Chapter 201: Pulling out a Nail

The sponsors of Kugamayama city regularly held a feast on the upper floor of the Kugama building. It was a gathering of the conglomerates of huge companies from the inner wall where they meet and form connections as well as gather information about each other. It was the perfect opportunity to expand one's business. Basically, the people who gathered there were not the kind of people who could be pulled down by the economy. Instead, they were people who had the power and authority over that said economy. The regulars of that feast could easily infer someone else's power from how often they participated in such a feast.

This time, Sheryl also joined the feast accompanied by Viola. It happened a few days after that incident between Inabe and Udajima.

Viola was donning a daring dress, although it exuded her familiarity with secrets, it also made her look suspicious at the same time.

In contrast to that, Sheryl was wearing a graceful dress with a small accessory that boosted her charm. Although she somehow got a hold of herself in that situation, she still looked nervous, as if she was a lady who was not used to such a social gathering.

For the people who did not know their relation, it was easy to imagine from that scene that it was an evil shady woman bringing along a clueless lady into that feast.

Sheryl then mumbled a short sentence that gave a hint as to why they were there that day.

"But still, to think that he would take such a troublesome approach."

Viola smiled at Sheryl like a veteran smiling at a greenhorn.

"The meaning behind this troublesome approach is usually much more important than you think. And that is doubly true when it is not something that they could just bring up in public. It's just like how people decide to bluff or make excuses, you know? It makes the subject vaguer from afar which prevents people from investigating the truth."

"Is that so?"

Sheryl had made a deal with Inabe to send some of his relics to be sold at her relic shop. But even for Inabe, it was impossible to just send the relics to an unknown shop that had no connection at all with the City Management in public. As such, Inabe invited Sheryl to that feast so that he could pretend to meet her by pure chance here. It was only then, could he make an excuse that he saw some talent in Sheryl, and decided to invest and entrust some expensive relics to her. Not only that, but Inabe was also evaluating other methods available for him to invest in Sheryl, adjusting his margin of profit using the same excuse.

"Sheryl, I have to go and meet some other people for a different matter, so I'll have to leave you for a bit. Make sure not to do anything suspicious, okay?"

"I'll go to you and let you handle the rest if something bad happens."

"That's a good decision."

Although Sheryl said so in a rather curt manner, Viola replied with her usual smile before she left Sheryl. Seeing that reaction from Viola, Sheryl understood just how familiar Viola was to this game of intrigue, unlike herself. Sheryl could not help but frown because of the gap between them.

Now that Sheryl was alone, she avoided making any unnecessary interaction with the others in order to survive that feast. Normally, people here would go around making connections. But in the case of Sheryl, if she blurted out something that she should not, people would be able to easily identify that she should not be in that place. So, in order to prevent that, she made preparations to give her a way to retreat with the least needed courtesy if someone struck up a conversation with her. And the first step for that was maintaining some distance from the other participants of the feast.

As Sheryl stood there at the corner of the hall watching the others in that feast, she thought that scene could not be any more different compared to slum city. She understood that at least her dress was suitable for this place and time, but she herself still lacked the confidence to be standing here. After all, people would always bring with them a piece of where they grew up from. But even so, she still kept her eyes on the others, observing them closely so that she could act more similar to their mannerisms.

Unfortunately, there was no lack of distraction coming into her vision. For the others here, the food served was nothing more than a complimentary snack during their conversation, but for Sheryl, she had to fight back the desire to get a taste of that food.

In order to build up resistance against those foods, Viola had brought Sheryl to a high-class restaurant in the Kugama building once before attending that feast. Although Sheryl was warned by Viola beforehand, she could not hold back her reaction when she experienced the taste that she could never find in the slum city.

There were mistakes that might happen because you did not know it and there were things that you could fight back simply because you knew it well beforehand. Sheryl was stuck in between those two situations. In order to be able to blend in well among the people here, she had to act as if those foods did not interest her at all. In order to help her do that, she had filled her stomach with cheap stuff before coming there. After filling her stomach to the point where she felt like puking, she found the strength to fight back the temptation of the delicious food in that feast.

