Two horses passed by the research laboratory. The horses that had been heading to their usual stable hesitated for a moment, but the skilled riders quickly led them beyond the research facility.
There was a hitching post in front of a small hunting cabin. After tying her horse, Esperanza looked at the cabin, then tilted her head to glance sideways at Cider's face as he dismounted.
This was the cabin Cider's father had used. Since he said he had been dragged along on hunting trips, Cider must have visited often too, but he seemed to have no interest in the cabin. Esperanza turned her head back toward the cabin.
Meanwhile, Cider, who had tied his horse to the post, watched Esperanza staring intently at the cabin. Her hair, braided loosely into a single strand, swayed in the bitter wind, revealing her reddened, frozen earlobes. Inside the cloak wrapped around her body, he could see leather pants covering her legs and combat boots similar to military boots.
If he were to define the meaning of that outfit in one word, it would be 'vigilance.' Her opponent would be Cyrus. That's why his mood wasn't too bad today.
"It's the hunting cabin my father used."
Esperanza, who had been lost in thought, whipped her head around. Not having expected Cider to speak to her, she briefly moved her lips stupidly. Cider pretended not to notice and continued.
"I don't use it."
"Before, I saw Coleman going in."
Esperanza, who had momentarily wanted to blow everything up, shut her mouth at that point, not wanting to ruin Cider's mood. Cider clicked his tongue as if he understood.
"Coleman had two sons, but they both died young, so he raised my father like a son. That's probably why he's particularly attached to my father."
That was also why Cider generally overlooked Coleman's rude behavior. Even if the butler who mourned his father's death more physically than his own son was annoying and tiresome, he couldn't completely push him away.
"As long as he does his job well, I don't mind him managing my father's cabin as a hobby. There's nothing much inside anyway."
"But there was your mother's bookshelf inside."
"You went in?"
His eyes rolled around. It was an embarrassing story to tell, but there was no need to lie about something like this.
"Yes... secretly. Just a peek. I didn't touch anything."
"Why didn't I know?"
Because that day, she had forgotten to mention it. The reason she forgot was... heat rose to her cheeks.
"It was the day the estate steward came, so I went alone. I wasn't trying to hide it, I just forgot."
Cider responded with a low sound that rumbled in his throat. And instead of digging into why she had forgotten, he changed the subject.
"How did you get in?"
"...I picked the lock with wire."
"Ah. So you know how to do that too."
"When you do hunter work, you end up learning everything. Otherwise, how would I have gotten into Avondale Mansion when it was an abandoned house?"
Somehow a defensive answer came out. It didn't seem like he would scold her for picking the lock of an abandoned house.
"But even if it was an abandoned house, forcing open a locked door isn't like you."
"Normally I wouldn't, of course, but it was a quest."
"Right, if you think it's fake, there's no reason to be moral."
That was the truth. Because she thought it was fake, it was okay if people died and got hurt, if buildings collapsed. She turned away without doing what she could have done. If Cider blamed her for that, Esperanza had nothing to say.
The conversation that had been flowing froze. Before the cold silence became unbearable, it was fortunate that signs of presence came from beyond the bushes. Cyrus's long shadow appeared, pushing through the dry brush. For a moment Esperanza was almost glad to see him, but when she discovered what he was holding, she stopped short.
Cyrus was holding the Golden Claw in his hand.
Even after seeing what happened last time? Was he crazy?
"Put that away right now!"
"It's fine as long as magic power doesn't touch it."
"Then you should put it away even more! Look at the state of that warehouse, do you think the machine inside will be intact?"
All three looked at the warehouse almost simultaneously.
In fact, even calling it a warehouse was generous. The building was half-collapsed, with few intact bricks and wrapped entirely in vines. It was frightening to wonder if they could even enter, or if it would collapse the moment they went in.
Cider had once told her it had become like that due to a typhoon five years ago. Though he said he had been in Nine Holder at the time.
"Um. Then, before we go in."
Esperanza spoke up. While trying hard to hide her feeling of 'wow, this doesn't seem right.' Fortunately, she had something to say.
"Since I met the deal conditions, you have something to say too, right?"
Unable to withstand Esperanza's sharp glare, Cyrus put the Golden Claw into his inventory. He sighed and said:
"Thanks to this, my inventory is a complete mess."
"That's not my problem. So?"
"...The count died inside the research laboratory. That would be preferable. There might be devices that explode if you force open the locked laboratory door."
When she looked back at Cider, he shrugged. He didn't seem inclined to give an answer. Cyrus glanced at Cider and continued in a mechanical tone.
"Originally we planned to kill him, but after coming here, we changed our minds. If the count had cooperated with us, he would have lived."
She recalled the shock of first entering the research laboratory. It wasn't bad compared to 21st-century cutting-edge technology, and sometimes she found herself tilting her head wondering if this side was better.
