We stopped walking and looked in the direction the voice came from. There we found a man dressed in rags running toward us.
"Oh ..." (Elf)
Elf seemed to recognize this person. Who's he? Is this man his slave?
“You know him, Elf?” I asked, curious.
"Mm." Elf nodded. “This man helped me and Fem take Ega to the inn after he was beaten by Fem until he fainted that night. You remember that incident, right?”
"Oh ..."
Elf then shifted his gaze to the man who had now arrived.
"What is it?" Ask him.
“Sir! bla-bla-bla …”
I gave them both space to talk.
As for Beastkin, I asked him to keep an eye on the surroundings while I fixed my muddled thinking.
Elf, Beastkin, and I couldn't think straight now. That is evidenced by our unordered search in finding where Fem and Princess went. Our decision-making is declining in quality.
What is an efficient way we can do so that we can find our two friends in this town of over 2000 people?
We have to keep searching for people we know first. Like meeting Casey … or the guests at Ami's inn who I met that night?
However, it's still working hours. It's still early, and it's not time for lunch yet. They are still at their job, and I don't know where they work, because all I know from them is their name and occupation and not the location where they make their money.
What about those adventures?
Bah!
The people who work in one place, I don't even know, let alone those adventurers who work in one place then in another a few hours later. They don't work in a fixed place. They move around too much.
***
Around the Ami’s Inn and in crowded places with visitors, the three of them asked the people who were there, looking for information on the whereabouts of the two missing friends.
In the middle of the search process, the three of them met Ega, complete with his group members who still had bumps and had bandages on several parts of their bodies.
"Hey!"
"Huh?"
They had an argument, but because Fem is not here now, the situation can be controlled quickly, and even though there is a conflict between them, Ega still explains to Unknown, et al about the incident of the noble girl arresting Fem when Unknown told them their current problem, but for the problem where did Princess go, he didn't know.
Unknown suspects that Ega, et al are covering up this problem because there is an ongoing conflict between them, but now is not the right time to add enemies. They are now in a precarious situation. There were only three of them now in this town with a population of over 2000 people, and he also hadn't gotten any new developments regarding the exploding testicle men, so Unknown didn't want to bring in any more unwanted issues.
***
They resumed their search, and they met Casey and his party in front of the Adventure Guild.
“Wow! Look, guys. Town heroes! I didn't think you guys could take out a bunch of those bandits with just three people. You are famous. Don't be surprised if the Lord of the town summons you all to reward you." (Casey)
“Or the King to give you land!” One of his members chimed.
"Gahahahaha!" Everyone laughed.
Enough with the greetings. They then immediately tell their stories about the disappearance of their friend and their lost belongings.
And when they tell stories, they just realize that they have missed something important again due to their unsettled minds in the face of this situation.
Their belongings are not in the inn, they should protest to Miss Rumi about it, it's one of the important rights of guests because they entrust their belongings to the inn.
It could be their valuable card if only they didn't forget it because they could use it to corner Miss Rumi because it was related to the reputation of her inn.
If she kicked them out because of Fem's outrageous behavior to maintain the reputation of her inn, they could strike back with the problem of their lost stuff earlier.
Aaaaaaaaarghh!!!
Unknown messed his own hair, showing how inexperienced he was with such a small problem and for having missed such a precious opportunity.
While Unknown pondered his incompetence, Elf and Beastkin were still talking to Casey and his party.
"I'm serious, Casey. Our stuff isn't there." (Elf)
"You still have your stuff. Take it easy." (Casey)
“Hey, that was probably what you assumed when you left this morning. We just got back from the Inn. They both weren't there and our stuff wasn't there either." (Elf)
"As for your friend's whereabouts I only know of Fem's whereabouts, and even then I can't guarantee because his fate is in the hands of that noble girl. But for your belongings, I'll bet 1 silver. Your belongings are still at the inn.” (Casey)
“So, do you mean Miss Rumi confiscated our things? But we already paid for our stay even though we were kicked out!” (Elf)
"No, stupid. Let's go there. Follow me." (Casey)
Casey and his party were quite blunt this time. Did they just drink alcohol? In the morning like this?
Elf muttered.
The two of them then followed Casey. Elf dragged Unknown who was still lamented his blunder that he just did.
Arriving in front of Ami's Inn …
“I can't smuggle you into the inn. Miss Rumi stood guard by the stairs to go up to the second floor. What do you want, guys? I'll get your things." (Casey)
“I want-” (Elf)
“We want our clean clothes!” (Unknown)
"Okay."
Casey then entered the inn.
***
"So it's true?" (Unknown)
Unknown continued their conversation with Elf.
"Yeah. That pleb and Casey said the same thing. Fem was arrested by that noble girl guard at midday yesterday. In the afternoon of the same day, Princess was kicked out of the inn by Miss Rumi. The strong possibility is because of Fem's actions that continue to do things that are not commendable and tarnish the reputation of her inn.” (Elf)
They asked the same question when they asked Ega and Casey answered more or less the same thing that Ega told the three of them earlier.
He also did not know anything about where the Princess went.
Surprisingly, this morning they were still with him, but because Casey and his party had an urgent business, they then separated.
Casey, et al have no clue where Princess disappeared to, when Casey returned to his room at Ami the Half-Elf's inn, Princess also didn't seem to leave any messages in their room or to one of the inn workers which further increased their suspicions that Princess had some misfortune.
"Hey, we were kicked out of this inn right? So why is Princess still able to sleep here?" (Unknown)
Beastkin nodded as well.
“Umm… come closer here,” Elf asked Unknown and Beastkin to approach him.
The two of them were confused for a while but they put that aside and started to approach Elf.
Then Elf whispered the reason to them.
“Casey smuggled Princess into their room and gave her a temporary place to stay and…”
Elf continued to explain that and the two of them listened.
And of course, in Unknown's head, which had been in trouble for a long time. When he heard Elf's story mentioning the keyword “Princess, Princess” several times and then “Princess slept together with adventurers in one room”, making Unknown's brain think of spicy things even though he realized that Princess was actually a man and that's just the title they gave him.
But from the way Elf's narration tells it, Unknown can't stop thinking about it!
“Sigh …” (Unknown)
“Sigh …” (Beastkin)
“Sigh …” (Elf)
Unknown, Elf and Beastkin are getting more dizzy. They are confused about where else they should look.
If this is an airport, Unknown thought. He just had to tell some department to announce about the missing persons' notice, but this wasn't on Earth and it wasn't at the airport either. This is a world where there is no magic at all.
And Unknown believes the town's authorities won't be much of a help in the search either if they take the matter to their place.
To Be Continued
