One hour later .
“They haven’t returned yet . Usually, they would have been back by now and gone on their next round . ”
The guard said with a puzzled look .
“Indeed . And they worked so seriously and quickly up until now . ”
Agreed the dwarf who was in charge of snacks .
“I’ll go and have a look . ”
“You can enter the ridges if you crouch . ”
“Alright . ”
However, no amount of searching led them to Maki and Chiharu .
“What happened?”
“Stilla? It’s Kenneth and Ryan . They are nowhere to be found . ”
“They were supposed to be doing this row here . ”
“But they aren’t there . ”
“That’s strange . ”
Stilla then gathered all of the dwarves together .
“What is it? We were almost finished . ”
“Kenneth and Ryan are gone . Has anyone seen them? Did they feel ill and return to the inn?”
“No one went in the direction of the inn . Well, except for one wagon that was carrying straw . ”
Said a dwarf who was working in the direction of the inn .
“However, you wouldn’t have been able to see that if you were working in the field . ”
“I could though, mister tall man . Look, go over there and crouch till you are the same height as us . ”
The guard did as he was told . The guard had thought the entire field looked like a jungle, just like Maki and Chiharu, but you could actually see clearly ahead at 140cm above ground level .
“So where did they go?”
“Hey, you said something about a wagon?”
“Yes . It was carrying straw . ”
“You wouldn’t need straw during this season and it’s not the time to harvest it . Is it not strange then that a hay wagon would pass through here?”
“Yes, it is strange . ”
“What if they were kidnapped?”
The guard looked surprised .
“Which way did the wagon go!?”
“I think it was in the direction of Gromble . ”
The guard started to run .
“Wait . Just listen to this!”
“What?”
“The mayor of Gromble likes children . Human children . ”
“Children! Human!”
The guard went running .
Of course, the wagon was no longer on the road towards Gromble . And so the guard went running to the inn where Grudo was .
“They’ve been kidnapped!? And there’s a possibility that the mayor of Gromble has them . Hmmm…”
Grudo started to think .
“They may still come back . However, we should consider the worst possible scenario and go to Gromble . You go on ahead and tell Edwy . Then we will meet up in the inn that the other soldiers are staying at . ”
“Understood . ”
Grudo quickly prepared to leave the inn and then followed the soldier to Gromble . It was evening by the time they arrived .
“Grudo!”
The guard was waiting for him at the inn .
“The four representatives are in the dungeon today, and it is not known when they will return . Kaider and Aeris are camping down there as they go deeper . ”
It was already night .
“And what of Edwy and Nyran!”
“They were held at the Mayor’s mansion up until yesterday, so they hurried off to the dungeon today and have yet to return . ”
“This is not good . We cannot just go and pursue them either . ”
Grudo was annoyed . He was a researcher and technician, just like Aeris . He didn’t enjoy socializing and he did not want to meet the creepy mayor . But he didn’t have a choice .
“Alright . I shall go to the Mayor’s house today . I will take two guards with me and we will check the place . You must send a messenger into the dungeon and contact Edwy or one of the others . ”
While all of this happened, Maki and Chiharu were just about to wake up from their deep sleep .
“Mmm…ugh…my head hurts . ”
“Mmm…ah, Maki!”
“Chiharu! Ouch!”
Perhaps it was dehydration . Perhaps it was from being carried while bound up . Their bodies ached all over .
“Where are we?”
“It’s a dark, but a fancy room . I don’t think it’s an inn . ”
“Maki . We must have been kidnapped . ”
“Yes . This whole thing reeks of criminal activity . ”
The room had a simple bed, a small writing desk and a chair . There was nothing else . There was one window near the ceiling, but it was too small for either of them to fit through .
“They clearly don’t want us to escape . But I can’t understand why they would want to kidnap us . Maybe it’s to sell us as workers . Or they know we are women and they’ll send us to a brothel . ”
“I don’t think they know . At least this room is nice . But what could be the reason?”
“Chiharu . We have to get up . We’ll be at a great disadvantage in this position . ”
“Alright . ”
And so they held their aching heads as they got out of bed . Just then, the door swung open .
“Oh, you are up . ”
It was on old dwarf and what appeared to be two servants . One of them was holding a pitcher of water . Maki and Chiharu stared at it hard .
“So you are thirsty . Thomas . The water . ”
The servant poured them some water to drink . They were a little worried about what was in the water, but they felt they would faint from a heat stroke if they didn’t drink it . And so they did .
The old man watched them carefully .
“Now, you must be worried and wondering why you are here . ”
They nodded .
“You were abducted by former Adventurers and were about to be sold . ”
I knew it . Maki and Chiharu looked at each other and nodded .
“And one of my servants just happened to witness it . Don’t worry . They have since been caught . ”
“Thank you . ”
“Oh? Is your voice changing? Well, that’s fine . ”
He said with satisfaction . Then he got closer to the bed and looked at Maki before touching her chin .
“You have blonde hair and dark eyes . Long lashes that are very cute . ”
Ew, gross . Maki felt goosebumps all over her skin .
“What do you think? You could work for me in this mansion . I would be glad to hire you . ”
As if!
“Uh, it’s already been decided that we’re to return with the Midland group and work for them . ”
“I see . I see . But there are many monsters in the dungeon . It might take them a while to return . What will you do until then?”
“Uh, pick flowers . ”
“The flower picking has ended . How will you live?”
They still had money left from the scales, from working as cooks and from working as flower harvesters . But it didn’t seem like something they should say here . He looked at Maki and Chiharu as they struggled for an answer . His expression was full of satisfaction when a knock was heard at the door .
“What is it?”
The old dwarf said with annoyance .
“Um, you have a visitor . ”
“Tell them to come back later!”
“But it is Grudo…”
“He should have died a long time ago! Oh, well . Fine, I will go . ”
He then turned around to face Maki .
“In any case, you must rest here today . Your food will be brought to you . ”
“Hey, wait-”
But he ignored them and left .
“Gross . ”
“That’s not the problem!”
“But it is . ”
Maki insisted .
“How come you were taken by merfolk and I get a creepy old man . And he thinks we’re boys . ”
“I don’t see the difference . ”
“But what about my chastity?”
“Well, sure . But this is all made up by him, isn’t it?”
“Yes . He said that they were caught, but he probably sent them in the first place . ”
“I think so too . But I would never have expected the reason . ”
“Oh, stop . ”
Maki groaned . Chiharu muttered .
“What will happen if he finds out we are girls?”
“I hope he’ll throw us out . ”
“That doesn’t sound very safe either . ”
“Hmm . We have to look for a chance and escape . And then we should shout very loudly . The old man is attacking us!”
“We have to get out of this room first . ”
“He said that Grudo was here! He must have gotten suspicious . ”
“Should we wait for him to help us?”
Maki straightened her posture .
“No, let’s do what we can first . ”
“Yes . ”
And so they inspected the room carefully .