"How long did we need to wait for him?"
Visilon groaned in exasperation; it was better for them to go back to their base rather than wait for Grole here. It's such a waste of time. Uda smiled and replied in a smooth voice.
"Just a little longer."
Visilon crossed his arms against his chest and leaned his back against the wall. Their task would be done after Grole came back here, but that barbarian took too long to just kill a kid.
'Is he failing? But Uda didn't say a thing.'
Visilon glanced at Uda, who was talking with a bee. He furrowed his eyebrows. Every time he saw Uda talking with those bugs, he still couldn't get used to it. Weird because his masked friend looked happy every time he talked with those insects or bugs he controlled.
"When will you explode the house?"
Uda looked at Visilon again.
"Ah, the emperor has not arrived yet, but there is someone else there. Just ten minutes more."
Visilon raised his eyebrow.
"Who?"
His question was ignored by Uda. Visilon was irked at this; can't he just get a cooperative friend for once? Grole is obviously not someone who listened to any of his words; Uda who was someone irritating with his blatant secrecy.
Visilon distracted his attention from Uda to look at the smoke rising from the distance. The smoke is becoming thicker right now, meaning that the fire he started has spread everywhere. The burning smell could be smelled from here; their distance from the burning houses is not that far anyway.
Visilon smiled when looking at the black smoke.
Now, just wait for ten more minutes to activate the bomb and wait for Grole to arrive near there. Grole will be transported near the slum area to look for the commotion before he comes to them; it's just a final inspection before they can go back to their base.
After returning to their base, Visilon wanted to take a long bath after living too long—two weeks—in those abandoned houses. His body stinks, and he needs to take a proper bath and take care of his long, silky hair. He also needed to apply some facial care to his face after neglecting those important things for the past two weeks.
Living with Grole and Uda was not the best choice he made. He should take on a task that is not due for too long, like this. Kidnapping and killing royal children is more difficult than killing any child in a noble household. They just got an advantage from someone in the palace.
Visilon let out a puff of smoke from the new cigarette he lit. Waiting like this is kind of boring, especially waiting with someone who is talking to an insect.
"Okay, bye. Make sure to report to me."
Visilon gave Uda a side eye. The bee on Uda's pointed finger flew away with a buzzing sound. Uda turned to him with his smiley eyes.
"Boom."
BOOM!!
An ear-shattering sound echoed in the area. The ground shook slightly, and a smirk bloomed on Visilon's face.
Finally! He can finally rest!
Visilon tossed the remnant of the cigarette on the ground before he stepped on it. He straightened his back.
"When will Grole come here?"
He ran his fingers through his long hair. Hmm, he really likes his hair.
"He won't."
Visilon frowned.
"What? Did that bastard run somewhere again? Tsk, we should just put a leash on him. He is like a stray dog."
"No."
Uda stepped forward to close their distance. Visilon eyed the shorter man in confusion.
"He won't be back."
"What do you mean?"
The distance between them is closing. Visilon stepped back but was met with the wall instead.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Visilon?"
Visilon swallowed his saliva by their proximity. A gloved hand was raised to touch the side of his face, cradling his face smoothly like touching a pristine glass that was easy to break.
"I've always wanted to do this."
"What... what are you doing, Uda?"
Their chests met, making the long-haired breath hitch.
'Too close! Too close!'
The hand on his face fell towards his neck. Visilon felt goosebumps at the touch, but he did not take any protesting action or push the hand away.
"You are so cute."
His mouth is dry from the sudden compliment and the soft chuckle, which he had never heard before. Since when is Uda a sweet talker? Since when is Uda like this? From the duration of their meeting three years ago, this is the weirdest thing Uda ever made.
Is Uda being possessed right now? Is this really his friend? His crazy friend, who loves to torture people everywhere he goes, is acting lovingly and touching him smoothly like this.
"Grole won't be back again."
"....I know, but what is that supposed to mean?"
