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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator:Bobt
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The Black Night’s engine, which hadn’t completely cooled down, became hot again.
Locke left the parking lot with the girl named Elizabeth in the passenger seat. Since she claimed to be human for now, he planned to find her parents first.
If there were real parents, he could hand her over to them. If there were no parents? He thought he would keep her for a few days and then send her to an orphanage, or pass her on to Kaylee.
While Locke was holding the steering wheel like that, the girl was sitting in the passenger seat, hugging her knees. She looked shrunken as if the scenery of Midland outside the window was too unfamiliar and unsettling. Unlike her attitude, her face was expressionless, so it was impossible to know what she was thinking.
For a while, the Black Night carrying the two different people raced through the city center. Elizabeth glanced at Locke and fidgeted her hands. Her eyes were on the radio. Then her small hand slowly stretched out to the radio. It was as if she was trying to turn on the radio secretly.
However, that level of stealth couldn’t evade an Auror Master’s keen senses. Locke reached out without a word. The fidgeting Elizabeth shrank back again.
“…?”
Locke’s hand turned on the power of the radio. The radio made a very brief static sound, and soon rough orc ballads flowed out. As all orc ballads were, it had intense guitar and drums, singing about the burning heavens, Valkyries with wings, and the struggle of Einherjar.
Locke turned on the radio like that and glanced at the girl’s face. Elizabeth was a bit different from when she was listening to rock in the apartment. She was looking at the radio, blinking her eyes.
She soon turned her head towards Locke and said,
“Something else.”
“…”
Locke snorted once out of habit and changed the radio channel. Yeah, it might not be good for kids to listen to.
When he changed the channel, synth-pop combining the unique electronic sound of the synthesizer and vocals mixed with mechanical sounds flowed out. Only then did Elizabeth nod her head and turn her gaze out the window.
The sky of Midland, which had been brightening as the sun rose a little while ago, was now darkening with gloomy clouds that had suddenly set in. It also looked as if a gray filter had been placed over the entire world thanks to the pitch-black clouds that seemed to pour rain at any moment.
The Black Night crossed that gray world in black. The black armor of the Black Night could not be tainted even by the gloomy sky.
After passing the main road and alleys like that, they arrived in front of a seven-story concrete building. Locke parked the car on the side of the alley and headed towards the building. Elizabeth followed closely behind him.
Locke’s Destination was the third floor of that building. Locke’s Steps, which had been moving along the dirty wall of unfinished concrete, stopped in front of a steel door. Next to the steel door, there was a small wooden nameplate. ‘Real estate and used car, various transaction brokerage.’
Pressing the doorbell next to it, a ding sound rang out and soon a poor-quality voice flowed out.
[Who?]
“I know you already saw through the security camera. Just open the door, Philip.”
[…]
After a moment, the closed steel door opened with a clank. As Locke went inside, Elizabeth, who had been curiously looking around, also followed behind him.
Philip, whom they met after passing a short corridor, greeted them with a forced smile that was obvious to anyone.
“Oh, welcome. I was wondering why you came to see me first. You’re not here to slice me with that Auror Blade, are you? For giving you the wrong job last time. Hahaha…”
Locke stood still and looked at Philip without a word. Philip’s expression, who had been making unfunny forced jokes, began to crumble as he faced that gaze.
“…It’s really not that, right? We’ve spent time together, so just because a few jobs went wrong…”
“Don’t make me a psycho, Philip.”
“Ah, um… sorry.”
At that moment, Elizabeth poked her head out from behind Locke. Seeing those sparkling eyes, surprise appeared on Philip’s face. He stammered, alternately looking at the girl and Locke.
“Don’t tell me you, no, that…”
“She’s not my kid.”
Locke, who briefly answered Philip’s question, approached the sofa inside the office and plopped down. Elizabeth also trotted to the sofa next to him and sat down, looking around Philip’s office full of cabinets.
Philip couldn’t say a word even when the two moved as if it were their own living room. Rather, he even took out drinks from the refrigerator in one corner and set them in front of Locke and Elizabeth.
He put simple cookies in front of Elizabeth and only then sat on the sofa across from Locke.
“So, what’s the matter? If you have come to find a job, you’ll have to wait a bit. My situation hasn’t been very good lately…”
“I know your situation is bad. The rumor has spread all the way to Northstreet.”
“…Yeah. There’s no more interesting story than the news of someone going broke.”
Fatigue dripped from Philip’s face. Perhaps the mercenaries who wanted to get jobs from him had disappeared as Locke’s Work became known. With no mercenaries, clients wouldn’t entrust jobs, and it was obvious that Philip’s business would have been greatly disrupted in addition to job mediation.
