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“I’ve heard a thug from the east settled down recently in old lady Jillel’s rundown row house,” Dattas had informed them.
There was a concern he was trying to get even with them in some way, but it seemed more that he was completely overwhelmed by Gazraan Rutim’s extraordinary strength. In fact, his face actually looked full of admiration.
“I don’t know what sorta thug he is, but as long as he doesn’t go acting like a big man around here, then it’s got nothing to do with me. Still, guys from Sym are trouble, so I don’t want anything to do with them if I don’t have to. And you should take care, too,” he had earnestly added.
As they looked for the place Dattas had told them about, Gazraan Rutim asked Yumi, “What did he mean when he said folks from Sym are trouble? From what I have heard, that Sanjura man is formidable enough to prove a match for even hunters of the forest’s edge.”
“Hmm? Isn’t that because of the poison they use rather than their actual strength? They say you need ten swordsmen to take down one guy from Sym, after all.”
“Poison? That certainly could cause trouble.”
“No kidding. You wouldn’t think they were that brutal, looking at the guys from Sym walking around town. But from what I’ve heard, they wander all over the continent without any bodyguards, so they must not be afraid of beasts or bandits.”
As they were having that conversation, their destination came into view. Since it was ultimately a straight road, there was no real risk of getting lost.
Located nearly at the dead end of Drunkard Way was a row house that looked practically deserted. The building was one story with six units all in a row, and was so old and worn down that it could collapse in on itself at any moment. In fact, it looked so bad that it seemed hard to believe people could really live in such a place.
“But that bastard Sanjura was staying at The Sledgehammer, right? So is this thug who’s supposed to be staying here someone else?”
“I do not know. It is possible he prepared this dwelling in advance so he could run away after committing his crimes at that inn.”
At any rate, they couldn’t exactly turn around without checking after coming all this way. And so, Yumi gathered up her resolve as she had when visiting Dattas’s home, approaching the closest door and knocking on it.
She waited for a bit, but there was no response.
Right when she lifted her hand to knock again, though, she heard the bolt being removed from inside.
“What a racket. All our rooms are full right now, y’know.”
“Ah, are you old lady Jillel? We’re actually not here looking for lodgings,” Yumi replied while forcing down the shock she was feeling.
It wasn’t Jillel’s appearance that was surprising, though. Rather, it was the thick, offensive odor that wafted out when the woman opened the door. It was a strange, sweet smell that was utterly unfamiliar to Yumi and put her in something of a daze.
“Is that an herb from Sym? Did the easterner who came to live here recently share it with you?” Yumi asked, causing Jillel to guardedly furrow her brows.
The woman was terribly old and small. She was bent over at a near right angle, and she leaned heavily on a cane. Her greasy gray hair was pulled up into a bun atop her head, and her skin was like dirty tanned leather.
“We came here to check whether or not that easterner was an acquaintance of ours. Is he here in the row house now?”
“An acquaintance, you say...? He shouldn’t know anyone here in Genos...”
“Do we have the wrong guy, then? He’s got light hair, which is rare for easterners.”
Since it was possible he gave a fake name, Yumi avoided saying it.
Meanwhile, Jillel’s brows furrowed even deeper with more and more suspicion.
“Whatever, I don’t need any trouble... And who are those folks, anyway?”
“They’re people of the forest’s edge. A clan who hunt giba at the base of Mount Morga.”
At that point, Jillel almost shoved her way past Yumi as she moved outside, skillfully closing the door behind her with her cane.
“I won’t know if he’s out or not without checking. Guess I’ll go ahead and collect his rent while I’m at it.”
“Thanks. This is a big help.”
The old lady bobbed along unsteadily, with Yumi and company following after her.
Before long, she led them to the dwelling on the other end of the rowhouse. Once they arrived, she lifted up her cane and gave the door a rough poke.
“Hey, you’ve got visitors! And could I get tomorrow’s rent, too?!”
There was no response.
After a short while, Jillel reached out toward the door with her withered hand. Apparently it hadn’t been bolted, as it smoothly swung open.
It was pitch black inside the room.
And sure enough, there was an offensive odor hanging in the air. This time, it was a sort of mix between a sweet and sour smell, strong enough to seriously turn one’s stomach. And somehow, it seemed to have a sort of animal-like stink to it, too.
“Hey, are you there?! It’s no good... It’s too dark to see a thing.”
“If it’s alright, please allow me to take a look,” Gazraan Rutim said, stepping forward as Jillel moved aside.
However, the young hunter ended up giving a light tilt of his head, too.
“There’s a curtain or something dividing the room, so it’s impossible to see all the way inside. And... there’s some kind of strange presence, too.”
“Whaddya mean, a ‘strange presence’? You’ve got my permission, so go ahead and drag whoever’s in there out. If he went and died in my place, that’d be a real hassle.”
