Dirashik had developed around its large population of sorcerers and thus was unique in many ways.
This was clearly evident in the city’s shops, which offered a range of items only sorcerers would want—things that would seem like junk to most people but were treasure to professional magic users.
Similarly, Dirashik had cafés and eateries that were open for business much earlier in the morning than in other cities to serve the many sorcerers for whom morning, afternoon, and night held no meaning. When sorcerers performed experiments, all concepts of time went out the window. They got less sleep and ceased to eat at regular times. It was common for them to grow hungry and walk outside, only to realize it was the middle of the night. These restaurants opened at unusual hours to accommodate those sorcerers’ schedules.
That was why Rudin, the Quartz family’s butler, was able to take Kunon to a nearby café, despite the early hour.
“I’ll have luccon tea,” Kunon said after a waiter led them to a table and asked for their orders.
Is this really the time to be drinking tea? Rudin thought.
Serraphila was missing; the elderly butler was far too worried to eat or drink.
No, wait, he thought. It would be rude not to order anything after entering a café. Kunon had only done the sensible thing.
“Would you like it cold or hot?” asked the waiter.
“Hmm. Somewhere in between,” Kunon replied.
Is this really the time to be so picky? Rudin thought.
Serraphila was missing; the elderly butler was so stressed he was barely sleeping.
But this café was used to dealing with sorcerers. The employee accepted Kunon’s picky order with a simple “understood.”
Actually, Rudin thought. I could learn from that kind of flexibility. Adapting to unexpected situations was an important skill.
“Oh, and do you have anything sweet?” Kunon continued. “Like cookies?”
He’s ordering more?! Rudin thought.
Serraphila was missing; this was hardly the time to enjoy a sweet treat.
Well, I suppose there’s no time to fuss over trivialities.
“Would you please allow me to sit with you?” Rudin asked.
“Why, of course. I’m just an ordinary magic school student here.”
A servant and the son of a noble. Normally the former would never be allowed to sit with the latter. In Dirashik, however, very few people cared about social rank.
“Thank you very much.”
Having received Kunon’s permission, Rudin sat down across from him.
“What are you going to order, Mr. Rudin?” Kunon asked.
“The same thing as you.”
“The parfaits here are quite delicious.”
“Thank you for the recommendation, but I am at work. I’m afraid I will have to refrain,” Rudin said quickly, shooing away the waiter. He didn’t want to waste any more time. “Now, about Miss Serraphila—”
“Oh, yes. Does she like parfaits too?”
“I don’t know. She does have a sweet tooth. Anyway—”
“You don’t say? I should try inviting her here.”
“…How nice. Anyway, about the lady—”
“Don’t worry. I’m a gentleman. I won’t invite her here until we are better acquainted, and we won’t go alone.”
“……”
This is challenging, Rudin thought.
He had done some research on Kunon, including asking those familiar with the boy what kind of person he was. No two people had worded it the same way. But all of them had said basically the same thing: that he was shallow and frivolous.
He was definitely as the rumors described—as shallow as a puddle.
“Do you want to hear something fun?” he said. “Don’t tell anyone, but this café’s parfaits sometimes contain fruit sold by a saint. Her crops are really high-quality.”
Rudin couldn’t care less about that.
“Mr. Kunon. My deepest apologies for interrupting, but may we please discuss the matter at hand?” He bowed politely.
Rudin had been ready to threaten Kunon if he proved hesitant to talk. But while the boy was difficult to speak to, it wasn’t in the way Rudin had expected.
He was actually quite friendly and talkative. Obtaining information from him was easy. The problem was that it was all useless information. Getting what he wanted out of the boy was proving much more difficult.
He doubted Kunon was avoiding his questions on purpose, but Rudin didn’t have time to waste on pointless small talk.
“Oh. Sure,” said Kunon. “Did you want to talk about Miss Serraphila?”
At last. It seemed like he was finally ready to listen.
“Huh?” said Kunon. “You want to know where Miss Serraphila is?”
Nearly two weeks. Rudin had been waiting for this moment for nearly two weeks.
Kunon’s daily trips to the outskirts of Dirashik had prevented the butler from catching him. And all this time later, he finally had him.
“Yes,” he replied. “She hasn’t been home in several days, so I am searching for her. She never told me she would be gone for any length of time, so… I’ve been worried she might be in danger.”
He had spent much of that time investigating Kunon.
Naturally, he’d considered writing him a letter or leaving a message with his servant. But the situation was too grave for that. Serraphila’s disappearance could easily harm her family’s reputation. This was a delicate matter.
He couldn’t afford to write letters that would leave evidence of what had happened. And he hadn’t left a message with Kunon’s servant because…he had decided she was dangerous. She was always excitedly asking about rumors and domestic trouble in the neighborhood. He figured she must have a very loose tongue. Asking such a servant to keep quiet was foolish. It would be better to tell her nothing at all. Approaching her was not an option.
After much thought, Rudin had decided he had only one option: to catch Kunon himself.
Fortunately, while he wasn’t sure where Serraphila was, he did know why she had gone missing. Thus, he could be reasonably sure she wasn’t in danger.
…At least, that was what he told himself. That was the only thing that kept him going.
Anxiety threatened to overwhelm him. He worried about lasting repercussions to the Quartz family and about Serraphila’s future. And to make matters worse, this terrible incident had occurred under his watch, immediately after Serraphila’s enrollment.
He couldn’t possibly show his face to the Quartz family—to whom he owed so much—before he found her. Thinking about all this made him want to strangle himself.
“I’m pretty sure she went with the Harmony Faction on a trip to gather materials,” Kunon said.