Chapter 197: Bounty

Chapter 197: Bounty

I hear the sound of something rustling and falling, but my gaze remains fixed on him.

"Cadet Zetto, you shouldn't be wandering the streets at night without a sword."

Ever since I locked eyes with him, I've felt slightly dizzy. For a moment, my body nearly swayed, but I managed to keep myself centered.

"It's dangerous, isn't it?"

It wasn't a bad headache.

The corner of my mouth had been hanging over my ear for a while.

"I've missed you, Cadet Zetto."

"...It's been a long time, Ms. Kaen."

It had been a long, long wait and I wondered if he was as tired as I was.

If he was, why hadn't he come to see me sooner, I wondered, but I quickly realized why.

"The prosthetic, it looks good on you."

A piece of ashen metal shaped like an arm rested on his left arm, which should have been empty.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Beside the faintly smiling Zetto was his sister, Geppeti, who was to be his guide to the craftsman.

'You could have asked me...'

I pushed aside my regret at missing the opportunity to be alone with him as it wasn't important right now.

As I approached him, I stopped in my tracks with a question.

"..."

I turned my head and glanced behind me.

There was a disgusting lump of flesh on the ground, drawing a red puddle.

Zetto was shielding Geppeti's eyes, but not well enough, and I could feel her gaze through the gaps in his fingers.

It was not a pretty sight for a young girl.

"Geppeti, it's okay now, your sister's here."

Stepping in front of them, I bent down and locked eyes with Geppeti.

"...Thank you, big sister Kaen."

Geppeti, who was shivering slightly, finished.

I thought about stroking her hair, but the blood on my hands stopped me.

"Thank you, Miss Kaen. That could have been dangerous."

"What do you mean? I thought Cadet Zetto could handle a guy like that with his bare fists?"

I said, pushing myself to my feet and taking a step in Zetto's direction.

At the same time, my body tingles and I can feel it better now that he's in front of me.

This is it.

This is what I wanted.

Zetto's gaze.

I wanted to feel his gaze, even though he was blind... It was a funny thought.

But I could feel it.

His gaze and his feelings were coursing through my body. He was looking at me over and a shiver ran through my body.

"Haha, well, at least with my bare fists... I figured 'this' would take some getting used to."

A clanking metal sound as Zetto held up his prosthetic hand and laughed nonchalantly.

"Heh... Adjustment..."

Zetto's eyes narrowed at the smirk.

I quickly roll my eyes and assess his condition.

He's unarmed.

He's just been fitted with a prosthetic hand and is still getting used to it.

I'd never seen him use magic before, and he'd often said himself that he was no good at it.

'Maybe this is when he's at his weakest?'

The hand that gripped his sword, dripping with blood, tightened.

I tried not to let him see my trembling and rapid breathing.

If I could just subdue him with force now, I could reach across that line and touch him.

Alas, how sweet the fruit would be.

After rolling my eyes some more, I came to a 'conclusion' and opened my mouth.

"I'm sure Cadet Zetto would fit right in."

As I said this, my gaze fell on Geppeti, who was holding me back.

It was as if her presence had erected a solid wall between us, a line that I didn't want to cross.

'A line...'

Was I about to do something absurd?

Ever since I'd heard Lucia's bullshit, my head had been spinning.

But it was also true that it sounded mesmerizing.

It was irresistible.

My desire for him had grown to an undeniable size.

'Will I settle for this for now?'

It wasn't exactly nothing.

The tiniest tremor, just the slightest stirring of the fuzz.

Again, his eyes swept over me.

No, he was looking around.

Intervals between three and five seconds and very slight vibrations. It was Zetto's intangible gaze, his psychic sense.

Somehow, I could sense his aura.

In response, I leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"It's safe around here, I've cleared it."

He laughed a little.

I'd already taken care of the mysterious scum that had come after Zetto without fear.

He didn't need my help, but there was no reason for him to get his hands dirty.

"......"

At my whisper, Zetto cocked his head and gave a somewhat shaky response.

His embarrassment is cute.

He's so cute, I want to hug him.

Of course, the blood on my clothes kept me from hugging him.

"You'd better be careful in the future, because for some reason, there seems to be a lot of people out there looking for Cadet Zetto."

With that, I took a step back.

"...I think I know what you mean."

I smiled bitterly at his next response.

'No, Zetto doesn't.'

He wouldn't know what I meant.

It meant many things.

Whether he liked it or not, there were those who wanted him for other reasons, apart from the annoyances that came with his name being known on the continent.

And right now, I was one of them.

"If you'll excuse me, I have something I need to take care of..."

"...Can I help you?"

"No, Cadet Zetto...! I'll take care of this, then I'll see you tomorrow."

At my crisp greeting, Zetto nodded faintly and smiled.

I returned his smile with a chuckle, and then turned my back to the task at hand.

Even with my back turned, I can still feel his gaze, his presence.

My legs shook from the nonstop rush of pleasure I'd been holding in for a week.

As I walked away from Zetto and Geppeti, I glanced down at my left hand and on my ring finger, I could see the ring he'd put on it.

Zetto had done that.

It's not so bad if I can be happy by simply following my desires.

Zetto wanted me to be happy.

Or, more accurately, he wanted everyone around him to be happy.

As I dragged myself out of the room, still clutching the reeking flesh, I turned my head in the direction of Zetto's disappearance.

I wanted to ask him.

Am I really allowed to be happy?

Am I allowed to chase my desires?

"Is it okay, Zetto?"

I mumbled something that wouldn't reach him, just in case he didn't approve.

