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The crimson moon hangs up in the night starry sky cascading a blood-red glow in the dimly lit room. Blazing Danitz—with his pale blonde hair, ocean blue eyes and local Bayam clothing—sat in the reclining chair with an exasperated look as he read a magazine about pirates.
Dogshit! This is absolutely wrong! We pirates do not— Danitz’s thoughts were cut off when he heard the familiar twist of the door knob. A tall, stone-faced man with a cut face and sharp facial features entered the room. His eyes observed the room before landing on the pirate, sending a shiver down his spine. Danitz turned his gaze, already knowing who it was. I mean, who else would enter the inn room of the crazy adventurer that doesn't flinch even when facing Demigods and Angels?
Gehrman Sparrow looked straight back at him with a cold expression. He broke the stare and took off his coat, hanging it by the coat rack along with his half-top hat. Usually Danitz would retract his gaze when the crazy adventurer even slightly glanced at him, but tonight something was off…
The more Danitz stared at Gehrman the more he started to notice something was definitely off!
Then he smelled it.
At first, he thought he was imagining it. But the scent stayed.
He took a sniff to double check.
His mouth turned agape and his whole body stiffened, the magazine on his hands almost falling to the floor. Thankfully he caught it in time—with him almost falling to the floor too… There was no doubt on what the smell was, he was a Beyonder from the Hunter pathway, his senses were greatly enhanced.
Danitz shook his head, shock still lingering on his facial expression. The smell he had sniffed was the scent of roses! Of course, the scent was common, especially with the rich folks. If that was the case, he would've ignored it—hell he wouldn't even bat an eye! But no, the scent was coming from none other than the crazy adventurer Gehrman Sparrow!
And it was quite alluring too…
It wasn't just the scent that turned Danitz’s mind into a frenzy; Gehrman's hair was slightly messier than usual, a few strands sticking out here and there, the very slightly pink blush that was displayed on his cheeks, and his clothes were way too wrinkled that even a normal person would notice it!
Danitz may not be from the Spectator pathway but it doesn't take a genius to not connect the dots.
I guess Gehrman had quite the ‘hunting’ session…Guess even the crazy adventurer gets lonely sometimes, Danitz sheepishly grinned at him, giving him a look only his fellow men would know.
He was about to say something along the lines of; looks like someone had a busy night, or fun night? But one glare from Gehrman Sparrow immediately made Danitz swallow his words. Suddenly the magazine wasn't as irritating as before, he turned his focus there and continued his reading session from earlier—with the magazine upside down…
It wasn't until he heard the click from the master bedroom did Danitz lower the magazine and look behind him where the master bedroom was. Heaving a sigh of relief, he slumped down the reclining chair and put a hand at his rapidly beating heart to calm it down.
He looked at the magazine on his other hand and noticed his mistake…
…
A few nights had passed since ‘Gehrman's hunting session’(as Danitz secretly calls it), Gehrman and Danitz had returned to Wind of Azure Inn after a long day of claiming bounty off of wanted pirates’ heads. Danitz originally didn't want to come along, but as much as he hates to admit it—he feels way safer with Gehrman around than his life threatened, especially with his bounty rising every time he makes an appearance in public.
Both the pirate and crazy adventurer stood at the doorway in a daze. Sitting in the middle of the table was a box tied neatly with a yellow ribbon and a note. Danitz stood there warily. As a Sequence 7 Pyromaniac, he should have gotten a premonition if there was a trap laid in their inn, but he didn't. This could only mean two things: it was set by someone of higher sequence or someone with a powerful faction behind them.
It didn't even cross his mind that perhaps it was just a normal box with a gift inside because who would do that?!
He clenched his fist then opened it forming a fireball, ready to launch it in case of an assault. But Gehrman just muttered something incoherent before walking towards the box.
“Y-you’re just walking towards it?!” Gehrman ignored Danitz’s question as he picked up the box, then the note.
This dude cannot be THAT crazy?! Whatever, if he gets ambushed I'm running out of here!
Gehrman read the note as the cautious Danitz stood by the doorframe. For a moment, Danitz thought he saw Gehrman's features softened but quickly turned back to its normal, stoic, and cold expression.
D-did I see that correctly? my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, right? Danitz wiped his eyes with his sleeves.
The adventurer untied the yellow ribbon and opened the box. A meaty, rich, and savoury aroma wafted filled the room. A familiar and hungry-inducing smell almost everyone was familiar with—the smell of a freshly baked Desi Pie!