Anyway, it was none of Locke’s Business. He brought up the reason he had come all the way here.
“Find someone for me.”
“Someone?”
“That kid’s parents.”
At Locke’s Chin gesture, Philip’s eyes also turned to Elizabeth. The girl was still looking around his office, crunching on the cookies Philip had prepared.
“Hmm, it was finding parents. Are you sure she’s not your child? The hair color and eyes are exactly the same.”
“Cut the crap. How long will it take?”
“If we confirm the name and characteristics, and if they’re Midland people, it won’t take more than two or three weeks at most. If they have citizenship, we can find them even tomorrow. Of course, if it’s someone trying to hide or cross the sea, it will take several times longer.”
Philip had an attitude as if it wasn’t a big deal. Locke also nodded and looked at Elizabeth.
“Kid, you said you have human parents, right?”
“Elizabeth.”
“What?”
Elizabeth continued, sipping her drink.
“Not kid, Elizabeth. And Locke said you can call me Liz.”
Locke let out a small sigh and roughly nodded his head.
“Alright, Liz. Tell me your parents’ names so we can find them.”
“Dad is Dr. Robert Lawrence. Mom is Dr. Hichiko Lawrence.”
Locke silently turned his head and looked at Philip. Philip, who had been blinking his eyes, finally took out a pen and paper and started writing down the names Liz had said when he received that gaze.
After scribbling for a moment, he raised his head and asked,
“Any other characteristics besides the names?”
“Dad had blue eyes and light blond hair. Mom was originally Japanese, so she had black hair and black eyes.”
“Blue eyes… black hair and Japanese… do both of them have Midland citizenship?”
“I don’t know. Probably not.”
Philip nodded roughly as if he understood.
“The two of them are done… alright, Liz. Then your name is Elizabeth Lawrence, right?”
“I’m just Elizabeth. And I didn’t tell you to call me Liz, mister.”
At Liz’s firm tone, Philip’s expression crumpled again. He looked at Locke with that expression, but Locke just shrugged as if asking what to do.
“Why the kid’s name?”
“In case there’s a missing person report filed with the MLPD. Then the work would go much faster…”
Whether Philip was gloomy or not, Locke took a sip of the drink in front of him and got up from his seat. As he got up, Liz also stood up.
Philip said with a bit of bewilderment,
“The, the down payment, how…”
“Down payment?”
Locke, who had been about to leave, stopped and looked down at him. Philip, who met those deep black eyes, made a forced smile again.
“Of course I’ll do it for free. Since I owe you.”
“Don’t go around babbling and find out quietly. It could be dangerous.”
“Huh? Dangerous? Why?”
Locke ignored that question and left the office. Philip’s voice was heard behind his back.
“Hey Locke! Are we cool now? Then do a job for me later! That time, really properly-”
The steel door closed with a clank, cutting off his voice. It was Liz who closed the door. She said nonchalantly to Locke, who was looking at her,
“You should close the front door properly when you go out.”
Locke smiled unknowingly and walked down the building corridor. Liz followed behind him.
As they left the concrete building, Liz ran ahead of Locke to the Black night. The kid opened the car door before Locke even got in, and quickly went into the passenger seat and looked at Locke through the window. Locke walked leisurely at that gaze that seemed to say hurry up and come.
At that moment, an ear-splitting police siren echoed from the main road outside the alley. Looking closely, not only police cars rushing urgently but also MLPD aerodynes flying between buildings were visible. It seemed some incident had occurred nearby.
As Locke stopped for a moment and looked outside the alley like that,
“Oh, Locke?”
Locke slowly turned his head and saw warm-colored brown hair. Last time, that hair had been neatly tied up in a ponytail.
She approached Locke and said,
“It’s Locke, right?”
“Emily.”
As Locke said her name, she smiled as if pleased.
“That’s right. You remembered.”
“Can’t forget easily. We were supposed to meet again.”
Emily, the employee of ‘Change’, had a very different vibe from when she was wearing a uniform at the restaurant. Her long, loose hair was scattered over her aviator jacket, and her blue jeans and canvas shoes looked neat.
She smiled brightly and said,
“What brings you here?”
“To meet someone. How about you?”
“I also met a friend for a bit after the early morning shift. This is quite a pleasant coincidence.”
Seeing her smile, Locke also smiled softly. It was a pleasant coincidence for him too. As Emily was about to continue speaking while seeing that,
The window of the Black night next to them slid down, revealing Liz’s face inside. Emily was startled by the appearance of the girl looking up at her with an expressionless face.