With a single nod, Gazraan Rutim stepped into the darkness without the slightest hesitation.
And as they watched, Jillel gave a curious little, “Oh? What’s this? Can you two see?”
“Hmm? It’s so dark I can’t even tell what I’m looking at,” Yumi answered as she and Morun Rutim peered into the room.
There was a curtain over the window too, so it was as pitch black as night inside. All she could make out was Gazraan Rutim’s back as he cautiously proceeded inside.
“Yeah, it’s just too dark to—” Yumi started to say, only to be suddenly pushed from behind.
Morun Rutim had been in front of her, and so she slammed into the girl’s shoulder as they both tumbled into the entrance.
And then, the world suddenly went dark. The door had been slammed shut.
“Oww... Hey! What’re you doing, you old hag?!”
Yumi hurriedly sat up and searched for the door by touch. For some reason, though, it wasn’t budging in the least, as if it were just another wall. Yumi felt a chill run down her spine as she sat there in that pitch black darkness.
“Hey! Stop messing around! Let us out of here!”
“Quiet, Yumi... Something’s not right...” Morun Rutim chimed in as she grabbed hold of Yumi’s arm.
In the next moment, an eerie cry pierced the darkness.
On top of that, there was a flapping and a sound like a cloth being beaten. It seemed to be the wings from some sort of animal flying about.
“Aah!” Yumi shrieked, holding her head in her hands.
She had felt something swoosh right by her ear.
“Morun! Keep your head down! These beasts are dangerous!” Gazraan Rutim shouted out, which was followed by the sound of something being torn down, followed by an animal’s shrill cry. It seemed the hunter was fighting the winged beasts in the dark.
“Flee outside! These beasts seem to be able to sense where people are, even without any light to see!”
“The door won’t open! It’s probably been bolted or something from the outside!”
“Understood! Then hold on for just a moment!”
The beasts’ constant flapping was all that gave them away as they flew overhead. Though they didn’t seem all that big, apparently there were several of them. And for a moment, Yumi felt as if she was trapped in some sort of nightmare.
Meanwhile, the sounds of battle continued on unabated. Yumi felt out Morun Rutim’s hand and held it tight, praying to the western god for this to end.
“Morun! Don’t move from that spot!”
Gazraan Rutim’s voice was suddenly drawing closer.
Then, something massive whooshed over their heads, and the door flew open. It seemed Gazraan Rutim had come running their way and kicked the door down.
The thick door went flying to the other side of the street, allowing light to stream in once more through the hole it left behind. And wasting no time at all, Yumi and Morun Rutim beat a hasty retreat into that light.
Following soon after, Gazraan Rutim leapt out backwards, brandishing his blade. He stood to guard the girls who were sitting collapsed on the road, pointing his sword straight at the gaping abyss where the door once stood.
“I believe... those were what are known as bats.”
“B-Bats?”
“Yes. I’ve heard that they occasionally appear at night at the forest’s edge, too. They’re dangerous creatures that not only suck the blood of people and beasts alike, but their fangs are also venomous.”
However, those winged creatures showed no signs of trying to leave the dark room. Did they have trouble handling sunlight?
“Morun, Yumi, you weren’t bit, were you?”
“We weren’t, since I kept on swinging this about,” Morun Rutim replied with a smile, holding out a wooden pole. Yumi hadn’t noticed at all, but apparently she had been using that to drive off the bats.
“So you were shut inside, correct? Was that old woman named Jillel the culprit?”
“That’s right! Where did that damn hag go?!”
Yumi hurriedly glanced about, but there wasn’t a single person to be found out on the road. She must have hurriedly booked it as soon as she locked in Yumi and Morun Rutim.
“Still, why exactly was she trying to do us harm? Does she have some sort of grudge against us people of the forest’s edge?”
“We won’t know that without asking her! For now, let’s at least try heading back to that room from before!”
Since her legs were bad enough to need a cane, it was hard to imagine she had run all the way to the other side of the road. But sure enough, once they made it back to the door on the other end, it was bolted from the inside.
“So you really are in here, huh?! Hey, you old hag! You’ve really done it now! What do you have against us, anyway?!” Naturally, there was no response. And so with a click of her tongue, Yumi turned to face Gazraan Rutim. “Hey, this isn’t getting us anywhere, so just go ahead and smash this one down too!”
“Ah... But I can’t say I feel right about kicking down doors left and right...”
“It doesn’t matter if you feel right about it, we can’t just forget about the old hag and leave, right?!”
With a rather apologetic look on his face, Gazraan Rutim went ahead and gave the door a hearty kick. It immediately came loose from its frame, tumbling down into the entrance.
Right inside sat a dirt floor, and beyond that there was an empty room. Off to the left was a stove which had a small metal pot on it. The flame was out, but the sweet smell in the air seemed to be coming from that direction.