Technology was quite an important element in the hunter world too. Plus there was the issue of the spacetime machine, so if they could recruit Cider Claiborne alive, it would have been worth modifying their plan. But they hadn't.
"So, according to the original plan, they would come when he's in the research laboratory?"
"Something like that. But dealing with the count isn't a high priority task."
Was it easy, or what? Esperanza glared, feeling offended for no reason. Cyrus quickly continued.
"Right now we're too busy with other work to pay attention. Most importantly... we have reality to deal with. It's a busy time now."
It was a part she hadn't thought of. No wonder the work was proceeding slowly. Daria seemed quite impatient by nature, but for someone like that, there hadn't been any notable moves.
According to Duke Galliston's letter, she was apparently building buildings and recruiting pirates, doing work of sorts, but in the end, wasn't Daria not directly doing anything herself? Buildings are built by workers. The recruited pirates would do what they were told on their own.
"So you're saying that while you're too busy with reality to come over here often, you started long-term projects in the meantime?"
In other words, it was like setting it to auto-battle mode while studying. It was a disappointingly trivial reason.
"Yes. It would have been good if we could handle it quickly, but a new matter arose at just the right time, so we postponed it for several months."
"Does that mean it's safe for now?"
"For the time being, yes. We delegate as much work as possible to people on this side, and come over occasionally to do only what's absolutely necessary. And I can't come over alone without Daria."
Cyrus smiled awkwardly, confessing his incompetence.
"But you should be careful starting from the new year. We'll begin tracking the count then."
Esperanza looked back and forth between the Golden Claw and the research laboratory. But if Daria had already obtained the Golden Claw. And if the main body of that machine was right there.
"Doesn't Daria already know about the research laboratory's existence?"
When she looked back at Cider for confirmation, he let out a light "ah" and said:
"That's how things will turn out."
Cyrus slowly shook his head.
"Daria obtaining the Golden Claw was truly by chance. At that time, she didn't even know how to handle it, and she was in such a panic that she couldn't even remember where she got it. She probably doesn't know even at this time. We only realized that the Golden Claw was merely a component of the spacetime machine after coming here."
It wasn't only because of his inventions that they had wanted to keep Cider alive.
"To summarize, it's safe until the new year. And after the new year, they'll come to the research laboratory?"
"For now, yes. We'll come over occasionally since there's work to do, but we'll return quickly. This is all assuming things proceed the same as the past I know."
With two variables, they couldn't be completely at ease. Still, Esperanza would be by his side...
"Ah. Just in case, I brought the date the count died."
Cyrus pulled out a notebook from his inventory with a stoic face and opened it.
"Daria and I came to this place on February 1st. We sent calling cards to the count's mansion several times, but he wouldn't meet us, so we just barged in on February 7th. After that, we had some urgent business, so we met the count on February 14th."
Cyrus snapped the notebook shut and looked back and forth between Cider and Esperanza. Esperanza blinked blankly and asked:
"And you killed him as soon as you met?"
"Yes. The count's intentions were firm."
That was the end of it. Esperanza felt her chest tighten somehow and examined Cider's expression. As expected, he seemed unaffected. He was even nodding as if he had heard something good.
'I'm the only normal one here.'
She felt frustrated.
"Well. Fine. Shall we go in then?"
Cider pointed at the ruined warehouse and spoke as if he had never been interested in his own death in the first place.
"You're going in?"
"I intended to go in from the beginning."
Cider bowed his head slightly toward Esperanza and continued:
"The research I thought was a failure is actually a success, right? Of course I need to check it out. Any researcher would feel the same way."
The content of his words was casual, but she could feel warmth from his lips brushing her earlobe. Esperanza slowly nodded. Her nape was red like her frozen ear tips in the cold wind. Spotting that sight, a hint of laughter briefly passed through Cider's eyes.
Today he was definitely kind to Esperanza. Not the same as before, but at least he wasn't being sharp. It seemed like a whim, or perhaps he had softened a bit after their ridiculous argument. Either way, it was good for Esperanza.
Cider slowly pulled his lips away from Esperanza's ear and turned his gaze to the rusty door.
"Though the door is locked."
At those words, Esperanza, who had been unconsciously touching her earlobe, approached the door and grasped the lock. She rummaged in her inventory, pulled out wire, inserted it into the lock, and after poking it a few times, the lock quickly opened. However, the rusty lock seemed stuck to the door handle and wouldn't open easily.
"This isn't working well."
At the same time as those words, the lock let out a stiff scream. Esperanza, who had twisted the lock with force, threw what had become nothing more than a rusty piece of metal to the ground. When Cider noticed her trying to wipe her rust-stained hands on her pants, he grabbed her wrist.
"Why?"
Sighing, he wordlessly handed her a handkerchief. Cyrus came up behind them and forced the door open by twisting it. The tattered door opened, and the stagnant air of the past rushed out.