Mercenary Road by Hideyuki Kikuchi Read Free Book Online

Franco Gilbey currently looks after the youngest class of children here. Usually he plays right along with them in the mud, and if one of the children does something wrong, he has no qualms about giving him a smack. The same is true when he’s dealing with an older boy. But then he always finds something good about the child and praises him. I’m sure he must’ve been raised in the same manner. While human beings are creatures that don’t forget hatred and loathing and are disposed to make others feel the same things they’ve suffered, at the same time they can also have this wonderful spirit that makes them want to share joy and awe. And I say again: this child was brought up in such a manner.”
    “Mrs. Denon is correct,” Miss Manpoole said, taking over the discussion. “If we knew that his parents were alive, we’d find them and ask them to drop whatever they were doing and come teach here.”
    D looked at Beatrice.
    The giant was silent. After some time, he said, “Well, I’d be opposed to that idea. I mean, we’re talking about someone who abandoned a three-year-old kid. I don’t care what they did before that. They’re a waste of flesh.”
    The director of the orphanage and her second in command looked at each other.
    “Based on his outstanding scholastic accomplishments, it’s been decided that Franco Gilbey will be going to a special school in the Capital with a few other children,” the director said. “Though he’ll have to pay his own tuition, I’m sure he’ll manage somehow.”
    It was Beatrice who suggested they get going.
    —
    Once the pair who’d seen them off dwindled from view, Beatrice said, “That’s a load off my mind. Thanks.”
    He winked at the Hunter, his expression cheerful.
    D said, “That’s your boy, isn’t it?”
    “Don’t be an idiot,” he spat through his beard. “Me, have a great kid like that? Not a chance! Of course, he’s the son of the sort of parents who’d abandon their kid. Probably won’t amount to much, you know?”
    Nothing from the Hunter.
    “All that aside, you’re headed for the Florence Highway for this rescue mission, right? I’ll give you the information, as promised. Just take me along with you.”
    “You’ll only be in the way.”
    “I can give you other info, too. Come on, now, don’t get angry with me. Look—just being on the receiving end of your vibes has the hair on my arms standing on end. But right now, I’m flat broke. I really need the reward money from that rescue mission.”
    “Apparently the price has dropped quite a bit.”
    “Well, not a hell of a lot can be done about that,” said Beatrice. “But for a plain ol’ warrior, it’s still a heap of money.”
    “Fulfill your part of the bargain.”
    “Okay—you mean the bit about the vampire castle, right? Hold onto this.”
    With that, he pulled a battered notepad from his breast pocket and handed it to D.
    “I’ve written down every last thing I can remember from that incident. After I got back from the castle, I was running a fever of a hundred and four for a while. That’s when I wrote all that stuff down. Sad to say, I can’t be sure how accurate it is. Once the fever broke, I lost all memory of what’d happened at the castle. Sorry if there are any mistakes.”
    D trained his gaze on the first page of the notepad. Without saying a word, he slipped it into his coat pocket.
    “So, it passes muster? Thank you!”
    In lieu of a response, D took the reins and cracked them against the neck of his steed.
    “W-wait! There’s more,” Beatrice said, his voice swiftly dwindling in the distance.
    —
    After fifteen minutes of racing down a stretch of road that usually took an hour on horseback, the Hunter could see the buildings of Bossage up ahead. D galloped along on his horse without halting. To people coming and going on Main Street, he might’ve appeared as nothing shy of a black cyclone.
    In front of the hotel, he reduced his speed. His left arm went