Ch.287Request Log #023 – Waiting for the Holy Night (2)

I wouldn’t have to worry about those goons bothering me until Christmas. Not because I made good excuses, but because they’d be chasing a problem with no solution.

I headed straight out to the streets. Since I might be followed, I decided to take a long detour home. Christmas was approaching fast, but lately I’d been running around too much because of work.

On Motherwood Avenue, decorations were being installed on America’s World Tree. While the topper was a star, the ornaments often reflected elvish sensibilities… though this year was somewhat different from usual.

Most decorations still followed elvish aesthetics with glass fruits and plant-shaped ornaments, but this time orange and black ribbons were wrapped around the trunk, like the orcs would do.

Either they were becoming mindful of the orcs, or people who knew how deeply the Followers of the Forest’s Firstborn had infiltrated their ranks had added them for the sake of harmony. It didn’t look bad.

There were exactly ten days left until Christmas. For someone living like a wastrel, indulging in pleasure day and night, it wouldn’t seem like much time, but it would pass quickly if you were properly preparing for Christmas.

I circled around Littlehold. The fortress-like concrete buildings made by dwarves had few decorations, and the Christmas tree they’d prepared in the park wasn’t particularly large… but Christmas would be different.

Dwarves were a race that followed diligence and industriousness like a religion. By Christmas, the now-empty park with its small tree would be filled with wooden statues.

There were two tails following me. The orc-ogre vehicles that the goons typically used were large enough that they weren’t difficult to spot. Since they were on my tail, I decided to go look for something to gift.

I turned my car toward Old Empire. I didn’t try to predict when these goons would realize I was toying with them. I’d drive around until they got tired.

The orcs of Old Empire always tried to revive the traditions they remembered. In the middle of their street stood a proud statue of an armored orc, now draped with blue cloth like a robe.

Orcs believed not in Santa Claus but in an orc like that one bringing gifts. They believed an orc in blue robes and clanking armor would give axes to good children and freeze the bad ones.

A smaller statue that wasn’t usually there stood beside it. It was a statue of a human girl. The daughter of that axe-wielding orc, if I recalled correctly… though it didn’t look like it depicted an orc hybrid.

While I was enjoying my Christmas sightseeing tour, the goons following me were chasing a suspected assassin wandering without purpose. The more I enjoyed myself, the more painful it was for them.

As I slowly drove through Old Empire, I pulled over by the roadside. I stopped in front of a bookstore run by an orc I knew and went inside. It was visible from outside.

Less than a minute after I parked, the goons’ car stopped across the street. They weren’t particularly skilled at tailing. Giuseppina’s underlings had been the same way.

The orc came walking out when he heard the bell on the door jingle, then snorted when he saw me. He looked disappointed, as if he’d rushed out expecting a customer only to find it was just me.

“You only come once a year. Looking for a book again?”

“That, and I need to kill some time. Recommend something good if you have it. I need to get a gift for Sarah again this year, and I’m not exactly friendly with books.”

I hadn’t come to know the bookstore owner because of books. It was because of his more personal requests. The bookstore owner wiped the counter once with a cloth, then walked out from behind the register toward the stacks of books.

He glanced briefly at the car parked on the street. With his glasses on and barely moving his thick lips with protruding tusks, he said:

“Looks like you’ve got some voyeuristic bastards following you, kid. Did you bring them here without knowing?”

“No. I told you I needed to kill time. By the time I’ve taken these guys on a tour around New York, they’ll either realize I know I’m being followed, or decide there’s nothing to gain by following me. I just thought I’d stop by here and mess with them too. Anyway, got any books?”

The bookstore owner picked up a book with a monochrome cover. It was full of geometric shapes that looked like some modern art I couldn’t understand. It was a cover that gave no hint of the contents.

At least the title “Us” written in large red letters on the monochrome cover was quite eye-catching. I didn’t recognize the author’s name, but it was an orcish name.

The bookstore owner handed me the book as if it were some great work of art. The book was quite clean, untouched by hands. I accepted it somewhat awkwardly.

