"When did you get ownership of the Spirit Jungle? Sorry for trespassing, I wasn't aware..." Kazunari sincerely apologized.
"It's only been a day or two, you don't have to apologize. Anyways, what is this about the Dreamcatcher? And how could you cross over to my world?" Yuuta didn't want to waste any time. Even though Yua was right beside him, he didn't care. He just swooped in for the kill, fully knowing that Yua would just get dragged into the entire ordeal.
"All in due time, Yuuta. But first, we have to get to the thickest parts of the Spirit Jungle. Eyes and ears are everywhere, and the last thing I'd want to be accused of is being in cohorts with the enemy." Kazunari relayed with a slight nervousness in his voice. After all, he's the 'main man' of the King's Elite Intelligent Service. A taint on his name would result in a public execution or worse.
Yuuta could tell that the gravity of the situation was worse than he thought. Not only did the King's Elite Intelligent Service come in contact with him, he's also on the verge of finding out the truth behind the 'world jumps'. And if it were true, then that means Ki-ru Shoumetsu, the person who admittedly killed his homeroom teacher, is actually speaking the truth.
The purplish streaks in the night sky finally turned a heavy grey color, enshrouding the whole forest with its light-toned darkness. The colors of the trees were influenced as well, turning from an eerie purple color into some sort of ashen tint. As the trio walked, the thickness of the forest aggravated, and pretty soon, they couldn't even take a peek through the gaps of rustling leaves.
"Here is good enough." Kazunari patted a portion of the grass before sitting down. No one knows why he did that but it was simply a habit of his before sitting down. "So, you want to know about the Dreamcatchers right?"
Yuuta sat down opposite him while Yua found a spot right beside Yuuta. The two of them faced Kazunari as if they were receiving a blessing of marriage. It didn't appear like a conversation at all, which made Kazunari suppress his laughter.
"No, before that, I want to know why you're going to our world. Why the murders? And why choose to tell me about it? I'm just a mere Dreamer, for the lack of a better term, an alien. And adding to that, I'm also one of the most low-leveled adventurers in this city. Why me?" Yuuta was decisive enough to not let Kazunari get the better of him. He knows that every question would boil down to the topic about the Dreamcatchers, that's why he wanted to know what led Kazunari to trust him albeit being an 'otherworlder' himself.
After a pause, Kazunari plastered a wide grin on his face before exhaling. "Well, frankly I didn't want to tell you this since it would just embarrass the entire Elite Intelligence Service... BUT! I was there when it happened. I was there when you brought down the notorious criminal named Ki-ru Shoumetsu. You might not have sensed me since I was a few hundred meters away but I saw everything unfold."
"Wait, you were the one who caught Ki-ru Shoumetsu?!" Yua hissed, trying too hard not to raise her voice as she held a firm grip on Yuuta's arm. "What were you thinking! That was super dangerous! You're still level 20 or something how did you defeat him?!"
"I'll tell you later," Yuuta patted Yua on the head before turning to Kazunari again, "So, what made you come to me for help, even going as far as to cross worlds just to get my attention?"
"That's because— you're our only hope. Even though we're the King's Elite Intelligent Service, all that we can do is give our weekly or monthly report to the king. The least we could also do is monitor criminals and report their deeds to the king. We have no way of capturing them... but you, you're different! As much as I hate to admit it, we need the help of an otherworlder such as yourself. We might not like the Dreamers coming to this world as a whole, but we're rational enough to rely on you since you can't die here, just as we can't die in your world."
There was a pause as Yuuta internalized just what Kazunari told him. And then his eyes widened in shock and his mouth hung open. "Wait... can you say that again?"
"As much as we hate to admit it, we need the help of an other— "
"No, the last sentence you told me, can you say that again." Yuuta was slightly panicking.
"We're rational enough to rely on you since you can't die here, just as we can't die in your world?"
"YEAH, THAT!" Before he realized it, Yuuta raised his voice as he pointed a finger towards Kazunari. "That means you can't die in our world when you cross over, right? How exactly do you cross over to our world?"
"Via dimensional portals that Evil Spirits open up. It's slightly different from you, however. From what we could gather, your world managed to tap into a portal that was opened up by one of the most powerful Evil Spirits to ever exist. After tapping into that, they let your minds access it via dreams. I don't know any details yet but I'm close to finding out the truth."
"Wait, this is all too much for me to process... so you mean to tell me, that we were accessing a dimensional portal all along? We're not in our lucid dreams?"
"No, that's the tricky part. You're using a portal but instead of letting you pass through it, they only let your consciousness pass through, specifically your mind. In a sense, you're in a lucid dream but technically, it's just your mind passing through a dimensional portal which grants you consciousness over here. I don't know where you get a second body though, or maybe it's your consciousness taking a human form. Whatever it is, it's all connected to the Evil Spirits... one way or another."
