Mysterious Journey to the North Sea, Part 2

by Hideyuki Kikuchi

  “Don’t even joke about that,” Toto said, shaking his head fearfully. His expression was hardened by genuine horror. “I couldn’t pull anything with a bodyguard like that around. If I’d even thought about it, he’d probably have seen right through me. I was honestly just trying to be friends with all of you.”

  It must’ve been a kind of mind control. An outstanding con man was supposed to be able to understand the people he was swindling and pretend to be on their side up until the very last second of the con, and Toto could do that far more easily and skillfully than anyone else. Up until the very end, the people he stole from never even suspected him.

  “Then why don’t you just leave things that way?” said Su-In, a sober expression on her face.

  “Huh?”

  “Just keep on being our friend. Or if you feel awkward being friends, then just be one of us. Make up some fake letter of introduction or something—I’m sure you’re good at stuff like that—and get a job in the village office.”

  “Spare me,” Toto said, sounding like he was ready to retch. And then he looked at Su-In with amazement on his face. Was she an imbecile or something?

  “No one’s ever suggested anything like that to you, have they?”

  “Go to sleep already,” he told her.

  “Hey, don’t dodge the issue.”

  “Shut up!”

  “If you stay in your present line of work, what are you supposed to do when you get old?” asked Su-In. “I can’t help wondering if you’ve got enough money socked away somewhere.”

  “Don’t worry yourself about it, you damned dope,” Toto replied. His voice held anger—and agitation. The words of this sea woman had carried a strange weight. You might even call them persuasive.

  “So, you know something about the bead?” she asked.

  Toto said nothing.

  “You mean to tell me you’re going after it without knowing anything about it at all?”

  “I’ve got a feeling about it.”

  “You met my sister, didn’t you?”

  Toto fell silent at this sudden change of topic.

  “It’s all right. I don’t think you’re working for the one who killed her or anything. But I want to ask you about something. Tell me how my sister was when you saw her. When she left the village, I never would’ve dreamed I’d never see her again.”

  For a while, Toto remained silent.

  Without warning, his right hand stabbed into the darkness. Su-In managed to catch a glimpse of the silver flash that shot from it. There was a bizarre squeal, and then it was completely silent.

  “What was that all about?”

  “I took care of your rat,” Toto replied, still facing the other way. And then he agreed to tell the woman what she wished to hear.

  Su-In’s eyes were twinkling, as if she were a little girl listening to a fairy tale coaxed from her stubborn but kindly father.

  .

  “Has Samon come back?” Egbert asked. More than the volume of his voice, it was the urgency of it that made the other figures in the murky chamber stiffen.

  “What are you doing back so soon?” Twin could be heard to say from behind a white lace curtain riddled by the moonlight.

  “How about Gyohki?”

  “I’m here,” replied a voice from the door to an adjoining room. “At present, I’m nursing my wounds. I was nearly killed, you see.”

  “Shin’s been taken out.”

  “What?!” he exclaimed, his reaction brought on by Twin’s words.

  Gyohki fell silent.

  Today, Egbert had spent his time searching for Shin—it was a day earlier that he’d witnessed D killing him. However, when he’d returned to the scene that evening in hopes of at least retrieving his colleague’s corpse, what he found there was nothing more than a doll that resembled a dead body. He was stunned. If that corpse was just another puppet, Shin should’ve long since rejoined the rest of them, whether he’d defeated D or not. But since Shin hadn’t done so, they had no choice but to suspect that he’d taken the bead and run off. It was this very night that the man’s corpse had been discovered off in the distant woods—only an hour earlier.

  “A fitting end for a traitor—but who did the deed?” Gyohki asked in a weighty tone.

  “I don’t know. But I did find this next to his body.”

  What fell to the floor without a sound was a tiny rubber doll in the shape of a spider.

  “Okay, this is just my interpretation, but I think Shin was using this thing to threaten someone. And whoever it was killed him when he tried to run off with the bead. Who do you suppose would do that?”

