426 - Jean-Jacques's PerspectiveThe Whereabouts of the Two
While I was searching for a place to descend to the bottom of the cliff, the sky had gotten bright. I came to look for Leonardo and Tina, but it did not seem like I had much time. Now that the sky was bright, the Imperial capital, having learned that Tina had been taken away, would surely send out search soldiers one after another. The time I had to search for Leonardo and Tina was until the soldiers noticed the collapse of the suspension bridge, suspected the area under the cliff, and sent soldiers there. I had to find the two of them by then.
...Quite a skewering, huh.
Edgar's body was found right away. It seemed there were several icicles formed under the suspension bridge, and one of them was dripping dark red blood. The base of the icicle was a murky crimson, but fresh blood was still seeping a little from Edgar's body. The higher up the icicle, the brighter red it was.
...Even if he was alive, he would not make it with this.
Considering the physical and mental wounds Tina had suffered, it was too anticlimactic a death, but I had no interest in beating a corpse. If there was anything I could do for him beyond this, it would be at most to take him off the icicle, leave him out in the wild, and let the beasts eat him. It might let me feel a little better, but I did not have the time to spare for something like that, and I did not want to get dirty with Edgar's blood either. Rather, leaving the corpse like this and letting the beasts gather would be a more gruesome fate for him.
...Well, if the Imperial soldiers are hardworking before that, they will probably find him.
"Chuck! This is it. This is what he was holding when he shot fire from his hand."
"You found it?"
"It was dropped by the cliff."
The tube handed to me with a "this is it" had a strange shape. In terms of shape, it did not look unlike a crossbow. It had a grip, and there were protrusions where a string and bolt would be loaded on a crossbow, but there was no string, so these protrusions probably were not used the same way as a crossbow.
...Come to think of it, he pulled these protrusions back before shooting fire.
Recalling Edgar's movements that I had glimpsed from a distance, I carefully observed the tube. I did not want to get shot with fire either, so I needed to be extremely careful in handling it.
...Looks like it moves.
When I touched what seemed to be the central part, it seemed designed to rotate. Sensing other parts might move too, I pushed it sideways, and the entire central part came out. There were holes inside, each packed with a small tube. There were tubes filled with nut-shaped pieces of metal, and tubes with a strange smell but no metal inside. I figured that the fire-shooting tube shot these nut-shaped pieces of metal while spewing fire. The tubes with the strange smell had been used earlier and were empty.
...Which means, it would be safer to remove the tubes.
Since I did not know how to use it, it would be safer to make it unusable.
Wondering if there was anything else I could figure out, I observed the fire-shooting tube. The grip was made of wood, and had large cracks in it, probably from the impact of the fall. Looking at the part that shot fire, the muzzle which seemed to have originally been round was crushed and bent. Maybe it was already broken and unusable.
...Well, it will make a decent souvenir.
If it was the belongings of the reincarnator Camilo, even broken it should have considerable value. Whether the person who receives this has it stored away or researches it is none of my concern as just a knight.
I secured it just in case, putting the fire-shooting tube and the tubes that came out of it into a separate bag, then resumed searching for Leonardo and Tina. Having fallen from that height, it was hard to believe they were unharmed, but there should be some trace left, in whatever form. If they were dead, they would not move. If alive, they would have left footprints moving somewhere.
"This is it."
I had been searching expecting a corpse or Leonardo too badly injured to move, but I found a "trace" that was neither of those. It was hard to believe this was the mark of someone falling from above, but Tina had fallen together with Leonardo. When Tina was involved, even somewhat mysterious phenomena might occur. At my feet, I found ice where the bloodstains unnaturally stopped.
"What happened here...?"
It seemed there was a river flowing under the cliff. Given the location, the surface was covered with thick ice that even an adult could walk on, but I could see water flowing under the "thin" ice. Amid the entire area covered in thick ice, there was a section of thin ice. This was undoubtedly a strange trace that I considered not at all surprising.
"This... looks like searching would be pointless."
A part of the thick ice was sunken in a circle. Probably, this is where Tina fell. At that time, there should have been thick ice here just like the surrounding area. But I think Tina fell here, and a spirit or something took her away to save her. The ice either melted at that time or was taken along with her.
If a spirit had taken both Leonardo and Tina, there was no point in continuing to search here forcibly. If the opponent was a spirit, humans could not do anything about it.
I signaled the bandits who had been searching and began preparations to withdraw. I wanted to leave this place before the soldiers came from the Imperial capital.
I could not find Leonardo and the others, but the Black Dog (Oscar) was at the bottom of the cliff. Even a well-trained dog could not escape uninjured from this height, it seemed. It appeared to have broken some bones, curled up in a corner of the rock wall.
What I was able to recover was just the fire-shooting tube and the Black Dog.
I gave up on directly searching the bottom of the cliff, and instead had the Imperial capital and the group of soldiers who had come out from the Imperial capital to search kept under surveillance. When I returned to Carlotta's residence carrying the Black Dog, the elderly lady came out to greet me.
"It seems there was a commotion at the Imperial capital, but is Christina safe?"
