He shot me an awkward smile as Gourry and I took seats at a table. “Nah. Only a select few big shots get to attend. They just rolled me out for the welcome to make it seem bigger. Gotta say, I had no idea you two were friends of the Saillune royal family...”
I gave him a pained smile back. “And I had no idea a Saillune VIP was going to be stopping by... Though, as head of local security, I’m guessing you knew.”
He busied himself with something behind the counter and didn’t seem particularly abashed by my insinuation. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t mention it. I was worried that word would reach the bandits if I did.”
“What? You think someone in town is leaking information?”
“They’ve anticipated our plans a few too many times to think otherwise. It’s probably best to assume that that’s the case.”
Aha. Can’t blame him for being cautious, then...
“By the way, Master MacLyle, speaking of the bandits... We ran into them in the forest.”
“What?!” he cried in shock.
“They ran away when the Saillune guys came, though,” Gourry added.
“H-H-Hang on a minute!” MacLyle launched into a flurry of activity, then came out from behind the counter carrying three wooden mugs—drinks for us, apparently. He placed them down in front of us and took an empty seat at the table. “You ran into the bandits?”
“Something happened today, right? An attack, maybe? This was shortly afterward, so I’d bet they’re related,” I petitioned.
“Could you tell me more?” MacLyle asked. “What did they look like?”
“They hid their faces so I couldn’t even tell if they were men or women, but...” I took a swig of the drink, some kind of apple-based juice. I then gave a summary of our encounter with the raiders and concluded, “That about covers it. Now, we assume something happened out there, but we don’t know what. We were wondering if you’d heard anything, and if you had, if you might clue us in.”
“I’ve only heard bits and pieces myself so far. There was a cave-in at one of the mines, and people thought it might be the bandits—rather, the raiders—using an attack spell. I received the report and sent my crew for search and rescue, but none of them have returned yet, so I don’t know—”
Ra-ring. The door chime interrupted MacLyle. We all looked over at the open door to see...
“Mistress Alaina,” MacLyle greeted her.
The elf opened her mouth... then noticed me and Gourry, moved her lips silently, and closed them. She’d probably said something. Her voice was just too quiet to hear.
“Welcome back. Perfect timing. Care to tell us what happened out there?” MacLyle asked.
After a moment’s hesitation, like a cautious stray cat investigating offered food, she timidly approached—her eyes locked on me and Gourry—and whispered something behind MacLyle.
“Er...” MacLyle, seeming to find it embarrassing, turned to face her. “Could you please say it so that everyone can hear?”
Whew... Alaina sucked in a trembling breath and began rummaging through her pockets.
“Ah. Hang on a minute,” I said, then pulled what I’d bought in town out from my tunic. To most people, they’d just look like two rather large coins of unfamiliar currency. I cast a simple spell on one and handed it to Alaina. “You can have this. I bought it at the local sorcerers’ council. It’s a magic item known as a Regulus Disc, and it’ll make it so we can hear your voice just fine. You seem to have a hard time speaking at a normal volume face-to-face, but if you just whisper into this, we’ll still hear you.”
Alaina timidly extended a hand... then snatched up the Regulus Disc and burrowed under the nearest table in a flash. “Test. Test... Test, test. Oh, I’m audible!” I heard her voice emanating from the Regulus Disc still in my hand. “You humans do make useful tools from time to time! If you had one of these, why didn’t you give it to me earlier?!”
“Heh. You’re entering domineering mode, but keep it in check or I’ll haul you up by your collar and make you talk at point-blank range, okay?”
“Ah... I’m sorry... I didn’t mean... I’ll try to be careful, so please don’t make me talk at point-blank range...”
Huhhh... She had very extreme ideas about keeping her distance from others.
“But... this really is very convenient. Could I keep it? I’ll pay, of course.”
“Hmm...” While I was contemplating whether to sell it at cost or rip her off...
“I’m sorry, but could we negotiate this later? Right now, I want to hear what happened at the mine,” Master MacLyle interjected.
“Ah, yes. Go ahead,” I agreed.
He then said to Alaina, “Now, I believe you went to the scene yourself. What did you see?”
At this, she spoke smoothly. “The site was the second mine. There was a cave-in. There were injuries, but no dead or missing. I returned early to report, but Randa is leading the rescue operation and the entire security force is pitching in. They expect the operation to wrap up before nightfall, but it’ll be at least a few days before the mine is back in business. And an inspection of the scene suggests clear influence over bephemoth earth spirits caused the landslide.”
It was an excellent summary of the situation. Too bad she had to give it while hiding under the table...
However, I did have one question. “Who’s Randa?”
“The man you knocked out when you first arrived here,” MacLyle informed me.
