This House Has A Delicious Restaurant - Chapter 15 - Spy (4) - Part 2

Zerdan and Liffree were both victims of the same human experiments, and it seemed that their lingering memories caused them to instinctively avoid certain situations. They even had an aversion to confined spaces, likely due to their past traumas. Given this, if they were to encounter the person responsible, there would likely be some reaction, whether they liked it or not…

If nothing could be gained from Ding, they would have to provoke a reaction from the other side.

When asked if he intended to use Ding, Zerdan nodded in affirmation. He then rested his chin on his hand, contemplating his next move.

Watching Zerdan, Liffree silently smiled.

* * *

“Dian? What are you talking about, Diswen? That’s Sidon… Diswen?”

Phel was already shocked by Sidon’s sudden appearance, but Diswen’s reaction seemed even more unusual, causing her to furrow her brow.

But no matter what Phel said, Diswen, whose eyes were fixed on Sidon, abruptly stood up and rushed over to him.

When Diswen reached out and cupped Sidon’s face, Sidon blinked in surprise, his eyes wide.

He seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he didn’t reject the touch outright.

“You’re Dian, aren’t you? How could this be… I thought you were dead, killed by Zerdan…”

“…What are you talking about, Diswen? Why are you suddenly acting like this with Sidon?”

No one answered Phel’s question. Everyone could only speculate that Sidon might be Diswen’s brother, whom she believed to be dead.

Seeing Sidon frozen in Diswen’s embrace as she began to cry, Obella finally spoke up.

“Diswen, calm down. Sidon seems to be troubled, so why don’t you both sit down? And Sidon, don’t just stand there frozen.”

“…I can’t move.”

“…Diswen.”

Sidon murmured, still seemingly unable to move from Diswen’s grasp. Hearing this, Obella softly called Diswen’s name in a calming tone.

At Obella’s gentle urging, Diswen wiped her tears, still looking at Sidon with a mix of disbelief, and guided him to the sofa. Sidon, now seated beside Diswen, appeared uncomfortable.

As everyone watched the two in amazement, Obella, who had taken control of the situation, asked Diswen a question.

“First, let’s clarify things so that everyone understands. ‘Dian’ is the name of your younger brother, correct?”

“Yes. Dian is my younger brother’s name.”

“Then why did you call Sidon ‘Dian’?”

“Because… he’s my brother.”

Everyone looked perplexed.

Until now, Diswen had shown little interest in Sidon, but suddenly today, she was calling him her deceased brother.

Perhaps some might start to wonder if Diswen’s behavior was a result of the abilities Zerdan had used on her, causing her to be confused or affected in some way. Just as such disrespectful thoughts began to arise, I decided it was time to step in and mediate.

“Perhaps the way Diswen sees Sidon is different from how we see him.”

“Huh? What do you mean? If he appeared differently to everyone, that would be one thing… Diswen, what did Sidon look like to you?”

As Phel asked this, Diswen, who had been wiping her tears with the handkerchief Anise had given her, looked back at Sidon.

Despite his expressionless face, his fluffy, cloud-like hairstyle was his signature look.

However, after a brief silence, Diswen began to describe an image completely different from Sidon’s current appearance.

“His height is similar, but he’s a bit more slender. His skin is darker, and his hair is long, straight black hair that reaches his shoulders.”

“Wait, hold on! You saw this hair as straight?!”

Phel exclaimed, pointing at Sidon’s fluffy hair in disbelief. Sidon, seemingly annoyed, pouted slightly and wore a sulky expression, but it appeared no one paid attention to his feelings.

“And the rest of you? For the record, I see brown curly hair.”

Obella asked, just in case, turning to the others. The group exchanged glances before looking at Sidon and answering.

“Anyone can see it’s fluffy hair, right?”

“It looks brown to me, too.”

“Soft-looking hair! And kind of a blank expression!”

Anise and Luke answered after Phel. Obella then turned his gaze toward me and Terisier.

I nodded to indicate I agreed, and Terisier also replied, though with a somewhat hesitant look.

“Brown curly hair. A dumb expression. Lazy personality.”

“…So everyone except Diswen sees the same appearance.”

“Well, it’s natural to think so. We never had a reason to explain Sidon’s appearance to Diswen, so we never thought he might look different to her. Besides, Sidon didn’t visit this house often.”

Obella didn’t object to Terisier’s blunt remark, perhaps because he agreed with it.

It was reasonable to assume that everyone saw the same appearance. Since Diswen didn’t have poor eyesight and no one had ever asked or described how Sidon looked, no one thought he might look different from her.

Who could have guessed that Diswen’s long-lost brother would be so close by?

Unconsciously, Terisier and Phel, who had not treated Sidon kindly, began to glance at Diswen nervously.

