Chapter 48
Marin and I approach the group of three people chatting outside the residence .
"Excuse me," I say and then hold out the request in front of me . "Does this look familiar to you?
"Yes, I put in that request yesterday," the middle-aged woman responds .
"I'm Sergeant Kai, the leader Sigma Platoon 4 . I'm gonna take your case . "
"Oh, really? You'll be able to find him?!" the woman exclaims .
"Yeah, I pro…" I close my lips and frown . I think to last week . The consequences . I gulp before continuing, "We'll do our best to find him . We need you to give us more on what happened before he disappeared . "
"Of course . It was last week . My husband came home saying that he joined an Adventurer's group, even though he doesn't have a license . "
"That's not possible . Everyone part of an Adventurer's team needs a license to register it at the Adventurer's Hub . "
"That's the part that worried me at first . He said that they didn't have licenses either, but they had a client who would pay them directly . "
"What does your husband do? You should've stopped him from doing something so reckless . Someone without training wouldn't be able to fight monsters . "
"Oh, no . I'm not worried about that . He attended the Academy, so he knows how to fight . But he dropped out to open his own restaurant . It hasn't been doing well recently . "
"I see . Do you know the details of their mission?"
"My husband said it was a simple task . They had to gather supplies in a forest near the base of the mountain . "
"When did they leave?"
"Last week . "
"Okay . I'll gather my team, and we'll head out immediately . "
"Wait," the woman says and then turns toward the young couple next to her .
"You're headed to the base of the mountain, right?" the young man asks . "Two of my former teammates joined an Adventurer's group last week too . "
"Former teammates? You were in an Adventurer's group with them?"
"Yeah . Up until the Incident . They wanted to continue, but I didn't . They're not so weak to fall to Horned Rabbits . "
"Their mission was to hunt them?"
"Yeah . And to collect an herb that grows abundantly in a forest outside Beltan . Something must've happened . "
"I see . We'll let you know if we find any clues, but we can't put a priority on it without an official request . "
"I submitted a detailed request this morning to the Request Center . Originally, a group separate from the army offered assistance and left looking for them, but I can't trust them . Please take it before you leave . "
I frown . He looks at me with widened eyes filled with hope . I sigh . "Okay, we'll take it before we leave . We'll be on our way now . "
I bow my head . Marin does the same . We head toward the Castle, eventually arriving in the Request Center . I look through the open requests . My eyes stop on one .
My son may have been deceived . He doesn't have an Adventurer's license, yet "Adventurers" recruited him into their group . He left to hunt Horned Rabbits near a forest near Beltan last week . Please find him .
I knit my eyebrows . I hand it to Marin and say, "Take a look at this . It's another one . "
Marin frowns . "You want to take this one too?"
"Ye-yeah… It looks like they're in the same area for sure this time . It won't be like last time . "
"Captain Albius let us off the hook last time . I don't think he'll give us a second chance . "
"You're right . But, we can do it this time . We…" I clench my fists . "We learned from our mistakes . It won't happen again . "
"I'm okay with whatever you decide . You're the leader . What'll you say to Captain Albius and Jetia?"
"I'll think of something," I say while shifting through the other requests . I find the request submitted by the man from earlier . I hand it to Marin . I continue looking through the remainder . I read another one that catches my eye . It's from the village of Beltan .
Our daughter is missing . We believe that she's been kidnapped by the local bandits . Please send help .
