"Mmm…so wut you...mmm…wana know…about em?" Hanna spoke as she shoved a large sandwich into her mouth like it was the end of the world the moment it arrived at our table. The waiter staggered backward, his eyes terrified of the monstrous rate at which Hanna was eating. He looked at me.
"Umm…so you are gonna be able to pay for her and…the priestess behind you…right?" His voice squeaked a little. I turned around; my table, which was covered with several dishes ordered by only Hanna, and the view behind was no better.
The table where Lilas, Sara, and Rinne sat was layered with every dessert item on the menu, all belonging to a single woman stuffing her face. Rinne and Sara stared at Lilas, smiling awkwardly as another waiter, equally baffled, stepped back from their table.
"No need to worry, sir, no matter how much it costs, I will be able to pay," I said, but my words did little to ease the fear in the waiter's eyes.
"I sure hope so," he muttered. "Boss will kill me if you dine and dash."
Sheesh, he could have any less faith in a customer? While I didn't consider Hanna's appetite, I could just charge it to Anya as part of the investigation fee. As for Lilas's case, I pray Claire won't snap the moment I give her the bill once all of this is over.
Rinne leaned back in her chair, sliding closer to me.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
She brought a cup of soda to her lips. "Getting a better spot to listen from. Not everyone has superhuman hearing like you."
"Just don't get in the way." I turned back around to face Hanna. In the short time I spent looking at the other table, Hanna had cleared all the plates in front of her.
EVERY. LAST. ONE.
She brought a napkin to her mouth as she patted it dry.
"Mannnnnnnn, that sure beats eating cup noodles every day. I thank you for the meal, cutie." She winked at me.
Her wink felt less like a compliment and more like an admission that she used me for a free meal. Oh well, you take, and you give, I suppose.
"Is that all you eat?" I asked her.
"Nope, not usually. These girls wouldn't have grown this big otherwise." She pointed to her chest, hidden under the oversized clothing she wore. There was a thud at the back of my chair. "But since Mira bought the place, we've been strapped for cash. At least we are debt-free. I've heard the Void Fangs run around up here as they did in the Lower Layers." Hanna's body shivered. "Those guys are the worst. At least their head macho has strict rules about them trying anything with us."
"What are those rules?"
"Hmm….Mira said something about the gang members not being allowed to attack unprovoked. They also can't use force to do what they want on other people unless they break a clause in their contracts. For a gang, they are pretty organized. They kept us busy by breaking the bones of a few troublemakers. But now that we are up here, I doubt we'll see much of them anymore." Hanna shrugged her shoulders with a relieved smile on her face.
So Henry and his men are only allowed to attack if provoked or if someone breaks a rule. She's right; they are rather organized.
"So, back to the main topic."
"Ah, right, Ritair!" She smiled softly after speaking his name. "What do you want to know about him?"
She was wide-eyed with a slight blush on her face. Even though it was easy to tell what she was currently thinking, there was still not a single glint of life in her green eyes. Mira told me that she's been that way since the day she found her, but I feel like there's more to that story.
"So, how did you and Ritair meet?"
"What are you, a gossiping housewife?" Rinne muttered from behind.
"Ritair and I?" Hanna held her cheeks as she squirmed in her seat. "I have Mira to thank for that. She and I got into a little fight, and I stormed off late at night. While I wandered the city, I bumped into Ritair, spilling his food all over him. He was too handsome; I felt my heart yearn for him the moment I laid eyes on him. Instead of yelling at me to watch where I was going, he offered me a hand, and we spoke on a bench. He cheered me up and brought me to the Brass Light where he later…well, let's stop there." Her face broke out into a deep blush.
"What a creep," Rinne muttered. "Taking advantage of someone while they were upset…"
I agreed with her, but it wasn't my place to speak for someone else's heart. Maybe she truly believed that he was the man of her dreams. If so, who were we to pry her apart?
But the problem is what came after. Mira said that she came home covered in blood, which means that was the time frame between Hanna's real feelings towards Ritair and the start of his control.
"So how did he cheer you up?" I asked.
Hanna tilted her head. "Why is that important?"
"I want to know about the opportunity I missed out on."
