Since they had obtained Ini’s permission, Violet and the others naturally followed openly behind the two hurried Spirit Puppet Tribe girls along the way.
The girl who ca to deliver the ssage was confidently leading the way ahead, showing her considerable strength. She seed to know every inch of the forest like the back of her hand, moving forward without hesitation or pause, exuding an elegant beauty, akin to a forest spirit dancing among the trees.
In contrast, Ini, as the clan leader, seed sowhat less adept, appearing confused about directions. Perhaps it was because she truly loved staying at ho playing with figurines, rarely venturing out.
The forest path was difficult to traverse, the Mountain Wolves were too large to move swiftly through the dense woods. Violet and the others didn’t ride them, but their own strength made it relatively easy to keep up.
After about ten minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.
A faintly warm and humid air greeted them, accompanied by the gentle sound of flowing water gradually reaching their ears.
While Violet felt sowhat puzzled by the sudden change in environnt, she didn’t inquire about it in this inappropriate situation, quietly following behind Ini and the others.
It wasn’t until they turned past the treetops and saw the scene clearly that everything suddenly beca clear.
Smooth white stones enclosed a circular clearing of about several hundred square ters in the forest. The protruding stone walls ford a curved fence, and white mist rose up, bringing with it a mix of warmth and moisture, along with a subtle scent reminiscent of sulfur.
Here, unexpectedly, is a hot spring source nestled in the forest.
Since arriving in this world, Violet had never seen such a ticulously crafted forest hot spring before.
Although there were similar landscapes in so cities of the Human United Kingdom, they were usually offered as tourist attractions, crowded with people. Miss Priestess disliked being squeezed among a crowd, especially for activities like soaking in a hot spring, which almost required exposing one’s body.
The more refined health hot springs were usually found in the private estates of wealthy nobles or businessn. To be frank, Violet didn’t have many friends in this world whom she could trust.
Judging from its shape and style, this hot spring seed to have been crafted by the Spirit Puppet Tribe through special ans rather than being naturally ford. It was incredibly exquisite. As expected, they were quite dexterous and artistic, just as she had co to understand.
Although several foreign girls, including Violet, marveled at this elegant and refined place, the two Spirit Puppet Tribe girls, who had lived in the forest for who knows how many years, seed accustod to it.
They imdiately scanned the area for any empty spots in the hot spring valley. However, they did not find any other Spirit Puppet figures similar to themselves. Ini, already looking sowhat worried, beca even more anxious.
“Ing, what’s going on? Where is Eilush?”
“I-I don’t know, Sister Ini! She was just at the Spirit Spring earlier, but how could she disappear in such a short ti...”
The Spirit Puppet girl nad Ing seed to be in a panic as well. It was evident that she was the type who was naturally more introverted, and in this situation, she froze in place, at a loss as to what to do. She seed to want to explain sothing but couldn’t express herself clearly due to her agitation.
In contrast, Ini, as the clan leader, quickly regained her composure in a very humane way, taking a deep breath and raising her hand.
“Don’t worry. Tell everything that happened, everything you saw, in detail.”
Under her reassurance, Ing, who had regained so semblance of composure, finally cald down.
“Earlier, I had made plans with Eilush to co over to the Spirit Spring this afternoon for so body maintenance... It’s a common occurrence, but because she’s impatient, she usually arrives earlier than I do.”
“This ti was no exception. When I arrived at the Spirit Spring, I saw her already waiting inside. But it was strange, Eilush didn’t enter the spring. Instead, she stood still in one spot, looking like she had entered ergency mode.”
“You know about the ergency mode, Ini. It usually doesn’t activate randomly. I had intended to observe the situation first, but then Eilush suddenly started malfunctioning like crazy, which scared . I hurried to find you for help, but... who knows...”
“Tsk...”
After listening to Ing’s account, Miss Clan Leader furrowed her brows and searched around the hot spring area, both inside and out, even scrutinizing the spring water itself for a long ti.
But the place wasn’t that big, and it was impossible for soone to hide in the water. Now that Eilush was nowhere to be found, it was likely that she had already left.
“Ugh... Sister Ini, what should we do now?”
Ing evidently lacked decisiveness. Seeing the situation unfold like this, a hint of a tearful tone inevitably crept into her voice. She appeared bewildered and at a loss, indicating her close relationship with the missing Eilush.
Ini took a few deep breaths once again, suppressing her emotions.
“Don’t cry. It’s not your fault. No one could have expected such a problem to arise suddenly. I don’t know what that Eilush is up to again. Ing, go and gather all the sisters imdiately. Let’s search the forest separately. I’ll continue searching around the Spirit Spring.”
“Okay! Sister Ini, I’ll go now!”
“Wait.”
Just as the Spirit Puppet girl nad Ing was about to step forward, Miss Priestess, who had been listening to their conversation and observing thoughtfully, suddenly reached out to stop her.
“Huh? You...”
To save ti, Violet didn’t explain to the troubled Ing but instead turned her gaze directly to the more authoritative clan leader, getting straight to the point.
“Ini, you must be confused and suspicious now, right? After all, our group has only just arrived in the Spirit Puppet Forest, and such an incident happened imdiately. It’s too much of a coincidence...”
“......”
Ini didn’t respond imdiately, but from her silent deanor, Violet could understand that she hadn’t guessed wrong. It was a logical inference, and even if Miss Priestess were in Ini’s position, she would inevitably think the sa way.
“Although I’m not sure what ergency mode entails, from what you’ve said, it seems it wouldn’t easily activate. That ans Miss Eilush encountered so danger. I dislike being doubted, and rather than wasting words on pointless explanations, I prefer to prove myself through action. So, how can we help in the search?”
“To be honest, if this is a preditated external attack, Ini, your approach is actually quite dangerous. It might play right into the enemy’s hands.”
At these words, Miss Clan Leader furrowed her brow. For so reason, her gaze seed to keep darting towards the direction of the Spirit Spring, though she concealed it well, and only Violet noticed.
“Are you suggesting that Eilush was attacked by an unknown enemy?”
“Well, we can’t jump to conclusions yet. It could also be that there’s an issue on Ing’s side, such as her seeing illusions or sothing else. The purpose of the other party might be to induce you to take certain actions, which could explain Eilush’s absence. Although these are all speculations, I think the possibility is quite high. What do you think, Ini?”
“......?”
Ini instinctively opened her mouth to refute, but after careful consideration for a mont, she seed to understand and agree sowhat with Violet’s hypothesis, nodding slightly.
“So, Miss Violet ans that we shouldn’t act rashly, and let you, the outsiders, handle this matter. This way, we might catch certain enemies off guard, right?”
“Indeed.”
The priestess nodded to herself.
It must be said that the Spirit Puppet Tribe was indeed as reputed outside, known for their intelligence and rationality.
If it were ordinary or more impulsive creatures, they probably wouldn’t be able to calm down and carefully analyze the reasons behind the disappearance of such an important mber. At least, Violet would have to spend more ti explaining.
After all, the priestess was an outsider; they could think calmly, but Ini might not be able to.
Ini shook her head towards the pleading gaze of assistance, indicating that she should refrain from acting recklessly for now.
The clan leader of the puppet tribe then looked at the black-haired girl in front of her with appreciation, as if placing her on a higher level of regard for the first ti.
“So, tell , what should we do now?”
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