THE DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS

Next morning, Ashbroad Town:

Rem and Niko were wandering the streets early in the morning.

"Niko, do you want something to eat?"
"No, I don't feel like it."
"Oh, come on... I'm going to buy something to eat anyway."
"Okay, you go eat. I'll walk around."
"Okay."

Niko slowly walked away while Rem headed toward a nearby hotel down the street. The girl who had been spying on him the previous night was still following him. She watched him without any expression, glancing around now and then to make sure no one was watching her, before continuing to trail after Rem.

"I will find out what kind of person he is....."

She told herself.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few days ago, Dark Dimension:

The Dark Dimension was nothing like its name suggested. It was a beautiful place, but a place without day — only night. There was no planet, nothing but the realm itself. At its center stood a huge palace, and inside the royal chamber, the girl knelt before an immense throne. She looked very different — her skin was purple, and she bore inhuman features like horns and fangs. The throne was guarded by countless soldiers, glowing faintly purple, their presence almost soulless. Upon the throne sat a humanoid figure, his form obscured by a powerful purple light radiating from his body and the space around him. He was none other than the King of Darkness — the creator of this dimension and the ruler of countless universes.

"Sylvia....."

The figure spoke, his voice intimidating and demonic, echoing through the chamber.

"....my daughter, are you ready to go?"
"........Yes, Father."

Sylvia replied, her voice trembling.

"You are fully aware of your mission, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Let me explain once more. Every universe has someone whose influence shapes the entire universe around them. We can simply call them the 'main character' of that world. As you know, whenever we've tried to conquer a universe, that world's main character has caused me great pain. Do you remember Cederic Clymont? The hero of the previous world we tried to conquer? That brat caused me far too much trouble. My intention was only to conquer that universe, but he and his allies refused to kneel before us — which left me no choice but to erase their universe entirely. I don't want any of that to repeat itself during our next conquest. Find and eliminate the main character of our next target universe before he becomes a thorn in our side once we begin the conquest."
"Understood."
"Take this....."

A glowing, dark-blue crystal floated from the Dark King's hand and settled into Sylvia's palm.

"This device will help you find the main character. You will lose all of your powers the moment you arrive in that world, since mana doesn't exist there, but I've stored some of my own power within it, so you may draw on it whenever you need to. It will also help maintain your disguise as a human. I don't know how accurately it will work, but it should help, at least a little. I know I'm asking a great deal of you, but in matters like this, I can only trust my own children — and your brothers are both far too hot-headed for something requiring subtlety. That's why I've chosen you. Now go. Make the Dark Dimension proud. Prove to me that you, too, are worthy of becoming a warlord, like your brothers."
"As you wish, Father."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rem walked out of the hotel after eating. He still had no idea what to do with the money in his hands. Meanwhile, Sylvia continued to follow him.

(Thought)
"The crystal Father gave me says he's the chosen one. But I doubt it. Do I need to kill him now? No... I don't want to kill an innocent person. I'm not even interested in Father's conquests. But I can't oppose him either. What should I do..... Anyway, just finish the job as quickly as possible. There's no point in lingering in this world....."

Sylvia glanced back to check if anyone was following her.

(Thought)
"Thankfully, that merchant's men aren't after me yet, so I still have time....."

Suddenly, Rem sensed someone following him. He turned to check. Sylvia startled slightly but kept her composure, pretending not to notice — but Rem walked straight toward her.

"Hey, who are you?"
"Wha... what? I am....."
"I've noticed you've been following me since early morning. What do you want?"

Sylvia hesitated for a moment, then recalled the plan she'd already prepared, and spoke.

"You're Rem Worthswords, the famous detective, aren't you?"

Rem's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh, yes, I am. So I've become popular enough that people can pick me out of a crowd? That's good. Anyway, what do you want?"
"I need your help."
"A case or something? My payment is....."
"No, it's more like...... could we talk somewhere else?"
"What? Why? Well, fine, let's go."

They walked to a small nearby shop and sat on a bench. Sylvia pulled something out of a small bag.

"Look at this....."

Rem's eyes widened at the sight.

"Hey, that's a diamond! Is it real? It looks incredibly expensive. I've never seen anything this valuable in my whole life. How did you get it?"
"This diamond is my family's private treasure. My ancestors swore to protect it centuries ago. My father passed it down to me, telling me to protect it with my life."
"I see. So?"
"A few days ago, a rich merchant in our town asked me to sell it to him. He offered a huge sum, but I refused — I couldn't part with something so precious to my family. Then he sent his men after me to take it by force, so I was forced to flee my town with the diamond. His men are still chasing me."
"I see. That does sound like a tense situation. But why are you telling me all this? What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to help me. I want you to save me."
"What? Save you? I'm a detective, that's not my job. You should go to an official or an authority and sue the merchant. I can't help you with this."
"But when I arrived in this town, I heard you were a kind, brave man who helps people by solving their cases for cheap and takes on even dangerous jobs."
"What? Kind? Brave? Me?"

