Bazaar, Lomet Town.
Lomet is usually a peaceful town. The atmosphere is always fluffy and comforting. The people are also very nice and composed.
That is, for a normal day. To any outsider, the current Lomet may seem the same as before, but the residents and regulars can obviously tell. The strained atmosphere and the tension in the air had completely changed the town.
The reason? Two well-dressed people in blue apparel. The man, or rather the boy has beautiful black hair with blue eyes that seem to reflect the deep ocean and the young lady with him had wavy, auburn hair with such a beautiful face that confirms her noble origins. On their arms was a black band with a coat of arms. The swords in their sheaths spoke clearly about their identity. Even a child can deduct, that they were knights. And of fairly high ranks.
Lomet was not essentially a countryside town but seeing knights in broad daylight is a rare chance in itself. Therefore, unintentionally everyone’s attention was on the two knights. They were trying their best not to be too obvious, but as a result, this atmosphere was formed around them.
They both entered the market some 15 minutes ago and were slowly walking around, the girl a bit ahead of the man. They were having small conversations but many of them can’t hear the couple.
Suddenly, the girl stopped in front of a small stall. She seemed to be looking at something. The guy took a few steps and stopped. After observing for a moment, he stepped forward and talked to the shopkeeper.
The bystanders had also stopped at some point, anticipated to see how this unfolded. The shopkeeper smiled a little and handed him something. The girl seemed to be surprised. The guy instantly reached her and put his hands behind her nape. Immediately, the tension rose amongst the crowd. When the guy moved they could all see the shining locket on the girl’s neck.
“…..Th-thank you.” She slowly managed to say. The guy in reply gave her a smile, turned back, and started walking. The girl also started to follow him. She had such a bright smile and was blushing so hard that it couldn’t have been more obvious to anyone.
She was totally in love with the guy and they could somehow feel that the guy was totally dense.
This is too precious!
Such a feeling was what almost all the bystanders surely felt that day as they continued their daily lives again.
♦♦♦
After wearing my apparel, we went to the town bazaar. As expected of Myria, she had already enquired about the town from the servants in the mansion.
We walked down the way we came halfway and turned left from the central plaza to reach the bazaar.
As soon as we entered the bazaar, I felt the atmosphere had changed somehow, though it was not really noticeable, I felt that we were being observed. I acted normally and glanced at Myria. And much to my surprise, she was absolutely oblivious to it. You might not be able to tell instantly but she was in quite a good mood. So much that she grew oblivious of the surrounding.
It seemed that almost all of the bazaar was watching them. Well, they were doing a good job trying to be as subtle as possible but…
Let’s just try to act like we….. I haven’t actually noticed them.
While I was in such a thought, Myria suddenly stopped in front of a stall. Her gaze was drawn towards the front shelf. Drawn from my curiosity, I walked towards her and took a look from behind.
What she seemed to be looking at was a small pendant. It was a mix of gold and silver with intricate inlays. But what was more interesting was the stone that is at its center. It shone a bright blue reflecting light from its edges that also gave it a greenish tinge. A Sapphire Dragon crystal. A rare gem said to form from the tears of, you guessed it, a Sapphire Dragon. Its prices can reach at least 1 Platinum Guna, but the one in front of us was a small fragment of it. Of course, as a knight, I’ve seen an original one and it was easily the size of my head. The one in front of us was as small as my thumb but it can still fetch a good price.
Myria seemed to be entranced by the pendant. Well, she rarely shows such a side but she is a noble lady. Naturally, she had an interest in jewelry or in wearing such things. So, I decided to step forward.
“Excuse me, How much does that pendant costs?” I closed in and asked the shopkeeper.
“H-Huh?!” Myria uttered. She seemed to be shocked.
“You’ve got a good eye, Mister Knight. This is a rare piece of craftsmanship. It adorns a piece of the Sapphire Dragon crystal. Normally, I would sell it for 5 gold. But I can see that this is your first time here, therefore I’ll give this to you at only a single gold. How ’bout it?” The shopkeeper sugarcoated his words a lot, but it was a reasonable price and quite friendly to my wallet.
“I’ll buy it, then.” I took a single gold coin and throw it at him.
“C-Captain, you shouldn’t buy it. It’s a waste of money.” Myria tried to stop me but the purchase has already been done. Sorry, Myria but your efforts were in vain.
The shopkeeper handed me the pendant and gave us a look.
“Oh, so that’s it, huh? Hehe, I understand.” The shopkeeper closed his eyes and nodded while giving an annoying smirk, but I decided to ignore it and turned around.
” Here, Myria.” I showed her the pendant. “It’ll look good on you.”
“Huh, Captain?!” Myria exclaimed. “I-I can’t accept such an expensive gift.”
“Oh, come on. Now, don’t be shy.” Before she could react, I snuck behind her and placed the pendant on her neck. I fastened the chain and looked at her. The pendant looked beautiful on her and her green eyes really matched with the crystal.
“Just like I said, it looks great.” I tried to compliment her.
“…..Th-thank you.” muttered a red Myria nervously. The cold noble aura around her was replaced with a rather timid one. She lowered her head trying to hide her flushed face.
This is quite cute. I thought to myself as we again started to walk.
♦♦♦
After strolling for a while, we reached the square.
“It sure is a peaceful town.”, I said.
“It is.”, Myria replied, “I’d like to live in this town after retirement.”
“Aren’t you talking like an old lady? We’ve still life ahead of us.”, I said, “You are still in your early 20s. Instead of thinking of retirement, you should be thinking about enjoying the present. After all, you never know what might happen in the future.”
