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(Re:Zero) Warlock of Fascination Chapter 4: Detectives Castor & Reinhard
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 06:35:55 +0000 UTCChapter 4: Detectives Castor & Reinhard
(Castor Germain)
“I must say, you and your friend have some rather exotic attire. Are you visiting Lugunica from afar?” He inquired, inspecting the exquisite piece of clothing that was my matching set of red bull shirt and pants.
“Afar, is an understatement. We’re not even from this world, we were just transported here completely out of the blue. I wouldn’t suppose you happen to know about any instances like that?” As I expected, he was taken aback by my blunt revelation.
However, I have a strong hunch that he has some kind of in-built lie detector. The level of certainty he expressed when Subaru told him about what happened between us and the bandits was quite eerie, and he also mentioned something about a “Divine Blessing of Veracity.”
The definition of veracity is literally conformity with truth or fact. If that’s not a dead giveaway, then I don’t know what is.
“Castor, you aren’t suggesting that you’re from beyond the Great Waterfall, are you?” He walked up to me, brazenly putting his hands on my shoulders.
Sheesh, at least buy me dinner first.
“I have no idea what a Great Waterfall is supposed to be, but if that’s your world’s term for other-worlders, then I guess it applies to me.” I shrugged, fairly surprised that there was supposedly already a term here for people like me and Subaru.
That must mean we’re not the first people to be transported here. The question is, were the others transported from the same Earth as us? Or some other planet? If I'm fortunate enough, maybe I’ll end up encountering a bona fide alien.
Although, technically speaking, I think I’m the alien here.
“You truly do not know what the Great Waterfall is…” He murmured. The way he spoke confirmed my suspicions about him having a lie detector. “No… I should save my questions for another time. Right now, we must focus on retrieving Lady Emilia’s insignia.”
I should ask him more about this waterfall later. Maybe it’ll reveal some clues as to why Subaru and I were brought here.
“I already know where the little girl went,” I pointed to the rooftop. “If you could somehow help me get up there, I could point us in the right direction.”
“Wait, if you know where she went, why didn’t you tell Lady Emilia?”
Is this guy being for real?
I looked at him blankly, “You’re quite dense, aren’t you?”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow…”
“Subaru’s clearly impassioned with that Emilia girl. He’s not a bad guy, but I don’t think he’s the most focused individual out there. So I thought it’d be best to let him have his fun while we retrieve the insignia, it’d be more efficient that way.”
“Impassioned? How can that be? He only just met her a few seconds ago.”
“I’m just as confused as you, buddy,” I shrugged. “Some people fall in love quickly, but we’ll still get her insignia back in the end, and that’s all that matters.”
He scratched his chin, probably futilely trying to gauge Subaru’s character.
“I suppose you have a point, although there's still one thing I don’t understand.”
How many questions does he plan on asking me? I’d like to get a move on already.
“Yeah?”
“Why do you wish to help Lady Emilia? If you truly know nothing about this world, then you have no reason to care for her peril.”
Oh boy, you have sorely misjudged me, Sir Reinhard.
“Don’t lump my motives in with Subaru’s. Truthfully, I couldn’t care less about that girl’s situation. I’m just trying to help myself here,” I figured there was no use in lying to someone who could discern truth from lies with some kind of supernatural ability. “I understand that this world’s libraries are privately kept, and you and she both look like people capable of getting me access to one.”
I don’t care what kind of world I’m transported to; my pursuit of knowledge defines my very existence, and I refuse to cast aside that ambition. Doing so would be no different than driving a knife through my chest.
“Your honesty is appreciated,” he nodded contentedly. “While I won’t speak on Lady Emilia’s behalf, my family does indeed possess a library, and granting you access to it is well within my capabilities.”
“Excellent, I’ll take that as repayment for my help,” I said as I walked up to the inner wall of the alleyway. “Now then, do you have a way to get me up there or not?”
“That can be done.”
All of a sudden, I felt myself being swept off my feet.
Eh?
Pardon?
Sorry?
What?
The absolute unthinkable had happened.
He picked me up in a princess carry!
Has this guy completely lost his mind!?
“What the hell are you doing!? I asked you to help get me up! Not to try to seduce me! I don’t swing that way!”
“But I am helping you get up?” He tilted his head before leaping into the air, comfortably scaling the entire height of the alleyway in one swift motion, and landing on the rooftop with ballerina-like grace. “See?”
“Put me down! Put me down right now!” If this guy weren’t armed, I’d have half a mind to punch him in the mouth.
This is quite literally the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me!
“Are you sure? I’m quite confident in my speed, and we’d be able to cover ground more efficiently like this.”
“Reinhard, if you don’t put me down, I’m going to start screaming.”
If you’re going to carry another dude, you do it fireman’s style! You never, ever use the bridal one! That’s common sense!
“Very well,” I was finally released from his clutches. “The tiles up here aren't all that stable, I’m a little worried that you’ll end up tripping.”
Usually, I’d agree with him, but I can feel Brisk Mind activating while I’m standing on these tiles. My brain seems to be automatically adjusting my balance as I shift my feet around to match his stance.
Talk about a useful ability, the only part I haven’t tested so far is the Grand Archive thing. I’ll probably give it a whirl once I have some genuine peace and quiet.
“Stand behind me for a second, I can’t track her while you’re in my field of vision, for reasons I shall elaborate on at another time.” The little girl’s footsteps left behind traces of the same glow I had seen around her and Reinhard, which Mark of the Scribe is capable of tracking. The residual traces of her footprints seem to be fading with time, but they should last long enough for me to find her.
The only problem with Mark of the Scribe is that I can’t activate it while this redhead is within my line of sight, not without some heavy-duty shades at the very least, which I doubt this world has.
