The Call Goes Unanswered
The inn hadn’t been that quiet after all. As I descended the stairs, I could sense quite a crowd on the first floor. It seemed the restaurant was popular not only with guests but with outside customers as well.
“Ah, Mr. Birette. I hope your room was to your liking. Have you come down for a meal?”
The innkeeper, seated at the counter, greeted me warmly. She tilted her head briefly at the sight of Bagloros following behind me, but said nothing further.
“Yes. Do you have a table for two?”
“Of course. Please follow me.”
She led us personally into the dining area. The restaurant was larger than I had expected. With the entrance, counter, and stairs taking up space, the entire first floor had been converted into seating, so it was no small establishment.
Though a few tables were empty, most were occupied. Each one held bottles of wine and drinks alongside what looked like roast duck.
“Please have a seat here.”
She guided us to a relatively good table—somewhat apart from the others, yet not tucked into a corner, and lit well enough by a nearby candle.
“Today’s recommendation is the roast duck. The chef’s special sauce is applied before oven-roasting, and the other guests have responded quite favorably.”
Looking around, no other dishes were visible on the neighboring tables, so following the recommendation seemed wise. Whether it was truly the chef’s specialty or simply the only dish they could serve at the moment, I couldn’t tell.
“Then bring us four portions, please.”
“Four portions? Mr. Birette, we serve generous portions per person. There’s no need to order so much.”
She seemed proud of that fact. I offered her the most polite smile I could manage.
“Just bring them. This friend of mine eats far more than he appears to.”
She nodded reluctantly.
“Understood. If anything remains, we can store it for you, so please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Once she left, I studied Bagloros sitting across from me. His expression remained as blank as ever, yet I thought I caught a faint trace of anticipation in his eyes.
“Did you ever eat while you were in the mountains?”
“No.”
“Not even once?”
“No.”
That method had been far more efficient for him. Unlike eating, it allowed him to last three days on a single use.
“But you could have lit a fire and roasted something.”
Bagloros never cared about taste or ingredients. If he had wanted to, he could have roasted a wyvern or any other creature. Poison was never a concern for him.
“Eating alone tastes bad.”
I knew those words. They were what Rowell had said the first time Bagloros joined us for a meal.
“Yes. That’s true.”
The sun always draws those who have lived in darkness toward it, no matter where they are.
A short while later, a server brought the food and set it on the table. The four portions were indeed substantial, just as the innkeeper had warned. As she had said, one portion would have been enough for an ordinary person.
Bagloros showed no hesitation. He quietly picked up a piece of roast duck and brought it to his mouth. Even this amount was slightly insufficient for him.
I reached for a piece as well. The innkeeper had been right—the flavor was good. The slightly spicy yet sweet sauce had soaked into the meat, and the texture was excellent.
Though he showed no outward reaction, Bagloros seemed quite satisfied.
“So, have you finished gathering information?”
“No.”
Right. I’d made the same mistake again.
“How much have you gathered so far?”
“I’ll soon make contact with informants and other assassins. Some of them should know what we need.”
“But there’s no guarantee they’ll tell us willingly. No, never mind. Forget I said that.”
If anyone refused to speak, Bagloros would handle it. Even if someone did resist, he was more than capable of resolving the matter.
“What exactly are you trying to find out?”
“The current state of the High Assassin Guild. And the location of the man who attacked you.”
I reached for another piece of meat. It wasn’t so much that I was hungry as that I couldn’t think of any questions that wouldn’t end in a one-word answer.
“Do you know the man who attacked me?”
“Yes.”
“Is he somewhat famous?”
“Yes.”
“For what? Is he skilled?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t taken any direct hits thanks to the equipped barrier, but the speed he had shown while dealing with Grendels had certainly been impressive.
“He’s known in the industry for exaggerated behavior and a bizarre personality. At least when I last saw him, his skill was at the level of a mid-rank assassin. I don’t know whether his abilities have improved since then or if the guild’s evaluation standards have changed.”
As expected, he was famous more for his personality than his skill. That madness I had glimpsed in his eyes was far too abnormal, even for an assassin.
“What’s his name?”
“Playwright Raze.”
Playwright. I had expected something like Mad Hatter or at least a nickname implying insanity, but it was far more refined than I had imagined.
After that, we continued eating in silence. There were more things I wanted to ask, but every question I could think of would likely receive nothing but a “yes,” so I simply closed my mouth.
Once we finished, we returned to our room. Incidentally, the innkeeper’s expression when she saw the completely empty plates while collecting payment was quite memorable.
“I’m going out.”
“You said you’d meet the assassins soon. Why not rest for today?”
“No, thank you, but I’m fine.”
