An inn would have been much easier to track down than a private residence. Which was made even more difficult by the fact that Adams was not an uncommon na, and Ratnatraya was a large city with hundreds of thousands of residents. There were way too many possibilities.
“I guess going to public records and getting a list of everyone called Adams could be an option.”
With no other leads, their only recourse would be to go knock on the doors of anyone nad Adams. Public records would have a registry of the city residents, so Alma suggested going there, but Mira did not look thrilled about it.
“I still can’t believe that she’s actually staying with soone. I wonder if they’re friends or sothing?”
Esralda mumbled in thought. It was not easy to imagine a wandering sage like ilin to have a good enough friend to stay with.
“Ah, ilin can be pretty cute when she’s keeping still, so maybe…” Alma then muttered that out of nowhere, which alluded to a not very wholeso possibility.
“Yeah no, I don’t think we should worry about that.”
Esralda quickly shot down the idea. No matter what situation ilin was in, she was not the type of girl who could be coerced into such things. But that made a different possibility appear in their minds. There were plenty of other less forceful and more deceitful ways around it.
“Adams, huh…”
“Yes, so Adams…”
“Well, at least we have a lead. We’ll just have to investigate whoever this Adams is.”
There was little to gain by continuing to talk about it here, so Mira wanted to head to public records already.
“Umm, I just brought the latest forms, should I leave them here as well?”
Before Mira could say anything, a woman knocked on the door and looked inside.
She was the person Esralda had appointed to bring in all the forms that were piled up on the table. Those orders simply ntioned all of them, so she was under the impression that all the new forms that had just been submitted also needed to be carried there.
“Thank you, but you can put those back.”
They had found soone who was likely ilin already, so there was no need for more forms. Esralda thanked that woman for her work and sent her back, who bowed saying, “I understand.”
But she did not turn around to leave. Instead she stood there nervously, her gaze downcast as she thought hard about sothing.
“Is there anything else?”
When Esralda asked that, the woman seed to make up her mind as she raised her face.
“Umm… Did Sir Adams do sothing wrong?!” She asked, looking more anxious than worried. Apparently she had managed to overhear them talking about Adams monts before she entered the room.
And she seed to know soone by the na of Adams as well, so it made sense for her mind to co up with all sorts of reasons why the empress and one of the Twelve Apostles was talking about him.
“Oh…would you mind telling us more about this Sir Adams?”
There just so happened to be an Adams so close by. It could just be a coincidence, but Mira had a hunch that there was more to it, and was the first one to react by asking that.
“Umm…I just…”
The woman knew the empress Alma and the Apostle Esralda, but had no idea who the unknown girl with them was. Still, Mira spoke so directly with an imposing attitude that the woman instinctively replied.
Sir Adams was the leader of a knight unit, and had been appointed to stand watch by the tournant registration front desk.
“Ohh…the front desk…”
Those words alone gave Mira an idea, as well as hope that things would end up taking less effort than she thought.
Knowing ilin, she probably went to enter the tournant straight away, without even thinking about stopping by at an inn, which would lead to various issues when filling out that spot in the form.
“Tell , how would you describe this Sir Adams’ personality? For example, do you think he would pick up and take care of a lone stray kitty?”
Mira decided to pry deeper, which made the woman hesitate a bit, beginning to blush as she finally replied.
“Yes, I think he would. I’ve seen him bring in injured strays in the past. He’s also really responsible, kind to everyone, but is also strong and always steps in to stop rowdy people before they start fights.”
Adams appeared to be a really good person, which was maybe why the woman felt compelled to interrupt a conversation between Alma and Esralda.
“Hmmm, I think I see what’s going on now…”
“Oh my, now this is unexpected.”
Alma and Esralda had also taken notice of certain feelings harbored by that woman, making them grin teasingly, but not maliciously.
Mira also noticed that, but she just said, “Interesting,” while narrowing her gaze.
But the woman assud that they were not convinced by her response yet, and as she still did not know why they were talking about Adams, she felt the need to bring up a more recent example, all to clear his na of any suspicion.
“Umm… Actually…there was this ti, just a month ago. There was this young girl who ca to enter the tournant…”
The story the woman told was exactly what Mira had been picturing already.
When that girl ca to register, she had initially filled out her staying place as “Anywhere.” That did not really make much sense, so the receptionist asked her to clarify what she ant, and the girl said that she would stay at a nearby forest, or a park, or out in the streets, so simply anywhere.
Everyone behind the desk beca concerned hearing that. While they trusted the guards would keep the streets relatively safe, they did not want to imagine a girl camping out alone like that.
But the girl’s finances were not good enough for her to stay in an inn. For a mont, she considered staying in the housing provided by the tournant for participants, but quickly rejected it when she heard that there was a set schedule when als would be served, and a curfew.
(That does sound like her a lot. She always only wanted to eat what she wanted, and sleep whenever she saw fit.)
There was still no confirmation that the girl in the story was actually ilin, but Mira was growing increasingly convinced of it as she listened to the woman.
In the end, the girl insisted that she would stay anywhere, but those behind the desk kept worrying and wanted to convince her to use the facilities offered by the tournant. The discussion was going nowhere, until Adams arrived after hearing of the situation.
“Sir Adams agreed that Anywhere was not a suitable response for the form, and so he ca up with another solution.”
She continued talking passionately and with conviction.
The girl had no money for inns, but was too free-spirited to fit in with the rest. Faced with that, Adams decided to invite her to stay at his house. Now that girl was happily staying there, and was getting along with everyone else living there as well, sothing the woman said with a tinge of jealousy in her voice.
“That explains everything.”
“I guess things are going well then.”
“Yes, he’s a really good person.”
Everything the woman had just said lined up perfectly with the details listed in ii’s form.
Mira and the other two also connected the dots and nodded satisfied with the story. The woman saw that reaction and her face lit up with relief.
(Things are looking very promising now!)
Mira was excited that her search for the Adams Residence had been made so much shorter. All she needed to do now was go visit the house of Sir Adams, and talk to ii, who was most definitely ilin.
“Alright, then I’ll have Adams co here to talk about it.”
Alma said that, wanting to move things forward. That imdiately made the woman stiffen up again.
It was normal to be worried knowing that the person one was attracted to was being summoned by the empress, and Esralda noticed that change in the woman, so she smiled kindly and reassured her, “Don’t worry, he didn’t do anything bad.”
“I understand, I’ll let him know right away.”
Esralda had managed to dispel her worries, so the woman quickly knelt and bowed before running off to find Adams.
While they waited, and since they were already within the archives of the palace, they began to look through Adams’ files to learn more about him.
They wanted to know what kind of person was looking over the girl they believed was ilin, and they were also curious about the man who had smitten the heart of the woman from earlier.
They really just were being nosy for the sake of it.
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