The Tomoe Garden's

Chapters 3.1

"Do you have anything wrong in your head about this country?" I asked Laven.

"Well, if you don't narrow down your questions, I won't understand. I don't know for sure but I have a customer whose identity is unknown who gave us a job a while ago."

I don't understand what a hit man does, but Laven could actually learn about the customer's information so there's nothing bad in the future.

"Are your customers not looking for a background? Then what's that job?"

Then Laven explained it after I asked her.

"Where possible, I always look for any information, so that if it is safe we process the request. However, the mysterious customer..."

Laven explained.

The customer was indeed very mysterious, he put all the information about his request to Laven on the parchment paper that was tied up. Then Laven found the paper right at the doorstep when Laven wanted to get out of the house. So the identity of the customer is not known, or you could say it is a prank request. But it could also not be so, because the information contained in the paper is really a request that is arranged seriously.

It happened a few days before I came to this town.

That's what I can deduce from Laven's explanation she told me.

"Because that's why I can't accept the request because the customer himself doesn't exist even though the information from the request is correct."

I see, but that's not the essence of the answer to my question.

"Do you still have that parchment paper?" My toot.

"Give him, Roger." Then Laven asked the big guy next to her to give me something.

"Good boss."

After a while, I sipped my tea and the man named Roger came to bring me a scroll of parchment paper.

Before I read it, I asked Laven

"Why do you still keep this? Isn't it useless that you can just throw it away?"

"You must be testing me?"

Huh, it seems like he knows my intentions.

"No, I'm just asking."

"This is why I don't love you..." Laven complained as she continued, "Forget it. I didn't say I refused the request outright, I just put it off until the customer showed himself."

It turns out my judgment wasn't wrong. He is competent in his professional conduct. But the biggest drawback is that Laven doesn't fit into such a job at nearly the same age as me.

"That's it."

Then I read this parchment paper carefully.

It has to do with something I really don't know.

This mysterious person asked the Laven group to kill an adventurer group that I could tell this group of adventurers could be found anywhere. However, their leader exercises a leadership in a 'damaged' manner'. Well the case can be found anywhere while this world alone has reached the category of 'damaged'.

Then, the adventurer group once had a fairly taboo background, namely they had been involved in contracts with demons and had worked with them. One proof is that their name is on one of the list of names that are "forbidden to be killed" in a book abandoned by a demonic organization called 'Seven Deadly Demons'

The book became one of the historical relics of the demonic incident that occurred in this city a few months ago, so it was read by many people.

Let's get back to the topic.

The reason the customer wanted to kill the group who had been in contact with the demon was because the group allegedly re-cooperated with the devil and also had an influence in the chaos of this world.

It was just a guess, but the mysterious customer and I may have had the same assumption. That the adventurers who disappeared were unlikely to be kidnapped or simply disappeared just because a handful of people were eyeing them. A possible mastermind behind all this is not only some people, but the people around us, it could even be spread all over the world, so run it all easily and very quickly.

Now I get it. This will be a big clue to my search.

"Laven, can I copy the contents of this parchment?" Ask him.

"What did he do?"

"Why did you even return. Huh~"

Regardless of Laven, I immediately opened a piece of parchment paper and copied all the contents of the information contained on this request parchment paper.

Alright, I'm done in terms of gathering this written information. Now there's something I need to make sure of Laven.

"Sure! I have asked Bravo to investigate, the information is already inside my head. Heh! If you want to know the information, bow down and kiss my shoes!"

Laven smiled and looked down on me, I only ignored her while I was stuffing the copy into my backpack.

I stood up and looked at Laven while she was still sitting, "Alright, I concluded... You are useless."

His smile and his gaze towards me instantly became stiff. Laven was weak with this.

"W-what do you mean?"

"From the beginning, since the demon incident in this city you have been useless. You've always obstructed my entire movement, withholding all the information in your head just for your own sake. How selfish of you! Even now, you want to hinder me again? If something happens to me and affects you, I will no longer care about your fate. You call this cooperation? Rubbish."

With the mental pressure I put on her, Laven's emotions will be provoked. Basically Laven is just an ordinary 18-year-old girl, mentally not too different from some girls her age.

"You!"

This big man named Roger clenched his hands, he shouted in anger at me.

"Sorry, I don't have a problem with you. I'm just questioning the credibility of your leader."

After that sentence I said, without waiting for Laven's reaction I left the house.

"Wait..." A gloomy voice and my hand was held by someone, it turned out to be Laven.

I glanced at him without looking back at him as if I had no interest in Laven. Her hair covered her facial expression, but it seemed like she was really being disappointed.

"I'm sorry I always let you down. " Laven said in a gloomy voice, "Either why do I always drop my pride in the moment in front of you. Though I am the one who owes you a debt, but I humiliate you and make you difficult in times of grave like this."

Her tears slowly fell from her eyes. It seemed like he was really frustrated from always being tied to that 'debt. It's a good thing that I did this, otherwise Laven would continue to play around with things related to cooperation, and it was very troublesome.

As a result, Laven sincerely and truly wanted to help me.

I turned my body around and faced her, showing me back to being interested in her and this talk.

"Well, now is the time to show how serious you and your group are in this line of work."

I sat down with Laven. He rubbed his remaining tears as he wanted to talk about his information.

"If you want to learn more about her, tonight is the right time for you. They are holding a recruitment of members today, it's because they want to make more followers strong enough to start his secret mission."

"That's it..."

Broadly speaking I can digest Laven's words. That meant, did that adventurer group hold a recruitment of members for his cause that he had done in the past? That could be a big possibility that can be noted.

"The point is you have to be careful if you are accepted as a member. I'm not too intent on investigating most of their powers or their leaders."

Laven's words also included points that I had to pay attention to when I was infiltrating. Let's just say all the members of the group have been brainwashed so that what they've done, they never feel guilty.

"That's if you really manage to get accepted into that group huh... If you don't meet their terms and conditions so you don't get away with it, it'll be for nothing."

"Requirements yes... That means they'll do the selection." I muttered at Laven's statement, "Then what are the terms?"

"Their group belongs to a large and well-known group, so there will be a power selection that involves all participants, or arguably a duel? That's how it is, then the last requirement..."

So yeah. With the selection itself I should at least expend all my abilities which means that it could have great consequences in the future. Then, his final condition... I can't believe it. Really absurd reason or did the leader have a policy to test his new members? However, it can still be overcome.

"I'll handle that." I said.

"E-eh, are you sure? Overcome all those people and that requirement?" Laven was shocked by what I said when I got up from my seat.

"Yes, I can handle that selection even if it can hurt me. Then with the last requirement, I'll try to find someone who's a good fit for it." I looked at Laven and said my last sentence, "You want to help me too, don't you?"

Laven stared at the members, Roger and Bravo. Instantly they stared and nodded, Laven looked at me seriously again.

Laven got up from her seat, then presented her hand, "Alright. Again I will confirm this. Ryuuji, work with me to find the answer to the chaos of this world, and the whole reason and mystery behind it."

I returned his handshake, "That's what I expected. You're with your men and I'm with my men. With this mutually beneficial agreement, I'm sure our cooperation will work out well."

Although Laven was confused as I revealed my 'cumbersome' but still took it seriously.

With that, I headed to the location of my destination after we decided to work separately for a while.

つづく