Chương 46: Sealed Lips

Lio reached into his pack and produced a roll of bandages, along with a small bottle of a fungal antiseptic that Ophila had added to their supplies that morning. He uncapped it, releasing the thick, earthy smell, and studied Lupin's injuries. The slash across the left was clearly the worse of the two, still running rivulets of crimson. Luckily, the puncture through the right forearm had slowed somewhat, the Adamantine's clean passage working in Lupin's favor.

"Hold still," Lio said, reaching over. He lightly applied the antiseptic—the special property of the medicinal fungi allowed it to stick even through all the blood—without giving any sort of warning. Lupin clenched his teeth, letting out a small hiss, but didn't say anything. Lio began wrapping the left arm first, applying pressure across the slash to slow the bleeding, then enveloping it using even layers of cloth and tying it off.

Lupin watched him work, his pupils sapped of the anger that had been blazing in them not too long ago.

"You're rather good at this," he observed finally.

"I've had practice," Lio said, moving to the right arm.

"On who?"

"A few people." Lupin said nothing more after that, simply watching as the thick rolls of bandage took shape around his forearm. When Lio finished and sat back, Lupin flexed both hands carefully. He winced as a new spurt of blood leaked out from his left, though his right seemed to be still capable of some mild movements.

"Thank you," he murmured. Lio didn't respond. Instead, he was already reaching into his pack again, producing a piece of rough parchment and a crude pencil. Lupin eyed them cautiously.

"What are those for?"

"You said you won't answer my question. So I'm going to make a contract." Lupin scoffed.

"A contract? I don't think whatever you write up will be very legally binding." Lio shook his head.

"Think of it as a Binding Oath." Lupin frowned, clearly not getting it.

"Well… is this going to hurt as much as the last thing you did to me?"

"A tiny bit less," Lio said, emphasizing the tiny.

"That's wonderful," Lupin said drily. Lio smoothed the parchment against his knee and began writing. The familiar Eigo characters for 'Perceive' took shape, each stroke written with hundreds of years of practice behind them. Lupin watched him write the symbols, an expression of unease forming on his face.

"That language…" he mumbled.

"What is that? It doesn't look… human-made."

"It's not," Lio said, still writing.

"Then what does it do?"

"You'll see," Lio said. He finished the last character and examined the completed page, making sure that there were no defects. Lupin stared at the glowing symbols.

"This won't… turn me into a giant pig or something, right?" Lio raised an eyebrow.

"You have a rather active imagination." Lupin scowled.

"It's a fairy tale that I heard often during my childhood."

"Well," Lio shrugged.

"Let's all be glad that you won't be turning into a pig anytime soon."

"That would be great," Lupin muttered. Lio held the parchment out.

"The terms are simple. You'll run away from Floor 3, then meet with my party after we descend to Floor 4. You won't warn anyone of our approach. You won't contact Rose's Bloom or any affiliated handler. And you'll provide whatever assistance I require when we arrive." He paused.

"In exchange, I'll ensure you reach whatever destination you had in mind when you were planning your exit. Of course, this will be after I get as much information and assistance I can get from you." Lupin looked at the parchment without taking it.

"And if I just say no?" he asked.

"Then I'll just torture you for the information," Lio said pleasantly.

"And kill you after." At that, there was a short silence.

"Right," Lupin coughed. He quickly took the parchment. The symbols ignited the moment his fingers closed around it. Lupin tightly clenched his jaw as the contract burned itself into his chest, the glowing markings expanding further, enveloping his arms, his legs, and his extremities. When it was done, Lupin handed the blank parchment back, massaging the place where the symbols had converged onto him.

"That's pretty unpleasant," he said, wincing.

"Was it?" Lio asked. Lupin glared daggers at him.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You could have at least warned me."

"I did warn you. I said that it would be less painful than when I fought you." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Lupin gave him a sharp look of annoyance. Then he sighed, rolling his neck slowly.

"Before I go," he said.

"About your last question." Lio looked at him.

"About why I lost my memory after hearing that organization's name?"

"Yes," Lupin said.

"That one."

"So do you know why?"

"Yes," Lupin replied. Lio waited for the further explanation. But instead, Lupin just shook his head. The heck…? Lio studied the other man's face. It was clear that the refusal was genuine, something that Lupin really couldn't talk about. It wasn't evasion or even some sort of negotiation.

"Why won't you explain?" Lio asked. Lupin's features turned stony.

"Because I can't talk about it." What could he possibly mean by that? Lio frowned.

"I thought you said that you don't have a Binding Oath."

"I don't."

"Then why—?"

"I just can't." Lupin pursed his lips, visibly getting both annoyed and frustrated.

"I'm not being coy or anything, you have to believe me." He looked away from Lio, chewing the insides of his mouth.

"I just can't discuss it." Lio looked at him for a long moment. He was confused, to be honest. Why couldn't Lupin say it? He could say the organization name all fine, but he couldn't say what had caused Lio to lose his memory? And according to Lupin, he didn't even have a Binding Oath. Sure, he could've also had made an Eigo contract—which was highly unlikely—but then he wouldn't have been surprised as he was to see Lio make one. Lio heaved a sigh.

