「Cursed」I7 (DISCONTINUED)

5 - Answers Out of Reach

Riku squinted into the night's dusk. He saw himself face to face with an older silver-haired male, and in the back, Tenn and a brown-haired male stood. They were likely the three he had saw earlier from the window. 

"You. . ." The silver-haired male said, his voice trailing off. His eyes widened. 

It was as if he had realized something. 

- - -

"Goddamnit, Tenn!" Gaku shouted. "A peddler, huh?! What sort of ridiculous lie?"

Still out in the open air of the night, the three huddled around the red-haired male who had been dropped to the ground, on his knees using his hands as support. He coughed. The large pack which was on his back had been thrown off and emptied, coins scattered all around.

"What sort of peddler has this many coins?" Gaku continued on, clearly infuriated. "The cloak, the knife at his waist. . . This kid is a goddamn mercenary!"

"G - Gaku! There's no need to shout -" Ryuu said. 

"I not fond of my own allies lying to me," he shot back. "Tenn, care to explain yourself?"

Tenn had his arms crossed on his chest, he replied glumly, "I didn't think it mattered. Just send him off on his way the next day."

"Oh? It doesn't matter huh? Well, it matters to me! Look at his hair." Gaku grabbed a small bunch of the mercenary's hair, who winced. 

"So?" replied Tenn. He obviously didn't see the significance. Or maybe he was acting like he didn't know. It didn't matter either way. 

Ryuu gasped, "It couldn't be. . ."

"The crimson mercenary Tsumugi had predicted to come." Gaku said, his voice lowered at the thought of her. It hurt him, every time he mentioned her. It was just more of a reminder that she wasn't present in this village and her whereabouts were still unknown. He felt a squeeze in his chest but held his composure. 

"It could just be a coincidence. Don't jump to conclusions." Tenn retorted blandly.

It annoyed Gaku, how Tenn was trying to dismiss the mercenary. He couldn't shake off the idea that Tenn was hiding something. "He's still worth trying, perhaps he knows something we don't." Gaku tossed the mercenary back to the ground. "But let's not be sidetracked. I don't want to miss -"

It was perfect. Too much of a coincidence. The moment he looked out to the end of the village, which was only a few meters from where they stand, a flash of short, glowing hair shone under the moonlight. The human-like figure shot behind a building, the cape attached waving after it. 

"SHIT!" Gaku darted to where the figure headed, his heart pounding. What was that? It happened so fast, he couldn't even tell if it had actually happened. By the time he turned the corner, the figure had already darted into the woods which was located right beside the village on one side. He could only catch an impression of the figure as they jumped over logs and weaved through the trees at such a inhumane speed, it was a blur. The moonlight reflected glimpses of red and white off the figure until they disappeared into the shadows.

He cursed, falling down to his knees. Regret washed over him, the tears slipped. His own distraction had lost him what could have possibly been the answer to Tsumugi's disappearance.

- - -

Tenn and the brown-haired mercenary ran off after the silver-haired male, calling after him. Riku, now left alone started to gather his coins as fast as his hands could possibly hold and throw into his bag. But it was dark, many of the further scattered coins were hard to spot.

His mind wandered. What had just happened? What did the silver-haired male mean by 'the crimson mercenary. . . predicted to come.' It confused him too much. First the book given to him, then this. Frustrated, Riku shook his head to clear his mind. It was best to wait for the answers instead of fretting over it. 

"Uhm, do you need help?" 

A high male's voice surprised Riku, causing him to jolt back a bit. He looked up and squinted into the dark to spot an orange-haired male leaning down just before him.

"Oh - You shouldn't be out -"

"What was all of that commotion?" He interrupted, gathering the more scattered coins anyways.

Riku didn't know how to respond. Telling by the male's casual tunic, he seemed to be any ordinary villager, around the same age. It was best not to get him involved. So instead of saying anything, he simply shook his head and continued to gather coins.

"Mitsuki!" Another male approached, this one with dark hair. "You can't be out here. It's dangerous!"

Riku assumed this 'Mitsuki' was the boy in front of him. 

"It's fine, the commotion is over." Mitsuki replied. He held out a pile of coins in his hands to Riku.

"Ah - No, it's fine. You can keep those." Riku waved his hands, dismissing the boy. He gathered the last of the coins in sight and into his pack.

"Eh? But it's money. . ." 

Riku smiled at him, giving off the message indirectly that he didn't really need it.

Mitsuki's face lit up a bit. Villagers weren't in the slightest bit wealthy, he definitely needed it more than Riku did.

The dark-haired male tapped Mitsuki and urged him to get a move. Mitsuki, stood up next to the male, waved before heading away, "Stay safe," he said.

Riku waved back, he couldn't help the genuine smile. Villager's are awfully kind aren't they. Riku sealed his pack and headed down the path, back to the Inn. He had only been outside for less than an hour and things already had fell to chaos. 

When he had arrived back in the tight room, he dropped the pack onto the floor and sat on the bed, yawning. For a day, he hadn't gotten any sleep or food. Fortunately, the lack of food hadn't taken too much of a toll on him. He had built up a tolerance to hold his hunger since travelers often didn't have an abundance of food on them. 

Looking off to the side, where he had left the books, he noticed they weren't there. Had he misplaced them? Riku slid off the bed and checked around under the bed. But it was pitch black under the bed, so he grabbed a mini flashlight from his pack (which he didn't often have to use) and flashed it under the bed. Nothing. After a thorough check of the rest of the room, he switched the flashlight off. 

He hadn't brought the books with him when he went outside. The only place they could've been was here in the room. The only plausible explanation Riku eventually came to struck him with fear. Someone had been in here while he was out. The books were stolen.

「note」

words : 1800