CH 24

Chapter 24: The Missing Person

My home country - the Fezard Kingdom.

It was a country that is incomparably small to the Alvenia Kingdom, and the entire country’s territory would be equal to one of Alvenian Duke’s.

But the knights of the kingdom were renown for their strength, and because of that, the country had some notoriety.

At the time, I was serving as a squire of the Fezard Knights Number 2 Squad. Basically, any kid with some potential could enlist as a knight-trainee.

In the end, right after the Demon King appeared, an avalanche of demonic creatures flooded into the kingdom swallowing it up, and since I was only a child at the time, the knights did everything to help me escape…

And this Fezard Kingdom and the Count of Flowtier had a very close relationship.

Apparently, about 3 generations ago, the King and the Count were in the same party in their teens when they both ran away from home and became adventurers.

At the time, the story gave all parties involved a huge headache, but that’s why the two territories kept such close ties over the years.

The current Count of Flowtier’s wife is the Fezard King’s younger sister, so that should tell you how close the two territories are as well.

And Cyril.

Apparently, she tagged along with the King’s sister when she married into the Flowtier’s Count’s family and is a relative of one of the servants.

She’s living at the Count’s residence with the connection to her relative and has been well liked and taken care by the Count and his wife.

Cyril: “Wo~w, that really took my by surprise. I never thought Henry was from the same Kingdon as me.”

We were eating breakfast in the barrack’s dining hall as Cyril nonchalantly makes the comment.

Henry: “I’m more shocked than you. Are there others besides you from Fezard?”

Cyril: “Umm, well… my grandmother who brought me here passed away two years ago, but besides her, there are two maids. There are people who come by to ask Mrs. Asteria for help back in the day...they may be living in the market area, but I’m not sure.”

Asteria. The wife of the Count of Flowtier and former princess of the Fezard Kingdom.

I’m technically a knight so she would be my Lord and Lady. Wait… If she married into a different family, would that change anything?

Regardless, it doesn’t matter now. Of course, I knew that Mrs. Asteria was in Flowtier, but Fezard was destroyed 10 years ago. I think she would be more troubled seeing a former squire of the country suddenly drop in on her, so I refrained.

Cyril: “But this all makes sense now~. I thought your spear style looked so familiar~, and it bothered me that I couldn’t remember where I saw it from. But yes, I remember seeing the knights on the castle grounds train, and it looked the same as that.”

Henry: “You have some incredibly good memory…”

Yes, the Fezard Knights Spear Techniques are the base fundamentals to my martial arts. But ever since getting my Nyoiten Spear, I’ve completely bent and warped the original style, and I would receive a fist to my face from my Captain who taught me if he saw me today. Well, if he was still around, that is.

Cyril: “Of course I would remember! I’ve been wanting to be an adventurer since I was little. I would watch the knights train with swords and spears and dreamed of doing so myself one day.”

Yeah, I get that. Watching a female knight run through the battlefield with a sword in hand is easy to admire.

Those kinds of heroines get a lot of attention so they’re made into characters of some adult literature from what I’ve heard...and no, I don’t have those volumes. Not anymore at least.

Jend: “If you’re from the same country, wouldn’t you guys have met somewhere?”

Cyril: “Oh! Jend! That’s a good point. I didn’t think Henry would fit the childhood friend category and trope.”

Stop making me a character of one of your novels.

Henry: “Cyril, you lived in the Capital, right? I lived in a town nearby so it’s unlikely that we directly met.”

Cyril: “Henry, you have to dream bigger if you want to expand your romance life.”

Henry: “Are you trying to start a romance story with me?”

Cyril: “To set up that flag, you’ll still need 20 Cyril’s Attraction points to proceed.”

That’s not a real thing, is it?

And I’m not the one pushing this narrative in the first place.

Henry: “Hey, we’ll continue this discussion another time. It’s not the reason why we’re here. We’ll catch up about our former homeland on another occasion.”

Yeah, I totally got derailed and off-topic

Let’s finish breakfast, drink my tea, and talk about what we’re doing today.

And the dining hall is just us. The knights all finished breakfast and headed to the training field.

...aren’t they on vacation?

Lana: “Well, let’s go ahead and arrange an appointment with the Central Alvenia University professor. I’m sure that he’s a very busy man, so I’ll send a letter first notifying him of our arrival.”

Henry: “Yeah, let’s do that.”

I nod in agreement to Lana’s plan.

She already had a letter ready, so she just needs to send it off.

Lana: “The only problem is that he might be surprised to see where we are staying currently when he tries to reply.”

Jend: “Yeah, that’s true. Henry, why don’t we just go to a regular inn? Wouldn’t that be better?”

Henry: “If we go, Sir Ezeal will barge into the inn and yell, ‘Was there something lacking with our barracks?! I’ll address it right away!!’”

I’ve known him for too long. I can assure you of the events to come.

Jend: “He’s the captain of the knights and a Hero, right?”

