“Oh dear, what brings you, esteemed one, to this humble place…”
As soon as I entered the office, the Mayor rubbed his hands together, pulling off a shady move. The cold sweat on his forehead suggested he was busy guessing in his head why I was here and what I was demanding.
There was no need for that.
He didn’t have to worry over trivial matters that could easily pull out his hair. If he just answered my questions well, nothing would happen.
“I heard information that unpleasant events have been happening around here. Have there been any strange occurrences lately?”
“S-strange occurrences, you say? Yes, yes. Lately, there have been a series of disappearance incidents in the city…”
The Mayor, who looked at me with eyes questioning how I knew, hurriedly pulled out some documents from his desk drawer and humbly handed them to me.
“T-this is the data regarding the disappearance incidents…”
I accepted the pile of documents, which was about the thickness of my pinky finger, and sifted through them. Are there really thirty missing persons?
That’s just way too many.
“When did you start suspecting these disappearances?”
“About six months ago. At first, I thought one or two missing persons just left the city or went traveling, so I didn’t think much of it… but people keep disappearing on a regular basis.”
“Disappearance. So, you determined it was a disappearance incident because of the pattern of similar disappearances?”
“That’s correct.”
It seemed the ongoing string of disappearances was a huge burden for the Mayor, as he continued explaining while looking at me with earnest eyes.
“According to testimonies from acquaintances, the missing persons mentioned the word ‘paradise’. They disappeared shortly after speaking that word.”
“Paradise, huh… what a coincidence. We also received a letter from a place called ‘Paradise.’”
“Why would Sir Quartz receive that letter?”
The Mayor looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if he found it strange that someone like me, who seemed entirely unrelated to the disappearance incidents, received a letter.
“Technically, the letter was received by this guy next to me. It seems that his hometown might be occupied or hidden by ‘Paradise.’”
“Is that so? Which village are you talking about?”
“Al Janna.”
“Al Janna… it’s not too far from here. I can’t believe it’s that place.”
“Have you investigated it at all?”
It was close enough that they could have looked into it in two days. The Mayor shook his head and answered.
“That’s outside our jurisdiction… so we couldn’t investigate it freely, and instead, we were prioritizing other areas. The problem is that even our investigators have gone missing in the meantime.”
So, people don’t gather because they’re scared of going missing. That’s unfortunate.
Who in their right mind would volunteer for such a thing? It would either be a family member of an abductee or some crazy person who finds thrill in this kind of danger.
“Understood. We’ll investigate that part, so don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
“Strange enemies can’t possibly be stronger than a dragon. Don’t worry.”
“Yes, yes! How could I worry about someone who’s defeated a great dragon? I must be crazy!”
No need to go that far. After calming down the flustered Mayor, I lightly tapped the documents with the back of my hand and said,
“We’ll take these documents with us.”
“Understood. Is there anything else you need…?”
“I plan to stay in this city for the day, but could you lend me a room?”
“Yes! Of course!”
The Mayor answered with a bright voice and, after closing his mouth, seemed to want to say something but was hesitating.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Could you… maybe give me your autograph? My son is a fan of Sir Quartz…”
“Gladly.”
I wrote a flashy signature I’d been practicing for the past few months on the blank paper the Mayor had handed me.
————————–
“Well then, I wish you both a future filled with luck!”
“May the blessing of Sir Kalon be with the hero!”
With the Mayor and staff seeing us off, we set out on the road towards Al Janna. I wanted to get there as quickly as possible to begin our investigation.
Once we had completely left the city and received the townsfolk’s warm send-off, Renny shook her head and said,
“It feels like we’re going on some kind of expedition, even though we’re just going to investigate.”
“That’s the life of a superstar.”
“Superstar?”
“Something like that.”
We walked down the road chatting. I thought about borrowing a horse, but since we could run faster than a horse, it didn’t really matter, and it wasn’t far anyway, so we planned to walk.
