Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 162

『 Translator – Divinity 』

“Next Friday? I was planning to go to the atelier that day since I don’t have classes, but I can postpone it if it’s something urgent.”

Damian’s face brightened at Lilliana’s reply.

“Then would you like to go to a banquet with me?”

“A banquet?”

“It’s a victory banquet for Lebe, for those who participated in the war. I… so…” Damian continued with a slightly awkward expression.

“My superior… told me to bring a partner if I had one…”

“Aha.” Lilliana nodded in understanding.

“Okay. You accompanied me to the beach, so of course, I should accompany you this time.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Damian quickly waved his hand, worried that he was burdening Lilliana, but she shrugged and replied.

“It’s okay. I think it’ll be fun. The only banquets I’ve attended were the graduation banquet at the high school academy and the university entrance banquet… Let’s see… What should I wear? It has to be formal, but I don’t have any suitable clothes.”

Damian suggested to Lilliana, who was muttering to herself.

“Then shall we go shopping tomorrow?”

“Shopping?”

“Yes, I was thinking of getting some fall clothes ready anyway.”

“Okay, okay!” Lilliana spun around in place.

“Yay! Shopping! Thank you so much for taking me, Damian!”

“You can buy clothes anytime.”

“But we’re choosing clothes for a special occasion. It’s different from ordinary shopping.”

Seeing Lilliana so excited, Damian wondered if it was really okay to take her.

He had no intention of showing off by introducing Lilliana to others. But it was obvious that people would be curious about Lilliana and try to talk to her. Just thinking about it made him feel tired.

Still, seeing Lilliana’s excitement at the prospect of escaping her boring routine, he thought it wouldn’t be so bad.

Honestly, he was hurt that Lilliana was acting as if nothing had happened between them, completely ignoring it.

So this was… kind of like asking her on a date… but…

She seemed genuinely focused on shopping.

“Ah, let’s take brother Casey too. Have you seen his wardrobe? I’ve never seen such an empty wardrobe! No wonder he wears similar clothes every day…”

So, if Lilliana had considered it a date, she wouldn’t have said that.

“Well… that’s not a bad idea.”

Damian turned his head away from Lilliana and clicked his tongue.

“Then I’ll go mail the letter and let Casey know.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Lilliana smiled brightly. Damian left the house, smacking his lips, which felt strangely bitter.

***

The next day, someone from ‘Tinkle’s Encyclopedia’ came to ‘Rabbit’s Garden’ early in the morning and called Damian out.

When he went down to the cafe, he saw a man with graying hair sticking out in all directions, wearing a shabby suit and drinking the cold soda the cafe owner had given him.

Damian approached him, with Casey and Lilliana trailing behind.

“Raspberry juice…”

“Yes, three hundred hirks a glass!”

The informant greeted them with a slight nod as they sat down across from him.

“I’m Freeman. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

Damian cut to the chase and asked, “So… what information are you selling?”

He looked at Freeman with suspicion.

“This is regarding your previous request, which we found yesterday,” Freeman said with a confident look, placing a photo on the table.

In the photo, a man with black hair and green eyes was standing among a crowd. Compared to the people around him, he wasn’t tall and didn’t have much flesh on his face.

He looked to be in his late 40s or early 50s, but considering that his sunken eyes could make him look older, he might be younger than he appeared.

“This is Seidel Luriantz.”

Damian examined the photo carefully and then handed it to Casey.

Casey nodded and said, “That’s him.”

Casey knew very little about Seidel. That’s why they had hired an informant, but the results were quite late, considering they had made the request a while ago.

It was because Seidel had been hiding his tracks. Hadn’t Soliel said that investigating a wizard was one of the most difficult things to do? But ‘Tinkle’s Encyclopedia’ was quite competent and had succeeded in obtaining information about Seidel.

Freeman began to spill the details about Seidel’s identity.

“Seidel Luriantz. 49 years old. Born in a rural village called Gorz in the northern region, from a long line of wizards. He was married and had a daughter, but divorced and raised his daughter alone. However, his daughter passed away four years ago at the age of fifteen. Oh dear. But for some reason, he joined Marquis Sutton immediately after losing his daughter. And it seems that information about Mr. Casey was leaked to them after Seidel Luriantz joined Marquis Sutton. Though I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or if Seidel Luriantz was involved.”

Casey blinked at his words.

“Information about me? So that’s where the leak came from four years ago? I was wondering how they found out about me. They wouldn’t talk even when I tortured them.”

Freeman shrugged at Casey’s bewildered question.

“The story of a salamander becoming the companion of an alchemist was the first since Oracis, so it was shocking enough to cause a stir even among those quiet spirits. Perhaps they stumbled upon it while searching for a salamander’s power to infuse into Charlotte.”

“Oh…”

“Well, it seems like you already know how information about Miss Lilliana got to them, so I won’t bother explaining it again. It’s true that they found out while contacting Pascal Gnome in Kelta.”

“That’s why I warned her… Pascal is an idiot,” Casey muttered regretfully, and Lilliana gave a wry smile.

“Ah, and about this man’s daughter. We obtained a photo.”

Freeman pulled out another photo from his pocket. Damian and Casey gasped as they saw the person in the photo.

“Her name is Dorothy Luriantz.”

The girl in the photo was a beauty with long, curly black hair and reddish-brown eyes. Although the hair and eye color were different, Damian and Casey recognized the face.

“Dorothy…” Casey muttered in bewilderment. Damian felt nauseous.

Seeing their negative reactions, Lilliana looked back and forth between them with a curious expression.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“This man’s daughter and the golem called Dorothy have the same face. The only differences are the hair and eye color…”

At Casey’s words, Lilliana’s face twisted slightly.

“So this man… made a golem in the image of his daughter?”

Lilliana was disgusted. It seemed like they were doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

“It seems that way, doesn’t it? He’s making golems that look exactly like his daughter,” Freeman said meaningfully, and Casey nodded.

“Seidel created this golem to counter my power. He even calls them Dorothy type golems.”

“That’s truly creepy.”

Freeman also frowned.

“Do you have any idea why Seidel joined Marquis Sutton?”

“Seidel Luriantz isn’t interested in political struggles like republicanism or monarchy. So he probably doesn’t really intend to overthrow the republic and restore the monarchy. It seems like there must have been some kind of deal with Marquis Sutton, but as you know, investigating wizards is quite tricky, so I’m not sure about that.”

“Hmm…”

Damian carefully examined the photo of Dorothy Luriantz and said, “Please investigate what kind of deal Seidel Luriantz made with Marquis Sutton as soon as possible.”

“We’re already looking into that. And about the place where I found Seidel Luriantz, it seems to be a place he frequents, whether it’s a hideout or his home.”

“What’s the address you found?” Damian asked.

Freeman answered without hesitation, “66 Drut Street, Etro district. He was going in and out of that place. I tried to sneak in, but inside that house…”