Demon King of Confusion started to retreat stealthily as he was starting to get spooked.
He mustn’t have expected anyone to be able to guess his identity with just those words that he had uttered.
(Psh……seems like the rumors of him being on par with Saurian Demon King are true after all. And it’s better for me to hide now that my trump card technique has been seen through.)
Putting his strength into his leg to step up onto the ledge of the brick room, Demon King of Confusion was prepared to leap off when Izayoi declared with a ferocious glint in his eyes:
“Prepare yourself. For I will get rid of you before the real ‘Kamikakushi’ startsー!!”
The starting sprint that seemed like an explosion caused the footing below his feet to crack with the force as Izayoi charged forth.
Faced with such an overwhelming chase from behind that shortened the distance between them rapidly, Demon King of Confusion could only dodge in desperation. Although he was one of the fallen, but he was still a Demon Lord and his movements were quite skillful and dexterous.
It was not known whether it was Izayoi’s continuous pressing of the attacks that caused the technique of “虚度光阴”to be released, for the colors had suddenly been restored to [Kouen City].
“You….You must be joking! What are you?! Aren’t you just a human little brat?!”
“That’s rude! I’m a pure bred, 100% original human you know?!”
“Don’t take me as a fool! How can there be such a human like you?!”
*Yeah. That’s true.* Somehow, Izayoi felt that many people were agreeing with that question and their agreements were making their way into his ears.
Demon King of Confusion who was now solely concentrating on escaping his pursuer was swiftly bounding along the rooftops while making his way towards the city centre.
Deliberately fleeing to a place with lots of people, he might be searching for the next prey. If that were to be so, he would have to be caught as soon as possible.
A slight smile lifted the sides of Izayoi’s lips.
(This is interesting. A game of tag with the ‘Kamikakushi’? Looks like I have to stay sharp…!)
Izayoi continued to chase after Demon King of Confusion with amusement.
And upon the release of the “虚度光阴”technique, Mandra who had returned to his senses, could only see them off with a stumped look on his face.
Part 2[แก้ไข]
ー[Ruby Cave], Underground bathhouse
While Izayoi and the Demon King of Confusion were playing their game of tag in the accommodation sector of the cityー
The five young boys and girls in the Konyokuburo[10] were now in the midst of soaking in the sentō[11] with their bodies covered, after accepting the strong request from Jin and Percher to ‘cover all the portions that should be covered’.
Perhaps it was something along their younger days or maybe it was due to the environment that they grew up in, Jin whose sense of shame had grown with the years and Percher who wasn’t that loose with her rules to allow her naked skin to be shown, they had both reached a consensus for once on this matter.
“……It might sound strange coming from me, but that sure is a complicated relation between master and servant.”
“Stop making a fuzz. If you have an opinion about it, then get out.”
Percher sat at the ledge of the sentō’s pool while crossing her legs. Although this angle seemed a little dangerous, but the parts to be covered were properly covered. The snowy skin with those slender limbs were enough to allow others to imagine her beauty in a few years’ time. Unfortunately, this group of five weren't old enough to understand such a wondrous thought.
Deliberately clearing his throat, Jin asked Sandra:
“Right. Sandra, what was the matter that you wanted to investigate? Does it have anything to do with those two?”
“Hm. I guess we should let them introduce themselves first.”
Sandra gave them a look while giving them the cue.
Rin and His Highness nodded together.
“We are from a Trader’s Community. I’m Rin and this is His Highness.”
“Usually in such a situation, we should say the name of our Community…… But, regrettably, due to the rule of our Community, we cannot tell it to others.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Um. To be honest, we actually specialize in the trading of very dangerous goods. So we only practice the tradition of accepting customers who know of our Community’s name. If Jin wants to know more about us, we hope that you will be able to find out the name of our Community on your own.”
“Oh, I see.” Jin expressed his agreement while feeling a little impressed.
At the same time, Percher was also impressed.
(I see. When put in that way, there wouldn’t be a pressure to say out their Community’s name. The intimate nickname of [His Highness] would also be mistaken as a cover-up for the real name.)
