Chapter 139 – Flower Basket

Flower Basket

Kaiser expressed a question.

“I will look into it for now, but there is one thing I don’t understand. Is there a reason you are so obsessed with that player named Do-jin?”

“After all, wasn’t it you who caught Zodiac? I wonder if there is any need to be so obsessed with such a player.”

The reason for his obsession.

Naturally, there was one.

“Do-jin catching Sayaka instead of me wasn’t because I was lacking.”

“What does that mean?”

Kaiser was still puzzled, so Rashid explained it to him.

“No matter how much stronger I get than I am now, I cannot catch Sayaka.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? You are already strong enough, yet even if you get stronger, you can’t catch Sayaka?”

“When catching Zodiac, simple strength was the issue, but it’s not like that with Sayaka.”

Rashid recalled her, whom he could not catch no matter what efforts he made.

“There is something like a qualification to kill her. But that qualification is not something we can have.”

“A qualification… like being disqualified?”

“I don’t know exactly either. I mean, I don’t know the principle or the reason. But this much is certain: Do-jin can catch her. Do-jin has that qualification.”

He couldn’t understand all of it,

but he could vaguely accept it.

“Ah, now I understand. From the beginning, Do-jin is the only one who can catch that strange woman.”

“Right. That’s why there is a reason for me to look for Do-jin and be obsessed with him. Honestly speaking, if I could just solve it by playing the lone warrior, why would I need someone like Do-jin?”

Kaiser showed a somewhat interested expression.

“To think there would be such a thing.”

And at the same time, he understood.

Why everyone dismissed Sayaka as a villain with no answer.

“So they designed it so we couldn’t catch her from the start. No wonder I couldn’t understand why so many people couldn’t catch her even after trying. Hearing it now, it makes sense. If you can’t catch her no matter what you do without a specific person, then she simply can’t be caught.”

Rashid made a guess.

“She crossed over from another world like Zodiac. I think this might be the reason… but since catching her is all that matters, I didn’t look into it too deeply either. There was no way to know in the first place.”

“True, this is the first time I’ve heard that someone cleared Sayaka. Isn’t she a hidden villain of sorts?”

“Anyway, we must find Do-jin. And Do-jin is most likely to be inside the Allied Kingdom.”

Do-jin.

He was the key to catching Sayaka.

“Actually, trying to penetrate the Allied Kingdom so aggressively is also all because of Do-jin. Whatever the case, we must pull him over to our side at all costs.”

“Is it enough just to find him?”

“Not really. As for the rest of the troublesome matters, we should think about them after we find him first.”

“Understood. Let’s find out if that route is still active first. Since it’s war, they will continue to spy. I should pray that the route I know is still alive.”

Before leaving after finishing the conversation,

Kaiser asked about a question that suddenly came to mind.

“By the way, what kind of relationship does that person named Do-jin have with Sayaka?”

Kaiser made a guess.

“It doesn’t seem like a casual relationship?”

“Relationship… hm… should I say it’s just a love-hate relationship?”

“Love-hate?”

In fact, there would be no expression more fitting than this.

Rashid solidified his previous statement.

“Right. It’s probably love-hate. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have followed Sayaka all the way here.”

“Love-hate…”

Kaiser smiled faintly.

And then he said these words.

“Does that guy have his own romance too?”

“Who knows. Ask him later if you get the chance.”

* * *

Under the sky turning into the color of sunset,

in the after-school classroom where peace had settled down,

a girl in a sailor uniform hummed a tune while sitting by the window.

The evening sunlight coming down long through the window reached the feet of a boy wearing a gakuran.

The boy thought.

That he wanted to become closer to the girl sitting by the window.

At least at that moment, he was sincere.

The taciturn boy did not commit such a mistake as telling the girl his feelings.

Whether she knew the boy’s feelings or not,

the girl asked an out-of-the-blue question with a gentle smile.

“Senior.”

“Huh?”

“Senior, what would you think if I said I am not a person of this world?”

Although she was a child who was occasionally eccentric,

the boy thought it was a truly out-of-the-blue question.

“What are you talking about? Not a person of this world.”

The girl, who gave no answer, just hummed as before, then stepped down from the window and stood.

“Senior, you will always be on my side, right?”

Girl approached.

Flustered, the boy took a step back.

The girl approached without hesitation and looked him in the face.

“Senior.”

A distance close enough to hear each other’s breathing.

“You will make a promise with me, right?”

Stepping back slightly, the girl extended her pinky finger with a smiling face.

“Here, promise. No matter what happens in the future, protect me by my side.”

The boy, who hesitated for a moment, soon hooked his pinky finger.

Of course, he did not ponder seriously.

Since he thought it was all a joke.

“Pinky swear, if you lie, you’ll swallow a thousand needles, pinky sworn (Pinky swear. If you lie, you swallow a thousand needles.).”

Having finished the short song, the girl quickly released her finger.

“Senior, you promised me. You know what happens if you break the promise, right?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“If you betray me, swallow a thousand needles.”

“A thousand needles?”

The memory cut off.

The memory that cut off and then reconnected completely reversed the atmosphere of the classroom.

Corpses rolling on the floor.

The peaceful sunset light was now dyed in a blood-red color.

And there, the blood-stained girl was smiling quietly.

“Senior, you’re here?”

The nightmare-like memory pressed down on him like sleep paralysis.

The moment he realized it was a dream, Do-jin hastily returned to reality, sitting up with somewhat rough breathing.

The surroundings were dark.

This place was a prison with iron bars.

On both hands, a device restricting the flow of mana was attached.

Soon, a presence was heard, and a person with a red cross engraved looked inside beyond the iron bars.

When Do-jin directed his gaze at him, the cleric, who intentionally avoided his gaze, left without finding any anomalies.

