“Nope. But there were a few characters left at the scene.”
“Characters? What are they?”
Just as the question ended, Sandra had already written the three lines of characters in the air with her flames.
游手好闲
虚度光阴
一事无成
Percher had read the words aloud all in a breath but she tilted her head while making an expression of being unable to grasp the meaning.
“……Jin, what does that mean?”
“That……In a nutshellーit means ‘lazing around throughout the days and not being able to accomplish anything at all’. And all the three phrases refer to the same thing. Well, are those all the clues we have?”
“No, there’s still one more. There’s also a “混”character written on the wall of the crime scenes.”
Rin scratched her head while recalling, and she added:
“This “混”character is the bottleneck to narrow our search. It’s said that there’s a similar challenge letter being sent to the Conference of [Floor Master]s.”
“A letter of Challenge?”
“Mhm. Due to the rude contents in the letter, I will just summarize it. It mainly talks about wanting to attack [Floor Master]s.”
Jin frowned.
That sort of arrogance to target a [Floor Master] is definitely the style of Demon Lords.
“I see…… that means to say, the letter might be a warning before the Demon Lord’s attack.”
“Well, only Demon Lords would specifically choose [Floor Master]s to launch their attacks.”
Jin crossed his arms and nodded his head as he digested the information given to him from the two of them.
“Hm, let’s tidy up all the information that we have at the moment:
One, The disappearance of children had been a serial incident.
Two, There has been message-like characters of ‘游手好闲’, ‘虚度光阴’ and ‘一事无成’ left behind at the scene of the crime.
Three, Similarly at the scene of the crime, there’s a mysterious message of a “混”character written on the wall.
Four, The warning letter to the imminent attack on the [Floor Master]s had also been marked with a “混”character.
Is that all?”
“Mhm.” Sandra nodded her head.
Listening up to that point, Percher who sat by the said felt a growing sense of foreboding. The reason need not be said. After all, the ones who were the masterminds behind the previous Demon Lord attacks were just sitting before her taking a leisurely soak in the pool.
The culprit of this case was highly probable to be those two as well.
(……Seriously, what could they be up to now?)
Percher slid her eyes over to look at Rin and His Highness from the corner of her eyes. Those two were leisurely soaking in the pool while watching the progress of the situation. That was definitely a calmness that came from the huge power gap.
The problem was that though they were calm, they had yet to reveal a gap of vulnerability to be exploited.
Be it escape or a battle, it would be a different matter altogether if one were to make the first move to decide the victory or defeat. But the fact was that these two people did not allow a chink in their armor to appear for even a moment.
(…….Forget it, if luck’s on our side, we might be able to meet that freak rabbit or freak guy on the streets.)
Percher sank her body into the pool as she tried the optimistic approach.
In other words, she had given up on herself.
Forming her hands into a water gun, she squirted hot water on Jin’s face while giving a sidelong glance at Sandra:
“Come to think about it, was that letter warning of an attack really sent by a demon lord? If it were like the previous attacks where they tried to attack only one [Floor Master] of each area, it would be understandable. But this is going to be the Convention where all the [Floor Master]'s are to gather, don’t you think there might be another reason for the threat?”
“Another reason?”
“Yes. For example, the person might be targeting the precious Gifts displayed in this [Kouen City] and the [Tablet of the Sea of Stars]. Perhaps it’s a feint to say that they will attack the [Floor Master] when they actually want to achieve something else?”
Realizing that Percher’s conjecture had a point as well, Sandra sank into a pensive silence.
“The warning of the attack is just a feint while it’s actually for another purpose? But we do not have such an important item……”
“Well… there’s one.”
Three pairs of eyes turned to Rin instantly.
Rin who had initially been silent smiled sweetly as she placed her hands on her chest.[13]
“There’s a Demon Lord that is sealed and hibernating within [Kouen City]. And it’s not just any normal Demon Lord. It’s the Demon Lord who only required just a quarter of an hour to destroy the [Highborn of Little Garden]’s City, and can even fight on par with the Juniten.”
Hearing the words that didn’t match up to her sweet smiling face, Jin and Percher couldn’t help but hold their breaths.
“Destroying the [Highborn's of Little Garden]…… Could it be referring to the hometown of Kuro Usagi?”
“And isn’t Juniten the strongest warrior Gods? It’s difficult to believe that such a large Demon lord, that can actually fight on par with them, is sleeping within this City……”
The both of them looked to Sandra as they voiced their surprise.
Sandra nodded her head slightly as she was placed in an awkward position.
“Well… Act… Actually I’ve only first heard of it after becoming the [Floor Master]. It’s just that my father told me that it’s the highest order of secrets that cannot be mentioned to anyone….. Rin, how did you know about it?”
“Of course it’s the rumors of the commercial world. It’s said that word spreads in a scary manner right? This was one of those rumors with a low level of credibility. A Demon Lord that is of the Juniten level would definitely be of the strongest species. And no one would have believed in the rumors that such a monster would be sealed within the city, am I right?”
Rin smiled as she dodged the question.
Sandra’s expression was still unconvinced and worried but it soon became pensive as she gave it some serious thought.
“……shouldn’t be a problem right? The key to the seal had disappeared since three years ago.”
“Key?”
“No, nothingーCompared to that, the words just now cannot be leaked out. Regarding those rumors, I will use my Authority as a Master to issue a gag order on it. Such information must not be leaked no matter what. I think you should know it well that leaking out such information would be punishable. Especially Jin and Your Highness, being the representatives of your Communities, you must be especially mindful.”
The two of them nodded at the same time. Percher who knew that His Highness was one of the Demon Lord Alliance members was now experiencing a turmoil in her heart, but she could not say it out. So she could only quietly continue to squirt her water gun at Jin.
Jin who had ignored her all this while finally pressed down on Percher’s hand to stop her.
“Percher, is it really fun to do that?”
“Seeing how troubled you become, it’s indeed interesting.”
“Yeah, I knew it. Haiz……” Jin gave a sigh and Percher used the opportunity to squirt another shot into his mouth.
……Seems like she’s really happy. Though the person in question might not have noticed it, but every time that she squirted a shot of water, the edges of her lips would slightly curve upwards.
Jin coughed a little before standing up to summarize the conversation earlier:
“Anyways, I’ve understood the situation. We will start by searching for the ‘Kamikakushi’ and if we find something, we will then call upon the military police of [Salamandra] for support. Is that alright with you?”
“You said search…… could it be that you’ve some idea on the culprit?”
“Mhm. Ah, but there’s a possibility that I’m wrong. Can’t say that I’m absolutely certain……”
Jin seemed to have come upon something to start on, but he shut his mouth due to his lack of confidence. Seeing his hesitation, His Highness reproached him:
“Jin, I cannot agree with that kind of attitude of yours. It will only cause more trouble for the people around you. Being the leader of the Community, you should clearly express your thoughts.”
His golden eyes shone with a light that seemed to denounce Jin’s behavior. Those were words that only His Highness had the right to say for he too was a leader of a Community.
Jin clapped his cheeks in self-reflection before urging everyone to leave the pool.
“We will first get outside and confirm the scene of the crime. Then we will arrange to make an appointment with Kouryuu-san to meet up with him tomorrow.”
“Kouryuu……Saurian Demon King?”
Percher asked in surprise.
Jin seemed to shut his mouth in his lack of confidence, but recalling the words of His Highness, he straightened his back to announce:
“I believe that the enemy’s target isn’t the [Floor Master]sーbut Kouryuu-san who has become the acting Master.”
“……What?”