Searching in the Dark (11)

'Darling?'

Had this guy eaten something strange on the way here? Or is he completely out of his mind… Did he happen to eat a poisoned apple or something?

I was so dumbfounded that I momentarily lost control of my facial muscles. I stared at Leonardo in disbelief, and he quickly stepped closer, standing right next to me.

Judging by the way his chest was heaving, he must have been in quite a rush. His shirt, which had been getting tighter with his increasing size, stretched taut and wrinkled visibly as he moved.

"We've done everything, the blessing is finished, so wouldn't it be better to head back now…?"

What kind of tone is that?

Where did the old-world, apocalyptic speech go? Where's the usual formal, almost archaic style that a fantasy hero would use? That was part of your identity, wasn't it?

I looked at Vittorio, not understanding what was going on, and his expression was beyond confused. He was practically clinging to Leonardo, and it was clear that he, too, was just as bewildered as I was.

"Um…"

Leonardo continued with his awkward and stiff performance, fumbling through his words as if he couldn't even finish a sentence properly. He was trying so hard, yet it was such a pathetic attempt, casting a glance at me as if he wanted me to play along, his eyes momentarily downcast.

I was losing my mind. Should I play along or not?

"…Uh, yeah. Darling. Did you wait long?"

Forget it. It's the protagonist's role, so there must be some reason behind it.

"...!"

I felt a sharp gaze and turned to see Orlie, mouth agape, his eyes wide in shock. It was a striking change from the faint expression he usually wore, and it made me suddenly uneasy.

It seemed like some big misunderstanding was brewing, but correcting it now felt too awkward. Given what had just unfolded in front of him, dragging out an explanation would probably only make things worse.

Orlie fumbled, flustered.

"Were you two… in that kind of relationship? When, I—I don't even—"

"Huh?"

"No, never mind. I must have kept you too long. Please… enjoy your time with your… family."

Orlie gave a polite bow and, after quickly scanning me, Leonardo, and Vittorio, hurriedly exited the scene. The sound of his armour clanking as he walked away echoed in the empty hallway, leaving only a sense of emptiness behind.

My valuable source of information had left.

In the now empty church corridor, it was just the three of us.

"..."

I slowly turned my head. When I stared at Leonardo with a smile, he hesitated, sensing the unspoken inquiry. He set Vittorio down and slouched his shoulders in a pose of guilt, though the miracle of his size shrinking never occurred.

I couldn't just grab his ears and yank them.

Wait… maybe once wouldn't hurt, right? My itching hands were forcefully restrained.

"So, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry if I startled you."

Was I just startled? I nearly dropped my jaw from how ridiculous it was. When I pressed for an explanation, Leonardo hesitated and finally spoke.

"It's something from quite a while ago, but Orlie's past behaviour wasn't great."

"Behaviour?"

"Well…"

With that, Leonardo lowered his hand to cover Vittorio's ears and continued.

"He is a promiscuous man."

"...?"

Wasn't Sir Orlie a paragon of a devout knight? I had debates on theology with him and listened to his passionate lectures on scripture. He always behaved with great propriety.

But the story Leonardo was telling painted a completely different picture.

"He's undoubtedly a skilled knight, but he has a history of inappropriate relationships with several individuals. His personal life is a mess."

Several, what?

"I heard that the Church tried to discipline his waywardness several times, but eventually gave up. The only reason he wasn't excommunicated sooner was because of his skill and achievements. It seems he's become more subdued recently, but ten years ago, he was a man best avoided."

The sudden revelation of truth left my head spinning. For a moment, what flashed through my mind was Sir Orlie's information profile.

[Usually behaves in a manner that ■■■■, leading to ■■■■■■■■...]

It seems like the omitted part was "promiscuous." I had assumed his usual behaviour was just unruly, or something of that nature!

"Few people know about it, since it's from a long time ago. After the calamity, he even gained the title of the city's hero."

Leonardo hastily added more details.

"When his true nature was revealed, public opinion would have been destroyed, so the Church kept it all very quiet. Even if it were you, it would have been difficult to know. I… only knew because I overheard it from the Count's family. You can probably guess why such a knight is kept bound to protect the underground sanctuary."

Leonardo rambled on with his long-winded explanation. I had never seen him speak so hurriedly before. It seemed like he was trying to avoid getting scolded, and a part of me felt sympathy, while another part was impressed by his effort.

Now that I think about it, this kind of character development is a classic trope from old fantasy stories. The type of character who's rebellious and has a terrible reputation, but is actually really skilled, pushing the protagonist to take action. If it turns out that he was once a legendary figure in the past, that's even better.

Eventually, they tend to shed their bad habits and become true mentors, sacrificing for their disciples—this twist was a popular trend for a while.

I never expected it to apply to Orlie.

He seems like such a different person.

"There's no gain in associating with him."

Leonardo quietly added.

So, was Orlie acting like a devout and chaste knight in front of me on purpose? I felt like I'd been hit hard in the back of the head. My pride took a serious blow. I was still brooding over the fact that I'd lost the "concept role" battle to him.