There were some quiet preparations to do before entering the village as well.
“Renny, there’s something I need to tell you before we go in.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“I’m thinking of sealing off the area around the village.”
“Seal off? How will you do that?”
“I’ll build walls around it.”
At my words, Renny looked at me as if she didn’t understand what I meant. Did I make it too complicated?
“I mean, I’ll completely cage the village in.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“If you don’t understand that, then that’s why I’m doing it.”
If this was the work of outsiders… in the worst-case scenario, I might have to wipe out the village entirely. The groundwork for that was necessary.
“I don’t quite get it, but if you say so, I guess there’s no helping it.”
“Of course, I plan to lift it if there are no problems.”
I just had to hope that I could lift it. If I had to completely wipe it out… I locked eyes with Renny. She looked at me with a hint of anxiety in her gaze.
“That won’t happen, right? What could happen in such a backwater village—”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
There’s nothing sillier than getting worked up over something that isn’t even confirmed yet. I took Renny’s words to heart and quickened my pace.
In reality, it was more like we were running than walking…
Before we knew it, we arrived at a hill where the village was visible. The winter-covered hill was draped in pure white, but oddly enough, it looked like winter hadn’t touched the areas around the village.
“I’ll take a short rest here and start working. Crafting.”
“It’s comfortable whenever I think about it.”
Renny, sitting in the chair I had quickly made in the tent, stretched. I glanced at her for a moment before sitting in my own chair and looking down the hill at the village.
“What was your hometown like?”
“My hometown? It was ordinary. Just a small village with a little temple. No significant specialty, and the only things that could make money were the trees and animals in that forest over there. Typical hunter’s village, you see. We did some farming, but…”
Renny’s eyes, as she kept talking about Al Janna, were filled with nostalgia. Was she recalling memories? The original story didn’t delve too deeply into Renny’s past, so I could only guess.
“I lived in that village until I was scouted by a mercenary group. My parents passed away from a plague, and I grew up in the temple… but it didn’t really suit me.”
“It didn’t suit you… huh?”
Well, there wouldn’t be many people willing to stay in a backwater place with her kind of talent. But didn’t she get betrayed and rescued by Karina? How did that even happen?
“What was life as a mercenary like? I’ve heard you were quite famous even back in your mercenary days.”
“It was barely about four years of experience. Not even that; maybe about three and a half? The first mercenary group I joined went bankrupt after taking a bad job, and I was forced into another mercenary group. I learned most of my fighting skills there.
Those weren’t exactly happy memories. If you didn’t meet your quota, you’d get beaten and insulted. And the food they gave was just awful.”
“That sounds tough.”
“Guess you’re doing better?”
…That might be true.
At least I was living in a place where people actually live.
“But after all that misery, I became a knight under the protection of Lady Karina, so I think it was meaningful. I never imagined I’d be a knight to such a big girl.”
“What can I do? It’s a fact I can’t deny.”
“Isn’t that a bit embarrassing for you?”
“Can’t deny the facts, right?”
“Ha, well… I guess it is.”
We enjoyed a lovely, sweet break, chatting away. We only got up from our seats when the evening glow started to appear. I picked up the shovel that had been slung over my shoulder and began walking in a circle around the village.
“Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.”
Thank goodness for being S-rank. Now I can create walls in mere tens of meters with just one skill.
Thanks to that, the work didn’t take long. Despite wrapping around the entire village, I was able to return to the camp while the moon was still bright in the sky.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll approach the village.”
“Uh… should we sleep in that igloo?”
Renny pointed to the igloo I had made.
“Yep.”
“Sounds cold.”
“If it’s too cold, we can always sleep together.”
“…I’m good, thanks.”
I couldn’t miss the blush creeping onto Renny’s cheeks and stifled a chuckle.
“Then, see you tomorrow.”
I went straight into the igloo, resting my head on the pillow I made out of snow, and fell asleep.
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