Rem smirked awkwardly.

"She's here! I found her!"

Rem turned toward the voice. A group of about eight men stood there.
Rem rose from the bench while Sylvia moved behind him. He tried to hold an intimidating expression, though it looked painfully unnatural.

"Hey, who are you people?"

Rem asked, forcing an awkwardly deep voice.
One of the men stepped forward.

"We work for Stillspear, the great merchant of Venuce."
"What? Merchant of Venuce? Never heard of him — though the name sounds oddly familiar. Anyway, doesn't matter. What do you want?"
"We don't even know who you are, and we have no business with you. We just want that girl... actually, we don't even want her. We just want the diamond in her hand."
"Oh, if you want her, you ca—"
"This brat is annoying. Hey, girl, who is this guy?"

One of the men asked Sylvia.

"Oh..... he's..... he's my boyfriend."

Sylvia replied awkwardly.

"What....!"

Rem's eyes and mouth went wide, and he froze.

"When did I become your boyfriend? I just met you."

Rem turned back toward the men.

"Hey, guys, I don't even know........."

But the men were already glaring at both of them.

"Catch them both!"

The man in the center shouted.
Rem bolted without looking back.

"Hey, take me with you too....."

Sylvia ran after him. They fled together while the merchant's men gave chase.

"Hey, why would you say something like that to them? Now I'm dragged into this trouble too."
"Forgive me. I had no other choice. Let's think of a way to escape."

Rem and Sylvia ran toward the nearby market. The men followed close behind.

"Let's split up. Just watch what I'm about to do."
"What?"

Rem ducked into some of the small shops in the market. Since he knew every shortcut in this place inside and out, while the men had no idea about the layout, several of them crashed straight into shop stalls trying to chase him. Rem hurled vegetables and other things back at them as he ran.

"Ahhh, this bastard!"

The men screamed, teeth clenched.

"Hey, Rem, what are you doing?"

A familiar shop owner asked, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, sorry, Uncle To, I'll pay for the damages later. I'm in a rush, see you later!"

Rem tried to flee after that, but one of the men kicked him, sending him crashing into a wooden table outside a shop, and he fell to the ground.

"Aaaahhh......"

(Thought)
"Beating me up for no reason? Now they're just annoying me too much, and I can't stand it anymore."

Rem got up, cracked his knuckles, and grabbed a broken table leg lying on the ground. All eight men closed in around him. A crowd had gathered in the market to watch. Rem took a deep breath and steeled his nerves as the men closed in.
Using the wooden stick like a staff, Rem fought back. He slammed it into one man's jaw, knocking loose some of his teeth, and the man screamed in pain. The others, enraged, tried to close in on him, but Rem blocked their attacks with the stick — jabbing it into one man's stomach, twisting another's punch aside by catching his arm with it, then smashing it into the leg of a man charging at him.
The crowd kept watching.

"Hey, isn't that Rem?"
"Yeah, I've never seen him fight before."
"He's actually amazing. Rem's on another level."

Some slum kids in the crowd cheered, clearly enjoying the fight. By then, Rem had nearly overpowered all the men. Even he wasn't sure how he'd managed it. He looked down at the stick in his hand, marveling.

"This is kinda good."

he muttered to himself.

At that moment, Sylvia grabbed his arm and pulled him along, and they ran together down the street while the men resumed the chase. Rem and Sylvia darted through a narrow gap between buildings and hid there, both of them panting hard.

"You know, that was my first time fighting. Or maybe the first time I've fought that many people at once. And you got me dragged into it for a reason I'm not even part of."

Sylvia didn't respond, only stared down at the ground.

"Hey, Rem."

Rem startled at the sound of a familiar voice and turned toward it.

"Oh, Niko!? Where have you been all this time? How did you find me?"
"With a girl for the first time, Rem?"

Niko whispered.

"First time? I mean, you've been with me for a long time, so this isn't the first time."

Rem whispered back.

"I mean someone closer to your age. She's much closer to your age than I am. Maybe the same age as you."
"Oh, maybe..... but why bring that up now? That's not the problem right now. Give me an idea to escape those goons."
"What? What help can I give? Like you always say, you're the detective. Figure it out yourself."
"What?"

Just then, Rem and Sylvia heard the men's voices closing in and kept running, searching for another safe place. While Niko stood there watching them running.

"Hey, I know some paths in this town no one else knows. Follow me."

Rem said, and both of them rushed through a series of hidden alleys until they finally reached a quiet, safe spot.

