Chapter 11: Connection

Night had descended upon the city, and with it, a dense fog had rolled in as well. Perhaps because of the fact that the city was also built in the center of a large clearing inside the various swerving canyons, and therefore still trapped some heat in the air which then dropped dramatically at night time, or some other reason Yuu had yet to figure out.

Either way, the fog made the city more mysterious and more treacherous at night. There was at least some mana involved, so even sensory magic was dampened, resulting in a feeling of unknown and mysteriousness. The giggling of children, which could normally be said to be heartwarming, felt ominous and dangerous even, and every clatter and clack could make one jump. Even though there were plenty of people active at night, this atmosphere remained outside in the fog. Even those who had lived here for awhile were not necessarily over that feeling, as the occasional patron glanced outside in worry.

As for Yuu, after he was revived, he, Lyo, and James had gone to a nearby tavern inn where Yuu and Lyo would be staying. The room was already paid for the next few weeks by James, although Yuu still did not trust him. The three of them were eating a nice warm meal, cooked Shockboar meat with fruit juice for Yuu and Lyo, and some high quality ale for James.

"Yuu...you are smiling in a scary way again" Lyo warned, as he took a bite of some meat. Apparently the Shockboar was a monster that used electrical attacks, but once it was killed, its meat was very delicious.

As for why Yuu was smiling, it was because of what he was planning. The Yuu who rarely smiled unless Lyo caused it was full of happiness today, but not some sort of innocent, kind happiness. Rather, it was a dark sort of happiness, like a predator stalking a delicious prey.

"Sorry...cant help it. Even if you say I need to get used to people or mellow out...I just cant deny myself the joy of taking down those who hurt, abused, and essentially tortured me" Yuu replied in a soft tone, his young cute voice not really matching his words or expression. "That receptionist...did you see her face? TO think that the person who essentially forced me to take hydra venom would be in such a position. Oh, there are so many ways I could topple her over...drive her to madness? Lure her out and then give her poison.....or, maybe I will just tell everyone else what she did. Make her walk into work one day and see the disapointed and disgusted faces of all of her co-workers and her boss...she would probably get fired, or maybe even jailed, on the spot".

Lyo and James had difficult faces as Yuu's expression warped. Lyo then went and pinched Yuu's nose to snap him out of it. "Yuu! That is indecent!"

"...I dont want to hear that from the person who always barges into my bed and bath..." Yuu retored silently. "Besides, these people are not just going to sit around...speaking of which, James. You promised me you would tell me everything once I came, so tell me. Why was I such an easy target?"

Even if Yuu's opinion of people on average was incredibly low, he wasn't such a narcissist to think he would get especially targeted like that by so many people. It was strange, how everyone reacted like that. The Church, the Lord, the Merchants. It was just too much.

"Keep in mind, even if I am an A-Rank adventurer, I can only gather so much intel....its not really my strong suit to begin with, although Argen's party helped a bit" James mentioned. "However, it seemed like an unusually large amount of incidents had been cropping up while you were in the city. People were starting to believe the city was cursed...and apparently, around that time, you were thrown out of the orphanage. Its bizzare though...after you were supposedly gotten rid of, the incidents stopped. And you were blamed for all of them as some cursed child. Both the Lord of the city and the head of the church both confirmed it together".

"...what do you mean, exactly?"

"Apparently, a string of murders that had been targetting various nobles and clergy suddenly stopped once oyu left. All the murders appeared as if evil spirits did them. Additionally, it was said that around that time from some merchants, that every time you got near one of their stores or stalls, large amounts of products would go bad or missing or break. It hurt a lot of merchants in the area, including the biggest merchant group....although, they recovered remarkably fast, faster then everyone else, after you disappeared, but that was attributed to them being the biggest. It caused them to get the advantage over the other merchants, but many blamed you for that as well".

Yuu nodded along to the explanation, listening. From what it sounded, it seemed like he was used as a scapegoat, so a lot of people took out their frustration on him. However...there were still some weird points.

"The assassinations...did they help anyone?"

"On first glance, it did seem random. However, while not all of them were like that...many of them did happen to be those who did not always agree or get along with the residing lord, or had strong loyalty to the previous lord's family. It seemed the previous lord had no heirs when he died, so the current one had the territory...although, his wives did die from some rather mysterious symptoms".

"Let me guess, they blamed that on me too".

"Only the last one. The others were before you were born".

Well, at least they are not blaming me for the impossible...I suppose....