Looking opposite the stove, Yumi found a large curtain blocking her view. That must have been the entrance to another room.
After looking the room over, Gazraan Rutim cautiously moved in that direction. And while keeping an eye out to make sure nobody was coming in from outside, Yumi and Morun Rutim followed after him.
Keeping a hold of his blade’s handle with his right hand, Gazraan Rutim grabbed the lower part of the curtain with his left. And when he suddenly pulled it up, an old woman’s shriek filled the room.
Naturally, that had come from Jillel.
She was cowering there in the corner of the small room, her face as pale as a sheet.
And there was someone else there next to her, too. This person wore a long, raggedy cloak, and jangling accessories around his neck and wrists... And he was an eastern man that had to be at least as old as Jillel.
His hair was a mix of its original black and a good bit that had gone white, giving it the overall impression of rusted steel. Plus his face was incredibly wrinkled, and though he would probably be quite tall if he stood up, his body was thin and shriveled.
“Aah, please forgive me! This man has grown so weak that he couldn’t possibly get up to any wrongdoing! It would be far too cruel to take him away as a criminal, wouldn’t it?!” Jillel sobbed as she clung to the easterner’s slim frame. And as she looked at the pair, Yumi gave a disappointed slump of her shoulders.
“So that old guy’s the easterner living here in this row house? Now listen, the man we’re looking for is a young guy from Sym perfectly capable of getting into trouble!”
“Huh? Then you didn’t come here to capture him and take him away...?”
“We’ve got no reason to go thrust some total stranger in front of the guards! Geez, you sure jumped to one heck of a conclusion there...”
As that back and forth was going on, the old man from Sym just sat there, his expression utterly unchanged. Of course, that made sense considering easterners thought it was shameful to let their emotions show.
“It seems you were rather troubled on my account... Jillel is innocent, so please find it in yourselves to forgive her...”
“I don’t know if I’d call her innocent, seeing how those bats or whatever could’ve easily ended up sucking our blood.”
“Those bats were captured to be used for medicine... I truly am sorry...”
“Hmph. You know, you sure are skilled in the western tongue, old timer.”
Furthermore, this man only seemed to be able to see properly out of one of his eyes. There was a dark yet calm shine in his right eye, but his left one was a murky gray.
“We’re searching for a criminal named Sanjura. Just to be safe, let me ask, do you know anything about him? He’s got light-colored hair and eyes and said he had mixed blood from the east and west, but just from looking at him, he seemed like an ordinary young man from Sym.”
“I do not know him... I am a criminal who cannot show his face in Sym, so I cut all ties with easterners... And I can’t say I ever knew anyone with mixed blood from the east and west, either...”
“Is that so? That’s too bad. He’s a heartless bastard who kidnapped a good friend of mine.”
“He kidnapped your friend, you say...? I see...” the old man from Sym murmured, closing his right eye. Meanwhile, his cloudy gray eye alone looked straight at Gazraan Rutim. “Does that friend perhaps lack a star...?”
“What did you say just now...?” Gazraan Rutim questioned, furrowing his brow ever so slightly. His light brown eyes always looked so calm, but now they appeared as sharp as a blade.
“You fall under the hawk star, guarded by three lions... And you all shall face a great shift in destiny under the light and shadow of the starless one...”
“A great shift...” Gazraan Rutim whispered back, taking in the words.
As for Yumi, she had no idea what was going on.
“Since that man lacks a star, even I cannot decipher his fate... It is in the process of shifting even now... Even if you have lost sight of him, the starless one is above you always... And once the clouds clear, you shall be able to see him once again...” Then, with Jillel still clinging to his thin shoulders, he leaned limply against the wall behind him. “That is as far as I can see... If it was enough for you to forgive the trouble Jillel caused you, I would be most appreciative...”
“Understood. You have my thanks for this favor,” Gazraan Rutim said, taking his hand from his blade and turning around. As he let go of the curtain it fell back down, once more hiding the old pair from view. “Let’s head back. I don’t believe we have any further business in this place.”
“H-Hold on a moment! What was all that gibberish about? Was that guy an eastern star reader or something?”
“Yes. A star reader from Sym called Asuta a starless one once before in the past. I can’t say I understand star reading, as it seems like a mere consolation to me... But I do feel it relieved at least a little of my unease.” As they exited Jillel’s home and stepped back out into the bright sunlight, Gazraan Rutim broke out in a gentle smile. “Naturally, that’s not to say we should sit around waiting for Asuta to return. I intend to carry on with whatever I can do to help.”
“Of course! Well then, let’s check down the other way next!”
“Right,” Gazraan Rutim replied with a nod.
Yumi had felt before like she had fallen deep into some sort of nightmare, but as she looked at Gazraan Rutim’s firm yet gentle smile, she somehow managed to pull herself back together.
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