Chapter 111 Chihiro Yuki ⑰
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Wait, what? He’s been missing since yesterday?”
I went to visit Nakim the next day, timing my arrival for the end of classes, only to find that the boy hadn’t shown his face since the day before.
”I’m certain you were with him yesterday. I confirmed that much myself,” the female teacher replied. She was dressed in the quintessential garb of a witch—a black pointed hat and a sweeping black cloak—though she didn’t look much older than us. She eyed me with suspicion.
”Yes, that’s right,” I said. “We were talking in the cafeteria until nearly evening. After we parted ways, I left through the main gate alone. You’re welcome to check the records if you need to.”
”Oh, we’ve already confirmed that part,” she said, letting out a weary sigh. “The problem is that Nakim seems to have vanished right after you went home… Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”
”I was actually hoping you could tell me. Look, both Nakim and I only got here a few days ago. We barely even know our way around the streets yet.”
”True. And it’s not like he’s been hanging out with anyone else. The students who are actually close to him were all in class at the time…”
It was only this morning that the Academy realized Nakim was gone. When a classmate stopped by his dorm room, it was empty. They had assumed he’d headed to school early, but he never showed up for class. When he still hadn’t appeared by morning homeroom, a full search was launched. They combed every inch of the Academy grounds, thinking he’d been caught up in some trouble, but found nothing. They even checked with the Monster Hunter Guild, but not a single soul had seen him.
”Does that mean it’s a kidnapping?” I asked. “But Nakim is just a nobody from a backwater village, and his parents are both dead. He shouldn’t have enough money to be a target.”
In truth, he did have his earnings from monster hunting and the reward from the defense of Varity, but that was his entire life savings. It was hard to imagine a kidnapping for professional profit.
”Ah—well, some ‘collectors’ might have snatched him up,” the teacher muttered. “The boy is quite cute, after all.”
”If it was a pervert, wouldn’t someone have noticed? He never left the Academy grounds, right? Were there even any suspicious visitors?”
”That’s the thing… Sigh.”
The teacher promised to continue the search, and I gave a quick nod before heading out.
Ultimately, even after we split up to search every corner of the city, Nakim was nowhere to be found.
Exhausted and empty-handed, we returned to our usual inn, only for the landlady to stop us in our tracks. “Hey, where have you lot been? You had a visitor waiting for you until just a bit ago.”
”A visitor?” I asked.
”Yeah. She waited for a while, but when I told her I didn’t know when you’d be back, she just said, ‘Then please make sure they get this.’” The landlady reached into her blouse and pulled out a letter. It was a plain, unremarkable envelope. I took it from her, my heart sinking.
”This guest… what did she look like?”
”Just a normal, cute young girl. What’s the matter? Is it a love letter or something?” The landlady let out a cackling laugh.
Kodama and Kijima scowled at the joke, but I didn’t have the energy to react. Romance was the last thing on my mind anyway, and if this really were a love letter, I’d just have to turn her down firmly.
I tore the envelope open. There were two sheets of paper inside. One was a map, and the other—
”What!?” My eyes nearly popped out of my head. The letter read:
I have your friend in my custody.
If you want him back, come to the designated location with your comrades.
If you speak a word of this to anyone else, consider your friend’s life forfeit.
I turned to bolt out of the inn, but the landlady grabbed my arm. “Hold on! It’s late at night. Where do you think you’re going with a face like you’ve seen a ghost?”
”I…” I started to tell her the truth, but the words of the letter flashed in my mind and I clamped my mouth shut. Don’t tell anyone. Even showing it to her was probably a death sentence for Nakim. Besides, the location was outside the city. Even if I ran now, the gates were locked for the night. I took a deep breath, forcing my heart to slow down.
Right. They went through the trouble of sending a letter. That means Nakim is still alive. They wouldn’t just kill him for no reason. And there was no specific time limit mentioned. Sooner was obviously better, but I didn’t have to throw myself against a locked gate right this second.
”You’re right… it is late,” I muttered. “I’ll head out first thing tomorrow morning. By the way, about this map… do you recognize this place?”
I showed her the map. Surely this much was fine.
”Let’s see… Oh, here? Well, that’s a strange place for a meeting.”
The next morning, after waking up in the absolute worst way—tormented by the usual nightmares—we headed for the location on the map. Since it was a two-day trek on foot, we used the carriage we’d had since leaving Envyos. The horses were former military stock, so we managed to reach the spot in about half a day.
It must have been a village once. Now, with no one left to tend to it, the buildings were just rotting away. The fences were tattered, offering no defense at all. A few houses still held their shape; if people moved back in, it might have looked like a home again. But that was never going to happen. Something had turned this place into a ghost town.
