Chapter 3 : Onyx Island

--Onyx Island

The area through which Kira and Seisa had arrived was mostly forest. Therefore, it was necessary to find the town in order to obtain the necessary information. Kira and Seisa had walked through the forest for almost half an hour in search of the city. Fortunately for them, they had finally found it. They had also had the presence to recover their bags confiscated by the bandits of earlier.

It was a small modest town. Having said that, "city" was a bit strong for such a place. It didn't look very big. Just about fifty square kilometers... It was really big. There weren't a lot of big buildings, but there were a lot of houses. It all seemed underdeveloped compared to Eras of Arcadia. But it seemed like a good place to live.

It must have been three o'clock in the afternoon. The inhabitants were out. There were still a lot of people in the markets, in the stores, in the bars. Children were playing everywhere, being scolded, stopping and starting again.

This setting made Kira pensive, while Seisa was totally insensitive.

-" Kira. You seemed to know this guy pretty well. I can't stop thinking about it. "

-" This again? "

-" Come on, you know how curious I am! "

-" … "

-" Come on, it won't kill you to talk to me a little bit. We're friends, right? "

-" Irrelevant. "

-" So?"

-" Tokisada is an old comrade. I knew him when I lived in Aokigahara. Are you happy? "

-" You see it wasn't that difficult! "

-" … "

Kira seemed really indisposed to talk about what links him to this Tokisada. Seisa had noticed this. But she had continued. She wanted to satisfy her curiosity, and she had succeeded. Nevertheless, she felt an aftertaste of incompleteness, as if Kira could have said more.

-" Seisa. I'm going to go looking for information. You in the meantime, you will look for a place to sleep. We have a little over 300,000 Zans, that should do the trick. And above all, don't stick your nose everywhere. Don't provoke anyone! "

-" Yeah, I know! We're in uncharted territory, blah blah blah blah! "

-" I like it better... See you here later. "

So Kira went his way and Seisa went hers. Kira chose a direction randomly, following only his instinct. And his instincts had told him to go to the northwest of the city.

He was in unknown territory. He didn't know the habits of the people here and preferred not to deal with the people Tokisada had told him about earlier. The ideal would be to not even be noticed. So he walked quietly, with his hands in his pockets, without making too much noise.

In doing so, he blended effortlessly into the crowd.

Then he saw someone. It was a grandmother. She had tripped and was kneeling on the floor. This old lady seemed to be looking for something with her hands. From the sight of her, one could deduce that it must be a sister from the church. Kira noticed that the people passing by did not seem willing to help this granny who was looking for something on the floor. It was her glasses, and they were behind her. So she would have a good time looking for them.

Kira walked towards her and stood at her level, hands in his pockets.

The emerald boy then bent down and took the glasses, which he arranged so that the next place the grandmother touched would be where her glasses were. And finally, she grabbed them and wore them properly.

The first person in his field of vision was Kira. Kira reached out his hand to help her get up.

-"Thank you...my boy! "

-"It's nothing, Grandma. Take care, too. "

-"I'm no longer young. "

-"Just to be sure, can I call you grandma? "

-"Naturally. By the way, you look like my grandson. So, I'm happy about that. "

-"Your grandson? Sisters have children? "

-"He is not my biological grandson...but adopted. "

-"I see. By the way, you're just in time. I have some things to ask you. "

-"Hm. Let's find a place to sit. I'm old! Haha! "

The old lady leads Kira to a bench not far away. So they took their seats.

-"Say, don't you know a way for me to make some quick money? "

-"It seems to me that...Raïga's men in the [Boar Forest] are offering money to help them cut down the millennium tree. You should go and see..."

-"The wild boar forest? Where is it? Raïga's men?"

-"Oh, you're not from around here? I thought your face didn't look familiar... "

-"Indeed, I am not from here. "

-"The Wild Boar Forest is not far from here. It is straight northwest. They intend to resell the wood from this hundred-year-old tree on the market. Its wood is very precious. But this tree is extremely strong. "

-" Mh. But tell me, who is this Raiga?"

