Blood Of Platinum
Chapter 58. Connected by Destiny. 3
Highlight Theo's sharp eyes already showed his strong determination. He told everything to the two brothers in front of him.
“This place is a foreign territory controlled by a bald man named Justin. He was the one who claimed to rule the frontmost region in this slum and dirty”
“Smooth and dirty area yes. I can see it”
Kaito looked around where he stood with a look of disdain.
Actually Kaito was eager to leave there because the inhospitable scent on his nose was getting stronger. Being in ‘world malam’ for too long makes his sense of sight and smell more sensitive.
The narrow alley is not bad for him, but it would be different if he imagined a narrow alley with buildings that were almost destroyed and garbage bags everywhere. It became a serious matter for him, perhaps as serious as facing Ryou's spicy mouth.
At least where they are now there are not all these worrying things.
Kaito commented inwardly.
‘The dirty slums, less light and far from this human civilization is junior ‘world night’. Don't expect you to find anything fun here, Kaito!. Moreover, if it had dealt with trash and unpleasant aroma, it would be much worse than fighting a flock of goblins. Disgusting!!’
Kaito was completely filled with expression, especially when it came to the region he was in. It seems, he is more happy to use the phrase ‘disgusting’ than others. What a good boy who loves cleanliness more than anything.
Forget about it, Theo is still trying to explain everything.
“My friends and I have to earn money so we can eat. We should always give him the money we get every morning and night, whatever and how to”
“What if you guys don't do it?” Kaito asked Theo
“If not, Justin will hit and punish us. He also won't feed us”
“.....” both fell silent listening to Theo's explanation
Theo continued to recount his miserable situation to the two of them.
“We all usually ask for donations in the city center and by the roadside on the grounds as a donation to an orphanage. Actually, we all have no parents anymore and were taken by Justin as a pet, at least that's what the gorilla said
“Now, explain to us what the reason you stole in altar” Kaito asked for an explanation while looking into Theo's eyes
“A week ago, my friend Stelani and I decided to try to find another place that had a chance to earn more money and we ended up choosing the altar as the place. At first I didn't think about stealing. But because of the large number of rich people who came, I only thought about doing it once. Who would have thought that I could earn a lot of money by stealing from altar”
Up here, three of Kaito's four previous questions have been answered.
“Why don't you guys just use the money to buy bread?” Ryou asked Theo
Ryou's question makes logic. It's just that Theo and his friends' circumstances aren't as easy as he thought.
“I hate that gorilla so much, of course I did it once. I never intentionally didn't give you the money we got and he hit us all like a boxing” pad
“Hitting us all you said?! Including the little ones that were with you at the altar?!” Ryou was shocked to hear that
“True, we were all beaten up overnight. Besides, he didn't feed us for two days. He is the devil!!” theo's expression of anger really represented his hatred
Hearing the child's situation, Ryou and Kaito couldn't possibly take it lightly. At least a little, there is a sense of resentment in both of them towards Justin that they have never met even though.
“He feeds you but what kind of food does he give you all until you have to give him money?” Kaito asked in a flat tone to hide his emotions
“He only gave us dirty bread. Sometimes hard bread or those that are already a little moldy”
Now, in the hearts of the two teenagers came one sentence.
‘Gorilla it deserves to die!!!’
Ryou tries to calm down because he remembers Kaito's previous threats, but lies that he doesn't want to take out his curse for Justin. After taking a deep breath and exhaling it, Ryou started to approach Theo and looked at him.
“You, did you tell this to my brother?”
“Ti–impossible! I don't want Kino-nii to find out. I.. I want to get that pocket watch I took because I also don't want to be hated by Kino-nii” Theo said all that with a trembling voice
Hearing that, Ryou smiles at Theo and comforts him.
“Don't worry, my sister is the best so she won't hate you. Believe!”
“Mmm” Theo nodded happily
Kaito's face became serious. Many questions arise in him now.
‘What does this mean? The pocket watches of the two brothers are in this foreign place. Then, the strange feeling I felt when I beat up the five men was also like being related to this place. A fragment of my memory..does it all lead to this place?’
Kaito looked at Theo once more and looked at him with a sharp gaze. He was sure there was something with the boy too. Everyone still hasn't convinced themselves.
Another question came to Kaito's mind.
‘A foreign area that is not touched by the city's residents as if there is a dividing line between the two. Is this the mystery of this ‘world’ now? After ‘the two worlds’, is now this place the real problem?’
Theo's explanation answered only three of Kaito's four previous questions. Now, Kaito needs to know the answer to the fourth question.
“Theo, I want to ask you and you have to be honest with me”
“Te–certain...” with a panicked face he replied Kaito.
“When you saw me a while ago, it seemed like you were so scared of me. This morning when Ryou and I were in the fountain pool beside the altar, I saw two children who seemed to be your age also making scared faces that were exactly like you. Have I ever met you or have I ever done anything bad to you?”
“.....” Theo speechless
Ryou does not understand the meaning of Kaito's question but he does not intend to ask. He was more interested in the answer from the boy's mouth.
Theo looked at Kaito's sword and pointed at him with his index finger.
“Kaito-nii, that sword..sword without a sword sheath right?”
“This? This sword has not had a sword sheath since I lost mine elsewhere. Is this the thing that scares you?”
“That thing–”
Not yet finished Theo spoke, Ryou immediately interjected.
“I told you, right? You need to order another sword sheath!. After all, it was dangerous to walk with a double-edged sword without such a sheath. You will really be seen as a villain later”
“Ryou, please don't call me a criminal. Please hold your mouth for now, I beg you. My ears will cry hearing that all day long” Kaito with his strange face staring at Ryou
Ryou's not the name if the mouth spicily it has a day off.
