We rested in the modest-sized inn that we had chosen. As long as the place looked respectable and clean enough, I wouldn’t bother seeking for a better one. We still had a decent chunk of our money left, but it didn’t mean we could just splurge on useless expenditures. 

After we had our lunch, we decided to return back to the bazaar from before, as we did need to restock our supplies. Well, originally, I was planning to go on my own, but Erika insisted that she wanted to go to the bazaar as well. 

"No, Sis, I wanna go! I wanna go see the bazaar!"

"Erika, it's too dangerous for a small child like you to be there in the crowd," I responded, bending my knees to be more of an eye level with her.

"Nooo! I wanna gooo!"

I sighed. She now started to yell and cry.

"All right, we can go together." I smiled, patting her head. "But in one condition." I put on my serious expression back. "Never let go of my hand, alright?"

"Yaay! Alright, Sis!" She smiled as she hugged my right arm.

Well, it might be safer for her to be with me than to be left alone at the inn.

------

Returning back to the bazaar, I took care not to be separated, holding her hand firmly at all times. I also made sure to be wary of thieves and pickpockets that would surely populate such a place.

Of course, I steered well away from the clearing where that slave auction was before. I didn't know whether it already ended or not, so I wouldn't take my chances.

"Sis! Sis! Look! What are those?" Erika shouted as she pointed towards our left.

Hmm?

I followed her direction and saw a stall, selling what looked like a row of oddly shaped figures made out of clay.

Hmm, that's… those are actually figures of monsters, aren't they? 

"Sis! I wanna see it closer!!" She pulled my hand.

"Alright, alright, calm down." I smiled. When she's cheerful like this, my heart lightens up immediately.

We approached the stall closer, and we were greeted by who looked like a middle-aged gnome. To be honest, I didn't really get the best impression of him. The way he grinned with his two missing yellow teeth, one above and another below at different spots, it really made me be wary of him.

"Oh? What's this? Young lady is interested in my miniature statues?" He continued to grin.

"I wanna this one!"

She pointed towards the clay doll shaped like a dragon. Huh. I thought she would prefer cuter things.

"How much?" I asked the shopkeeper right away.

"Oh, a mere 1 gold, miss," he replied.

"That's far too expensive, don't you think?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh, don't mistake my statues to mere ordinary clay figures, miss. They are enchanted, you see—to move on their own as if they were the real thing. Watch!"

He then took one of the figurines—a bat one—and tapped it on the head three times in a row.

"Screech!"

Immediately it came to life, just like he had told. It flew around him, almost like a real bat, before landing back on top of his hand.

True enough. I could sense the presence of mana inside each and every one of them. So they're definitely not fake. However…

"5 silver coins." I narrowed my eyes again. "Sure, these miniature statues could move, but if I have to guess, they could only move for around half an hour at best."

"N-no, Miss! You got it all wrong! I assure you! These dolls could move for a long time!"

The shopkeeper now visibly sweated. He certainly didn't expect me to hit the jackpot right away.

"I am not a fool." I continued. "I could tell that the mana stored inside wouldn't last for long. So five silver coins. Take it or leave it."

The shopkeeper bit his lip, looked away, tapped his fingers on the counter, before replying, "Fine. You got a deal."

I smirked. "Thank you very much."

----

Her dragon statue in hand, Erika and I moved on to the other stalls. I immediately told her not to play with it while we were walking, and that she should conserve playing with it as much as she could since it would only come alive for a short time, which, naturally, she was displeased to hear.

"Sis, couldn't you do anything to put more Mana into it?"

"Hmm, it would be difficult," I replied. "I am not good at all in magic crafting, you see. And I don't even know if the core inside the statue is the rechargeable type."

"Core?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Ah, right, it's still too hard for you, isn't it?" I ruffled her hair. "Hmm, tell you what. If we got the opportunity, I'll buy you a book about magic crafting. Maybe after reading it, you'll be able to charge it yourself."

"Really, Sis?" She brightened. "Then I'll study hard and do it myself! I can't let you do everything all the time after all!"

