One's Eden: Hanayuki Travel

Chapter 69: Tainted hands

I had realized on my first day of visiting this city that I was being targeted. That’s why I implemented a plan to capture the girl who tried to poison me before.

My plan isn’t that clever. Just putting a fisherman on the hook just like a fisherman. With enough patience, I was able to capture her.

After capturing her, I dragged her to the outskirts where I’m currently renting an Inn. Upon entering the Inn, the owner, who was as young as me, was giving me a suspicious look as I walked with the unconscious girl on my back.

“T-This is my friend who drank lots of alcohol earlier… She could not take it and fell.”

I reasoned.

The inner keeper made an inner glance at me, full of doubt.

“...”

“...”

We look at each other awkwardly. She opened her mouth and said:

“Don’t worry, I’m not the kind of girl who spills the beans. I met people worse than you. I’m simply doing my job here and pretending I didn’t see anything.”

The inner keeper said in a bored tone. Turning her head back to the magazine or her hand and started flipping.

Based on how she spoke. She is truly suspicious of my action.

Either way, she seems to be genuine in her words. She looked so bored and no emotions were spilled.

Moving on, I put the girl on my bed and undone the sleeping spell. She immediately woke up with her eyes wide, followed by deep breathing. Resembling a man who nearly drowned at sea.

“So soft, this bed is so soft… I thought I was already dead… My comrades did care about me and saved me from the target. Oh, maybe, my boss is indeed stalking me. That’s kinda creepy if it's true…”

She monologues and still doesn't see her current situation. She sat on the bed and lifted her face.

“Good morning.” I greeted him.

“Good morning… Eh?”

She was startled to see my face.

Immediately realizing her situation. She turned her head around, dashed to the right, jumped on the bed, and went toward the window to escape.

Before she did her actions, I cast lightning magic to paralyze her body. Her body became stiff as a statue and crushed down on the floor with a “Thud.”

“My nose hurts… It's not the time to think about my bleeding nose… Please don’t kill me. I have lots of dreams to fulfill. I want to be a respected high officer. I want to be called a spy like the novels depict a spy as would be. I want a high-action, thrilling life.”

High action thrilling life?

High action thrilling life… That is normal in novels and entertainment, but in reality who would like that kind of life? Being constantly in danger. Being always in the line. You’re loved once will also be dragged down to the dark side of your life.

There is nothing good in high-action thrilling life.

The only ones who thought it was great were those people who never experienced those traumatizing events. In other words, those fools.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”

I said and offered a cup of hot chocolate on the table beside the bed. Since she can’t move because of my magic. She could not drink the chocolate yet.

She glared at me.

“Of course, you will kill me… You’re an evil mage after all. The revolutionary group had their eyes on you because you’re evil. Our job is to take down evil and make the world a better place.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, please… I won’t kill…”

There might be a time when I used to kill time, but that time is over.

She stared at me closely and made a sigh.

“I’m nervous… Seems like I’m saved… I guess you won’t kill me. When a person wants to kill somebody, they release this malicious aura in their surroundings. They often call it bloodlust. It can be compressed but can’t be hidden… By taking a closer look, my ability kicks in. My ability to see through a lie. When you said you wouldn’t kill me. I don’t sense anything evil. You’re saying the truth.”

She claimed.

Asking her about her motive is useless now. She is merely a pawn for someone. She already muttered about the revolutionary group targeting me. She must be one of their agents.

Dealing with a revolutionary group is something I don’t want to deal with.

It's too much hassle on my side.

But maybe I could fix this problem. This girl in front of me seems sweet and she is fighting for the world to become a better place.

“I won’t escape now… Please unpleasant the spell.”

“Nope, who knows what's going on in your mind? The fact that you tried to kill me, proved that we’re enemies. I can’t just let you loose.”

“But it's so cold I want to drink my hot chocolate.”

That’s her deal? Her magical power is below average. Maybe if she escaped or tries something funny. I’ll just capture her.

Also, it's very cold at night. It's supposed to be the summer.

“Tried something funny and I’ll make you regret it.”

“I sense something horrifying in her mind, but I’m glad it's not blood lust.”

I undone her paralyzing spell and just have a one-on-one talk with her. She told us about a spy agency and a revolutionary group. Those things are supposed to be hidden because of what I know, but this girl just straight up told me her stories.

What kind of spy would tell you that she was a spy?

This girl is a horrible spy agent. It’s not even a secret.

She is the kind of girl who will arrogantly tell stories about herself doing cool things. Boosting herself with a high-stacked attitude.

It’s kinda annoying in a sense, but something in the way she tells the story makes me feel it's harmless.

The storytelling goes for hours…

“... There was a time we killed an earth dragon. I used my fire magic to target its eyes. When the earth dragon’s vision was gone, my comrade went to defeat it. It's exhausting and thrilling. I’m satisfied with the result. We saved the people in the village…”

I felt like she told me her whole life story.

After listening to her, I cut in.

“You’re so kind and sweet… You used a drug that won’t kill humans because you can’t kill after all.”

I said.

“H-How’d you know that? It's my secret… Killing is necessary as a spy agent.”

