Yona was about to lose her mind.
Every time she closed her eyes, Rubina’s image flickered in front of her.
No matter how many times she repeated in her head that it was wrong, even if they had some acquaintance, she still regretted it, but Rubina was nowhere to be found.
As they entered the inn room, while Alex explained the situation to Kaiyak and James, Yona was in a daze.
She thought her head had cooled down after stopping by the guard, but…
As she listened to Alex’s explanation, the self-reproach once again clung to her ankles like mud.
“Let’s go.”
Kaiyak roughly patted Yona’s head with his hand.
Despite that, Yona, unable to move an inch, was quickly helped up by Alex.
“I’m a ghost when it comes to finding kids. Don’t worry, just leave it to me.”
James flashed a grin, his teeth glinting in the light, his lips twitching.
“When you’re raising a kid, it’s easy to lose them like that. It’s basically kidnapping, no different.”
James patted Yona’s back, who looked like she had zero energy left, and whispered to her.
He seemed relaxed, as someone who had experience raising a few children.
“Of course, there are procedures when it comes to kidnapping, but that’s not really difficult, you know.”
“Procedures?”
Alex asked, not understanding what he meant.
As if waiting for his words, James lightly tapped his bow.
“There’s a procedure for smashing the heads of the kidnappers.”
“Right. It’s a necessary procedure.”
Carrying an axe on his back, Kaiyak opened the door.
“Let’s go. How scared must the kid be?”
Eventually, the four of them returned to the last place Yona and Rubina had been—the bench.
There were some people who had arrived earlier and were sitting on the bench, but when the four of them, exuding an ominous energy, approached, the startled individuals quickly vacated their seats.
“Is this where you left Rubina with that guard named Neri?”
“Yeah, yeah… I must be crazy… Why did I…?”
Yona began to self-reproach once more.
Alex poked her in the side.
“Ouch.”
“What are you digging a hole for again? From now on, we just need to find her quickly.”
“First, there’s nothing here that can serve as a clue.”
James, with his bow slung over his back, looked around on the ground.
He picked up some dirt from the still damp ground and rubbed it between his fingers.
“Is this the mark from that bingsu?”
“That’s right…”
“That’s right…”
Yona nodded weakly.
When she saw the fruit bits rolling around in the muddy footprints, there was no doubt about it.
“Well then… let’s see… Thankfully it’s night, so it hasn’t dried up yet. Alright.”
James got down on the ground, starting to check the footprints around them.
There was a chaotic mix of children’s and adults’ footprints, but James began to rub each footprint with his fingers.
“It looks like this. I can’t tell if Rubina stepped in this slushy mess, but if she did, it would be that way.”
James pointed towards the opposite side of the plaza.
With the night market still bustling, the direction James pointed was far from the guards’ station and the inn where Yona’s group was staying.
“The footprints lead that way. It doesn’t seem like they dragged Rubina away. The stride is consistent, and the depth too. And there’s a boot print right next to it. Let’s go that way.”
Kaiyak nodded.
At a time like this, with so many people around, there was no other way for Kaiyak, Alex, or Yona to make assumptions. It was a situation where they had to trust James, who, despite being an archer, had learned tracking skills.
As they ventured toward where James pointed, the streets grew darker.
Buildings blocking the light at odd angles created a jumble of shadows that cast a deep darkness, and the winding alleyways were steeped in a strangely ominous atmosphere.
The ground shifted from dirt to stone, where footprints wouldn’t last.
Once they entered that alley, James came to a halt.
“From now on, I’ll lead the way while I look. You should scatter and search as well. If you notice anything even a little odd…”
James rummaged through the sling bag at his waist, pulling out four small glowing orbs and distributing one to each of his companions.
Yona and Alex were well aware of what these were.
Essential items for entering dungeons.
When you squeeze and throw them, they burst with a bright, intense light.
“Throw these high into the sky. Then everyone gather there. Got it?”
The group all nodded.
James disappeared first into the darkness, and Kaiyak lightly nodded to Alex and Yona before moving toward a different alley.