I chuckled. Oh Erika. You really are too precious. I doubt even if I buy you the simplest magic crafting book, you'd be able to do it right now though. Maybe a few years down the road when you're older.

And seeing you like this, it really reminds me of Hugo when he's about your age. You really are his little sister after all.

If only I can make you forgive him…

Indeed. Even after all this time, if I brought up his name, her expression would promptly sour and she would immediately badmouth him. If I tried to correct her, she would get angry with me as well.

I really shouldn’t have teased him with my panties back then. Really, what was I thinking? Of course it would make him look like a pervert. Maybe Erika would be willing to forgive him more readily if she doesn’t think of him as one.

I was such an impulsive fool…

------

Before we knew it, our visit, which was supposed to be just an expedition to stock up on supplies, turned into a full-blown trek through the bazaar. There were just so many interesting things around that we couldn’t resist. Well, mostly Erika, but even I was starting to enjoy it as well. It’s a nice change from the constant traveling we had done on the road, just looking at the lonely road ahead of us.

I ended up purchasing a couple more things for Erika, and even some for me as well. For her, it's just more magical toys, but for me, I bought some books, mostly related to plants. Their knowledge could aid me in enhancing my Yggdrasil.

We eventually moved into the agriculture section of the bazaar, where various farmers and gardeners were selling their produce to the public.

Ah, that’s right. It’s spring already, isn’t it? For them to hold a bazaar at the beginning of spring wouldn’t be odd in the slightest. Winter leaving is always a reason to celebrate after all.

“Sis, let’s go somewhere else… it’s boring here…” Erika complained once she realized that the only thing she would be looking at here were plants, plants, and more plants. Like a normal kid, she never liked her vegetables. Unlike Hugo, who readily ate whatever vegetable Mother served on his plate. With Mother gone, it was now up to me to make sure that she had the healthy and balanced diet she desperately needed as a growing girl. The key to that was simply one word—balance. She needed to have a balanced amount on all categories of food in her meals. Too much meat would make her fat, while too little meat would make her weak. Vegetables were the same way. Thankfully, I had enough money in my wallet to ensure that. Well, as long as we aren’t in some wilderness like back in the Plains, that is.

“Sorry, Erika.” I smiled. “Your Big Sis needs to buy something here first.”

That something was plant seeds. Not because I wanted to plant them or anything, but because I could analyze them so I could use the plants they were from as part of my magic arsenal. If I could know the structure of the seeds, I could replicate it using my magic. So I wouldn’t just be stuck with growing simple vines or roots or thorns. I could move on to more complicated plants. I could grow them in conjunction with Yggdrasil as well.

Eventually, I found the stall that I wanted—a stall that displayed strange and exotic plants. It was noticeably more spacious than the other stalls, to the point that a crowd could gather in front of it. The owner was apparently doing an auction on a series of rare seeds that she had.

Yep, just as I expected. She's an elf.

Elves tend to be the race that cultivated unconventional plants humans would never dream of growing themselves. Most human farmers weren't mages, but, with their innate talent and affinity with magic, most elven farmers were mages as well, and they would use their magic to plant and grow wondrous magic plants.

And now I know why she attracts so many people.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, with long and flowing green locks and emerald eyes that drew you in with their depths. Her body was no slouch either, and whether or not she was conscious in her attire decision, her dress flattered her assets a lot, particularly the pair of mountains on her chest.

Elves… the beautiful, long-lived race. The latter is especially true for the pure-blooded amongst them. High Elves, they were called. Supposedly those folks can live for a thousand years and even more.

Beside her were a pair of two muscled men with swords sheathed on their hips. Bodyguards. A wise choice, in case of any perverts who would try to assail her. With such beauty, there’s no way there weren’t any men who were interested in doing such things to her.

“For our next seed, let me introduce you all to the wonderful world of Blessed Shrubs! If you plant it in your fields, it would increase the fertility of your soil by two-fold, guaranteed! Just make sure you water them regularly or else they'll poison the land instead!"

The farmers who gathered all grumbled to themselves, unsure whether they should take the risk or not. Others just stared at her like deers in the headlight, clearly more interested in her looks than the goods she had to sell.