“Oh my…”
She looked alternately at Liz and Locke in surprise.
“A, a married man…”
“She’s not my kid.”
“…She’s not?”
Locke, who had been pondering what to say, decided to just make up an excuse.
“She’s my niece.”
“Ah, your niece…”
Whether she thought it was an excuse or really believed it, Emily nodded. The two then had a short chat about how it was going to rain soon and how the weather was getting chilly. Liz’s eyes, with her chin resting on the passenger window sill, rolled back and forth following their conversation.
As the conversation continued, the topic of how to get home came up.
“I’ll have to take the subway. I don’t have a car.”
Before Locke could tell her that he would give her a ride, he looked towards the passenger seat. He wondered if Liz would behave. But the kid had already moved to the back seat and was poking her head out from behind the seat. She was either considerate or cunning.
“I’ll give you a ride since it’s on the way.”
“What? No, you don’t have to…”
Locke silently opened the passenger door for her. Then Emily, who had been hesitating, nodded her head with a slightly flushed face. Soon, the Black night carrying the three of them left the alley.
As the engine started, the radio that had been turned off also came back on. From the channel that had been playing music earlier, the announcer’s rigid voice flowed out.
[…The current estimate of casualties from this terror attack is dozens of people and damages worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like the previous several terror attacks, this one is also identified as the act of the armed terrorist group called ‘Children of the Trees’, and it is known that among the victims this time, there are also police officers from the MLPD, which is shocking…]
Liz, who was sitting in the back seat, tilted her head at the sight of the radio not playing songs. She was about to ask Locke to change the channel, but closed her mouth when she saw him talking to Emily again. Instead, she looked at the radio and lit up her eyes.
As the strange ring of light sparkled in her pupils like that, instead of the rigid news broadcast, a soft pop song began to flow out.
Locke, who had been talking to Emily, paused for a moment at that instant, but soon continued speaking with a smile.
The pleasant drive of the two ended as they arrived at Emily’s destination. She said, brushing her hair behind her ear,
“Then, we’re having dinner next weekend, right?”
“I’ll come.”
Emily smiled brightly.
“See you next time, Locke. See you next time too, Elizabeth.”
She also greeted Liz and got off. Locke turned the steering wheel and looked at Emily’s figure reflected in the rearview mirror. He saw her turning her body after looking this way for a moment.
Then Liz, who had been in the back seat, wriggled back to the passenger seat. And she fiddled with the radio. Instead of the gentle pop song that had been playing, rock band music started blaring, and the girl, unlike her expressionless face, rested her arm on the passenger window and nodded her chin as if riding the rhythm.
Locke just looked at the girl with strange eyes without saying much.
Afterward, Locke and Liz returned to the apartment after purchasing a lot of groceries from a nearby mart. Anyway, it seemed like they would be staying together for a few days, and Locke felt uncomfortable having pizza or instant food for every meal. He didn’t want to eat powdered eggs that were several years old either.
While Locke filled the refrigerator after returning to the apartment kitchen, Liz silently approached the sink and started washing dishes. Like a little while ago, contrary to the quirky first impression, she was definitely either considerate or cunning.
It was when Locke was thinking like that and shaking his head. Although both of them were in the kitchen, suddenly the television audio in the living room turned on and the rock band music they had been listening to in the car continued.
Hearing that sound, Locke looked at Liz with a grim face. She was rolling the soles of her feet and rinsing the dishes to the music as if nothing had happened. Locke, who had closed the refrigerator door, was about to say something to Liz with his arms crossed.
The doorbell of the apartment rang.
The bell didn’t stop at once, but rang several times. The visitor seemed to be in a hurry, as they even knocked on the door with a thud after the bell.
Liz, who had been rinsing the dishes, looked at Locke. Locke raised his index finger to her and said briefly,
“Stay quiet.”
Seeing Liz nod, Locke approached the front door. The person on the other side knocked on the door again with a thud and said,
“Hey! It’s the MLPD! I know you live here!”
Locke, who was standing in front of the front door, tilted his head. If it was the MLPD, it was the police, but there was only one person on the other side of the door.
Locke opened the door for now, leaving the latch hook on. Through the door gap, a blond-haired man was visible. He confirmed Locke through the gap and took out a police badge.
“I’m Detective Daniel from the MLPD. You’re Locke, right? The mercenary known as the ‘ronin’? Cooperation, please cooperate…”
Detective Daniel’s face had a complex mix of fatigue, anger, sadness, anxiety, desperation, and so on.
But Locke said in a dry voice,
“Get lost if you don’t have a warrant.”
“Wha, what? Wait! Wait a minute!”
Clank, the door closed.
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