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Illusion-Inducing Butterfly – Part 02

“Gaah!”

In the mansion’s backyard, the groans of a man, unfitting for the refreshing early morning, resounded.

A boy wearing a silver mask kicked the estate’s bodyguard, sending him tumbling to the ground.

“Feel like talking yet?”

“I-I don’t know anything. I swear. I’ve heard of the Phantom Butterfly, but I have no clue where to buy…”

“Looks like you still want more pain.”

“No, I’m telling the truth!”

“But it looks like a coworker of yours has been buying them.”

Hikaru tossed the badge he had taken from the man at the abandoned church, and the bodyguard examined it.

“Is this… Joseph’s? The trainee butler? I didn’t know he was using something so dangerous.”

“Don’t you work as a bodyguard here? Why don’t you know about this?”

“I-If the Master was using it, I might, but why would I keep track of all the employees here? Besides, this is a merchant’s house. A lot of people come here!”

“Give me the names of Joseph’s acquaintances or business associates who might be linked to the Phantom Butterfly.”

“L-Like I said, I know nothing about the other employees—”

“So you want to suffer more.”

“Ugh!”

Before the bodyguard could ready himself, the boy vanished and appeared on his left, kicking his side. The bodyguard was skilled, but there was nothing he could do against someone who could disappear so easily.

“A-All right, I get it, I get it! I’ll tell you everything I can think of!”

As soon as the bodyguard mentioned the names of two men and four merchants, Hikaru disappeared.

“H-Huh?”

From the bodyguard’s perspective, it probably felt like a bad dream.

Shit, I thought this would lead to a clue.

Hikaru sprinted to the next trader’s residence. If he didn’t know the address, he went to their store instead. He would practically raid it and pressure the owner or the shop manager like a robber. Yet, all of them insisted they knew about the existence of Phantom Butterfly but had never dealt with it.

“I would never sell something that capitalizes on the chaos in the Empire!”

“If you believe I’m just a money-hungry merchant, feel free to kill me.”

“You think I’m stupid? That’s the elixir of death. If word gets out that I’ve dealt with it, I would lose everything.”

It didn’t seem like any one of them was lying.

Were they telling the truth? Or are merchants just good at lying? I can’t tell…

Hikaru dropped the merchant he had lifted by the collar and vanished from the room. There, five guards lay unconscious.

“Wh-Who was that guy?” The merchant muttered, rubbing his neck. “That kind of strength is not normal.”

---

By the time he left the mansion, the sun was high in the sky. Hikaru walked through the back alleys of a quiet residential area lined with mansions of the wealthy.

“Hey.”

The man he had fought against at Count Dred’s mansion the previous night appeared in front of him.

“You’re wreaking quite the havoc. I was sent to deal with you somehow.”

“You’re pretty fast, Kutsuwa.”

Hikaru noticed that Kutsuwa was around, so he had already deactivated his Stealth. He believed that Kutsuwa had a reason for coming out to meet him.

Moreover, he was genuinely impressed by the Empire’s swift actions. It had only been about six hours since Hikaru began his search, but the Empire had already learned of his activities and, believing that only the intelligence department could deal with him, sent Kutsuwa to this merchant’s residence.

Through Hikaru’s Mana Detection, he sensed faint magical energy, like a signal reaching Kutsuwa’s ears. It must be some kind of a magic item.

“So you know my name.”

“That doesn’t matter. You have more important things to do than finding me, don’t you?”

Anger gripped Hikaru. Why didn’t he use that speed to find Paula? Her mask might have already been removed.

“I am doing what I need to do.”

“Huh?”

“Your approach won’t work.”

“I don’t need your lectures. I’m leaving—”

“If you want intel, you go quieter than the darkness of the night and quicker than the howling wind. That’s the golden rule. Yet here you are, making a racket and throwing a tantrum like a child.”

Hikaru’s anger flared up for a moment, but then he restrained himself. He knew there was some truth in Kutsuwa’s words. But he didn’t know what to do. He had no leads to find Paula in this unfamiliar foreign city.

Kutsuwa sighed softly. “The Wandering Saint is safe.”

“What did you say?”

“The agency has her location. His Majesty has personally allowed me to share this information with you, but…”

“She’s alive?! Where is she?!”

“Calm down. I can’t tell you in your current state.”

“You know nothing! She’s in danger if I don’t go right now!”

“She’s being treated as a guest.”

“…What?”

“She isn’t restrained, and she hasn’t been forced to reveal her identity. She was even served a lavish breakfast.”

“What does that mean?”

“Who knows? But according to the agents who made contact with her, Flower Face left a message for you.”

“…What?”

This was news to him. Hikaru had not found any message from her.

“It was written on the chair in the abandoned church. Someone must have sat on it, ‘cause it had faded a bit.”

Kutsuwa handed Hikaru a paper with the transcribed message.

I received a request for treatment from a merchant named Kamori. They seemed really desperate and needed my help urgently, so I decided to accept. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back once it’s done.

Then it hit him.

The man who was high on Phantom Butterfly, Joseph, was sitting on top of this message. Hikaru hadn’t bothered to check if there was anything written beneath him. By the time the agents went to investigate, Joseph had likely already recovered and returned home.

Lavia had not noticed this because she had mistakenly believed Paula was abducted and had prioritized returning to the inn and telling Hikaru.

Hikaru crouched down with his head in his hands.

“Looks like you’ve calmed down,” Kutsuwa said.

“Yeah… I was an idiot.”

“At least you’re aware. That’s a good start.”

“Show me to this Kamori guy’s place.”

“Not now. Wait until evening.”