“It was written by an orc from the homeland… heh, those commie bastards hate this book so much. They wouldn’t even publish it in their federation, so it was released in America first this year. The content is pretty good. I can see exactly why those commie bastards hate it. That’s why I liked it. This one will be perfect, kid.”

Recommending books was always his job. I skimmed through the book. It wouldn’t be a bad gift for Sarah. Since it was published this year, Sarah probably hadn’t read it yet.

“I’m all for new releases. I’ll have to take it home and spend a few days reading through it. How much?”

The goons outside were still watching, as if trying to determine whether I was pretending to buy a book while having some more important conversation. I looked in their direction and chuckled.

The orc bookstore owner saw my expression and tried to hold back his laughter before letting out a snicker. He turned his back to return to the register and burst out laughing once. It wasn’t loud enough to be heard outside.

“Those stupid bastards are suffering in the cold weather… I won’t wrap it, so just give me 2 dollars.”

“When I go from detective work back to everyday life, the currency units change dramatically.”

At that, the orc bookstore owner snorted again. He fluttered his lips making a deflating sound as if in disbelief, then spoke as if making a threat. It was a joke, of course.

“A guy who makes 20 dollars a day when working just has to show off. I should charge you 20 dollars, it still wouldn’t be enough.”

“I pay you 10 dollars just fine when buying information. That’s enough. Didn’t you say you make more from the information fees I pay you than from selling books when I’m snooping around Old Empire?”

He was an informant too. The bookstore was in a good location, and as a bookstore owner inevitably facing boredom, he was an orc with a keen interest in what happened outside his window, so the sighting information collected here alone was quite valuable.

I pushed 2 dollars toward him. He handed me the book in pristine condition, without even stamping the date. When I tried to hold it with the title facing inward, he turned it around so the title faced outward.

“Hold it with the title showing when you go out, kid. That way those guys will just see the book title and run around, and won’t bother coming into my bookstore. I don’t want to see those stupid bastards snooping around.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t.”

While I could show that much courtesy to an informant, I couldn’t help but chuckle at his words treating the Italian goons as mere troublemakers.

If I liked the book, it would become Sarah’s Christmas gift, and if not, I’d come back here and demand a new one. So far, I hadn’t needed to do that.

Sarah had always loved books. Before her werewolf blood awakened, she would read until midnight, and even after she gained the ability to transform into a werewolf, she would retract her sharp claws after calming down and read books.

That’s why Sarah did well in her studies. That was fortunate for me. Thanks to Sarah’s reputation as a smart kid, that bastard Willem had considered leaving me with the Dunham family.

I didn’t stop by Little Eire. If I went there, they might think the Irish hybrids had hired me. I needed to drag these guys around without arousing suspicion.

I got in my car. I put the book on the passenger seat, stepped on the pedal to start the engine, then pushed the accelerator lever forward and drove down the road. The goons watched me leave before finally starting their engine and beginning to follow.

I didn’t drive too fast, fearing they might lose me if I went straight ahead at full speed. Fortunately, the goons maintained an appropriate distance and continued their tail. I couldn’t help but laugh again.

I wondered what faces they’d make when they realized they were following their target with his cooperation, but I wouldn’t get to see it. That was the only disappointing part of this affair.

After that, I turned the car around and headed home. I parked in the apartment garage, checked the parking lot once to make sure no tire marks remained from disposing of that goon contractor, then went into the apartment.

Cold air swirled in as I entered. The goons parked their car directly facing the apartment entrance. The thought that they would be watching my home until evening made me laugh involuntarily again.

As I was smirking, a goblin approached me. It was the landlady’s granddaughter. Her complexion seemed much better. Her skin was no longer a dull green but a glossy green.

She seemed to be wondering if I would return her greeting. She fidgeted, clasping her hands together, then waved slightly. I acknowledged her with a nod of my chin. We got on the elevator together.

“Christmas, um, you look cheerful for Christmas. I mean…”

I decided to say what she wanted to hear. I didn’t have a hobby of saying things that might make someone who could quit drugs start using again.