But even so, every time her eyes caught onto the food in that hall, she felt as if her stomach cloned another empty version of itself, making space for more. Although she was able to hold herself back, her smile stiffened because of that.

"Sheryl...?"

Sheryl turned to the source of that voice and saw Katsuya looking at her, rather surprised.

"Long time no see, Katsuya."

Sheryl decided to have a small talk with Katsuya to combat the temptation from the food as she smiled at him.

"What a coincidence to meet you here... Or I guess it shouldn't be that surprising, huh. I bet it's normal for a Hunter as good as Katsuya to attend this kind of event. So... Do you frequent this feast?"

Katsuya was attending the feast in a stylish suit instead of his usual augmented suit. But it was obvious from his mannerism that he was not used to it yet. Moreover, he was a bit flustered since he did not expect to actually meet Sheryl here although he did wish for it unconsciously.

"Uh, well, this is actually my first. Though I did attend something similar a few times before..."

"Is that so? This is actually my first time too. I received an invitation from an acquaintance and so, I'm here for some business."

Sheryl then picked up two glasses from a nearby butler and offered one to Katsuya, who followed the flow and picked up the glass.

"Well then, to commemorate this meeting and this feast, cheers!"

Sheryl smiled and looked straight into Katsuya's eyes. She then clinked her glass with his, making a small ringing sound.

Katsuya blushed a bit and was charmed by Sheryl as she gracefully took a sip from her glass. He then flusteredly brought his own glass to his mouth as if he just snapped from being hypnotized.

On the other side of the feast, Viola walked with a smile towards an officer from Drankam, Mizuha. In contrast to Viola, Mizuha slightly curled her lips seeing Viola there.

"Viola, how the heck did you get in here?"

"Not with any illegal means, I was officially invited, you know?"

"There's no way a mere information broker would be invited to this event. Just how many things do you think I needed to go through to be able to come to this place? I have no clue whether you blackmailed the guards or bribed them, either way, it would be troublesome if others see me talking with someone like you. So like, can you just leave me alone?"

Seeing that Mizuha did not believe her at all, Viola smiled and pulled out her invitation from her chest. Mizuha still could not trust Viola as she checked that invitation. When she read through it, she could not hide her surprise. Not only was the invitation a formal one, but it also came from Inabe, an important person in the City Management of Kuzusuhara ruin.

"Viola... Just how did you...?"

"You know me all too well that I never lie, right?"

Compared to Viola, who received her invitation from Inabe, Mizuha's position was lower since hers was only received using her connection in Drankam.

"Now that you understand I'm here because of a formal invitation, let's use this wonderful chance to deepen our relationship. This way, both of us will have more connections that we can use. Moreover, I have something that I want to ask you."

"...Keep it short."

Mizuha was baited by the possibility of getting Inabe's contact from Viola and decided to listen to what Viola had to say, though she did not like it at all.

Viola smiled triumphantly that she got the reaction that she had expected. After making some idle talks first as if to delay the main subject, Viola finally got into the main subject without changing her tone.

"By the way, did you hear anything about the result from that investigation? I'm talking about who told Katsuya where that pickpocket was back during that incident in slum city."

"I have nothing at all, the report that I gave you before was really all that I know."

From the deal that they had made between them, Mizuha sent a Drankam investigation regarding that matter to Viola in the past.

According to that report, it had been confirmed that Nergo was the one who told Katsuya about Alna's whereabouts. Katsuya said so and Nergo also admitted to it.

It seemed that Nergo witnessed Alna getting captured near the slum city. At first, he thought that she was just one of those common pickpockets in the slum, but then, he remembered and thought that pickpocket might be one that Katsuya was talking about lately. So he decided to give Katsuya a call. After Nergo said so to the investigators, he then said while looking regretfully that he would not have done that had he known it would turn into something like this.

After the investigation, the investigators gave the report to Drankam. Then Drankam officers used that report as a basis to prove their non-involvement in that incident. Of course, as an officer in Drankam, Mizuha also received a copy of that report.

