Once the ladies had left, Kiyotaka dressed in a modest manner and left the house.
After taking a carriage to Bravehearts Bar, Kiyotaka quickly went to a specific billiards room. Inside, both Maric and Sharron were ensconced.
Maric, as usual, was playing with his zombies while Sharron was sitting placidly on a chair. The Wraith had a neutral expression on her face, as cold as ever, while wearing her usual regal black dress.
As he entered, both of them turned their attention towards him. Maric nodded in his direction and then turned his head towards Sharron, as if indicating for him to go and talk to the blonde woman.
Kiyotaka nodded in his direction in passing and walked over to Sharron who was sitting on a stool. She was wearing the small hat over her head even indoors and had crossed her one leg over the other.
"Good evening, Miss Sharron." Kiyotaka tipped his hat and sat on the stool from across her, placing his hat and sword-cane by his side.
"Good evening." The cold woman answered in her usual monotone.
"Was there a reason for inviting me here? I was informed by one of my workers." He started the conversation, crossing his opposite leg over the other.
"I wanted to thank you in person for your help. Both for helping us with Rose School of Thought members and for letting us continue using this place as our base." Sharron was characteristically direct and dispensed the pleasantries entirely.
Kiyotaka shifted a little. "I gleaned my own share of benefits from helping you. Perhaps even more than the trouble I took. Hence why you don't need to thank me for either thing." He paused, and deliberated over his words before continuing. "In a sense, our future troubles are the same. So it's better that we look after each other."
Sharron's lifeless eyes locked into his and her lips pursed into a thin line. "Are they?"
Kiyotaka shrugged. "Unless Tyre, Jason and Steve were extremely expendable pieces on the board, and the Scarlet Lunar Corona a child's toy, I doubt Rose School of Thought's Indulgence Faction would leave you alone that easily."
"Do you have a method for hiding you tracks?" Sharron looked at his wrist and finger where he had equipped Ember and Guile. "For example anti-Divination."
"I do. But at the end of the day, I am a weak, juvenile Beyonder. They sent 2 Mid-Sequence Beyonders and 1 Low-Sequence Beyonder alongside quite an advanced Mystical Item. Which means that they have a lot of Beyonders and Items at their disposal. Hunting someone like me should be a piece of cake."
Sharron closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, her chest heaving down in tandem with it. "So that is what you mean by our future troubles being shared?"
"That is how I am putting it. Regardless of you helping me or not in the future, this place is yours and Maric's to use as long as you wish." Kiyotaka said as he tilted his head and carried a temperate look in his eyes. "But it would be quite reassuring if I had you by my side."
Sharron stared at him for a long while and Maric turned to glare at him from the corner of his eyes before returning back to his card game. "We can operate on a principal of a reciprocity."
Kiyotaka nodded. "That is amenable to me." He placed his hat over his knee and cleared his throat. "You also mentioned about telling me something that could not be conveyed over a letter. May I know what is that?"
"There was a man named Rafter Pound which you killed over a month ago." Sharron began talking as Kiyotaka stared right at her.
His body had tensed up, wondering how the beautiful woman knew about it. However, thinking back at it, it made sense to him.
'I had visited the underground memorial with Sherlock who had first visited here with Sharron. If she knew about Rafter Pound, it is highly possible that she would've kept any eye out for him. However, he was killed before the entire fiasco... Did she divine me with his corpse? Or did she see me during the night?'
Kiyotaka nodded, neither denying nor confirming it. Even if he did deny it, it would mean nothing if Miss Sharron had actually divined it.
"He was spotted near the house he had sold to the man. During the day time, he would just walk in circles around it, sometimes, and in the night, he would become active, digging into the walls. It seems like he is trying to access a hollow space under the ground, which looks to be some kind of old tunnel."
Kiyotaka breathed out, looking down at the table. 'A reanimated cadaver? Or is his corpse possessed?'
"You visited the ruins with Sherlock Moriarty in the past. Have you told him about this as well?"
"I have." Sharron admitted flatly. "The reason why I am telling you this is because if somehow the real Rafter Pound is back, it spells trouble for you. Even if it's not the real Rafter Pound and some spirit or demon possessing him, you are still in trouble, given how he would've most likely asked it to kill it's killer in exchange for letting it possess him."
"I see. Thanks for telling me that."
"You're welcome." Sharron seemed to float a little from her seat. "There also has been a discovery of another hidden place. It's highly likely that it corresponds to the Amon family."
'Amon? He was just involved with Little Sun and now his name is appearing here as well. Is this deliberate or has it just been a strange coincidence?'
"I see. Do you plan on going and investigating the place?"
