Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Independent Merchant Republic of Fuhren. 

After discussing the plans to deal with the slave trading organization, Freidhof, Tatsuo, Sumire, James, Aletia, Shea, and Tio waited for all the freed children to wake up from their sleep. By the time they did, it was already the next morning. So, after a hardy breakfast, all the children were loaded into the slave traders' carriages before the carriages were hitched to the back of the Hummer. Then, they continued their trip to the city of Fuhren. 

However, unlike the other children, Myu, who had gotten very attached to Tatsuo after he let her out of the cage, rode in the Hummer. She even rode in the front seat between Tatsuo, the driver, and Sumire who sat on the other side of the bench seat. That left the back seat for Aletia, Shea, and Tio. However, contrary to expectations, Aletia did not complain about not getting to ride up front with Tatsuo. Instead, she was focused on the plan to deal with the entirety of Freidhof when they arrived at the city. 

"Do you really think we'll be able to get them all?" Shea asked from the back seat while watching James ride the CBR with longing. "I mean, they have like fifty hideouts around the city, right?" 

"That's right." Sumire replied. "And although it won't be easy, I think we can handle it if we go all out. Especially since there are five of us who will act." 

"Only five?" Shea asked in surprise. 

"Someone has to stay with the children." Tio replied. 

"Oh, that's right." Shea replied. "But I don't' remember us discussing who would stay behind." 

"Actually, I think only James and I should go." Tatsuo said, his tone hard as tempered steel. "We're the strongest among us, after all. Plus, we've both been trained in stealth. And well, you know… I've been trained to…" 

Reaching that point, Tatsuo turned to look at Myu, who was eating a cookie that Sumire gave her with a smile on her face. However, when she felt Tatsuo's gaze, she looked up and smiled before offering Tatsuo a bite of her cookie. 

"Want some, Big Brother?" My asked in her childish voice. 

In response, Tatsuo smiled, took his right hand off the steering wheel, and patted My on the head. 

"No, you eat it." Tatsuo said in a gentle tone while continuing to pat My's head. 

My squinted her eyes thanks to Tatsuo's patting. Then, she went back to nibbling her cookie. 

"Anyway, like I was saying, I'm trained to take down my targets without being seen." Tatsuo said, continuing from where he left off. "And I can [Blink] from one location to another, making it quite fast." 

Hearing Tatsuo's reasoning, the four ladies wanted to protest. However, they could also hear the disgust in his voice when talking about his "targets," despite keeping his tone light for Myu's sake. So, they decided to let him get this out of his system. And since James, using his [Devil Magic] was the one who got the information out of the slave traders, they had no issue with him going, either. 

"Be careful." Aletia said in her usual monotonous tone. Though, the concern in her eyes was visible for anyone to see. 

"I will." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "I won't let my emotions get the better of me. I promise." 

"You'd better." Sumire said in a serious tone as she turned to look at Tatsuo. She then turned to look out of the front wind shield as she continued. "While you're doing that, I'll find the city's Adventurer's Guild and let them know about the kids. Meanwhile, Aletia-San, Shea-San, and Tio-San will stay with the children to protect them.' 

In response to Sumire's plan, the other three girls nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, the only person who did not understand the conversation, Myu, looked at everyone with a slightly confused expression. 

Seeing that, Sumire, then turned to My and smiles 

"Then, when we're done, we'll take Myu shopping and buy her some new clothes and toys." Sumire said. 

My smiled back as she swallowed the last of her cookie. 

About an hour later, the Hummer and the CBR approach Fuhren. When they did, they are greeted by the sight of sixty-five foot tall walls that surround the entire city, meant to protect the city from magical beasts, raiders, and demon attacks. 

"Wow! It's huge!" Shea, with her head sticking out the Hummer's window, shouted while looking at the city walls. 

"That's what she said!" James' shout, buffeted by the wind, can be heard from up ahead. 

In response, Shea tilted her head in confusion, her ears being blown by the wind. A moment later, however, her face reddened as she glances back into the Hummer. More specifically, at Tatsuo before her face reddened even further. Then, she pulled her head back into the cab and started mumbling to herself. 

"What's wrong, Big Sister Shea?" Myu asked innocently. "You're all red. Are you getting sick?" 

"Yeah, are you getting sick, Perverted Rabbit?" Aletia asked in a teasing tone, despite the fact that her voice somehow remained monotonous. 