"Hehe," Hanna giggled.
There was another thud at the back of my chair.
"Looks like that girl of yours doesn't like that idea much," Hanna said softly, the smile on her face fading. "But that's a secret!" She stuck out her tongue as she held a hand to her chest. Her hollow eyes looked more distant than before.
Well, that was a bust, but it seems like there's a disconnect between what she was saying and how she really felt. I wondered if I could pry some more information out of her.
"So why were you and Mira fighting that night?" I asked.
"Oh, now you're curious about Mira? And here I thought you only had eyes for me." A smile returned to her face as she leaned a little forward, resting her head in her hands. "I think she's overprotective of me. I don't mean that meanly; I love Mira even more than I love Ritair, but I think she has a serious distaste for men. I understand she loves me too, but I want something more, so I told her I wanted a child. She got really, really, really mad."
Their fight about Hanna wanting a child forced her to run off. So before the fight, Hanna was longing for something. Then she met Ritair. So far, every girl who has been his victim had some kind of loneliness they were facing. Which means he somehow learns of this and uses it to get close to the girls. Then they spend a night together, and he slashes them.
Hanna might be a bit of an airhead, but Mira has a good head on her shoulders; she'd never allow Hanna to fall for the first guy she met.
"Hey Hanna, what were you doing before Mira found you?"
Hanna's expression darkened. She lifted her head and looked around the restaurant. After circling the room once with her eyes, she turned back to me with a forced smile. "I don't see how that's important."
A second bust. This time there was a little more information provided. What if Ritair knew about it and blackmailed her into luring her into the Brass Light? I had nothing concrete to base that claim on, but something deep within me told me something about her situation wasn't adding up.
"Last question."
"…" Hanna stared at me without reacting.
"What color is blood?"
"Red," she answered. "But for a while now I have been having difficulties seeing blood. I know it's red. I remember it being red. But…now I can't see it. It's hard to tell Mira this. I fear that she might tell me to leave because I no longer can see blood. Honestly, I'm scared. What if I can't see something else? What if Mira finds out?" She took a deep breath to calm herself down.
So even though she's unable to perceive blood, she still understands it's there. That's unique among the victims. Well, she is a doctor in training, so the chances of overriding her ability to understand it were nearly impossible. But that information was only another undeniable piece of proof that she was cut by his blade.
"Wait…" Hanna looked straight at me. "Do you know anything about this? A way to undo this? I feel so useless trying to stop a person's bleeding, fearing that I might miss and wrap the wrong spot."
"…" A cure was something that nobody knew for a fact. The previous victims, the first generation, were all killed. We have no way of knowing if the artifact's power can be undone. "Not really, I just know a few people who have the same issue."
Hanna's expression darkened a bit as she leaned back. She looked to be lost in thought. Then she smiled, but it was hollow, just like her eyes.
"You're not thinking this is related to Ritair, are you?" She spoke in a serious tone, without any of her earlier energy. "Mira said you were some kind of detective investigating the cult…and you've been asking me plenty of questions about Ritair and now about me. You aren't trying to accuse us of having any affiliation with them, are you?"
Guess she can be serious sometimes. "No," I mustered the best reassuring smile I could. Hanna blinked a few times. "I honestly just wanted to know about Ritair. He seems like he's been affected by the same sickness as you, as I have heard rumors he's unable to see blood."
"Really!?" Hanna stood up, slamming her hands onto the table. "Come on, I'll take you to him. If you can solve our problem, then I can help Mira out more."
"You are kinda messed up," Lilas said, wiping some chocolate off her mouth. "I can't tell who's worse, you or Ritair."
"Yeah…" Rinne stood up, looking away from me. "You lie a little too easily. It makes me doubt most of what you say now."
"Yeah…especially after last night." Lilas glared at me. Her comment resulted in another thud to the back of my chair, this time much harder.
How I lie is none of their concern. All that matters right now is that we just got a free ticket to Ritair, or at least close enough to him.
"Hmm…?" Lilas let out a sound as she closed her eye. She seemed to be concentrating on something. She tapped the ground with her heel in coded messages. Lilas reopened her eye and looked at me. "Looks like that hostess lady from your group never returned to the chapel."