Sharron looked at Maric from the corner of her eye. "No. It does not interest me, and besides, it's related to a blasphemer. The church would involve itself sooner or later, now that intel about it is circulating around."
Kiyotaka nodded and fell in deep thought again. After a while, he asked another question. "Do you know anything about the recent explosions?"
Sharron shook her head. "No. Only that the suspicious person there was very tall, perhaps a barbarian from the north. That's about it. However, it's not confirmed that the man might have to do anything with the entire ordeal as he was only spotted there for a while longer than normal people."
'Taller than normal? So a Feysacian—they are really tall since it's said that those people descended from Giants. The dominant faith there is Church of the God of Combat which, if I am not wrong, is in control of Warrior Pathway. As elucidated by Little Sun in the Tarot Meetings, Warrior Pathway grants a lot of physical enhancements, in which increase in height is included.
But why would people from Feysac do this? Is it because of the tensions over the colonial islands? However, the major conflict in Balam is between Intis and Loen. Hmm... there might be something else to it.'
Just as Kiyotaka was ruminating over something, he heard a giant explosion. Sharron phased out of existence almost immediately and Maric equipped Scarlet Lunar Corona as the ground shook and the gas lamps hanging from the ceiling shuddered.
Kiyotaka walked over to the window and saw that a giant column of flames was raised somewhere near the western edge of the East Borough. The ground shook once again as the column of flames collapsed in on itself and exploded into a giant shroom.
Kiyotaka looked towards Maric and then took the door leading outside. The inside of the bar was a mess in the initial phase of the explosion, however, much to Kiyotaka's surprise, the goons of Zmanger Gang got everyone and everything under control quite quickly, without becoming violent.
As Kiyotaka hid into the shadow of the alley, he quickly flipped his coat and hat inside out before fully unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his lean body that had achieved surface level musculature. His silky blonde hair turned glossy, as if lacquered in oil and changed it's color to black, while his eyes did the same thing, turning to a lighter shade of green.
The Hound of Zmanger, Hyde!
Running with an incredible speed, Hyde soon arrived in the immediate vicinity of the blast. He was standing a safe distance away from the blast radius — or what he assumed that it was.
'There is no blast radius. Which means that this was the work of a Pyromaniac. Hmm... No, a Pyromaniac does not have the firepower to flatten such a large area.'
He quickly came to the conclusion as he saw such a large area being completely flattened underneath the char and ashes. 'While this is indeed someone from the Hunter Pathway, their Sequence is most likely higher. Probably a Sequence 6 or 5.'
After a moment of consideration, Hyde began to look around to see if there was anyone suspicious enough for him to trial. However, there was no sighting of an extraordinarily tall man as Miss Sharron had told him.
Realizing there was not much to gain from here, he turned around and left.
He was able to use a Sequence 7 Mystical Item from a Pyromaniac to defeat a Sequence 6 Rose Bishop, despite it's control over Flesh and Blood. While that defeat was also attributed to the fact that he had poisoned his liquor beforehand, he knew quite well what a Hunter Pathway Beyonder was capable of.
If it was someone from Sequence 6 or even 5, there was no way that he was going to defeat them. Especially when the motive and even basic intel on them was missing. Unlike Jason Beria, who's intentions had become quite clear after a while, these set of events were completely unwarranted for.
After a series of maneuvering, he finally reverted back to his original appearance of a gentleman and took the first carriage he could find home.
He was quite confident that tomorrow he would be contacted by the Nighthawks.
*****
As the carriage trundled forward and was about to reach it's destination, Kiyotaka saw a familiar figure standing in front of his house.
It was a short heighted girl with gossamer blonde hair, but instead of the comfy attire she was wearing before, she was dressed in her usual attire comprising of a loose white bloused shirt layered under a dark vest with a small crest.
Paired with it was dark fitted trousers detailed with buttons and an orange stripe, tucked into tall, buckled leather boots. She had slightly bronze skin and thick lips which were pursed into a grimace.
Xio Derecha!
She had a complicated look on her face while she waited with poorly concealed impatience for someone behind the small doors guarding the lawn and the main body of the house. Just as the carriage rolled to a stop, Kiyotaka stepped out without paying a fee and walked towards her.
"Did you digest your Sheriff potion already?" Kiyotaka joked in his usual dry manner.
"Williams... There was another blast. The area of East Borough where it happened was less than five kilometers away from our house. The shock was enough to wake us up from our sleep. The foundations were rattled quite a lot and there were giant cracks all over the place." Xio debriefed.
"I see. Do you need my help with something?"
"I was about to leave to reconnoiter near the site. Since you appeared invested in the entire ordeal, I came here to ask you. You are quite welcome to join me."
