Chương 43: Something Just Deleted Two Minutes of My Memory

Lio suddenly became aware that some time had passed, a moment that he now couldn't remember, having gone from his mind. It seemed only a minute, maybe two, had disappeared. He was still standing in the same spot, facing Lupin. Nothing about the physical world had changed. But he felt that something had just happened. He could feel it sitting on the tip of his tongue, but it kept dissolving before he could say it.

Like reaching for something on a shelf and finding the shelf empty, except he couldn't even remember what he'd been reaching for. He frowned.

"What were we talking about?" he asked. Lupin stared at him. His face began to twist, cycling through several emotions before landing on a mix of horrified and amused. And he started laughing, an unhinged cackle that bent him at the waist. Lio watched, raising an eyebrow at the sudden development. Is he having a mental breakdown? After a few more bouts of giggling, Lupin eventually managed to straighten back up, wiping away the tears the mirth had caused from his eyes.

He took a deep breath, and as he composed himself, shook his head at Lio.

"Anyway," he said, his tone now calm.

"Back to the matter at hand."

"Faking your death," Lio said.

"Faking my death," Lupin confirmed, smoothing his coat.

"I need it to be convincing enough that Acacia believes it. And anyone else who might come looking." Lio cocked his head.

"Kingmaker has a den underneath Trestfall," he said.

"They can just handle things like this. Why ask me?" Lupin scowled, his eyes flashing.

"No," he said.

"Don't worry, they're discreet—""Anyone but them," Lupin interrupted. His voice had lost all its pleasantness, now sharp and frigid.

"I mean that. I would choose anyone but Kingmaker. Even a random shop owner." Lio studied him. He wondered where all that hate was coming from. And so, he asked.

"Why?" Lupin looked back at him, his features darkening.

"I have a history with them." And unfortunately, he didn't expand more on it. But Lio didn't even bother pushing. There was no reason for him to know everything about the other man's circumstances right at the very start after all.

"Why do you need to disappear?" Lio asked instead. Lupin shrugged.

"That's not something you need to know."

"It is if I'm going to make a convincing plan," Lio deadpanned.

"Well, you'll just have to do without it," Lupin said, all while giving a pleasant grin. Lio glared at him.

"Then tell me, what do I stand to gain from this?" Lupin pointed at Lio's coat pocket.

"What's written on that paper should be more than sufficient compensation." Lio frowned, patting the pocket where he'd tucked the folded paper earlier. He had to grudgingly admit that the other man was right. Then he shrugged.

"Fine."

"That's rather generous of you," Lupin said.

"Don't push it," Lio said.

"And don't even think about using William as leverage. If that crosses your mind even once, the deal is off." Lupin waved a hand.

"I'm not that stupid," he said.

"The boy is just a boy. We didn't take him for leverage."

"Then why?" Lio asked.

"And while you're at it, who exactly are you working for?" Lupin glanced sideways, a small complicated expression crossing his face.

"Rose's Bloom," he said. Lio looked at him. One of the two major secretive organizations operating across the continent, and the direct rival of Kingmaker. That slightly explained the reaction earlier. Though even then, it didn't fully account for that level of distrust that Lupin showed.

"And William?" Lio pressed.

"It was for a job," Lupin explained.

"Someone wanted us to capture all of you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Rose's Bloom doesn't keep any records." Lio paused. Well, everything Lupin had said up till now appeared to be the truth.

"One more thing," he said.

"The mural on Floor 2, the one with the pot." He watched Lupin's face carefully, looking for any specific changes in his temperament.

"I heard that you and Acacia were discussing it in a tavern in Crater City before you descended. Why?" Lupin frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That was more of Acacia's lead, not mine," he said.

"She'd flagged it as a point of interest for reasons I wasn't briefed on." He cocked his head thoughtfully.

"But coincidentally, it wasn't the first time I'd seen that image." Lio raised an eyebrow.

"Years ago," Lupin continued, "I was pulling files from Rose's Bloom's oldest archived storage for a completely unrelated job. Most of it was useless, but one document had that pot drawn on the cover."

"What about the contents?"

"Gone," Lupin chuckled.

"Wayyy too deteriorated to even attempt reading." He shook his head.

