—
“……”
“Miss…?”
The tavern owner, Isaac, wiped a glass in his hands and sighed before finally addressing the maid standing before him.
“Huh?! Yes, Eir… I… I’m here to drink! That’s right, please give a… a glass of orange juice!”
Isaac sighed again.
“Miss, I don’t think you’re here to drink, are you? What brings you here? Let guess, your young master isn’t old enough to drink, so you’ve co to buy so wine for him?”
“He is old enough! Wait, how did you know Eir wasn’t here to drink?”
Because…
This was a tavern, primarily selling alcohol, and it was early morning—a ti when the tavern was still being cleaned in preparation for the evening’s business…
And suddenly, a half-beast maid had knocked on the door and walked in…
Wearing an oversized hat that obscured half her face, with her fluffy tail tucked behind her, though its size made it impossible to hide.
After sitting down, she kept glancing around nervously.
It was far too obvious!
“Well, for one, you didn’t order any alcohol after coming in.”
“That’s because Eir… Eir… Eir isn’t of age yet! I… I see… Actually… Actually, I’m here to ask about soone’s whereabouts.”
Eir stamred, her nervousness causing her ears to twitch, which in turn knocked her hat off.
What a bad start!
She had prepared herself to beco a sharp detective, but she had been recognized right away.
Eir had no choice but to pull out the “missing person notice” from her pocket. She carefully unfolded it on the bar counter, smoothing out every crease with her hands—especially the ones over her young master’s face. She couldn’t allow his photo to have wrinkles!
“After Young Master left, I only received one letter from him. After replying, I haven’t heard from him in two weeks. Then I saw this missing person notice posted by his teammate. All I know is… he was with soone called ‘S.’”
“Uh… this… isn’t this…”
Isaac imdiately recognized the young master as the “heartthrob” Shuna had t that night!
That young master had looked every bit the nobleman, with surprisingly refined taste in alcohol and a decent tolerance. Shuna had seed quite pleased.
Wait…
He…
Had gone missing?
Isaac was montarily speechless.
Hadn’t that young master left under his “arrangent,” accompanying Shuna? Why was there now a missing person notice for him?
If he was missing, then where was Shuna, whom he had sent off with him?
Isaac couldn’t help but feel concerned.
After all, he thought of Shuna as a second daughter—and not just any daughter, but one who could punch out dungeon bosses with ease. He hadn’t thought much of it at the ti, assuming he had facilitated a romantic evening for the two of them.
His brief silence didn’t escape the sharp eyes of the little maid—
“You recognize him? My young master left from here, didn’t he? Do you rember? He was with a black-haired woman. That… that might be ‘S’…”
Eir’s initial words were rushed, but her tone slowed and grew somber as she continued.
Her beast ears drooped, and her tail fell to the floor.
“I’m sorry, Eir got a little too excited. So, do you rember? Even though it was weeks ago… Eir saw that woman take him onto a train. I just want to know who she is and what they talked about. Did you overhear anything?”
After saying all this in one breath…
Eir realized she had… she had said so much!
And not just a lot, but she had spoken boldly and logically!
Though she could converse fluently when studying with her young master, this was the first ti she had spoken so clearly and coherently to a stranger.
Isaac looked at the anxious maid.
He realized she seed to lack so “common sense.” For instance, a tavern owner with a steady stream of custors wouldn’t rember soone from nearly a month ago.
But this particular custor had been “special.”
He could have claid he didn’t rember to brush her off.
However…
He felt a twinge of pity for this concerned little maid.
And he was curious about where Shuna had taken the young master and whether they were safe.
“I do rember. Actually, that ‘S’… she’s an ‘old friend’ of mine.”
“Huh?! Really?! Where are they now—”
Eir slamd her hands on the counter in excitent, her ice magic flaring up uncontrollably and leaving a thin layer of frost on the bar.
“Her na is Shuna Polor. Here’s what happened…”
—
Eir listened as the tavern owner recounted his story, starting from when he, as the head of the Novice Town Adventurer’s Guild, first t Shuna, to her years as a freelance adventurer, and how she communicated with Will anonymously as “S.”
And…
How, that night, Will had t and spoken with the “S” he had been corresponding with.
For the first ti, Eir learned about the real “S” beyond the letters.
And she was nothing like Eir had imagined.
Not in gender, not in personality… not even in age.
Though she had seen her in person, she still found it hard to reconcile.
But…
As “S,” what was her purpose in taking the young master away?
Could it be!
She wanted to train the young master the way he had trained her?! So she just took him away?!
Eir shook her head. That line of thinking was too simplistic.
“But is Shuna really that strong?”
“She’s incredibly strong. I’d say she’s the strongest adventurer I’ve ever seen. Honestly, I felt it was a sha she went back to school instead of continuing her career. What a waste of three years, haha.”
If she was truly that strong…
Then the young master wouldn’t be in danger with her.
It would be like having another person to protect him, just as she did.
But…
A faint sense of unease and jealousy began to stir in Eir’s heart.
The idea of soone else taking her place in protecting the young master… why did it bother her so much?
Even if the person was soone the young master had corresponded with for years.
Even if the person was a reliable S-rank adventurer.
But…
Wasn’t that role supposed to be…
Eir’s?
At that mont, a commotion erupted outside the tavern.
“Finally! They rescued soone?!”
The small morning tavern buzzed with activity as voices rose.
“But… but why? Isn’t that dungeon ant for beginner training? How could anyone struggle there?”
“The issue isn’t that they struggled—it’s why they went to the 20th floor! Weren’t they only supposed to go up to the 10th floor?”
“Soone even… even died!”
“Forget it! This dungeon is clearly problematic! No matter what, it shouldn’t be this difficult based on its rating!”
“Yeah, yeah. Look at that green stone the captain’s holding—it must be the problem, right?”
“Who cares? The dungeon’s gone now. What’s the point of talking about it?”
Eir moved closer to the door, listening to the heated discussion outside. For once, she began piecing together what they were saying.
A green stone?
Eir rembered that before the young master went missing, he had been fixated on researching a certain green stone—she had seen it when she accidentally walked into his room.
Could it be related to this?
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