”Is a decaying village really that fascinating to you?”
A voice rang out from behind us. I hadn’t felt a single trace of a presence. I spun around to find Sieben standing there. Accompanying him were the wolf-eared mother and daughter, along with Narumi.
”Dozens of villagers used to live here in peace,” Sieben said, his voice flat. “Then, one day, a pack of orcs attacked. Every man in the village was slaughtered, except for one Monster Hunter. The women who couldn’t bear children were brutally murdered. We eventually repelled the orcs, but the surviving women were left broken. Most have recovered to an extent, but some will never be whole again.”
Sieben spoke of the village’s tragedy with a terrifying fluency.
”Why are you telling us this?” I demanded.
”No reason. You just looked so interested, I thought I’d enlighten you.” He answered without a flicker of emotion. His voice was dead, but I could feel the sheer weight of his loathing for us. One look at the wolf-eared pair confirmed it. The mother—Mime, or Lil as she was called—was expressionless, but her eyes were like ice. The daughter, Leki, didn’t bother hiding it; she was pouting with raw fury. Narumi just gave a bitter, helpless smile, clearly uncomfortable but remaining indifferent toward our plight.
”Wait, Sieben,” I said. “Why are you here? Don’t tell me someone important to you was kidnapped too?”
”Don’t be stupid,” Sieben snapped, his irritation finally bubbling through. “Think for a second. I am the one who called you here.”
”Sieben! It was you!? Why would you do this!? Is Nakim safe? Answer me!”
”He’s fine,” Sieben replied. “Unlike you ‘Heroes,’ I don’t kill without a reason. He’s currently receiving a very… warm welcome.”
”Hey! We don’t just go around killing people either!” Kodama shouted.
”Don’t lump us in with the ones who stayed behind at Plaudix!” Kijima Mei added.
”We aren’t that far gone!” Kijima Rei added too.
”Ha! Rich, coming from you,” Sieben sneered. “You lot were perfectly happy to let your own comrade die just to save your own pathetic skins.”
Kodama and The Twin Kijima flinched. The words struck like a physical blow. Even Narumi looked away, her face clouded with guilt. It was true. We had abandoned Natsumi to save ourselves. We lived with that regret every day, but hearing it spat back at us by a stranger cut deep.
”What? Nothing to say?”
”Maybe you’re right,” I said, my voice trembling. “We ran. We left a friend behind. I know that’s unforgivable. But that has nothing to do with kidnapping Nakim!”
”…You’re right. It doesn’t.”
”Then why!?”
Sieben let out a long, theatrical sigh, as if he couldn’t believe how slow I was. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s for my Vengeance against you all.”
With that, he reached for the two greatswords strapped to his back, drawing them in one smooth motion and leveling the blades at us.
Notes:
• Nakim – A thirteen-year-old boy with soft, androgynous features; the creator of the Dispel spell.
• Kodama – Kodama Satomi. A self-proclaimed fan of Chihiro. A bronzed girl with bleached hair. She uses Lightning Bolt sorcery. Her stats are noted to be higher than a Gargoyle’s, though she is not built for melee.
• Narumi – Narumi Honoka. A member of the relief team with healing magic. Despite her cute, short, ‘transistor glamour’ appearance, she is cold-hearted and mocks Sasaki. Black hair, black eyes.
• Sieben – Young man with black hair and a mask covering his eyes. He purchased Honoka and Ria.
• Leki – Lil’s daughter. Height: 140 cm, B-W-H: 70, 54, 69. She looks more like a Siberian Husky puppy than a wolf. Honestly, she just looks like a stuffed toy, recently transformed into a human form. Now use great axe as weapon.
• Mime – Former mercenary with short red hair, cat-eyed warrior, wheat-colored skin, and a toned, athletic build with visible abdominal muscles.
• Lil – One of the heroines. Height 166 cm, B-W-H: 90-56-90. She is a top-tier beauty with long indigo hair down to her waist, a large scar on her abdomen and sharp golden eyes. She has wolf ears and a tail.
• Mei – One of the Kijima twin sisters. She uses a longbow that creates arrows of light. She is part of Chihiro’s party in the Envyos Labyrinth.
• Rei – One of the Kijima twin sisters. The eldest one. She uses a spear and acts as the frontline defense for her sister. She demonstrates ‘perfect sync’ with Mei.
• Natsumi – The protagonist. Height 168 to 171 cm, weight 57 to 59 kg. He has a baby face, but he hides his eyes with his bangs. He was bullied by the Sugita gang just because his name sounded like a girl’s name.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply