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Chapter 72: Civilians Do No Harm
🕑 Added 2024-03-02 21:18:50 +0000 UTCMrs. Frock was very excited today. She giddily welcomed everyone to her shop with sweets.
“When my son was a child,” she said. “He always said he’ll go to the capital and become a big man, that he would make me never work a day.”
Richard and I sat in the lounge of her boutique as we watched her pace about and fetch the latest in style for Richard.
Her mouth didn’t stop for a second.
“What a silly kid, isn’t that right, young man?” She asked me, with a smile as bright as one would see from their own mother. Her happiness had made her take that role for everyone who would be visiting her store.
I looked at Richard, and he smiled back wryly.
The onslaught of the middle-aged lady’s awkward memories continued. I tried my best to act like I was enjoying them but to be honest, it didn’t matter. One did not care about someone else’s reaction in times like these.
I could probably fall asleep and have someone draw eyes on my face and she would still believe I was listening.
The spree of looking at clothes that barely made a fit came to an end when one of Mrs. Frock’s employees told her to take a break.
“I am sorry, I think I am not in the right mind today. Come again tomorrow and I’ll show you some clothes I picked out for Richard.”
“Got it,” Richard said. “Take a good rest today, Mrs. Frock.”
“Oh, and,” I intervened. “When’s your son coming back again?”
Mrs. Frock smiled brightly when she heard a question about her son.
“In three days!” she said. “His letter said he’s already on the way!”
With those words, Richard and I stepped out of the boutique and onto the stone pavements of the city.
The bell on the door rang its muffled chime. The din of the crowd merged with the rattle of the carriage wheels of the city around us.
We stepped away from the boutique and toward the academy, taking the streets slowly.
I looked down on the street.
“What do you think?” asked Richard.
“What’s there to think?” I sighed. “Should we ask Gladwin?”
Neither of us were strangers to the recent developments that took place around the city. Gladwin’s briefing, while lacking in detail, reached both of us.
There were people from all kinds of organizations targeting the Black Rose class.
Whether they would make a frontal move, whether they were really after the Black Rose students, or if they were using the big fish as a distraction, we couldn’t say anything about that.
But one fact was pretty clear.
A lot of them were on the move.
“I think we should,” said Richard. He sighed as he looked up at the skies.
“You know, Ethan. I dislike this.”
“This?”
“The fact that innocent people might have to suffer due to someone else.” He locked his hands behind his back. I was probably the only person whom Richard could be this comfortable with. “Why do our actions need to have consequences on other people? Why can’t we just pay the price ourselves?”
I smiled at his words.
I didn’t know what prompted it, but I agreed with his words.
“Things would have been simpler if I was the only one who suffered for my mistakes… so much simpler.”
Richard nodded.
We both continued walking in silence.
As we neared the academy gates, Richard said a last word.
“I like Mrs. Frock.”
She had treated both of us warmly. Even if the extent of the warmth a shopkeeper could show their customer, the depth of it was far greater.
“I hope we are wrong to be suspicious.”
“Me too, Richard. Me too.”
***
Gladwin, as usual, had made the principal’s office his own. Principal Kurt and he were both fairly busy with their work.
A lot of things required the Principal’s approval on paper, which made them sitting together more efficient.
Personally, I thought it was a way for Gladwin to put some pressure on the academy and the staff. He still used his own office for the more secretive work.
Principal Kurt, who usually sat with his documents every time any of us met Gladwin, had joined the civil servant today on the couch as Richard explained our recent encounter.
“Someone returning from the capital after three years…” Gladwin said as he sipped on the tea. “I see the timing is suspicious, but unfortunately, it is not something that needs to be investigated.”
I crossed my arms and leaned back on my chair. Gladwin looked at me and then hummed.
“It is information that is useful, and we’ll keep this returning kid on the list of observation targets… but investigating him in-depth seems to be a waste. We also don’t have enough manpower to do that when most of our people are busy chasing after other concrete leads.”
We couldn’t say anything more to it.
Richard seemed slightly troubled, but he knew that was the case too. Our request was coming from suspicion and a point of bias toward someone we personally knew.
“You’re right,” said Richard. “Keeping them under observation is enough.”
Gladwin nodded.
“That’s right. There is little harm civilians can do anyway. The demiurge incident was one where many stars aligned and our enemy inherited human eyes.”
Richard did not know that I was the one who had killed the Demiurge. With how strong our rapport had become this last month and some weeks, Gladwin didn’t seem like he wanted to hide my involvement.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t reveal anything when the Emperor himself had ordered otherwise.
“You’re right. Thank you, Gladwin.”
Richard’s words marked the end of the conversation and we all continued sipping on our tea.
That was the end of this incident, or so it should have been. But when we stepped out, Richard still seemed troubled.
“What is it?” I asked. “Why are you so worried about this?”
Richard sighed.
“My fiancée would also be here in two days… I feel like making sure there is nothing wrong. It would suck if she came here and something happened to someone we knew.”
I didn’t not understand his sentiments. They might seem shallow, but it just meant that Richard could not see others’ discomfort.
“In that case…” I said. “Why don’t we investigate this ourselves?”
Richard tilted his head.
“Ourselves?”
“Yup.”
“Huh… we can try that.”
Yes, that’s right. Black Rose Club Hunters had already disbanded! It was about time we started something new.
I was getting too bored these days.
It was time to birth the 221B Glorenstein Street Duo.
