Chapter 80
“Don’t worry about those two. It looks like they’re completely absorbed in the story Noah made up about us. More importantly, was the class fun?”
“Fun? Not at all.”
Kazar looked unfairly offended.
“Father usually explains things kindly, though.”
“Kindly? Ha. You should see how he behaves when you’re not around. By the way, where are you headed?”
“Someone came looking for me. Remember that man from the first day we met? The one we ran into in the forest while escaping Aden?”
“Oh, the hunter.”
Kazar remembered him too. He had been suspicious to the very end.
“Yeah. Hans. Apparently, that man’s son went missing. I wanted to meet him and hear what happened.”
“Missing?”
“He was on his way back after registering at the Academy and disappeared. Hans was Louis’s closest friend.”
I hope Louis is doing well. He’s a child loved wherever he goes, and with Alex by his side, he should be fine.
‘I hope he’s not being bullied…’
Carrying her worry, Eluana arrived at the servants’ quarters, which smelled warmly of freshly laundered clothes.
“The lounge is this way.”
Ling led the way, swinging the door open. Inside, in a spacious room sparsely furnished with chairs for resting, a healer was organizing medicinal herbs.
Upon seeing Eluana, the healer bowed slightly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Healer Kmas. The treatment is complete, and the patient is in the inner room.”
“Thank you.”
Eluana passed by the healer and opened the inner door. She found Sam lying on a cot, fully bandaged and with his eyes closed.
Seeing her gaze waver, Sing quickly spoke up.
“He’s badly beaten in some areas, but nothing serious. He tumbled down a mountain, so mostly minor wounds.”
“Uncle Sam.”
As Eluana approached while calling his name, Sam opened his eyes and clumsily prostrated himself on the floor.
When Sam first learned that Hans had gone missing, he immediately thought of the two children adopted into the Spes family. The reward handed to him by Duke Spes for helping Eluana was more than Sam had earned in his entire life. Naturally, he expected some help.
He believed Louis would never ignore Hans.
But upon arriving at the Spes mansion, things were not as he imagined. Eluana had already become someone of great status. Without meeting Sing, a talkative knight, she wouldn’t have even been allowed inside the mansion. Furthermore, Louis had temporarily left for heir training.
A child of a ducal family’s heir… They were no longer the children he had known. That’s why Sam lay flat on the floor.
“Please, help me, miss.”
Startled by his plea, Eluana quickly grabbed his arms.
“Sir, don’t do that.”
“Have mercy, please save Hans.”
“Stand up, sir.”
Eluana finally helped Sam onto the sofa and calmly asked,
“I’ve heard the general situation. But was Hans traveling alone to Aden?”
Sing didn’t know Hans’s age, so he ignored it, but Eluana couldn’t. An eight-year-old traveling alone to Aden was unthinkable.
“He was accompanied by his mother to register at the Academy. She was found in the carriage…”
Sam’s voice sank, sending a chill through Eluana.
“And…?”
“She was already… when we found her.”
Eluana’s face twisted. A heavy wave of grief pressed down on her, making her lips tremble. She knew all too well what losing a family meant.
She clenched her fists unconsciously as memories of Ron flashed before her. Ron had also been lost in a carriage accident. His last image lingered in her mind.
Sam continued in a calm voice.
“…We couldn’t find Hans initially, but we found traces while searching nearby. The handkerchief his mother used to pack him was found at the mountain entrance.”
Eluana asked belatedly,
“What’s the name of the estate where Hans’s belongings were found?”
“Rutin Estate.”
“Rutin Estate…”
Eluana repeated the name silently. She had a rough idea of the location but couldn’t recall specifics. Kazar continued,
“If it’s a mountain in Rutin Estate, it should be connected to the Rutin mountain range.”
“Rutin mountain range?”
“You’ve heard of Crystal Lake, right? It’s a famous retreat for nobles with many villas nearby, including a royal villa.”
Eluana had heard of it too—it was one of the “Top Five Imperial Sights to See Before You Die” that Ron had mentioned.
The lake was inside a crystal cave, and sunlight shone through a hole in the ceiling, reflecting off the crystals in a dazzling display. The water was crystal clear, making it a popular vacation spot.
“Is it possible to block the road to such a popular place?”
“To get to Crystal Lake, you pass through Tuna Estate next to Rutin, not Rutin itself. Most villas are there, too. Rutin Estate is underdeveloped, without an official name—it’s just named after the mountain range. You can think of it as similar to Aden. Aden is surrounded by forests, while Rutin is surrounded by mountains.”
“How long would it take from here?”
“About ten days by carriage, half a day using the teleport gate.”
“Then we should send people first. I’ll inform my father.”
