34 Th-This isn't a date! [4/5]

"Uncle Marcel?" Navia recognized who approached them and turned around. "Oh right, we—"

"Ahem."

Just then, Navia heard someone clearing their throat and disrupting her sentence. Turning around, she saw Furina's suspicious gaze. "Have I perchance heard you mention the Masked Clown giving you a paper?"

On the side, Marcel spoke in shock. "Oh-Oh! My, if it isn't Lady Furina!"

The middle-aged man, who had blonde hair and a silver eyeglass, said in surprise. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

'...not bad.' Isaac rolled his eyes as he saw Marcel's acting. '...worse compared to mine tho.'

"The pleasure is all mine." Furina smiled with elegance as she looked at Marcel. She then turned to Navia. "Well then... About that letter. You would let me see it, right?"

"Lady Furina, this is..." Navia looked at Furina with a calm expression, however, to Isaac, it was obvious that she was feeling helpless.

'What's gotten her so anxious?' Isaac thought. He then looked at the note Marcel was holding. 'I... Didn't send that letter.'

'That means...' His deep amber eyes then moved to Marcel, who looked innocent in the situation. 'Trying to use my name, huh?'

Isaac had to be honest.

He wasn't noble, nor have a strong sense of justice to the point that he'll become a brainless protagonist of some novel.

However, the urge to shoot Marcel was so overwhelming that Isaac had to bite his lips to stop himself.

He had admitted it before.

He was nice to those nice to him, and preferred peace rather than violence. However, he was also someone who never forgets conflicts and grudges.

'How petty of me...' Isaac's deep amber eyes glistened as he silently observed the situation.

'Call down, Isaac.' Isaac drew in some air and sighed lightly. 'Now's not the time.'

'He'll have his time.' He thought as his eyes focused on Marcel. The events of the game soon flashed in his mind. 'Right... He'll get what he deserves in time.'

'And...'

'I'll be there to make it worse for him.' Right now, Isaac was quietly brewing up a plan. 'Yeah... Your life would end spectacularly once every cast is present.'

He then decided to speak up, "Excuse me... But may I ask when and where you received that letter?"

Navia looked at Isaac and hesitated before speaking, "Oh, It was... Found inside a dead body near the docks a few hours ago."

"...?" Isaac heard this and nodded lightly before writing it down in his notepad. However, deep inside, he was fuming. 'How tasteless. If you're going to use my name, at least make a spectacle out of it. Eugh.'

"A dead body?" Furina, on the side, asked. Her face then showed signs of anger. "That scoundrel... He even committed murder?"

"Calm down, Lady Furina." Navia sighed as she shook her head. "For now, we still haven't found out if it's the real Masked Clown or an impostor."

"That's why... That's why we were thinking of confirming it." She added with a firm tone. "If it's the Masked Clown— we will capture him, and if not, the impostor will pay for playing with Spina Di Rosula."

Isaac heard this and his ears perked up for a bit. 'Huh? From the way she words it...'

'Strange... why is she protecting me?' Isaac noticed Navia's abnormality. It was obvious that Navia didn't want the officials to capture the Masked Clown, a.k.a, him. He then made a bold guess. '...does she perhaps feel somewhat indebted to me for pointing out the Primordial Seawater and its relation to what her father was investigating?'

'Yeah, that guess might be not far off the mark.' He nodded to himself before leaning over to Furina and nudging her a bit.

"Wha—" Furina sensed Isaac's nudging and was just about to retaliate when she noticed Isaac's signal.

'Ask her about the paper!'

'Oh-Oh right! Yes! Thank you for the reminder, my assistant!'

Although they didn't verbally speak, they instantly knew what the other meant.

She then looked at Navia. "Well, in that case, what exactly was written on the letter given to you by the Masked Clown?"

Navia hesitated to answer, however, in the end, she agreed. She then looked at Marcel. "Uncle Marcel, please give the paper to Lady Furina."

"...okay." Marcel also hesitated for a moment before handing the paper.

"Thank you." Isaac was the first to take it before showing it to Furina.

"This is..." Isaac read the paper and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

[Meet me at this location during sunset. There, you shall receive answers.]

It was a short letter, however, each word was written neatly. At the bottom, a map and coordinate was present.

'Dogsh*t!" Isaac cursed internally. 'I would never write anything like this! At most, I would have given Navia a riddle!'

'This is not in character at all!" Isaac complained inside his mind. 'You have no taste, Vacher!'

'Killing women serially for the last twenty years must have fried your brain!' Isaac's forehead's vein throbbed. He was enraged and offended.

'Professionals have standards!' He drew in some air and sighed. 'Not this garbage!'

He then calmed down.

"Well, it seems... Straightforward." Isaac cleared his throat as he said with his usual languid voice. "A little too much, if you ask me..."

"Ugh, how dull." Furina read the letter and expressed her opinion. "The Masked Clown should have at least given a riddle or something— I'm starting to suspect that this isn't him at all."

'See! It's not just me!' Isaac wanted to high-five Furina right now, but his circumstances didn't allow that. He then nodded, "Miss Furina is right. This letter is not only to the point but also lacks creativity— in other words, bland."

