Arc 2 - Chapter 13: Establishment of the New Party (2/3)

"I think they are good people, you don't have to worry." Lucia moved a little closer to Yu.

"How do you know they are good people?"

"After a while you become able to look people in the face and say things about them."

So it was about Lucia's age. When the subject came up again, Yu was troubled again. It hurt to know that he would not live as long as the elves, that he would live a short life and then die and be forgotten, and he never wanted to think about such things.

"If you don't have any other questions about this, I have something I need to talk to you about," she said, leaning more close to Yu. Their shoulders almost touched.

"She smells so good..."

He didn't want to be seen as a pervert, but he could smell Lucia. She was the very definition of the word elf in Yu's mind. She was beautiful, kind, smelled good and she was rich. Yu wanted to marry someone like her and live a comfortable life.

But now was not the time to smell Lucia's blonde hair or look at her green eyes or her beautiful breasts. She grew serious and lowered her voice as she approached Yu, and it was clear that something important was about to happen.

Yu recovered his seriousness and asked, "What do you need to talk about?"

"A few people came to the inn yesterday asking about you," she said. It was as if she didn't want others to hear what she was saying, which Yu could understand. She didn't want it to be known that problematic people were staying at her inn. "To be more specific, the first two people who came were from the city guard and asked about both of you, and the one who came after them only asked about Yurine."

"Yurine?"

There could have been two different reasons for the arrival of the guards. The first was the Sigma Tower, about which everything Yu had heard and talked about was mostly theories, and so far there had been no tangible progress.

Another reason for the arrival of the guards was that one or more of the team owners might testify against their conscience. Even though Yu tried to hide his identity, he couldn't stop thinking about this possibility.

But it wasn't the guards Yu was worried about. If there was something that required their immediate arrest, they would have done it as soon as they got off the ship. The thing he worried about was the person asking about Yurine. Why would someone suddenly show up and ask about her?

"The guards didn't know your names, so they described you and I had to give them your names because they are men of the state. They might ask something about the Sigma Tower, I suggest you go and testify as soon as possible."

Yu was not responsible for the crimes committed in the Sigma Tower, but he was in a position to be easily accused. Arson, murder, destruction of public property, terrorism and a list of other offenses could be added.

"When Yurine comes, we'll go to the police station."

If they tried to escape from them, their suspicions would only increase, and now that they knew their names, there would be problems getting out of the city. One way or another, they had to go to the police station today.

"Mr. Valarfin, you don't seem to be a bad person either..." she said. She had taken Yu's hand. Lucia's fingers were long and graceful, her hand soft and warm. Yu realized that he longed for this feeling, for someone to hold his hand.

"Don't I look alike?" How could Yu explain to her that what she was looking at was just a shiny package? Lucia would have been disgusted if she knew that the real Yu Valarfin was a thief and a murderer.

"...please tell me you did not commit a crime in Sigma Tower."

"I didn't do it, we didn't do it. It was coincidence I was even there that day."

"Can you tell me what happened there?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can."

He could open his mouth and let the words out and tell what had happened, but the story involved Yurine and he would not do that without her permission.

"This is the first time your face has looked like this. You were in a bad mood when you came to visit us, but you tried not to show it, and now you've suddenly revealed your true colors." Lucia continued to hold Yu's right hand. Not to stop him from running away, but to show her support.

"My real face?" He put his left hand to his face, had Lucia realized he was a bad person?

"I'm talking about your feelings. You're the kind of person who tries to hide his grief from everyone, aren't you? I understand these things."

She understood, it wasn't a hard thing to understand. Yu didn't like to show his negative emotions to people.

Not because he thought it would make him look weak, but because he didn't like people asking him 'why are you sad' when he was sad.

Sometimes it was necessary to confide in others to get over grief, but Yu was afraid to confide in people even in situations like this. Honestly, he didn't know why he did that.

"I actually sympathize with you, Mr. Valarfin. It is admirable that you are trying to look strong, that you are looking after that girl and smiling in her presence. I really want to help you if you need it, so don't hesitate to ask me for help or to tell me your problems."

She didn't know, and she didn't realize she didn't know. The only reason she thought that was because Yu had a good package. Yu believed that.

She was saying these things without knowing who he really was, the only thing she knew about his personality was what she saw on the outside. Maybe she had enough experience to understand what other people were like, but she couldn't understand Yu. She didn't realize that he was a bad person, she didn't realize that she was talking to a person she would be disgusted to know.

"I..." he stopped. He wanted to say "I'm not admirable." He wanted to tell her what he was, but he wouldn't. He would let Lucia believe a lie.