When Eluana said this, Sam’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected her to offer help so readily.
“Are you really going to help?”
“Of course. I’ve known Hans since he was born.”
“Thank you… thank you, miss.”
Sam bowed deeply, tears streaming down his rough face. He would have thrown himself to save his son if he could, but he couldn’t break through the knights he had encountered.
“Sir.”
Eluana lowered herself to meet Sam’s gaze. No words could fully comfort a father who had lost his wife and child.
“Let’s find Hans together.”
“Yes, miss. Yes.”
Eluana turned to Ling.
“Ling, can you assign quarters for Uncle Sam?”
“Yes! I’ll prepare it.”
Just then, the lounge door opened. Line entered cautiously.
“Line?”
Startled, Eluana called his name. Line opened his mouth to speak but closed it when he saw unfamiliar faces.
“You can speak.”
Only after Kazar gave permission did Line continue.
“I found out where Sally went. She climbed the mountain in Rutin Estate, but knights seem to be guarding the entrance.”
Eluana raised her eyebrows. Rutin Estate again.
Line noticed that Kazar and Eluana seemed unusually concerned about Emma and the Sally sisters and continued,
“It’s not a big deal to evade the knights, but there’s a problem.”
“What problem?” Kazar asked.
“Besides Sally, several other children seem to have been kidnapped in the same way. The villagers know but avoid reporting to stay clear of the nobles. If we act recklessly, the kids’ safety could be at risk, so I advised waiting.”
Eluana and Kazar looked back at Sam, now tear-streaked.
“Then Hans too…”
It seemed this wasn’t a simple disappearance or kidnapping. The presence of knights guarding the area indicated it wasn’t just ordinary traffickers.
Kazar quietly gave Line several instructions. He, too, took the situation seriously.
Eluana could leave this to Kazar or ask her father for help, but hiding behind others wouldn’t solve anything.
Dave had said: if you don’t understand the world, see and feel it as much as possible.
Eluana pictured Dave regretting not acting and finally spoke,
“Kazar, let’s go on a ‘date.’”
“Now? In this situation?”
“You can borrow the royal villa near Crystal Lake, right? If we move together, the knights won’t find it suspicious, and we can approach the culprits unnoticed. Let’s leave as soon as we’re ready.”
Kazar, Line, Sing, and Ling all shouted,
“No!”
“It’s dangerous!”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
“No!”
Huh? Everyone’s gaze turned to Sing, who had a different reaction.
Sing confidently puffed out his shoulders.
“I’m not here to block Eluana-sama’s path. I make sure she gets where she wants to go safely.”
“You’re amazing, Sing-sama.”
Ling’s admiration made Sing shrug. And just like that, the trip to Rutin Estate was decided. But one major obstacle remained—the Duke Spes.
Eluana took Kazar to the study and explained the situation. After hearing everything, Duke Spes glared at Kazar and said,
“Go.”
Permission granted.
“Thank you, Father.”
The Duke took a silk pouch from his drawer.
“You should take this.”
Eluana received the pouch, surprisingly light as a feather. Opening it, she found it filled with metal spheres.
Focusing her mind, the spheres floated into the air one by one. Three hundred spheres, each engraved with golden numbers, hovered. Duke Spes explained,
“This is a magically lightened extra-dimensional pouch. Any more than this and accuracy drops, so practice with 300 for now.”
The spheres arranged themselves by number and returned to the pouch in order. Eluana closed the pouch and smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Father. Also… I want to help Serus find his friend from the dream.”
“Just ask for the name, age, and appearance and relay it to Noah.”
“Yes.”
Eluana smiled mischievously, and a faint smile appeared on Duke Spes’s lips too.
Eluana and Kazar left the study side by side. She opened the pouch to examine the spheres. Seeing 300, she felt a sense of satisfaction.
She pulled out a handful, admiring the golden numbers.
“Pretty.”
“You like it that much?”
“I’ll give you one too. Number 3.”
Handing a sphere to Kazar, it had the golden number “3” engraved.
“Why 3?”
“You’re my third friend.”
Eluana smiled sweetly.
“And the first?”
“The Spheres.”
Kazar felt slightly offended but had to admit it.
“And the second?”
“Serus.”
Even an unknown statue beat him. Kazar pocketed the sphere with an inexplicable sense of frustration.
“But why go directly to Rutin Estate? It could be more dangerous than expected.”
“It pisses me off. People who kidnap children like this need to be punished. Like this.”
Each time Eluana said “like this”, the spheres she held twisted, sharpened like spikes, then returned to their original shape.
Kazar, tense watching her, soon realized his worry was pointless.
No metal in this world could harm Eluana.
