Chapter 62

Chapter 62 : The Edge of Truth (4)

Her hair had been coiled and pinned with a long hairpin, yet her red hair still fell far below her waist, swaying and shimmering with even the smallest movement.

Tense, I looked at the hair tie she held out and nodded.

“It is nice.”

“Is that so? Then I shall buy one for you.”

Retu paid the shopkeeper in my place and held the tie out to me.

I accepted it, roughly gathered my hair, tied it into a tail, and thanked her.

“It is exactly the kind of tie I wanted. But what brings you here?”

“I came to meet Pan. He was away.”

“Ah, I heard he went to the Underworld.”

“I heard so too. I should have gone to the Spring instead, but I came here for nothing.”

“Is it urgent?”

“You speak just like his aide. No.”

As though she had business with me, Retu walked slowly through the night market and kept speaking to me.

“Is this place tolerable to live in?”

“It is not bad.”

I answered lightly and studied Retu’s languid face.

For some reason, she had an atmosphere that made her difficult to treat casually even without any obvious pressure.

I had heard from Ochel before that she had lived the longest among the rulers, and her way of speaking also sounded faintly like something from a historical drama, so it felt awkward to speak too freely with her.

No matter how young she looked on the outside, if the person inside was something like a great tiger several hundred years old, one ought to know one’s place.

“Do you still have something to say?”

“Ah, yes. I had something to tell Pan, but since he is absent, you shall hear it in his place.”

“Pardon……?”

Why me, when there were Pering, Ru, and all those people in the ruler’s castle?

Perhaps the question showed plainly on my face, because Retu laughed heartily and ruffled my hair.

Excuse me?

“Because you are qualified enough. The investigation of the Elder’s Soul is finished. There is something I must say regarding it.”

As I followed Retu through the night market, we arrived near the entrance before I realized it.

I thought of the Elder’s Soul that Ochel had taken with her last time, and my spine suddenly chilled, so I put just a little, very slightly more distance between us.

“You opened an office, I hear. Show me the way.”

It had been a while since I opened it, but still.

I was somewhat worried about Murel, whom I had left behind at the night market, but Konu was beside him, so I trusted he would not cause trouble and guided Retu.

There was barely anything to guide her to, really. If one walked just a little farther from the night market entrance, the Fixer office was right there.

Retu stood before the unlit office and showed interest in the weathered signboard. When I hurriedly opened the door, she stepped inside comfortably.

“There is something sinister here.”

“……?”

“I mean those.”

Retu pointed to the potted plant Pan had been raising and Etel’s doll, her brow furrowing. Then she waved a hand, created a faint mist, and hid them from view.

“One would be Pan’s scheme, and the other Etel’s, I suppose. Am I wrong?”

“That is more or less correct.”

Let us not ask what kind of schemes.

Out of habit, I boiled water to steep tea and guided Retu to a suitable seat.

During that time, she quietly sat there staring into empty air, or occasionally nodding, which chilled my spine. Still, I did not ask.

“Please speak comfortably. For now, it is only the two of us.”

I handed her tea and sat obediently across from her, ready to listen.

I judged that there had to be a reason she was telling me something meant for Pan instead of Pering.

“While investigating the Elder’s Soul, I learned something I should not have learned.”

“There was more than spying?”

“To call him a spy would be inaccurate. He hardly participated in that side of things. More importantly…….”

Her voice, lowered as far as it could go, kept striking my eardrums and scraping sensitively at my nerves.

Retu’s cautious gaze swept over the flickering lights of the night market, then returned.

“They have not found the traitor yet, I hear.”

“I heard there was too little information to dig any further. That was why the Elder’s Soul was entrusted to you, Lady Retu. Was there progress?”

“The aide is in danger.”

“By aide…… do you mean Pering?”

“Yes. There is a Forest Messenger. Have you perhaps seen it?”

“By any chance…… a bird?”

“That is right. That.”

I had seen it once or twice when Pering first guided me, and sometimes when I encountered him at the ruler’s castle.

A small bird would stay around Pering, then fly out through the window.

Because the bird seemed tame and interacted familiarly with Pering, I had assumed that since he was a member of the forest, it had some kind of special ability.

So that had been a messenger.

“Is that connected to the danger? It is just a messenger.”

“If that messenger was heading to the White Sea, would that not change the story?”

The White Sea was an Underworld region that touched the Black Forest.

Absurdity surged over me, and hollow laughter kept escaping.

Ha, I had suspected it, but it really was you?

“It seems you more or less understand.”

“If you mean Pering is the traitor, then yes.”

It had not been difficult to compare the discrepancy between the Original Work and Pering’s actions.

However, the method I had used to infer it belonged to an area I could not explain as “the Original Work,” so I had left it as suspicion because I could not find evidence.

“The immigration hall records remained until yesterday. Today, they were erased.”

No great incident or standard was needed to turn suspicion into certainty.

The result of small things piling up and falling did not need further explanation. It had brought the culprit right before my eyes.

That was why I had gone to Pering today and tested him.

“There are not many who can handle Forest Messengers. Pan, his aide, and the soul I investigated could all handle them.”

If it was Pering, I assumed he had expected the day he would be exposed from the moment the Elder’s Soul passed to Retu.

That was why he had made secret contact at the negotiation room, and afterward had even accompanied Karon to the former Sky’s Domain.

