discussed the matter of the Particles, both Kara and Michael had given them some specific details with a few locations to match. However, neither of them knew the exact spots where they could find them, or who exactly held them at the moment.

Understandably for Kara, her research into the Particles was not yet complete, so she could only give them past areas where she theorised they had been or were possibly being kept at.

The more surprising case was Michael, the god himself, who also could not give them the exact locations they desperately needed.

“I am unable to accurately locate them,” he had privately confessed to them during the transfer of his knowledge, “I believe that either the Particles themselves or something else is interfering with my powers. It is also possible that the current holders are doing their best to hide them from my sights.”

However, despite that troubling obstacle, he was able to use his powers of world observation and simple deduction give them even more likely locations of where they were, so that was still a valuable steppingstone for their search.

The town that they had just reached was one of those likely locations, and for a good reason.

“There’s a belief that the town Edelweiss,” Kara had mentioned when she discussed it with them, “is closely related to the Paradise forces. Some kind of secret deal, agreement, members, what have you. In my opinion, it should be a place where it can give you information, if not the location of another Particle.”

And now, with Anten feeling the faint presence of a Particle in its vicinity, the location was becoming more and more promising by the minute, and so the group quickly made their way over to it.

“Oh, interesting.”

Unlike Mahu and the abandoned city, Edelweiss was a much smaller town, with only two rows of houses separated by a narrow gravel street. To compensate for that, the houses were much grander and more intrinsically detailed than the buildings in the other communities.

“Victorian… I think…” they heard Yuu mumble to herself as they approached the town border, and the architecture of the houses slowly came into focus.

All of them were either two or three stories high, with high roofs, towers, and wide porches all differentiated from each other. Being situated right next to each other also helped to accentuate their details, giving off a regal and posh atmosphere that was useless but still eye-catching in the present day.

“Hang on, Dauma. We need to settle this first.”

Before they could properly enter the town, both Anten and Yuu wrapped their shawls over Dauma’s body to cover his unnatural features as much as possible, including his horns.

“Probably would be better if we didn’t make a lasting negative impression on them,” Anten explained as she tugged on one of the shawls to check that it was secure before giving him a thumbs up.

With the devil situation solved for the time being, the three of them walked up to the nearest house. Taking a deep breath, Anten knocked on the yellow door three times.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

After a few seconds of silence, someone answered, although they kept the door half shut as they peeked their head out.

“Yes?”

It was an old lady, with short silver hair that reached her shoulders and was combed neatly at the front. She seemed to be irritated at the sudden disturbance, but there was also a hint of kindness in her eyes, which showed her lack of hostility to the three of them.

“Uhh, yes, hi!” Anten cheerfully replied, reassured by her attitude, “we are travelers from far away, and we would just like to know where your town leader’s house is, so that we can introduce ourselves to them! Could you point us in the right direction, please?”

“…”

The old lady’s eyes darted over the thoroughly wrapped-up Dauma, warily lingering on him for a moment before she spoke again.

“Four houses opposite mine, painted in blue. That’s where you’ll find the mayor. Don’t worry about making a disturbance, he treats everyone nicely.”

“Thank you!” Anten chirped as she gave a friendly wave as acknowledgement, and the old lady smiled and nodded in response.

“I wish you three souls the best!”

“!!!”

At the mention of the word, Yuu temporarily froze, but she soon shook it off. With a creaking sound, the old lady’s door closed, and the three of them walked away from the house, having gained more confidence from the interaction.

“She seems nice.”

“… before she finds out I’m a devil,” Dauma added on to her statement as they walked down the street to the mayor’s house, “then she’ll show her true emotions to us.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist! It’s not good for you or us! Isn’t that right, Miss Yuu?”

“…”

“Miss Yuu?”

The both of them had not realized it at first, but Yuu had stopped in her tracks and was looking down the small alley between two random houses on her left. Her eyes seemed to be intently looking at something, but after Anten called her name, she immediately turned back towards them.