Ahh, the roughneck-looking security dude. I’d totally forgotten his name. But if he was the one running the show... Boy, they must be short on people. Or maybe that was the one thing he didn’t suck at?
“Just to be sure, is there any chance that one of the miners cast the spell that caused the landslide?” I asked, considering the possibility it was an inside job.
“No,” Alaina responded firmly. “I found the spell’s point of origin, and it was on the outside, some distance away.”
“You found the spell’s point of origin? You can do that?!” I found myself shouting.
There were some spells and situations where you could track the magic back to where it was activated. Except this one had caused a landslide, which would ordinarily get rid of all traces...
But she just said, as casually as could be, “Well, it’s obvious if you look for traces of interference with the bephemoths, though?”
“Traces of interference...?” I said, mouthing the unfamiliar phrase.
“Yes. It’s possible that humans can’t see them.”
“You mean elves can?!”
“We sense them more than we see them, but... yes.”
I was friends with an elf, but this was the first I’d heard of it... Granted, it’s not like the subject of how elves perceive their surroundings had ever come up between us. I knew humans and elves differed greatly in magical ability, but I didn’t know that they straight-up saw things differently.
“But I still couldn’t find the bandits in the end.”
“Ah, about that,” MacLyle said. “Our two friends here seem to have encountered them.”
“What?!” I could feel Alaina tremble under the table. “You met them, Elder Lina?!”
“Yeah, kinda. Wait, what’s with the ‘elder’ all of a sudden?! Just call me Lina.”
“Lina... but if you go without a title, does that mean that I outrank you?”
“You can still think of me as your elder. Just drop the title.”
“Ah... I will. I’m sorry.”
Her sense of distance regarding interpersonal relationships was also annoying! Why did one of us have to outrank the other? I just figured we were equals... Though I was pretty sure if I said that, Alaina would go into domineering mode again.
“So... what were they like?” she asked.
“There were at least six of them, I think, covered in cloth from head to toe. I couldn’t even tell if they were male or female.”
“Did you sense anything else?”
“They were pretty good fighters, and they gave us the slip in the end. Despite everyone calling them bandits, I don’t think they can be just any bandits.”
At this, Alaina went silent.
“If they’re not bandits... who are they, and what are they after?” MacLyle spoke in her place.
I shrugged. “Wish I knew. They didn’t seem like the spill-all-our-plans-to-folks-we-just-met types. I have a rough idea of the direction they ran in, but I doubt we’d find their base by just beelining it.”
“Still, this is a big step in the right direction. We haven’t been able to get a bead on them before this. Keep up the good work tomorrow, would you?”
“Sure, we’ll do our best.”
Or so I said, but it felt like things were getting kind of out of hand. It had only been a day—rather, half a day—since we’d arrived in Atessa, and it had been pretty damned eventful.
I took another sip of my apple juice, resisting the urge to sigh.
Morning came early in a city of blacksmiths—by which I mean to say I was awoken by the sound of smiths striking their anvils. Had it been birdsong, I’d have gladly slept through it. But hammers on steel? Yeah, I couldn’t ignore that. The townspeople were probably used to it, but I sure as heck wasn’t.
Unable to go back to sleep, I got up, climbed down to the eatery on the first floor, and found Gourry already there. The sound must have woken him up too.
Following a light breakfast of salad, bread, bacon, eggs, mashed potatoes, minestrone soup, risotto, gratin, apple pie, fruit, milk, and juice, I took a quiet sip of my after-meal tea. And just as I was letting out a deep sigh... I heard the shop’s door chime ring loudly.
“You! There you are!” I turned toward the panicked voice and saw a familiar-looking older man standing there. He was walking straight toward us. “You know Princess Amelia, don’t you?!”
Suddenly I remembered him. He was one of the men who’d welcomed the Saillune delegation to the guesthouse yesterday. The mayor, I think.
“Er, yes?” I replied.
The mayor then looked around, ran up to our table, and spoke in a hushed voice, “Princess Amelia isn’t here, is she?”
“No, she isn’t...”
What a peculiar question that was. Amelia was a special envoy from Saillune, after all. She should’ve had bodyguards with her at all times, and just because we knew each other didn’t mean she could just come by to hang out whenever she wanted. The mayor undoubtedly knew that too, so the only reason he’d ask me such a thing was...
“She’s not... missing, is she?” I asked, keeping my voice down.
At this, he turned visibly pale. “Mm.” He opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind and closed it. He tried this another time or two, then said, “...I think she’s been kidnapped...”
...
“Say whaaaaat?!” The simultaneous cry from me and Gourry sent a shockwave through the morning air around us.