Sunflowers

Chapter 48: Sunflowers

White Cliff town is located in the suburbs of Backlund, which is a part of The Land of Hope. The region has many small towns and villages that are primarily inhabited by workers who have migrated from the countryside in search of a better life.

Upon arriving at their destination, William felt somewhat out of place due to the dirty streets and smog that had blackened the air. It was strange that passersby did not give them strange looks, considering that the Red Gloves were dressed in black trench coats and expensive hats. William assumed that Cesimir was doing something to make them blend in with the locals.

'Beyonders of Sequence 5 have mysterious abilities. They may not have as much physical power as I do, but they are far from simple,' he thought absently. The captain turned to look at him, as if he had noticed his thoughts.

"My Beyonder powers allow me to conceal certain things. It's a useful ability for quests, but it can only be used on regular people until I reach a higher Sequence," he explained with a smile.

"Hm, we have the Captain to thank for this. I can't imagine having to deal with thieves in the middle of a mission," Edward said as he walked gracefully, though he seemed a bit put off by the sewage smell that he still hadn't gotten used to.

Alfred Jones snorted. "You're a Beyonder, and you still worry about these things. You bourgeois are always like that," he sneered at Edward.

The bespectacled man didn't even hear him and continued walking.

"Come on, this is not the time for discussions. You two seem like an old married couple," Alastor laughed at his own joke. William couldn't tell if he was trying to stop them or join the discussion.

Cesimir heaved an exasperated sigh. "Enough. We are approaching the area where we lost contact with the Nighthawks," he announced in a firm voice.

Immediately, all of them stopped joking and went into their professional mode. William had experience as a Nighthawk, so he had no problem adjusting to the seriousness of the moment.

Not long after, they reached an area with no houses. It was noon, and the sunflowers danced slightly in the wind, reflecting the sunlight.

"The last signal we received was from this area. There may be a clue nearby," Crestet turned to Alfred, who understood what he was asking.

Alfred reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendulum attached to a string. William couldn't help but remember Klein.

'I'll contact him in a few days to make sure he's okay. I also have to talk to Benson and Melissa,' he made a mental note to speak to the Moretti family.

While he lost himself in thought, Alfred performed a divination. "Is there a hidden danger in this area?" he muttered, repeating the question six more times in his head.

Instantly, the pendulum began to swing clockwise, surprising Alfred who frowned.

The sunflowers continued dancing slightly in the wind as the five Red Gloves looked around the area. Henri Nour, the tanned man, had stayed behind in Backlund, as it was a squadron rule to always have someone guarding the base while the others were on a mission.

"There is no danger," Alfred announced. However, it did little to reassure the others as there were several ways to avoid divinations.

"Try something else," Crestet ordered.

Alfred nodded and prepared his spirituality once more. "Is this site dangerous for us or for an ordinary person?"

Once again, the pendulum swung clockwise, indicating that there was no danger, even for an ordinary person.

"This is going to be more complicated than I thought," Alfred muttered.

The squadron captain then ordered them to look for anything that might be related to the missing persons, but there was nothing unusual about the area.

After a fruitless search, the team decided to take a break and grab a bite to eat. They returned to the area to continue searching, but still found nothing out of place.

"Enough for today. Let's go reserve some rooms at the hostel. Tomorrow, we'll try to ask the villagers. Although I didn't want to attract attention, it seems inevitable," Crestet said, motioning for them to stop.

The team agreed, as it didn't seem like they were making any progress with their current approach.

They went to the only hostel in town that didn't seem to be cursed by each and every demon in existence, and went to bed early.

At night, everything was dark. There was a desolate plain and the sky turned a dark golden color.

It was cold, very cold...

"Wake up."

William's eyes snapped open and he put a hand on Debris's hilt.

"A nightmare?" He muttered in confusion.

Only then did he realize that he had been crying.

'What was that?' His heart was racing. 'There's no way that was a normal dream.

He decided to take a walk to calm his mind. He noticed that the wind had stopped, the town was much calmer than during the day, since everyone needed to rest to go to work in the morning.

He wandered the streets aimlessly, still thinking about the vivid dream he had. Even if he didn't remember what he had seen, he remembered the cold he felt.

A sound distracted him from his thoughts, he realized that he had strayed a bit from the town and had actually reached the area with the sunflowers.

The flowers kept moving with the wind, giving a feeling of harmony to the silent landscape.

William was about to return when a chill ran down his spine.

'Wait...'

In fact, it was all too quiet.

The sunflowers moved to the rhythm of the wind.

But there was no wind.