"Don't take it, Kai," Marin cautions . "We already have too many requests . "
"But this is right outside where we're going . We can successfully complete four requests in one go . It'll negate our last three failures . "
"There's no way Captain Albius would approve it . "
"I'll try . If he doesn't sign it, then it can't be helped," I say while skimming the last few requests in the stack . None of them relate to the ones I've picked out already . Marin hands me the two pieces of paper I gave her . I walk up to one of the receptionists and place the three requests on top along with my ID . "Sergeant Kai from Sigma 4 . I need these three requests forwarded to Captain Albius immediately . "
He inspects my ID for a moment before replying, "Okay . I will find someone to deliver it immediately . "
I pick up my ID and say, "I want to borrow a map of Drosera too . "
"Sure thing, one moment," he answers, picks up the three pieces of paper, and then goes into a room behind him . A minute later, he comes back and puts the map on the counter . "Please return it within a week . "
I take the map, and we leave . "Hopefully Captain Albius will respond before lunch . I'll explain it to everyone then . I'm off to train . See ya later . "
"Okay, bye," Marin says with a smile and waves . I wave and head to the third level . I open my locker, finding my weekly base salary inside; 15 silver coins . There is no bonus this week, but it's not surprising considering what happened last week . I move the money over to the back corner of my locker separate from our team funds . I've earned 60 silver coins over the past month .
I leave the first request we accepted and the map inside before closing my locker and then head to the second floor of the training area on the first level . I go to an empty room . I stand still in one of the corners . Let's try it again today with Scrap Mana . This time, I'll strengthen my core too .
I move Scrap Mana into my legs, around my leg and foot muscles, instructing my Mana to strengthen them for ten seconds . I allocate it evenly around the muscles, giving larger muscles more Mana . I do the same to the core of my body . I activate my Mana and then sprint forward . I reach a quicker speed than I'm normally able to achieve with my armor on all while maintaining my balance this time .
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I smile . I repeat the same process again and again . My efficiency increases a bit every time, and the time it takes to assign instructions decreases too . I sigh deeply and sit against the wall, closing my eyes .
…
Screams resound . I open my eyes, finding the scene from last week in front of me .
"Help!" a man yells as he is slashed from behind by a bandit . I want to run to help those still alive, but no matter how fast I run, the gap between us does not shrink .
"Kai, save me!" Hiro exclaims as he is surrounded by three men . Two of them stab him through the arms .
"Hiro!" I scream . The third man raises his sword above his head .
"It hurts!" Hiro yells while flailing his limbs . The sword swoops down . His body goes limp .
"You can't save anyone," a voice calls to me .
"Wake up, monkey," Captain Albius says . I open my eyes, finding him standing in front of me . A chill runs through my body . "Your pesized brain still remembers what happened last week, right? Explain to me why you're takin' three additional requests .
I squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds and then open them . "Yeah I remember, but this time's different . "
"How?"
"The requests are all located around Beltan, and I've learned from my previous mistakes . "
"What exactly did you learn?"
"To not show any mercy to bandits . "
"I thought even a monkey would know this . I don't have any reason to allow you to take on additional requests, but I have a reason to deny it . You failed before . Why should I risk our reputation?"
"I understand the risks, but it's more efficient if we handle them . Other platoons can focus on different requests in separate areas . Better to address an issue sooner than later . Time's of the essence . "
He smiles . "Very well . I'll sign off these requests for you . You're free to leave immediately . It'll be in your mailbox . "
Captain Albius walks out . I lean back against the wall and sigh . Now I'll have to explain it to everyone .
I rest briefly before heading to the cafeteria . It is almost noon . I wait in line, eventually receiving one free meal ticket . A few minutes later, I grab the tray of food and then head toward the designated meeting place . Vicki and Marin are already here .
"Hey," I say and sit down .
"Hi," they greet near simultaneously .
"Captain Albius approved all three . "
"I see . "
"All three what?"
"I'll explain when everyone arrives . Where's Ruby?"
"I'm not sure . I haven't seen her around much in the past week," Marin responds . "What about you, Vicki?"
"I'm in the same boat . "
"Same here . I hope she got the letter I sent everyone yesterday . "
"I'm sure she did," Marin says .
"Yeah," I say and then eat my food . Later, everyone except Ruby sits down . I explain the circumstances without Ruby .
"How stupid are you?" Jetia asks . "We're all going to pay for yer dumb decisions . "
"Think of it as an opportunity to advance . We can wipe last week off our slate if we're successful," I explain . "
"Dependent on if . We're more likely to receive punishment for failing . You should've consulted us first before taking all of us down with you . "
"There was no time for a meeting . The longer we wait, the less chance we'll have at resolving the requests . "
"You haven't forgotten what happened last week, right?" Jetia asks . "What'll we do if the same thing happens again?"