"I think she's safe, but as for where she's gone..."
When pressed about why I thought she was safe, I told her a few of the strange stories about Tina. The fact that Tina had been taken by spirits and moved an incredible distance in one night, or that she was taken by spirits every time she went to the Recollection Festival, was a well-known story in the capital. People even worried that this girl, so beloved by spirits, might one day be taken by spirits and never return. If Tina could not return to the Ivizia Kingdom like this, she would probably be forgotten as having been taken by spirits. Except by those who had close contact with Tina, and the Sedovara Church, which would lose a reincarnator who could read Japanese.
"Our Boss had a good hold on the Tina kid, so no need to worry. There were signs that spirits did something, so... well, somehow? Probably?"
It might be hard to find them right away, but if spirits were involved, Tina should be safe. If they took her to help her, Tina must surely be alive. Probably, Leonardo, who should be with her, is also safe.
"Taken by spirits... can such things really happen?"
"Even if it's superstition here in the Empire, this isn't the first time the Tina kid's been taken by spirits."
There is no point in worrying about this. She will either show up unexpectedly or send word. About all I can do is prepare so we can act immediately when that happens. If I had to guess where to look, it would be near Leonardo or a place associated with spirits. Since she vanished together with Leonardo this time, there is no way to search. For all I know, they might have already returned to the Grenore residence.
...I should at least contact the prince and Alf about this.
I was planning to disband the bandits in Leonardo's place later, so I could have Marco's bandit group deliver a letter to Alf then. If I sent a letter to Marco, he should pass it on to Alf.
"How's the Tina kid's maid doing?"
"The pharmacist did everything she could. The treatment is done, but... she said we can't let our guard down."
For now, she was alive, but apparently they could not say for certain she was on the road to recovery. From when she was discovered to when she was recovered, she had lost too much blood and body heat. The treatment itself was done, but there was nothing to be done about the lost blood. For body heat, they could warm her by the hearth or wood stove, but that was only a small help. If the pharmacist had done everything possible, then it was up to Giselle to survive on her own.
"...Once the heat dies down, can I move to the great elder's territory? I think the Boss would head there rather than the Imperial capital."
"Of course."
We settled on moving to the territory when Giselle recovered enough to be moved, and then I took Leonardo's place to instruct the bandits to disband. The bandits who had gathered originally to help search for Leonardo's younger sister obediently returned to their respective villages, but those who had lost in a strength contest against "Bandit Boss Jin" were reluctant to disband. When they complained about why they had to follow my orders instead of the Boss's, I silenced them with my fists. Since they were guys who had lost to Leonardo in strength, I could enforce the chain of command with force.
"...Alright, then follow the same arrangement as the previous guys."
Gather information while returning to their villages. I sent the bandits off with instructions to contact me if anything happened. A few who had become subordinates through the strength contest had no villages to return to, so they ended up staying with me. If it came to taking them to the Ivizia Kingdom, Leonardo would take responsibility for reforming them. He could only be "Bandit Boss Jin" while in the Zugall Empire. As the Black Knight Leonardo of the Ivizia Kingdom, he was on the side that cracked down on bandits.
"When you get taken by spirits, you really never know where you will show up... Is there anywhere around here? A place with something related to spirits?"
Speaking of spirits, what came to mind in recent years was the "Spirit's Seat." I had once carried a report about whether or not it could be destroyed.
I was pretty sure the destruction of the "Spirit's Seat" had started with Tina as the catalyst.
Since it was information about the charge (Tina), I had read through the detailed report as well.
The "Spirit's Seat" was supposedly something like a rectangular box made of giant crystal.
"I don't know if it's that 'Spirit's Seat' or not, but I've heard a story about some huge treasure being brought into the Tower of Dawn."
"Oh yeah, there was that. About five or six years ago? I think there was a rumor about a giant crystal being discovered from an icy lake near the Imperial capital."
According to the rumors, the giant crystal discovered in the icy lake was apparently taken to the Tower of Dawn. I looked up at the southeastern sky, thinking I had been hearing that name a lot lately. There was supposed to be a giant tower to the southeast of the Imperial capital, but the sky was always gray and cloudy, and I had never even seen the shadow of the tower.
"...Come to think of it, was not that around the time it started? The constant blizzards around the tower area."
"Oh come on, that is too convenient. I have heard that just approaching the Tower of Dawn is a crime of treason."
"Treason and all that is old news for bandits, though."
The rumors that trickled out after that would have been nothing but tall tales if I had not known Tina. But unfortunately, I knew Tina. Thanks to Tina, who was easily taken by spirits and appeared in different places using mysterious means of travel, even extraordinary events were not "impossible" stories to me. They were "maybe possible" stories. Even the rumor about a man who vanished at the foot of the Erath Mountains being found in a distant forest became a "possible" story when it came to Tina.
...Which means, if I go looking for the Tina kid, first stop is the Tower of Dawn?
I intended it to be Chapter 12, but I thought I had better include the aftermath, so I added it to Chapter 11. Next time is probably Chapter 12 from Alfred's perspective.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.