Viola smiled deeply and warned Mizuha.

"Is that already really everything? Do you really not have anything else?"

Mizuha looked confusedly at Viola, but her suspicion was greatly affected by her prior knowledge of how evil Viola was.

"Let me tell you this upfront. I won't accept any complaint even if you say that level of information was not worth its fee. After all, I have no plans to be one of your puppets and I know how you do things by only giving out one-sided information. You're sadly mistaken if you think I won't raise this as an issue here just because you brought this matter up in a place like this. Likewise, do not think I will take the bait just because you have a connection to the upper echelon for the City Management."

Viola exaggerated her surprise as she replied.

"That's a misunderstanding. It's just that it doesn't sit really well with me saying that it's nothing but a pure coincidence, so I think it might be a good idea to do further investigation on this matter. And in the case that you do, I might be able to lend you some help. It's basically just a piece of advice for one of my customers."

"It was a pure coincidence and Drankam has nothing to do with that battle at all. That's the formal statement from Drankam. If you don't want to pick a fight with Drankam, you should refrain from doing anything. Even if it was not a coincidence, we can see it simply as Nergo paying back his favour since Katsuya saved him in the past. I bet if you get involved in it, you could use it as a chance to get in between them. So, I don't need anything from you even if you're offering it for free. Just how many crimes have you committed in the past saying that they were nothing but coincidences?"

Mizuha sent a sharp glance at Viola, but Viola returned back with a casual smile.

"That's a huge misunderstanding. As an information broker, I only offer the correct information for the sum of money paid. Although, I admit that the accuracy and the amount of information might change depending on how much a person would pay me. But it would be unreasonable to hold me responsible for the way they interpret the information that I gave them, no?

"Humph, you can say all you want, either way, I don't need anything from you."

"Is that so? That's just too bad. Well, I have no plans to keep pushing this to you if you don't want it. So I'll withdraw for now."

Half of what Mizuha expected was right on the target. Viola was there to offer her information on Nergo. But she did not expect that half of its content was advice and a suggestion, or in other words, a warning.

Viola showed her skill when she investigated Nergo's background. It did not take much time for her to confirm Nergo's track record that Drankam had already known too. But of course, Viola did not stop there, she went further to find something in the past that was detrimental to him.

Because of that, she lost some of her contacts. Those who she still could contact were either uninterested in that matter or that they had nothing interesting to say about Nergo. Viola felt that it was dangerous to pursue this matter any further and cut the investigation short.

[And here I am just thinking of giving a friendly warning since it would be too bad to lose a contact within Drankam... Well, it doesn't really matter. It's all good as long as nothing bad happens. I'll just leave her be since she has no other choice but to buy information from me in case anything bad happens.]

Viola smiled deeply. Mizuha found it suspicious and was wondering what exactly was the information that Viola was offering her. But she thought that it must be one of Viola's tricks and decided not to ask any further.

One thing for sure, Viola never lied. But if she knew what information Viola was offering, she might as well be ready to get manipulated by Viola. But, if she did not know, she might be destroyed. Viola had control over how much information she would share. Another seed to feed the rumour had been sown, it was a matter of luck whether it would sprout or not.

Back to Sheryl and Katsuya, Sheryl was having a relaxing chat with Katsuya. Since she could not afford to talk about her humble background, she basically was only listening to Katsuya's stories.

Lately, Katsuya had been working on Kuzusuhara ruin's forward base supply route construction request. Most of the time, he fought strong monsters deep inside the ruin or helped harvest the relics around the supply route. Although it was nothing more but an idle talk about Katsuya's experience, it gave an overview of the situation in the inner part of Kuzusuhara ruin and how much effort the City Management had put into it. Normally, Sheryl would have to pay for this kind of information. The reason why Katsuya was in that feast was simply because a particular company that had gained a lot of profits from the relics that he had gathered, wanted to hear the story from Katsuya himself.

