Chapter 9: Volume 1 - CH 2.6

“Changed your ways have you, mister?”

Despite hearing the question, Seymour didn’t raise his eyes for a while.

“It looks like you’re walking around with quite the beauty.”

Standing in front of a small store called Hornsby Cigars, facing the street, Seymour had been flipping through a cigarette catalog while leaning on the counter. He closed the catalog, disappointed after noticing the absence of 『Toi Mo』 in the entries under T. The flavor of those cigarettes had grown on him.

Having finished, he finally lifted his gaze, and responded with something that had absolutely nothing to do with what he had been asked.

“You’re doing bad stuff again, aren’t you? You’ll go to hell if you keep doing things like that all the time, Fran.”

He was speaking to a girl ─ Fran, or to be more precise, Francina Hornsby. She often worked at this cigar store as a clerk. Seymour had never asked for her age, but it was a fact that her feet swung well above the ground when she sat in her chair.

But, her demeanor was far from childish. Her murky and dull eyes, the thinly rolled cigar in her mouth, and her black hair roughly chopped to shoulder length in all came together to form a mature air that clashed with her small build.

Seymour watched a man leave Hornsby Cigars. The customer had been in a deep talk with Fran just moments ago. He had something clutched tight to his chest as he hurried along. It was unlikely to be a cigar box, probably more like a written note that was hidden in his inner pocket.

This store dealt in several goods besides cigars. One of them was information.

While shaking her cigar with its sweet, glistening smoke, Fran said, “Mister, didn’t you say something embarrassing like 『A man’s job got to be done alone』before?”

Lumi, who had been looking down at something inside the Essex Seymour had parked along the street, noticed his backward glance, and waved at him.

After waving back at her with a broad smile, Seymour answered, “Well, a lot of stuff happened.”

It’s been a week since the clash with the mafia. After the repairs were finished, Lumi always stayed in the back seat of the Essex when Seymour was out on a job. They had just finished one before coming to this store.

If pressed for a practical reason, Seymour would say that she was convenient to have around. The amount of work he could finish wouldn’t change whether she was with him or not. Or, more simply, you might say that he enjoyed her presence. It was the first time he had kept any goods meant for delivery in his possession for so long; perhaps that was why he was becoming unusually attached.

Since it’d be a pain to explain either of those reasons, Seymour shrugged once more.

“You’ve become quite a popular figure for gossip. Among the ladies aiming for you, and also quite a few others.”

“Just give it a rest, and pass me the cigarettes.”

“Have you chosen which ones?”

“The cheapest ones────the ones right above that.”

“I really like how you’re so easy to read, mister.” Fran turned over some papers that seemed to be an inventory list with a giggle. And as she picked up several cigarette packs, she casually added, “Also, one small correction. Hell isn’t a place you go to. Heaven is.”

“Remind me again, what school of thought says that no one goes to hell?”

“None. Heaven is a place you go to, but hell is a place you fall into. That’s all there is to it.”

It wasn’t particularly unusual for Fran to spout insights like this. Perhaps it was the fact that she had more free time working in this shop than she knew what to do with, time she could use to philosophize. That, or she enjoyed being able to play a worthless, silly word game since a word from her could usually be turned into cash in hand.

“If someone aims for heaven, they can only claw their way up on their own. That’s why it’s a place where you go to. But, no one would willingly walk towards hell. Thus, hell is a place into which you fall as punishment for your evil deeds. After all, no human can defy gravity, right?” Fran piled up the cigarette packs.

“All things considered, I think it’s a little strange for you to be saying things like this though.”

Fran appeared to make an attempt at flashing a smile, but ended up coughing sickly instead.

“Well, by that same logic, it means you won’t fall into hell as long as you’re careful of holes at your feet, mister. And, I make sure to keep my eye out for them.” Fran swung her dangling feet.

As long as you don’t step on the ground, you can never fall through any holes in it.

Laughing at the childish quibbling, he stacked up the cigarette packs he had bought, and placed a hand on top.

“Anyway,” Seymour leaned forward with a feigned nonchalance, “did you look for what I asked you before?”

“This here? You sure have some sudden requests, huh?”

Fran took out a single piece of paper from her pocket. Placing it on the counter, one could see that it was a worn scrap of paper with kinked edges. A scrap that fit easily in the palm of a hand and contained only three pieces of information written down in a mundane font.

The name Seymour Road, the job courier, and the telephone number of the Holiday.

“Thanks a bunch. I’ve been thinking that it’s about time for me to get my own telephone. So I’ve been checking where my business cards have ended up so I can change the telephone number on them.”

“Really? So you’ve finally been converted as well, huh?”

He returned the business card, saying that he only wanted to check it, and began to walk away with the cigarettes in one hand. But, before he could take more than two steps, he heard her voice pipe up behind him.

“Please be careful, Mister. The holes leading straight to hell open at the most unexpected times.”

He waved her off without looking back, smiling bitterly.

Reaching his car, he opened the passenger’s door, dumped his cigarettes and his coat on the seat, went around to the driver’s side and flopped down in the seat.

Apparently Lumi had been reading a book. Seymour spotted a spine that used to be in his room back at his parent’s home. 『Hey, Al』 was a comedic novel that had been popular in the past.

“You like it?”

“Yes. It’s funny.” Lumi said with a smile in her voice.

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It was a fairly rare sight to see her openly enjoy something, it was quite relieving to see.

“Did you buy your cigarettes?”

“Mmh, I did, and I also checked a little something.”