This must have been in the memory crystal. Bagloros’s intonation as he answered was excessively perfect. He changed his appearance again, and the young boy’s form soon vanished.
“When will you be back?”
“Breakfast time.”
He opened the window, leaped out, and disappeared into the darkness. I walked over slowly, closed the window, and took the crystal from my pocket. It was fortunate I hadn’t forgotten to ask about the time.
After that, we stayed in the village for two more days. Bagloros went out to gather information except during meal times, while I wandered around the city or spent time with Ropena in Denatel’s Library.
It had been a while since I’d been in a city, so the experience felt fresh, but there wasn’t much to do. The more I walked, the more the scars from the last great war became visible, leaving only a bitter taste.
The slums. The entertainment district. The back alleys. Suffering filled those places without exception, yet there were no solutions, no enemies to defeat. The clothes in my bag were all ones I had already worn, so I bought a new set to avoid making Bagloros suspicious. Other than that, I did nothing for the past two days.
“So we’re leaving now?”
“Yes.”
The information Bagloros had gathered was quite detailed, but he still hadn’t found the whereabouts of the red-haired man—Raze. Bagloros said that was a good sign, and I agreed. It meant the information we had obtained was less likely to be false.
Even so, what we had learned so far was enough to narrow down the next location. He was closely connected to one of the High Assassin Guild’s leaders, and that leader held influence over Peltecheru and its surrounding regions while opposing another leader.
Therefore, even if we couldn’t reach Raze or his contact directly, investigating the area would surely yield far more detailed information.
“All right. Let’s meet there, then.”
“Yes.”
Bagloros left through the window once more. We could have departed together, but unlike me, who had to reach a place where Erill could land, Bagloros alone could arrive at the destination much faster. Even if I reached there first, there would be nothing for me to do except wait at an inn.
“Thank you for your patronage. We look forward to your next visit.”
After expressing my gratitude to the innkeeper and the boy for their service over the past few days, I signed the checkout form and left the inn. The innkeeper had tried to return part of the lodging fee due to our unexpectedly early departure, leading to a pleasant exchange. As she had said, if I ever had reason to return to the area, this was a place I would gladly use again.
I walked slowly toward the city gates. Bagloros had already left, so there was no need for me to hurry, but I still wanted to exit while the sun was up. Leaving after dark would only complicate the procedures, and in the worst case, the guards might demand bribes again.
Of course, my coin purse was now full of pel, and I had change from buying clothes, so there was no need to offer silver coins like when I arrived. Still, this wasn’t about the amount—it was about principle.
Once I had put some distance between myself and the city, I summoned Erill.
“……?”
She didn’t respond. I tried again, just in case, but there was still no answer. She had known I would call for her soon, and she had no reason to refuse the summons.
At the very least, the contract and her life were intact. If the contract had been broken in any way, I would have known.
But that didn’t mean nothing had happened to her.
Sentences appeared in the air. Black characters spread across the surroundings, followed by red ones. Soon, a circular passage of flames formed in the sky, while a pool filled with black liquid appeared on the ground.
It was the first time I had performed a simultaneous summoning since the last great war, but fortunately my senses hadn’t dulled enough to fail.
From the flaming gate emerged countless red-eyed creatures with bat-like wings, flying out in a swarm. From the black pool, a strange and ominous shadow slowly emerged. Once the black liquid drained away, what appeared were grotesque monsters—decayed, half-feathered hybrids of crows and humans.
Those red eyes belonged to the Red Eyes, reconnaissance demons, while the grotesque monsters were Puppet Crows. Normally servants and gatekeepers under witches, they had come under my control after we dealt with the black witch assembly in Antols.
“Find Erill.”
At my command, the Red Eyes and Puppet Crows scattered in all directions. The swift Red Eyes were one thing, but the large, slow Puppet Crows didn’t seem well-suited for searching. Still, their eyes were just as useful as the Red Eyes that covered the sky.
The Puppet Crows—monsters created by ancient witches in imitation of Mugin, the sacred crow that served the great gods—had dead eyes that could reflect not only the present but also the recent past. While I couldn’t specify the exact time, being able to glimpse even a fragment of the past was invaluable for tracking and searching.
The search continued for quite some time. Only as the sun began to set did we finally find traces of Erill. Through a Puppet Crow’s eyes, I saw her flying, her trail leading toward the Ancient Forest—specifically, a deep valley deep within it.
During the search, half of the summoned Red Eyes and several Puppet Crows had been lost to monsters, but that had been expected. Though the Puppet Crows were relatively strong, the Red Eyes possessed almost no combat ability. The Ancient Forest, filled with all kinds of monsters, was hardly an ideal place for them to search. Sacrificing some had been unavoidable.