A young woman with straight black hair hurriedly walked down the pathway of the residential area in Takenoko. She was bringing a picnic bag with her, filled with bakes sweets for her little sister and brother. One would say she was eager to come home to bring those sweets for her siblings, but the actuality was that she just heard something that made her cautious and really wanted to come home immediately.
She reached her house’s lawn and immediately went inside. Her little sister was already waiting there, playing with her baby brother in the living room.
“Risa-nee! Welcome home!” the sister greeted.
“Isa!” the baby brother also greeted.
Risa, contrast to her siblings who looked happy when they see her, instead looked less bright than her younger sister and brother. “Aya-chan, is father and mother already home?” she asked.
Aya looked confused. “Risa-nee, papa and mama are working.”
She j
Risa made her way to the mount parking lot where she remembered seeing them last. She didn’t really think they would still be there, but luckily, they were there. The two guys who had blonde hair and black hair respectively were in the northern part of the parking lot, right across the only restaurant in the block. They were buying some snacks from the snack stand there, and seemed to be enjoying it while talking to each other in the bench next to the stand.She was in the eastern part of the parking lot, which means that she would have to cross the street Risa slipped behind two random housewives and acted as if she was following them. But then she crossed the street to the more crowded parking lot. Carefully, she made her way to the two of them by avoiding several people, and eventually, she reached behind them yet again.She stood behind their bench, which was just in front of a parked goat beast mount, and listened in on their conversation.“I&rs
Risa took a deep breath and calmed herself. Being in the center of her targets’ attention was not a healthy thing for her heart. She could feel her heart thumping inside her chest as if it wanted to burst any minute. But luckily, the guys didn’t follow her and just stayed in their spot like nothing happened. She peeked at them from the corner and saw them discarding their food wrap before leaving the bench.Since she had heard them talk about going to a business district, she thought they would be going to the road by the entrance. It was the busiest part of the village after all, offering the visitors various snacks shops, a restaurant, a café and bar, and an inn that’s located slightly in the west but still in the same area. It’s where their productivity as its most. The two of them crossed the street and went to the west, which indicates they were going there after all, so she stepped out from her hiding and followed them.“I hop
Risa led the two guys to the residential area in the eastern side of the village. This area was the housing for the native villagers, and at this time in the afternoon, there were quite many children playing around with their friends.Since Jai’s fame reached Takenoko and his face was actually recognizable by Risa, Jai had adjusted his scarf to cover more of his face ever since she led them from the western district. It surprised him that none of the people here recognized his face like Risa did, as she had said that he was quite famous in the papers. But it wasn’t something he would want at the current situation. It would be better if no one noticed them at all, because losing a crowd of people would waste more of their time.They had finally found potential person who knew Alex’s whereabouts or conditions, they would not waste this chance.About covering his face, he had actually been doing it ever since they reached Sougen. He always covers
A few moments later, the tea and snacks were served and the three Aikawa children had joined the two guests in the living room. Yes, even Nawaki was brought along since the two girls had seen whom the two guys were and didn’t think they were dangerous. Winners of an international competition shouldn’t be bad guys, right? And they also didn’t look like criminals. Moreover, Nawaki seemed to be fond of Jai. Or, rather, his scarf. The baby immediately reached out to him when he saw him, and when Aya let him take the baby, the little one immediately took hold of his scarf and giggled in joy. He had found a new toy.“I’m sorry for my sister’s behavior,” Risa said apologectially.“Nee-chan… I can apologize myself,” Aya protested lightly.Jai and Darrion found this to be funny and both of them smiled at the two. “It’s alright.”“Well, my sister said that she went to find you and
Jai asked about Alex’s expression to Risa to figure out why Alex didn’t run away instead of going to the capital. If one would see it, there is a possibility that this family was an accomplice to the kidnapping, and they were just acting all goody woody with them just to kill them later. But when Jai took a gander look again, Risa and Aya didn’t seem like they knew anything about it. If they knew, they wouldn’t have invited them here and instead, staying silent.‘Whatever the reason is, he’s still kidnapped by this Hayate guy and his two other people. Since they’re going to the capital this morning, we should just start going as well to cut the time short,’ Jai thought. He looked up at Risa. “So he left this morning with Hayate-san and his two other friends?”Risa smiled and nodded. “Yes. Maybe you can go to his family in the capital. He should be in a safe place right now.”Jai smiled back,
The living room went quiet after that, with only Risa’s sobs filling the room. The thought of helping a criminal seemed to be unbearable for this girl, because she wouldn’t have cried like that if it didn’t bother her too much.Seeing her cry like this, Darrion felt bad. A girl cried because of them. And he hesitated in speaking more in fear it would make her cry more. He leaned closer to his friend.“Should we leave now?” Darrion whispered to Jai.Jai looked pity at Risa who was still hugged by her clueless sister. Even with Jai saying that, she still didn’t understand the situation. Moreover, her sister suddenly started crying. It confused her.Jai gestured Darrion to be quiet as he tried to think of what they should do. The baby in his arms had gone quiet when he saw his sister crying, understanding something was wrong but obviously didn’t know what. He looked up at Jai. “Isa ite?”Jai rubbed
There were many sounds in the forest starting from cicadas ringing, birds chirping, leaves rustlings, and don’t forget the growls and hums of monsters living inside it. Jai was used to these sounds already when he was in Deleima and Heruba’s forests, although those forest weren’t as lively as this one that they were passing.There was a rustle right above them and they could see a big snake slithering around the bark of one of the big trees in there. The snake’s head was nowhere to be seen, but since it was slithering up, they figured it would be up there. The two of them shared a look before nodding together and moving without any sound. It seemed like they were telepathically connected about not wanting to alert the big snake with their presence. If it’s safe, it’s them. But they also needed to be fast, which was something that was not applicable right now.The forest floor was full of dried leaves, which would make it noisier if t
Jai was in a good mood after knowing Alex’s condition. Although Alex was still kidnapped, the news about Alex ever visited Takenoko was better. It confirmed the assumption of the ones worrying about him that he was indeed taken in this direction. And now, was currently taken towards the capital.It’s good news. A lead. Especially when he heard that Alex left this morning. It was in the afternoon right now, so they wouldn’t have so much distance to cover as long as they hurry now. He had hoped to catch up to the kidnappers immediately, probably right at the capital’s gate and immediately snatch any redheads in their way.But even after walking for only God knows how long, there’s nothing but barks of trees, fallen trees, and bushes. He didn’t see any signs that shows they’re close to the capital, and this aggravated him up to a degree.“I regret not taking you up on the offer to fly,” Jai suddenly broke the si