“Since when can your ears cry? I want to see what her tears look like”
“Ryou, please shut up briefly”
“.....” and again Kaito lost a fight with the teenager
Kaito has learned not to say anything if Ryou comments, but Kaito seems more innocent than he thought. His establishment is so unstable as any other 21-year-old that it is easy to forget what is most important to save his mentality from Ryou.
Anyone would probably feel sorry to see Kaito now.
All the drama had no effect on Theo. Theo who was still pointing at Kaito's sword looked at his face and asked.
“Ka–Kaito-nii, have you ever come to this foreign place before?”
“What?” Kaito was quite surprised to hear that question
“I asked, has Kaito-nii ever come to this place before? Please answer me!”
Now, Theo again looked pale and scared. Kaito glanced at Ryou who nodded at him as a sign he had to say the thing that happened yesterday to Theo.
“I went to this place yesterday, more precisely in the morning by noon. I entered this place through the stairs around the residential area of the population. If I'm honest as far as I can remember, I've never seen those stairs. That's why I'm a little curious and try to go down once”
“What...was yesterday you met two big muscular men also while going to this place?”
“I didn't meet them. More precisely those who found me”
“What?!”
“This place is so foreign to me so I got lost. There are so many turns and alleys that I don't know that I'm almost lost. Until I finally saw some stalls and market-like places with unfriendly people at all there”
“La–then, how did the two men find Kaito-nii?” Theo started to look seriously at Kaito
“I walked through that strange market to find a way out of this place. It was at that moment that there were two muscular men following me from behind. Somehow they weren't so happy with me that they chased after me”
“So apparently. It turns out like that–”
“What's with it?”
“.....” Theo was silent for a while
When Ryou and Kaito look at each other in confusion, Theo says a surprising thing.
“Kaito-nii, you're in big trouble now”
“What does that mean?”
******
Kino who had just finished receiving an apology from the person who hit him immediately looked to his right and left. The only good thing on his mind was that he was sure Theo had already climbed the stairs to the altar and was now probably already inside.
“Should I catch up with him now?”
Kino saw his pocket watch and the time had shown at 09.04 which meant that only four minutes had passed.
With the children's running speed, just to climb the stairs and get inside the altar would not take long. But, Kino's premonition wasn't a figment of the thumb. You could say he seemed to have a level of vigilance and thought about all possibilities very maturely.
Especially bad feelings and strange feelings.
Now he's in a state of mind where he suspects Theo isn't inside the altar. Kino started to think for a while.
‘Ethat's why I feel Theo-kun might not go inside. Even if he went inside now, what would he find and do? Even when I know everything, what does Theo-kun want to do?’
Kino's thought eventually led her to go back to the altar. After putting his pocket watch back in, he rushed towards the altar stairs. Kino ran up the stairs.
At the entrance of the altar, he did not see Stelani and the others. There was a slight smile adorning his lips.
“I think they're all really home now, thank God. I hope they don't get hurt by a guy named Justin as Michaela-chan” says
The sentence that the little boy said certainly still left a sense of sadness and worry in Kino's heart. Even so now is not the right time to think about it.
“I don't mean to be mean to Stelani-chan and the others, but this isn't the right time for me to think about it. I have to see for myself whether Theo-kun is really here or not”
Kino went inside for the second time this morning.
Inside the altar there are still many residents and worshipers. There was a scene that again seized the attention of Kino from a distance.
Seeing from the situation there, Kino realized that all those people did not come to pray but instead met the guard officers.
“Those guard officers still have to face everyone who is angry, yes. Even after this time, they still had to deal with everyone who was emotional. I hope they're okay”
True enough, the victims lost at the altar were still not satisfied with all the explanations and efforts made by the guard officers to find their belongings. Kino looked so sad to see that.
‘If I had the courage to accept the reality of all connected threads now, I probably wouldn't feel so disappointed in myself’ muttered Kino as if disappointed in himself
Until now, some of the things Kino said in his heart and mind still had ambiguous intentions, but only one thing was certain. Kino already knew almost everything in front of her and she discovered all those harsh realities alone.
Slowly, Kino began to enter the altar and look at all sides. Right and left, front and back, even occasionally walking forward to a section of the crowd of residents just to look for Theo. Starting to get bored from not finding the child, Kino looked at his pocket watch back and saw the time had shown at 09:25 in the morning.
“It's been over ten minutes I've been looking for the boy. It turns out Theo-kun really isn't here”
Now, only panic was visible on his face.
“Theo-kun is not here!”
Kino immediately ran out of the altar and down the stairs back in a hurry.
After reaching the bottom, his panicked expression mixed with a red face from tired running made it a not so bad combination for Kino. Her face was getting sweeter, but it still didn't help anything.
Forget about Kino's sweet face, now even she was too panicked to catch her breath.
‘What should I do now? Is Theo-kun trying to run away from me? Where should I look for him? Now it's almost half an hour and a half ten in the morning and I don't even know which other place I should go to.....wait, why did I forget about it?!’
As Kino's mind said many things, she recalled something she had almost forgotten in panic. He saw Theo was indeed heading towards the altar, but wasn't there another direction that could be headed from that path as well?.
“Theo-kun walks to the opposite side of the fountain pool towards the altar. But behind that altar is also a straight path that connects to the road I am on right now, right?”
Slightly hesitating, Kino began to calm herself down for a moment to take a deep breath and exhale. Finished with it in two minutes, Kino stuffed the pocket watch still held tightly by him into his pants pocket back and started walking towards the road behind the altar.
Behind the altar building, there was another path he saw. Some people walk there, but not so much. With a calm mind, Kino started walking while looking around. Many of the buildings are still occupied, but they did not last long.
How surprised Kino was to find something unusual for him.
“What is this? Is there really a place like this in this city?”
******