Seeing how Gehrman was still standing and wasn't dead, Danitz walked over towards him. “Huh? Is that a love letter—” Danitz blurted out before covering his mouth with his hands. It was supposed to be for his inner monologue, but he unknowingly said it out loud. Gehrman shot him a glare. Danitz straightened his back and looked away. Don't look at me, I'm not here! Pretend I'm not here!
Gehrman sighed before closing the box and tying it back up with the yellow ribbon. Danitz was able to take a quick glance at the letter; it was written in a nice and cursive handwriting. But he was unable to read the contents before Gehrman took the box and letter to his room. Only after glaring at Danitz was so hard he felt his soul return to the kingdom of the Lord of Storm.
There's no way this crazy lunatic can actually pull someone…
…
“I'm telling you, Anderson! There is something going on with that lunatic!” Danitz flagged his hands in mid air, spilling a few drops of beer on the table as Anderson Hood stared at him with a somewhat shocked and amused face.
“Hmm,” Anderson hummed in response as he sipped his beer, “isn't that normal?”
Danitz, who was chugging down his beer, choked at Anderson’s response. He pounded his fist to his chest before looking at Anderson like he, too, had gone crazy, “Dogshit! It's the Gehrman Sparrow we're talking about! What kind of lunatic would…” Danitz slowly stopped whatever he was about to say. Pairs of eyes from every direction stared at him, everyone seemed to stop what they were doing—even the bartender, who usually stayed out of any funny business, halted polishing the glass cup and eyed him. The atmosphere seemed to tighten like Danitz had just cursed the whole bar.
Dogshit, is his name taboo now?!
The silence seemed to stretch on before resuming to its usual clinking and clanking from the bar and chit-chattering from the customers but everyone moved in careful motions and talked in hushed tones, scared that the slightest sound above the normal syllables would summon the man they feared the most.
“The hell…” Danitz whispered and gulped.
“You should keep your voice low. You don't want Gehrman Sparrow to find out you were gossiping about him, no?” Anderson pointed out.
“I wasn't gossiping! I was just sharing my observations!” Danitz crossed his arms, defending himself.
Anderson simply shook his head and said, “I think you're too focused on Gehrman himself but not the person he is allegedly seeing.”
“...What are you—” Danitz’s eyes lit up. He looked at the man sitting across from him, and stared back in response. They seemed to reach a mutual understanding with each other.
Anderson chuckled, “We already know Gehrman's a crazy and cold-blooded adventurer, but what about the lucky or not-so-lucky person? Now that's more interesting.”
“For someone to be able to soothe that frozen heart, she must be quite the charmer.” Danitz nodded.
“Or it could be a he.” Anderson intersected.
“Ha—” Danitz’s words got caught in his throat as he froze in place. They didn't really know Gehrman's Sparrows sexual orientation(and they highly doubt Gehrman would tell them), although same-sex relationships were rare, it wasn't forbidden either.
Seeing Danitz speechless, Anderson let out a loud cackle before taking another sip from his beer.
“You're not as slow as I thought you were.”
Danitz was about to rebut when the doors of the bar suddenly opened. A man and woman duo walked in and took a seat near the front door. The lady had long red-wine hair tied up in a high pony tail and the man's hair couldn't be seen due to the top hat he was wearing. Danitz couldn't size up the duo clearly due to his bad angle.
Danitz looked at Anderson, his Danger Intuition told him the two new customers mean trouble.
“Red Gloves,” Anderson muttered, enough only for him and Danitz to hear.
Danitz let out incoherent hushed curses before asking, “What do we do? There's no way
we can get out of here without harboring suspicion!” He whispered-screamed.
“We? Who's the pirate between us two?” Anderson eyed him up and down.
“Well you're sitting across from me, that makes you my accomplice!”
“I can just say I was held hostage.”
“Dogshit!”
Amidst their bickering, a loud thud was heard followed with a loud bang. Customers panicked and scattered for the front door trying not to get caught in the cross fire, the earlier tension caused by Danitz erupting. Seeing the opportunity, Anderson grabbed Danitz’s arm and bolted through the employees only room. After detouring through the whole building, they found a door that led outside the bar and through an alleyway. Before they could feel a sense of relief a figure appeared in the dark; he had black hair that lazily cascaded on his shoulder, emerald eyes that seemed to pull one in a sense of tranquility, and his features were outstanding, perfect for a magazine model, he wore a Red Glove uniform with the first two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned exposing his chest slightly.
“Dogshit!” Danitz cursed, he saw himself this time turn into an ocean of gold pounds instead of Beyonder Characteristics. He frantically darted his eyes everywhere, trying to find a way to escape his predicament. I can use Anderson as bait…Right, he can just say he was held hostage!