Sheryl was listening closely to Katsuya's story. She further encouraged Katsuya to continue by showing interest in his story with her expression. But she then noticed there was something bothering Katsuya, so she worriedly asked him.

"Katsuya, is there something wrong?"

Katsuya was surprised, he then apologetically said.

"Uhh, what do you mean?"

"I'm sorry if I asked something that I should not have. But please don't push yourself too hard."

"...Uhh, it's not like that, although it's true that the monsters are really strong, and that everyone worked together very well. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty proud of our achievements..."

"I can understand that from your story. I do think that you did well too. But I feel like it's something that you, yourself, don't want to admit. The face that you have right now is just like the face you had the last time I saw you. Back then, you regretted the fact that you could not save your friends, and you're making the same face right now. Or more like, it seems that you're forcing yourself to smile, which makes it even more obvious... Katsuya, are you really alright?"

Sheryl looked at Katsuya worriedly. Katsuya closed his mouth shut as if he was hiding something. The mood slowly turned dark and sad, eventually, he made a wry smile. But there was some happiness that sprouted from Sheryl being able to notice it.

"...I guess I can't hide anything from you, huh. To be honest, it's not like I'm intentionally hiding it... It's just that, well, I might be actually unconsciously trying to hide it. I'm not sure myself."

"It seems that I've asked something that saddened you, I apologize."

Sheryl said so as she gracefully bowed, seeing that, Katsuya flusteredly shook his head and explained.

"It's my fault for bringing it up myself. There's no need for you to apologize... Well, now that it has come to this, is it okay if I continue?"

"I'll be more than happy to listen."

Katsuya paused for a bit as if he was hesitating, seeing Sheryl smile as she said that, his expression turned serious.

"...I ...Failed again. Although I had promised, I could not keep my word."

"I see... I understand more or less what had happened. It might be rather rude for me to say this, but working as a Hunter is a dangerous job. I believe that those who had lost their lives must have made their resolve beforehand. I know that it's not easy, but there's no need for you to take all the responsibility."

Katsuya shook his head, there was visible sadness on his face.

"She wasn't a Hunter, so I don't think she expected it at all, and there's no need for her to have that resolve in the first place. Although I can't tell you the details since I'm bound by confidentiality, she's not a Hunter who was prepared to be killed... That's why I promised I would protect her."

Katsuya smiley wryly.

"I... I've always promised a lot of things to the people around me, like it's going to be alright, or that I'll protect them. Although I did that simply because I'm the leader of the team, I really meant it when I said so... But, I wasn't able to keep my words, I couldn't keep my promises. So, I started to think that the next time I make a promise, it would just be another lie... And now, I'm not even sure what I should do about that..."

Although Sheryl seemed to be listening intently from the outside, she was actually using cold logic in the back of her mind.

She was thinking of the right response that she should give, although, at the same time, she also laughed at herself. She thought of how cruel she was since she genuinely saw Katsuya as a spoiled brat who was usually given whatever he wanted and this was just one case that was not the same.

"Katsuya, I'll ask you some questions, it is fine if you don't want to answer them. It's fine as long as you yourself understand the answers to my questions."

Katsuya frowned and tilted his head. Sheryl then confirmed that his gaze was focused on her before she asked with a serious tone.

"Did you take it easy when you tried to keep that promise?"

Katsuya was about to shout back in anger. But seeing how Sheryl was staring straight at him, he instead flinched back.

"If you did, you should use that experience and promise you won't do that again. There's no need to be needlessly moping around like this. If you're going to mop around, it's better if you put more effort next time. But if you did not..."

Katsuya waited with bated breath for Sheryl to continue, so she continued with a gentle voice.

"Then there's nothing more you can do about it."

Katsuya, who was expecting to be scolded, tensed up.

"There are things in this world that we can't change no matter what we do even if we push ourselves to death or did all the preparations that could have been done. Even if you picked the best choice, or even if you put your life on the line, there are just things that you have to give up on in life."

Katsuya could not say anything back as Sheryl continued.