“…I can’t.”

“Don’t give me that look. Right now, the Kamori residence has too many people coming and going. We’ll attract too much attention. We are conducting a thorough investigation, and we don’t want it ruined.”

“In that case—”

“You’ll go look for it yourself? I’d like to say go ahead, but don’t. A shady guy like you sniffing around would alert the Kamori family.”

“…”

“Looks like you’re out for blood. At least make it less obvious. Your friend is being closely monitored by the agency, and if anything happens, they’ll make a move. Is that enough?”

“…”

“I’m actually doing you a big favor here. I wouldn’t be here talking to you if His Majesty didn’t tell me to.”

“…Fine,” Hikaru said, grinding his teeth. He found every word that Kutsuwa said to be reasonable. “You know what’s coming if what you told me turned out to be a lie, right?”

“Hmph. What are you gonna do? Take on the whole Empire alo—”

Kutsuwa paused with a start. Silver Face had already disappeared without a trace. He scanned his surroundings, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

“…”

It was at this moment that Kutsuwa sensed that Silver Face was a threat.

---

Upon returning to the inn, Hikaru noticed that Lavia was in the room along with another person. He decided to change out of his Silver Face disguise and switch to his adventurer attire before entering the room.

“So, who’s our guest?”

Lavia was sitting across from a bespectacled person, who, based on her uniform, was a receptionist from the Adventurers Guild.

“She’s from the Adventurers Guild.”

“I work at the imperial capital’s branch. My name is Katarina.” She stood up straight and gave a practiced bow. “Your party member here, Miss Lavia, asked me for information about the Phantom Butterfly, so I came to inquire about the situation.”

“Phantom Butterfly…”

Hikaru glanced at Lavia, but she only gave a troubled frown. She was undoubtedly gathering information at the guild and had intended to wrap it up before Hikaru returned. Since he had no idea how she approached the receptionist, Hikaru decided it was best to just listen.

“The guild is currently conducting a thorough investigation into the Phantom Butterfly, and we don’t want to miss even the slightest piece of information.”

“A bunch of beefy men came up to me,” Lavia said.

“I-I see.”

Hikaru was surprised by the Adventurers Guild’s involvement in the investigation but considered it a welcome opportunity for information gathering. As long as he knew Paula’s whereabouts, he really didn’t care about the Phantom Butterfly, but it could become valuable material for Luvain’s dealings with Emperor Kagurai.

According to the guild staff, the Accursed Toxin—she called it the Black Rot—plunged the capital into chaos, which provided the opportunity for the Phantom Butterfly to enter the scene. Marketed as a painkiller, no one knew where the drug was manufactured or who sold them. Citizens of the empire, suffering from the Accursed Toxin, embraced the fake bliss that the Phantom Butterfly offered.

By the time the Adventurers Guild became aware of the drug, it had already spread extensively, making the investigation exceedingly difficult. People from the underworld, realizing the demand for Phantom Butterfly, engaged in multiple rounds of resale.

“Quite a few adventurers have gotten involved with this drug.”

“I see.”

“So, when Miss Lavia mentioned witnessing a Phantom Butterfly transaction, it caused quite a stir within the guild. There have been some movements within the Thieves Guild as well. After discussing it with the guildmaster, we decided to pay you a visit.”

Lavia told them about the abandoned church, but she didn’t know who was involved in the dealings there. Since the guild had no information about the transactions that took place in the abandoned church, they decided to conduct a rather detailed interview.

When Hikaru saw that the conversation had ended, he asked, “Do you know the Kamori family?”

Kutsuwa hadn’t mentioned it, but the Kamori family was probably involved in the dealings with Phantom Butterfly. This was likely why the intelligence department was monitoring them and found Paula as a result.

But why would the drug-dealing Kamori family require the Wandering Saint’s help?

“I do,” Katarina replied. “They’re an emerging trading family.”

Bingo, Hikaru thought.

“Do you know their address?”

“Are you suggesting that the Kamori family is involved with the Phantom Butterfly?”

“Considering the flow of this conversation, it might seem that way, but that’s not it. It’s a personal matter.”

“Ah, I see. Of course. Miss Lavia witnessed the transaction, but she did not know where they went.”

Katarina provided the Kamori family’s address, while Lavia detailed the appearance of the man involved in the transaction. Katarina wrote it all down, then nodded with satisfaction.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Since you two are adventurers, please consider taking on commission from the guild. The capital is currently being rebuilt, and we have a lot of commissions pouring in.”

Hikaru chuckled. “We’ll drop by if we have the time.”

Just before leaving the room, Katarina paused. “I won’t ask what you were doing wandering around the slum’s abandoned church late at night. But you two are still young, so please don’t do anything reckless.”

“We understand.”

“I see. I guess that was uncalled-for.”

Katarina bowed, then swiftly left, her skirt swaying gently.

“Maybe she knows…”

“What’s wrong, Hikaru?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…”

Hikaru thought that Katarina might have realized he was investigating the Phantom Butterfly, but it was just a gut feeling without any real evidence.

“More importantly, Lavia. Let’s head to the Kamori family’s place. Paula is right there.”

“She is?”

Hikaru nodded. He wanted to rescue Paula before the Kamori family became wary due to the involvement of the Adventurers Guild.

“Hikaru… How are you feeling? Good?”

“I’m fine. I can’t be whining when Paula is waiting.”

“I see… I’ll do my best too.”

Preparing for excursions had become second nature to them. The two quickly changed into their outfits designed to blend into the shadows. Hikaru took Lavia’s hand, then activated Group Cloaking.

Faint steam was still rising from Katarina’s tea.