A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 3 - Part 16

I sighed in dismay as I realized that some things hadn't changed.

By this time, the sun was already setting over the horizon. It was almost time to return to the mansion, a journey I wouldn't be part of because I'd have to prepare for the climax of the third arc.

"Who are you looking for?" An elderly woman peeked out cautiously.

"Do you have a granddaughter with red hair and green eyes?" I instantly went into professional mode.

She grunted softly at the reason for the visit, but slowly nodded her head in confirmation. Her old, wrinkled hands held the half-open door with a visible tremble, as if determined to protect her home from a possible threat.

"... What do you want?"

"We're detectives. We've been tasked with locating and recovering a highly dangerous object that was last seen at Diane's workplace."

"Don't call her that! That's what they call her in that filthy place!"

"I apologize, ma'am. I didn't mean to be rude, but I don't know your granddaughter's real name."

The old woman looked into my eyes searching for something, probably wondering if she could trust me.

"She-"

"Grandma? Who are you talking to?"

A young voice came from inside the house, and the girl I was looking for entered the scene. Her appearance was just as described, with a few minor details that I discovered as I observed her: there was a scar on her cheek, much less noticeable than the one on her neck; her medium-length hair was tied back in a bun.

The girl looked at her grandmother, then at Emilia, and then at me.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Mister Sex, nice to meet you." I extended my hand, using fake names to protect our identities. "This is Miss Orgasm."

Emilia jumped when I suddenly called her a fake name, but since she had no idea what the word 'orgasm' meant, she just nodded along.

"Mr. Sex and Miss Orgasm?" The girl barely contained her laughter. "I see. In that case, you can call me Diane."

Diane smiled and shook my hand, amused by my introduction.

"How can I help you?"

With a little persuasion (money), we got the friendly Diane to invite us in to talk about what she had seen and done.

"Yesterday was a difficult day. I had a problematic client."

"What happened?"

"He was a sadist, or a violent man; it doesn't matter, the point is that he was hitting me. I didn't say anything at first, because it had been tolerable, but when it got more intense, I told him he had to calm down or we wouldn't do anything more, and I would also report him to the guards."

"I guess that didn't help much..."

"No, it didn't. The guy went crazy and tried to strangle me, but then a man showed up and saved me. He stopped the jerk and got him out of my room."

That made me lean anxiously in my seat. Diane took this as a cue to continue the story and went on.

"Right after that, the two of them started fighting. Then, the man who helped me dropped a strange object: it was metal, some kind of tube with strange protrusions and a handle. It looked like a-"

I raised my hand to stop her. My heart had begun to beat faster at the discovery of a new clue.

"No need to go on, I know exactly what you're talking about. That's the lost item." I explained. "Did you see if anyone picked it up?"

"Yeah."

Diane provided me with a physical description that was as complete as her memory allowed. I thanked her and rewarded her valuable input with... that's right, money!

My wallet had been emptying at an alarming rate since I set foot in the royal capital. This kingdom really needed a new government.

Or maybe I needed to take better care of my finances.

"Well, now we know what the guy who took the murder weapon looks like." I said with a mixture of excitement and annoyance, since the hardest part was still to come. "We just need to track him down."

"But... There's no more time, it's time to return to the mansion."

Emilia gave me the bad news with a pained expression, as she was aware of my emotional involvement in this case.

"Ah, that's right..."

We had reached the entrance of the inn. This was the moment to talk to her.

"Sorry for saying it until now, but I'm going to stay-"

"Lady Emilia and Leandro... I was waiting for you."

I became worried when Roswaal appeared in front of us, speaking with an unusually serious tone.

"Did something happen?" I frowned, preparing for anything.

The clown nodded slowly, looking at me with an almost accusatory severity.

"I just heard that Miss Anastasia Hoshin was murdered."