Those who knew Diswen well were aware of how much she cherished and loved her only brother. When she believed that Zerdan had hurt him, she gave up all her wealth and dedicated her life to helping Obella, with the sole goal of taking revenge on Zerdan.

“But… how come Sidon didn’t recognize his sister Diswen, his biological sister, even though she said the bad guy did something to her?”

Luke’s reasonable doubt caused everyone to turn their gaze to Sidon. Diswen also looked curious.

Worried that he might have been threatened, they all stared at Sidon, who appeared troubled, rolling his eyes nervously. Then, his gaze settled on something.

Everyone naturally followed Sidon’s gaze to where I was sitting comfortably.

“Hmm?”

Aware of the attention but pretending not to notice, I smiled nonchalantly. Diswen, growing anxious, called out to me in a hurried voice.

“Moa Ablon, please tell us. What do you know?”

“…Most of you here are aware that I’ve had dealings with Zerdan. I even stayed at his place for a few days, but he wasn’t the only person I met there.”

“What do you mean…?”

“The ability to imbue wishes.”

At my words, Sidon’s eyes widened, seemingly reminded of Liffree. It seemed he hadn’t realized that the anklet he habitually wore contained Liffree’s power.

“It’s an ability that one of Zerdan’s comrades possesses. They can infuse powers into jewels. Of course, the conditions seem pretty stringent, like the type of jewel, but it’s a more useful ability than you’d think. I was suppressed and couldn’t use my ability because of it. I needed a strong ability user nearby to free me.”

“Ah, so that’s why…!”

Anise seemed to recall the time when she was kidnapped by Zerdan. The mysterious order to use a strong power on Moa Ablon herself now made sense—she had been rendered unable to use her ability by Zerdan.

“I noticed that Sidon was oddly concerned about Diswen. He didn’t seem to know why either. As I thought about it, I remembered that Diswen had a younger brother. Then I noticed the anklet on Sidon’s ankle. It wasn’t noticeable, but it had a small jewel attached.”

“An anklet…? You had something like that?”

“I didn’t know either.”

Phel, who hadn’t paid much attention to Sidon, asked, and Sidon shook his head, saying he didn’t know. Phel, looking at Sidon, then turned her gaze to Diswen.

“Was he always like this?”

“Dian was a bit indifferent to those around him.”

“Not just a bit, right? How could he not know if he’s wearing an anklet or not?”

“Phel.”

Obella’s reprimand made Phel fall silent. The conversation had started to drift off-topic before I had even finished speaking, so he brought it back on track.

Once Phel quieted down, I continued.

“Terisier broke the jewel on the anklet. That jewel must have contained the power of Zerdan’s comrade—likely an ability to cast an illusion or hallucination over Diswen so that she couldn’t properly recognize Sidon. And Sidon was probably indeed targeted by Zerdan’s ability.”

“That means…”

Tears welled up in Diswen’s eyes again as she struggled to finish her sentence.

Zerdan could control corpses. If that were true, did it mean that the brother standing before her was not truly alive?

But Diswen had forgotten one thing: she had been controlled by Zerdan’s ability. And she had been controlled while still alive. Whether Zerdan’s power had strengthened or was originally that strong, no one could say for sure.

“Like you, Sidon likely isn’t being controlled in death. The puppets I saw couldn’t express themselves, and just by looking into their eyes, you could tell they were dead. While Sidon may be a bit less expressive, he’s alive. He’s pretty clear when he’s annoyed, isn’t he?”

Terisier nodded with a frustrated expression. He had certainly suffered the most every time Sidon tried to escape and hide.

“So, Dian is definitely alive….”

“We’ll need to confirm that. That can be done later, but for now, we’ve established that Sidon is indeed Diswen’s brother. Now, I have something to ask Sidon.”

I turned my gaze to Sidon as I spoke.

“Do you remember what I said? I told you that the next time you come to us, I’ll believe you’re here not as Zerdan’s spy but as our ally.”

“…I can heal you with my ability, but I can’t attack Zerdan. My ability isn’t meant for that, and I have no reason to attack him.”

“That’s okay. I’m not expecting that. There’s just one thing I want to know.”

I had asked Sidon this question before, but I hadn’t received an answer. Would he answer now?

I smiled as I looked at Sidon.

“There was another task you performed as a spy, besides taking care of Ding, wasn’t there? Can you tell me what that was?”

The word ‘spy’ caused everyone to stir. However, Sidon simply looked at me quietly.

He hesitated for a moment. It seemed he had come here because of his concern for Diswen, but he hadn’t yet fully betrayed Zerdan. His feelings towards Diswen still appeared to be confusing him.

As I debated whether to press him further, Sidon finally seemed to decide to speak. He opened his mouth willingly.