"My sister is right, you do have a sweet side." Lucia smiled like a mischievous teenager. "Are you blushing because I found you sweet?"

"Tsk, I'm not one to blush when talking to girls." Having two older sisters, he was always comfortable around girls and if he blushed now, he didn't realize it. "If it happened, it was only once. I don't offer such beautiful views all the time, memorize it and remember it for the rest of your life because I will never show this face again."

Lucia was beautiful enough to impress him. And only thing her sister Lucie lacked was a slightly smaller breasts. That didn't matter to Yu though, to him Lucie was also very beautiful and at this point in time two of them seemed to have something against him.

If he started to like Lucia, her sister Lucie would get angry and Yu would create a conflict between the two sisters. If he liked Lucie, he didn't know what Lucia would do.

"Maybe Lucia is just an anime onee-san, why am I making a bride and groom out of myself?" He give a breath. "Isekai thing made me confused. Why do I think she likes me just because she got a little close to me? Wait, I am handsome. Of course she likes me."

He shook off the thoughts that had entered his head because of Lucia and brought up the subject that was eating him up inside.

"That guy who asked about Yurine, let's talk about him."

He had a bad feeling that he was the main problem among the people who came.

Lucia swallowed, whoever or whatever had come hadn't made a good impression on her.

"He was a strange man, his face was covered with pieces of cloth so that only his eyes were visible. His voice was also deformed, I could tell he was in pain when he spoke."

Who would come here to ask about Yurine and why? Besides, they hadn't met many people using the name Yurine. Especially not with such a strange-looking man.

And even if they had the chance to meet such a person, Yu would not want Yurine to meet him.

"What name did he use for Yurine?"

Yu might think that child welfare was investigating Yurine, but they wouldn't send a strange man to investigate such an institution. Yurine was officially Yu's daughter, so it would have been ridiculous for child welfare to come after them out of the blue.

It had to be someone who knew Yurine before she met Yu.

"Neko, he said."

Neko was the name given to her by her mother before Yu named her Yurine and she was already known by that name.

"I wonder if..." Could it be Sharley? It was in Yurine's past, and it was the only name Yu knew outside of the Wizarding Academy.

"What color were his eyes?"

"Dark blue."

Sharley's mother Stella had dark blue eyes, as did his uncle Salery. If he inherited their genetic traits,she might have blue eyes and that might give a clue. He would ask Yurine.

"He was unconscious when we dropped him off, he woke up and went into the Sigma Tower and got caught in the fire? Is that why he was wrapped in bandages?"

He didn't like him suddenly appearing, he was afraid Yurine would leave.

"Did he ask for someone else?"

"No."

He thought that if it was Sharley he would call Rie too. The fact that he hadn't asked for her made Yu even more worried. Was some guy he didn't know after Yurine?

"Is it someone you know?"

"I don't think I would want to know someone like that, and even if I had the chance to know someone like that, I wouldn't want to introduce him to Yurine."

"A protective father, I suppose."

She had tried to lighten the tense atmosphere with a joke. Yu couldn't say she succeeded, but he gave her a small smile for her effort so she wouldn't feel bad.

"That person said he would come later."

"Did he say anything about contact? Address or name? What did he ask you? What did you tell him?"

"Ah, a barrage of questions." She continued to hold Yu's hand with his right hand while she put his left hand to her chin and gathered the information in her memory for a while. "He asked a few questions about Neko, your Yurine. He also asked about you, the man she was with."

"What did you say?"

"His questions were not very detailed, so my answers were not detailed. I mentioned both of your names and added that you are not here right now."

"What else? Did you get a name, an address?"

"When I asked for his name, he said it was not important. I asked for an address so that you could reach him when you came, but he said that was unnecessary and that he would come back. Then he left, and that was it."

It was frightening. A strange man was saying he was coming and he couldn't prevent his arrival. He closed his eyes and leaned back.

"I don't know what Yurine would do with a man like that. I haven't known her for a long time, but the moment someone like that stands in front of her, she'll want to get away, she'll be uncomfortable with him even being in her line of sight. And certainly she will say 'stay away you disgusting low life being' or something."

"If you feel uneasy, you can report it to the police station."

"There's a strange person looking for a little girl, of course I'll report it. A normal person would be fine, but I don't want Yurine to meet someone like that." He took a deep breath and blew out loud. "I'd be surprised if it wasn't a problem."

He would think about the possibility of it being Sharley for a while and discuss the matter with Yurine. Other than that, there was nothing else to say about the strange man.