A few more days passed in the quiet, snowy town. Kona's mother refused to meet with me until after the duel; she is convinced I will lose, so why bother talking to a dead man, or at least that's what she told Kona. Nigel gave up his room at the inn and instead has been spending every night at the brothel, hopefully not spending too much money. Though I've not seen L since the day we arrived in this town, that was until I was walking down the hall after breakfast to retrieve my coin purse that I had forgotten, when his door opened just as I was walking past, and I was suddenly pulled inside.
I stumbled forward into the room as the arm dragged me in, caught completely off guard. L locked the door and leaned back against it, holding a finger to his mask where the mouth would be. A few seconds later, another pair of footsteps passed by the door and faded. L was wearing his normal royal guard clothes and white mask; the window to his room was covered by a pillow resting on the windowsill. Was he that paranoid about people seeing his face? He moved towards me and sat down on the bed as I stumbled to my feet from the floor.
"Well, hello to you as well. Long time no see."
"I'm a spy, my whole job is about not being seen, and I take my job very seriously, unlike your friend who's been spending his nights at a whorehouse of late."
"Wait, you know about-"
"I know everything. I know the three of you spent a night there. I know Nigel has been going there frequently. I also know that the past two nights, he hasn't even been having sex with them but paying them to sleep in the same bed with him. What? Do you think I've been held up in my room all this time?"
"Well… yes. I figured you would sneak around at night in the dark."
"And in the small chance I get spotted, a figure skulking at night would raise more suspicion. No, I've been out every day doing my job. I've even been following you lot around just to keep an eye on you as well."
He was following us? Every day, his room is locked, though I only ever did check that one time, and it was the morning. Does that mean he's been walking around here without his mask on, wearing different clothes?
"Well, I can't say I'm the only one working. News of your duel is spreading among the locals. Many will attend to watch. That will give me an opportunity to get where I need to go."
"Where might that be?"
There was a silence as he looked down at me. I felt as if he were weighing whether or not he should tell me anything. "Fine, but I need you to keep it between us, at least for now. I can't have Nigel yapping to whores with a loose tongue, nor can I have Kona know of this."
I nodded, agreeing to his terms.
"To the northwest of town, just beyond its edge, hidden in the hilly forest, is a cave. The cave has a door and a guard stationed out front at all hours. I suspect whatever we're here to find is in that cave. Now, I've only seen one person come and go from that cave the past four days. Kona's mother, Haralda Godi."
"You suspect she might be hiding something back there?"
"Maybe? It could also be a religious site since she's the head of the village. Or it could be something more; either way, it's a secret, and the empire doesn't allow secrets to be kept from the crown."
"What do you want me to do? I could try asking about it? Pretend to stumble across it with Kona, so she gets curious?"
"No, you are not to go near it, yet. I plan on infiltrating during your duel to scout the cave. The guard will most likely not be there as everyone in the town is eager to watch the fight. I only tell you this because I want you to drag the fight out as long as possible, one, maybe two minutes. Enough time to get in and out."
"Will that be long enough?"
"I'll make it work; all I need to do is see what's in there."
"And if you don't get out in time?"
"Well, no doubt there will be a celebration that night after your victory. Plenty of drinks, make sure the guard isn't left out of the celebrations. If the worst were to come, I want you to enter the cave to find me, or my remains."
"That sounds a bit… morbid."
"I don't die easily, but if something were to happen to me, whatever it is won't be able to kill you. As long as someone gets the information and lives, that's all I care about."
"Understood."
He tilted his head towards the door, telling me it was time for me to leave. As I closed his door behind me, I heard him moving around the room. Footsteps, fabric rustling, then a window slid open. I wanted to rush outside to try to spot him, but that would be childish and immature. But at least now I know a bit more about him and the way he works. I get the feeling he's used to doing this alone. I went to retrieve my coin purse and returned down to the tavern where Nigel and Kona were waiting.
