Chapter 128

The two girls left the Temple’s premises under the shelter of an umbrella. Since it was Friday, they could search all weekend long. Because of that, Harriet had also brought along quite a large sum of money. Of course, it was possible for her to head home to the Saint-Ouen family manor within the capital to stay, rather than rent a room at an inn, but the outcome of their endeavor was uncertain.

Boarding the magical train, they headed toward the Wenster district, where the Bronze Gate was located. The magical train wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t exactly empty either.

—Mic test, mic test. Dear citizens of the empire, I hope you are doing well.

—If I may take a moment of your precious time today, I would like to introduce a fine item to you.

This sight was common even inside the trains nowadays.

Harriet sighed at the sight of the noisy peddler.

However, it wasn’t out of dislike.

“What is it?” asked Ellen.

Harriet shook her head. “Huh? Oh, no, nothing. It’s just that I’m surprised that I’ve gotten used to this kind of thing.”

Ellen was confused.

Harriet felt ridiculous for becoming accustomed to such nonsense, and that had prompted a sigh to escape her lips.

The magical train was something that only existed in the capital. While Harriet was living as a noble lady of the Saint-Ouen duchy, she primarily traveled by carriage.

Since Harriet had enrolled in the Temple only at the high-school level, her mindset was somewhat different from those nobles who had been attending since elementary school. How could she be expected to share a means of transportation with commoners?

Initially, she had even thought it beneath her dignity just to ride the tram within the Temple. After classes, the trams would be so crowded that, not only was it impossible to find a seat, but she felt claustrophobic just standing in it.

Harriet found riding them dreadful. However, since the use of carriages was prohibited within the Temple, she eventually had no choice but to get used to the tram.

It was the same when she went outside. The idea of using this large, oddly long means of transportation and mixing with commoners disgusted her even more than the tram did.

Of course, it was possible to travel by carriage within the capital, and many people did use them as a means of transportation.

However, those people were few in number, because carriages couldn’t match the convenience, speed, and affordability of magical trains. In the capital, with its well-laid magical train lines, using a carriage was already a waste of time, and that was before taking expenditures into account. And for the wealthy, time was even more precious than money. Moreover, there were no noble-exclusive carriages on the magical train. Despite numerous requests from the nobility, the royal family had no intention of creating such a thing.

Taking the train was pure torment for Harriet, but without using warp gates, the magical train was the fastest means of transportation around the capital. And the use of short-distance warp gates was not permitted in the first place. If they were opened for such trivial reasons, the already heavily-used warp gates would be overloaded.

Moreover, once she’d experienced it, the speed of the magical train had blown her mind. It was incomparable to carriages. Despite her dislike for it, when she needed to move quickly from one place to another, there was simply no alternative to the magical train, and choosing anything else would be foolish. Initially, she’d wondered how she could ever ride such a thing, but eventually, she’d had no choice but to succumb to its convenience.

Despite being a haughty noble, Harriet eventually became accustomed to conversing with commoners and riding the crowded magical train.

‘This is all because of Reinhart,’

she thought.

She should never have even made eye contact with such a detestable person, who spoke to her carelessly, teased her, and even physically abused her. It was shocking and absurd, but having endured so much of it, she had eventually developed a strong resilience. She often found herself thinking that no matter what happened or what she had to endure, it would be better than dealing with that damned Reinhart. This had led the originally insolent noble lady to accept various things she would not have tolerated before.

‘And now I’m on my way to find him...’

Harriet found herself at a loss, not knowing what she was doing anymore.

***

Groooo

...

Due to the continuous heavy rain, the water level of the Irine River was dangerously high, and it was the same around the Bronze Gate Bridge. The park had been submerged for quite some time.

The two had arrived at the place Reinhart was last seen, in search of him.

“There can’t be anything left under the bridge in this situation,” Harriet said.

“Yeah.”

Ellen nodded. Whoever had been living under that bridge would have been washed away by now.

Without knowing the specifics about Reinhart, the two of them had to deduce his subsequent actions based only on the circumstantial evidence they had.

“

What exactly happened?

”

“Didn’t he leave in a hurry after hearing that the Irine might overflow?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Reinhart must have come here, worried about the people here.”

“I think so too.”

Reinhart was originally a part of the group of beggars that operated around Bronze Gate. Upon hearing the news that the Irine might flood due to the heavy rain, he would have come here to check if the people here were safe.

“Now that the river has burst its banks, though, the people who were here have all gone somewhere else. He might have gone off looking for them.”

“Yeah.”

Ellen and Harriet could both agree on what might have happened up to this point.

Reinhart would have gone somewhere else to search for the missing group of beggars.

“Then... maybe he’s just delayed because he’s helping them out or something like that. Maybe it’s taking... longer than expected,” Harriet said, in a hopeful tone. Even as she spoke, she knew the likelihood was slim.

Naturally, Ellen shook her head.

“He could have returned to the Temple briefly to explain the situation, but he didn’t. Of course, it’s still a possibility... It would be fortunate if that were the case.”

Perhaps he hadn’t been able to return to the Temple because he was caught up helping them make it through the storm.

There was a low probability of that being the case, but they both held out hope nonetheless.

“Anyway, Reinhart must have gone to find out where the people here have gone,” Ellen said.

“But what if we find those people and they don’t know what happened to Reinhart? What if he met with some misfortune before finding them?”

Harriet’s concern drew a nod from Ellen.

“Even if they don’t know Reinhart’s whereabouts, we still have to inform them that Reinhart is missing. Plus, those people might know more about Reinhart than we do.”

Regardless of what those people knew, the conclusion was the same: they needed to find them.

