*Georg zu Eigel's point of view.
"No good. I can’t find her anywhere." The sailor who had barged into the room said exhaustively.
As if dragged down by the grim atmosphere, the people in the room were visibly worried.
There was a search conducted throughout the house. We even looked through the garden and in the city, but Miss Mary was nowhere to be found.
I bit my lips hard in order to calm my frustrations. Outside, the sun had already set, and it was getting darker every minute.
How afraid are you at night?
Is it terrible? Is it cold? Are you in pain?
Just thinking so made me uneasy.
"Mary… Where on earth are you?" Lady Bianca, Michael's sister, whispered. Her voice filled with despair.
Michael stood by her side, his arm supporting her as all colour drained from her face.
"Sis, please get a hold of yourself."
"But Michael. Mary isn't the type to abandon her friends and go running off somewhere. I'm sure something else must have happened."
"That's true… The princess wouldn't pull something like this as a prank. She might've been caught up in something unexpected… We should assume that she was kidnapped by someone. Hey, the young master right over there. Should we have issued a request for help after all?"
The sailor—I believe his name was Paul—gave his proposal and I, Georg zu Eigel, became silent.
It's as they're all saying. It's hard to imagine that Mary would choose to run away on her own will. If she got involved in some kind of incident, then it's highly likely that she was abducted.
But here lies the problem: Who the hell kidnapped her?
"Has anyone found the man who was with Miss Mary yet?"
"…No luck."
Paul shook his head with a bitter face. Lady Bianca and the crew also had troubled expressions.
The man who was supposed to accompany Miss Mary, Sir Wolf, had apparently gained everyone's trust.
"If we're going to search for Her Highness, then finding him is critical. If we are to explain the circumstances of her disappearance, then this person you call Wolf is an important witness. I think that a fugitive warrant should be issued, considering he's the person who most likely kidnapped her."
"Wolf being the culprit!? That's absurd!" Bianca protested.
"Even if you say that, he was the only person around Miss Mary when she went missing. On top of that, he vanished as well. The circumstances are evidence enough."
"That's…" Lady Bianca couldn't give a reply and words got stuck in her throat.
"There were no signs of any fight that occurred. The vase may have fallen, but the rest of the room was still tidy. Mary probably lost consciousness, but it is hard to believe she didn't resist at all."
"But… That guy was really doting on her, and no matter what you might say or think from your high horse, I for one don't think that was an act."
"Yeah. He looked after her as if she was his daughter. I can't believe that he would ever hurt her."
The sailors started talking about that Wolf guy.
For me, listening to all this rattle was irritating. 'Well then, in that case can you tell me who kidnapped Miss Mary?' Even trying to say it made me want to throw up.
"Oh, are you saying that Wolf's mysterious departure is completely and utterly unrelated?"
"…"
In response to my words, everyone became speechless.
A heavy and painful silence fell upon the room.
I didn't know Wolf. I didn't even know the days that they spent on board together, so I couldn't understand their conflict.
But exactly because of that, I could see things that they couldn't.
There were a great number of people in the hall and around town. It would be incredibly difficult to sneak into the mansion to kidnap Miss Mary and a burly man such as Wolf and not be seen by anyone.
As such, that meant there were only two possibilities; either Wolf carried her off by himself, or Wolf collaborated with another person, the kidnapper.
Rejecting those two options because of sentimentality was something I would not allow to happen.
If that guy had kidnapped Miss Mary, then he would have betrayed the trust she had in him. I absolutely could not forgive someone like that.
"Georg…"
Along with a voice full of vigour came a tap on my shoulder.
Michael, who now stood before us, unexpectedly lowered his brow as he watched me. He was busy looking for the right words, but I could tell that he was full of worry.
It seemed that I wasn't the only one that was agitated. The sailors were as well.
I took a deep breath to distract myself. Cold air filled my lungs, and I felt my mind calmed down a little.
"We're all worried for the princess. We shouldn't be arguing." I sighed.
