Blood Of Platinum
Chapter 42. Foreign Places in New Town. 7
Kaito and the two brothers walked down the street in the residential area. That morning, the residents began to do their activities. Just like the time in ‘world day’, the place is so crowded.
Kino looked towards Kaito who was walking beside her.
“Kaito-san, are you really not tired? Didn't Kaito-san sleep all night? If you are tired, you should go back and rest for a while. Ryou and I are going to look for his pocket watch” Kino looks worried about Kaito
“I'm fine. Last night's feeling had taken away my fatigue. I can't stay still if it's related to my memory piece”
Kaito looked at Kino with an expressionless look, indicating he was not tired. But Kaito himself felt strange. His sleepiness lately was barely felt. He asked in his heart.
‘Is this one of the strangenesses Kino said? We don't feel so hungry and thirsty as normal people do, don't defecate and don't have a body scent. Although I can still feel tired but I can actually last longer without sleep’
Kaito glanced at the brothers who were walking beside him and thought back.
‘They can still sleep, that means they still feel sleepy. Have I lost my drowsiness because it has been too long in ‘both worlds’? I feel I don't really need sleep despite being tired’
For a moment, he thought about what Kino said this morning.
[It sounds easier that way but I feel like I'm not human anymore]
The longer he was in that world, the more habits ‘man’ forgot him. Kaito began to think, other than his lost memory of whether he really was far from the word human now.
“Am I not a normal human anymore?”
“Eh?”
Kaito muttered to himself unconsciously and was heard by the two brothers. They immediately looked at Kaito with a strange and astonished look. Ryou continues his mouth sport back.
“I'm glad you asked. Maybe you're not normal anymore that's why I'm saying welcome to the abnormal society. Me and Kino will appoint you as team leader because you are the oldest and most experienced”
Kino pinched Ryou's hand slightly so that the younger brother stopped talking like that.
“Auch! What are you doing?!”
“I told you this morning that I'd watch Ryou harder. Can't talk that way to an older person”
“I'm talking politely to you!”
“But Ryou always says rude things to Kaito-san”
“Ish!” Ryou could only frown at seeing his brother
“……”
Kaito who saw that smiled towards the two of them. He's used to all that. It was still in his memory the first time they met. He decided to walk with a stranger he didn't know and now he can confidently say they're both the most important people now.
After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the altar building. Next to the building, the fountain pool is still there.
“It turns out it's not ‘world noon’ anymore. Now we're really in a normal town. Or I said in ‘new city’ another created ‘world’” this Ryou narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the fountain pool
“It's clear now. This is where my memory is. A piece of my memory is somewhere in this city”
“We don't have much time” Ryou added
“Case lost yesterday also caught my attention. Kino, I hope you can find out more about the case in this altar area” Kaito pointed to kino
“I?!” Kino was surprised to hear Kaito point at her
“I can trust in your analytical skills. I'm sure you can find something that can be used as information. We can split up now”
“I understand. I won't disappoint Kaito-san”
“Beware Kino. Whatever happens if needed, do whatever it takes to protect yourself” Ryou looks worried for her brother
“I understand. Ryou also beware”
“Kino” Kaito calls Kino before he leaves
“What else is it, Kaito-san?”
“It. Take some of this money with you. I put it in the little bag I bought last night. If you're done looking for information on the altar sooner, go shopping into town. We will gather again at the altar at five o'clock in the afternoon
“I understand, but Ryou's pocket watch is on me. What about Ryou? Is Ryou coming with Kaito-san?”
“Of course not. Kaito has given me money as well. Although not knowing the time but I can directly come here before you come”
Ryou lied to his brother. She feels guilty because this time she completely left her brother alone and does not let him know Kaito's plan with her.
Kino who happily accepted the assignment from Kaito went straight to the altar building. After Kino leaves, only Ryou and Kaito stay in the fountain pool.
“You deliberately asked him to look up information on the altar to distract him, right?”
“I originally wanted third-party help. Let's just say the altar guard officer was his third party”
“But what's the point of asking Kino to find information that we obviously already know the answer to?. You said yourself that a bunch of kids at the altar had something to do with the kid who took our pocket watches. You've thought things through, haven't you, Kaito?” Ryou asked in surprise
“I purposely sent him there. To be honest, I still feel like he still blames himself”
Ryou looked down with his own eyes.
“Kino is such a person. I know because I'm his sister. That nature really pisses me off. Though he may realize it wasn't his fault but he won't stop blaming himself”
“Because of that, it would be better this way. I want him to think it's not his fault. That way, he won't feel that we're just entertaining him”
“Then after that, do you think Kino will stay silent? Didn't he know the kids at the altar had something to do with the loss of our pocket watches, he'd find out more? He could have been looking to that foreign place as well!”
Ryou who suddenly changed emotions instantly held onto the collar of Kaito's robe.
“Kaito, you didn't mean to get Kino into trouble, did you?! I told you I didn't want him to come into our plans today and you said you'd find the best way. If this is the best way you have, I really want to hit you!!”
