Chapter 8: Investigation

The next morning we went down to the tavern to break our fast and were disappointed to discover that Shelly wasn't there, but not surprised. It was a weekday so she was probably getting ready for school. We spoke to the innkeeper for a bit and he confirmed it.

I finally asked him what I'd been dying to know: “Why do you even have a school, if I may ask? I mean, for only three children in the whole village it would almost be easier to send them to another village's school.”

His brow furrowed. “Where did you hear there were three children?”

“Shelly told us yesterday”, I replied.

“That fool girl”, he said, chuckling. “She of all people would know there's only two kids in the village. Just her and the Thatcher kid, Luke. All the other kids aged out of school age and are working with their parents.”

I could have sworn she'd said there were two besides her. “Maybe I misheard”, I said. “But the question stands.”

He shrugged. “Yes well, we seem to have been cursed with a lack of children in this village. I would certainly like a little brother for Shelly. Gods above, I even have a bunch of little boy's clothing for when it finally happens.”

“You have that stuff just lying around?”, I asked.

He frowned but then his expression cleared and he shrugged again. “No idea why else I'd be having boy's clothing around. I've certainly had no need to wear such things for the last twenty years.”

I paused at that but held my tongue. “Fair enough.”

“So, you guys are here to slay that Dark Lord over yonder?”, he asked, pointing at roughly the direction we were headed in.

“Exactly”, I said. “We've just had a rough few days of travel and would like to rest here a few days if that's fine.”

“Oh, of course. Last thing we want is for you to lose to the Dark Lord because you weren't rested enough. The bugger's got to go, but it's not as though waiting a few days will make things worse.”

“Thank you for your understanding”, I told him and he went back to work on some scrambled eggs for some other guests.

**

“So”, Alisha asked, “What's the plan?”

Selene shrugged so I began.

“I would like to speak to this Miss Mary. I swear Shelly told us there are three children in this village yesterday. And if we go out now, we can catch her before classes start.”

Alisha's eyes went wide. “You're suggesting whatever is hiding here took a child and made the villagers forget about it.” It wasn't a question.

“Exactly. But the teacher should keep a notebook on how her pupils are performing. If there's a third name on the list of students we know something's off here.”

“What if there's way more than three names on there?”, Selene asked.

“In that case we know something's taking the children of the village. And in that case we've ruled out the Evil Cult theory once and for all because even evil cults are smart enough not to sacrifice their own children en masse because otherwise their cult will die out. After we're done at the school I would like to go to the chapel and try to find out if they're hiding something underneath the village. If so, this entire investigation is moot. If not, maybe we can enlist the village priest or priestess to assist us.”

“Sounds like a plan”, Selene said.

“There's something else”, I told them. “Last night, during my shift, the sound we can't hear stopped. I know because I could suddenly hear small sounds again. But it's back now”, I said, drumming my fingers on the table to demonstrate.

“It was there during my shift”, Selene said.

I bit my lip, then said: “That means there was one hour in the middle of the night where the sound was gone.”

“Well,” Alisha said. “That pretty much rules out the Outer God theory. A heartbeat doesn't just stop for an hour.”

“Good point. But why in the middle of the night?”, I asked.

“Well”, Selene began. “Maybe... no...”

“What is it? Come on, your last idea was pretty good”, I told her.

“So a child went missing and the sound stopped, at roughly the same time, right?” We nodded and she continued: “Alisha already said it might be something like a siren's song. What if... the sound we can't hear is a song that makes people forget, but whatever it is can't sing while it feeds?”

I swallowed. “That would make a lot of sense but that's also horrifying.”

“More to the point”, Alisha added, “if it's a song that makes people forget the victim, why aren't we affected?”

“We didn't know the victim in the first place”, I said. “All we were told is numbers. And three does not equal two no matter how much you screw with someone's mind.”

“But the innkeeper had no problem with the numbers changing”, Alisha pointed out.

“Maybe he did but then he couldn't think of a third child so he decided that two must be right? My other guess is that both of you are being warded by your Sense Evil skill.”

“Alright, but what about you then?”

I snorted. “Do you know how many times goddesses have tried to charm me into apologizing for my behavior? The only reason Athena no longer bothers is because she knows it doesn't work.”

Alisha's eyes went wide. “Wait. You're saying you've been bombarded with charm spells so many times you've built up an immunity to them?”

“I wouldn't call it an immunity, more of a strong resistance”, I hedged.

“Still, that's amazing.”

I shrugged. “Anyway, so if Selene's right, we're dealing with a monster that eats children and then sings to make people forget about who died.”

“Does that narrow it down?”, Selene asked.

“It narrows it down too much”, I said. “I've never heard of anything like this.”

Alisha made an exasperated sound and said: “All of this thinking doesn't help. We should just go investigate so we have more to go on.”