"Um...?"

A shred of paper on the floor caught my eye.

Without question, I dropped the chunk of flesh and picked up the paper, unfolding it.

"This is..."

The form was a typical assassination order from the underworld, listing the target and the bounty.

But it had a picture of Zetto on it.

The drawing was unmistakably Zetto.

"Pretty good...?"

I don't know who drew it, but it was pretty good.

Underneath the picture, the words "Life and Death" were written, along with Zetto's tinnitus, "The One Who Returned from Paradise."

Next to it was a list of his information.

Blind swordsman.

Cadet of the Innocence Academy.

Suspected to be from the East.

Moderately long black hair and a pure white blindfold covering his eyes.

The problem was the bounty.

"Fifty thousand gold..."

Someone was playing a nasty trick.

What kind of madman would put such a large sum of money on the head of an academy cadet?

'He's not an ordinary cadet...'

Still, it was an outrageous amount of money and a sum like this would make many want to target him.

Suddenly, the number of people who came today made sense.

The academy couldn't be that badly guarded when it was so close by.

'You mean he didn't even burn it?'

I looked down at the fleshy mass that had remained silent with a questioning gaze.

I thought assassination orders were supposed to be burned as soon as they were read but I didn't find any on the others.

I remembered hearing my grandfather say once that in the underworld, people who made a career out of killing were common, and that there were many people who didn't even have the basics.

In other words, those people who didn't even have the basics were rushing toward Zetto like moths.

'Cause...The lack of information about Zetto.'

If it was a well-known and enormous tycoon, they would have felt that it was impossible but for an unfamiliar academy cadet, and even a blind man, they felt like they could do it.

But Zetto is not as easy to defeat as they think, and they can't hurt him.

It's just that with this amount of money, even lesser assassins can be tangled up.

"Hmm..."

I quickly rolled my eyes.

What can I do with this commission, what do I want to do with it?

I could add it to my "collection" since it was missing a good drawing but it wasn't long before I had an idea.

"...That might work."

I couldn't help but hum.

It seemed like the best way to keep Zetto from getting hurt, and most importantly, it would make it easier to monopolize his attention.

***

Zetto and Geppeti were walking toward the Academy's dormitory when Kaen, with a wry smile and a promise to take care of the corpse, left them behind.

"Ugh..."

Zetto muttered to himself, suspicious of Kaen's drastic change in just a week.

"...Did you notice it too, Lord Zetto?"

"Uh, Kaen..."

"..."

"...seemed to have sensed it."

"What?"

Geppeti frowned at the unexpected answer.

"Frightening growth. How did she sense it, and can you sense it, Geppeti?"

"...If you mean the fine waves that were spreading around Lord Zetto every time... Yes, if I put my full attention on it... well, most humans wouldn't be able to detect it...but that's not the point right now, is it?"

Geppeti was trying to get back on track.

"Oh, right. I can see why Geppeti said that, but that Kaen just now...she was creepy."

"Yes, she was giving off emotions that even I couldn't read easily. It was very dark and slimy..."

"...Geppeti, that emotion."

Zetto interrupted Geppeti, who had a serious look on her face.

"Isn't it love?"

"...It's different from love, isn't it?"

Geppeti frowned and replied in a firm voice.

"Geppeti, do you know love?"

"So, suddenly...?"

Zetto's question caught her off guard, and she blushed.

The emotion of love was still difficult for her; she understood it as knowledge, but she didn't think it was enough to say that she knew it.

After scratching his cheek, Zetto spoke up cautiously.

"That Kaen was a little scary, but...at the same time, she was so adorable..."

"..."

Geppeti's mouth dropped open, and he looked at Zetto in awe.

"No, really. I think she's in love with me."

"Hah... I already know enough about that."

Geppeti sighed at Zetto's continued bullshit.

She glanced up to see Zetto talking about Kaen with an air of amusement.

There was something off about him, too much to dismiss as a matter of taste.

Geppeti thought that maybe they're not the only ones who are twisted.

***

That same day, sometime later, at dawn in the hallways of the girls' dormitory at Innocence Academy, a redheaded woman knocked on the door of a room.

The door opened with a soft thud behind it.

"You're here...Cadet Yuri."

The door opened and Yuri Clementine was greeted by Kaen, who had a serious look on her face.

"So what's going on, and what do you want to talk to me about Zetto?"

Yuri asked, walking straight into the room.

"It's just..."

Kaen trailed off, fidgeting, and as Yuri entered the room, she spotted the platinum-haired girl.

"Oh, Aizel is here."

"..."

Sitting at the table, studying a piece of paper, Aizel briefly made eye contact with Yuri before returning her attention to the paper.

"What is it?"

Sensing something was amiss with Aizel's expression and Kaen's demeanor, Yuri walked up behind her.

On the paper was a drawing of a black-haired man whose eyes were covered with bandages.

The character of the drawing was obviously Zetto.

"For hire... Life or death... Wait, what's all this?"

"I picked it up on a walk outside the academy..."

"It's an assassination order. Someone put 50,000 gold on Zetto's head."

Kaen scratched her head, her voice shaky, and Aizel summarized the situation.

"An assassination order...? Isn't this some kind of prank by one of the cadets?"

Yuri grimaced, as if offended.

"Technically, the only thing that looks like a prank is this bounty. We'll have to look into it further to determine its authenticity, but..."

"But if this is real..."

Kaen, whose head had been bowed, spoke cautiously, watching Yuri and Aizel's eyes.

"...You mean Cadet Zetto is in danger...?"

""......""

Those words sent a chill through the room.