"Then tell me something else," he said.

"Something I can make use of." Lupin considered this for a moment. Then he nodded, his face brightening up.

"There's a person," he said.

"that Rose's Bloom has a file on. It was one of the thinnest files I've ever seen though." He glanced at Lio.

"But what Rose's Bloom does know is that across six separate incident reports across four different countries, all involving the organization that's hunting your girl, this person has appeared at least once every time." Lio turned over the new information in his mind. A mystery person? He would have to ask Ophila.

"Was there anything else in the file?" he asked. Lupin shook his head. Lio frowned, staring down at his hands. Then he stood up.

"Go," he said.

"Meet us at the descent tunnel entrance on Floor 4 in 5 days." Nodding, Lupin got to his feet. He straightened his coat, dusting it out. Then, he turned and stumbled away, his footsteps soon fading away into nothing. Lio watched him until the darkness swallowed him completely. Then he turned, looked up at the ragged circle of light far above him, and began activating [Mach Heart]. It was time to rejoin his party.

◈◈◈◈ Lio caught the crater's edge with both hands, grasping at the rough soil and pulling himself over the lip and back onto the surface. He straightened up, brushing off the soil and dust from his coat, and looked around. The open field of the outskirts spread out around him were littered with craters and burned ground, mostly from his and Lupin's fight. He glanced to his left, where Acacia had been knocked out, a motionless heap near the shed wall.

Then he noticed Ophila, who was sitting on the ground, her face weary. Her braid had come mostly undone, several strands of her hair falling across and sticking to her sweaty face. She looked up as he walked over.

"You sure took your time," she said.

"I'm sorry. It took some time to deal with him," Lio said, walking over. She looked back at the huge crater.

"How'd you even do that?" Lio shrugged.

"I just figured some stuff out." Ophila raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Figured some stuff out, sure."

"It's the truth," Lio assured her. Ophila stared at him. Then she looked away.

"William's in the shed," she said, standing up, her legs shaking.

"Still unconscious though. I checked on him. He's breathing fine, just completely out of it." She pointed over to the motionless heap.

"That girl was a tough fight. I've never seen a rune like hers before."

"I know, I saw a bit," Lio said. She looked up at him.

"You were watching me?"

"Briefly, just before I went under." He nodded.

"You were doing well, all things considered." Ophila gave a soft smile.

"Thanks." Lio smiled as well, turning to check on Acacia, when he heard the sounds of multiple footsteps approaching them. He looked north, towards the settlement. Sure enough, emerging from between the last row of buildings, were several guards wearing the classic Trestfall uniforms. And leading them, sword drawn, was Erygn Columbine. Lio glanced at them. Luckily, they weren't close enough to properly see the scene yet. He turned to Ophila, leaning in close to brush a thin strand of her loose hair behind her ear.

"Please bear with me," he said quietly. She frowned.

"What do you mea—" His hand came up and struck her cleanly on the side of the neck, hitting the carotid artery that ran closest to the surface. Ophila's eyes went wide. Then she folded sideways, without even a chance to let out even a single sound. Lio caught her just before she hit the ground. He carefully Ophila draped across his arms, studying her pale features. Then he looked up at Erygn, who was still approaching.

Taking a deep breath to prepare, he began to let his breathing go ragged, began to let his hands begin to shake, until his entire body was shuddering and shivering. He felt the heat rise behind his eyes, and after giving himself a good hard pinch on the arm, tears began blurring his vision. Then he opened his mouth and began screaming.

"Help! Someone… help us!" His voice cracking, he staggered forward toward Erygn's group, tears streaming openly down his face, dripping onto Ophila beneath him.

"Please!" His mouth opening wide in shock at the sigh before him, Erygn broke into a full sprint, the guards immediately fanning out behind him, each hurriedly drawing their weapons.

"I've got you!" Erygn called out.

"We've got you, just stay where you are!" Lio dropped to his knees in the dirt, clutching Ophila tightly, all the while making his shoulders shake harder and harder. He pressed his face into Ophila's hair, and let out a howl of pain and grief. Ergyn arrived first, hurriedly crouching directly in front of him. His face was full of concern as he gripped Lio's arm firmly.

"Look at me," Erygn said.

"Please, you have to look at me. Is she breathing?"

"Yes," Lio choked out.

"Yes, she's breathing, but she won't wake up, and William—my other party member—is in there—" He jerked his head toward the shed, his expression crumpling.

"They came out of nowhere… and I couldn't—I couldn't—!"

"It's alright." Erygn's voice stayed steady, his eyes resolute and strong.

"You did everything right. We're here now." He squeezed Lio's arm, then stood up, issuing some rapid instructions to his guards, sending two toward the shed, one to check Acacia, and one back toward the settlement to get a medic. Lio stayed on his knees in the dirt, holding Ophila, burying his face into the corner of her neck. And when no one could see him, he afforded himself a small, humorous grin. What a great boon of information he had learned today.