When I made it out, I immediately ran in the direction that the ball arrow was pointing.
And as I followed the ball, it suddenly stopped at a dead-end alley. And when I arrived, the arrow suddenly pointed at the ground.
(What does this mean? Is this tool broken?)
But no matter how many times I turned the tool, it always pointed down.
"Looks like this tool is broken, huh?"
Feeling tired from not finding any results after running around, I sat down on the ground.
(If Yukiko saw me, she would be angry that I was getting dirty again.)
But I couldn't give up, so I used mana to transfer as much as possible to the tool and I didn't realize that I was transferring mana to my other hand touching the ground as well.
*Open*
"Eh-"
Then suddenly there was the sound of a door opening, and I immediately fell down.
"Waahh..."
I then fell and hit the stairs and went down with a crash.
"Ouch... It hurts... Wait, where is this?"
I then glanced around me in confusion, I was currently in a mysterious room.
As I looked around, I realized that this place was a residence especially since there were many people here but it was strangely quiet.
"But it seems like this is the right place, the arrows are also starting to react again."
Then as I walked, I followed the arrow and aimed at a door.
"Another door?"
*Door opens"
Then I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening, from the direction was where I had previously entered.
"Wow, what's going on, why is the front room suddenly so dirty?"
"Has Mr. Ravendor gone home?"
"No, Mr. Ravendor is still not home."
"Why are you sure?"
"Mr. Ravendor won't come home with dust. He is very clean!"
"Yes yes, you seem to have caught Johan's older brother."
"Noisy. But the other members are also a bit difficult, so the other possibility is..."
"An intruder..."
My heart skipped a beat when the voice mentioned an intruder.
Then suddenly the voice went silent.
(Damn, I need to find a place to hide!)
I frantically looked around but there was no place to hide except the door in front of me.
(What can I do!)
So I entered the door and was surprised.
(Where is this?)
As soon as I opened the door, I was suddenly in a strange place.
A place that had a very different atmosphere and weather from the Wolfled region.
When I was confused, the arrow moved again.
(Since it was already done, I had to finish this.)
So I followed the direction of the arrow again, which led to a place.
The place the arrow pointed to was an old building guarded by a large guard.
As I tried to get closer, an explosion sounded from inside and the guards looked surprised and went inside.
(Is this a chance?)
Slightly scared, I tried to enter but suddenly the arrow started spinning and moving in the opposite direction.
And suddenly a group of people came out, people in all black clothes and a master with a crescent-shaped smile.
(What is the Umbra Vitae organization?)
Umbra Vitae, an organization famous for appearing in every slum of every territory in this Kingdom.
And they are known as the guardians of the slums and revolutionized the slums into safe areas and even recently the slums have started to become areas worth visiting with various new tours.
With such fame it's impossible for me not to know that. And if their appearance here means that Umbra Vitae is doing something in that place.
(Is that a den of criminals? And Zend went in there! You finally got caught, Zend!)
As I smiled, suddenly the direction of the arrows moved too. So I quickly went to follow that direction.
After a few minutes, I finally arrived at a place. I furtively approached and looked over the balcony.
But all I found was a creepy Umbra Vitae member with a face I couldn't recognize and the children behind the mysterious person.
(What?)
I stared at the arrow in confusion, as I shook it, it kept aiming at them.
While I was confused, there was a sudden sound of battle taking place.
I immediately saw, there was a fight between that creepy Umbra Vitae member and a Knight that I seemed to recognize.
That person's name should be Lukeus, I slightly forgot his surname.
As I watched their fight, I saw that the swords the mysterious Umbra Vitae member was using were dual red and blue swords.
And the red sword that that person was wearing was very similar to the sword that Zend was wearing.
(No no no no, there's no way that person is Zend. Besides, Zend is not a dual element user.)
As I convinced myself, the two people started talking to each other. But since they were quite far away, I had to focus my hearing to hear them.
As I tried to listen to their conversation, I heard something terrible from Lukeus' mouth.
(That guy... A bastard...)
Then suddenly without realizing it the fight was over in an instant and the mysterious Umbra Vitae member crushed that person's head.
After that the person went to the children who were hiding and hugged them. And suddenly the children started crying and that person hugged them as if understanding their feelings.
Seeing that, I was sure that it couldn't be Zend so I left to return to the previous door.
(I had to go back quickly, even though it was annoying but I lost track of Zend.)
So I entered the door, strangely enough it was quite deserted. So I made it out and returned to Wolfled territory safely.
As I was trying to return, suddenly the arrow started moving again and the door opened revealing the previous monstrous Umbra Vitae member.
And suddenly an old man appeared in front of the Umbra Vitae member.
Then suddenly the Umbra Vitae member fell and the person's mask fell off revealing the face of a person I never thought about at all.
(Zend)
People who should not be members of Umbra Vitae are members of Umbra Vitae itself.
(No way...)
As I was puzzled by that fact, Zend suddenly started coughing up blood.
(Blood?)
If I remember correctly, Zend had also coughed up blood before. I thought I was just hallucinating at the time but it seems not.
The old man asked Zend with concern.
"Are you alright, sir?"
Then the Zend I knew should have answered with arrogance and pride but right now, there wasn't even a hint of arrogance in his actions and right now Zend even felt very weak like a person who was resigned to his own life.
An expression that I never imagined would appear from a cruel person like him.
"No, I'm fine."
"But you just vomited blood."
"It's fine, that's normal."
(Ordinary?)
Hearing those words, my heart was beating very fast.
"Common?"
"Yes, actually I have a history of illness."
At that moment, all the pieces I had always questioned were finally answered. The flower that Zend had given me the first time, and the vomiting blood that Zend had hidden back then.
"Disease?"
"Yes, a mysterious disease where my body becomes very weak and my life becomes very short."
I was speechless at Zend's words, who seemed to have accepted his situation as calm.
"Poor you."
"It's okay, I've accepted that fate. Although I have a short time, I want to spend this time well."
"Is that why you became a hero of darkness?"
(What?)
My thoughts immediately stopped at that moment, the reality that I wanted to avoid still materialized.
After that I couldn't help but listen to Zend and the old man's words speechlessly.
"That's so."
"Then why did you hide your identity? Wouldn't it be better to reveal your identity?"
"No, because I want to create a hero that will continue to live long even if I die, by passing down this mask, the hero of darkness will always live."
"Is that why you're doing this?"
"Yes, that's my biggest reason. But the truth is I just don't want others to know what I did."
"Why? Is it a bad right to get caught?"
"Well, I have a mission to do. Besides, I have to make my fiancé hate me.
(!!!)
At the moment Zend said that, I could only be surprised. Was Zend trying to make me hate him all this time?
"Fiancé? Do you have a fiancee?"
"Yes, a beautiful but troublesome fiancée."
"Then why do you want to make your fiancée hate you?"
"Didn't I tell you that I have a short lifespan. I just don't want to give that girl bad memories. I want her to be happy."
(....)
"I see..."
"Well, I should get going. Are you really okay."
"Yes, I'm fine. You can go, no need to worry about me."
After that I could only remain silent and returned to the Wolfled residence with my head bowed.