Volume 10 Chapter 4 Part 2 (1/2)
About one week after s.h.i.+n and Milt started their plan, it began.
Even in the orphanage, a place where rumors rarely spread, the news of s.h.i.+n's PK hunt had reached the children's ears.
”I told you already, big bro s.h.i.+n is fighting so that no one will be a victim anymore. It's a bad thing, yeah, but.”
”There's no police in this world anyway.”
Some didn't share such feelings, though.
”Bu-but s.h.i.+n is doing dangerous things.”
Despite knowing that PK hunting meant killing people -so it was a bad thing- Teppei and Ryohei claimed it was unavoidable. Luca wasn't convinced however.
Despite her young age, Luca knew how terrifying PKs could be. That was precisely the reason why she was worried about s.h.i.+n's safety, endangered by his proactive hunting of the PKs.
Today, she was sitting at the orphanage's gates.
”After he defeats all the PKs, he'll come backI think.”
”Ryohei, don't talk like you really know.”
”Hey, what else can I do? The grownups won't tell us anything else!”
”s.h.i.+n, won't you come back? We can't meet anymore?”
After listening to Teppei and Ryohei's conversation, Luca's eyes filled with tears.
The two boys hurriedly tried to calm her down and went to call an adult to confirm that s.h.i.+n would return.
”Uuuh”
Luca wiped her tears with her sleeves and raised her head. In front of her stood the gate she stared at every day since the attack one month ago.
”.”
A thought developed in Luca's head.
She didn't know when, if ever, s.h.i.+n would come to the orphanage again. If so, she should just go meet him.
It was still a little past nine in the morning; there was plenty of time.
The adults didn't allow children to go out of the orphanage on their own. However, there was no one around now, so she could sneak out.
Luca looked around, confirmed that there really wasn't anyone in the surroundings, and quickly sprinted away. She hurried through the orphanage's gate and hid on the opposite side. Now she couldn't be seen from the inside.
”Oh? Aren't you one of s.h.i.+n's little friends?”
The sudden voice made Luca jolt. Timidly, she looked in the direction of the voice and saw a smiling young man. He had said s.h.i.+n's name, so maybe they knew each other.
”Oh, I apologize for surprising you. I was looking for s.h.i.+n, so I was wondering if you might know where he is.”
”Me tooI'm looking for s.h.i.+n now.”
”Is that so? So you'll go look for him in town?”
”Everywhere.”
”Everywhere? You mean, in the field and in dungeons too?”
Luca answered the young man's question by forming two tiny fists and nodding.
”Yes!”
”However, it seems dangerous for someone of your level to go in the field, don't you think?”
”Eh?”
Luca had been dragged into the death game after her account had been created just to fill in a spot. As a result, she barely knew anything about how the game worked, having stayed in town since her first login. She couldn't understand what the young man meant.
”Hmmoh? Looks the like the orphanage is getting noisy. Could it be that you snuck out?”
The young man's guess made Luca's body shrink. Ryohei or Teppei were probably calling for her. She could hear Emil's voice too.
”Did you want to see s.h.i.+n so much that you snuck out of the orphanage?”
”.Yes.”
Luca silently nodded to the young man's sudden question.
s.h.i.+n might disappear, like her brother and his friends did, like Marino did. Luca didn't want to do nothing and just be separated like that.
”Hmmhmmoh, fine. I was looking for s.h.i.+n too after all. Why don't you come with me? The frontlines have turned quieter since he left, so lately things have been pretty boring.”
”Ehm”
”If we stay here, someone from the orphanage will come soon, you know?”
”AherI'll go!!”
Any average player would be wary of following someone they'd met for the first time. Luca, however, was urged on by hearing the voices from the orphanage, growing closer and closer, and her desire to see s.h.i.+n, so she ended up nodding to the young man's proposal.
The young man, with a bigger smile, took Luca's hand and started walking away. They quickly became lost in the crowd, and impossible to find for anyone from the orphanage.
”What is your name?”
Luca remembered that she hadn't heard the name of the young man walking with her, so she looked up at him and asked.
”Oh, I didn't introduce myself, did I. My name is Hameln. Pleased to meet you.”