"Then we take them out with everything we've got . "
"So that's your master plan? To go head-to-head with them?"
"Yeah . Things won't end like last time if we don't give them any room to breathe . We'll charge at them . Does anyone have a better idea?"
Kama raises his hand and says, "I don't have a plan…but I have a concern . Are all of us charging in?"
"Yeah, except for Marin and Vicki . Why?"
"I don't think I can handle that level of combat…"
"What're you talking about? You passed the exam, didn't you? Have more confidence . "
"Passing the exam was nothing compared to real combat . " Kama turns his head toward Jetia, Banni, and Dano . "It's the same for you guys too, right?"
I frown in response to everyone else's frowns . Dano says, "Yeah… This is outside our scope of experience . I learned my lesson last time . "
"What's wrong with you guys? You left The Reserve because you wanted to resolve requests, right?"
"I would like to…but I'm not strong enough," Banni says .
"You won't get stronger unless you fight . Don't you improve by sparring each other? That's how I…" I stop short and widen my eyes .
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"We do spar but only see some small improvement," Dano explains .
"I'll start sparring and training you guys after we complete the requests," I declare .
"You should've done that weeks ago . Some leader you are," Jetia says .
I click my tongue . "Well, you never asked . How was I supposed to know you needed help?"
"I don't need help . "
Ruby is running toward us, panting . Her run is unusual . She takes many small steps instead of longer strides . "Sorry I'm late!"
Her hair is wet . I ask, "Where were you? You missed the meeting . "
She frowns, looks away, and puts a hand on her stomach . "I was trainin' really hard… I didn't want ta be sweaty, so I took a shower . "
It looks like her legs might topple over any second . I sigh . "Well, we're ready to go . We can leave as soon as you're done eating . "
"Oh, umm… I'm not feelin' hungry," she says and then smiles . "I'm ready if you want ta leave now, Kai!"
"Okay, I'll meet everyone outside the stables . I'm going to the mail station for the signed papers," I say and then head to the third floor . I find the three pieces of paper signed by Captain Albius on top with another one signed by him on the bottom that I deposited earlier in the day . I take all four with me before closing my locker . I run down the stairs and then go to the stables . Everyone is waiting there .
I walk up to one of the guards in front of the stables entrance . I show him our signed requests and then request four horses and two wagons . Marin and I sit in the front of one wagon . Ruby and Vicki rest in the back . The others are in the wagon behind us . The clattering of wagons, chatter, and other noises erupt from the other side of the wall, steadily growing louder . We approach the front gates when suddenly they open . The two guards stationed next to the door inside step aside .
Hundreds of soldiers pass through; some on horseback while others on the back of wagons and inside convoys . There are at least two dozen of them with the symbol of Drosera engraved on the front of their armor . One of the soldiers on horseback carries a big flag with the Drosera's symbol .
"Are they the ones who went on that mission in Neomeris everyone talks about?" Marin asks .
"Oh, yeah . That's probably it," I answer . They head toward the back of the Castle . It takes a few minutes for them to pass . I move my transport over to the front of the gate . I show the guards my requests, and they let us pass . I take another look at the map before handing it to Marin . "I'll take the reins . You handle the directions . "
We head toward the only exit to the city on the south side and then proceed to the route to the village . We pass by a large group of soldiers . One of them carries another big flag with our nation's symbol . With Marin giving directions, we arrive in about two hours . I show the guards outside the request originating from their village . One of them leads us inside .
"Kai, haven't we been here before?" Marin asks .
I look around while knitting my eyebrows . "This place does look familiar . "
"Wait here," the guard says . I pull back the reins . My eyes wander around the village . They stop on a farm . I remember we rested here in the past .
"We rested here for a few days after parting with Rocky," Marin says .