Mentally checking off another item on the list in his head, Seymour said all of a sudden, “It took a while, but it looks like I can pinpoint which mafia kidnapped you, Lumi.”

“Eh?” Lumi straightened up on her seat, her eyes wide in surprise.

But it was only to be expected. In the week since he had declared that he’d identify the mafia family targeting Lumi, Seymour had only done his regular work. At the least, that’s what it must have looked like to Lumi.

“I-Is that so…….?”

“Well, since it’s not a particularly impressive thing, I’ll explain the trick real quick. Look, the routes I drive for my job are pretty limited, aren’t they?”

Seymour took a business card out of his pocket with a flourish. This one was a lot more crumpled than the one with Hornsby since he had it carelessly shoved in a pocket, but even so, it was barely recognizable as the same sort of business card.

He smoothly offered it to Lumi.

“I haven’t registered a company or anything like that. I don’t run any advertisements either. That means that those who know that I’m a courier are limited to those with my business cards and those who found out from the word spread by those who have requested me.”

Seymour’s first job was dropping off his schoolmate’s girlfriend and picking her up afterwards. Later, after that job was over and he had decided to become a courier, Seymour made about a hundred business cards and passed a few to his friend. Michael took those cards and distributed them to his acquaintances, and each time Seymour got a new job, he handed some of his business cards to his new client.

Those hundred business cards that had been distributed in this manner ── excepting, of course, the good number of them that would have been thrown away or burned ── are surely still making their rounds in this city.

It wasn’t as though Seymour had expected that his service would become something so shady from the outset. Still, it wasn’t possible to become well known right away so the most stable jobs all tended to be shady.

“That was the first time that scary man asked me to deliver something. In other words…”

“…You’re saying that that person probably learned about you very recently?”

“Well, usually there would be no need to know about a bottom-feeder like me. We should probably think of it as him choosing a contractor that would let you get away, Lumi.”

This was why Seymour had begun to check on the whereabouts of his business cards. Handing over his business card was the quickest way to recommend Seymour. Besides, even without tracking the specific movements of the cards, just grasping their rough distribution was enough to suggest some leads.

It was only after Seymour told Lumi that he would soon have an idea of a destination for her escape that he noticed that her eyes were cast downwards. Seymour tilted his head in confusion; he had thought that this would be good news for her.

“I beg your pardon. I’m sure that this must be a rather dangerous endeavor for you, right Mr. Seymour?” Lumi said softly, like she was scared of touching on a raw nerve.

She’s a sharp one, Seymour subconsciously clicked his tongue. Naturally, searching for the business cards he had distributed in the past was a dubious move that had raised the suspicions of more than just Fran. Even the excuse he had hastily given her might not be enough to counteract the suspiciousness of the act itself.

“Nevermind that.”

“But……”

“Cleverness isn’t much of a virtue in this city. No, let me rephrase, anything can become a virtue or weakness in this city. So I think it’s better to think carefully about when you ought to be clever.” Since Lumi didn’t lift her head despite his comment, Seymour added, “It’s smarter to think about what kind of city you’d like to escape to. Is there anywhere you’d like to go?”

The question allowed Lumi to shift her gaze. Her eyes absentmindedly stared out of the window. She had a look on her face like she was searching for a place that didn’t exist. It was the same look she had on the day they met.

“……A place with a beautiful, sandy beach would be nice.”

“Hee, I would’ve thought that a vacation at the beach would be the last place a vampire would want to be.”

“Mum and dad met on a sandy beach, I heard. Mum told me a lot of stories from her memory when we lived in the mansion. That’s why, at some point, I also started to yearn for an endless walk along a pretty beach.”

“Sounds great. Let’s look for a city like that then. It’ll be alright. I’m a courier who’s never failed at his job after all. I’ll definitely deliver you.”

“Okay. I’m sure it must be lovely to walk in a place like that in the twilight.”

A crimson sky and a white beach. And a girl walking the boundary between land and sea forever and ever, white hair streaming behind her. It was an impossible scene, and that was precisely why it was beautiful. Lumi’s words were filled with nothing but longing for that impossibility.

I think I should get the car moving soon. Seymour extended a hand backwards to retrieve his business card.

“……Umm.”

But, it wasn’t a small piece of card that touched his hand. Instead, soft slender fingers gently brushed the back of his hand, only lightly pressing down.

“Mr. Seymour, won’t you go on a walk with me someday as well?”

He could faintly feel her pulse and body temperature through the fingers connected with his hand. He considered taking a peek at Lumi through the rear-view mirror, but refrained. With only his hand extended backwards, he imagined it for just a short moment, the lovely scenery with this girl next to him. He’d leave this town with her, live in some city somewhere, and go on walks with her. Even if it was no more than a dream borne from her momentary loneliness, he felt like it was worth holding on to.

But, in the end, the words that actually left Seymour’s mouth were: “Whatever city you choose, I’ll take you there. ……Let’s think about the rest when we get there, okay?”

He quickly pulled his hand away from Lumi’s.

Before he had noticed, he had left home, and before he had noticed, he had become a courier. Even though his life hadn’t amounted to much, he felt extremely hesitant to give up on it. He felt as if he was making some kind of mistake. If he had properly continued his schooling, perhaps he might have a name for this feeling.

Seymour sensed that Lumi was nodding behind him and wondered whether he should ask Sunny about it the next time they saw each other.

“Okay, by all means, let’s go together, alright?”

❖ ── ✦ ──『✙』── ✦ ── ❖

————— End of Part 6 —————

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