The three of us went around town exploring a bit. We had been here for a few days now, and the town itself was quite small, so it felt as if we had been everywhere and seen everything, except, of course, that cave L mentioned. I wanted to find it myself, to see where it was at least. Though he also said he was watching us. We were in the shopping district as he had been trying different and unique foods for lunch each day. The area was quite packed, but everyone looked like a local, like they belonged, everyone but Nigel and me. Could L really be blending in with this crowd that perfectly?
As we walked around, I found myself heading northwest. I intended to at least find the path that led to the cave. Since the cave itself was a bit out of town, stumbling across it by accident wouldn't happen. Though as we wandered around, I spotted one cobble road snaking between some buildings that led out and into snowy woods. There didn't seem to be anything else behind the buildings, but the road continued as if there were, snaking to the side and out of view. Was this the way? I started to walk between the buildings down the alley.
"Where are you going?" Kona called out.
I froze, thinking about how to explain myself. "Ah, there, there's a path here. I just wanna see where it goes real quick."
Nigel followed behind me. "Yeah, it looks like a road leading to nowhere. I don't think I've seen anything like that in this town before." He didn't realise it, but his curiosity just saved my skin.
As I emerged from the other end of the buildings, I was met with snowy hills and a dense forest with tall, thin trees. The road we stood upon went left and around a corner, continuing behind the mound of a hill. This had to be it. Kona finally emerged behind us, placing a hand on both our shoulders.
"Alright, you two, back we go."
"But, I want to know where that road goes." I tried to say as casually and innocently as possible, as if I didn't already know the answer.
"That way is ancient hunting grounds, now considered sacred. Even I'm not allowed to go there, and I don't think using the excuse of being a foreigner will help if you get caught. The only ones allowed back there is Mother and her personal guard."
Nigel clapped his hands together and turned around, walking back the way we came. "That's all I wanted to know, I'm satisfied."
"Me too." I followed along. I was actually satisfied with what I learnt. A holy site or a cursed place is the perfect deterrent for people wandering where they shouldn't, Kona's mother being allowed to go matching with what L told me, and most of all, even Kona has no idea what's actually back there.
As we rounded the corner to continue our walk around, I noticed that from the other direction, headed towards the alleyway we had just come from, was Haralda, peering from behind a wall. Was she following us? Or was she simply going to the cave? Hopefully, L is following her.
I learned later that afternoon that the man I would be duelling would arrive in two days. I didn't hear from Kona or Haralda, but from overhearing the locals whispering amongst themselves as we walked through town. I turned to Kona and Nigel, remembering what L asked of me.
"Do you think we could train together a bit before my fight?"
The two looked at each other. Of course, neither of them knew who I was speaking to, not realising I was asking both of them. But even so, both nodded enthusiastically.
"It's been a while since we sparred last. I bet I can still beat you."
"Beat Shinya? How can you beat Shinya in a fight? Have you seen what he can do now?"
"I saw him collapse to the floor when I got a neck hit with a training sword. If that were real, I would have killed him easily."
"Killed him? I bet with how you are now, you can't even beat me."
The two continued to argue with each other about their fighting abilities, which quickly devolved into childish insults. I waved my arms at them to try and get their attention, and after a moment, they finally stopped.
'Why don't you two duel each other if you're going to argue like that? Besides, I need to train with both of you; I need to make the fight last longer."
"Longer? Usually, you end a fight in a few seconds. Why do you need it to be longer?"
"L told me to do it, that's all. Something about a distraction so he can sneak in somewhere. Kona would be best practice for the real thing, and Nigel, you can help me with dodging."
Both of them nodded. We went back to the tavern, grabbed our armour and made way for the arena.
Kona led us to a small sheep pen near the edge of town. Apparently, this was passed as a combat arena here. It was underwhelming and kind of disappointing. Gladiatorial combat to the death isn't common in the world outside of Vilta, but even so, this was a disappointing sight. Kona and Nigel both leapt into the arena. Each with dull wooden training weapons. As I stood, looking dejected at the sheep pen, they had entered and were ready to fight each other. I suppose they were still fired up from their argument earlier. I stopped and leaned against the wooden rail, watching as the two circled each other. These two haven't fought each other in well over a year since Red Beach, and back then, Nigel was the best. I suppose Kona might have something to prove. I just hope she doesn't get hurt too badly.