Henry: “He’s the captain and a Hero, yup”

And to be frank, he’s still one of the more normal ones for his title. I had a theory of how far off a person’s personality was is directly proportional to their strength.

Lana: “Then, we’ll just leave the address as here for now…I’ll send off the letter to the university first thing in the morning. But even so, the reply back may take some time.”

Well, that was expected and according to plan.

We were going to go sight-seeing in the meantime. The Capital Library, live theatre, art museums and various other exhibits. We can go around to many locations that will be nurturing to our souls and expand our horizons.

Teo: “I’m looking forward to it.”

Lanal: “Yeah, me too! Is there some place you want to go?”

Teo: “There’s a place that sells delicious snacks.”

Lana: “Then let’s have dessert there!”

Teo and Lana are making their plans while checking out a Capital Tour brochure.

Lana’s the Quest sponsor, and Teo is the youngest, so letting them choose our route will be fine.

Cyril: “Umm… could I add something?”

Lana: “What is it, Miss Cyril?”

Cyril: “After we go to the university, could we drop by a certain place? I believe it’s called… Ah, here it is. The Torineko Street? I wanted to go here.”

Torineko Street? I’ve never heard of it.

I’ve done my fair share of guard quests for people visiting the Capital so I have the majority of tourist sites memorized.

Jend: “Hey Cyril, we’re here for work.”

Cyril: “But I want to see Miss Ferris. It’s been too long.”

…..ohhhhhhhhhh, I get it now.

We’re in the barracks if the knights. In case there is some sort of trouble in the city, they have the Capital City map posted. In fact, there is a huge one posted in the dining hall.

The Black Dragon Knights do not reside in the Capital most of the year, but it’s there for just in case.

Henry: “Torineko… Torineko… Ah! Found it. It’s not that far from the university so we can drop by there I think.”

Cyril’s childhood friend, and Jend’s crush - Ferris.

I wonder what kind of girl she is.

<<<<>>>>

So we arrived at the university reception desk to deliver the letter.

Afterwards, we dropped by the Torineko Street nearby.

This area is nearer to the castle, so there are some luxurious residences lined up…...I know her family had a vacation home in Flowtier, but they must be really wealthy.

Cyril: “But even so, I just remember her telling us that she lives on this street, but we don’t know her address.”

Henry: “Oh, in that case, why don’t we ask someone who lives in this area? You said she’s from a family of knights, right? What’s the family name?”

Cyril: “It’s Harshall. Ferris Harshall.”

We’ll ask that lady right over there taking care of the lawn.

Henry: “Oh, excuse me. Sorry to bother you. I wanted to ask you a question. Do you have a moment to spare?”

“Oh, hello. ….what could I do for a Heroic Warrior like yourself? Are you looking for a Quest Sponsor in this area?”

She gives a glance to my Guild tag, and becomes friendlier as she recognizes the rank.

Yeah, having a Heroic Warrior title in these circumstances is really handy. There are some real trouble makers who are adventurers, and if she mistook us for those ruffians, she would have quickly vanished inside the house.”

Well, there’s a high level of security and patrolling done in the area, so any trouble would invite a swarm of knights to descend upon us.

Henry: “Oh, yes. We’re looking for the residence of the Harshalls. It’s not a quest, but one of our party members is a friend of the Harshall’s daughter.”

As soon as I mention the name, her expression tightens.

“I see. You’re a friend of dear Ferris...Unfortunately, they no longer live here. They used to live across the street from us.”

Okay! We found their neighbor! But she’s not here anymore?

Henry: “Did they move?”

“Well, not really. ...Ferris’ father, who served as the captain of the White Dragon Knights, was arrested and convicted for embezzlement of public funds.”

OUCH!!

Geesh~ Ferris’ dad has some guts to sneak money out from inside a Knight’s group.. and she said the White Dragon Knights - they directly protect the Capital. They are literally the perfect symbol of innocence, justice, and strength. oh man...

“At the time, the house was surrounded by the White Dragon Knights, and… it was a terrifyingly frightful scene…”

Henry: “Umm… would you happen to know what happened to the family members?”

“They would not convict a child for her parent’s crimes, but I’m afraid that I don’t know what has become of Ferris. Her mother passed many years ago, and it was just her and her father. I really do hope that she’s okay.”

With a deep and worrisome sigh, our conversation ends.

Okay. That was really unexpected…

If it’s just her, I hope she had a relative that would have taken her in. Without that… it’s a very wealthy country, so I’m sure she could find work to survive.

There are also bleaker possibilities but…

Henry: “Umm, so yeah, Jend. Apparently it’s like that.”

Jend: “If it’s Ferris, I’m not worried. She’s one of the toughest girls I know.”

He says this with fists clenched.

….we meet back up with Teo and Lana we left behind at a café. They didn’t know Ferris so we thought that would be better, and it turned out to be the best decision so far.

Okay, so what do we do now…