“It’s not bad seeing you doing well. I thought you wouldn’t change. You completely shattered my expectations.”

Even people who seemed unable to change can change. It was somehow a hopeful statement. The fact that one drug-addicted goblin had changed didn’t mean I could change, but maybe it did.

I wouldn’t have said something like this the last time we met. I didn’t really think some Christmas magic was happening. I just said it because I was feeling a bit cheerful.

She looked as if she was moved. After calming her pounding heart, she opened her mouth. I could guess what she was going to say, and I would refuse, but I didn’t cut her off.

“Would you like to have dinner together on Christmas? Grandmother was happy that I’m able to stay here thanks to you…”

“I have plans that day, so I can’t. But any other day, like the day after, I won’t turn down a free meal if you invite me.”

The elevator stopped at the seventh floor. This place was starting to feel somewhat like home. Gasoline was volatile as its name suggested, but the marks left by burned gasoline remained. Stories were volatile, but residue remained.

The soot from gasoline wasn’t good, but the residue of stories wasn’t as bad as soot. I waved to the goblin with her hands clasped together, then went into my apartment. I placed the book on the desk in my office.

I pulled out a sheet of paper to place under the apartment number where I usually put an absence notice. I scribbled “Closed until New Year’s” and stuck it under the number 708, then lightly tapped the side.

I had only felt like I’d recovered something once. Just once, when I killed Sol Invictus and reflected on the past while seeing visions. But what remained in my hands seemed to be more than that one vision.

I needed to prepare something for the reporter too, but while I’d been giving gifts to Sarah for over a decade, this would be my first time for that woman. I decided to finish Sarah’s gift first.

Then, the phone rang. It was probably the goons. I calmed myself after laughing as if my lungs were filled with air and answered the phone, but the voice on the other end was too soft to be a goon.

“Is this Husband Detective Agency? This is Iris. I was wondering if you’ll be making a reservation for all of Christmas day this year too…”

On days like Christmas, it was good for one’s mental health to buy a woman’s company if you didn’t have family. Most of my comrades had families, so I was truly alone on Christmas, which made it especially true.

Still, since March this year, some bizarre entanglement had kept me too busy to spend money on escorts. This Christmas was also an extension of that entanglement that began in March.

“No, I have plans this year. Tell her I’m sorry, or tell her there’s nothing to be sorry about when a customer decides not to buy merchandise.”

“Ah, just a moment. Well…”

She must have been listening nearby. There was a sound like someone grabbing the receiver, then a modest, gentle voice rang out. The escort I usually bought at Iris wasn’t a particularly glamorous woman.

I hadn’t embraced her many times. It was just… comfortable being with her. When I embraced her, it felt real, and the next morning she brought breakfast instead of talking about additional fees, which is why I bought her.

“Looks like you’ll have a poor Christmas this year, Detective. Would you come if I caused some incident?”

“I’ve already put an absence notice under my apartment number saying I’m taking a break until the New Year, so don’t do that. I don’t plan to work this Christmas. I won’t even be listening to the happy laughter and chatter from next door.”

A sound of laughter with a hand covering the mouth came through the phone line. She was just a fantasy shipped across the ocean as cargo, but this woman was good at stimulating the fantasies people typically have just enough to make money.

“I must have lost my scent too. Even my regular customer doesn’t want to visit me anymore.”

“I bought you precisely because you had neither scent nor smell, so don’t be too disappointed. It’s not particularly pleasant to see someone living like that forever.”

“Ah, I was blaming myself because I didn’t want to say that… but if you insist. Well, it wasn’t particularly good.”

After letting out a chuckle, I said goodbye to the woman from Iris as well. If nothing happened, I would probably seek her out again when the New Year’s atmosphere started to die down. Or maybe not.

Buying her, or the fantasy she provided, was an attempt to purchase the feeling of home that seemed to be depleting from the whole world… but lately, what had been gradually disappearing kept appearing from somewhere.