“Is this really what we should be pursuing next?” Ellaine grimaced. “Couldn’t my brother have simply moved somewhere into the town? If he was kidnapped, then shouldn’t we make haste? Or, we haven’t even looked outside the gates yet, in the forest or even at the riverbank. Urgh, must be a waste of time.”

“By Crustacia’s twin locks, calm down already, lass. Haste ain’t gonna magically bring your brother back when we have no clues.”

Saori nodded. “Grimnir is right, Ellaine. My garms have already searched the academy’s grounds, around the noble district, and inside the merchant district. Look around you, the middle district is in full uproar from the festival. Griffonpeak is far too large for us to search without any leads. That is why we are going to the hunter’s guild.”

It was the morning after Ellaine and her parents received Jonathan’s letter, informing them he was running away from home on a journey to strengthen himself. Renouncing his birthright as the heir of House Helvas to Ellaine, he disappeared completely.

After the initial panic, the servant who delivered the letter explained that somebody in full armor gave it to her, saying that “Lord Jonathan wouldn’t be able to come home, so he wrote this letter.” The servant admitted the man was wearing a helmet, obstructing his face, and that they didn’t give her the chance to ask any further questions as he jumped on a gargoyle and flew off.

Understandably, the first thing Arcanuess and Arcaliess Helvas thought was that their son had been kidnapped. It seemed too fishy and they thought all of this would lead to them paying a ransom for Jonathan, but neither the stranger nor the letter mentioned it.

The Helvas pair immediately took off on their flying mounts to track down the stranger, asking us to look at the academy, the last place Jonathan should have been. Since the academy was hosting a ball for the students, it was still filled with people despite it being late in the evening, giving us a chance to ask a few people there.

“Jonathan Helvas? Well, last I saw him was during the tournament we knight students held. Phenomenal performance, yet he fell short from the finals. Hmm, about the tournament itself? Well, similar to every other year, the final prize was an honorable duel against a knight. We were fortunate enough to have persuaded Lord Charleslyt this year!”

“Lord Jonathan? I apologize but he has been absent. Then again, you too are fashionably late, Lady Ellaine. I heard your brother does not have a fiance yet, so maybe he dashed away with a fair lady into the night? Hiehie.”

“Oh, Lady Hestia, I did not expect you to—Uhm, pardon, Lady Thyra? Well, the young principal has already retired to her home. We professors agreed to stay and supervise the students to assure they conduct themselves as proper aristocrats. Hmm, Jonathan Helvas? I apologize, but I do not believe I have seen him. If you wish, I shall ask the other professors to help in your inquiry.”

Nothing.

Ellaine mentioned that Jonathan had been planning to go to the ball since this was his last year at the academy. Since his duty as heir also involved finding a fiance, he was planning on pursuing a few candidates his mother suggested, yet he was nowhere to be found.

Without any other clues, we had Saori search around the academy’s premises with her garms. As much as they hated being called bloodhounds, they were fantastic trackers second only to Saori. They managed to sniff out Jonathan’s lingering smell, but it vanished in the courtyard, probably ‘cause he flew away on his gargoyle.

We were once again left dry without a lead, only learning that Jonathan moved to somewhere in the lower city. Due to the sheer size of Griffonpeak and the fact that it was the middle of the night, we had to call the search off and return to the mansion, where Ellaine’s parents welcomed us back. They too couldn’t find any leads.

Once morning came, Arcanuess Helvas explained that he had sent his spies out to look for Jonathan and that he wanted Ellaine to continue the search as well. He and his wife were needed to oversee the yeast and pastry training, all the while ensuring the production methods of this “new” yeast stayed in our possession.

It sounded so callous of them since their son was potentially kidnapped, yet that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Unable to calm down, the pair weren’t able to fall asleep, much like their daughter. Lord Helvas, especially, was restlessly tapping his feet when we shared breakfast.

In the end, he still had to fulfill his duty as the head of the house, now that he was on the cusp of raising his station. Not to mention, he and Duke Greenveil were responsible for my concert’s pastry supply.

Honestly, the concert is less important than Jonathan’s safety. But … I can understand he has his duty as a noble and probably wants to distract himself with work since he really can’t directly help with the search.

