From the expression on Kikiou’s face, he was clearly wracking his brains as he strode silently among the trees. A black shadow dropped down with a soft thud, swinging an large arc around the branch of an oak tree hanging over the path.
“You seem in a contemplative mood, Sir Kikiou.” Echoes of sarcasm and laughter accompanied the observation.
Kikiou stopped and looked up at the upside-down Yakou. “This has become a serious matter.”
“How terrible. You’re not planning on killing Doctor Mephisto?”
“In fact, I am.”
The air around them abruptly dropped a dozen degrees. “Are you really serious?” Yakou asked, his voice several shades darker.
“That damned doctor may be beyond our power to deal with. Having been added to Princess’s number, he should feel obliged to protect and defend this world. But he has other objectives in mind.”
“Then what becomes of this world?”
“I suppose he intends to destroy it.”
“Why would he? Mephisto allowed Ryuuki to drink his blood so he could behold mysteries of our world with his own two eyes. I don’t think he was lying.”
“I thought so as well. Yet he is different. I am beginning to realize that even being one of Princess’s companions, he has an agenda of his own that we can barely begin to grasp.”
“We can’t imagine him wrecking this place?”
“Yes, that, but not only that. That is a far too simplistic interpretation.”
“Then what’s a more complicated one?”
“I do not know.” Kikiou shook his head. “I don’t know. That is what makes him such a terrifying opponent. Doctor Mephisto—compared to him, even Princess is a baby.”
“Hmm.”
Sensing something in that murmur, Kikiou shot a penetrating glare at Yakou. “You haven’t been taken in as well, have you?”
“By whom?”
“Besides him, who else has been reaching out to you?”
Yakou didn’t answer at once.
“Suppose that his heart’s desire is to destroy Princess and this world, with whom will you side?”
“Princess, of course,” Yakou answered at once.
“Good. And neither would Princess forgive a lie.”
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going along with what you are saying,” Yakou added with a deep note of caution. “Not as long as we have no evidence of Mephisto’s plans concerning the destruction of this world, nor any sense of his true motives.”
“You have no need to worry. We will soon get to the bottom of it. Come with me.”
Shrouded in sunlight, they returned to the manor house. Kikiou’s laboratory was provisioned much the same as Mephisto’s. After rattling through the shelves in the back of the room, Kikiou placed a narrow bamboo tube in front of Yakou.
He said to the doubtful scion, “This is talking water. One drop alone and that person will answer any question posed by the interrogator. Normally it would be placed in food or drink, but have you seen that man put anything into his mouth since coming here?”
“No,” said Yakou.
He was a bit surprised by his own answer. That doctor in white, to be sure, was no ordinary human being. That he ate nothing was the kind of indicator that shifted the equation in far different directions. Yakou couldn’t help shaking his head in wry disbelief at his attempts to apply human assumptions to the man’s existence.
“Exactly,” Kikiou said emphatically. “We could insist, but that would too easily tip our hand. Once he said no, we would be left without recourses. You, however, have ways of your own.”
Yakou’s mouth tightened, but he said nothing.
“If you truly care about Princess’s welfare, the thing should be set in motion at once.”
“I’d like to see for myself first, to make sure you are telling the truth.”
“What are you suggesting?”
Yakou uncorked the tube and spilled some of the contents onto his palm. He dipped his forefinger into the thick golden liquid and then swiped it across Kikiou’s lips.
“Do you love Princess?” Yakou asked.
“Of course,” Kikiou answered, as his eyes clouded over.
“After everything else is taken care of, what do you intend to do with me?”
“Kill you, if you please.”
“I see,” said Yakou, a certain scene rising before his mind’s eye. “So it’s the real thing.” A slight but definitely licentious look crossed his face.