Chapter 183
Chapter 183
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: Dancing with Alice (5)
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The Spring Flower Festival was a massive event, hosted across rented-out roads, parks, and exhibition halls.
If you were to spread out a map and trace its boundaries, you’d see just how vast its scale was.
Moreover, the visitors wandering the area were predominantly human rather than metahuman.
This was because the festival was aimed more at outsiders than at the residents of Nighthaven.
Besides, it was rare for such a large and extravagant festival to rely solely on domestic attendance.
And it wasn’t uncommon for people to visit Nighthaven for tourism…
All told, the number of visitors to this festival was estimated in the hundreds of thousands!
Therefore, trying to find a single person here without any means of contact was like searching for a single grain of colored sand on a beach.
Especially when that person was Renji Sakuragi, whose ability to suppress his presence was on a completely different level.
Even a mage with the most exceptional tracking magic would have struggled!
‘Echo, can you find Renji Sakuragi’s location for me?’
[ Yes, I will begin the search immediately. ]
For me, however, finding Renji Sakuragi wasn’t all that difficult.
The reason was quite simple: he was a foreigner who had crossed the sea from Japan.
Even if he was a metahuman, Renji Sakuragi was still a man with Japanese citizenship.
To cross the border and enter Nighthaven, he would have had to carry a passport.
In this day and age, with the advent of magic, electronic passports were trusted far more than paper ones.
It was highly likely that he still had his passport on him somewhere.
And those e-passports, with their incredible security that made them seem unhackable, were a delectable treat for Echo.
[ I have found him. I will mark his location on the map. ]
‘Okay, thank you.’
I’m so glad Renji Sakuragi is a foreigner.
Relieved to see his location appear on the screen, I hurried toward the marked spot.
The location Echo had pinpointed was none other than the festival’s northern sector—a flowery hill.
According to the guidebook, they had planted various flowers in an existing park to create something like an open-air garden…
Perhaps because it was around lunchtime, or maybe because there were so many other attractions?
The northern sector seemed less popular than I’d expected, looking quite secluded compared to other areas.
‘Well… the east has all sorts of activity booths, and the west is packed with concerts and performances. It makes sense that the north, which just has flowers, would be less popular.’
Of course, it wasn’t completely empty, as there were people who enjoyed strolling or admiring the scenery.
But it was a world away from the other sectors, where it was so crowded you were constantly bumping shoulders with people.
But if I had to say, this was actually better.
I had to somehow persuade Renji with my pitifully clumsy speaking ability.
Facing him one-on-one was far better than having a lot of people passing by.
[ We have arrived. The target is approximately 30 meters away. ]
“...!”
Alright, I can do this. For Alice, and for myself!
Clenching my fists and steeling my resolve, I approached Renji, who was standing motionlessly on the hill.
...No, to be precise, I was about to approach when I froze in place.
As if he had easily detected my stealthy movements, Renji suddenly turned around.
An awkward silence stretched between me, frozen in an unnatural posture, and him, quietly looking down at me.
In the still atmosphere, where only the flowers danced gently in the wind, it was Renji who spoke first.
“You’re the one Alice cares for…”
“...?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“...!”
Was it because we had seen each other once before?
We hadn't exchanged a single word, but he seemed to recognize me immediately.
No, perhaps he’d known about me for a while now…
I gulped, feeling the pressure from his silent gaze alone.
Still, I had to do what I came here to do. I couldn’t back down now.
Recalling the image of Alice’s pale, sorrowful face, I strengthened my resolve.
And when I was just two steps away, close enough to reach him.
I brought out the only solution I had come up with to persuade Renji.
“Alice! Wan… ts… st…!”
“...Hm?”
“Alice! St… ay…!”
“...”
This damned condition.
Just as always, my voice refused to come out the way I wanted.
I wanted to say, *Alice wants to stay in Nighthaven*.
But all that came out of my mouth was incomprehensible gibberish.
Still, no matter how much I thought about it, this was the only thing I could do.
Alice was in such a listless state right now that no amount of persuasion would get through to her.
To change the situation, winning over this old man was the only solution!
“Hmm…”
Was it that Renji simply couldn't understand what I was trying to say?
Furrowing his brow, he strode toward me.
His face was so frightening it would have made a child burst into tears.
My shoulders trembled involuntarily, despite my firm resolve.
But I didn’t back away. I planted my feet firmly and held my ground.
I had to see this through, and there was no backing down now!
As if he knew of my desperate, all-out effort.
