First Quest: The Manipulated Girl (2)

First of all, well, I'll explain that I seem to bond between lizardmen. I'm dealing with them again, it's because her sister is in a relationship with the lizardmen.

The reason was simple, Qiby's sister, Zecira, suddenly left her when the lizardmen picked her up. She left her imouto just like that, making Qiby worry and have to look for her.

In other words, she must have had something to do with why she had to go with the lizardmen, or perhaps she had lost her Heirloom, just like Hiyori and Fred had.

And it seems that, until recently, the lizardmen had not given up on me. How much do I need to make them suffer? They can't deal with the wrong person, which is me. They don't know that if they deal with me, their lives will be in danger.

I thought they weren't afraid of me, maybe because they didn't know me. So they won't stop until they know who I am.

"So…" I burned and smoked my cigarette, and smoke came out of my mouth. "You said your sister was a thief, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I said that." Qiby nodded.

"Now the thing is... how do you get that?"

Before she answered my question, she was silent for a moment.

"…That's because of the rumors circulating, which say that there was a girl who took the Heirlooms belonging to several families. And it's likely, from what they saw, that the heads of the families, who took the Heirlooms were my sister."

"How did they know it was your sister?"

I was confused as to why the families, whose Heirlooms were taken, could assume that the girl was Qiby's sister. Of course, that's an unconfirmed accusation.

"From speed."

"Umph? Speed? What's that?"

"In this country…" said Hiyori who was beside me, suddenly speaking, "there are some people who have extraordinary speed, including from this Qiby's family."

Of course, I'm confused by that.

"Qiby's family?"

Hiyori shifted her gaze to Qiby.

"You're from the Gofur Family, right?"

"Yes, I come from that family."

"No wonder you can follow this horse carriage even though you're still a child."

After saying that, Hiyori looked back at me.

"As I said, in this country, there are some people who have incredible speed. It was magic, they used special magic to speed up their run. Some of them can run 3 times more than normal humans, some even more. And among them, there is one family that can pass on that magic, namely the Gofur Family."

"I see," I said, turning my gaze to Qiby, "so, you can run fast? That's great, you're perfect for running races. You are fit to be an athlete."

And sure, you're cut out to be a snatcher.

I said that in my heart, but my face remained with that condescending look. In other words, I am currently putting on a petty and sly face.

She noticed my face.

"What's the matter, Uncle? Your face looks-"

"Nothing." I looked back at Hiyori. "So, what else?"

I didn't need to ask that again, because everything was clear now and I understood, but instead, I asked that again, making Hiyori explain everything.

"Their ability is at their feet. The magic they used was the top branch. There are only a few capable people because this magic uses legs as a support for the magic power. If you have weak legs, it will result in paralysis of the legs. If you have strong legs, then the magic will be easy to master. It is not like that?" Hiyori shifted her gaze to Qiby.

"Yes, it is true. I have strong legs so I can run fast. So, what Auntie said is true."

"Auntie, you say?" Hiyori immediately looked weak, maybe because of the word "aunt" that was directed at her.

Meanwhile, I just smiled slyly, looking at Qiby.

What was on my mind was, "Obviously, that magic is used to snatch". Yeah, it's all clear, so no need to explain.

However, the question now was, why would her sister, Zecira, use that magic technique in such a bad way.

It only took a few seconds, I was able to answer the question.

Isn't it obvious, as Qiby explained earlier, that Zecira suddenly left when the lizardmen picked her up, many family heads say that a girl stole their Heirlooms? Isn't that obvious?

It's tied up, tied to itself and the lizardmen. Of course, bound because of the wishes of the lizardmen who want to have the Heirlooms. In that case, I can tell that the lizardmen are cooperating with Qiby's sister, Zecira.

But, so far, I haven't been able to find a reason why they can work together. Therefore, one way to find out is, I have to know about what Qiby has been through since and before her parents died.

"I see," I said, blowing the smoke out of my mouth, "suppose it was your sister who stole the Heirlooms of the heads of families. What I want to ask now is, you were with her before she left, right?"

"Yes." Qiby nodded. "I was with her at the time, the moment before I passed out."

"You fainted? What is it?"

"Actually at that time, Tataga City was hit by a terrible storm."

"Oh, you are from Tataga City?" Hiyori suddenly asked, a look of surprise on her face.

"Yeah, my sister and I are from there."