"Mhm, that's right!" Furina turned her head and proudly looked at Isaac. She then looked at Navia and Marcel. "So as you see, me and my assistant agree that this has no bravado in it, unlike what the Masked Clown showed in Palais Mermonia."

"Still," Furina raised her forefinger. "It has come to our understanding that this should be investigated."

"Right, my dear assistant?" She looked beside her and raised her head. Due to their small height difference, she had to look up to Isaac from time to time.

Her height was somewhere around 168cm, whereas Isaac was around 180cm.

In other terms, about 2.77 Baguettes and 2.58 Baguettes, respectively.

"Well..." Isaac had to be honest. This was obviously a trap set up by Marcel to lure in and dispose of Navia. 'Well... I can't just let her walk into this ploy...'

'Seriously...' Isaac drew in some air and sighed to himself. He then nodded. "I agree with Miss Furina."

"It could very well be a trap," Navia interjected. "That's why we of Spina Di Rosula would investigate this ourselves."

"Haha, there's no need," However, Furina was adamant about the solo investigation. "From here on out, we shall take over this case."

"That..." Navia didn't know how to answer. Furina was just making decisions on her own. "Let me discuss it with the others first."

"That's fine." Furina smiled before quickly turning around.

"This could lead to a clue!" Furina quickly whispered to Isaac with excitement. "We could make a breakthrough with the Masked Clown with this!"

"...or get ambushed." Isaac gave a wry laugh. "I think we should get a bit of help from Spina Di Rosula, Miss Furina..."

"What? No, no, no." Hearing Isaac's suggestion, Furina quickly retorted. "This is our case! We just found an important lead! We have to do this ourselves!"

"Yes, but..." Isaac tried to reason with her, but he was once again overwhelmed.

"No!" However, Furina only stubbornly stuck to her choice.

Furina turned to Navia and Marcel before smiling. "I appreciate the information! We'll take it from here! Toodle~oo!"

With this, she turned around and started running. But not before dragging Isaac by the arm and taking him with her.

"What? Lady Furina!" Navia, who was discussing with Marcel and her two attendants, turned around and looked at Furina and Isaac's running figures departing quickly.

Meanwhile.

"Hey— Hey wait! Miss Furina!" Isaac, who was being dragged by Furina, wanted to escape. However, when he tried to get out, a water construct resembling handcuffs formed around his wrists.

"What the... Lady Furina, please be reasonable..." Seeing the water constructs, Isaac's face became helpless. "We could have cooperated with Miss Navia back then..."

"As my assistant..." However, Furina, who was walking in front of Isaac, muttered with a heavy tone.

"You only follow me— No one else." She then turned around, revealing her luminescent light and deep droplet-shaped pupils. "You said it yourself, didn't you? That you'll watch over and never leave my side during this case."

"Keep your word."

After saying this, Furina turned her head and continued running without saying anything else.

"..." Looking at Furina's determined and solemn face, Isaac more or less figured out that her decision could no longer be changed. He then sighed to himself, 'We would definitely get hurt...'

'However...' Isaac then turned around and looked at Navia and Marcel who were running behind them. His eyes narrowed down to Marcel. 'Here's a little gift from Gehrman for staining his name...'

'Misfortune!' Isaac thought. As soon as he thought of this, a dark indiscernible fog appeared around his fingertips. A normal person wouldn't be able to see the fog unless they give deeper attention to Isaac.

Isaac's eyes then looked at Marcel. He then made the decision.

'Misfortune: Low-Level.' Isaac thought. Shortly after using this skill, he felt a bit of his energy being depleted, making him feel a tiny bit mentally fatigued.

[Success.]

Seeing the notification from the system, Isaac smiled before looking back to Furina's back in front of him. 'For now, just have a Low-level misfortune. I wouldn't want you dying now, would I?'

Isaac's misfortune skill works quite simply. Basically, it targets the target's negative karma and increases the chance of their karma biting them back.

In other words, the more evil or negative karma someone has, the stronger the misfortune skill would work on them.

As for Marcel who had been murdering women for his experiment for the last two decades... Well, it was obvious that he'd get the most terrible calamities.

With this matter done, Isaac focused his attention on Furina once more. He then started pondering as he also ran with her. 'Was she always like this? I know that she's quite stubborn... But what she did back then was not only hasty but also stupid.'

'...whatever.' Isaac shook his head with a sign. He then smiled softly. 'For now, I should focus on the present.'

He then catched up and ran beside Furina.

"Quite the show you put on, Miss Furina." Isaac chuckled lightly as he jumped over a crate. "As much as you want to resolve this matter, please do remember to look out for your well-being also. What you did back then was quite hasty."

"...Ugh, now you're starting to sound like Neuvillette too." Furina rolled her eyes before increasing her speed.

"...?" Seeing her distance herself from him, Isaac was stunned at first before letting out a light laugh. "Seriously..."

"What a troublesome Archon I have..."

As Isaac said this, he failed to notice the flustered face of the person running in front of him.

* * *

A/N:

Let me cook.