As such, we skipped the opera and coliseum today, despite how much I really wanted to go to the former. Since we came out empty in the noble and merchant district, I decided that we had to stop and get some proper help for this search.

And our help wouldn’t come from the Mercenary Guild, but from the Hunter’s Guild.

Upon entering the guild, we noticed how it was filled with the festive mood of the city. Instead of working, many of the hunters simply met up inside the guild and were celebrating together as a whole group. I could hear the inn next to the guild being filled to the brim with shouts, cheers, and belches.

Looking around, I saw the receptionists cheering along with the adventurers while staying behind the counter. Ignoring the partying crowd, and those who tried to hit on us before getting scared off by Grimnir, we went over to the reception, where I noticed the quest board was overflowing with Quest paper, to the point some were falling off.

Wow, does Griffonpeak have that much work? I guess it has a dungeon here, but even Cedaraille didn’t have such a full quest board.

Since nobody was lining up, we didn’t need to wait on anybody. Once we were at the counter, I said, “Hello, my name is Hestia, leader of the D rank party Aurora. May I ask if the guild leader is around today and if she has the time to speak with us?”

The receptionist, a female foxian, greeted us but looked a bit bewildered. “I apologize but the guild master currently has a guest. Would you possibly have an appointment with her, Lady Shrine Maiden?”

I raised an eyebrow. Since Krymdar mentioned the hunter’s guild master of the Griffonpeak branch wanted to speak with us, she should have informed her staff about me. Apparently, she hadn’t.

While I was thinking for a reason, Saori moved in front of me. “Guild Master Muraina’s acquaintance, Sir Krymdar, invited us for a meeting two days ago at the royal ball. We have a witness, even.” Saori then called for Ellaine.

In her repaired dragoon armor, Ellaine stuck out the most amongst our group and looked the most “knight-like.” She sighed and pointed at the crest on her armor, the coat of arms of House Helvas. “I am Ellaine Fiero Helvas, the second child of Count Helvas of Greenveil. I apologize for using my status here, but I can attest to my party member’s words that they met a dark elven man at the royal ball two days ago. Would it be possible to confirm this? Please?”

Whether it was ’cause of the magic word or Ellaine’s impatient look, the receptionist nodded and accepted our request. Going up the stairs, it lasted only one or two minutes for her to come back and state, “The guild master would like to see you now, please” before leading us upstairs.

As we walked up the stairs, Grimnir spoke to me, “Two more of us need to reach rank C for our party to average out to rank C, lass. The higher your rank, the more the guild will be willing to hear you out for even the most mundane bladdarg.”

It was a matter of rank again. Considering how much we’ve been neglecting actually doing Quests, this was simply the consequence of our laziness. I would love to stop complaining about this, but with how many things have been happening around us, we really didn’t have time to just chill and do some more Quests.

On the second floor, we were led to an elven woman in a green dress, working as a secretary. She excused the foxian receptionist and bowed to us, greeting me with, “On behalf of the Saerlari, I am gladdened to see you well, Lady Hestia. Please, enter. You are amongst allies.”

Why does this feel as if I’m joining some weird cult? Ah, whatever.

The room we entered was a middle-sized office where you would expect an executive of a company would work. It was well decorated, not like a noble’s mansion with its shiny and silky furniture and trinkets to show off the owner’s wealth and status, no, it would be more accurate to call it harmonic, more focused on being “breathable.”

Aside from the necessary manatech like lamps and mana pens, the entire room was made and decorated with only wooden furniture and plants growing in pots. From an artistic perspective, it felt like we were in some tranquil, fantastical, wooden grove. Chiseled wooden chairs, tables, bookshelves, and so on, had engravings and features added to them that it felt like nothing was left “plain.”

There was this perfection I couldn’t exactly describe properly. Just by being inside this room for a mere few seconds, I felt more relaxed and calm. Was there an enchantment or rune creating this serene atmosphere, or was it just a simple illusion from this nature-aligned room?

“Welcome, Meoschaera roy Sheothrudra.”

Meo-what now?

