ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Part 2: Ephoroi Republic | Ephoroi Rhapsody

May 2, Evening

Ringual, capital of the Ephoroi Republic

This is the Ephoroi Republic, located on the Geroto Peninsula on the east coast of the Juperia Continent. Classified as a small to medium-sized country, the capital is smaller in size than the city of Miket Tirith, a regional city of the Crossnellyard Empire. People come and go in the city, and it is lively in its own way. Among them, there was a man walking the streets in a strange costume.

"This Ringual... is bigger than I thought it would be. It's going to take a lot of work..."

Jindo walked through the street, blowing a paper cigarette. He does not have the air of a career police bureaucrat, but rather looked like a vagrant who wandered the streets without a fixed home. The three of them had come to Ringual, the capital of the Ephoroi Republic, from Nospedi via Miket Tirith in pursuit of Japanese nationals who had disappeared the other day. The three split and conducted interviews in order to search for Kirioka and the others. However, 24 hours had already passed without encountering any promising testimonies.

Wrrrr......

Jindo's stomach rumbled. He put his hand into his breast pocket. There was a drawstring bag filled with gold and silver coins. They had received gold and silver coins worth about 3 million Japanese yen from Senior Commissioner Ezaki, the head of the Security Bureau, as funds for this investigation, enough to pay for a round-the-world trip to Terralus.

'Let's go buy something with this...'

Jindo decided to buy dinner for Hiraide and Riyoshi, who are on their own. Then he stood in front of a small store in a back alley. Inside the counter of the store facing the street sits a middle-aged woman who seems to be the owner of the store, blowing a cigarette. What she is selling is an Ephoroian specialty called "luo," which is a kind of traditional fast food, similar to fish and chips in England. It is made by buying cheap bird skins, which are not customary among the upper class in this country, baking them sweet and spicy with a soy sauce-like seasoning, and sandwiching them between bread. Jindo stood in front of the counter and called out to the owner.

"Excuse me, I'd like to order three luos...ngh!!"

As he was about to place his order with the owner, Jindo suddenly let out a strange groan. He felt as if someone had suddenly grabbed him by the back. He craned his head to look at his back and saw a girl holding his suit.

"Gah! H-Hey! What the hell are you doing!?"

Jindo flailed from side to side to shake the girl off his back. The girl was holding on to his suit tightly, trying not to be shaken off. She was gasping for breath as she turned her sharp gaze on Jindo.

"Please! Save me!"

"Haah!?"

It seems that the girl is in the middle of being attacked by some thug or other. While he is thinking about this, four strong men who seemed to be chasing after the girl appeared in front of Jindo.

"Oi, oi... four big guys against one little girl are a little bit naughty, don't you think?"

Jindo looked around at the faces of the men. They had blades in their hands and did not look like they were trying to pick up girls. Who is this girl that four murderous pursuers are following a single girl?

"Brother, just hand her over to us... What's it to you, huh?"

One of the men pointed the tip of the knife in his hand at Jindo's face. The other men came closer and closer with vile smiles on their faces. The girl was trembling, rattling on Jindo's back. But in this life-threatening situation, Jindo showed no sign of cowardice. He shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, let out one long sigh, and dared the thugs to come at him.