Chapter 12 - Missing Pieces

Charlotte

Having most of their businesses at the Guild finished, both Charlotte and John once again made their way back to Charlotte's home. As they walk from street to street, Charlotte can't help but ponder a thought for quite a while.

"Say... isn't sir raccoon keeping quiet for quite a while?" Charlotte spoke.

"Now that your mentioning it, this fat gremlin sure has been keeping quiet ever since we headed out." John said.

"Is he even in there?"

"He sure is." John answered. Poking at his jacket in where the Tanuki was hiding, John then said some words at the hidden raccoon. "You sure have been hiding there quite comfortably you fat gremlin."

Seeing how Tanuki seems to not be responding, a hint of worry surges in John's expression.

"Hey... say something." John said as he pokes at where Tanuki was hiding. "Ehhh...?"

"Maybe sir raccoon is just sleeping." Charlotte suggested. "Both of you haven't had any sleep since yesterday night, so his probably very tired."

"That's a probability..." John muttered. "But I don't think that this fat raccoon is sleeping." Still wanting some response at the hiding raccoon, John continued poking at the thing, which not long after resulted with some reaction. "Whoah..." John uttered. Getting pissed at John's constant poking, Tanuki tried moving in John's jacket which surprised John for quite a bit. Poking his head outside of said jacket Tanuki then uttered madly at John.

"Could you stop!!!" Tanuki shouted. "Can't see that I'm being quite because I'm hiding."

"Oh hey... sir raccoon is actually fine." Seeing that Tanuki is safe and well, Charlotte can't help but be somewhat relieve.

"You sure have been oddly quiet for quite a long time." John said. "You've been worrying the young miss, here."

"I'm currently hiding!!! What part of it did you not understand."

"Hiding huh?" Charlotte uttered. "Why is sir raccoon hiding again?"

"I'm just being cautious." Tanuki answered. "With how different everything is, we need to be even more careful. Danger might be in just some corner for all we know."

"You sure are quite paranoid for a raccoon." John said.

"You sure are one to talk." Tanuki retorted back.

"Quite cheeky of you." John replied. "Anyhow could you please get out. It's getting quite tight for me."

"No!" Tanuki replied.

"You little shit..."

Seeing the two argue once more, Charlotte tried calming both Tanuki and John before things get heated. "No need to be so harsh on sir Raccoon, sir John" Charlotte said.

"Again, with the sir par-"

"As for you sir Raccoon..." Getting close to Jhon's vicinity, Charlotte gently grabs Tanuki's chubby cheeks and softly removes him from John's clothes. With the fat raccoon in her hands she then said these words. "You shouldn't trouble sir John that much, he just arrived here so he must be very confused and stress out at the moment."

"I wasn't troubling him in any manner." Tanuki replied. "All what I was doing was hiding myself."

"Right..." Charlotte muttered. "Sir raccoon sure is shy."

"Precautions young miss." Tanuki said. "With everything different, I can never leave my guard down. Especially with demons involved. Those creatures are really good with illusion magic, so blending with any crowd are a specialty for them."

"I see..." Charlotte uttered. "If that's the case them spotting them must be very hard."

"For most cases that is true, not everyone knows nor can easily learn magic. But if you're someone who are better or even moderately good at illusion magic then detecting a hiding demon would be fairly easy to do. And lucky for you young miss, I just so happen to good at such task."

"That's good to hear." Charlotte replied. "With such talents then sir raccoon can easily keep us safe from any demons."

"Ahhh... I don't that it's the case." Hearing that Charlotte seems to imply that he can easily keep them safe from any demons, Tanuki quickly tried correcting his statement to prevent the young lady from having any misconceptions.

"How truly strange... Despite having many evidences that support your claims, it sure is still weird hearing you talk at such things like its normal." John spoke.

"Well you better get used to it." Tanuki said. "You still even haven't seen any magic yet so many surprises still lay await for you."

"We'll see if it truly is surprising as you say it is."

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Continuing their travel, the group eventually arrive at Carlotte's house. Entering the place once more, Charlotte quickly remove her leather boots which John copies. Removing his modern shoes, he can't help but feel weirded out about it. The huge contrast between his shoes and the medieval boots is bugging him quite a bit.

I guess I truly am in a different world... John thought in his mind.

"It's getting quite late." Charlotte spoke. "I guess I should prepare lunch."

"Aren't you currently in dept?" John said. "Do you even have enough money to buy food especially for two more?"