"Yeah, sorry." With a bitter smile, Paul scratched his head awkwardly. "My bad. Even though you thought of this seriously, I let my emotions come over me and dismissed your ideas."
"Not at all. I'm also at fault for getting angry. I'm sorry."
It wasn't perfect, but the cold air finally dispersed.
"For now, let's summarise our situation. Does anyone have a map? If we know the surrounding topography, we might be able to narrow down the path that the kidnappers could've taken."
"Yes, I think I have one… I'll go get it."
After I asked, one of the sailors complied.
It was apparently in a different room so he headed for the entrance, but once he opened the door, he took a step back with a surprise in his voice.
"What's wrong?"
At the same time that Paul asked, someone stepped into the room.
Everyone, including me, widened our eyes as we stared at the person who walked in.
His whole body was inclined to one side, leaning against the wall of the hallway. Various bandages could be seen under his cloak, and blood was seeping through from multiple places. He was obviously not fit enough to walk, but his eyes said otherwise. They shone with a sharp glint, like an angered beast's.
"Where's Mary?" With a strained voice, that person, Klaus von Belmar, quietly asked.
"Klaus! You're not supposed to be walking with a body like that!"
"Don't push yourself! Your wounds are not completely healed!"
Lady Bianca and Michael hastily rushed in to help but Sir Belmar just brushed them off.
"Enough! I don't care about that. More importantly, where is Her Highness?"
"…"
Lady Bianca and Michael fell silent.
I knew that the siblings were like open books and how it'd be difficult for them to simply lie with a smile, but I wish they would've at least done something to conceal just how dire the current situation really was. I internally sighed as I watched the knight's face turned grim. Then he directed a sharp glare towards me.
"You said something about Her Highness' kidnappers?"
As the growl reached me, I realised my mistake. It seemed that Sir Belmar had somehow heard our conversation. What was I doing, criticising Lady Bianca and Michael, when it was obvious that I had made the biggest blunder of all?
"Who did it? Where did they go?"
"…If you've heard our previous discussions, then you must already realise we don't know who the culprit is, let alone where they are headed. In fact, we're not even sure that she was kidnapped in the first place."
"But she's not here! Isn't that factual enough!?" He roared.
His face distorted in anger, and he let it out by hitting the wall. The wound on his left hand burst open and bled through the bandages that wrapped around it.
"Please calm down! You're not in any shape to move about!"
Michael, with a pale face, hurriedly grasped Sir Belmar's arm. However, he shook him off and pushed himself from the wall.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Surprisingly, Lady Bianca scowled at Sir Belmar, who started dragging his feet off to the distance.
"I'll go look for Her Highness."
"In that condition? Only a fool would say that! You won't make it pass the outskirts of the town!"
"That's right, mister. You were seriously hurt, you know?"
"If you keep moving around restlessly like that, more wounds will open! Just stay put already!"
Not only was Lady Bianca chiding him, but the sailors were as well. However, Sir Belmar wasn't planning on listening.
"I am her escort. If I don't go look for her, then who will?"
"We will go!"
"I won't allow anyone else to be involved with Princess Rosemary."
"Why the hell are you so stubborn!?"
The sailors tried to hold him in place, but Sir Belmar roughly shook them off. Where he got the power from that tattered body of his, I had no clue. I didn't know whether to be amazed or impressed at his feat.
"If anything happens to you, how will we ever face her and apologise? Please behave yourself and go back to sleep!"
"While I was taking my sweet rest, Princess Rosemary went missing! Do you think I would go back to bed like nothing happened!?"
"And if you died, wouldn’t all of our efforts be for nothing!?"
"I've already dedicated my life to serving Princess Rosemary! She's in danger right now. If I can't give my life to her now, then when can I ever help her!"
Sir Belmar strained out the last sentence. What hit him next was anger and frustration, followed by deep regret over those words.
"Klaus… How could you…" Lady Bianca, after being at a loss for words, her face dyed red in anger.