"Alright! We'll begin from the low low price of 1 gold coin per one dharm of seeds!"

One gold coin for one dharm? That's pretty expensive. For seeds, you should only get around a small pouch worth of them.

Just as I feared, no one raised their hand. For these folks who certainly didn't look rich in the slightest, the price was too much for them.

In the end, they're probably only here to ogle her.

"No one? No one is interested once again?" The elf looked around with an exasperated look.

"It's too expensive, Missy!" One of the farmers yelled with a grin. "Drop it to one silver then we'll talk!"

"Or, I'll give you one gold if you're also willing to plant my seed in you, gyahahaha!" Another spoke up with his crude joke.

Hearing her sad expression almost made me raise my hand. But I stopped myself. I had no need for that kind of seed for fighting.

"W-well, since no one seems interested, let's move on to the next item on the list, shall we?"

"Sell me your body, Miss Elf!"

I sighed. Why can't there be more gentlemen in this world? I won't even mind if they're a little perverted like Hugo. Just don’t shamelessly yell your perversion in public like this.

Erika suddenly tugged at my hand. “Sis, what did he just yell? I don’t understand. Why are they all cheering at her?”

“Oh, i-it’s nothing,” I quickly replied with a smile. “Don’t think about it.” Erika’s too young and too innocent for me to explain that kind of stuff.

...Now that I think about it, should she even be here amongst this rowdy crowd? I really want to buy any interesting seeds that she has to offer, but if that means Erika has to stand around here for a long time...

“Sis, are you interested in the stuff she’s selling?” she asked.

“Hmm? Well,” I smiled again, bending down to look at her in the eye. “I suppose I am. I’m an Earth mage that specializes in plant-based spells, so naturally I’m interested in all sorts of magic plants as well.”

“Then, don’t mind me, Sis! Buy whatever you want!” She returned my smile with an even brighter one. “You’ve bought me so many things already! It’s only fair you buy some for yourself too!”

Oh, Erika…

“Alright then.” I ruffled her head. “Big Sis is going to stay here for a while. If you’re bored, you may play with your toys, but remember. Stay close to me at all times, alright?”

“Don’t worry, Sis!” She grinned. “I’m a big girl already, you know! You don’t have to worry about me that much!”

With that settled, I returned my attention back to the auction, where the elf had moved on to the next item—tomatoes that doubled the size of ordinary tomatoes. I sighed again. Would I actually find something use—

“Be careful! If you don’t harvest them in time and they grow too large, they would explode, throwing their razor-sharp seeds everywhere!”

That’s it! I can use that!

I didn't hesitate. I immediately raised my hand.

-----

Erika

Hehe, Big Sis’ eyes are all shiny all of a sudden! The stuff that elf lady sells must be really interesting to her!

And she starts yelling as well while raising her hand! I don’t understand what’s going on but it seems she’s really enjoying it, so I’m happy for her!

I took out the dragon from before from my dress pocket. Tapping on its head, it immediately came to life and started walking on my palm.

Aah, so cute! But it’s so cool as well! Dragons are cool after all!

It then roared, but since it was so small, the roar was cute as well!

“Let’s see… I shall name you, Coco! You’re brown like chocolate and the Co part comes from Draco as well!”

It roared again. “Teehee, that’s a yes, isn’t it? Alright then, Coco! I’ll adopt you as my pet!”

Flap flap

"Ooh, you wanna fly, Coco? Do you need my help? Alrighty then! I'll launch you up to the sky and then you can start flying right away! On three... two… one… go!

I threw him upwards, giggling as I did.

Only for my legs to suddenly give as my vision turned pitch black.

------

Marina

"Congratulations to the young lady over there! Come up here and take your seeds!"

I smiled. It ended up costing me 5 gold since there was actually someone else fighting against me in the auction, but I was ultimately satisfied in the purchase, for this would definitely provide me with better fighting capabilities once I could accommodate it into my spell.

“Alright, Erika. Let’s go to the front and get—”

She wasn’t there.

“Erika?”

I looked around. She wasn’t anywhere that I could see with my immediate sight.

My heart trembled. A chill crept behind me onto my neck.

“Erika?! Erika!”