What pissed me off the most wasn't even the betrayal—it was losing out in the acting department.

"So, you rushed over and immediately called me 'darling' for that reason?"

"…That was the only method I could think of to drive him away. No matter how bold Orlie is, he wouldn't dare touch a married man inside a church."

"Aha."

Leonardo, who had been cautiously watching my reaction, lowered his eyes in embarrassment. The result of his careful thinking was ridiculous, but I had to admit, at least his effort was commendable.

"You're really something else. You think I couldn't handle that?"

"…Hmm."

"Haha! Well, it was funny, so I'll let it slide. Thanks for looking out for me. I've gotten most of the information I needed anyway, so I'll forgive you."

Once Leonardo finished his long explanation, he finally removed his hand from covering Vittorio's ear. Vittorio, still confused, whispered, "Uh… what was that about?"

"Ah, just a little case of husband's disease," I replied with a grin.

"..."

"Just kidding."

I found it funny watching Leonardo's expression slowly wither in real-time, so I threw in a remark. It was a bit awkward explaining things to the kid. Honestly, it wasn't that big of a change in his expression, but after a few days, I had gotten used to reading his face.

He looked foolish. I gave a faint smile and walked past Leonardo, heading down the stairs. Vittorio, looking completely confused, stared at Leonardo for a moment before walking over to me.

"Should I buy something tasty on the way home?"

We held hands, chatting lightly as we walked down the stairs, while Leonardo hurriedly trailed behind us.

We strolled through the market at a slow pace, and on our way back to the inn, we picked up a few things we had forgotten. The signs of the sun setting began to appear.

Under the pretense of a "day off," the inn was left unattended for a while, and it was time to explore the underground sewers again.

By now, Viscount Lopez' subordinates would have passed on the message about our cooperation. It was hard to predict how many days the body search would take in this situation.

However, I believed that targeting noon would be the best time to steal the body of Leovald, and I trusted my map to plan our move. The meeting with Viscount Lopez' subordinates was scheduled for 8 p.m. at the entrance of the underground sewers.

On the way back to the inn, I stopped by a clock shop and bought an expensive pocket watch. It looked more like a tin can than a proper timepiece—an off-yellow metallic one, to be precise.

It somewhat resembled the pocket watch Leonardo carried, the one from the Ertinez family. It even had a long chain at the end, so it could be attached to clothing.

Now that the days and nights no longer shift like an on-off switch as they did at the start of the scenario, the watch might actually come in handy.

My pockets, which had been full earlier in the morning, were now completely empty. But since I had been diligently using the copy bug whenever I had a chance, money wasn't a real issue.

Still, with the world stabilizing, I couldn't predict how long the bug would remain effective, so I'd have to figure out another way to make money.

In this harsh fight for survival, the money-copying bug had been a small comfort… but I silently sighed in regret. I handed Leonardo the black outfit.

"Put it on."

"It looks like I'm going to wear this often."

"Didn't you know? It's our inn uniform."

"..."

After a brief conversation, I too headed towards the bedroom to change and make a few preparations.

I began to undress, taking off the outerwear and shirt I usually wore, which were loose and comfortable, and was about to put on something more fitting for movement—something snug that would give me more freedom. But as soon as I pulled the fabric down, a sharp pain shot through me.

"...?"

While I was walking around, it seems I got hurt somewhere. The injury was concealed by my outerwear, so I didn't notice it until now. Most importantly, I didn't feel any pain until the fabric of my collar brushed against it.

When did I get hurt? I don't recall being careless…

Confused, I turned my arm over.

'Huh?'

A wound, as if scratched with something sharp, appeared. The red scratch formed letters.

It's a mess, as if it was hastily scribbled in a time of urgency, and the depth of the hole is jagged. The blood oozed out and then hardened into a delicate scab. The membrane is so thin that if you are not careful, it could easily rip off and cause you to bleed again.

It wasn't serious enough to cause a commotion, but it was definitely not a minor wound either. I couldn't understand why I hadn't noticed it sooner. Only after realizing it did the sharp pain rise up.

The moment I discovered the wound, my mind was filled with confusion.

The shape of the wound, if it wasn't intentional, couldn't be just an ordinary injury. The unmistakable alphabet slid from below my wrist to the inside of my elbow.

If someone else had done it, the letters would have been written in reverse, from the inside of my elbow down to my wrist. It couldn't have been done unless they had been holding me from behind or pressed up close to me.

The characteristic of the letters left on my right arm was the biggest clue. The way the "F" was drawn, with its middle part being struck from the right and then drawn to the left, ending in a thin line—this was unmistakably a left-handed person's writing.

"I'm left-handed."

If that's the case, did I do this to myself? But I had no memory of it. No matter how hard I tried to recall, nothing came to mind.

For a wound like this, I'd need something like a dagger or a sharp shard. Though I had been carrying a dagger since my encounter with Lord Lopez, I hadn't drawn it once since last night.

At least, not that I could remember.

Amidst the confusion, as I stared at the letters for a while, I gradually realized that this was a familiar form. It made sense, given how familiar it was.

"Over Lap, Fade Out…"

Those were script terms, after all.