Chapter 18 : The Inner Struggle of The Dark Knight 2
*Adolphus PoV
One week has pa.s.sed since Reanschild"s disappearance.
Despite looking for her in every single inch of this place, I completely have no idea what happened to her.
Honestly, I am no good at this sort of job. I am much better in fighting enemies who stood in my ways then in these sort of task. Right now though, I had absolutely no idea what sort of enemy I"m facing right now and which direction I"m supposed to point my sword in.
The matter of Reanschild vanishing just like that was inconceivable. However, that was the truth I am facing now. The only question remaining in my head was why did she vanished? Did she got embroiled in something? Or was she simply running away from home?
In the first place, the matter of her running away from home because she got involved with something shady was inconceivable. And the only thing that was out of the norm around here in recent time was Lefiya"s arrival from human world to the Maou"s castle.
Even then, Lefiya seemed like she is slowly getting accustomed to her situation in this place.
Though, in contrast with her appearance, her behavior was surprisingly cheeky. I have never seen her just standing in silence. Rather than that, she is the kind that would say "Bring it ON!" without hesitation. Then again, I"m always going to say abusive words whenever I saw humans face. It"s an impulse of mine. Though I do wondered what caused her inside to be so disappointing compared to her outer appearance.
Keh. Don"t get distracted. It"s not the time to be thinking of that Lefiya. Right now, Reanschild was more important. I drove away THAT face and its owner to the corner of my head.
That stupid looking face always came to my mind recently. Was THAT la.s.s actually some sort of evil spirit? How abhorrent.
Oh s.h.i.t……….. Let"s think about Reanschild disappearance now.
Losing my patience would be counterproductive to what I wanted. Besides, at the moment, I could only pray for her safety, as long as she stayed safe and sound, then I"d be able to settle the rest.
Even if I understood that, I"m still really angry at myself who could only pray for her safety for now instead of rushing to her rescue.
Though it"s not like it didn"t occur to me to use my position to have the royal knights look for her as fast as possible, I couldn"t do that kind of thing.
The royal knights exist for his majesty. I couldn"t move the royal knights for my own personal reasons such as searching for my little sister whose life or death can"t be confirmed in the current situation.
I"d prefer for her to be involved in some sort of troublesome situation.
「……… I"m such a fool. What the h.e.l.l am I thinking about 」
I desperately denied the thought that crossed my mind.
Even being an idiot has a limit.
With that last thought, I stood still and took a deep breath to calm my wayward thought.
OH SHIET. I"m in a dead end.
Something. I had to do something. Anything would do, please give me a hint, where should I be looking for her right now? For my peace of mind, I need to do something to find her.
There should be some hint. But, I didn"t know what hint I"m supposed to be looking for. I"m no good at this finding hint stuffs, though, it would really irritate me if she found some clue first.
However, I thought that she might really be able to find some clue since she"s looking for it with such fervor. Though such epiphany wouldn"t come to my mind even if I was looking for it with the same intensity as her. My mind was not brilliant after all.
So, that girl might really be able to find her. I wondered though about what the h.e.l.l is that girl looking for lately?
She was always looking at…
the attendants who disappeared around the corner.
That"s right. She"s always looking at someone.
When that realization came to me, an uncomfortable feeling rose in my chest.
「Hold on」
I stopped the maid.
What was this uncomfortable feeling? From where did she come?
Whilst I was thinking that, the maid stopped her gait and turned around as I ordered.
What was strange about her? I felt that something was different with this maid. But, what made her different?
It"s not the location nor the time. Was it her attire? It"s not that either.
Was it her posture? Expression? Hairdo? Behavior? The color of her skin? Nope, that"s not it.
However, I still felt that sense of discomfort and I was searching for the source of that faint feeling.
I simply couldn"t overlook her somehow.
By a coincidence, I noticed Lefiya was smiling lightly. And from her flaxen colored hair, I could smell a faint smell that drifted away.
…………. Smell.
「Yes…………… It"s the smell. Why was such a smell drifting from your body? This is………. ……… Demon incense, right? 」
The maid"s face instantly turns pale.