"I'm sure there are times when you thought that things might have gone differently if you had done this and that. But you only know that after it's done, so it's not like you can go back and redo it again differently. In the first place, the decision that you think to be the wrong one, might actually be the better one, the end result might have been worse if you had picked the other option that you now think is the right one."

Those words stabbed Katsuya right in the heart.

"Moreover, even if that decision was really the wrong one, you chose that option based on your ability at that time. It doesn't mean that you did not give your best shot."

The words that Katsuya might have been seeking all alone seeped deep into his now defenceless heart.

"I'm sure that even if it ended badly, the person that you were protecting knew that you did your best trying to keep your promise. If you're blaming yourself thinking that it was all your fault that you couldn't keep your promise, I'm sure she would be saddened. So you should stop for her sake."

For the finishing touch, Sheryl brought up that it was for someone else's sake too.

Katsuya then mumbled, he felt as if he should have noticed it all this time since it was right in front of his eyes.

"...I see, it seems that I'm using her as a reason to bring myself down again, huh."

Katsuya remembered what Alna said during her last moments. He could not do that up until now since he was busy fighting back against the sadness and the desperation that had been terrorizing him. But now that he had the leeway to look back, he remembered vividly that Alna was smiling right until the end. There was no trace of blame that might haunt him for the rest of his life at all.

Katsuya raised both of his hands up and slapped them hard on his cheeks. He did that with such vigour that it caused a loud painful sound. Once the sound faded and the pain was gone, he returned back to his usual confident smile.

"Sheryl, thank you. It did help me a lot. I'm sorry to have made you worry, but I'm alright now."

Sheryl, who saw that, thought that it was a bit strange.

"Is there something wrong?"

"...Ah, it's nothing, it seems that you're really okay now."

"Yep, and it's thanks to you."

"I just simply said my thoughts. But, your welcome."

Sheryl smiled teasingly. Now that Katsuya had regained his calm, her smile looked extremely charming to him.

That was when Inabe approached them. When he noticed that the person Sheryl was talking with was Katsuya, he then mockingly said.

"Katsuya from Drankam, huh? Hitting on a girl even at a place like this. I see. You're indeed as fast as the rumour says. But, aren't you mistaking the reason for this feast?"

Katsuya annoyedly replied.

"I'm just talking to a friend, I don't know who you are, but don't give Sheryl the wrong idea."

"I see, in that case, I'm sorry but I'll have you leave her now, I have something that I want to discuss with her."

"Can't you see that I'm talking with her right now? You can talk with her later."

Katsuya thought that Inabe was arrogant to say that, that was why he replied with a raised voice. But instead, Inabe scolded Katsuya for his ignorance.

"It's true that this feast is held for people to make connections, but it's for productive talks such as important negotiations and deals. I have business matters to discuss with her and it's not something that a mere Hunter like you can listen to. Moreover, if you insist on staying and cause her to lose a few billion Aurum worth in our deal, are you going to take responsibility for it?"

Of course, even Katsuya could not provide that much money. Although he significantly toned down his attitude, it was obvious that he was still not happy with it.

Seeing that, Sheryl lightly bowed to Katsuya and apologetically said to him.

"Katsuya, I'm sorry, but can we continue this some other time?"

Now that Sheryl even asked him politely, he had no other choice but to pull back. So he then said regretfully.

"Of course, see you again then, Sheryl."

"Thank you, and let's meet again some other time."

Katsuya cheered up from that promise to meet again. He then sent a glance at Inabe before leaving.

Inabe looked at Katsuya as if he was looking at a poorly mannered child before turning to Sheryl.

"Before going on to the main subject, is it okay if I ask you what is your relation with him?"

"Just an acquaintance that I've met a few times in the past."

Inabe was a bit surprised by that rather cold reply from Sheryl.

"...It doesn't seem like he would agree with that though?"

"I'm not that nice to the point that I would straighten up a misunderstanding when I have no reason to do so."

Hearing Sheryl say it casually, Inabe could not hold back his chuckle.