"N-No! Of course not." Shea replied in a panic. "It's just really hot out there. I think I'll shut the window and let the AC cool me down." 

In response, everyone laughed at Shea's reaction., even Myu, who had no idea what was so funny but just laughed along with everyone else. Meanwhile, Shea lowered her head in embarrassment while covering her face with her hands and ears. 

Not long after that, the two vehicles pulled up outside of Fuhren's southern gate, just far enough away that they would not bother any of the people trying to enter the city. Then, after the two vehicles' engines were shut off, everyone climbed out of, or off of, the vehicles before they set up the camp for the children. After that, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James entered the city to do what needed to be done. 

While Sumire quickly made her way to the Adventurer's Guild to let them know about the slave traders they caught outside of the city, Tatsuo and James split up, with Tatsuo taking the east side of the city and James taking the west side. Then, they used the information James was able to get from the slavers to quickly and efficiently take care of all the members of Freidhof. 

"Now, if I remember properly, the Freidhof HQ is a ten-story building acting as a temp-agency in the bureaucrats' quarter of the city." Tatsuo muttered to himself while moving through the city. And from what I've heard from the passersby, I'm headed in the right direction." 

Not long later, Tatsuo saw a ten-story building that served as a part-time employment agency and his eyes lit up. He then activated [Stealth] before entering the building undetected. And when he entered, he saw quite a few people moving around, trying to get jobs, as well as many people working to find employment for those people. 

'Okay, I'm definitely in the right place.' Tatsuo said to himself while scanning the people on the first floor of the building. 'Although most of these people are normal citizens, even the people working the desks, there are a few people who just don't fit in. Like that guy over there. I can smell the scent of blood all over him. I guess he'll be the first to go.' 

With that, Tatsuo made his way over to the first suspected member of Freidhof that he found. He then snuck behind him and checked his surroundings to see if there were any more members of Freidhof lurking around. Unsurprisingly, he found two more, each in positions that gave them a view of the other two and the front door. 

'They're better than I thought.' Tatsuo muttered internally. 'But to run an organization like this one and not get caught, they're people have to be pretty well trained.' 

Despite his observations, Tatsuo was not daunted by his task in the slightest. He had been trained for situations like this, after all. 

So, instead of going in pistols blazing like he wanted to and alerting the entire building, and eventually the entire organization, Tatsuo pulled a long, thin needle out of his [Inventory]. Then, he jabbed it into the back of the lookout's head, causing as little bloodshed as possible. He also managed to stab the target in a spot that would basically shut down his brain instantly, not leaving a chance for the guy to shout and alert his comrades. 

TAs the man's dead body lost the strength to stand on its own, Tatsuo caught him. Then, he leaned him against the wall, making it look like he was just resting while on the job. After that, he repeated the process with the other two guards. Then, he made his way around the rest of the first floor. However, he was unable to find anyone else with the same scent of blood like the others. 

Next, Tatsuo made his way up to the second floor. On this floor, the scent of blood was much heavier. So, Tatsuo moved cautiously, checking every room he passed. And if he found anyone with the same scent, he would put them down silently before moving onto the next. 

And just like that, Tatsuo, without alerting anyone to his presence, made his way up the building floor by floor. Along the way, he silently killed any members of Freidhof he came across. He even [Blinked] several abused women that had most likely been kidnapped, out of the building along the way. 

And eventually, he reached the top floor. However, that was where his silent infiltration ended. The top floor only had one hall way with a flight of stairs on either side. And in the middle of the hall way, on one of the walls, there was a heavy metal door. And on each side of the door, there were two guards who were on much higher alert than any of the other men he found in the building. 

'Yeah, there's no way I'm getting in there without being seen.' Tatsuo muttered to himself. 'No matter how good I am, I can't take down four guys standing that close to each other without any of them noticing. I'm gonna have to try something new.' 

With that, Tatsuo decided to turn around and head back outside. Though, he would not be traveling through the building again, as he intended to [Blink] to somewhere near the building. However, before he could, a voice coming from the inside of the room caught his attention. 

"Damn it! Where the hell are those bastards?" An enraged man's voice said, carrying through the heavy metal door. "The auction is supposed to start in three days. We need time to clean up the brats they captured before the auction starts. If they take any longer, we'll have to push back the date of the auction. And that will cost us… If they don't show up today, I'll make sure they understand why it's a bad idea to mess up my business." 