I might have to find a way to fine-tune this ability, if such a thing is even possible. If I could exclude Reinhard from its purview somehow, it would make life a lot easier.
“Alright.”
Thanks to his truth-detection power, he didn’t waste any sunlight doubting me, which was probably for best since I don’t want to waste any more time on this retrieval mission than I have to.
“She’s over there,” I pointed to a section of the Royal Capital that looked drastically different from the area we were in.
The place was exceptionally worn down. Even from afar, I could see just how poor the living conditions were. Tattered houses—if you could even call them that—were mostly just a myriad of tents and scraps sloppily put together to form impromptu shelters. Multiple pillars of smoke rose from the area, probably the product of stray bonfires created by whoever was unfortunate enough to be dwelling there.
“The slums? I see, thieves usually hail from that area. Whoever stole Lady Emilia’s insignia probably went back there to stash or sell it.”
Ah, so there are slums in this world as well. At least they don’t look as extreme as the Favelas in Brazil, for whatever that’s worth.
“You lead,” I’m not confident in my ability to cover such a large distance of roof-tiling without tripping, so it’s probably best that I use Brisk Mind to copy his footwork before moving. “Since I have no familiarity with this place whatsoever, it’s probably for the best that you be the front-runner between us.”
He chuckled lightly, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to catch you in case you fall.”
“In your dreams,” I scoffed.
Clearly, he has no idea how determined I am to make sure I never get carried like that ever again. I may be a bookworm, but even I have my pride as a man.
Brisk Mind is apparently supposed to become more effective the more determined I am to learn something, so it shouldn’t take long for me to adapt to the tricky footing here anyway.
𑁋
“I’m impressed,” Reinhard mused once he and Castor had touched ground on the slums. “You were copying my movements while we were traversing the rooftops, weren’t you?”
“Uh, possibly,” Castor breathed an embarrassed cough, having been read like an open book.
Initially, he planned to simply brute force his adaptation to the wobbly terrain by using Brisk Mind. Still, he quickly realized that using the ability to observe how Reinhard moved and copying his footwork was more efficient.
Moreover, if Reinhard’s glow hadn’t been so blinding, he could’ve used Mark of the Scribe in conjunction with Brisk Mind, effectively doubling the speed at which he comprehended the man’s superb ability to traverse.
He just didn’t expect the redhead to actually notice that he was copying him while his back was turned.
“Have you received some kind of physical training back in your homeland? Not many people can keep up with how I move, I’m rather surprised that you managed to pick up on it so quickly.”
If only Castor knew how much of an understatement “not many people” was.
For some reason, Castor got the feeling that Reinhard was examining him the same way army recruiters did back on Earth.
“Not really, physical activity isn’t my thing. I’m a man of literature,” he said the latter half proudly, and Reinhard’s Divine Blessing was able to ascertain the truth as per usual.
Fascinating, if he has no sense of direction or career prospects here in Lugunica. Maybe I should try giving him some Knight training when I bring him back home? It wouldn’t be a good look if I just let him freeload indefinitely anyway.
“What’s wrong?” Naturally, he picked up on Reinhard’s silent scrutiny.
“Nothing, can you still trace where the thief went?”
“Yeah, follow me.”
Eventually, they arrived at what could only be described as a pile of rubble that had been sloppily rearranged to offer some form of comfort. A large, tattered white cloth was draped over it to give it a sparse amount of privacy.
I guess this is to be expected from a place literally titled “the slums”...
“These are where her tracks end, but I’m pretty sure she’s still around here somewhere…” Castor rummaged through the scrap pile, but couldn’t locate the insignia he had spotted in the little girl’s hand.
“What do you two think you’re doing? Peeking into someone’s house without their permission?”
Castor and Reinhard turned around, the former’s eyes lighting up in recognition upon viewing the figure approaching them.
“Is this her?” Reinhard asked him.
“Yeah,” he nodded, confident that the short blonde in front of them was the thief he had spotted earlier.
“I remember you…” She narrowed her eyes, remembering when she had spotted Castor alongside Subaru in the alleyway she had chosen to use as her escape route. However, Reinhard’s presence seemed to deter her much more than Castor’s. “And you brought a guard here… What do you want with me?”
“You stole something earlier today, an insignia with a gemstone embedded into its center.” Castor motioned to Reinhard, “He and its original owner want it back, so I’d suggest you simply return it.”
The sooner this is dealt with, the sooner I can finally get my hands on some books!
“Insignia? Hmph, I don’t know anything about that,” she crossed her arms and let out an unconvincing huff. “Even if I did, I certainly wouldn’t hand it over to a snob guard like you!” She indignantly pointed at Reinhard, “Especially not when there’s… hypothetically a buyer that could give me a lot more for something like that.”
“Wait, you stealing that insignia was arranged?” Castor didn’t even spare a moment to think about her whole “hypothetical” facade.
“Possibly… But it has nothing to do with you! So just get lost already!” She reached for the small scabbard attached to the back of her waist, pulling out a curved dagger and pointing at them threateningly.
Of course, neither of them were even remotely frightened, especially Reinhard.
“This… Buyer, are you meeting them now?” Reinhard asked. Usually, he’d just arrest the girl, retrieve the insignia, and be done with everything. However, if someone had actually organized this whole thing, then he felt obligated to investigate the matter as one of Lugunica’s Royal Guards.
“Maybe… Why? Are you planning to bid against them or something?”
Reinhard looked at Castor, and earned a reluctant, yet approving nod in return, signalling that he understood what he was trying to do.
“Possibly,” Reinhard wore a smug smile, returning her words right back at her in kind.