"Yeah . I wonder how he's doing now . "
"He's probably made a lot of friends by now . "
"I hope so . It's not easy being alone . "
Marin rests her hand on one of mine . I look around quickly . No one sees it . She smiles and says, 'You're not alone Kai . "
I reciprocate her smile and answer, "Thanks, Marin . You too . "
The guard comes back with a couple in their 50's . I hop off the wagon and ask, "Are you the ones who put in the request about your daughter being kidnapped?"
"Yes," the man answers .
"I'm Sergeant Kai . I took your case," I say and shake the man's hand . I've seen him before but don't remember where .
"Kai… That sounds familiar . Have we met before?"
Marin whispers in my ear, "They're Ariane's parents . We stayed at their house, remember?"
I raise my eyebrows and answer, "Yeah… I think we have . Ariane's your daughter, right? We stayed at your place for a few days about one and a half years ago . "
"Oh, yes . I remember now . Thank you so much for what you did for us back then . "
"So Ariane's been kidnapped?" I ask . "Are the culprits related to the ones we fought last time?"
"We believe so . Follow us to our home . We'll explain more there," Ariane's father says . We let Ruby and Vicki rest for now . Leaving Jetia and the others behind, Marin and I follow Ariane's parents into their home . A young boy runs up to us .
"Big sis'!" he exclaims . He looks at Marin for a moment and then frowns . In a whiny tone, he asks, "When's big sis' coming home?"
"Derek, I told you . We asked the army to help us," his mother says and pats his head . "They're going to bring her back . "
"Are you gonna bring my big sis' home, mister?"
I smile and respond, "Yeah . We'll try our best . We need your parents to give us the details first . "
"Right . Make yourselves comfortable," Ariane's father says as he points to the adjacent room . There are a couple of couches around a table . I take a seat on the one closest to us . Marin sits beside me .
Our clients sit across from us . "Hmm… Where do we begin? It was last week when—"
"Mommy, I'm hungry," Derek complains .
"Oh dear," Ariane's mother interjects . "Honey, we forgot about the errand . Sorry, Derek . Can you bear it a while longer?"
"But, I'm hungry now!"
"What's wrong?" I ask .
"We're out of wood . I can't cook without it . "
"You don't have a stove that uses Fire Crystals?"
She cocks an eyebrow and then shakes her head . "We don't have that kind of equipment here . "
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Marin mutters, "I can help…with my magic, I can—"
"No," Ariane's parents respond and shake their heads simultaneously .
"That's not necessary," Ariane's father continues .
"Marin has the capability to create wood in physical form . You'll be able to use it as you would normally," I explain .
"That's not it . We don't want anything to do with magic . "
"What's wrong with magic? It makes everything easier . "
"Because if you use too much magic, something bad happens!" Ariane's brother exclaims .
"Something bad?" I question .
"You turn into a monster!" he exclaims .
"What? That's not true…" I say
"It is too! You'll turn into a monster one day!" He exclaims while pointing at me .
"Derek! Don't be rude!" Ariane's mother exclaims and then grabs his hand . "We can eat at your favorite place now . We'll go gather some wood after that . "
"'Kay!" Derek exclaims . The two of them walk out the front door .
"Sorry about that . It's a village folklore . It's one of the reasons why we don't like magic," Ariane's father explains .
"I understand, but you're not the one using magic . You won't turn into a monster, so what's the problem?" I ask .
"We don't want to rely on it . Magic has only put this village through distress . This may be hard to believe, but our village embraced magic once upon a time . There were two people who became stars in our village because they learned magic on their own despite the folklore . They brought wealth to the village," he continues . I feel like I have heard this before .
"Of course . Magic's amazing," I declare .
"The village sent the children eligible to join the Academy around that time too . A decade later, they were all reported dead . The two stars, who were our parents' close friends met their demise around the same time . "
"I think he's talking about Ragnar's parents . Remember that story Ariane told us?" Marin asks me quietly .