After returning, while Pan was absent, Pering had been absorbed in manipulating his traces within the Forest’s Domain.

Why? Why had he not run away already? Why had he not prepared an excuse? Because he was waiting for something.

I raised my head and told Retu the thought that had occurred to me.

“He was waiting for today.”

“Yes. He was likely waiting for the day I came.”

“……Are you waiting?”

For the day Pering would ruin things out of anxiety and create evidence that would tighten around his own throat.

Retu did not answer my question. She only smiled faintly and drank her cold tea.

The strength left my shoulders under a heavy sense of exhaustion, and I leaned back against the chair.

Because I was not so different from Retu.

I wanted him to make a mistake.

If there was no evidence, all one had to do was make some.

“This tea…… is delicious. Did you make it?”

“I offer it cheaply. You are a ruler, after all.”

“Is it something you sell?”

“Yes. Do you think I am running a business by digging money out of the ground?”

A business by digging money out of the ground. Since it only took a little labor to harvest it from trees growing everywhere, and even that labor mostly came with help.

“Then I shall have another cup.”

“I will prepare it for you.”

I filled her empty cup and brought out an unopened tea tin.

In the meantime, two people barged into the office. One was Murel, and the other was Konu, who had followed him.

The moment Konu saw Retu sitting there radiating energy, he froze stiff at the entrance.

“R-Ru, Ruler of the M-M-Mist!”

That look in his eyes was closer to admiration and respect than fear.

“It is an honor to meet you! My name is Konu! For me! To dare! To meet the Ruler of the Mist in person! May I make this day a family anniversary for generations?!”

As if his initial stammering had never happened, Konu rushed closer in an instant and began praising Retu with all kinds of flowery words.

I watched in disbelief, then gestured to Murel, who was still standing at the entrance.

“Why are you standing there?”

“……Is that not the one I respect most despite being an enemy?”

Since Murel considered her an enemy from his own past, he apparently could not openly behave like Konu. Instead, he awkwardly hid behind me.

Seeing Murel peek over my shoulder and look enviously at Konu, I pressed a hand to my forehead.

And all the while, Retu ignored the two of them and focused on drinking her tea, which was funny in itself.

“Konu, go back. You came without telling your parents, did you not?”

“Th-that! Yes. But! It is Lady Retu……!”

“That is what he says, Lady Retu.”

“It cannot be helped. You said your name was Konu?”

“Y-yes!”

“Come here.”

Retu pulled Konu close and patted his back.

“I hope death passes you by, and that you enjoy a long life.”

When she finally ruffled his hair and smiled faintly, I realized it was no different from the way she had ruffled my hair earlier.

So it was a habit.

A kindness offered by someone who had endured long years and had to watch over later generations.

Perhaps overwhelmed, Konu even teared up, then hugged Retu tightly once more and said,

“You too, Ruler! You have to live in a fun way!”

For an instant, interest surfaced in Retu’s languid expression, then quickly sank away.

“Fun, is it. I believe that may happen.”

Retu whispered softly by Konu’s ear, then smiled back at him as he waved and reluctantly turned away.

“Member of the Underground, do you want the same?”

Retu offered it to Murel behind my shoulder as well. But perhaps he thought it was not right to receive a pat from Retu, whom he had once thought of as an enemy, because he bit his lip tightly and turned around entirely, standing with his head pressed against the wall.

Reason had won.

“How has Ochel been lately? I heard she has been assisting you.”

“Ah, she is the same as always. She appears here and there whenever needed and helps…….”

“I heard you drew that child a picture.”

“You heard?”

“I saw it. It was quite good.”

I scratched the back of my head and felt strangely embarrassed.

It was a little awkward to have someone recognize a picture I had drawn comfortably because I thought no one would ever see it.

“I have finished my tea now, so let us slowly be on our way.”

“Are you going back?”

“……? You are coming too.”

“Pardon?”

“Since Pan is absent, should you not come with me in his place?”

“Must I?”

At this point?

Now, when Pering would cause whatever incident he was going to cause, she wanted me to leave and completely remove surveillance?

Suspicious, I did not move my feet from where they were planted on the floor. Retu laughed lightly and pushed my back.

“I did come with the purpose of meeting Pan and warning him, but I also have business with you.”

When did you ever know me?

Was the Mist’s Domain not the land where the dead stood beside you and gave high-fives?

“I hear you do Fixer work. I shall formally commission you. There is something you must do for me.”

“You know that is a little underhanded, right?”

“For that reason, I shall give you something tempting.”

Do you even know what I want? I did not ask.

I was simply a little worried about Pering’s next move, Murel stuck in a corner, Fluffnix, who had flown off since morning to explore the forest, and all the other things they might do from here on.

“Am I going alone?”

“Is there someone you would bring?”

“Murel, can you stay quietly behind?”

“I have always been quiet, but leaving My Lord alone is a sorrowful thing.”

Since that sounded like a demand to bring him no matter what, I understood it as his answer that he could not stay. That was indeed what it meant.

“There is also a Phantasmal Species. One I take care of.”

“It does not matter. However many come, it is the same. But that place is difficult for Phantasmal Species to endure.”

“He will probably be fine.”

“Then it would be best to leave immediately.”

I thought we would at least go to the immigration hall, but we did not.

The moment dark patterns surfaced on Retu’s face, Fluffnix flew in through the open window, and at the same time, thick mist enveloped the entire office.