He closed the distance, then knelt on one knee, lowering himself to my level and asking bluntly.
“So, what about Alice?”
At a glance, he seemed completely indifferent, as if he had no interest whatsoever.
It was a perfectly composed demeanor, one you would never expect from someone discussing their own daughter.
If Raven had been here instead of me, he probably would have doubted if this man was truly Alice’s father.
Considering his rude attitude toward Raven earlier and his high-handed declaration to Alice, it wouldn’t be strange to think so…
But I, who remembered the contents of the original story clearly, knew the truth.
Right now, he was holding onto a small sliver of hope that he might learn of Alice’s thoughts through me!
‘This man, as it turns out, is very interested in his daughter… You could say he’s the type who looks after his child clumsily.’
Come to think of it, his actions so far hadn’t been entirely devoid of such signs.
Like how he reacted as if he already knew about Raven and me.
Or how Lily, unlike Alice, called Renji ‘Dad’ in a relatively friendly way.
And the fact that he hadn’t cast out Alice, the cursed oni, but had kept her with Lily.
The reason it felt off to say he wielded his daughter like a tool was because of this.
‘Haa, I had a feeling… As I thought, this part is just like the original story.’
If that was the case, it was highly likely that, just like in the original, he had hired people to gather information in advance.
Of course, if he had assigned someone to follow them directly, the perceptive Raven or Alice would have noticed immediately.
So he would have done it indirectly, asking people nearby for rumors or hearing about incidents secondhand.
In that case, to him, I was probably ‘the white-haired girl Alice is strangely attached to.’
The reason he was willing to listen to me, a sudden visitor, instead of turning me away, was likely thanks to that information.
‘Then again, the parts that have changed are mostly from after I arrived in Nighthaven. Everything before that is probably the same. It’s not a good thing that Alice’s mother’s death is unchanged, though…’
It was the kind of strained relationship you could find anywhere in the world.
Alice had closed her heart out of guilt, believing she had caused her mother’s death.
And Renji, lost after his wife’s death, didn’t know how to approach the daughter he had neglected.
What’s more, Renji was a man who, despite his great power, was a near-failure as a father.
It was only natural that their relationship didn’t heal and the scars only deepened.
If Alice knew that Renji did, in his own way, acknowledge her as his child and wanted to be closer, things might have been a little different…
But in the end, peering into someone’s heart is impossible unless you’re a god. So, in the end, they just grew further apart.
‘Still, trying to arrange her engagement without even asking her opinion was too much. Sure, Alice would naturally settle down in Japan then, but would their relationship ever properly improve?’
It was an act that considered only the result, with no thought for the process.
Of course, having been born and raised in another world with a different culture, perhaps this was the best method he could come up with.
Still, it’s a relief that Renji’s inner thoughts aren’t too different from the original story.
I sighed in relief inwardly and, with renewed determination, carefully removed the fox mask from my face.
Seeing my face from behind the mask, Renji raised his eyebrows in what seemed like genuine surprise.
But I had no time to worry about that. I focused on conveying my meaning as slowly and clearly as possible.
“Alice… Nigh… th… heav… en…”
“Alice… Nighthaven?”
“Wants… to… stay…”
Ugh, this is my absolute limit.
*Snap.* I felt a snapping sensation, followed by a sharp sting and a metallic taste in my throat.
I instinctively clamped my mouth shut as the world suddenly started to spin.
I must have run out of breath from forcing out words that wouldn’t come.
My vision went dark for a moment, and a powerful wave of dizziness made my legs give out.
‘I’m… falling…’
Just as I reflexively tried to use my psychokinesis to stop the dizzy spell.
A sudden warmth drew near, and a pair of arms caught me, embracing my body ever so lightly.
Once my ragged breathing finally subsided, I saw Renji holding me up with an indifferent expression.
Had he caught me so I wouldn’t fall? His terrifying face, however, made me doubt his intentions.
But he seemed to have been focused on what I was trying to say. After a long silence, his brow still furrowed, he glanced down at me and asked.
“She wants to stay in Nighthaven. Is that what my daughter thinks?”
“...”
It felt as if I had been singing nonstop for hours.
I could even taste the metallic tang of blood, so I figured my throat must have been slightly injured.
But now was not the time to worry about such a minor pain.
I had somehow succeeded in conveying my message, so now I had to drive the point home.
Therefore, I furrowed my brow with determination and nodded my head vigorously.
It was an emphatic assertion, a way of showing there wasn't a shred of falsehood in what I was conveying.