  “Someone who knows the secret of the bead,” Twin muttered.

  “That’s what I think, too.”

  At Gyohki’s words, Egbert’s shadowy form gave a nod at the center of the room and said, “You remember what Gilligan told us? It’s Professor Krolock!”

  “Him?!” Twin cried at the top of his lungs. “Well, they say Professor Krolock’s a walking warehouse of information. I guess it wouldn’t be all that strange for him to know about the bead.”

  “Where is he?”

  “At an inn, I’d imagine. He’s probably being a lot more brazen than you’d expect.”

  “Why’s he here? You think Gilligan sent him up here? If that’s the case, he should at least stop by and pay his respects.”

  “An old man put some strange spell on Samon, too,” said Gyohki.

  “That’s right,” Egbert concurred. “And I’d bet you anything that was him. With a power like that, he’d be able to get Shin’s poison spider off, and maybe even kill the old puppet master.”

  “Does he have the bead?” Twin asked in an intense tone.

  “I don’t know. But I don’t think he could’ve taken it after that.”

  “Is it still inside the Vampire Hunter’s hand, then?” Gyohki practically moaned. “Very well. Leave him to me.”

  “You have a plan?”

  “Actually, I saw something interesting this evening,” Gyohki replied.

  “Which was?”

  “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. Once we have the bead, we can finish him at our leisure. The rest of you will have to give me a hand.”

  “Fine with me,” Twin replied loudly, sounding quite satisfied. “But I think there’s one more person who should be here to help us reach a consensus.”

  “Samon’s still not back yet?” Egbert asked in a somewhat disappointed tone. “Well, I guess that’s okay. She won’t be making any more of those odd little trips out, at any rate. So, Gyohki—how exactly is this gonna go?”

  As the giant leaned forward, the main door suddenly creaked open and a gorgeous woman in a white dress came in.

  “Speak of the devil,” Twin said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

  “Oh? And what were you saying about me?” asked Samon. With silent footsteps she walked to the center of the room and stood right in front of Egbert.

  “Just this—” the giant began to say, and although the impression he got from the familiar face of the lovely woman was somehow different from before, he went on to explain what had been discussed at the meeting that day.

  Once she’d heard everything, Samon said, “I see,” and nodded meaningfully. “It was definitely Professor Krolock that made a mockery of me. Not that I know where he is. At any rate, Gyohki, exactly when and how did you intend to do away with D?”

  “Tomorrow—in someplace he’s not too comfortable.”

  “I heard D’s a dhampir,” the woman said. “So he wouldn’t be comfortable—in the water.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And yet you think he’ll just stroll out into someplace like that? He’s not stupid, you know. Even if he did, how would you finish him off? At any rate, from what Twin says, it seems he’s hidden the woman somewhere. Do you have some way to lure him out?”

  Apparently, the rest of the group didn’t know about the other Twin or what had happened to him.

  “I
know,” said Gyohki. “We can’t simply invite him to step into Egbert’s kingdom. But he’ll have no choice but to come, you see.”

  “How?” Twin asked in a tone of boundless curiosity.

  “I have something lined up. Come tomorrow, you’ll see,” said Gyohki, putting on airs to the very end.

  “But more importantly—Samon, what’s your boyfriend up to?”

  Although Samon made an indescribable expression there in the murky darkness at Twin’s question, it faded quickly enough, and she replied disappointedly, “He’s not around.”

  “Not around?”

  “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since noontime. I wonder if maybe he didn’t go off somewhere . . .”

  “You’ve been dumped?” Egbert asked, his face turned to one side.

  “Perhaps,” Samon said without argument as she turned and walked toward a door in the back of the room. “I’m tired. I’m going to turn in early.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t waste your time looking for the man who ran out on you,” said Gyohki. “Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. You’ll have to find out where Professor Krolock is and bring him back here. We’ll dispose of D.”

  “Since when do you give the orders?” asked Samon.