Selene and I agreed.

**

When we got to the school building there was a single woman standing in front of it, a serene look on her face as she swayed on the spot. She had a gorgeous face, her blond hair braided and still reaching past her elbows. She wore a modest light blue dress that hung down past her knees and she was also very obviously pregnant, seventh month judging by the size of her belly. I guessed we had just found Miss Mary, waiting for her students to arrive. I was about to approach her when I felt Alisha's hand squeeze my arm and then she pushed past me.

“Excuse me”, she asked the blond lady, “are you Miss Mary?”

There was a moment's disconnect before she noticed someone had spoken to her and she turned to us. “Yes I am, can I help you? Have we met? Oh, a Chosen One!”

Alisha smiled at her and said: “We're just a group of adventurers passing through. We heard about you from Shelly and wanted to talk for a bit.”

The teacher's face lit up. “Ah, little Shelly, such a wonderful girl. Very well, class starts in a few minutes so I have a bit of time. What did you want to talk about?”

“Well”, Alisha began, “this might sound a little weird, but do you know how many children are coming to your school?”

She cocked her head to the side. “What kind of question is that? Two, of course. Shelly and Luke.” Even the teacher had been affected? The one who should know best? “What is this about?”

“Ah, sorry. You see, we have reason to believe that last night a child disappeared and something or someone wiped away the memories of the child so nobody remembers they went missing.”

Her eyes widened after a moment's pause. “Are you quite certain? I can assure you that since the last child aged out of school Shelly and Luke have been my only students.”

I cut in: “But don't you think it's a little weird that you're teaching in a village where there are only two children of school age around?”

She frowned. “What has that got to do with anything? I take my work seriously.”

Alisha took over again. “I understand. But if possible, would you let us look at your notebook and check for ourselves?”

“Of course, if you think it might help you.” She pulled out a thin notebook and handed it over to us. Alisha scanned through it, then handed it back and we thanked her. Just then, Shelly and a young boy showed up wearing their little schoolbags.

“Good morning Miss Mary!”, Shelly said, then turned to us and added: “And good morning to you three as well!”

Alisha chuckled. “Good morning Shelly. And you must be Luke.” The boy nodded and blushed. “We were just talking to Miss Mary after you've been gushing over her yesterday.” This time Shelly blushed. “But we won't keep you any longer. Happy learning.” She turned to Miss Mary and added: “Thank you for all your help.”

“Of course, have a great day.” Then she took the two children by the hand and led them into the school building.

**

“So”, I asked Alisha once we were back in our room. “What did you find in her notebook?”

“According to her notebook there are only two children in the school. Which doesn't make sense because a memory-wiping effect shouldn't affect physical evidence.”

Selene replied: “Alright, at this point I have to ask: I remember Shelly telling us there were two children of school age besides her. Do you remember that as well or is it just me who's going insane?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Two children aside from Shelly. None of this makes sense.”

Alisha added: “There's something else.”

“Oh?”, I asked.

“Did you notice something about Miss Mary?", she asked.

I cocked my head to the side and Alisha turned to stare at Selene, who shrugged.

“Seriously?”, the elf asked. “Neither of you noticed?”

“Noticed what?”, I asked.

“She looks wrong”, Alisha said.

“She looks pregnant”, I countered.

“No, she doesn't”, Alisha said. “She has the belly, I grant you. And the rest of her body is slender enough for the shoe to fit. But there are other signs of pregnancy. Signs she doesn't show.”

“Like?”, I asked and Alisha began to list points:

“She doesn't smell right. Her breasts don't look right. She doesn't have the strained look on her face that someone that far into a pregnancy should have.”

“Why do you even know that?”, I asked.

“Elf, remember?”, she said, pointing at her ears. “We're a dying race so of course we take special care of our pregnant women.”

“So what are you saying?”, Selene asked. “Are you saying she, what, ate a child and is now running around with a full belly?”

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

Alisha furrowed her brow and replied: “I hadn't reached any conclusions yet but that sure would fit. It's also a horrifying thought.”

“But easy to check”, I said. “If her belly is smaller tomorrow then yes, she's eating the children. But if Shelly believes Miss Mary is pregnant then I rather doubt her belly is changing size, in which case this theory is a bust as well.”

“Good point”, Alisha said. “None of this is making sense so far.”

“But”, Selene said, “we do all agree that there's something fishy about her, right?”

Alisha and I nodded.

Then I added: “Something else to consider: If she's responsible for or involved in the disappearances, then it would make sense for her to erase her tracks. And in this case that would be as easy as taking an actual eraser to her notebook.”

“Well shit”, Alisha said.

“But right now we have somewhere else to be”, Selene said. “Maybe the priest knows something.”

“Good point”, I said. “Let's go.”