"Either way, this last bit of information came from a criminal organization I may have ended up annihalating about a year ago...but apparently several major figures came together to fund an assassination bounty on you. It appears they believed you died three years ago, so...you may want to be careful. They may wish to try again..."

"Well, first of all" Yuu said, glancing around at the tavern.  It was a good and nice tavern for the city, as well as expensive.  The fog outside was tampering with both Yuu's and Lyo's perception abilities, but they could sense that someone was following them, glaring at them.  After all, they had grown up in the peaceful forest full of predators.  Even without magic, their instincts were highly trained so they could feel the pressence of those who saw them as prey.  "It seems we might have company tonight".

"If you kill any of them, your enemies will turn it around and use it to strike at you" James warned.  Yuu sighed.

"Fine...I will try to avoid leaving any major or fatal wounds then".

"I just hope your conviction to do that is better then your attempt to learn the sword".

In the past two years, Yuu had also tried to learn the sword from James every time he visited.  Unfortunately, just like with his attempt to learn the bow, he showed terrible skill and coordination.  If he used magic to form and control the sword, it got to a point it was usable...but, his pure magical abilitiy was still far superior.  

It was like a bad joke.  Anything bigger then a dagger, or unless it was something like a staff, and Yuu was terrible with them.  No, even if he just tried to go pure staff without magical assist, it was still bad.

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"Well, for now, I suppose it would be best to get some rest until they arrived...I think they are only holding off because you are here".

"It would be a lot easier for you to sleep if you just agreed to stay in the same room as me".

"...no, you perverted old man.  I don't feel like getting groped in my sleep".

"Hey!  I am not a pervert!  I am just checking to see if your wounds have healed, since you know, you never honestly tell me things like that".

"Either way, you are too big, so it would be crampt.  Come on Lyo" Yuu said as he finished eating.  "Lets head to bed".

"Yay!  Getting to sleep with Yuu in a new..."

"...Lyo, your own bed".

Lyo pouted at Yuu as they locked eyes.

"Yes".

"No".

"Yes...and wear the pyjammas, it will get cold here".

"Skinship is needed to feel safe in a new place!"

"Lyo, there are people who will be coming to try and kill us".

"Yuu fainted earlier, so I need to make sure it was really shock and not a fever".

The two stared each other down, neither budging.  This went on for a full minute, before James slapped them both on the back.

"How about settling this upstairs?"

The two boys realized they probably looked weird, and nodded, heading upstairs and reaching their bedroom.  The inn had rather nice and smooth flooring, and there was even some decoration here and there.  Furthermore, Yuu felt the pressence of protective enchantments on the walls and doors, indicating it was quite well guarded too.  Once they got in the room, they put their stuff to the sides and Yuu closed the door, locking it from the inside.

When he turned around, a naked Lyo tackled him down and began pulling off his clothes.  Unfortunately for Yuu, Lyo was not only a bit taller, but also stronger.

When he was fully naked, Yuu looked like he was really annoyed.

"Now is not the time for games!"

And then, Lyo jumped forward with his whole body and hugged Yuu once he stood up.  It was extremely awkward for Yuu, but he was also used to it.  However, what made him stop was the sounds of Lyo crying.  Crying as he squeezed Yuu tight, holding him there and unable to move.

"L..Lyo?"

"Yuu...please...dont leave me..."

"Lyo..."

Yuu had a feeling that this was about more then just sleeping.

"What is it, Lyo?"

"Its just...this place...its full of sadness and pain...even those smiles from before had pain in them" Lyo mentioned, shocking Yuu with his observational ability.  "There are a lot of people who wish you harm here, right?"

Yuu, unable to even free his arms to push Lyo away, sighed.

"Yeah...there is..."

"Well...please....please dont do anything stupid.  Dont lose yourself in revenge....dont give up everything to be satisfied...dont get yourself killed....please...I dont want to lose anyone else".

Yuu could not help but cry a little at those words, as well as smile.  It was a rare feeling he had right now, one that he had never felt until he met Lyo.  ANd that...was someone genuinely caring for him, wishing him well....wishing him to live.

Although Lyo was still silly, airheaded, and a complete moron, he had matured himself as well.  Yuu had once read Lyo's diary after he left it out one time, so he knew.  Well, he was already aware of it by that point to be honest.  That Lyo was still suffering from what was likely PTSD, or some other trauma based disorder.   Or simply grief.

Lyo never mentioned his original village, except perhaps once or twice in passing.  He never talked about his friends or family there, never asked to look or keep an eye out for them, never did any of that.  And his emotional attachment to Yuu, even for an air headed silly moron, was unusual.