My focus was then directed away from the room and to the person standing behind a wooden desk. Strangely, my attention wasn’t on the person itself but on the mysterious creature perched on their slim, pristine white shoulder.

It was a wooden creature in the form of a bird with two large wings acting like shields for the person it was resting on. Something green was glowing from the crevices of its treant-like body and multiple arrows were stuck on its back, or rather, they were growing from its back. Its two large yellow shining eyes were staring at us, assessing if we were a threat or not, I think.

“Haha, don’t worry about Whisperia. It might look scary in its treant body, but it simply has the curiosity of a lesser fae.” The same womanly voice appeared again, bringing my eyes to a woman stroking the treant bird. With long sharp ears and an incredibly flat chest despite her hourglass form, it reminded me too much of Silva and Tasianna in her elven form.

Yet, she had this womanly charm around her with how her sharp eyes and smiling lips were looking at me. However, there wasn’t this ethereal, feminine beauty around her unlike the other elves I’ve met, as her face was decorated to the brim with small, short scars while her neck was covered in a burn mark. They didn’t take away from her appearance, but they were distracting.

A lot of cuts. Magic or slashes? How much has she fought without a healer around?

Once the elven secretary closed the door, the elven woman asked us to sit, “I welcome you, Aurora, this time in common tongue. ‘Meoshaera roy Sheothrudra,’ or, Princess of Dragons in common. Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, on behalf of the children of Saelariel, the Saelari, I, Muraina Yvetta Groveshield, welcome you to our world..”

She gestured with her hand to a set of sofas before pointing our attention to a person leaning on a wall, somebody I’ve already met.

“My ladies, isn’t our reunion not fortuitous?” It was none other than Krymdar, the dark elven alchemist who had accepted Tasianna as his student. He was the guest the foxian receptionist mentioned.

After Grimnir and Ellaine introduced themselves, all seven of us sat down on the sofas. Considering how much I heard about elves not liking humans, I thought Krymdar or Muraina would be a bit more wary with Ellaine here, but I guess that worry was only in our heads.

“Foremost, I must ask for your forgiveness, Princess Hestia. Kargryx had called for Saelariel’s aid in finding your egg and returning you to your parents, but we failed. I have received an extensively detailed report from Sir Farron of your exploits in the Belzac forest along with what you had experienced there. As such, you having to face those dangers is due to our incompetence.” Muraina bowed.

It was bewildering to have somebody I just met bow before me as if she had just committed a capital crime. If you thought about it, even if the collective whole of Saelariel did feel guilty, why was she, a single person, being so dramatic about it? Even then, it wasn’t as if I was blaming anybody for me being stuck inside the Belzac forest… Actually, now that I remembered, I did blame my parents and the gods when I first started out.

However, I had since matured enough to know better.

“Please, stop, it’s all right. I’m not blaming anybody for my stay in Belzac, so please raise your head.” When Muraina did, I continued. “Also, I know Krymdar asked me to come here, but I’m not here as a ‘Princess of Kargryx’ but just as ‘Hestia,’ so let us not speak too much about it. Let’s keep this casual if possible. Uhm, you just mentioned Farron, and Krymdar said you got your information from him. What is your relationship with him?”

Looking relieved for a moment, Muraina let out a sigh before suddenly switching her expression away from her previous demeanor. “Nothing serious, really. We are simply friends who met when Farron was still an active adventuring knight. When Marquiss Sirius requested a new guild leader for the branch in Firwood, I recommended Farron. I’m also good friends with his wife, so, yes, I know Yorshka already met you.”

“Yuuuup, thank you very much for not informing me about that. It helped me make such a good impression on the Meoshaera.” Krymdar gave a sarcastic remark to Muraina for withholding information on him, just to be attacked by the treant bird of hers. “Ugh, gick, damn thing!”

Okaaaaaaaaay.

Speaking of Yorshka, if she had sent that message over to her clan, shouldn’t their goal be to deliver the missive to my dragon mother? I’ve been anticipating her to swoop to Griffonpeak at any time now, but she hasn’t yet. I mean, I wasn’t trying to meet her, but considering she’s an SS rank dragon, shouldn’t her flight speed be super quick? I couldn’t help but wonder why there was almost a month’s worth of a delay.

