The morning of the third day after Will’s mysterious disappearance.
In a small cabin in Nov Town.
“Mmm… I didn’t sleep well again…”
Iaar rubbed her eyes as she got up, letting out a soft whimper like a small animal.
Then…
She looked at the empty house. Without Will, who used to stay up late and be noisy every night, Iaar was reminded of his disappearance once again.
Now…
She was truly the only one left in the house.
Treya had also left yesterday. Treya left a day later than Liya. According to her, before she departed, she planned to write a letter to inquire about the situation with the Royal Family.
Because heading north would actually take her through the Capital, and coupled with her guess that Will had gotten caught up in some kind of dispute, she planned to stop in the Capital to ask about the situation. This would allow her to help Will more quickly.
“Young Master…”
But…
Iaar chose to stay here.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t worried.
It was just that, following the carefulness and consideration for all possibilities that her Young Master had taught her over the years, staying here meant she wouldn’t miss any contact from him.
She sat down.
Perhaps it was because her Young Master had left, but she had little appetite or motivation these days. She hadn’t even baked bread for breakfast.
She hadn’t even taken much care of her ears, and the fur on her tail hadn’t been combed in a long time.
The wolf ears that would normally stand tall and proud now drooped listlessly.
“Where did you go? When will you come back?”
“Knock, knock, knock.”
At that moment, a knock came from outside the door.
“Young Master—!”
Iaar excitedly opened the door, only to find a postman standing outside. Not just any postman, but one that seemed to be a special provider for the Adventurer’s Guild. He had a large basket of letters on his back and held one in his hand.
“Hmm… Iaar, Liya, Treya. Is one of those names yours?”
“Iaar! That’s me.”
“Here you go. All delivered.”
“A letter…?”
Iaar looked at the envelope. It was blank. However, letters sent by the Adventurer’s Guild were often like this. Unless it was internal communication between adventurers, they wouldn’t typically use this channel.
It wasn’t conventional, but the delivery was indeed fast.
“…Could it be?!”
Iaar’s ears perked up immediately!
As soon as she unfolded the first page of the letter, she saw a familiar handwriting.
“It really is my Young Master!”
Iaar’s tail wagged.
Fortunately, her Young Master had continued to teach her to read over the years. Otherwise, she might not have recognized his handwriting.
As her Young Master had said, even a maid shouldn’t be illiterate and must learn to read!
“Mmm…”
Although she was happy to receive a letter from her Young Master.
Although she was happy that her Young Master wrote that he was safe in the letter.
Although she was happy that, as she had guessed, her Young Master had gone out with an S Rank.
But…
“Why is the content so little?”
The letter contained so little.
Her Young Master’s words were also so cold.
The only…
The only thing that truly made her happy was the fact that “he was still safe.”
And…
“Why are you telling me to wait here?”
“Even though…”
“Even though I’m also very worried.”
Will emphasized in the letter that the three of them should stay put.
But…
Iaar looked up at the empty cabin.
“Moreover, Young Master, the other two have already left!”
Iaar thought about the reason the other two were in such a hurry. Perhaps it was because… she had followed him and seen him run off with a strange woman…
“Ooh, Young Master, I’m sorry.”
“Iaar is the little maid who listens to you the most.”
“I am your dog.”
“So, as an obedient good dog.”
“Iaar will wait here.”
“Forever and ever…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The afternoon of the fourth day after Will’s mysterious disappearance.
“Mm, thank you, I’ll get off here.”
“Miss, are you planning to tackle a dungeon here?”
“No, I’m just taking a break. I plan to go to Seyurtse Town. I’m on my journey.”
“That dungeon is said to have been cleared already, so you going like this…”
The new coachman sized up Liya’s clothes. She looked like a mage, so it was easy to tell she was a dungeon adventurer.
“There’s no work for you if you go like that. If you ask me, you should go to Yamik Town. There’s a very popular dungeon there that no one has cleared yet.”
“No, I’m not going to clear it. I’m looking for someone. Thank you for your kindness.”
Liya pulled down her hat.
Along the way, she had been asked by many passing adventuring teams if she wanted to join. It was probably because her hat was really eye-catching, making her look like a very experienced adventurer.
But…
Her heart was set on finding Will.
So she usually quickly refused by saying, “Don’t you see how young I am? You’re trying to hire child labor.”
It was a shame that carriages were so inconvenient nowadays. Traveling between two cities took a considerable amount of time, and she needed to rest.
If…
If Will was alright, when he made his way back, would she be able to see him?
If she calculated the time, if he were to come back…
She would meet him at the small town of Lingmeng in between, right?
Hmph.
Liya proudly puffed out her flat chest.
After all, she was a teacher, and she was good at calculating time!
However, just as she puffed out her chest, she was knocked over by a passing newsboy.
“Extra! Extra! Read all about it! A dungeon that required three teams to rescue, a dungeon that even the S Rank Adventuring Team, the Radiant Knights, couldn’t clear, has fallen to a powerful couple duo!”
“Is this the distortion of human nature or the victory of love? It’s all in this headline!”
“If you’re interested, grab a copy! Fresh newspapers, just transported from the scene of the event!”
“Wh-what kind of Dungeon Couple duo is this! What’s the meaning of such an adventuring team! Who would care about such things and buy a newspaper…”
Liya’s words were quickly proven wrong.
As soon as the newsboy stopped, people surged forward.
“One copy!”
“Oh? Sounds interesting?”
“Hey, there are such teams in dungeons too?”
“Doesn’t that sound like a gimmick?”
“But I want to know what dungeon required three teams for a rescue.”
In front of Liya, half of the newsboy’s newspapers were snatched away, and it had only been about five minutes.
“It’s really… that popular?”
“Come and see! Don’t miss out as you pass by! Big news from Seyurtse Town!”
The newsboy continued to hawk his wares.
Wait…
Liya’s ears caught a very special keyword…
Wasn’t that the destination she was originally heading to?!
“Seyurtse Town? Give me a newspaper!”
She rushed over. Since she had never bought a newspaper before, she didn’t know the price and poured a pile of copper coins from her bag.
“Little sister… uh… Miss, please don’t get so excited. It’s, it’s very cheap.”
Then…
Liya took the newspaper.
But…
She didn’t even need to open the newspaper to see the content she was interested in.
No…
It was far more than just content she was interested in.
It was completely…
Content that would make her blood pressure soar!
On the front page, in the most prominent spot, was the photo of the person she had been searching for so long—
Will, standing in the center.
He turned his head.
Although the clarity of the photo wasn’t great yet,
Because of Will’s all-too-familiar glasses, Liya could accurately pinpoint the end of his gaze through the direction of the lenses—
It was a black-haired woman—exactly as Iaar had described.