Ragnar and Ariane… I remember now . It almost sounds like what I thought happened to my own parents . I think before speaking up, "The two stars were Ragnar's parents, right?"
"Yes, how do you know about that?"
"Ariane told us something similar before . "
"I see," he says and then sighs . "The common link between their deaths is magic . And so the village has outlawed magic usage for the past 25 years . "
After a brief silence, he widens his eyes and continues, "Please save Ariane! I'm certain Ragnar took her with him . "
I knit my eyebrows and take several seconds to collect my thoughts before responding, "Excuse me for asking this…but was Ariane really kidnapped?"
"Of course she was . Why else would she suddenly disappear overnight?"
"So she was at home and disappeared overnight?"
"That's right . She was gone without a trace the next day . No clues were left behind to as a clue where she is now . "
"Have you thought about the possibility that she left on her own?"
"That's preposterous . Ariane would never do that . "
"How else would you explain that she was taken so quietly? If it were against her will, you would've awoken to a struggle of some sort . "
"I don't know . Magic was probably involved . "
"How connected have you been with your daughter recently? Last time I recall she wasn't very happy—"
He stands up . "How dare you . Are you implying that it's our fault she was taken by Ragnar? For all we know, he could've used magic to charm her into going with him . That's no different than kidnapping . "
"Sir, I'm not implying anything . We don't know anything at this point . I'm just wondering what we should do if we find her, and she doesn't want to return home . "
He sighs and sits back down . "Yes… This is what we're afraid of . Those two have always been together . That girl, she's infatuated with him . She thinks Ragnar's the same person she knew growing up . That his intentions are good, but people change . "
His last few words echo in my head, and a chill goes down my spine . I get lost in my thoughts for several seconds until I shake my head multiple times . "…he never would've taken her with him onto that dangerous path if he truly cared . "
I gulp and blindly answer, "Yeah . "
"I don't care how you do it . Just bring Ariane back alive . "
"What about Ragnar?"
"I don't care what happens to him, but the bounty for him is still active . I have a copy of it somewhere . I'll be right back," he says and then walks away .
Marin whispers, "Ariane's at least eight years older than us . Shouldn't we tell him that she's old enough to make decisions by herself?"
"I don't think he's willing to listen," I whisper . "I think we should be compliant for now and figure it out when we meet her .
Ariane's father returns with a worn-looking paper in his hand . He places it on the table in front of me . A rough sketch of his face is drawn on the front . Capturing him dead or alive yields a reward of a gold coin . "This is over a year old, but we've recently updated the bounty . The reward is now five gold coins . "
I take the piece of paper and then hand it to Marin . She puts it away in her backpack . I stand up and ask, "Before we go, do you know where his hideout is?"
"If we knew that, we would've taken action long ago . "
"Okay . The sooner we leave the better . We'll do our best to recover your daughter," I say while heading out back to the others . Marin follows .
Vicki and Ruby are still fast asleep while the others are chatting away .
"Attention!" I exclaim between our two transports . Ruby and Vicki groan a few times as they get up, rubbing their eyes .
"Kai, are we startin'?" Ruby asks .
"Yeah . I need everyone to be alert from this point forward," I say while making a hand gesture toward Marin . She takes out the bounty on Ragnar and then hands it to me . I hold it in front of me, giving everyone a good look . "This is who they think's responsible for the kidnapping . If you see him, alert everyone and be cautious . He's skilled in magic . "
"I can't see it from here," Kama says . I hand the bounty to him . He looks closely at it for several seconds before passing it to someone else .
"So, where're we headed to, leader?" Jetia asks . "Where's his hideout?"
"I don't know . We'll have to—"
"How're we going to find him if we don't know where that is? You should've asked . "
"I did ask, they don't know . "
Jetia chuckles before answering, "Great . Now we have four requests with no leads on any of them . What's the worst that can happen?"