“… nothing…”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Are you sure? You look like you saw something.”

“… something… moving…”

They looked into the alley together, but they spotted nothing except a couple of discarded furniture and other items. There was no sign of movement at all.

“Probably just the wind. If it happens again, let us know as quickly as you can.”

“… got it…”

Even though Yuu’s face remained filled with doubt, and she could not shake off the black blur that she saw scurry down the alleyway before disappearing, she swallowed down her suspicions and continued on.

**********************

“HELLO!”

Before they had even reached the house, the mayor was already standing outside the door and on the front porch, awaiting their arrival with a friendly smile.

“Travelers, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the person you are looking for, the mayor of Edelweiss. My name is Julian Weister, and I humbly welcome you to my town!”

He was old, but not as old as the lady they had met in the first house. Looking to be in his late prime, his balding head was an indicator of his ageing body, having nothing at the top and his greying hair only growing at the sides and back of his head.

To further emphasize his age, he wore thick-rimmed round glasses with silvery-gold temples, a checkered dress shirt and baggy grey pants, giving him the look of an innocent yet wise grandfather.

“How did you know we were here, Mister… Mayor?” Anten asked curiously as soon as they reached his place and stopped in front of him.

“Kids, you think that this town is big? I could hear you guys from the wind!” Julian lightly chuckled, his voice coming out deep yet flippant.

“Right, I guess that makes sense,” she laughed along with him before doing the introductions, “my name is Anten, the girl behind me is Yuu, and the guy wrapped up in cloth is Dauma. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid, we don’t have many travelers coming here, so it’s nice to see someone else here for a change.”

“If you don’t mind, we came here for a different reason. We would like to talk with you for a bit.”

“Of course!”

Barely a second had passed after her request before Julian readily agreed to it, surprising the group.

“Not to intrude or anything, but…”

“Psh! It’s not like I have things to do anyway! Come in, make yourselves comfortable, and I’ll chat with you three!”

With that casual remark, he stepped aside and gestured for them to go into his house, with the smile staying on his face all throughout their entry.

“…”

Although Anten and Yuu quickly walked in without a second thought, Dauma was much warier about the whole situation, and as he walked past him, he looked away such that he did not make eye contact with him.

Something’s off…

A part of him had been convinced that he was being genuine, but there was still a lingering sense of dread he felt about him as he entered the house.

**********************

“So, what can I do for you three lovely people?”

When everyone was now inside his house and walking through the entrance hallway, Julian was the first one to open the conversation.

“Yes… well…” Anten replied as she turned back to face him, “we would like to ask you a few questions about… something unnatural happening nearby or inside your town, Mister Mayor.”

“You might have to be more specific. A lot of things here are unnatural,” he replied before laughing cheekily.

“Ok, then… if it doesn’t trouble you, I’ll get straight to the point.”

Anten paused for a moment before asking the question.

“Do you know anything about… the Particles?”

“…”

Julian suddenly stopped. He had gone completely quiet, and his face had lost his cheery smile. He did not move even as the three stopped and stared at him, awaiting his answer.

His eyes were rapidly darting away from their gazes, and he had begun to sweat. His breaths were coming out shaky and strained, as though he was having trouble breathing, or if something had constricted his throat.

With each second of silence that passed between them, it only made the atmosphere even heavier as he refused to say anything in that time.

Finally, he took a deep breath before finally speaking again.

“Who… are you three?”

“…”

Dauma was the first one to reply to his question this time, and he did so directly and bluntly.

“I don’t believe that is very important. What is important is that we want any information you have about the Particles, and it seems that you know something about them.”

“Ha.”

Julian chuckled once again, but in a much drier tone than before as he looked at him with a stone-cold expression on his face.

“I think I know who you lot are now. You think that I will just willingly tell you everything about… whatever those things are? What’s in it for me if I do?”