“Anyway, I shall keep my conduct casual, as you wish, Lady Hestia. Yorshka should have informed you about everything already, so I won’t bore you with the details from the elven side. Since Farron knew the circumstances, he sent your Profile to us, just like with the King. Therefore, we are aware of your status as a reincarnator and Champion of Aurena. This also includes the secrets of your companions, Miss Saori and Miss Tasianna. Be assured, we will keep your secret.”

I guess it’s better than speaking around it awkwardly.

After making that clear, Muraina bluntly asked for the reason for our visit.

“It’s because of my friend here. Ellaine.” I then pushed her to ask for her favor. Since Muraina considered Farron a friend, she probably didn’t dislike humans as much as Silva or Krymdar.

Welcoming her response with a polite smile, Muraina listened to Ellaine’s request, “Thank you for listening, Guild Master Muraina. I—Actually, I wanted to ask Mister Krymdar for a favor, as Hestia had mentioned he was an elven spy outside his duty as an imperial alchemist. Uhm, yesterday, my brother, my house’s heir, seemingly ran away from home after leaving a letter for my parents and me. We presume he was kidnapped and I am here to ask if you may help me.”

“Letter?” Krymdar stroked his chin before gesturing to us for the letter. Ellaine took it out from her pouch and handed it over to him.

With his black eyes moving intently, Krymdar took his time to read the letter. When he finished it, he snapped his head up. “Are you sure your brother was kidnapped?”

Huh?

Question marks appeared over everybody’s head, aside from Saori and Grimnir, prompting Ellaine to question Krymdar what he meant with that question.

“Look at the way the letter is written. When a person is kidnapped and a letter is sent, there is one question you must ask yourself first. Who was the person who wrote this letter? It was either one of the kidnappers or the kidnapped, and if we included a forger in this presumption, we should be even more cautious. Have you checked if this is your brother’s writing style?”

Ellaine nodded. Jonathan’s attendant and mother assured it was his.

“All right, then, if we excluded the chance of a forger writing this, then our next move would be to analyze the writing itself.”

Krymdar explained how a letter always had small details you could pick out from the way you wrote a letter. This method was most effective if the person had a tidy calligraphy but Krymdar boasted how he could do the same even if the writing was messy. As the letter was written in ink, instead of with mana, there were even more clues he could dig out.

If you wrote it in a rush, there would be small ink smears dragged along by the speed of the pen. Stressed people write more sloppily and were prone to mistakes. If you stopped writing to think in between, the ink’s dryness was another clue if the letter was sent early enough. There were more but he didn’t want to list it out here.

“Let us presume your brother is able to keep his calm in this situation and he’s simply copying the words from another parchment. Even then, this letter is still too tidy and deliberate. I will assume your brother is competent considering he’s your family’s heir, which means he should be intelligent enough to use this small ‘reprieve’ to devise a way to escape. While you write a letter, there should be enough openings for you to think,” Krymdar explained. “This letter is perfect, nothing suspicious about it.”

“Hmph, I had a feeling that would be the case, but you are working with assumptions like me, dflei. How can you be so sure about your statement, or is this just the usual bravado of a dflei?” Grimnir remarked, earning him a laugh from Krymdar. “Dflei” was the dwarven word for dark elf if I remember correctly.

Wait, Grimnir had a feeling Jonathan wasn’t kidnapped?

“Good one, Master Mundari. I won’t argue that we dark elves exude more confidence than our high and wind elves brethren.” Krymdar smirked as he leaned on the sofa, causing Grimnir to scoff. “Regardless, like you said, this was all just guesswork from me, I have no evidence. However, consider it; what if your brother really is in ‘good company,’ girl? If he wasn’t kidnapped then this was his own choice, right?”

That threw a wrench into our plans. Turning around, Ellaine’s expression was a mix between baffled and confused. It sounded absurd, honestly. Why would Jonathan want to suddenly leave his home and family?