"I couldn't even tell what language it had been written in." He shrugged.

"That's it. If you want more, you'll have to ask Acacia." He grinned.

"Not that she'll say anything. She's the most loyal operative Rose's Bloom has." Lio stared at him flatly, then let out a sigh.

"Fine," he said.

"Then here's what we need to do to fake your death." Lupin waited for a few moments as Lio collected his thoughts.

"We both need to fight after I pretend to get angry at you for kidnapping my party member," Lio began explaining.

"With Acacia there as well. You and I, just duking it out." He paused.

"Can you make it look like you're losing?" Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Lupin smiled thinly.

"I've had enough practice."

"Good. Then we escalate it enough and then separate you from Acacia's sight." Lio tilted his head.

"After that it's simple enough. No body means no confirmation, which means anyone looking will assume the worst." Lupin nodded slowly, turning the idea around his head.

"And Acacia specifically?"

"She'll just have to believe what she sees," Lio said, shrugging.

"That's your problem to manage afterward." Lupin stayed silent, stroking his grizzled chin thoughtfully. Then he extended his uninjured hand.

"Deal," he said. Lio peered down at the hand, and shook it.

"Deal." ◈◈◈◈ After he left Lupin, Lio soon found Ophila crouched at the edge of the last Amberpulp plot, examining the darkened and burned soil, rubbing it between her fingers. She looked up when she heard him approaching.

"Did you find anything?" Lio asked.

"Some footprints," she said, pointing at a squat fungal structure far in the distance.

"They're all leading over there." Lio looked at the shed that Lupin had told him about.

"William's probably in there," he said. Ophila straightened up fully, brushing the soil from her knees.

"And the other two footprints?"

"Also in there," Lio said.

"Most likely." She looked at the shed for a moment, then back at him.

"So," she said simply.

"What's the plan?" Lio studied the structure. It was made simple, low and squat, with only one door and a single narrow window on the eastern face. He frowned.

"Judging from how obvious the clues are, and how barely far they even tried to go, this is probably bait." Ophila nodded.

"So should we just go and get the town guards or something?"

"I already called for them," Lio lied. Though he hadn't, either way, it didn't matter. The sounds of the foreboding battle would call them out anyway.

"Should we wait then?" Lio shook his head.

"No time. Who knows what they'll do to William while we wait?" Ophila sighed.

"I know. I just wanted to ask."

"You take one of them," Lio said. He had already decided this before he'd even met with Lupin. He just couldn't help but keep thinking about how the Skinwalker fight had been clean until the very last second, until Ophila had tripped up. He hadn't said anything about it afterward, but he certainly hadn't forgotten it either. This was her chance to redeem herself. Ophila glanced at him.

"And you take the other one?" she asked.

"Of course." She held his gaze, then reached into her pocket and brought out her marbles, along with a small knife. Then she nodded, and they both began moving cautiously toward the shed. As they approached, they both noticed the open fields on either side of the path, which made an ambush essentially impossible, which was both reassuring and suspicious at the same time. Of course, to Lio, it didn't matter either way. They walked toward the shed at an unhurried pace, making no attempt to conceal their approach.

There was no point. If Lupin and Acacia were inside and paying any attention at all, they already knew they were coming. Before they reached it, the shed door opened. Lupin stepped out first, hands in his pockets, his expression exuding that same pleasantness as always. Acacia followed a step behind, her expression and glare both cold. Nobody spoke. Then Ophila asked, "Why did you take our party member?" Lupin cocked his head.

"Well, for a couple of reasons," he said pleasantly.

"Such as?" Ophila pressed. Lupin smiled.

"Not something I'm particularly inclined to admit."

"Why not?" Ophila said.

"I don't want to answer that either," Lupin replied cheerfully. Ophila stared at him for a long moment. Lio glanced at her. Judging from her clenched fists, even she was getting slightly pissed off. Then she looked back at Lio. Lio simply shrugged, and continued on that motion, activating [Mach Heart]. The burst launched him forward in a blur. Lupin moved at the same moment, albeit reflexively, barely managing to twist sideways in time, letting Lio's first strike pass within an inch of his jaw.

