Chapter 4. Wrath (4)
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Two days later. Eckart went back to find the alley where the woman had left the first mark.
Since she was a wanderer with almost no possibility of meeting again anyway, it was more likely that she had lied for money, but he came just in case. He was alone since he couldn’t make others take a futile trip over such a matter.
He looked around the mark but nothing else seemed to be there. He was turning around thinking it would be better not to accept personal reports in the future when a small mark caught his eye near the wall across the street.
It was a mark so small and faint that you’d miss it if you didn’t look carefully, but it was definitely the same shape the woman had drawn. When Eckart slowly approached and turned around again, this time there was a mark drawn as if hidden under the window of the building diagonally ahead. Eckart naturally began following the marks.
Some were around ankle height, others on rotten wood… The positions and sizes were all different, but what was certain was that they were guiding him along a path. Following the marks led him to weave through maze-like complex alleys.
Only after emerging from the alley could he realize he had come quite far. There stood a single clean building, unlike its surroundings.
The last mark was carved where the alley ended, so Eckart examined the surrounding buildings. However, there were no marks anywhere. He looked again at the building standing alone. Unlike other buildings, it was a large and luxurious house with a bronze knocker attached to the door.
If his guess was correct, the place the marks pointed to would be that building. Eckart glanced up and went back into the alley to crouch down. Because small buildings were packed tightly together, sunlight didn’t reach properly and it gave off a foul smell, but he had neither the time nor interest to care.
He just carefully observed the building visible through the narrow gap. It was quiet and no signs of people could be felt. The curtains covering the windows suggested people lived there, but even after sitting and watching for a long time, no one came or went. It rather looked like a separate residence for nobles’ secret private lives.
Just then, there was a man walking over from beyond the alley, staggering as if drunk. Eckart quickly blocked his path and asked a question.
“Do you happen to know who lives there?”
The man looked at him with half-closed eyes. The smell of alcohol wafted from his entire body.
“What? Who are you to talk to me?”
He couldn’t control his body from how much he’d drunk, and he seemed to not know well where this was either. Judging him to be a drunk who had taken the wrong path, Eckart moved aside, and the man staggered away somewhere.
Starting with the drunk, he questioned those wandering around the area, but none of them knew anything about that building.
“I don’t know.”
“Do people actually live there? I haven’t seen anyone going in or out.”
“I don’t live here.”
“Wow, there was a building like that there. Why am I only seeing it now?”
They were all dead ends. It was such a hard place to live that there was no leisure to be interested in other matters. Following signs of people, Eckart emerged onto the main road and discovered a girl begging by clinging to every passing carriage.
His deliberation was brief. He approached the girl and asked,
“I’d like you to run an errand for me.”
“As long as you pay me, I’ll do anything.”
Eckart took out a coin and gave it to her.
“I’ll give you another one when you’re done.”
“Good. What do I need to do?”
The child’s appearance wasn’t serious. She probably had family or a group she lived with. Perhaps chasing carriages and begging was quite profitable. This place, somewhat distant from the red-light districts where prostitutes gathered, showed it was close to a fairly wealthy neighborhood with passersby in fancy clothing.
Eckart took the child back into the alley. Since he had already memorized the way, finding it again wasn’t difficult. Hiding in the dark alley, he pointed to the building.
“I want to know who lives in that building… Can you do it?”
“That much is…”
The girl had a confident side to her. She walked right over and knocked on the door. When there was no response from inside, this time she grabbed the knocker and banged on the door wildly.
How long had she been doing that? Finally the door opened. What appeared was a boy who looked to be around ten years old.
The two began having some conversation. From where Eckart was, he couldn’t even hear their voices. Then soon both of them went inside the building. Though he was flustered by the unexpected situation, he calmly sat and waited.
How much time had passed? The girl opened the door and came out. He took the girl who came straight to where Eckart was and moved locations.
“What conversation did you have?”
“The one who opened the door was a boy who seemed a little older than me. When he asked why I came, I answered that I heard they were looking for people here. That I wanted to work.”
She was a smart child to think up such a lie instantly. It would have been awkward to make the excuse of coming to the wrong place since it was in an ambiguous location. When Eckart nodded as if telling her to say more, the girl continued speaking clearly.
“Then he said that couldn’t be right, that I seemed to have come to the wrong place. So I also said that couldn’t be right, that this was the right place, and then his expression became strange. After that he muttered to himself but I couldn’t hear that well.”
The girl, who tilted her head as if it was still strange thinking about it, opened her mouth again.
“Anyway, he told me to come in for now. When he asked if I’d heard what kind of work it was, I just said I only needed to do cleaning or odd jobs, you know? Then he asked who sent me. I just said an employment agency, and then he suddenly looked relieved and said no, that I had the wrong address or something, that this wasn’t the place, so I should leave. I got kicked out like that.”
Listening carefully to the girl’s story and thinking it over, Eckart asked,
“What was it like inside by any chance… Just tell me anything you remember.”
“I couldn’t go up to the upper floor so I don’t know well… but it was quiet. Like people definitely don’t live upstairs. Oh, but there were two men as tall as you standing in front of the door. And… it smelled good… and… oh, the boy who opened the door was carrying cloth or something in his arms. But it looked really expensive. Not cheap stuff like this that we’d wear, but the kind of cloth that high-ranking people who ride in carriages would wear.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“Is this enough?”
The girl had done even better than expected. Eckart took out all the coins he had and gave them to the girl. The girl was so happy she could jump, saying she wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while. He had to hurriedly tell her retreating figure heading straight for the street to confess since she had lied. The girl answered roughly that she understood and disappeared.
He thought of the male prostitute who was said to have been stuffed alive and displayed before distinguished people. Certainly someone lived there, but they rarely went in and out to the extent that people around didn’t know, and it was so closed off that they were confident no one would be hired through an employment agency…
He needed to watch a little more. Eckart still hid in the darkness and looked at the building that pretended to be empty while holding its breath.
The stakeout continued for several days. When night came, he led officials to catch prostitutes listed on the roster, and when the sun rose, he repeated hiding alone in the alley watching the building. Finally, the moment came when Eckart’s patience paid off.
A carriage stopped by the main road and a noble lady and a man got out. They entered the alley where Eckart was hiding and passed by without noticing him. Their destination was the building Eckart had been watching.
When the noble lady took out a key from her bosom and opened the door, the two tall men the girl had mentioned welcomed them, and the two people entered the building.
A while later, the noble lady came out alone and returned to where the carriage was parked. Even after a long time, the man who had entered with her didn’t show himself.
Thinking this was sufficient, Eckart left that place. He headed straight for the courthouse.
“What brings you here at this hour? The trial will start again soon. It’s fine to watch, but please refrain from actions that make the prostitutes uncomfortable. I would politely decline any disturbance.”
The judge, who didn’t know Eckart’s temperament well, personally guided him to a corner seat. Eckart stopped as if that wasn’t what he meant.
“A tip has come in. Since the list seems to contain only rumors, I came to report detailed information.”
“…A tip? To you?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Eckart reported in detail what he had seen and heard. When he mentioned the location, the judge who had been listening quietly muttered with an uncomfortable face.
“If it’s there… that’s where nobles’ separate residences are gathered… There’s sufficient possibility it could be a hidden mistress or something. It seems we shouldn’t touch it carelessly.”
“Are you saying if it’s a noble’s mistress, prostitution doesn’t matter? Aren’t they sinners?”
“Well, of course not, but…”
The judge was momentarily at a loss for words. He moved his lips as if to say something more, but upon meeting Eckart’s unwavering eyes, he seemed to give up and began writing something on paper.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