Danitz, ready to sell out Anderson, looked at him. Anderson seemed to know what Danitz was already planning, simply shook his head and smiled at the Red Glove.
“Mr. Red Glove, you should know we aren't your target. We are just customers not wanting to get entangled in the affairs of official Beyonders. Besides, I haven't done anything that needs a Red Glove’s attendance—I can't say the same for this one over here though.” Anderson spoke in a swift tone with his last sentence to avoid getting cut off by Danitz. The pirate turned his head towards the adventurer so fast it might've broken his neck with a look of utter betrayal as if Anderson just pushed him into a cage of a hungry wolf—which in Danitz’s mind, he did!
“Dogshit!” was all he could mutter out of his mouth before it was cut off by the Red Glove.
“I'm not here to turn you into gold pounds nor Beyonder Characteristics,” The Red Glove chuckled in amusement, “Besides, aren't you Gehrman Sparrow’s—er… helper?—yes, helper,” the Red Glove originally wanted to say “maid” but it was too rude so he replaced it with “helper” instead. He continued his sentence, “Aren't you Gehrman Sparrow's helper? Blazing Danitz, Mr. 4,200 pounds.”
A chuckle escaped Anderson when he heard the nickname, Danitz had a look of mortification, embarrassment, and irritation when he heard the nickname. Only Gehrman calls him Mr. 4200 pounds, and it was only one time too!
Just who does this dude think he is?!
“I already promised Gehrman I wouldn't get in his way. I'm purely here for official business. Just answer my questions and you two will be free to go.”
The Red Glove gave the duo a run back of the case they were handling, of course, he only mentioned the non-sensitive information. After a series of questions, Danitz and Anderson—as promised, we're set free. Despite the reasonable distance between them, that didn't stop Danitz from scanning his surroundings from time to time for ambushes or places to escape in case he backed out on his words. Not to mention he found some of the questions rather out of place.
The Red Glove bid the two farewell before disappearing. Danitz felt the weight on his eyelids and like a child being coaxed by his mother, he closed his eyes. When he opened them he realized he was still at the bar sitting back to his original position before the two figures entered the bar. Anderson sat across from him, briefly taken aback by the whole situation before recovering with a shake of his head. Danitz tried to take a peek behind Anderson where the men and lady duo were seated but they were nowhere to be found. He quickly scanned the bar and found everything was normal. No panicked customers, no mysterious figures, and definitely no Red Gloves.
Now that Danitz further thought about it, his memories from two minutes ago were hazy and they seemed incomplete. He remembered a man and woman entering the bar, a loud bang, him and Anderson running for the exit, being stopped by the alleyway by a Red Glove and his weird QNA session but that was it. The man and woman's and the Red Gloves features were all shadowy, black figures. He couldn't form a proper image in his head. Sure, the man and woman disguised themselves pretty well but that doesn't mean he couldn't at least grasp a few of their most notable features, such as, for example: their hair color. Even the Red Glove that Danitz clearly remembered walked out from the shadows with no disguises what-so-ever. The only puzzle his memories were able to put together was his bright, tranquil, emerald eyes.
Speaking of the Red Glove…
That Red Glove was oddly familiar… Danitz leaned back on his seat and rubbed his chin with his right thumb and index finger.
“...”
“???” Anderson looked at Danitz’s scrutinized and serious face. Anderson swore he saw smoke emitting out of Danitz’s head. He was confused but somewhat amused. It's not always Danitz uses that half-a-brain of his. What got him thinking?
Amid Danitz’s scrambling thoughts, he felt a line of spark travel from his nerves to his brain. Immediately he jumped, both in horror and surprised. His eyes widened, mouth agape, and his breathing hitched.
“Holy shit,” was all he could mutter before he glanced up and caught Anderson's gaze, “he smelled like roses.”
“Huh?” Anderson twisted his face like he was talking to a madman, What is he talking about? Did his brain work too much; he malfunctioned?
“That Red Glove smelled like roses!” Danitz slammed one of his palms on the table while the other combed through his blonde hair. A look of disbelief in his face. “You might just be right…holy Lord of Storms!”
The crowd turned to look at the two again from the sudden noise and exclamation from Danitz before going back to their own business.
The hunter—catching on to Danitz, smiled in amusement, nodding in approval for his keen senses. Although he was surprised how fast Danitz brushed off the situation earlier he wasn't one to back away from juicy gossip!
—or rather, he called it theorizing!
“The smell of roses is a common scent. What makes you so confident it's him?”
“It was a very specific and alluring scent. It wasn't too strong but it was subtle either, it's like he owned the smell.