While saying this to Myria, a faint memory stirred my mind. A lot has happened in my small life. My small, happy life in Camelot which was destroyed by me, the death of my mother, my life in the orphanage, and my adoption that same year. The unpleasant memories that I thought I had sealed in the depth of my mind began to surface again.
“Captain, are you alright?”, Myria asked. She must have sensed my uncomfortable mood.
“Nothing, just-“
As I was about to answer her, a commotion caught both our attention.
“Please help us! I beg of you!”
“Listen here, old hag. I’ve run out of patience here. I’m telling you without any sort of permission we can’t just do anything. We too have a proper procedure to follow.”
At the square, an old lady in a nun’s attire was prostrating in front of two city guards. While one of the guards was fuming at the lady, the other one had a troubled face and was trying to calm both of them down. Though there were a few people here, a crowd was starting to appear.
“Should we check the situation, Captain?”, Myria enquired. While this could just be a mundane incident, Myria must be worried about the nun who seemed to pass out at any given moment.
“Let’s ask about the situation first, shall we?” I told her and we both approached the scene.
“Stop! Is this any way to treat an old lady?” Myria hurried towards the nun and lifted her up from the ground. She must be angry at the way the guard was yelling at the lady without trying to calm her down.
“Huh, who are you to tell me what I must do?”, the angry guard started lashing out at Myria.
“Hey, stop this! Don’t you recognize that emblem?”, the other guy reproached his comrade.
“Hmm… The knights!? I’m sorry for my behavior! Please forgive me!”, the angry guy realizing our identity immediately lowered his head and apologized.
“Enough.”, I raised my voice a little and turned their attention towards me. “I’m Alexis Verne, Captain of the 3rd Division. We were strolling in this town when we heard this commotion. Can you tell me what the situation is?” I lowered my voice and said in a gentle voice. Showing a gentle smile to the onlookers, I show that the situation is already handled. The last thing we need right now is a commotion.
As the crowd slowly dissipated, the calm guy lowered his head and addressed me.
“I’m sorry, my lord. We were talking a patrol when this lady ran to us and started begging for help.”
And as if waiting for a cue, the lady in question grabbed Myria and again started to yell,
“Lady Knight, please help me. My children… my sweet children have disappeared.” She said this as her tears start streaming down her cheeks.
“Please calm down, sister. Take deep breaths and slowly tell me the details.”, Myria wiped the sister’s tears and tried to calm her down. After a while, the sister calmed down and slowly recounted what happened.
“I work at the orphanage in the nearby village. Three days ago, the children went to play in the edge of the forest and haven’t returned since then.”
“The children may have been lost in the forest. Did you search the forest?”, I asked.
“Not only the children from the orphanage but some of the villager’s children are missing too. So, everyone in the village gathered and formed a group of men and carried out a search deep inside the forest, but we weren’t able to find any of them.”
“How about putting up a quest in Adventurer’s’Guild?”, I thoughtlessly said, “But it’ll take time, and depending on the rewards, not even a handful of adventurers will notice it.”
There are merits and demerits of putting such requests in Guilds. There were a few that I remember from my times as an adventurer, but most of them just gathered dust on the Quest board until taken out. Only those with hefty rewards saw any adventurer taking them up. And depending on the attitudes of the adventurers, it can either be solved in a day or never solved at all.
“No, it’s not just that. I am nervous. A few weeks ago, I heard a strange rumor.”
“A rumor?”, said Myria.
“Yes, I was in the town visiting the church when I heard from a friend that rumors of child disappearing have been circulating a few weeks back. Some people say that these disappearances are actually kidnappings.”
“If the rumors are true then…”,
“…then, adventurers being in cahoots is possible.”
I completed Myria and looked at her. The guard had a conflicted face.
“Umm, Captain…”, the polite guard called me out. He had something to say that might be a bit difficult in front of her.
I accompanied him to a distance away from Myria and asked.
“Telling you this without orders might put me in trouble, but a few weeks ago we have been told to be wary of any suspicious person. And the patrols at night and near the residential areas have been increased.”
“I see…”, I replied. This might be related to this case. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure both of you are clear.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Sir!”, the guard had taken a risk to provide internal information to us so, after being assured of his (or rather his job’s) safety, he thanked me.
We returned and I convinced the sister that I’ll take this matter to the Lord himself. The sister after hearing this cried from relief. Being assured of the safety of children must’ve released her anxiety. She soon left after calming herself down.
“Captain, we should talk about this matter to Commander and the Lord immediately!”
After seeing the sister off, Myria energetically said to me. While it is good to have a strong sense of justice as a knight, she loses the sight of her surroundings pretty quickly when she’s excited.
“Now listen Myria, from what those guards told me it is most likely that the Lord has already heard of these disappearance and has put a gag order on any news regarding it.”
“Why!?”, shocked by what I said, she asked the obvious.
“To avoid unrest as it will affect the city and to catch the preparator off-guard.”, I replied, “If we want to bring this up, we have to be a bit careful. From what I can see only a handful people know about it.”
“Just leave this to me. Now let us return to the mansion first.”
Now, how should handle this?
Hi guys, its Keiken here~
It has been a long time since the last update. With my annual exams done, I’ve finally graduated high-school. NOw, it is time for me to find a good college and again start this story.
I first started it as just a hunch, writing whatever that comes to my mind. But after all this time, I’ve fleshed out the story and the world more in my mind and I’ll try my best to make it a good story I can be proud of.
And if you like this story, please share this story among your friends who seem to be interested in such kind of stories.
See you with the nest release.~
Astoria Chronicles 