*Bang!* 

After those words ended, the sound of a heavy impact could be heard from the door, most likely, the man slamming his fist on his desk. 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo's expression turned absolutely frigid. He then [Blinked] away from the top floor to the outside of the building. After that, Tatsuo circle the building while still in [Stealth, looking for a good way to enter the guarded office. Eventually, he noticed a window on the top floor in the same direction as the room behind the metal door. 

Seeing that window, Tatsuo tthought back to some of the weapons he created while in the Abode at the end of the True Orcus Great Labyrinth. Then, a malicious smile spreads across his face as he [Blinked] away once again. 

A moment later, Tatsuo, still in [Stealth], appeared on top of Fuhren's sixty-five foot wall with a clear view of the window he had spotted not long ago. Then, he took the weapon that he was just thinking about out of his [Inventory]. A moment later, Tatsuo was lying on the top of the wall with the stock of an anti-material rifle resembling the Barrett M82A1 sniper rifle, also known as the Big 50, with its barrel supported by a bipod while looking through its scope at the Freidhof employment agency's top floor. 

Through the scope, Tatsuo could see the back of a man with slicked back, dark-brown hair wearing a white fur coat and a copious amount of jewelry going through a number of reports that were scattered on his desk. 

"Yeah, that's the guy from what I can remember." Tatsuo muttered to himself while gently placing his index finger on the rifle's trigger. "Not that I can remember the asshole's name, though. But I guess that doesn't matter. He'll just be a corpse when I'm done with him." 

After that, Tatsuo slipped into his zone once again. Then, he took a deep breath and held it in his lungs for a moment. And when his body was perfectly still, he squeezed the trigger. 

*Bang!* 

*Shatter!* 

The sound of the rifle was loud enough to scare everyone nearby. However, before the sound could reach the building where the leader of Freidhof, whose name was Hansen, the bullet, coated in Azantium, shattered the window behind him before entering his back, tearing through his body, and exiting through his chest, leaving an absurdly large exit wound, and destroying the desk in front of him while cratering the floor, as well. 

At the same time, Tatsuo put the rifle back in his [Inventory], stood up, and [Blinked] into the office, standing over the now, very dead, Hansen while looking down at his corpse with cold eyes. 

"Boss!" A gruff male voice could be heard from the other side of the metal doors. "Is everything okay in there?" 

Hearing that, Tatsuo equipped his bladed pistols. Then, he dashed towards the door. At the same time, the doors were flung open with the four guards rushing in through them. 

Unfortunately for them, as soon as they stepped through the open doors, the two guards at the front were both stabbed in the throat by the blades on Tatsuo's pistols. Then, their heads were torn from their necks while blood geysered from the stumps when Tatsuo swung his arms to the sides. 

*Bang!* *Bang!* 

Finally, when Tatsuo's guns were pointed at the other two guards, he pulled the triggers without mercy, creating new holes on their foreheads. All the while, Tatsuo somehow managed to maneuver between all the drops of blood, leaving his clothes completely clean. 

Then, without hesitation, Tatsuo [once again, [Blinked] out of the building. This time, he intended to move on to the next hideout. Meanwhile, the four guards, as soon as Tatsuo's figure disappeared, fell to the floor.

Thanks to this incident taking place on the top floor, with the rest of the members of Freidhof in the building already dead, no one even noticed the bloody scene until people from the Adventurer's guild came to check the information that Sumire had yet to even give them at this time. 

And for the next two hours, Tatsuo and James would spend their time traveling to each of the other forty-nine Freidhof hideouts and dispatching their members. Along the way, Tatsuo even stopped by the Meerstadt Aquarium, where he felt a vaguely familiar presence. And when he finally found the presence he sensed, it happened to be Lehman, the human-faced fish he and Shea met after being flushed out of the Reisen Great Labyrinth. 

{"Oh, I never thought I'd see you here, Tatsuo-boy."} Lehman said telepathically when he recognized Tatsuo. 

{"Yeah, me neither."} Tatsuo replied over the telepathic link, as well. {"How did you end up in here, anyway."} 

{"*Sigh* I got careless."} Lehman replied. {"Then, before I knew it, I was captured and being transported to be an exhibit in this aquarium. It's not all bad, though. I get to scare the people who look at me by talking in their heads and they feed me some decent food."} 

{"Hahaha! Well, I guess you gotta see the silver linings, right?"} Tatsuo said in an amused tone. 