“You’ll be doing us a favor, of course!” Anten hastily tried to save the conversation, “we’ll repay you, just tell us what you need!”

“Very well.”

Without hesitating, Julian resolutely stood firm and pointed at the front door.

“I need you three to leave, now.”

“But…”

“I am not going to entertain you. I don’t intend to have trouble in my town, and you are going to bring the worst kind of it here. Go away!”

“We just want…”

“OUT!” he bellowed as he glared at Anten, forcing her to keep quiet.

“… ok.”

At his insistence, Anten slowly lowered her head down and began to walk towards the door, having resigned herself to the order. However, Dauma was less easy for him to convince.

“You know,” he coolly spoke, “you could have made things a lot easier if we had continued our conversation. But just know that I won’t take no for an answer if there’s no valid reason.”

“Dauma!” Anten turned back and called out to him as he exchanged glares with the enraged mayor.

“I’ll say it for the last time,” Julian, who was surprisingly unaffected by the threat, responded in a low whisper, “get out.”

Dauma did not say anything else as a retort as he continued to stubbornly stare at him. After a while, he finally turned and walked back towards Anten, who had already been standing at the door.

“Come on, Yuu.”

The spirit girl nodded as she hurriedly walked past Julian without meeting his gaze.

“…”

For a brief moment, Anten saw his eyes linger briefly on the green orb in her chest before looking away again. At that moment, she saw his nervous expression return before his brow furrowed again and his anger returned.

“Go on, leave! Leave my town and don’t ever disturb me again!” he yelled as the three exited the house.

“T… thank you for your hospit—”

The front door slammed in Anten’s face before she could fully turn back towards him, cutting her sentence off and leaving her feeling very uneasy. Silently, she stared at the door, as though she was hoping that it would reopen.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Dauma remarked as he stood outside the porch, waiting for her to join back up with him.

“This is… not good,” she muttered to herself as she turned around and walked out.

In just a few minutes, they had made quick enemies out of what seemed to be a friendly and warm mayor. Not only were they no longer allowed to stay, but they had also come no closer to finding out what they needed to know.

“So?” Dauma continued as he crossed his arms and glared at the house with an annoyed expression, “what do you want to do now?”

**********************

“Those damn kids…”

Having closed the door firmly in his guests’ faces, Julian sighed exasperatedly as he leaned back against it before covering his mouth with his hand.

It was a tough decision to make; he knew that. He had recognized the orb in the quiet girl’s body, and he had guessed who the man wrapped in many layers of clothing actually was, but he could not take the risk and engage with them any further than he already did.

“Should I have… no, no. I made the right call,” he reassured himself as he walked slowly down the hallway and towards the staircase, aiming to get to his study at the far end of the second level.

Out of everything, he could not shake off the slight sense of guilt he had when he dismissed the group away, especially the girl who did most of the talking.

“She seemed nice…”

Could he have rejected her more gently? Could they have at least come to a compromise? For that part, he was unsure.

“I can’t reveal anything. If I did…” he mumbled as he walked up the narrow wooden staircase.

That was the most important thing to him, more than anything else in the world. He had to keep his secret safe at all times, never revealing it to anyone. If anyone found out about his past, he knew that it would get him in big trouble.

“Don’t be soft, Julian. Not now. Just do what you normally do, and you’ll be fine.”

He had not realized it, but the sun was already setting as he could see from his window. The night was coming, and with it came an end to the unusually problematic day he just had.

“I’ll study a bit more, and then I’ll rest. Hopefully they don’t come knocking on my door again,” he spoke out loud as he walked to his study.

“Yo.”

However, as soon as he opened the door, his hopes of a peaceful night were disrupted by the red-haired young man nonchalantly sitting in his study chair.

“You…”

He stood shocked at his sudden appearance, unable to say a word again, so the man continued to speak, all while leaning back on the chair and nimbly twirling a gun in his hand.

“Would you like a cup of tea?”