4. Rynella’s fate is decided by Rynella (33)
The cold moonlight pours down through the cracks in the swaying curtains.
Suddenly, the bedroom window was open. It must be the traces of a woman who came without a sign.
Even I, who had taken another step forward in terms of my skills, had a hard time noticing it. It was to the extent that I noticed its existence only when the shadow landed in front of me.
It was unavoidable.
Because the other person was an expert who only honed such skills for the rest of his life.
She was an impressive beauty with brown hair that was long enough to cover her neck, dark green eyes, and hairpins in her bangs.
Every time she stood in front of me, she used to have a pale complexion. It was the same today.
“Senior Neris,” the operative of the Imperial Intelligence Service, as I call him, cautiously opened his mouth.
“First of all, I apologize for the delay in arrival. In the process of collecting related information in advance, there are things to check… … .”
“Did you even take care of your injuries?”
Neris senior’s expression became strange at the sudden greeting.
She looked up at me with bewildered eyes. I happened to be sitting at a table looking at documents containing the personal details of the missing person.
There were many names I knew.
It made me even more tired and distressed.
I pressed my temples hard to relieve the fatigue.
“Wounds. Are you all well?”
“Ah, that, that… … .”
Senior Neris lowered his head with a confused look. Tension and fear emanated from her stiff body.
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
It must have been an absurd misunderstanding.
When I thought that all of this was arranged by ‘me’ from the future, I felt dizzy. What on earth was he thinking to harass this innocent woman?
Actually, he wasn’t innocent.
Senior Neris had a history of harassing my precious people before. I just paid a little too much for it.
Because of that, whenever Neris saw me, he would have all sorts of negative thoughts.
It was the same today.
My foreboding premonitions came true without fail.
“Sin, sorry! It’s never too late to take care of yourself… Gee, really collecting information… … !”
“I am not blaming you.”
I stopped Neris-senpai with a voice mixed with a sigh.
Otherwise, Neris-senpai would have hit his head on the ground again. No, actually, I’ve already been beaten once.
Before I had time to stop, I heard a thump, and it felt like my heart was pounding.
In case someone hears this and comes to the bedroom.
The sight of spending a late night alone with a beautiful woman secretly did not look good.
It was a car that seemed especially uncomfortable for Seria after the last incident in the bedroom.
Fortunately, the other person was a saintess with eloquent speech skills, or Elsie, with a voluptuous speech. If Seria, feeling the pressure, hadn’t refrained from it, there was no way to know what kind of disaster would have happened.
Because Seria was basically timid and lacked social skills.
Still, it was fortunate that Seria was able to control herself.
This is also a proof that social skills have been developed.
It was undeniable that it was still close to a ticking time bomb.
While I was proud of Seria’s growth, I continued to speak.
“I was literally asking if you were okay now. Isn’t it troublesome if Neris-senpai is sick?”
As soon as Neris-senpai heard my words, he returned a look with strong doubts.
It was the look of pure idiots.
Hagiya, senior Neris was not close enough to me to distinguish between me and the future ‘me’.
So, the culprit who blew Neris-senpai’s finger the other day and the me who is worried about her now seem to be the same person.
Even if she looked like a double personality, she had nothing to say.
In the end, having failed to convince Neris-senpai, I had to sigh again.
“… … That’s it. I’m glad you look fine. Rather, what should I report?”
“Ah, yes… yes!”
Only then did senior Neris come to his senses and cautiously looked at me.
I was afraid that I might get caught again.
However, no matter how much I waited, I couldn’t see any sign of rebuke from me, so Neris-senpai, who gained a little courage, continued his stuttering words.
“Sir, I came across information that strange rumors were circulating around here… It’s already been a rumor for more than 10 years, but it seems like a coincidence that a similar rumor has been circulating again recently.”
It’s a rumor that started to circulate again with a time difference of more than 10 years.
It might have something to do with the recent disappearances in the Percus Territory. Although it was a matter to be consulted with the imperial magistrate Arthur for details.
When saliva flowed out of my mouth, senior Neris quickly added his words.
It was part of a desperate effort to not go against my heart as much as possible.
“The way rumors spread is similar to the past. First, a disappearance case occurs, and strange rumors start to circulate. There are people who bring the dead back to life, and there are people who look just like you in the forest. … .”
“… … Is there any possibility that you are a doppelganger?”
“It is thin. Doppelganger-like monsters do not appear carelessly. Not to mention, a lunar eclipse has not been observed in this area in recent years.”
A ‘doppelganger’, a monster that imitates the appearance and behavior of others.