“I'm telling you, I'm almost 99% sure it was the same perfume I smelled whenever Gehrman comes back from his ‘midnight adventures’” Danitz explained. For the past weeks, Gehrman Sparrow would come back to the inn he and Danitz were currently staying in. He had called it “Gehrman Sparrows ‘midnight adventures’.”
And Gehrman always came back with a subtle smell of roses clinging onto him. Just like that one night.
As a Beyonder from the Hunter Pathway, Danitz’s senses were greatly enhanced, making it easy for him to spot traps, catch scents, etc. so naturally, Danitz would catch the sudden change in smell. Not to mention Gehrmans usual smell was mixed with the smell of the sea, blood, and oddly enough—soap.
Seems like the crazy adventurer cares about hygiene.
“I'm more interested in their dynamic.” Anderson hummed in response. Their dynamic was indeed a once in a lifetime type of dynamic—hell, even a once in a millennia! An official Beyonder whose mission and purpose is to capture infiltrators secretly living a double life as the partner of the crazy adventurer whose name strikes fear and whose face appears in the wanted list in the daily newspapers.
Is the Red Glove a mole among the Church of Evernight?
Or was he there to seduce Gehrman Sparrow and lead him to a trap?
Are they both working together or are they planning to set traps for each other?
No wonder that lunatic has never been caught… Anderson thought amused while Danitz mortified.
Dogshit! So much for not getting involved…That Red Glove will definitely tell Gehrman. My life's already ticking its last hours before he kisses me goodnight with his glock. Might as well satisfy my curiosity and write my will—and maybe confess to Captain…
What am I thinking?! I'll just say I don't know anything and I won't say anything! I can perfectly keep a secret! Danitz wanted to ask captain Edwana Edwards for help but he didn't want his beloved captain to die because of him. He had to face his problems on his own!
The night at the bar went on with no more incidents happening. Customers came and went but the bar was never dead, always filled with endless drunken chatter. Anderson would occasionally share his thoughts about Gehrman and his surprisingly existenting love life but Danitz didn't want to further dig his grave so he avoided the topic like the plague. After a few more rounds of beer, the two parted ways. Danitz drunkenly dragged his body back to Wind of Azure Inn. His body was used to the alcohol due to life at sea using such beverages as a substitute for water, but he had gotten ahead of himself and drank too much.
It was only when he opened the door to his shared room with Gehrman Sparrow that he immediately sobered up. In the dimly lit dining room that was also a living room sat the crazy adventurer, the crimson moon illuminating his features made him look like he was ready to hunt his next prey—which in the eyes of the pirate was none other than him! Not to mention he was technically gossiping about him behind his back a few hours ago.
Gehrman Sparrow was polishing his gun, wiping away the last drip of blood from its tip when the door opened. Danitz stood in the doorway, his skin was paper-white as if all the blood had been sucked out of his body. Gehrman set the handkerchief he used to wipe his gun into flames before staring at Danitz with his usual cold and nonchalant expression.
He had just finished getting food for creeping hunger a few minutes ago—which had gotten a bit out of hand, but there was nothing the crazy adventurer could not do!
“Danitz,” Gehrman called out, his tone dangerously low making Danitz almost faint on the spot.
Before Gehrman could get another word out, Danitz fell on his knees and started prostrating himself, “Gehrman, I swear I won't say anything, I won't tell anybody—not even a single soul! My lips are shut tight!” Danitz's words came rapidly with tears forming in his eyes.
Time unknowingly went by with Danitz still prostrating on the floor and Gehrman's intense stare. The latter let out a small scoff before the rattling of his boots on the wooden floor echoed in the silent night.
Danitz’s body shook, tears and snot falling to the floor, Dogshit! I didn't even get to write my will yet!
The sound of a door closing left Danitz blanked. Slowly he looked up and saw Gehrman Sparrow had left and went to the master bedroom.
I-I'm alive? I'm not dead? Gehrman didn't kill me? He sat on the cold floor, confused. He was so sure Gehrman was ready to send him to the Lord's heavenly kingdom. After a few more seconds of just sitting there, Danitz got up and scurriedly went to the servant room. He waited for another 10 minutes, in case Gehrman laid an ambush but there was still nothing.
Danitz touched his face, chest and sides. Feeling every inch of his body to confirm if he was still alive and breathing. Holy Lord of Storms I didn't die.
What’s up with that fellow? I just wanted to tease him a bit… In the other room, Klein—in the face of Gehrman Sparrow, couldn't help but furrow his brow at Danitz's overdramatic reaction.