What a formidable move.
Although the aim of the duo had not been figured out yet, Percher felt that this might just be part of their pretense.
“It’s been two years since we met Sandra-chan. It should be the time when there was an internal struggle in the Community to become the successor. It was also the time that [Salamandra] fell to the Five digits right?”
“Yes, you’re right on that. Due to a departure of the successor of choice, Sala, it caused quite an uproar and confusion then. Our community also provided mercenary services and the ones who were dispatched were us.”
“Eh?” Jin couldn’t help but give a small cry in surprise. But that was only to be expected.
The two before him looked only just a little into the early double digit ages, that started with ten. Assuming that they were of the same age as Jin, which is eleven years old, and that they had participated in the internal struggle two years ago, a simple calculation would have told as much that they would have been nine years old or so at that time.
“You guys had already started to participate in Gift Games then?”
“Yep…… This shouldn’t be too strange, right? In the world of Little Garden, not participating in Gift Games would be the end of our survival right?”
“Although it wasn’t pleasant, but it would have been more difficult to survive without engaging in a battle. The Gift Games hosted in the City were all filled with a thick hue of proxy wars.[12] There were economical wars, war on logistics and even those based on religion. As long as one was recognized as a possessor of strength, that sufficed to make a contribution to the Community, age did not matter when it came to the choosing of combat strength for Gift Games.”
The duo had said their thoughts on the matter quite fluently and Jin nodded his head, seeming to sympathize with their situation and thoughts.
“Could it be that you two had already started to participate in Games even earlier than that?”
“Nope. Our first Game was two years ago.”
“……is that so? That’s great.”
“ “?” ”
Rin and His Highness exchanged a look while cocking their heads to one side.
But Jin ignored their small actions and returned back to the topic.
“Then for you two to be here, I take it that Sandra has hired you guys?”
“That’s right. As for the summary of the events……hearing it from Sandra-chan might be faster right?”
“Mhm.”
Seeing Rin’s look towards her direction, Sandra nodded her head in assent.
“There has been a series of child disappearance occurring in [Kouen City] recently.”
“Disappearance of children?”
Jin repeated her words in surprise. For these sort of cases did not warrant the need for the [Floor Master], Sandra herself, to make a move. Moreover, such cases of disappearance were quite common in the North Side territories.
Sandra might have picked up on Jin’s thoughts as she quickly shook her head to continue her explanation:
“Yes, I know what’s going through your mind now and what you want to say but this serial crime has a high possibility to be the doing of a Demon or Ghost type being and I would say that I’m almost 80-90% certain that……this is a type of ‘Kamikakushi’.”
“Then it should be left to the professional organizations. [Salamandra] also has those right?”
“Of course. They are truly professionals who would have resolved normal disappearances with ease……But the situation this time is different. They are unable to figure out the rules of this ‘Kamikakushi’.”
The roundabout way of explaining caused Jin to be more doubtfulーBut at the instant that he heard the word of ‘rules’, he took a sharp breath.
To have the word ‘rules’, it would mean that it was part of a ‘Game’.
When it came to a Game that required a [Floor Master] to take action, it would then leave only one possibility in mind.
“Could it be that……this is a ‘Kamikakushi’ that is related to a Demon Lord?”
“Mhm. Though it is not confirmed, but if it could be resolved earlier, we might still be able to prevent any major losses.”
Jin nodded in assent. If there’s a possibility that the series of disappearance were related to a Demon Lord, it would then be an urgent matter that should not be left alone. Especially when it comes to the ‘Kamikakushi’ of Demon Lords, for its often accompanied with a strong curse or power that is able to dominate others.
The Game that Percher had hosted previously, [The PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN] had also been a Game that imitated the legend of ‘Kamikakushi’s.
Jin looked towards Percher as he asked.
“Percher, the game of [Piper of Hamelin] had also been one that used the subject of ‘Kamikakushi’s. Do you have any clue on this one?”
Percher frowned as she started to ponder.
“……Have you found the [Geass Roll] yet?”