“Sayaka…”

This was the world she had escaped to.

And he was a death row prisoner here.

He hadn’t done anything here.

Just being a player itself was a sin.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Do-jin clutched his hair.

* * *

Knock, knock!

Showing herself after a light knock was Luna.

In her hands, a basket piled high with white roses was held.

“Inquisitor. Someone sent this to you.”

Rashid felt puzzled looking at the white roses delivered to him.

‘What is that?’

A flower delivery out of nowhere?

“Who sent it to me?”

“Yes, it was sent with an unknown sender, so I don’t know who sent it. What should we do with this?”

Was there anyone who would send roses to him?

“Is it just flowers? Nothing else?”

Luna set the heavy basket down on the floor for a moment and examined the inside with a magic scan.

There were no anomalies, it was just a flower basket exactly as it looked.

“Yes, I checked just in case, but it seems to be just a flower basket.”

Rashid walked over and looked down at the flower basket piled high with white roses.

“There shouldn’t be anyone who would send this to me?”

Setting that aside, he couldn’t understand the meaning of this.

“And it is white roses… Is there some kind of meaning?”

It was a field he didn’t know.

Thus, when he directed his gaze at Luna, Luna, who was flustered for a moment, soon showed a smile.

“Yes, normally I know that these rose gifts are sent by vampires.”

“Vampires?”

“Yes, because I know that each rose color has its meaning.”

Rashid picked up a single white rose from the flower basket.

“Each color has a meaning?”

Luna answered with a fairly confident voice.

“Yes! I know that each color has a meaning.”

“Then what does this white color mean?”

“It means purity, innocence, things like that. Normally I know it is sent to a friend or acquaintance to resolve a misunderstanding.”

It was all content read from vampire romance novels.

“Is that so?”

Rashid, who smelled the rose scent briefly, returned to his seat, and Luna asked about the flower basket.

“Inquisitor, what should we do with this?”

“Leave it over at the reception seat. Placing it on the table will do.”

“Yes sir! I will do it immediately.”

Every now and then, sponsorships or gifts came in quite often.

Thus, the moment Rashid, who was not thinking deeply, tried to forget about the gift,

Luna, who was moving the flower basket, said something else.

“Ah, and there are also cases where it is sent to the opposite sex.”

When Rashid’s gaze landed on her, Luna continued the words she had paused.

“I heard it means something like a confession… In fact, there are more cases of it being sent like this.”

“A confession?”

Was there someone who would confess to him?

“Is that all?”

“No. Normally if it is sent like this, the Inquisitor must send pink roses in return. That means you accepted the confession, and then when red roses arrive again after that, you become lovers.”

Luna did not omit these words either.

“I learned from books that vampires usually date like that.”

Beast on the Bed.

It was all content learned from that romance novel.

“You said earlier it is also sent to friends or acquaintances, right? Then is a reply needed in that case too?”

“Yes, usually if it is positive, they send red roses, and if they refuse, they send black roses.”

“How elegant of the vampires.”

“And I said earlier that they ask the person they want to date with a white rose, right? If you want to refuse, I know they send black roses then too. Black roses usually mean negation or refusal.”

Sitting in his seat, Rashid muttered as if talking to himself.

“The sender is unknown anyway, so there’s no reason to reply.”

“Ah, that’s right. And I know you have to send a reply before the flowers wither. If you don’t reply until they wither, that is also seen as a polite refusal.”

A short while after Luna left,

she came in.

As she cleaned the inside without fail, she saw the flower basket placed at the reception seat.

There was no change in her expression, and she asked him indifferently.

“Are you going to leave it here?”

To him, who only gave a gaze without replying, she continued speaking.

“It’s in the way. You know my style, don’t you? I prefer things as clean as possible, exactly as I remember.”

“Do you also know the meaning behind white roses?”

Her face was still indifferent, but she answered that question sincerely.

“Yes, I know it is used to confess to the opposite sex.”

“I heard it is also sent to friends or acquaintances?”

“Normally, it is sent to mean a confession to the opposite sex. Originally, it was a dating method used among vampires, but now it is widely known publicly regardless of race.”

“Is that so? Then the person who sent the flowers might not be a vampire. By any chance, did you send it?”

Her expression cooled down coldly.

At first glance, it felt like she was stiffening up.

“This is supposed to mean a confession to someone. I never do such foolish things.”

“Confessing is foolish?”

“Yes, because it’s over if the opponent refuses. That is not a strategically good choice. It is a foolish thing.”

“You will live alone. Since you will only defend for the rest of your life.”

Having finished tidying up before long, she stood in front of him and asked with a smile.

“Why would I live alone? I have plans too.”

Rashid did not respond and tried to shoo her away with a gesture.

“Since withered flowers look ugly, I will clean them up myself.”

As he gave his approval by nodding without a word,

she also left his office.

A moment later.

Knock, knock!

A knock was heard, and the one who came in this time was Karl.

“Chief Inquisitor. I brought what you asked for.”

What Karl brought were newspapers published by the enemy nation and the Holy Blood Orthodox Church.

Although the dates were somewhat outdated, there was no trouble at all in grasping the news inside the Balt Empire.

“Where did you get them from?”

“I received cooperation from the Internal Inspectorate.”

“Good job. And continue to bring them until I tell you to stop. I need them.”

“Yes, I will do so.”

Rashid began to examine the newspaper articles he brought.

There was no need to look for very long.

Because he could find the content he wanted without much difficulty.

[Condemnation of Suspected Player… Holy Trial Results Announced -Orthodox Church Newspaper-]

[No Place to Hide. Order, Public Execution of Suspected Player -Great Nation News-]

The article about the player’s execution was visible.

It was obvious who he was.

‘Found him.’