“Let’s move together. It feels too risky for you to go alone.”
“…Okay.”
Sadly, Yona’s combat ability was practically nonexistent.
If there’s ever a situation where we have to fight, Yona really can’t do anything.
Yona nodded while suppressing the strangely pounding heart she’s been feeling since earlier.
Her breath is starting to get hasty.
Is this the first time she’s felt this way? No, it’s not.
“Then, uh—wait a second. Yona, are you feeling sick?”
Alex looked into Yona’s face.
Her face is definitely red.
And her breathing is rough, making her look like she’s in quite a bit of pain.
“No, I’m not sick. It’s just… I’m a bit breathless.”
“With your face being that red and your breathing sounding weird?”
Alex suddenly had a sense of déjà vu.
He’s seen that kind of expression on Yona before.
It was probably when they were heading toward the sacred tree in James’s village.
“Anyway, let’s hurry and go. We need to find Rubina…”
Although he was questioning if Yona was really okay, Alex nodded.
After all, there’s no time to dwell on it right now.
Finding Rubina is the priority.
*
Adventurers always need to stay calm.
That was James’s motto.
Seeing as they run into unexpected situations all the time, can there be any job that requires as much composure as that of an adventurer?
In that sense, James could definitely be seen as failing right now.
He was extremely angry.
He has always had a fondness for kids and adored his own children.
Even though Rubina wasn’t his biological daughter, he had grown quite attached to her during their nearly month-long journey.
To think someone dared to kidnap that kind of child.
There may be various reasons for kidnapping children—but—
“I need to find her first.”
James forced himself to calm his ragged breathing and took a shallow breath.
His eyes were sharp as he scanned the surroundings, scrutinizing any building that showed even the slightest oddness.
He moved between buildings, leaping to scale the opposite building, looking down carefully as he roamed around for a while.
“Two men.”
Two men were guarding the entrance of a building.
There hadn’t been any buildings like that up until now.
There weren’t many, but there were definitely buildings with guards at the doors.
But there was a reason James observed those men so closely.
A small pendant hanging around the men’s necks.
A tiny pendant hanging around his neck.
A tiny pendant that only someone like James, a member of a different race, and especially an orc with exceptional senses, would ever see — not to mention an archer type!
With the rising sun at the top, and a vertical pillar supporting it.
And a horizontal bar crossing that vertical pillar.
This symbolizes the celestial god, supported by humans, and the faith assisting that human – the emblem of the Church of the Celestial God.
However, the pendant that the men are wearing has a reversed version of that emblem.
With the sun, representing the celestial god, placed below, it looks as if humans are trampling the celestial god.
‘These guys seem suspicious.’
James leaped over to the building across the street and climbed up the ledge without making a sound.
Once he reached the rooftop, he peered into the building.
Not a single candlelight seeped through the tightly shut wooden windows.
Only on the first and second floors, a faint candlelight flickered.
‘What to do…’
He contemplated for a moment.
Should he call his companions, or try to attack alone?
But the pondering didn’t last long.
Upon seeing the reversed emblem of the Church of the Celestial God, an unsettling feeling washed over him.
If he summoned his companions, who knows what might happen in the meantime? Plus, if it got noisy, could it put Rubina in danger for no good reason?
James soon made up his mind.
After all, if he doesn’t get caught, it’s fine.
He climbed onto the rooftop of the opposite building.
Taking out two arrows, James rummaged through his sling bag for two blunt arrowheads and swapped them onto the arrows.
Killing them would be easy, but that would simply be murder.
They may be up to no good, but James is an adventurer, and dealing with them wasn’t his responsibility.
He quickly shot the modified arrows, one after another.
The arrows struck the foreheads of the two men guarding the door, and the impact made them roll their eyes back, dropping them instantly.
‘Hope they come quickly.’
Propping the unconscious men against the wall, James grabbed a flare and smashed it.
Throwing it straight up into the sky, he confirmed the flash of light before snatching a pendant from one of the man’s necks and putting it around his own.
“Hope these bastards aren’t a bunch of damn species discriminators.”
Muttering that, James slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
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