But what was even more surprising was that he managed to execute a counter attack, bringing his elbow down hard toward the back of Lio's neck. Lio quickly ducked under it, then kicked hard at Lupin's side. Quickly, the other man slid back, putting distance between them. Then with a tringggg~ sound, a set of golden numbers appeared above Lupin's head. [20%] Immediately, golden fires blazed alive from his palms.

He clenched his fists and punched outwards, sending two streams of flame that curved outward in a wide arc, forcing Lio to jump into the air to avoid the blazing sweep. That was Lupin's rune, [Con Fuco]. Before, when they were discussing the plan, Lupin had explained his powers to Lio. According to him, [Con Fuco] ran on his emotions. Simply put, the more he felt angry, the stronger the flames would get. But as Lio was someone he was technically allied with, bringing out his full power would be difficult.

Which meant roughly twenty percent, Lupin had estimated. Maybe a little more if Lio made him angry enough. Lio grimaced as hit the ground in a roll, swiftly coming up to his feet. Even then, twenty percent of a trained and experienced rune user's power was still rather considerable. Lupin sent another column of flame directly at Lio's feet, forcing him to activate [Mach Heart] again, the burst carrying him straight up. From above, he could see Lupin already adjusting his stance, pointing his flames upwards.

Lio used his supernatural control over his muscles, twisting mid-air, letting the flame pass beneath him, and came down fast, driving his knee toward Lupin's shoulder. Lupin managed to block it, though the impact drove him back.

"You're faster than I expected," Lupin gasped, shaking his quivering arms.

"And you're slower than I expected," Lio replied.

"I guess," Lupin admitted, and then immediately sent a wave of flame rolling across the ground between them. Lio stepped over it, activating [Mach Heart] again to cross the distance before the wave had finished passing. He drove his fist toward Lupin's ribs. This time Lupin was too slow to bring his arms down. So instead, he created a wall of compressed flame, just enough to absorb a fraction of the force before it reached him. But even then, the blow knocked the air out of him visibly, sending him staggering.

Still, he came back upright quickly, wincing with one hand pressed to his side.

"Ouch," he muttered.

"I have more from where that came from," Lio said.

"I don't doubt it," Lupin said, growling. The fire coming out of his hands had changed color slightly. They were still golden in the middle, but with edges that were beginning to become redder and redder. Lupin was getting more angry, and proving Lio's theory right, the golden number above the other man's head blazed alive again. [29%] Good. Lio came at him again, going for the legs. To block him, Lupin redirected a burst of flame downward to cut off the angle.

It was the right instinct, but it had been performed a half second too slowly. Lio adjusted his stance mid-movement, driving his shoulder into Lupin's midsection instead, lifting him briefly off the ground before slamming him back down. Lupin slammed onto the soil, splatters of blood escaping from his mouth. But he managed to roll away, coming up again while throwing his fire in a series of rapid bursts that forced Lio into the defensive, weaving between them with [Mach Heart].

"You know," Lupin said, between bursts, clearly exhausted, "most people at least look like they're fighting with their life on the line by now."

"Well I'm different," Lio said.

"Yeah," Lupin agreed.

"You really are." The fire was definitely redder now. Whatever positive emotional attachment Lupin held towards Lio was being chipped away by the simple physical reality of the fight. Lio activated [Mach Heart] and drove himself forward at full speed, closing the distance before Lupin could fully prepare, getting inside his guard.

He had surmised that the best way to counter the man's rune was to get close up, to get to such a distance that Lupin wouldn't be able to use his flames effectively without blinding himself. Lio reached down and activated [Augmentation]. The power flooded through him instantly, his arm muscles swelling with raw force. The ground beneath his feet cracked as he activated [Mach Heart] at the same time, directing all of his superhuman force into his upper body. He pulled his fist back. But he didn't hit Lupin.

Instead, he drove his fist into the ground. See, Lio had known that Trestfall's founders, being the studious and practical people they had been, had also built sewage tunnels beneath the settlement. Every permanent underground community needed them after all. And he had also known that the main line just so happened to run directly beneath where they were currently standing.

The ensuing explosion was enormous, sending a shockwave of displaced rock and soil erupting outward in every direction, the Amberpulp vines on either side of the path snapping and tearing as they were sent flying away. And he and Lupin plummeted down, quickly swallowed up by the dark.