Upon hearing the vague explanation from Kazunari, Yuuta decided to shut up for now. The more questions he asked, the more questions would surface and would be left unanswered. It's an incredibly puzzling game that's certain to loop around and not get them anywhere. After much thinking, Yuuta finally found a question that wouldn't muddle the rest of what Kazunari explained.
"And, what exactly do you want from me? To take care of all the criminals in this world?"
"No... we won't be asking something dangerous as that. As I said, I want to negotiate and ultimately ask for your help." Kazunari clasped his hands together as he leaned in closer towards Yuuta, his face filled with seriousness and urgency. "We would like to recruit you as part of the King's Elite Intelligent Service under me. With your reputation, I do think that the King would allow it."
"Me? Be a part of an Intelligent Service? What do I do? Become a secret agent in the world of Lucid? That's new... throughout my years of playing an MMORPG, I've never seen such a quest like this one." Yuuta joked. "And what's in it for me? What are the benefits?"
"You won't get to do much aside from accompanying me in missions. And as for the privileges, well you get a different privilege as a Dreamer. I guess I should tell you this but the King knows your identity. That's why your privileges are different from the rest of the members of the Intelligent Service."
"Wait... um, Kazunari-san, what do you mean by the King? You mean King Linhradth? The king that rules over this country of Aznith?" Yua interrupted, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Yes, the one and only. Oh, and just in case you didn't know, Yuuta, the city of Revalia is part of the country of Aznith, so it's under the jurisdiction of the King."
"So, the literal King of this country is asking me to be a part of his intelligence service? Well, I don't mind but I won't be signing any papers. I'm not going to completely surrender myself to the King, not if I can help it."
"That's fine, however, the King would like to have an audience with you. He specifically told me to bring you over. And before I forget, these are the privileges you'll receive— 1000 Garnets per month, a weapon of your own choosing, an armor of your own choosing, a shield of your own choosing, and a wife! Also, you get to be knighted, making you royalty. And if that's not enough, the King would even give you a city to rule over."
"And what does he want from me aside from everything that you said? Truth be told, that's a lot of rewards for someone like me. You're basically telling me to get rich without doing anything."
"Well... the truth is... he needs the power of a Dreamer like you, but with the rumors going around lately, he couldn't trust just any dreamer. That's when he heard about your feats, and he immediately told me that you're the man for the job. Simply put, he wants you to assist me in tracking down any criminals that could cross over to your world and bring them to justice. In turn, that would decrease the number of mysterious deaths in your world. We will also give you all the resources you need so you can level up at ease and become an overwhelming figure in this country. How about that, sounds like a good deal right? Honestly, I'm a little bit jealous, but I feel honored to work alongside you, should you accept the King's offer. How about it, are you up to the task?"
"Not yet, now that I more or less understand what you want from me, let's move on to the next subject... what exactly is the Dreamcatcher? Is it an organization? And if they were, what do they get from murdering people over to our world? I mean, I'm not sure if they're behind all of the murders... but I can tell that most of them are the works of the Dreamcatcher."
"Dreamcatcher?" Yua cluelessly asked.
"Well... oh, did I already tell you that the Dreamcatcher is not from our world?" Kazunari asked, but he didn't wait for Yuuta's response. "The truth is... we have no idea what the Dreamcatcher is all about. All we know is that they handle the criminals that cross over to your world and gives them orders to kill. As to what their purpose is, we don't know."
"What do you mean they handle criminals that cross over to our world? Do you mean the Dreamcatcher is composed of people in our world? And they're helping criminals settle in on our world?"
"Yes, it's like those people who help other people illegally cross over country borders. I assume you have those in your world, right? In this case, the criminals are the illegal immigrants and they aren't crossing over country borders, they're crossing over worlds— "
"And the Dreamcatcher, whoever or whatever it is, is helping them, huh." Yuuta closed his eyes as he focused on Kazunari's breathing. He was calm, and a little bit shook, but he wasn't lying. Everything that he told Yuuta was the truth.
"Where's the King? I need to talk to him. And also, would it be all right to bring Yua with me? Aside from being a part of this already, she's also my one and only partner and party member. There's no way I'll undertake this task without her fully knowing the specifics."
"I guess this is a done deal, then." Kazunari extended his hands and Yuuta reciprocated it. "Meet me by the entrance gate to the city of Revalia tomorrow morning. I'll be waiting."
"Sure, see you there," Yuuta casually bade farewell, grabbing Yua by the hand as the three of them exited the Spirit Jungle. Kazunari headed the opposite way, however, trying to be as secretive as possible.
But before Kazunari left Yuuta's sight, he activated his All-Seeing Eye Skill once again. "Let's see if this will work." He said to himself.