As if she wanted to know this herself, Saori spoke up instead of me, “Ellaine, I did not want to bring this point up, since I was not sure about it. In addition, this is your family’s problem. As your friends, this is also our problem, but if we are to continue, I believe we need to make everything clear.”

Grimnir nodded, agreeing with Saori. “True, lass. A person does not run away from their safe haven without a concrete reason. If the whole heir stuff was too stressful for him, he should have talked this over with your parents. Act like a responsible young man. You and your brother are on bad terms, at least from what I’ve seen since meeting you. Care to elaborate?”

Speaking up could be cathartic, a way to free yourself. I’ve noticed how Ellaine and Jonathan have been avoiding each other more, contradicting their relationship I had initially believed. Ever since they reunited in Griffonpeak, however, none of that warmth could be seen.

“… I think it is because of my quick progress.” Ellaine eventually forced herself to say. “When we met back at the academy, everything was still normal. Actually, he seemed even brighter. We spared and he was so delighted to see my progress, even mentioning how I’ve, embarrassingly, gained more defined muscles. It was heartwarming to be praised by him; I felt like I finally wasn’t just a black stain on our family tree.”

Her smile, though, vanished as she continued, “However, I think that was when we began to drift. He was genuinely happy, but I think he hid his true feelings. I was showing off what I learned from Dame Yorshka, after all.”

Ellaine explained how Jonathan had announced a family meeting to talk about Ellaine’s future, where their father mentioned that he wanted Ellaine to continue training as an adventurer to strengthen herself for her future as a knight. Their parents were delighted and kept speaking highly about Ellaine and our party for helping her, but Ellaine suspected this was when his jealousy arose.

“Jonathan is, even if father wouldn’t admit it, his favorite child. He was born first and he displayed more talent, while I was just average from the very start. I don’t despise father for it, as you know,” Ellaine stated, trying to force herself to smile but failing. “So, I just don’t understand. Jonathan had everything, yet, when we spoke he just … Urgh, ‘You need to be more careful while going out, sister.’ ‘You have muscles, but you need more to wear heavy armor.’ Say it outright, Jonathan; we’re family, not enemy nobles!”

… Catharsis, yup.

While Jonathan couldn’t accept being weaker than his sister, Ellaine couldn’t accept her brother’s cold attitude towards her progress. The siblings weren’t able to remedy this despite their parents’ interjection. While Jonathan was able to act as if everything was normal, never making it awkward in public, the siblings haven’t had a proper chat in a while.

“In other words, like brother, like sister?” Tasianna bluntly summarized everything after Ellaine’s rant.

[“100% true, dear. As much as I liked drama, having to hear Ellaine confess all of this to me and her maid Josine was not fun. How liberating it is that the obvious is finally unveiled. I didn’t need to be a demon of envy to notice the clear jealous aura around him,”] Klea’Hatma suddenly said to us telepathically.

In the end, the most likely reason for Jonathan’s disappearance wasn’t a kidnapping but a show of rebellion where he ran away of his own will, driven by his own envy and hurt pride. Saori and Grimnir managed to notice this immediately, despite how obvious it should have been. Was I still a bit too naive?

After letting out a sigh, Ellaine looked back at Krymdar. It seemed speaking her mind did actually help her. “Please, Mister Krymdar. Even if my brother wasn’t kidnapped, the fact he told us not to look for him is something I can’t accept. I can’t even accept him relinquishing his right as the heir without going through the proper procedures! Please, I need to at least know if he’s safe and what his goal is.”

Krymdar stroked his chin once again, contemplating Ellaine’s request only to be interrupted by Muraina, “I apologize, but Krymdar currently doesn’t have the time. There is something we need to do at our elven outpost close to Griffonpeak.”

I asked, “What is an elven outpost?”.

“North of Griffonpeak is a large solitary forest deemed a monster-infested area. As a safety procedure to keep a check on the humans, to prevent them from doing anything as unforgiving as what they did during the Faefolk War, we Saelari from the Enforcer faction took over this forest to monitor the humans in that area. King Drangleic gave us permission for our stay here,” Muraina explained, although she didn’t go into detail about what this Enforcer faction was.