I frown . "We do have a few leads . Three of our requests point to the forests outside of here . "
"And the others?" Jetia asks . I don't answer . "So that's it? We blindly search through all the forests around here? We're not going to have enough time for that . "
"Not while we're wasting time now talking about it . It won't be blind once we go look and find evidence of recent battle . We're moving out," I say and hop on the front of the wagon . I pull on the reins toward my left to turn back toward the entrance we came from . The guards raise the gates for us, and we leave .
The forests on our left and right are a couple of minutes away . We ride until we are a few hundred meters in from the beginning of the right forest . I park the transport off to the side of the trail . Jetia and the others leave their wagon a few meters behind ours .
"Everyone line up like last time . We're going to gradually move back into our formation for searching," I order . "Ruby, Marin, and Vicki are in the center with the five of us spread out around them . "
Kama trembles . He stands in the initial positions and asks, "So, ar-are we do-doing the same thing as last time?"
"Yeah, it's the best way we have," I answer .
"I'm still a bit skeptical…"
"What's wrong with it? You'll cover one of the back edges like last time . We move as a group and if you see something send a signal . "
"N-no… I mean what's going to happen if I run into someone…or if a monster attacks?"
I sigh . "Monsters around here don't attack unless they're provoked . You'll be fine . Nothing will happen, and we're all close enough to regroup if you sense danger . If it makes you feel safer, we can pivot our formation every time we change directions, so I'm always at the front . "
"Wh-what's going to happen whe-when we find someone looking for trouble? Do you want me to fight back?"
"Of course . That's what you're here for . If someone attacks, fight back . If we have a hostage situation like last time, we'll charge in immediately . You're thinking too much about it . Live combat isn't that big of a deal . You get used to it . "
"I can't see that happening . "
"It comes with experience . "
"I understand…but we're going to have to…ki-kill people this time, right? Will I get used to that too?"
"Well…ideally, we don't—"
"Oh, stop it already, leader . Kama's right . That's what yer telling us when you told us the plan was to charge in . Kill them before they can make any moves, right?" Jetia asks .
I frown . "Yeah . If that's what we have to do to get the job done, we will . It's either you or them . "
Kama looks down and mutters, "I can't…"
I sigh deeply and then ask, "What made you decide to join the army?"
"I'm not sure anymore . "
"You were there with us in front of the Castle a month ago . You know completely why you joined . "
Kama pauses for several seconds before answering, "It's not much, really . A good friend of mine served in the army for over two decades . We were training together to join the army back then, but I didn't make it and gave up . He went on to pursue his dream, but that ended during the attack . "
"Exactly . Don't you want revenge?"
"I did, but not anymore . Don't get me wrong . I understand completely your motivations and everyone who lost someone in the attack, but I don't feel that way . I knew the risks of joining the army . It's a part of the job . "
I knit my eyebrows . I can't comprehend his words . If it weren't for them, his friend would still be alive . Part of his job or not, it was completely out of his control…
He continues, "I just felt a need to pursue his dream in place of him . "
I shake my head and stop trying to figure out why he doesn't want revenge, but I can't think of anything else to say .
"Wh-what was your friend like?" Marin asks .
Kama lifts his head and smiles . "He was everything I wish I was . Confident, talented, righteous . "
"I see," Marin says and smiles .
I smile too . Thanks, Marin .
"What would your friend do right now if he were in your shoes?" I ask and then pause for several seconds . "Do you have your answer?"
"Yes, thank you Kai . I'm ready . "
"Anyone else have any concerns before we move in?" I ask . Jetia snickers . "What is it, Jetia?"
"It's nothing . I'm ready whenever you are, leader . "
I grind my teeth as a few puffs of hot air escape me . I try to ignore Jetia and his remark . "Right, then we'll move out immediately . Kama, you can switch sides with Dano since the right side is probably safer here . I'll head in first . Remember to stay in formation . "
I head into the forest about a minute in before stopping . I check my surroundings to verify our formation is correct . Banni is diagonal to my left behind me about the same distance as Jetia is diagonal to my right . Marin, Ruby, and Vicki are grouped up behind me a bit farther than those two . The remaining two are out of my sight as they should be . I face forward again and continue straight ahead .