Kiyotaka looked at the pocket watch and hummed. "Sure." However, he stopped and looked at Xio. There was something about her face that made him stop. "You have something else to say which you are reticent about. What is it?"
Xio looked a little surprised. "How did you know...?"
"You do a little something when you are pressed."
"What is that?"
"Trade secret."
Xio was baffled, but let out a chuckle. "Haha... Ok, fair enough. You got me there. So uh..."
"Is this about Fors?"
"Hmm, yeah. She is quite disturbed after the incident. Not all night, but until our investigation is over, can she stay at your house? Just the living room would do."
'What are they planning?' "Sure, you can call her over. I will change into something more respectable."
"Ok, I will call her over. How long can you wait?"
"As much as it requires to."
"Thanks a lot, Williams." Xio pursed her lips and patted Williams' shoulders before turning around and leaving.
As he saw her leave, Kiyotaka hummed to himself and entered into his house.
Greeting him were Freya and Daisy who instantly bowed upon his visit.
"Welcome back, Sir."
Kiyotaka observed the two and turned his attention towards Daisy. "Where is your mother?"
"She's upstairs with Miss Ada... she's very sick..."
"Alright. How is your study going?"
Kiyotaka asked as Freya walked behind him and tip-toed, reaching out for the scruff of his coat. Pulling it back, she divested him of his casual coat and hung it on the rack..
"It's going very good!" Daisy exclaimed happily.
"Hmm, ok. Go back to your room and sleep."
"Ok!" Daisy was about to leave but stopped and looked back at Freya.
Freya just motioned for her to leave as Kiyotaka called her with him to his room.
"Lock the door." Kiyotaka spoke as he took off his shirt.
Freya's heart dropped for a moment, but remembered how different he was, as compared to other men. She cleared her throat and did as she was told.
Her eyes settled on the cicatrices on his back. It was quite strange how the wounds had already healed and only scars were left, however, after being introduced to the Beyonder world, she had stopped being so surprised over every menial thing.
"Take out a dress for me." Kiyotaka spoke with hurry as he set up candles and incense.
After Freya had sorted out a suit for him, he turned around to face her.
"How is your progress going?"
Freya knew this was coming. She steadied herself and answered. "I have read almost all of them... I felt a sensation of a bottle breaking inside me and my internal body... I don't know to exactly put it into words, but I felt that bottle absorb inside my internal body. However, it was a minute amount."
'Hmm. So for this Sequence 9, one needs to act more than study in the concept. It's a little different than the Acting Method for Lawyer.'
"Alright. I need you to go and buy some materials required to concoction different types of medicine. The materials you need to buy are up to you and your intuition. I also want you to buy different breeds of plants and plan them into the garden and look after them."
Freya nodded. "Is this for the Taming powers that I had gotten?"
"What do you think?"
Freya looked down, obviously embarrassed. 'Stupid, stupid! I am so stupid! Of course! I told Sir myself that the Taming ability was only restricted to plants. What else would it be related to?!'
"Sorry..."
Kiyotaka looked at her and huffed minutely. "I need 5 different kinds of medicines tomorrow. If you can manage that, I will accept your apology."
"Pardon? Five? But..." She was about to complain about how ridiculous her demands were, but she realized something.
'I was able to read all of that in the time frame Sir gave me. It was really hard but I was able to do it regardless. Which means that Sir never burdens me more than I can take. And besides, Sir expects a lot from me. I can't disappoint him!'
"I will do it. I won't disappoint you." She spoke with conviction.
"I hope so." Kiyotaka pointed towards the door. "You can leave, if you want."
Freya nodded and bowed before turning around and leaving. She closed the door silently after him. Once she was out, she saw the two women from before walk inside.
One of them was short and blonde while the other was tall and brunette.
The brunette, unlike her, looked mature, elegant and had an effortless beauty to her. It made her a little envious, seeing as the woman was every bit of what she was not.
'At least I am a Beyonder!' She consoled herself, refusing to capitulate to the slowly germinating inferiority complex she had long harbored inside herself ever since she had become a teenager and which had only recently begun to manifest — be it due to the poverty that was her companion from the moment she had gained cognizance or something else.
Freya was about to go and greet the two women when Kiyotaka walked out of his room. He looked back at Freya and motioned towards Fors.
"Arrange a room for her to sleep in. Keep her company until she sleeps." He placed a hand on her shoulder, making her entire body tremble in sudden fear. "I can entrust you with this, right?"
Freya controlled her quivering body and ignored the heavy, rock solid hand on her shoulder and nodded. "Of course, Sir."