  “Oh, do you have a problem with that?”

  “No—it doesn’t matter to me either way,” the woman replied. “At least, not now.”

  “Looks to me like you’re taking this dumping business pretty hard.”

  “Say what you will. Good night,” said Samon. And then her silhouette, which suddenly seemed all the more alluring, slipped through the doorway and vanished into the darkness.

  .

  And this is what happened an hour later.

  Sensing someone sneaking over to the old-fashioned bed where he slept, Egbert awoke. Had he not been a warrior, Egbert never would’ve heard the footsteps of the person coming closer, then bending over by the side of his head. As he turned to face the intruder, he asked, “What do you want?”

  Upon seeing the person who’d just pulled back by the light of the moon, Egbert blinked despite himself.

  “You’re not a very perceptive man, are you, Egbert?” Samon said reproachfully, having already regained her composure. “When a woman creeps into a man’s bedroom, he should keep his questions to himself and just accept her kisses.”

  “What are you up to, Samon?” Egbert asked, his voice carrying more than its share of expectation.

  As he sat up in bed, Samon approached him seductively. Egbert had already noticed that the warrior woman wore nothing but a flimsy negligee. Her gossamer gown melted in the moonlight, tracing in black a form so voluptuous it took his breath away. But Egbert’s eyes could also make out her full breasts, her pale pink nipples, and all the tempting contours of her crotch and derriere.

  “So, am I supposed to take the place of your boyfriend who ran off? Well, I don’t have a problem with that,” Egbert chuckled. But his voice was a bit indistinct.

  “I knew how you felt about me.”

  Standing by the side of the bed, Samon said no more, but reached for the front of the negligee with her hand. The fabric slid down her like a fog, catching on her breasts for a moment, and then quickly landing in a pile on the floor.

  “I’m terribly hungry, you see,” the woman confessed. “I want you. So just hold your tongue and take me.”

  No sooner had Samon made that request of him than she straddled Egbert’s groin and wrapped her pale, silky arms around the man’s strapping neck.

  “Hey,” Egbert said, but before he could stop her, his lips were covered with something that tugged at them like a leech, yet delivered the sweetest sensation imaginable. A hot tongue slid into Egbert’s mouth, and he didn’t hesitate to suck on it.

  Having given him an appreciable taste of her lips and tongue, Samon pulled her face away from his. While her features were twisted with lust, her eyes alone held a cold spark that seemed to mock the man.

  Egbert’s hand brushed one of her breasts. “Your tits are like ice,” he said.

  “But they burn all the more with my feelings,” Samon replied, pressing her lips to his once more.

  Egbert was entranced.

  From the first time he’d seen the woman’s face, the stouthearted warrior had been drawn by her surpassing sensuality. Perhaps Samon realized as much, because even on the way to the village, her words and deeds had further stimulated him to such a degree she almost seemed to be provoking him. Twin had probably teased Egbert because he’d noticed that as well. Egbert had loved Samon so much that he’d killed the young seeker of knowledge who’d been her lover—not that he thought that would make Samon his. He’d gone after Glen because the man seemed to be a warped individual intent on tearing Samon apart both mentally and physically. The way things had been going, the giant probably never would’ve confessed his own feelings to her in the end. But now Samon had pushed everything else aside to fulfill the feelings his eyes had always betrayed.

  Egbert’s integrity oozed away like mud. But who could really blame him? His powerful arms wrapped around her lithe torso, and his parched lips sucked at the woman’s moist, full ones so hard it seemed he’d twist them right off.

  Turning her face away as if to escape him, Samon then bit down on the man’s earlobe.

  “You’re incredible. I love you, Egbert,” she said, her feverish tone and moist puffs of breath slowly sliding down to the nape of his neck, then stopping. “I love you best, after him.”

  Samon’s mouth snapped open viciously. A pair of fangs glittered there like solidified moonlight.

  “Samon, what happened to you?!” Egbert shouted in amazement.