{"That's right."} Lehman replied with a very human like nod. On top of that, Tatsuo swore that he could see Lehman shrugging, despite the fact that he did not have any shoulders. 

{"Anyway, you want me to get you out of here?"} Tatsuo asked after coming to terms with the strange sight he thought he just saw. {"I can take you to a nearby river. And if my memory is right, it should lead all the way to the sea west of the continent."} 

{"If you could do that, I'd really appreciate it."} Lehman replied. 

{"Sure."} Tatsuo replied. {"Just give me a second."} 

With that, Tatsuo took a deep breath. Then, he disappeared from where he stood, causing Lehman to widen his eyes in surprise. An instant later, Tatsuo appeared in the aquarium's tank right next to the human-faced fish. 

'Good, this should wash off the scent of blood clinging to me, too.' Tatsuo muttered internally. 'But I better hurry, it will attract any carnivorous fish, as well as any humans looking this way, too.' 

{"What in the…?"} Lehman exclaimed when he noticed that Tatsuo was floating in the water with him. 

However, before Lehman could ask any questions, Tatsuo placed his right hand on the side of Lehman's body. Then, he [Blinked] them both away from the aquarium. 

A few moments later, Tatsuo reappeared in front of the same tank in a new, dry, set of clothes. His sudden appearance did scare a couple walking by, though. However, completely unbothered by the people he just frightened, Tatsuo left the aquarium to continue hunting the members of Freidhof. 

Meanwhile, Sumire was sitting in the Adventurer's Guild waiting to see the Branch Chief, Ilwa Chang. 

"How much longer is this going to take?" Sumire asked herself while holding her Status Plate in her hands. "I mean, after what we did in Ur, we're already Silver-Ranked Adventurers. Shouldn't a report about saving a bunch of kidnapped children from Freidhof get a little more attention? Yet, I've already been sitting here for an hour and a half. Maybe I should just kick down the door and end this charade." 

"I think you've been spending too much time around Tatsuo." James, who appeared in the chair next to Sumire in a burst of speed, thanks to the [Flash Step] skill he replicated in his home universe, said in an amused tone. 

"No, I don't think that has anything to do with me." Tatsuo replied from the chair on the other side of Sumire after [Blinking] to her location. "I was trained to not be impatient during an operation, after all." 

"*Sigh* And you're both done." Sumire, not surprised by Tatsuo's and James' sudden appearance, said in an exasperated tone. "But I haven't even been able to speak to the Branch Chief yet." 

And as if he were waiting for Tatsuo and James to arrive, the Branch Chief of the Fuhren Branch of the Adventurer's Guild, Ilwa Chang, a tall man appearing to be in his late thirties with slicked black blond hair and a discerning look in his cyan-blue eyes, opened the door to his office before looking over the three young people waiting outside of his office. 

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." Ilwa said in a measured tone. "But I got a few reports about the destruction of a few warehouses and the like throughout the town. So, I had been managing the investigations into them." 

Reaching that point, Ilwa narrowed his eyes as he looked at the three. 

"You wouldn't have any idea what happened in those cases, would you?" Ilwa asked in a suspicious tone. 

Hearing that, Sumire, sitting in the middle of the trio, swiveled her head from side to side to look at Tatsuo and James. However, when her eyes landed on Tatsuo, she noticed that he was staring at James with a smirk on his face. Then, when she turned her head to look at James, she saw that he was smiling wryly while rubbing the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed. 

"I might have gone a little overboard after seeing what those douche nozzles were doing to the people they kidnapped." James said sheepishly. "But I did, at least, make sure that no innocent people were caught up in it, though." 

"Heh! And you said she's been spending too much time around me, huh?" Tatsuo asked with a smirk.

While Tatsuo snickered at James' admittance, Sumire face palmed. Meanwhile, Ilwa sighed in irritation before turning around and walking back into his office. 

"Anyway, come in." Ilwa said while walking towards his desk. "I'll at least hear you out before I pass judgement." 

With that, Tatsuo, Sumire, and James exchanged glances before shrugging their shoulders simultaneously. Then, they all stood up and followed Ilwa into his office.