He licked his dry lips and looked at the shorter man. Uda came closer to his face, making him close his eyes involuntarily, but the soft brush against his ear made him open his eyes again.
"He won't be back forever."
It took a moment for Visilon to process that information before he widened his eyes. He raised his hands to push Uda away, but his neck was tightly grabbed with a gloved hand, blocking the air from flowing down towards his lungs. His hands grabbed the hand on his neck to pry it away.
"It was such a shame to ruin this cute face now."
"U—"
Visilon's eyes shook when he couldn't move his body right now. From the corner of his eye, a bug crawled up his face and into his eye. He couldn't even blink to shoo away the bug, standing there paralyzed with the feeling of something crawling inside him. More bugs are crawling on his skin.
"G... uh..a....!"
"What? I don't understand, Visilon."
Uda released his grip on Visilon's neck, and Visilon immediately collapsed to the ground, unmoving. More bugs crawled on the ground toward Visilon. Visilon can't do anything but make a muffled sound that is hard to decipher for anyone.
"It was nice knowing you for three years. For a parting gift, I will tell you when you will die."
Uda crouched down and brushed the hair from Visilon's face. Visilon eyed him with wide eyes, which were oozing out some blood.
"Shh, don't cry."
Uda wiped the blood from his eyes, smearing it on his face, but the blood did not stop. Blood began to ooze out of every oracle in his body. Visilon felt disgusted and wanted to throw up right now. He wanted to scratch his skin, eyes, and even the inner layer of his body right now.
"You would be paralyzed for 30 minutes, then you would bleed from the inside for five hours. They will eat your tissues and skin little by little. So, good luck. The pain will subside after one hour at the minimum. I don't quite know, but based on the amount that has entered your body, the maximum time taken for the pain would be 6 hours."
Uda opened his eyes to look at the glaring Visilon. He smiled even more.
"I did not use many bugs for you because it would make my parting gift go away in a short amount of time. Six hours are enough for you to remember my face, right? I would feel grateful to be the last human you see."
For the last time, Uda brushed away the hair from Visilon's face.
"Bye bye."
Uda stood up and walked away from there, walking leisurely like taking a walk near the beach while the burning and shouting could be smelled and heard from the distance in the slum area, as well as the inaudible sound from his fallen friend that was cradled carefully by his bugs.
Uda hummed in contentment. The bugs sure are having a feast right now, and he likes to pamper the bugs.
He looked up at the sky, which was dirtied by the black smoke before he let out a sigh. He took a pill from his pocket before crushing it in his mouth. The substance quickly melted on his tongue.
His forehead formed a crease.
"Queen, we failed again."
×××××
"Search everywhere!"
"Put down the fire!"
"Over there! Search over there!"
"There is blood under these woods!"
"Pull it up faster!"
Creak. Buk.
"The crown prince is not here!"
"Continue searching; find His Highness's body!"
"Check over there! That house!"
Plop.
"Pull up the rubble!"
"It's too big! Give me a hand!"
Drip. Drip.
Plop!
Buk!
"Hah, it has been hours. It will rain later."
"If you have time to complain, it's better to move your body to search for His Highness!"
"It's pointless at this point!"
"Shut up, bastard!"
"Step aside to give others an easy excess to find His Highness. Your voice was not going to help."
"Sir... Sir Raihan!"
Plop! Plop!
Pitter patter.
"It's already raining. Move faster!"
"Yes, sir!"
The rain continued to pour down the earth, dampening the soil and giving water to the plants and stray animals. People outside began to find shelter to avoid getting wet; however, the imperial knights were drenched in the rain for hours to fulfil the task given by their emperor.
Even after all has been searched through and looked at, they can't find anything. Some have lost hope, and some are desperate to continue. It has been days, but nothing has come to fruition.
「The fallen crown prince of Dradgim, Michaelis Kristafall, was not found anywhere, even after days of searching. Some believe he was blasted into nothingness in the explosion. Dradgim citizens were mourning for their lost 」