So Yuu didn't have to be a genius to figure it out.  About how terrible it must have been...and about their fate.

Lyo had lost everything, and now, in such a situation, Lyo was scared about losing the one person he cared about the most.  Yuu.  He was afraid that in this city, Yuu would die.  Either from his enemies, or as a part of some revenge scheme, or such.  Lyo understood it was dangerous, the most dangerous moment of their lives yet.

His tears were pouring down his face, getting Yuu all wet as they hit him.  His arms, small and trembling, grasped Yuu tight so that he would not lose his precious friend.  His knees wobbled, and his face was distorted with fear and sadness.

Right now, there was nothing between them.  Their soft, smooth chests pressed against each other, their heartbeats beat in a rythmic unison, each one feeling the other.   Yuu felt the emotions of his best friend, and understood what he was trying to say and protect.

"...thank you, Lyo" Yuu muttered, as Lyo's warmth thawwed his heart a little.  "I promise, I wont let this city kill me.  I wont fall into despair again, and I wont let this place tear us apart.  We will live, both of us".

"You promise?" Lyo said, not letting go.

"I promise...I wont lose my life, or my soul here" Yuu said, remembering the way his father behaved.

He had to do better.  Be better.  He would never be a truly good person....his heart was far too tainted and bitter.  But as Yuu clenched his fist, he reafirmed his decision.  He would not fall to the levels of his father.  He would have his revenge...but, he would also become a person that Lyo would be proud to stand with.

And so, the two boys who shed tears eventually crawled into bed to sleep for tomorrow, Yuu not even trying to stop Lyo anymore.

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Meanwhile, outside the room, two dark clothed individuals had managed to sneak past the people below, and drew daggers as they began to reach for the doorknob.

"Now now...dont you feel a bit bad, eevesdropping like that.  Such a touching moment should not be ruined" James said as he appeared behind them.

Seeing the famous A-Rank adventurer like that, the two grimenced from inside their hoods, but did not speak back.  Unlike in stories and TV shows, these two were true veterans.  They did not make excuses or exchange words, they pulled back and got into a combat formation, raising their daggers.

Unfortunately for them, from the shadows behind them, two chains came around their throats and began to strangle them to death, as a woman wearing a black and purple robe, as well as somewhat provacative clothes that went well with her exceptional features, came out.  The chains that appeared to float and move on their own snapped the necks of the two, pulling their bodies into her robe which caused them to disappear.

"Ara ara...you did not tell me the two were such cute, innocent boys" the woman said with a giggle, as the two chains floated around her.

James however still had a hand on his sword, staring at her.

"...they already think I am a pervert.  Besides, you try and go after them, you will just end up getting killed".

"Oh....but my desire is to make them submit of their own free will to me...besides, you are a pervert".

"I am just misunderstood!  You are the real pervert...and also, if you touch them or go after them in any way..."

Suddenly, James appeared in front of her with his sword drawn, and cut down to cut her in half.  She quickly blocked with the chains, only then to realize James was not there.  In truth, he had never moved at all.  He had simply adjusted his body position at the same time as he increased his own pressence and aura, mentally tricking her into hallucinating that he had attacked.

"I see...well, I should probably focus on my job as a royal spy anyways".

"Most people would not admit they are spies".

"Yes...but, it would be pointless to lie to you about it.  Furthermore...those boys had quite a lot of energy dripping off of them" the woman said, licking her lips.  James readied his sword again, but she backed off.  "I dont mean like that.  But, mana favors them heavily.  Additionally, I could feel a pressence inside of Yuu...or maybe his Shadow.  But more then that...his features really were quite nice and cute...if he cleaned up..."

"Get to the point!"

"My point is...something made Yuu stand out to them.  People dont just throw out orphans, and they dont pick them at random.  And also...if you do happen to discover anything about the current lord, my employers would appreciate it".

"The Royals are suspicious of the Margrave?"

"Of course...the Royals are not stupid.  Even if some targets were neutral or supported him, an overwhelmingly large amount of the assassinated nobles were against him.  I have my own duties to look out for, but...perhaps you should take a quest that goes near Ryster's Ridge?  There might be a gathering of people there you should...interact with".

James nodded at her words, and watched as the woman retreated back into the shadows, her pressence disappearing entirely.

"Now then...I wouldn't want anyone else to ruin the night for them, so I should go and clean up before I get some sleep myself".

That night, many would be assassins found themselves knocked unconscious and delivered anonymously to the guards.