“The order I received from Zerdan was to immediately report if there was any ability user here who is concerned about Ding, or someone who Ding is concerned about.”

“An ability user who is concerned about Ding? What do you mean?”

Diswen, recalling the recent visits from Ding, looked confused.

She seemed like an ordinary girl, so why would anyone be looking for someone connected to Ding? While everyone was puzzled, I paused to think over his words.

“I didn’t get the full story either. But what’s important is that they plan to kill or take some other action against that person.”

“What’s so serious about being associated with Ding? Besides, we had never seen Ding before.”

Phel, who had become relatively close to Ding, started to speak but then cautiously asked if the girl was also a spy.

Anise, trying to calm Phel down, placed her hand on Phel’s thigh, but she still looked uneasy, keeping her gaze on Sidon.

“Ding isn’t a spy. She doesn’t even know much about Zerdan. She might’ve encountered him a few times, but… she probably doesn’t remember. Besides, she was likely too overwhelmed by everything that happened.”

“Overwhelmed?”

“She reacts strangely whenever she sees Zerdan or Liffree. Oh, Liffree is the man who uses the ability that the woman mentioned earlier.”

Sidon gestured towards me as he spoke.

Obella muttered, ‘Liffree?’ as if he was recalling something.

Perhaps he had encountered Liffree during a confrontation with Zerdan.

I looked at Sidon with a nonchalant expression. However, Sidon seemed to have no more information to provide and remained silent.

It seems like he doesn’t know much about Zerdan or Ding.

He appears to have purely followed Zerdan’s orders without any suspicion.

Diswen seemed to come to the same conclusion, as she tightly gripped Sidon’s hand. Her gaze towards Obella seemed to ask if it was okay to let Sidon rest now.

“…Alright, it seems Sidon doesn’t have any more information to offer, so we’ll end it here. By the way, where is Ding? She wasn’t sent to Zerdan, was she?”

“She’s still at home, resting. It takes some time for her to recover. It should be about time for her to wake up, so I’ll need to bring her here. Is that okay?”

“Go ahead. If she’s Diswen’s family, there’s enough reason for her to stay here.”

“Thank you, Obella. I’ll go with Dian to bring her back.”

Diswen expressed her thanks on behalf of everyone and stood up to follow Sidon. Phel and Anise followed them. Phel still seemed to be wary of Sidon, while Anise was probably concerned about Ding.

With them leaving so quickly, only a few people remained in the living room. Luke, who had been observing, excused himself, saying he would practice his abilities alone. Terisier remained silent and then suddenly vanished.

“Obella, do you have any information?”

“…Unfortunately, none. I can’t even guess what Zerdan is thinking. Though, the name ‘Liffree’ doesn’t seem unfamiliar, even though I’ve never seen him before.”

“Never met him? He’s a somewhat slender man. From the conversation, it seemed he wasn’t significantly older than Zerdan.”

“I can’t guess. Hah…”

“It might be an impertinent question, but since you’ve been pursuing Zerdan to stop his actions, when did you start?”

Obella looked at me with a pained expression. Even though he was a criminal, it must be bitter for him to think of his brother in such a way.

Obella didn’t provide an answer, only indicating that he wanted to take a break. I acknowledged this and left him to his silence.

I glanced at Obella, who was sitting alone in silence, and then went upstairs, opening a nearby door.

Entering the room, I was greeted by silence. It was quiet. I leaned against the door and, noticing the absence of any presence around, looked at the shadow at my feet and called out.

“Khan. Can you hear me?”

The shadow flickered. Soon, Khan’s form appeared in the shadow near the window.

“…It seems you succeeded in persuading Sidon.”

“Indeed, you were watching. Sidon has gone to fetch Ding, so he’ll be back soon. You understand what this means, right?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you all the information I know. If you’re planning an ambush, I can also tell you where they’re staying.”

“Of course, that information is also needed. But before that, I’m interested in a different kind of information. I want to know about Ding and what Zerdan is plotting. Khan, you’ve mostly been around Zerdan, so do you know anything?”

“I know Ding as a regular girl. She was adopted and lived a quiet life until my one moment of carelessness led to the death of her parents. …Out of guilt, I’ve been taking care of Ding.”

So, Khan’s feelings toward Ding are guilt and sympathy.

However, from his expression, it seemed he had developed an affection for Ding while taking care of her. He must have felt like family while looking after the pure child. Yet, there was something off about it.

I had thought that Khan’s ability was desirable, and he might be using Ding’s safety as leverage for threats. But why is Zerdan searching for people related to Ding? Was there some initial connection between Ding and Zerdan?

“But what’s puzzling is Ding’s strong aversion to abilities. She shows similar reactions towards the captain and his colleague.”