Shulim picked up her herbal tea, took a slow sip, and suddenly thought of something. She quickly set down her teacup.
“Ilus—”
“What is it?”
“Do you have any idea where my ancestor might have left the remaining two stances of his swordsmanship?”
“Hmm? Right...”
Ilus understood why Shulim was asking this.
For something so important, Orubet would have likely left a record of it somewhere.
“Let me think...”
Ilus pondered hard for a moment.
“Ah, of course! The most likely place has to be there!”
“Where?”
“—The Hekadiza Mountains!”
“Hekadiza?”
Shulim felt as though she had seen that name in a geography book. It seemed to be a mountain range in the south.
“Yes, that is the most likely place. Orubet spent most of his life there, and if I'm not mistaken, his swordsmanship style was also completed there...”
“Most of his life there? Is there something there?”
Shulim was somewhat puzzled. Had he gone into seclusion? But that didn't feel right. If he wanted to live in seclusion, there was no need to go all the way south; the Pasara Empire had plenty of suitable places.
“Indeed... there is indeed something there...”
For once, Ilus's expression lacked its usual laziness, replaced by a trace of solemnity. It seemed that the 'something' she spoke of was far from ordinary.
“...Well, if you want to look for the lost swordsmanship stances, you can go to the southern foothills of the mountains...”
Ilus casually pulled out a pen and sketched a map on a piece of paper.
“...It should be around this area. You can search there.”
“However, Hekadiza seems to be the territory of the white cat beastkin now, and I hear it's under the control of the White Cat Royalty, so it might not be very easy to get in.”
Shulim looked closely at the sketch Ilus had drawn, committing it to memory. Then, she looked back up at the elf.
“...”
“What's wrong? Do you want a refill?”
Ilus lifted the teapot to gesture.
“...”
It seemed she had no intention of telling her...
Although Shulim was very curious, it was clear that she was not yet ready to know such things.
“...Refill, please. But Ilus, could you add some sugar cubes to the tea next time?”
“You really don't hold back. I don't have sugar cubes, but I have a very sweet magic potion. Would you like me to add some~?”
“I think I'll pass on that...”
...
By the time Shulim left Ilus's shop, it was already getting late.
“I should... probably head back to the academy for dinner.”
After returning to the academy and having dinner in the dining hall, Shulim prepared to head to the Great Library to continue studying Fourth-Tier magic.
However, she was stopped halfway there.
“...Delgette, is there something you need?”
The person blocking Shulim's path was none other than the leader of the group she had conflicted with before, Delgette Valorian.
But unlike every previous encounter, she was alone today. The lackeys who usually surrounded her were nowhere to be seen. In fact, her always proud and confident face now held a strange trace of worry.
“Shulim, I came to ask you a question.”
“A question? What is it?”
“...Have you seen Lucie and Harley over the last two days?”
“Those two?”
A trace of doubt rose in Shulim's heart.
“What happened to them?”
“They have both been completely out of contact since two days ago...”
“Out of contact?!”
Shulim's brow furrowed slightly.
“Have you not contacted the city guard?”
After all, they were imperial nobles. A sudden disappearance in Langard was definitely no small matter.
“We already did, but the city guard searched for a whole day and didn't find any useful clues. I know they've had quite a few conflicts with you, so I wanted to ask if you've seen them lately.”
Those two... Ever since she had taught them a lesson, although they didn't dare face her directly, they had frequently engaged in petty tricks behind her back. In fact, they had often followed her in secret, hoping to catch some dirt on her, completely unaware that they had been spotted a long time ago...
Huh? Wait... Could those two have actually followed her, accidentally wandered into some bad place, and got kidnapped by some clueless gang...?
“Do you suspect I had something to do with it?”
“No.”
Delgette shook her head.
“I know you wouldn't do such a thing. Some members of the tea party are indeed scared, and some even suspect you, which is why I temporarily suspended the tea party activities and told them not to leave the academy for the time being.”
So that was why. She had approached her alone.
On one hand, she kept the other tea party members safe from danger, while on the other, she took action herself...
Shulim's opinion of her changed slightly...
Shulim shook her head. “While I understand your anxiety, I'm afraid I haven't seen either of them these past few days.”
“Is that so...”
Delgette was somewhat disappointed, but still said,
“Thank you for your understanding. Please let me know if you hear anything later on.”
With that, she turned and slowly walked away.
“...”
Watching Delgette's departing figure, Shulim stood in place, deep in thought.
Imperial nobles and students of Manacos Magic Academy suddenly vanishing, especially during a rather unusual period for the academy...
One couldn't help but suspect there was some kind of targeted plot behind it.
“I hope I'm just overthinking...”
...
...
The next day.
Glimmer Dungeon.
“Hey, Shulim, who is the other person?”
Just like before, after her morning classes ended, Shulim headed straight for the dungeon.
The schedule at Manacos was very relaxed. Many times, there were only one or two classes a day, either clustered in the morning or the afternoon, giving students a great deal of free time.
“You'll find out when we get there.”
Shulim replied perfunctorily. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell Mico, but rather that doing so would only lead to more questioning.
Honestly, sometimes Shulim also wondered how her roommate still hadn't remembered who was in their class despite having been enrolled for over half a year. One had to keep in mind that there were only twenty-odd students in the entire Special Class.
She really didn't know what went on inside this cat girl's little head...
Handing her pass and adventurer ID to the Adventurers' Guild staff at the dungeon entrance for inspection, Shulim glanced at a group of knights waiting in the distance.
Has Alicia already arrived...?
“Everything's in order. Please take back your documents.”
The guild staff returned the documents to them.
“Let's go. She's already here, so let's head inside.”
Putting away her documents, Shulim walked straight toward the dungeon entrance.
“Eh? Okay, wait for me!”
Somewhere on the first floor of the dungeon.
This was the usual meeting spot that Shulim and Alicia had agreed upon.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Alicia.”
“Not at all, I only arrived a few minutes ago myself.”
Alicia said with a smile, but then she noticed the person following behind Shulim.
Rate on N.U.