I started yelling, ignoring completely the elven woman’s plea that I came up to her and received the pouch of seed as promised.

“Sir! Did you see a blonde little girl anywhere around? She wore a white dress and she was around three to four years old in age.”

“Huh? Ain’t see any girl like that around.”

“Nope. Did she come here with you, Missy?”

"I saw her sure. But she was with you. How should I know where she went?"

No one—not a single one knew where she currently was, or where she went.

"Erika! Erika!!! If you hear my voice, please shout back!"

No good. My voice is being drowned by the general loudness of the bazaar.

And then, I saw it—the dragon toy she had with her, flying around in a circle weakly, hovering just inches above the ground.

It soon fell, as it ran out of its stored mana.

"Gyahahahahaha!"

I looked behind me and saw the same old man who made those perverted comments from before 

"Give it up, Missy! Your little sister is gone! Once again, the phantom of the bazaar has claimed it's victim!"

"The phantom of the bazaar? What are you talking about?"

"Young girls spirited away! Disappeared into the wind! Don't tell me you haven't heard of it! They say it's a vengeful ghost, sucking the souls out of young girls, jealous of their beauty and youth!"

"A ghost? At daytime out in the open like this? Don't make me laugh!" I yelled.

"Exactly! You're a smart one, Missy!" He took a swig out of his pocket-sized canteen. "Your little girl wasn't eaten by some ghost! She's going to suffer an even worse fate! Just like my daughter when I sold her to them! Gyahahahaha!"

My eyes widened. 

Slavers. Erika had been kidnapped by slavers to make her be their merchandise.

"It's too late, Missy. When they got ya, they got ya. By now, they were probably already back in their hideout, wherever that is in this big city. Oh, and don't even bother with the town guards. Those guys are under their thumb. You'd know that if you're not some foreign traveler or adventurer or whatever."

He took another swig of his canteen. Meanwhile, my entire body was shaking as cold sweat permeated every inch of my skin.

W-what should I—

What should I do?

My legs gave. I fell to the ground, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Two men and a woman walked up to me, dressed in armor and wielding swords, signifying that they were most likely part of the town guard that old man just talked about. The woman was the one on the lead. She was a brunette, around middle age with a beauty mark just under her left lip.

“Oh please, Erika! My younger sister! She’s disappeared! She was just here before but after I looked away for a few moments, she had disappeared entirely!”

I didn’t hesitate. I threw my pride to the wind and crawled up to her, placing my hands on her belt as I begged her for her help.

“Another missing person case, huh?” She scratched the back of her head. “Then go to our office and make a report there. We’re just a patrol here, making sure that the bazaar went smoothly. And please don’t pull down my belt.”

“No, please! She was just here! She can’t be that far! If we search right away, then we can catch up to her!”

“Sure! Sure! Everyone says that! Even with the same tears you have! But really, we’re underfunded and undermanned as it is. So get in line with the others and wait until we can handle your case.”

She slapped my hands away before turning to leave, ordering her subordinates to continue onward.

“I beg of you! She’s the only family I have now!”

“Aah, noisy brat!”

A heavy object hit me right on my face, drawing blood out of my nose. It was her thick boot. She had kicked me in order to make me release her.

“If you can’t keep just a single little sister safe, then it’s your own damn fault. Don’t drag us into your mess.”

I could only see them leave, as if my plight meant nothing to them whatsoever. The rest of the crowds returned to their activities as well. Even the elven auctioneer continued her business like nothing had happened.

“Gyahahahahahaha! Told ya they didn’t care!”

Another swig and he quickly returned to his former holy task—ogling the elf from a distance.

Erika... why, why must this happen? Why am I so foolish, to let my guard down like that, just because of some seeds? That guard was right. It was my own fault that she got kidnapped.

...No. What am I doing? Why am I crying and wailing around in despair like this?

If no one is willing to help, then I just have to do it myself, don’t I? That’s what Hugo would do. He would save Erika right away, no matter the consequences.

I’ll do it. There’s a way to find out where she is—this city be damned.

I stood up, wiped my tears, and steeled my resolve.

And then, I began my chant.