“However, thanks to a sudden outburst of monsters starting from a week ago around the Greenveil and Griffonpeak border, the guild has been overflowing with subjugation Quests, as you could see on our quest board. I even recently received information that a rank B monster had appeared inside of a cave in the same forest. The elves at the outpost are younglings in elven terms, unused to battle outside a forest.”

Border?

“Marsven’s shadow, you’re right.” Krymdar smacked his face for forgetting. “Muraina and I are supposed to go and help those younglings, well, more like I should accompany Muraina to support her with my magic and potions. By the Night father, curse that damn wyvern for rampaging around in that area! This was supposed to be my vacation! I’m not here to clean up a monster outbreak.”

… A wyvern?

Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and I suddenly stiffened up at Krymdar’s words. Noticing this, Muraina leaned forward and asked what was wrong with us, even beginning to look suspicious.

“Nice poker faces,” Grimnir complained, shaking his head at our mistake. “Come on, leader, we should take proper responsibility for our actions.”

Urged by Grimnir, I gulped and spoke the truth about this wyvern they spoke about, explaining my whole history with Asterios.

“As you could expect from an experienced and old B rank wyvern, he was a difficult foe. None of us could hold back. And, well, let’s just say that I created an explosion that pretty much devastated that part of the area,” I reluctantly retold the encounter, stuttering at how to describe my dive bomb.

“Ellaine was heavily injured during the battle which required help from Goddess Aurena,” Tasianna continued. “Lady Hestia had to focus on transporting Ellaine to Griffonpeak while Miss Saori was knocked unconscious during the fight. We didn’t have any macula seeds on us after we harvested some blood and organs from the wyvern.”

“Excuses, Tasianna,” Grimnir shook his head. “We forgot about it. I could have said something, but I simply forgot about the situation after we barely got out of it alive. Even then, I didn’t notify anybody about it. Considering I’ve been rank C for a while, I should have known better. By the rock hide on my ears, this is my mistake, guild master. The lasses are too novice to remember everything.”

Muraina shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Krymdar noted, “Ah, so that was why the reports mentioned a large part of the woods being burned down.” After letting Muraina contemplate, she raised her pointing finger.

“This is a warning, Aurora.” She disregarded my imperial status. “Your negligence could have cost people their lives. Sure, an outbreak of monsters could mean more work for hunters, but it brings nothing but problems for the leaders of that area. This was a huge one. Next time, if you cannot drain the mana from the area, NOTIFY SOMEBODY!” Muraina slammed her hand on the table before us.

“Mage guild members are required to clean up after they cast magic. The mana contaminating the area above a certain limit can cause rank B or A monsters to spawn, that should be something you all should understand!” She raised her finger up again, making us focus on the one she held up. “You could be expelled from both the hunter’s and mage’s guild with a large fine for this, so reflect on your mistake. Two nearby villages were forced to evacuate due to the threat!”

“Yes, ma’am,” everybody said.

“Fortunately, you are more useful with your hunter’s license, so listen up. I will not inform the mage’s guild nor apply a penalty on your party. However! As compensation, I will require your help on this matter, yes? You’ll be taking over for Krymdar, you’ll be cleaning up your own mess. This will be your punishment. Understood?”

Urgh, we don’t have a real choice if we don’t want to lose our memberships… Gotta stay positive. This is a chance to get some experience, right?

We accepted, but no matter how brazen it was, I had to inform her about my concert. I couldn’t afford to cancel it with all the planning, not to mention it being part of my Champion duty.

Muraina clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed. “Invoking the Origin Gods as an excuse doesn’t work on me, even if I am a high elf. Haaa … The seventh, the day after your concert, all right?”

I nodded.

“Good. Krymdar, you are free now, I have some willing hunters to help.” I was later told only those Muraina trusted may enter the outpost, so this Quest was never an official one, at least until now.

Krymdar shrugged his shoulders and accepted Ellaine’s request. While Ellaine was thanking him, Krymdar suddenly stood up and knocked on a door in the back of the room.

“I’m not too familiar with the undercity of Griffonpeak. I’ll call for help.”

When it opened, another acquaintance appeared.

“Yo, ladies! Great to see you again!”

It was Gael.