"A-aahhh... I still have enough money so you don't need to worry about it..."

"I see..." John muttered. "I guess we just have skip lunch."

'W-what! T-there's no need for such thing!" Charlotte shouted. "I said that I still have enough money."

"[Sigh...] You're quite the terrible liar, Charlotte." John sighs. "There's no need to worry much about me and this raccoon here."

"B-but..."

"Oh right! Speaking of which, how did young miss even get into debt?" Tanuki asked.

"Oh yeah." John uttered. "I was wondering about that. How did someone as young as you even get into debt?"

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"Umm... It's due to my Father." Charlotte muttered in a soft voice.

With how quiet her voice was and how she reacted at the question, John quickly assume that Charlotte was quite sensitive about the topic. Not wanting to dig deeper, John quickly ceases all questions in his mind and only said a few words. "I see..."

"Father?" Tanuki echoed. "What kind of Father leaves his daughter in deb- [Bonk!] Aww!!!"

Seeing how Tanuki can't read the mood, John quickly smack the unsuspecting raccoon's head. Feeling a burning pain in its head, Tanuki glared at John with sharp gazes.

"We'll just skip lunch." John said to Charlotte. "If you need something, we'll just be in the basement."

Grabbing Tanuki with his hands, John then made his way to the basement. Seeing both figures disappear into the deeps of the house basement, Charlotte can't help but worry at both of them despite just only meeting them recently.

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"I guess I might as well buy some bread for them." Charlotte muttered.

With the time getting somewhat late, Charlotte quickly made her way out of the house once more and readied herself to buy lunch.

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John

"Care to explain why you brought me here again?"

Putting Tanuki in some table down in the basement, John quietly gaze his eyes in the dark scene. With the amount of dust and cobwebs present in the place, John can't help but cover his mouth and feel a distaste at the barely seeable basement.

"It's easier to talk here." John said.

"Easier?" Confused at what John has said Tanuki echoed John's word. Still not being able to ponder what he meant, Tanuki questioned John once more. "In what way is dragging me here easier? If you just want to talk, we could just do this above. At least in there there's a chair to sit to."

Ignoring Tanuki's words, John made his way to the item filled barrels laying quietly in the side of the basement. Swords, spears and other weapons and things caught John's eyes as he checks the barrels one by one. What a weird thing to see in a basement. John thought in his mind as he grabs a sword to check its quality.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!" Tanuki shouted to the busy John.

"Yeah-yeah." John uttered. "You can begin now."

"Could you at least act like you care?" Seeing how John seems to not give at least an ounce of care from what his about to say, Tanuki can only sigh and begin his findings as John continues to check the items of the basement. "Things are pretty much different now from what it was before."

"How so?" John asked.

"Well for one, monsters are pretty prevalent back in my time when I summoned the first Hero. People especially ones that lives in small villages can barely do some leisurely things due to how frequent monster attacks were." Tanuki explained. "Yet from what I observe people here are pretty relaxed as if such dangers aren't even a concern for them. Heck even this Adventurers Guild wasn't a thing back in my time, we just destroy such creatures through the Hero himself and some kingdom soldiers."

"Hmmm... say how long or to be more accurate when was the last time you were brought here?" John asked.

"That's a problem that even I don't know the answer of." Tanuki answered. "I barely ask nor tried to remember what year it was when I was brought here the first time and when I asked the young miss what year is it, she gave me a year that I have no idea of. It was 1414 G.A if I remember correctly."

"1414 G.A?" John echoed. "So, it's not very similar in how we name our periods of time."

"Well of course it's different." Tanuki replied. "Your world and this are pretty different afterall."

"I was hoping that there would at least be some similarity." John said.

"Well there are some things that exist here that are also in your world so there are some similarities here and there." Tanuki explained. "With that said what's with the question of when I was brought here?"

"You mentioned that this... Demon King only revives every 300 years, yeah?" John asked.

"I did." Tanuki answered

Having the conformation from Tanuki, John then had a deep thought. From what Tanuki has been saying and information they gathered, he concluded that something is definitely not right with Tanuki's story "Hmmm.... and you say that I'm the second Hero you've summoned?"

"Yeah." Tanuki once again answered. "What's with the questions?"

"Well somethings definitely right with your story." John said.

"Heh?" Tanuki uttered in disbelief. "Just because you don't believe my story, doesn't mean that what I'm saying are complete lies." Tanuki said with the thought of John not believing his story once again. "S-seriously it's hurts not being trusted you know..."