“You told me the story of your life. And I never heard you killing a single human. In summary, I think you’re the kind of workmate that constantly causes trouble for our boss. I won’t say you are useless, but your profession is not something that suits you to your taste. When you told me stories about your work, I noticed how dull your eyes are… But when you told me that you have a dream of being a great barista and talking about different kinds of coffee, your eyes sparkled with joy.”

“Wha-what are you saying? I can’t even enjoy a black coffee myself.”

She said with a red face. She found out about her true dream.

“It's not about being good at it… Loving it might be enough. I don’t know why you wanted to live a thrilling life. As someone who is constantly dealing with danger. I would say that… grass is greener on the other hand.”

“Does that mean it? No one cuts the grass on the other side.”

She stupidly asked.

“It's an idiom… When someone is not satisfied with their lot in life and always assumes that there are better things in other places.”

Silently she turned down her face. Something was bothering her in her mind. She got a firm grip on her hand and looked at me with a serious expression.

“My boss is the one who raised me… He gives me many things. Education, food, shelter, and more. I know he's quite disappointed in how I have become, despite all the effort he put into teaching me spy techniques. I’m still a failure at best. Always been a laughing stock in the office… I’m doing my best so that he would be proud of me as a spy.”

“But that is not something you want to do? Forcing your life to get someone's approval is not very smart.”

“I know I’m not very smart… Please, don’t spell it to me like that.” She said and cried.

I’m not saying that you’re not smart.

This girl has problems comprehending words.

I held her shoulders and turned her toward me. I must make some sense to this girl.

“If you don’t want to do it… There is nothing wrong with refusing it! It's irresponsible in some sense. But as long as it won’t tramp anyone. As long as it's not hurting your own heart. There is nothing wrong with doing things you want to do in your life. People… People must live doing things they love to do. Because that is the only way to find the paradise everyone wanted. The happiness everyone wanted.”

“Are you like that?”

“I’m currently traveling around the world to find fragments of my memories. But I won’t say I hate traveling. I love it. Going to other places, meeting lots and lots of different colorful people… You should do the same… If you want to study more about coffee. Then became a barista. If that’s what you wanted, want you should go and pursue your dreams. Life is very short after all.”

She took a deep breath and wiped her tears. With eyes full of fire. She spoke.

“You’re right, life is short… I must do things I want to do. I might have heard unpleasant things from my boss. I would say that I’m used to scolding. I want to try doing things I want to do.”

♦♦♦♦♦

The next day,

Yuri goes to the office in his casual attire. The boss turned his glance at Yuri with a puzzled expression.

“When did I permit you to wear casual clothes at work? Put your uniform on and give me your report.”

The boss said.

“I’m not wearing my uniform.”

“Are you rebelling?”

“Nope, I would like to talk about my future. Boss, I wanted to quit my job as a spy. I know I have caused many problems and you expect a lot from me since you trained me. But I wanted to become a barista. My dream is to make a delicious coffee everyone could enjoy.”

“Pftttt! Hahahahahahaha!”

The boss cracked out in laughter after hearing Yuri’s words. He is even tearing in joy. Making Yuri blush in embarrassment.

“Y-You can’t even have a cup of coffee yourself and you want to make a coffee. That joke made my day.”

“You’re such a jerk… I’m not joking… I’m being serious here.”

The boss stood up from his seat and then hugged Yuri.

“Finally, my Yuri grew up… Finding your path in life. Quitting this job I forced you. That’s something I have wanted you to say for a very long time. I only kept you here because I don’t want people to see you as an unemployed spoiled girl.”

“That’s the reason… I’m here.”

“But I can’t do anything about the higher up by giving you a test. That last mission was something given to you as a test if you truly qualified as a spy. Since you failed, I have to fire you.”

“I’m fired! What’s with the uniform earlier?”

“I want to fire you with a uniform on.”

He said seriously.

Yuri pouted his cheeks and pushed the boss away from her. Averting her head in anger.

“... As your father, it's my job to support you in reaching your dreams. If that’s what you truly want. I won’t object to your decision. Well, you're old enough to make your decision yourself.”

Yuri made a big smile and hugged his boss or we can say his father figure.

While the father and daughter were talking about the future,

A knocking sound was heard on the door. The boss permitted him to go inside. The man was a young-looking boy clad in black. He had a black sword on his waist. He had a serious aura surrounding him.

“I apologize if I get in your way.”

He said.

“Don’t worry about it, Ren…”

“Ren? You mean the flaming assassin. This is my first time meeting you. I would like to say thank you for saving before. If it was not because of you, I'd already be dead.”

Yuri bowed his head down to Ren. Ren just ignores her and goes right to business.

He took a letter and gave it to the boss.

“I’m resigning… I don’t want to be ordered around. I want to go on my way.”

“The organization needs someone like you, Ren. Losing you would be hard. Especially because you know a lot of things about the organization already. I’m afraid it won’t be easy.”

“Say all you want, but I’m leaving… I have already talked to Kuro and Yuna about this. Please, understand.”

“I understand… Please don’t do anything stupid, Ren.”

The tension gets heavy in the office by casting Yuri on the side as if she doesn’t exist. Ren turned his back on the boss and left.

“Is it fine? He's very strong, right?”

“Well, he won’t spill anything, unlike a certain girl I knew.”

The boss said.