“.....” Kaito is silent
“Listen to me, if he finally knows the children's relationship with the loss case at the altar then he'll find out where they came from. Once he finds out they're from that weird street you said, Kino's most likely gonna be there. You should have a good explanation so that I don't hit you now!”
Kaito listened well to Ryou's angry words. He also felt responsible with all the actions he took by asking Kino to the altar. He knows best how genius Kino's brain is. But all of that must have been carefully thought out by him.
“Ryou, I asked him there to make him stop blaming himself. Had he known the truth of the loss case at the altar, I never said he would have instantly known”
“That's your best defense?”
Kaito sighed and looked at Ryou with a serious look.
“Kino will probably find out the children had a connection with the loss case at the altar, but–”
“But what?” Ryou stared intently at Kaito's face with annoyance
“But he wouldn't think they were the culprit”
“What do you mean?” Ryou is confused by Kaito's answer
“I just want him to think that the pocket watch was indeed lost because someone stole it and not him who
eliminate it”
“It didn't help at all Kaito. He would still blame himself while asking himself why he could get the pocket watch stolen. Your excuse is not good enough to save you from my blow” Ryou has already clenched his hand
“You sure? If the victim is only a possible one, but you have to remember that the victim is not just him. So, I don't think he'd think it was entirely his fault. Besides Ryou–”
“What? Want to say defense again?”
“I want to ask you. From the reason I sent Kino to the altar just now, when did I say he would realize that the group of children or children who hit you had something to do with the loss case at the altar?”
“What?!”
“Until yesterday he himself said that his pocket watch was still in his pants pocket. He also continued to convince me with his explanation. I don't dispute that either. You didn't forget that, did you?”
“....” Ryou is silent
Ryou's grip on the collar of Kaito's robe began to be released and this time he listened well.
“I'm glad you vent your emotions on me in the morning, so I can know you're mentally healthy. Your emotional mentality is what I really need after this”
“Explain what you mean earlier!” ryou's emotions were already better but he kept staring at Kaito sharply
“I want you to answer my question just now, when did I say he would realize the child at the altar had something to do with the loss case that happened there?”
“…….”
Ryou was speechless with a face full of annoyance. Kaito smiled at her while giving her answer.
“Absolutely. Thank you for answering me. Ever since I asked Kino to the altar just now I never said it, right?. All that you said with full emotion”
“……”
“Listen, the one with the thought as you said it was just you and me. Kino's trying to convince us both that the watch is still on him until it comes out the altar. Even if he realized it was stolen, it was impossible for him to associate all of it with the bunch of children at altar”
“Why can you think that?”
“Because your brother is too good. He was too gentle to blame others. All this time he's been blaming himself because he doesn't want anyone else to feel guilty, like you said. Despite its nature it will get him in trouble but it is a hard thing to change”
“I just want him to start thinking of other possibilities. I want him to start thinking that it was stolen, so his focus will be on the loss. He'll be stuck in that place for a while until he's sure he has enough information he can bring on us both”
“That's your destination?”
“True. I know you're afraid he'll realize it's all related”
“……”
“To be honest, about my words this morning it was seriously”
“Which one?”
“About how dangerous your sister is”
“.....?” Ryou looked at Kaito with a confused look
“Until this morning I felt that he could easily read what we were thinking. Therefore I was afraid we might be heard sooner than expected”
“.....” Ryou is still listening to Kaito's sentence
“But I ended up thinking, it doesn't mean we can't distract him with anything else. If he is indeed aware of the relationship of the loss case and the children at the altar are related later, we just need to think of a way so that he does not get involved in the problem”
“.....” Ryou was completely silent and bowed at Kaito's words
“You're too sensitive when it comes to your brother” Kaito smiles while saying it to Ryou
“That's a problem for you?” Ryou pouted slightly hearing that sentence
“I've said it until my mouth is almost frothy. I will try my best to protect you both. We have also agreed not to put him in danger. The search for a foreign road is only you and I will do it”
Ryou already does not want to say anything else except the word “maaf”from his mouth. Kaito heard it just gave him two pats on the shoulder to calm him down.
It was still early morning and the drama of ‘wild cats hissing each other on Jalan’ had already happened between the two of them. Although all ended well, but after this they had to prepare to expend more energy. Now, they just need to shut up and wait.
Kaito picked up his pocket watch and he looked at the time it was shown.
“Already at 07.10, they should have come and are in front of altar”
“Do I need to check it there?”
“No need, your brother will later...they come!”.
Kaito saw the kids yesterday. He also saw the girl who hit him in the fountain pool among them.
While pointing towards the group of children, Kaito focused his index finger on the oldest daughter among them all.
“Short-haired girl and wears a pink dress there.it was the boy who yesterday accidentally bumped into me here. Yesterday afternoon when I went down the narrow path in that foreign place, they were also with him”
Ryou looks at the child appointed by Kaito. He looked at all the kids. There were eight of them, but he did not see the child who had hit him yesterday at the altar.
“Nothing. The kid that hit me yesterday and Kino wasn't in it. Why can?”