There were rumours saying that Yanagisawa had his eyes on Katsuya. So for those people who wanted to build a connection with Yanagisawa, Katsuya was an important person. Not only had Sheryl formed a connection, but it also seemed that she even had Katsuya in the palm of her hand. It greatly raised Inabe's evaluation of Sheryl.

"I see. No wonder you are working together with that woman."

Sheryl sent an honest displeased glance at Inabe.

"...Can you stop saying something like that?"

Judging from her reaction, Inabe then thought.

[It seems that although they're working together, they're not exactly on the same team. Getting close to Viola carries too much risk, so I guess I better approach Sheryl instead, huh.]

Viola was very skilled, but she could not be trusted. So instead, it might be safer to do that via Sheryl. That was what Inabe thought of Sheryl right now.

"Now then, before we get to the main subject, how about we move somewhere else first? In order to deceive the people here into thinking that we know each other, we need to be deliberate about it; be it a secret talk to bait their attention or a common discussion to show off, either would work just fine."

"Very well, I'll leave that decision to you. And also, is it okay to put my hopes up for that few billion Aurum deal that you mentioned?"

"It depends on your effort and skill."

"In that case, I shall give my best effort."

In response to that light challenge from Inabe, Sheryl gave a confident and charming smile.

After they changed places, they then had a rather lighthearted talk. During their conversation, Sheryl was able to extract some information about Katsuya too as she remembered that she felt something was weird before Katsuya left them.

The fact that Katsuya could not keep his promise left a deep wound in his heart as if it was a ball and chain which chained him down. But after that exchange with Sheryl, it was as if he was finally released from that chain. But of course, Sheryl did not notice it.

—*—*—*—

Yanagisawa was reading the documents in the holographic display in front of him.

"It was not the right person, huh."

The documents that he was reading mainly focused on the investigation reports regarding Katsuya. It included Katsuya's track record in the battles deep inside the inner part of the ruin as well as the evaluation of his actions during the social gathering event inside Drankam. Some of the reports also contained information from interviews of the people around him. But even among all of these reports, Yanagisawa could not find what he was looking for.

"Of course there's a possibility that Nergo gave me wrong information or that they noticed me... But I don't think that is the case this time. I really don't know what's wrong here."

Since he heard from Nergo that Katsuya might be someone who could connect to the old-world domain, Yanagisawa used all kinds of methods to keep Katsuya under his command in order to ascertain that. It was an easy thing for Yanagisawa to make the City Management hire Drankam and to get them dispatched for expanding the supply route in Kuzusuhara ruin.

But the reports that he received from his men did not support that claim. The reports could not confirm that Katsuya was able to connect to the old-world domain, they did not even hint at that possibility, they were relatively normal reports for a young talented Hunter.

Yanagisawa started to get suspicious whether Nergo gave him the wrong information or the ruin managers did something to hide their existence from Katsuya's track record.

Among the reports that he was reading, some of them mentioned Katsuya attending social gatherings. That was when Yanagisawa remembered that the feast in the Kugama building should be underway right now. So he then decided to check it out.

As he operated the terminal in front of him, a display showed a video from the ongoing feast. Then, in one of the videos from the security cameras in that feast, Yanagisawa finally found Katsuya.

After keeping his eyes on that video for some time, Yanagisawa suddenly noticed something.

"...Hm? This is... Wait..."

Yanagisawa opened up other records from the feast Katsuya was attending. He then compared all of those images and smiled.

There was an obvious difference between the current image and the past image. It was the way people around him looked at him. It was what Nergo said as one of the unique features of someone who could connect to the old-world when Yanagisawa asked him for proof that Katsuya was indeed able to connect to the old-world domain.

"This is... Did they finally show themselves? They might have noticed that I'm looking for them and told Katsuya to be careful, but now are they thinking that it was nothing but their needless worry and there was no need to do that anymore? Either that or Katsuya suddenly decided not to follow their orders? Well, it doesn't really matter. I bet he's the one."

Yanagisawa inferred the existence of a certain entity behind Katsuya from the difference of these images. Of course, he did not know that it was because Akira had left a trauma on him and Sheryl helped to heal that trauma.