Unlike monsters, monsters were beings that were monsters from birth.
They mainly live in the demon realm ruled by the evil god Omerus, and there were often cases in which beings from the demon realm came over to the present world when a lunar eclipse occurred.
Of course, it was very rare for a monster to accidentally come over to the present world like that.
Rather, the hypothesis that it was artificially summoned would be more credible.
However, there has been no enemy since the Great War of Shinma where the boundary between the present world and the demon realm has collapsed. Even at the time of the Shinma War, it was recorded that Delphirem had to make a lot of sacrifices before the final battle.
If the existence of the Demon Realm was intentionally summoned, there should have been a harbinger of it.
Because the collision between worlds was such a big event.
As Neris-senpai said, it seemed better to rule out the possibility that the doppelganger was at work.
“… … You might as well investigate.”
“Yes, I knew you’d say that, so I’ve picked up a few sources of rumors.”
Saying so, Neris-senpai handed over several documents.
It was a document indicating the place where testimonies related to the content of the rumors were collected. The specific area was not wide, as if it had undergone a careful investigation.
My gaze, which had been looking at the documents for a while, stopped for a moment.
It was because there was something a little odd about it.
“This is not the Percus Territory.”
“Yes Yes… Ha, but I thought it would be better to check that place as well… … .”
At the same time, senior Neris glanced at me as if anxious.
I felt a slight trembling in his shoulder. It looked like he had made a mistake.
Of course, I had no intention of blaming senior Neris.
Being thorough in everything was a good attitude.
There was a separate reason for me to ask about a specific place.
“It is the garrison of the Yurdina family… … .”
I just remembered hearing the news that Seria was heading to the garrison tomorrow.
Since this happened, it wouldn’t be bad to get Seria’s cooperation.
It was more likely that an insider would get better quality information than an outsider. In that sense, accompanying Seria would be of great help.
It was around the time I was organizing my thoughts for a while.
Senior Neris showed a more nervous expression after that.
The proof was that his lips were moistened several times with his tongue as if they were dry.
After a while, I was able to notice such senior Neris.
Oops, that was the moment I wanted.
As Neris senior, there was nothing to say, so he couldn’t help but feel anxious. Because in her mind, I would be a person who casually wielded an axe.
So I hurriedly cleared my throat and got Neris-senpai’s attention.
The polite words of congratulations flowed from my mouth.
“… … Well done.”
However, it seemed that even such a commonplace compliment was unexpected to Neris.
She looked up at me with her eyes wide open.
“… … yes?”
“You did well. It was especially nice that you meticulously collected relevant information, even if it was a little late.”
Originally, a compliment had to be specifically mentioned as a good part to feel sincerity.
Neris-senpai, who repeatedly opened and closed his lips for a while, bowed his head.
I felt a slight ripple of emotion.
I only heard one word, so was there a need to react so violently?
Such a question crossed my mind for a moment, but if I liked Neris-senpai, I had no intention of pouring cold water on her. The gloomy atmosphere at first did not last long.
It was because senior Neris’ face suddenly turned pale.
As if he realized it only then, senior Neris trembled and lowered his head.
“I never questioned or questioned… never! It’s not like I had any doubts… black, ugh yo, forgive me… … .”
“… … It’s okay, so stop.”
In the end, no sigh escaped my lips.
It seemed that it would take a longer time to repair the relationship with senior Neris.
**
The mansion of Percus in the early morning was quiet.
Only a few servants preparing breakfast were busily moving their steps.
I admired the cold dawn air and twilight. It was a privilege that only the diligent few could enjoy.
Today, along with Seria, he was planning to head to the place where the privates of the Yurdina family were stationed.
Of course, it was necessary to consult with Seria because the schedule was decided on hastily the night before.
It was the reason I was wandering around the mansion from early morning.
Anyway, Seria would have been swinging her sword somewhere by now. If we run into each other, it would be nice to practice together after a long time, but I was walking with such a complacent mindset.
Unless you run into someone along the way.
“… … Oh, I know!”
“Elsie!”
I thought I could hear a scream, but the parlor door burst open and a girl passed in front of me. Even the middle-aged man who came after him was a familiar figure to me.
It was Elsie-senpai and Reynold-san.
Mr. Reynolds stretched out his hand in vain, then let out an annoyed sigh and placed his hand on the skin of his face.
I couldn’t help but watch the scene with a bewildered expression.
What kind of chaos is this from early in the morning?
Of course, it was clear who I should comfort.
I slowly started to move in the direction Elsie-senpai had run out of.
To be honest, I didn’t have a hobby of comforting middle-aged men.