"Quit acting like your sad, will you." John said. "I didn't say that you were lying, I easily tell that from your face. What I'm saying is that your story just doesn't make sense."

"Ehhh.... how so?"

"Well for one you said that the first Hero save this world the last time you were here, yet from what we observe it seems that said memory has already been forgotten." John explained.

"Well... three centuries has passed since that event. So... maybe everyone just forgot." Tanuki said.

"That doesn't make any sense at all." John uttered. "Assuming that this demon threat is as world ending as you say. A fight with a force that large of a scale is something not easily to be forgotten even if a few centuries have pass." John explained. "Plus are we even sure that a three centuries have pass?"

"I-I think so." Tanuki replied. "Again, from my understanding the Demon king only revives every 300 years and when that happens, I also am brought in this world if the ritual for summoning me are met."

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"Hmmm..." With no answers to their current mystery, John can only ponder his thoughts about what's happening in his mind. But with a ton of missing pieces in a bigger picture, his current thoughts can only be pure speculation at the moment. "How truly peculiar..." John sighs.

"Ahhhhh.... in the name if the goddess... why must everything be confusing..." Boggled at their current circumstances, frustration quickly grew in Tanuki's face as he scratches his furry head. "Some demonic activity must be at play here!" Tanuki shouted. "How else could have everyone forgotten about the Hero's deeds, especially beautiful me!"

Ignoring the frustrated raccoon, John then continued his inspection of the place. Making his way to the dirty summoning circle, John noticed a familiar box just laying idly in the dust filled place.

Huh?

Surprise at seeing the item, John quickly pick up the thing to make sure that if it's the thing that he thought it was. As the box grew closer in his vision, his doubts were quickly lifted and a sense of happiness can be seen in his face.

"No way..."

Opening the dusty box, what reveals inside is a sharp and new looking knife. Seeing the content with his eyes, the box is undoubtedly the one that Mary gifted to him.

"These Demons and their dark magic... Ahhh! That's it! We have to act fast before it's too late." Tanuki spoke.

"What the hell are talking about now?" John asked as he hides the wooden box in his jacket.

"Our current circumstance is definitely an act by some demon, so we must ready ourselves before it's too late." Tanuki explained.

"I see..." John uttered, quite doubtful at Tanuki's words. "Quite the conclusion you came up with."

"No more words." Tanuki exclaimed. "We should start our grind now."

"Grind?" John echoed.

"Fight monsters, make you stronger, stuff like that." Tanuki explained.

Hearing the things that Tanuki said John quickly disregard his words. Being someone whom still is not familiar with the whole situation, getting himself in harm's way is the thing that he wants to avoid the most.

"No thanks." John quickly said with a straight face.

"Fucking hell... you're such a pussy aren't you."

"As long as I have the risk of getting killed, I shall avoid anything that would harm me." John exclaimed.

"B-but... the demonic threat" Tanuki uttered.

"From the story you told me and the information we gathered, there's clearly some contradiction between each other. Things are essentially still not clear for us." John explained. "Which is why I would like to avoid getting in harmful situations."

"I understand your concern but if the Demonic threat grows larger because of your negligence we've be in a tougher spot than just fighting regular monsters." Tanuki said.

"You would be technically right, but something in me is telling me that it's not the case." John said.

"Ehhhh...?"

"I have no basis for it, just a feeling. But with that said, we still do have a problem that is in need of solving." John exclaimed

"What problem?" Tanuki asked.

"We're currently crashing at Charlotte's house, freely at that." John explained. "And with her currently in debt, what do you think will also happen to us if she's not able to pay said debts?"

"Ahhh... we've be h-homeless." Tanuki replied.

"Good for that you to understand it at least." John said.

"[Sigh...] Things just get harder and harder for us." Tanuki sighs. "Why haven't I been summoned at some castle with a cute princess and a feast of delicious food like last time."

Hearing Tanuki's ramblings, a sense of intrigued can be seen at John's face for a few seconds. It seems that John's a bit interested at Tanuki's history. But wanting to find a solution at their current predicament, John put aside his interest for the moment and focused more on what he can currently do.

Hmmm....

As John ponder of ways to fix their current problem, his sight instinctively made its way to the items that lays unsuspectedly in the dark corners. Fixing his eyes at said items for a few minutes a flash of idea quickly grew in his consciousness like a bolt of lightning.

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This could work... John thought in his mind

-End