The young man-Hameln introduced himself.
Hameln, one of the masterminds behind the recent tragedy, smiled innocently as he led Luca through the crowd at a leisurely pace.
”Well then, let me ask straight away, do you have any idea where s.h.i.+n could be?”
”He talked a lot about clearing dungeons”
Hameln, with Luca in tow, was walking through Kalkia's main street. Being an MPK, a PK that used monsters to kill other players, his name and face were not known.
”Hmm, they say he's hunting down PKs, so he's probably outside the hometown.”
Hameln, holding his chin, started thinking.
Using an information broker was an option, but there was a high chance that the same broker would sell the information of Hameln's visit to others. There was the chance for s.h.i.+n to come to him because of that, but Hameln thought that it was still too early to meet him.
His visit to the orphanage was to confirm if s.h.i.+n continued to hunt PKs even after crus.h.i.+ng the largest guild.
Vlad, the man who s.n.a.t.c.hed away s.h.i.+n's beloved, was still alive. Hameln thought that he would contact s.h.i.+n after he was done with Vlad.
”A dangerous place?”
”For s.h.i.+n, the dungeons available now are still safe enough. The only exceptions could be the bosses, I suppose. But I don't think that s.h.i.+n would fight bosses now, so there's no danger.”
Hameln wouldn't say anything to further Luca's concerns; for him, Luca was in the position of someone to protect.
What Hameln wanted to observe was the will of people when facing against adversities. Most small children died before being able to show such willpower.
For this, he would protect her. To a.s.sess her willpower while fighting against the adversity that, one day, would surely visit her.
That was the only important thing. He was the one to create the adversities to show the will to fight against, but if, as a result, the child died without showing that willpower, it wouldn't faze Hameln in the slightest.
His own desires were everything to him. That was the kind of player Hameln was.
”I guess we have no other choice. Let's try betting on the piece of information I heard.”
Hameln's shoulders dropped, and he walked forward again. The destination was a place with very few people, an area where several lodges stood. According to the information Hameln obtained, it was where Robin, a man who collaborated with Vlad, was supposed to live.
”You look pale, young lady, are you alright?”
”..I'm okay.”
Despite Luca's answer, she did not look okay at all. As it turns out, she had received messages and calls in her chat asking where she was.
In this world, much like the real one, it was very easy to contact others. Luca had followed Hameln, pushed by the situation's momentum, but thinking calmly about it, she was now afraid to be yelled at.
Sneaking out of the orphanage to go look for s.h.i.+n seemed like proof of courage, but now she was imagining the adults yelling at her, and she trembled. She had appeared resolute at first, but she had just followed her impulses. Luca was, after all, just a child.
”Let's say you were kidnapped, then.”
”Eh?”
While Luca was still reeling from the surprise, Hameln sent a message to Emil.
The message's contents said, ”I am going to use Luca to stop s.h.i.+n”. For Hameln, who was used to being hated, being treated like a kidnapper was nothing he was concerned about.
”With this, at least they won't yell at you for sneaking out. They'll be more worried, but that can't be helped, I guess. Ah, you should say in chat that you're being threatened.”
Hameln was talking of very serious things, but continued with his casual tone.
”Why do you help me?”
”Help? That's not right, I'm afraid. I'm not here with you because I want to help you after all. I just think that, for s.h.i.+n, for a person in his current state, the emotional words of a child like you would be more effective than an adult's realism-imbued speeches.”
Young age, surprisingly, works wonders as a weapon. After adding this final comment only to himself, Hameln asked Luca a question.
”I suppose it's too late to say this now, but I am planning to use you. But, now and only now, I can let you go free. What will you do? Will you come with me? Or will you go back to the orphanage?”
Hameln repeated the question he had first asked Luca at the orphanage. Waiting to hear what her young will would choose, Hameln grinned.
”I, I go. I will go together. If I don'ts.h.i.+n will go somewhere far.”
Luca answered while shaking slightly.
Hearing her answer, Hameln's smile widened.
”Is this a woman's instinct, I wonder? Or maybe, you know even if you don't actually understand it.”
”Eh?”
”No, it's nothing.”