Calicall’s brother, whom she wanted to introduce, arrived.
As Calicall had said, her brother had sharp eyes and a small, rather handsome face. His hair was long, and he possessed a slender, Sphinx-like beauty rather than a masculine one.
“Are you the older brother? I have a question for you: is there a Sage living around here?”
He ignored my question and turned his back to me. It seemed he had no intention of talking. This in itself could be considered very Sphinx-like.
“Ah, but I’m introducing her to him! At this rate, I won’t even be able to find a girlfriend, let alone get married. I’ll be a virgin forever!”
Calicall cried out dramatically.
“I’ve told you every time not to get close to people. What would happen if this got out? I don’t care if you’re exiled or not.”
“See? He’s the worst, always saying things like that. Elana, there’s no one but you! Please help this idiot brother.”
Calicall clasped her hands together in supplication. Elana looked troubled.
“Even if you say that, I don’t want to be involved. I’m not interested in taking care of anyone.”
Calicall’s brother returned to the forest without looking back. We had finally met him, but we couldn’t get any information at all. It couldn’t be helped; we’d have to search on our own. Thinking this, I started to pack our luggage when Calicall suddenly ran off somewhere.
“I’m going to find the Sage! Everyone, wait for me!”
Before I could stop her, she plunged into the forest with incredible speed. Left behind by the two Sphinxes, we could only stare blankly for a moment. After a short pause, Philiana spoke.
“Um, in this situation, should we chase after her?”
“That’s fine. Her family will probably come looking for her anyway.”
“But she seems a bit reckless…”
Nina let out a moan, but judging by her expression, trouble seemed likely to find her. We’d probably be better off following her under the guise of searching. We packed our luggage and headed in the direction she had gone. However, we strayed from the maintained path and found ourselves on a rough beast trail. It was not a road that people could walk comfortably. Even Elana was struggling. I had no choice but to leave the large dog carrier by the riverbed.
“How could you come to a place like this? We can’t make any progress at all!”
Nina complained, brushing away the overgrown grass and branches. Philiana, also large, found the tree branches hitting her painfully.
“Shouldn’t we stop chasing?”
Here, Piyo, who was small, had an advantage. She slipped through the bushes with ease.
“But the Sage might be hidden around here!”
Piyo, who seemed to mistake the Sage for some kind of treasure, leaped onto a tree branch and scanned the surroundings. We had been happy to be on the maintained road, but now we were back in the dense forest.