“Right... So, where could those people have gone?”

“

Where could the people under the bridge have gone?

”

They faced the same dilemma as Reinhart.

Ellen pointed to the guards blocking the entrance to the park.

“Let’s ask them.”

Ellen had chosen the same approach Reinhart had taken a few days earlier.

***

After questioning the guards, Ellen and Harriet succeeded in following the same trail as Reinhart.

If there was a place nearby to take shelter from the rain, it was Wenster Market.

Wenster Market. Just as adventurers headed to the northern Aligar District, regular folk would come to Wenster Market, which was the largest market that catered to regular folk. As they headed towards it, Harriet hesitated.

“... My brothers told me not to go to the Wenster Market,” she said. She seemed a little scared.

“Why?”

“Oh... My brothers graduated from the Temple, and they got to know the capital well. They said they wouldn’t go there themselves because it’s dirty, but they specifically told me not to go to the Wenster Market.”

“Why?”

“There are a lot of criminals there. Normally, if you’re a student from the Temple, people usually don’t mess with you, but over there, those crazy people don’t care about that... They specifically told me never to go near the back alleys. There are criminal organizations too...”

Harriet had prior knowledge of the information Reinhart had been unaware of. As she spoke, she suddenly seemed to realize something and mumbled absently, “Ah... then could it be...?”

“... I think I have a rough idea of the situation.”

Wenster Market was a den for criminals who wouldn’t hesitate to strike, regardless of whether their target was from the Temple or not. Reinhart had entered this Wenster Market in search of the beggars.

It didn’t take long for them to realize that the combination of vicious criminals and Reinhart, who was second to none in terms of his foul temper, would certainly cause a serious issue.

***

As the two of them considered the truth of Wenster Market and Reinhart’s personality, they began to get a rough idea of what could have transpired. Harriet pondered as they walked towards Wenster Market.

“So, Reinhart must have known that the beggars had come this way to take shelter from the rain, and while roaming these back alleys looking for them, he got into some trouble?”

“Probably.”

“And then, unable to control his temper, he confronted them, and the situation escalated, resulting in him... getting into some serious trouble.”

As they spoke, their expressions darkened.

It would be somewhat of a relief if he had just been kidnapped. However, the situation could be far worse. He could have provoked some reckless criminals and ended up being stabbed, or something along those lines.

Reinhart might already be dead. This line of reasoning was entirely plausible, and it made their expressions turn even more serious.

And that was not all.

“Are we... going to be okay?”

Standing in front of the grand entrance to Wenster Market, Harriet began to doubt whether it was really safe to enter.

Reinhart, despite his foul temper, was still someone who could enhance his physical self and possessed combat skills. He might be young, and not as well-trained as Ellen, but after training, he had become quite adept at fighting.

If even Reinhart could be subdued, then what about their own safety?

“Let’s just look around the market for now,” Ellen suggested. They could start by asking around, without rushing into anything.

***

The two began their investigation as they entered the market. Harriet found the overwhelming smell of food and the fishy odor of seafood repulsive, and was unable to hide her foul expression. She slowly grew used to it, but this situation was truly a first for her.

Ellen, as always, didn’t seem too bothered.

“Ah, you mean that young blond kid?”

“Yes! Yes! Have you seen him?”

Harriet grew hopeful when the shop owner seemed to know something. She had long discarded any noble pride. Addressing commoners in a respectful manner didn’t bother her anymore.

“No, I haven’t seen him, but the ruckus about finding that kid is unbelievable. It’s not just the guards—even people from the Temple have been stirring things up here. Not to mention, they refuse to buy anything.”

Both the guards and the Temple were already turning Wenster Market upside down. Charlotte and Vertus, who had both deduced that Reinhart’s disappearance was connected to Wenster Market based on the circumstances, had preemptively ordered a search that was centered on this area.

“Temple students sure have it good. All this commotion over a missing kid. I wish I had enough money to send my child to the Temple too.”

The shopkeeper unexpectedly began to lament his situation. Regardless of the fact that it was a Temple student, it was still just one person, yet seeing so many people turning the market upside down just to ensure his safety was yet another reminder to everyone of the Temple’s prestigious reputation.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Of course, Reinhart was also a Royal Class student, and being a classmate of a prince and princess set him apart from any other ordinary Temple student.

As they went around the market, posing questions to different shopkeepers, they realized something. Many people had come searching for Reinhart, and the people they asked only mentioned this commotion. They did not give any eyewitness accounts describing Reinhart himself.

“It’s strange.”

“... Yeah.”

Both of them sensed something odd. Harriet led Ellen to a place where the smell of fish was less potent and began to list the oddities.

“It seems like both the guards and the Temple are aware that Reinhart disappeared here.”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t a difficult deduction to make, so those looking for Reinhart had already taken an interest in Wenster Market.

“But why haven’t they found him, then?”

If they had searched the market, they must have scoured the back alleys as well. Neither the guards nor the Temple would fear the criminal organizations lurking there. Reinhart’s disappearance was assumed to have occurred the previous Saturday, and the search had begun on Monday.

Yet, by Friday, there were still no results.

Why hadn’t the guards and the Temple managed to find Reinhart? If he was dead, they should have at least found his body, but that wasn’t the case either.

At the moment, they could see guards still combing through the entire market.

“If they’ve spent this much time searching and still haven’t found him, it seems unlikely that there’s much to find in the back alleys...” Harriet muttered gloomily.

“Let’s go check it out anyway.”

“Yeah.”

Although it seemed unlikely that they would find any significant clues in the back alleys, they had no choice but to head in and look for themselves.