Tem wandered off by herself once more. Others walked the streets and asked people whether they had seen anything. Nobody was aware of or paid attention to Tem's presence. People were illiterate, and some of them angrily refused to respond to Ayuka or others.
"Our plans will be in ruins if we don't find her soon. How could we lose her this fast?"
They swung around and peeked into every crevice of the main alley. They looked through some homes, eateries, and stores.
Ralphie saw a woman walking by, who held the invitation letter; he was smoking in the street. Averting any suspicion he might raise.
While flapping the letter, the woman didn't seem suspicious of him and continued talking to her walking partner. He observed a symbol. The same symbol Yumiko wore on her shoulder. He moved cautiously aside and pretended not to hear. However, as his eyes snuck up the woman's body, they fixed on her chest like a pinpoint.
He had a blank expression on his face, with some blood trickling down his nose. He took a leisurely step back while averting his eyes from the significance. His ankles banged with someone's feet roughly. He fell to the ground on his back and hit his head against it.
He looked up, noticed a recognizable face tiresomely peering down at him.
"Just what exactly are you doing here, Ralphie? Don't tell me you've been peeking at girls, like some sort of a creep. Certainly, that's correct, but I wish to not know."
Codey was holding a package. It had a simple design, and tapes held it together. After taking a step back, he let Ralphie to rise. He puzzled about it while also showing a slight interest in the package. He was shocked to see that the symbol for many other objects was the same as the earlier ones.
"You look like a delivery man..."
"Wait. Weren't you supposed to go look for Tim? That was your duty since yesterday."
Codey dropped the box on the closest ledge, and he followed him there. He entered it after starting to open it away from onlookers. It was filled with some paper, metal, and carton. He poked through in it and eventually took out a dust-covered book.
It had a golden sun etched into the cover and was brown from the outside. He opened it, quickly turned the pages, and searched for what seemed to be information.
A number of names were recorded in a column on the page where he had stopped. Not a single guy among them; the majority were female. Each name was found in group information, including age, address, and body measurements. Codey's eyes simply closed.
"I've been searching for some information, so I bought this dumb box, and guess what... The only interesting thing inside this box is a pile of plain paper."
"The book is useless. How is that even allowed?! All the names are feminine, not a single male! That's so unfair!"
"Whoever wrote this dumb collection of names, it's a sexist. He's probably some weird pervert like yourself. It would be perfect for the dumb ones like you and Elliott."
With a twist of his hands, he closed the book and threw it into the box. It flopped between the silver metal and paper sheaths. Ralphie became ovlivious. He moved ahead and pulled the same book out. He carefully read it, thumbed through it, and then asked Codey what page it was.
He understood that the names actually belonged to previous women who had been granted entrance to the castle—an affair connected to the maiden selection. The name "Yumiko Umezaki" sparked the most curiosity. There was a handwritten tick mark next to her name.
"Who would've thought. Yumiko was one of the maidens selected, several years ago. She made it sound like this ceremony is awful, possibly fatal."
"But she seems to have been given a promotion of some kind. Becoming the member scout of the "Sun Soldiers" cooperation took over her life."
"Maybe she was a special subject to be tested on. Maybe that's why she's been so fearful of the "Sun Soldiers." But based on what she claimed; that the soldiers before weren't as terrible as now.... maybe this could tell more about the maiden selection."
With his head cocked to the side, Codey took the box. He struggled to comprehend Ralphie's speech as he grew more baffled. He ignored him for a little period of time while remaining still, like solid ice.
He became bored. He observed Ralphie reading the names and moving back and forth. He confirmed that several additional names had a tick next to them and read the names aloud.
It kept going for a while without even pausing momentarily. Codey could hardly focus on the sounds around him as his eyes slowly began to fall into blackness. Ralphie's continual foot thudding could be heard above the sounds of voices echoing around the area.
Ralphie muttered. Codey began to sway left and right as he began to lose his balance. His hold on the box began to loosen. The package slipped through his fingers gradually until it finally dropped on the ground.
His chin hung over the edge of the box as his torso was benched forward over the box's frame. He snored throughout the space with his eyes closed, his arms relaxed, and his breathing steady, barely pausing to wait for Ralphie to finish.
"Of course... I should've realized it sooner! The names, next to which the tick is, are people who are still someplace in the city. Those names that are crossed with red line are probably those who disappeared and those who perished."
"Perfect! If we follow the address, next to the women that have a tick, we should be able to question her about the maiden selection."
"Good thing you found this box. This will come in handy. The best part about this list is, that the women's addresses lead somewhere inside Harventona vicinity."
Ralphie stopped. He saw Codey's still-dazed body as it slept. Not a single word that came out of his lips, which was shielded from random noises, was understandable.
He tapped Codey on the forehead before shaking his weight raptly. He yelled in shock as it jolted him awake and brought him to his feet. His voice was a denial of reality as he insisted that he wasn't dozing off. Ralphie then let out a sigh after the two exchanged views.
The girls had completed their informational search. Sadly, they came back with no knowledge at all. They were almost more illiterate than before.
They moved closer to the boys only to run into Codey, who hadn't been with them earlier. To further perplex him, they turned to face them. Even though he attempted to inquire for her name, he was only able to piece it together from what Ralphie was murmuring.
"Looks like you're out in the wild, huh, Codey?" Claimed, Ayuka.
"I was... trying to search for some additional information, and crossed paths with Ralphie. Please, tell me two things. First; who's she supposed to be? And second; why is this guy repeatedly saying words? Something about maiden selection stuff."
"This is Yumiko. We met her randomly in the city. She's been trying to prevent this island's dumb science that Muro's been testing on."
"People are in danger, and we agreed to help her. Where are the others? They were with you before I left to speak to these two fools."
Codey felt uneasy. After giving his neck a scratch, he let go of his arms. He crossed them in front of his chest after tilting them forward. Even though he had no idea who Yumiko was, he introduced himself. He didn't talk about the others till after that.
"Karisa and the others are still at the house. They decided to stay there, while I went looking for the box. You know, apparently, there's been some kind of a problem, back there. Some people came rushing by, all scared and anxious."
"I'm not sure, but I think there was some kind of an argument between two women. One being a saleswoman, who forced the other girl into signing some contract."
"Or at least that's what I heard from random people."
Slowly, Ayuka's gaze became strained. Her forehead began to become purple, almost making her look ill. Her arms dangled in front of her thighs, and her mouth twitched slightly. Her bangs prickled.
She rapidly caught up and understood the context of the discussion. Others dozed off, before Ayuka grew as still as a tree. She did not budge even a bit. She shuddered before slipping forward steadily. She collided with the ground with her front body.
Everything became silent. The street was splendidly blown by the breeze as crickets lightly chattered. Even the general public had her in their sights. Many were perplexed.
"It's not curable... This became a tradition, didn't it? Why does this have to happen to me? I'm just a girl...."
To be continued...