"Oh my, it must be really heavy huh."

Since I was confused about what they were asking, I asked Hiyori about the city.

"You don't know that, Ryuki?"

That's obvious because I'm a person who just lived in this world. Why are you asking that?

I just kept a straight face and stared at her, not answering her stupid question.

"Oh, I forgot, you are—no, you're just an ordinary human, who only has abilities in Class E."

Somehow she can make fun of me.

"Tataga Town, the closest town to Utoto City, a few days ago, after the Red Hot Moon appeared in this country…" Hiyori started to explain what had happened in that town.

From what Hiyori explained, I could tell that Tataga City was affected by a huge and powerful storm. Part of the city was destroyed, even making the residents' settlements buried in the ground. The impact of the storm resulted in a large number of fatalities, and Qiby said that her home was affected which resulted in the death of her parents.

Until now, many people are wondering about the appearance of the terrible storm. Some people said that the storm was caused by a dragon, some said that the storm was caused by Demon Lords, and some said that the storm was caused by natural disasters. Until now, the cause of the emergence of this powerful storm is still unclear.

"After the terrible storm passed, the lizardmen took advantage of the still-destroyed condition of Tataga City to retrieve the Heirlooms belonging to several families. And then, my sister and I met them," Qiby said.

"After that?"

"After that… to protect me from them, my sister tried to fight them. However, she was unable to fight them because of their large number. She had quite many injuries all over her body, she almost died."

"Umm… Then?"

"Then… suddenly one of them was talking to my sister. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, because I was quite far from them. But after that, suddenly my sister disappeared and then appeared behind me, hitting me on the neck, knocking me out. After I woke up, she was no longer there."

After she said that, I took notes and wrote down a few words on this paper—of course, what I wrote was the conclusion and the cause of it all.

What I wrote was, "They talk to each other". That is it.

"What did you write, Ryuki?" Hiyori asked, looking at this paper.

She won't understand what I'm writing, because I'm writing this in the language of my country. Therefore, she asked with a curious expression on her face.

And I didn't answer that question either, because that's what it was for.

"So, your sister disappeared until now after you passed out?" I asked, looking back at her.

"Yeah, like that."

"Okay, I understand now. But first, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it, Uncle?"

"Dragon..." I turned to Hiyori quickly. "You said earlier that the cause of the appearance was due to the dragon, didn't you? What do you mean by that? Is there a dragon in this world?"

Well, I'm more curious about that than about the reason why Zecira could make Qiby faint after talking to the lizardmen.

"Actually… lately… somehow the six dragons have been able to revive."

"What do you mean? So it's true that in this world there are dragons?"

"Yeah, it does exist, Ryuki-san. I only learned that from Carolin when I spoke to her. Some say that Tataga City was destroyed due to the violent storm, the main factor being the rise of the Elemental Dragons. Doesn't this make sense, those dragons rose up and caused natural disasters in this world? I think that makes sense."

"So basically, in this world there are dragons, and it's not just one, right?"

"Yes. There are six dragons in this world, and each of them has its own element. Some have the element of fire, some have the element of water... and some have the element of wind. In this case, most likely, the occurrence of a violent storm in Tataga City, which partially destroyed the city, was caused by the awakening of the Wind Dragon, Ventafy."

"I see." I instantly turned my gaze to Qiby. "So, your sister has just left you and the ones who took her are the lizardmen, so are you still going to ask me to find her and make her realize her true identity?"

"Don't ignore me, Ryuki!" Hiyori shouted, and it was quite loud in my ears. But after that, she sighed and said, "Oh my. I explained it painstakingly, but you answered it curtly."

It's not that I ignore it, don't appreciate what it explains, but I choose to just know, know what's going on with the city. Because of that, I didn't want to ask her again about the condition of the city, choosing to return to the topic of this quest.

"I still want to find her. Because after all, she is my only onee-chan. I love her very much, she is my only family. I don't want to lose her, and I want her to go back to living her life in peace."

Even for her age, she could hope that her sister could come back to her and lead a righteous life. She is a little girl who I like her onee-chan.

And of course, as a little girl, and as my first client, I will help her, find and make her sister return to her true self, not steal the family head's Heirlooms.

"I will help you, so prepare your strength to clean this horse-drawn carriage during this journey."

"Yeah, I'm ready. I will work hard. Thank you very much, Uncle Ryuki."