The smell of demon incense. Something that is used to bait demons. Maid. Disappearance. Intoxicating drug.
Those words finally connected to each other.
When I finally realized the truth, the maid threw the bag that she brought with her at me, escaping during that split moment I was distracted.
It"s my fault for not deducing my opponent"s train of thought. When I brushed it with my hand, however, the contents of that bag scattered all over my body.
I chased after that maid, deciding to ignore the fine powder all over my body..
「WAIT! YOU b.a.s.t.a.r.d！」
However, that momentary lapse of attention, made me lose track of her. I wouldn"t give up though.
I"ve finally found the hint I was searching for. I"ve finally come this far.
LIKE h.e.l.l I"M GOING TO LET THAT MAID GO!!
I opened the closest door with all my might without holding back.
「BUGOOOOO! ? 」
The door opened along with a loud scream.
「SO it"s lord Barlunt office」
「ARGH. What"s with the sudden intrusion」
It seems that I used up too much force when I opened the door as I could see Lord Barlunt was standing whilst placing his palm on his face.
My apologies.
Even though I was was irritated and only chose the most possible room where that maid disappeared into, I didn"t notice that it was Lord Barlunt"s room.
Both of us was victim in this case.
「I saw a suspicious person, but lost a sight of her. And it seems I"ve entered the wrong room. My apologies」
「Don"t worry. I was about to look for you after all. Your coming is saving a lot of my time. Urgh」
「No, I have to look for that person」
I, who was racing against the time, was forced to go inside the room. Even though I was in a hurry since I finally grasped the clue I was searching for desperately. I definitely wouldn"t let go of this clue, the clue to Reanschild"s whereabout. However, it"s not like I could fight against Lord Barlunt.
「It was something that I promised to find for you. It won"t take a lot of your time. Since I"m just going to give it to you」
「For, me?」
Faint mist is covering a corner in my head.
Was that the effect of demon incense that was poured on me a while ago.
It seems I directly inhaled that powder.
Though I can resist it to some degree, that d.a.m.nable thing is mixed with something that amplifies it"s effect.
This might be due to my own immature self.
「Urgh. My nose is going numb from the extremely powerful smell of that flower. Sorry for the wait. Here, the things that were requested by your little sister」
「By………… Reanschild?」
My consciousness is pulled back in hearing that unexpected name.
Reanschild"s request……… To lord Barlunt?
Such an unexpected situation caused another question to appear in my mind.
After we enter the room, lord Barlunt took a long and slender box which gave a solemn atmosphere in his hand. This boorish box is somehow feels ominous to me.
「This is？ Something that Reanschild requested from you? 」
「If possible, I would like to give this to your little sister, but I couldn"t find her nowadays. So it"s only reasonable that I give this thing to you since it"s also related to you」
「By all means, it should be given to Rean-……….」
「The name on this thing"s inscription is 『Suzumori』」
My body jerked in hearing that name.
I couldn"t believe what I just heard from lord Barlunt.
「I finally found this thing after looking around in the human world. I had a hard time finding this one, but it"s pretty much rewarding as long as I can give this thing to you guys」
Suzumori. He definitely said that name. Suzumori.
There"s no way I can forget the name that is inscribed in my memories.
Suzumori. It"s the name of our mother.
Our mother who was hunted for her skull and fell in the human world.
And this thing is inscribed with her name.
The meaning is clear. In short.
「Please take this. Because you, pair of siblings have the right to take this」
My body moved on its own.
It"s as if I forgot about my reasoning.
What I"m about to do right now.
I took the box with my hands and opened it.
A naked katana lay inside the box.
Somehow, it felt like someone from somewhere was trying to stop me.
But, it didn"t stop my hand from reaching towards it.
Or should I say, it"s as if I"m tempted to touch the handle of the katana.
Then, I touched the handle of the katana.
A powerful cursed tool that used the skull of a yaksha princess as one of it"s materials.
I touched the handle of cursed katana with Suzumori"s, our mother name inscribed on it.