  Just as Samon’s despicable lips were about to clamp onto the man’s throat, she began to gag and choke. A scream spilling from her, Samon clutched at her own throat.

  “When did you decide to serve the Nobility?” Egbert said as he brought one hand up to his unscathed throat. His voice brimmed with sadness. “And is that why you forgot all about my power? This whole room is Egbert’s kingdom! Of course, this is the first time I’ve actually had garlic mixed in the atmosphere. That was just a step I’d taken to guard against D and the Noble. I never would’ve thought you’d wind up one first, though.”

  “You bastard!” Samon cursed as she fell to the floor. “Damn you to hell, Egbert!”

  “I really did care for you. I suppose the least I can do is release you from the curse of the Nobility myself.” Taking up the iron staff that leaned against the side of his bed, Egbert stood behind the writhing Samon. Raising the weapon high over his head, he cried, “Die, Samon. Rest in peace.”

  As he turned his face down to the contorted Samon with that holy pronouncement, he met her gaze. A blazing pair of crimson eyes. In that instant, sparks of the very same hue exploded in Egbert’s brain.

  His staff slid down. When it had fallen to waist level, Egbert shook his head fiercely, and then raised his weapon once again. He had both eyes shut.

  “Could you really kill me, Egbert?” Samon managed to utter in a hoarse voice. The stink of garlic still eddied in the night air. The mere act of speaking was pure torture for her. “Were you lying when you said you cared for me? If you weren’t, you’d allow me to follow the path I choose, no matter how far it means I may fall. That’s what I did. All for him—”

  Even in the midst of agony, Samon still sounded proud.

  “I need you,” the woman said. “I need you if I’m to help grant his wish. We mustn’t let Gyohki and the others go after D. The Hunter’s life belongs to my man.”

  Were these not words of chilling love?

  As the woman told Egbert how she’d given her own blood to a Noble and become his servant in order to save the dying Glen, her words certainly hit home. Though his iron staff was still poised in the air, he sounded quite moved as he said, “Oh, how I envied him—he’s still alive then, is he?”

  “I kept him alive. Though I had to subject myself to this curse to do so
.”

  “What’ll you do if I give you what you want?” the giant asked her.

  Despite all the pain Samon was in, her eyes glittered. Just then, the smell of the accursed plant abruptly vanished from the air.

  “I shall love you,” she replied. “Just as I do him. In any way you please.”

  For a second, a hue of distress that beggared description drifted into Egbert’s face. However, he quickly made his decision.

  “I’ve always thought it might be nice to be a Noble!”

  The naked female form arose, brushing by the tip of the iron staff as it slowly sank to the floor.

  FIGHTING IN THE DARKNESS

  CHAPTER 6

  .

  I

  .

  The villagers knew that summer had come—it had risen from beyond the sea in the form of a man in blue. And knowing what his arrival entailed, there wasn’t really much to be surprised about. Though two girls and a young man had vanished the night before, even that couldn’t be allowed to disrupt their summer. A number of family members and other relatives had searched in the woods and ruined lodges with the Youth Brigade and Vigilance Committee so as not to disturb the festival, but their actions hadn’t borne results, and the stakes and javelins they carried shimmered mockingly in the white heat and threw ugly shadows on the blue flowers that covered the ground.

  Magic tricks and carbonated drinks, candy and snow cones. Summer still remained in full swing.

  Early in the morning, Toto left Su-In behind and exited the ruined temple. He was off to deliver the ransom note he’d written the night before to D.

  The watery sunlight made the young leaves sparkle. As the thief swayed on the back of a cyborg horse and looked at the flowers in the grassy fields, his face brimmed with a pure appreciation that was unimaginable given his line of work. After about forty minutes, he came to the part of the woods where the festival was being held. Not surprisingly, everyone was still asleep. The entrances to the performers’ trailers and flexible housing units were all shut tight.

  “I hope I can get this taken care of quickly and join in the fun,” Toto muttered, but then he suddenly pulled back on his reins.