"I think we're safe here. They shouldn't be able to find us."
"Tha... thank you."
"But how long can we hide? And why should I even be hiding? I haven't done anything wrong."
"........I'm sorry for troubling you......"
"I mean, stop troubling me! Go bother some official or authority. They can help you. I can't."

Sylvia was silent for a moment.

"I asked you first because I thought.... I thought you were a hero, after hearing so much about you from the people of this town."
"A hero? Me? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but..... I'm not the heroic type at all. Maybe I help people, solve cases, but it's all for my own benefit. I only do it because I get paid. I'm no saint who'll throw himself into danger to save a girl he just met today."

Sylvia looked down.

"I see...... so you're the type who lets others build a hero's image of him, even though you're nothing like one."
"........ I don't care what you think of me, but I can't help you anymore. Take a right from here, then the second left. Go straight from there, and it'll lead you to Graywood Forest — you can slip away without those men noticing."

Rem began to walk away while Sylvia stood there in silence. Then a thought struck him.

(Thought)
"Wait, Finn! He's the richest man in town, with connections to plenty of wealthy people in other towns too. Maybe he could help....."

Rem turned back toward Sylvia.

"Sylvia, take the route I told you and get out of here. Since you've already dragged me into this mess, let me see if I can get us both out of it."

Sylvia looked at him for a moment, then rushed off down the path he'd described. Rem sprinted the other way and deliberately let himself be spotted by the men chasing them.

"Hey, you brats! Catch me if you can!"

He shouted at them.

"How dare he!"

They all took off after him. Rem knew the streets well enough to keep ahead, weaving through shortcuts only he knew, with the men still on his heels. His goal was Finn's house, and he ran as fast as he could to get there. At last, he reached it, burst through the door in a rush, and stopped just inside, panting hard, drenched in sweat.
Finn and his family were in the middle of lunch. Finn startled, bewildered by Rem's sudden arrival, while his family stared at him, clearly unimpressed.

"Rem? Why are you here all of a sudden? Why do you look so exhausted? Want to join us for lunch?"

Finn's family did not look pleased at the offer. They glared at Finn, annoyed.

"Finn, I need your help....."

At that moment, the men burst into the house as well.

"Finn, these goons are trying to beat me up."
"Goons? Who are you calling goons? We're not goons!"

One of the men stepped forward, then suddenly noticed Finn.

"Wait, you said Finn? This is... oh, this is Lord Finn!"

All the men bowed at once. Rem stared, stunned.

"Wait, do I know you people?"

Finn asked them.

"We work for Lord Stillspear."
"Ah, Stillspear......"

Finn turned to Rem.

"Rem, these are men working for my friend Stillspear, the great merchant of Venuce. Why were they chasing you?"
"Oh, these men were after a girl carrying a diamond. They tried to steal it from her, so she asked for my help, and I stepped in."

The workers' eyes widened at that.

"Stealing the diamond from the girl? You idiot, what do you take us for? We're not thieves. That girl was the thief."
"What?!"

Rem hadn't expected that at all. He froze, utterly stunned.

"She stole the diamond from our lord Stillspear. We were chasing her to get it back, and thanks to you, she got away."
"Oh... I'm sorry. Truly sorry. I had no idea. She tricked me....."

Finn burst out laughing at that, then turned to the men.

"Haha, seems my friend Rem made a bit of a mistake here. Please forgive him — he meant no harm. I know him well, and he's a decent man."

The men eyed Rem with clear dislike.

"I see..... but he even fought us and knocked out my tooth....."
"I'll pay for all the damages he caused. Please forgive him and let it go."
"No need for that, Lord Finn. Come on, let's go find the girl."

The men started to leave. Rem cut in.

"Hey, I can help you find her — I'm a detective."
"No need. You've already done more than enough."

Rem gave an awkward, foolish smile.

"By the way, she was heading toward Graywood, so you can catch her there."

The men left.

"Thank you, Finn. If it weren't for you, they would have beaten me half to death."
"No problem, Rem. It wasn't a big deal. Mistakes happen. Honestly, even I might've helped a pretty girl without asking too many questions."

Finn laughed like a fool, while his wife stared daggers at him.

"Hey, Finn, your wife is staring at you."

Rem whispered.

"Anyway, let me get going. Thanks again for the help — I'm off."
"Sure. But Rem, I didn't know you could fight. How did you manage to take on all of them at once?"
"Oh... that's nothing. Honestly, even I don't know how."

Rem walked away from Finn's house.

(Thought)
"That girl! I had no idea she was a thief. I can't believe I risked myself to help a thief. Wait — if she's a thief......"

Rem checked his pocket. The pouch of gold coins was still there, but it felt lighter than before — more than half the money was gone.

"That damn girl! She tricked me! I'm not letting her get away with this!"

To be continued.........