Her thin shoulders and clenched fists were readying themselves in a swaying position as she approached Sir Belmar with small, powerful steps. However, Michael was ahead of her.
Everyone stared at Michael who now stood in front of Sir Belmar.
As we gazed upon them, not knowing what might happen, something spectacular took place.
SMACK!
"Ugh!"
Michael struck his fist onto Sir Belmar's face. No, let's try that again. Michael beat up Sir Belmar's honour without holding anything back.
Being a magician, he wouldn't have much power behind his strike. However, the actual power this time wasn't in the punch itself, but of the purpose it had. The meaning, if you will.
Everyone hung their mouths half-open like a cave. Even Michael's older sister was no exception.
The reddening hand that hit Sir Belmar was shaking slightly. Behind his bangs, Michael's eyes were burning with anger.
"Stop being an idiot." Michael's voice was low, as if trying to control the fury within.
"You're still alive, and it's not because of some miracle! It's everyone's tireless efforts! It's thanks to all of the hard work from the crewmen! It’s thanks to the princess when she was the only voice to reach you that you're now standing here! How dare you say something as selfish as to throw your life away!!"
"…" Sir Belmar took a deep breath.
The burning rage seemed to have disappeared from his emerald green eyes.
"Do you know how many times did the princess called out to you? How long she cried because of you? She treasures you so much… And yet…"
"…Michael." Lady Bianca hugged Michael's shuddering shoulders. His face crumbled, and his eyes soon filled with tears.
Michael tried to stifle his crying while muttering, 'I'm sorry for hitting you,' under his breath.
"……Don't be." Sir Belmar, who was still stunned, felt his swollen cheek with his hand and slowly dropped to the floor.
As for me, I couldn't say anything to either Sir Belmar nor Michael.
I didn't know what to say.
Michael's anger was truly justified since he was trying to protect something that everyone, and most importantly, Miss Mary, had worked so hard for.
But I also understood Sir Belmar's feelings, even if a little.
Although I was so close, I still couldn't protect the person I held most dear. That regret and anger are impossible to put into words. Especially when someone disagrees with you. Then only unpleasant thoughts seem to fill up your head, all of them driving you crazy.
All I could do was helplessly clenching my fists in frustration.
As an awkward silence filled the room, a deafening sound suddenly rang out.
We looked around the room to find the source of the noise, when it resonated once again.
"…A bird?"
Lady Bianca tilted her head curiously. Following her gaze, I looked beyond the windows. A black bird that seemed to melt into the darkness tilted its small head in reply. I recognised it immediately.
"…Don't tell me-"
I hastily ran towards the windows.
The bird pecked at the glass with its beak. There, just as I had hoped it would be, was a small letter, tightly fastened to its ankle.
TN: So I went away to a far country (depending on where you start) for only two weeks. I could barely adjust to the jet lag when I had to come back, so I get double jet lag. Followed by a cold. So that’s why the translations are a bit slow.
But! We have a new editor to lighten the workload! And they can understand Japanese! So like a rare creature, we jumped on it and now here they are, working with us (yay). This should be more accurate now and three heads are better than two, right?
Discord for sTaTUs UpDaTEs:
EN1: Yo, ayy, wassup guys, it's me, Spacewhale. We have a new editor joining the team, and she can actually read Japanese! Give it up for Cas, and please give them cake (emojis)! Also, she pointed out something to me that I never realized: in katakana, Georg's name is literally pronounced as…
Gay-Orc. (It's seriously written as ゲオルク, I ain't making this up. I never knew until now.)
To celebrate the growing LGBTQ community of Tensei Oujo, I've created another beautiful picture. Crowe's not the only gay one, he must be so happy.
EN2: Ohohoho. It is I, Cas, who shall attempt henceforth to not cause Nev and Spacewhale grief! I'm really going to try my best not to…but I've been reading TO for a while and I'm beyond excited to be on the team! Let us hope for many more Gay-Orcs and Rainbow-Crows in the future!