-" A real bandit without faith or law! He came to make this poor island his own private kingdom. He gives himself the right of life or death over us, the natives. He allows himself to confiscate our economy... A real scoundrel. "

- "I see..."

-" If only he could leave us in peace...We have asked the Empress of Arcadia for her help with letters, but her conditions are far too restrictive for us...And Raïga's henchmen always manage to intercept our letters to Septem, our ally. It is really a curse. "

After hearing all this, Kira thought of the possibility that the pirates of earlier were probably henchmen of this famous Raïga. But tired of thinking, he got up from the bench.

-"Are you leaving already? "

-"Yeah. I'm busy. "

-"But...you've just arrived on this island, haven't you? Do you only have somewhere to go and sleep?"

-"I don't think so. I will see. "

-"If you have nowhere to sleep, come to [St. Mark's Orphanage]. We will welcome you! By the way, we didn't even introduce ourselves...! "

- "Yeah, yeah..." says Kira, as he leaves, waving goodbye.

Kira left the square and headed towards the Wild Boar Forest, as indicated by the old sister. The more he heard about Raïga, the less reassured he was. He had the vague impression that Seisa would end up making a mistake. That's why he had to hurry up and finish what he had to do and find Seisa.

[Boar Forest]

This small forest was falling down. There were a lot of people here. Almost all of them had chainsaws or axes. Their purpose here was to cut down trees. But there was one really peculiar one, who was bigger and taller than all the others. It was the millennium tree.

There were at least four of them trying to saw it. But nothing helped. Chainsaws. Axes. Saws. Nothing worked. Of the twenty or so people here, at least fifteen were washed up and on the ground.

Kira had just arrived on the scene. He walked towards the large tree, surrounded by four people. He walked slowly. Halfway between him and the tree, three other people had fallen from fatigue.

- "Yo. I'm here on business. "Said Kira.

-"Huh? "

-"I say I came for the job. »"

-"A weakling like you? This is no time for jokes, boy! Don't you see all those grown men lying on the floor? None of them made it! "

-"I am not them. Instead, let's talk about money..."

-" Khahaha! Basically it's 50000 Zans for the one who arrives, but if YOU succeed, it will be 100000! "said the worker, laughing.

-"Stand aside. "Exhorted Kira, while the other guy was still laughing.

Kira waved his hands and moved into position to hit the tree.

And then he gave a right jab.

-"I have bandages, wait. I've got..."

The worker did not finish his sentence. His eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

The tree that no chainsaw, no axe and no saw could cut had just been sliced vertically and horizontally by that weakling Kira Leonhart. And that wasn't all, even before he fell, Kira had sliced him into small pieces that piled up symmetrically in front of him. It was...

-"...Hallucinating..." Said all the exhausted workers, at the same time.

-"What is this monster ? "Wondered the guy who was laughing earlier.

-"Now let's get down to business. "Says Kira.

His money was handed over to him in due form a few dozen minutes later. The people who worked here were really admiring. One of them, Owen, asked Kira a question.

-"Hey, kid. Are you an Astra user?"

-"Me? No."

-"But then...This strength...? "

-"It is purely natural. "

-"It's crazy...I bet you could defeat that scoundrel Raïga with that. "

-"Don't you work for him? "

-"Above all, we are obliged, otherwise our families and homes are threatened... "

-" … "

-"Gah...If only... "

Kira decided to leave the place, having nothing more to do there.

It's very sad for these people. But it's none of my business in any way.

[Ho-Oh Tavern, downtown]

It was already 6 pm.

This bar was full of people. It was really not very crowded, at first sight. There were only weird guys here. And the owner didn't have the merit of being "normal" either. She was dressed very "casual" and had a cigarette. In front of her was a small plate with all the cigarettes she had ever smoked. There were about 20 of them.

They were all making a huge racket.

And in this chaos there was a more or less normal person.

-"Poof... I couldn't find anything... I'm tired of walking..."

Seisa was sitting alone at her table. Obviously, she hadn't ordered anything. She was just slumped on the table. She was sitting on her chair and her chin was on the table.

Then someone entered the bar. Everyone was silent.