Kaito looked back at the children who were stepping up the stairs towards the entrance of the altar. He memorized all the traits they had.
He was quite surprised when he saw two children who looked the oldest among them looking towards the fountain.
As their eyes met her eyes, Kaito clearly saw the facial expression they showed when he saw her. Then, for some reason they all walked towards the altar door a little faster afterwards.
Kaito couldn't forget that facial expression.
‘Why do they seem to be scared? Is it just my feeling?’ Kaito muttered in his heart
After he finished recalling the traits of all those children, he asked Ryou.
“The child who yesterday bumped into you, about 10-11 years old with black hair, orange shirt and brown hat is the child who sat together with Kino on the stairs yesterday”
“Yap, exactly. As I said yesterday afternoon” Ryou confirmed Kaito's words
“It seems he's pretty smart. I'm sure he doesn't want to arouse suspicion of the townspeople praying at the altar. Chances are he's looking for somewhere else to steal”
“How so? Want to find the kid or follow them to a foreign street when they go home?”
Kaito thought for a moment. If he followed the children, it was likely that they would meet the child suspected of being the perpetrator of pocket watch theft but that would take a long time. They also do not know when the child will gather with his friends.
If he is determined to find the suspected culprit to the city, there is no guarantee that he will meet in person and the instructions for their pocket watch will be found longer and longer.
“Who would have thought it would be like this. Haah...” Kaito sighed.
Not long after, he said to Ryou.
“It seems like there is no choice. We're gonna find the kid who hit you yesterday in town. If we meet, we can directly interrogate him on the spot to get your pocket watch back”
“You are sure of that decision, Kaito?”
“I'm not a fortune teller so I don't know if it will work or not. But, our original plan would have followed them if yesterday's kid was in that group. In reality, the child was not in it. Our plans must be changed. The main target is the boy. If he's the thief, then that pocket watch is still on him”
Ryou could not say anything to give any other advice. She had already completely trusted Kaito after the drama just now. Already not wanting to make things worse, she finally decided to listen to everything Kaito had told her.
The two of them immediately ran away from the fountain pool towards the city.
**
There were five large, tattooed people who came walking towards the shops near the fountain pool. They didn't really attract the attention of the townspeople that morning. After walking, they stopped for a while near the pond.
“We have been looking for a sword user without a sword sheath last night but still not found”
“She must be at one of the inns in this city. If he was a hunter or adventurer of a certain group, he should have come out this morning”
“Where should we look for it? If we go back to Justin-sama's place, our fate will be like Fred and Loki yesterday”
“No, we must not return until we find the sword-wearing man without the sword sheath”
“Then we search again. We cannot fail for our lives!”
The five of them finally chose to split up to find the person they were looking for.
******
Stelani and the other children who had separated from Theo walked towards the altar.
“We are really bad luck. In this case we have to be there longer to get a lot of donations from residents who come” said Fabil
“Although it has been running, but if it had been since waking up earlier we would still be late at noon until here” said one of the children in the group
“Therefore we must be there longer before returning to the place of Justin-sama”
“Fabil, don't talk like that. You made them depressed before starting” Stelani advising Fabil
“Ma–forgive me. We'll make a lot of money for breakfast today. Come spirit!”
“Ooh!!” everyone screamed though not so loudly as they were still tired after running
They all climbed the stairs to the entrance of the altar. In the midst of climbing the stairs, Stelani and Fabil felt like someone was staring at them and looking at the side of the altar.
Their faces instantly turned pale when they saw who was staring at them.
“Oi, the!” Fabil whispered to Stelani
Stelani who also saw him turned a little pale and scared then asked the other children to climb the stairs faster.
Upon arriving before the entrance of the great altar, Stelani and Fabil fell silent for a moment and whispered to each other.
“You saw that earlier, Fabil?”
“Where might I not see it!. That man has me a sword without a sword sheath. Although only a glance but the reflection of light from the sword was clearly visible to me”
“That's the guy Justin-sama was looking for. How could he be in this place?!” Fabil showed his frightened face
“Please yourself, Fabil. If the other kids see us panicking, they'll panic. We have to stay calm”
The panicked Stelani tries to calm Fabil down. But, he himself also felt fear until his two hands trembled.
“I remember Justin-sama's men looking for him. They seemed to be looking for him to the city center and the streets of this city as well. If until they find the sword user man earlier, there will be a big commotion in the city” said Stelani trembling
“Stelani, we still have to look after these kids. I don't think that guy knows us either. We better be ordinary. Don't get into trouble with that guy”
“I know. You and I should stay with these kids. I'm sure Theo doesn't know about this. I hope he doesn't meet the guy with the sword or Justin-sama's men. Although we have no relationship with the man but it would be nice if Theo did not meet any of them”
The other children asked what the two were doing until they whispered like that. Quickly, Fabil directed the children to stand guard and ask for donations in front of the altar.
Stelani prayed in her heart.
“Please, I hope Theo doesn't get in trouble. May the man with the sword and Justin-sama's men not meet him. I hope he is not involved in any serious problems. I beg”
******
