Exiting the low-level dungeon <Gloomy Forest>, the outside had already darkened into twilight.
Walking straight down the deserted path, without stopping for detours, I headed straight home. If I delayed and made Fran, who waited for me at home, upset, it would be a hassle. Once, I was only thirty minutes late, and I endured an hour-long lecture.
Imagine being over an hour late; I would surely face a lecture lasting more than two hours. Since that day, I vowed never to be late again. The real culprit was me, immersing myself in the dungeon.
A fifteen-year-old child, obtaining permission from parents and maids, hunting monsters in the dungeon like a madman. If left unchecked, I wouldn’t return until school started.
…Yeah, without a doubt, I was at fault. Losing sight of my surroundings when engrossed was a bad habit from my past life.
Moving away from the dungeon entrance, distant human figures began to appear sporadically. Despite reflecting, my walking speed never slowed. I traversed the streets at a near jog-like pace. Suddenly, a curious conversation caught my attention.
“Hey, did you hear? A girl was abducted two or three hours ago.”
“Abducted? What do you mean?”
“Apparently, a noblewoman out shopping suddenly disappeared. You know, there have been quite a few kidnap incidents lately. People are making a fuss about kidnappings.”
“Oh… the capital has become dangerous.”
My gaze involuntarily shifted towards the boys speaking against the wall. They were young—mere children. Probably around the same age as me. Passing by them without stopping—
“Oh, I heard about that. The abducted noblewoman is apparently a student of ours, right?”
I twitched.
My steps halted. Naturally, I unconsciously listened to the ongoing conversation behind me.
“What? Our student? Seriously? Who got abducted?”
“The knights were making a fuss about it. I overheard it; it seems to be the Sunlight Duchess’s daughter.”
“What!? Lady Minerva!?”
What?
“What’s going on!?”
“What!? Hey… what’s up with you…”
Suddenly interrupting their conversation, all three turned puzzled looks towards me. Ignoring their reactions, I advanced as if to grab their collars, eager to know more.
“Minerva von Sunlight, the Duchess’s daughter, abducted? Tell me more about it!”
“Huh? What’s with you… so sudden.”
“Whoa! W-Wait, who are you…”
Due to my abrupt intrusion into their conversation, all three looked at me suspiciously. However, I continued pressing forward, ignoring their confusion, trying to grasp more.
“Minerva von Sunlight, abducted? Please elaborate!!”
“Huh? What’s with you, suddenly…”
“Hey… could it be… the Lunaceria…?”
“Huh… really? That Hermes person?”
The delayed realization of my identity sparked amongst the men. None of them recognized my face. They were probably young nobles of lower rank. As they hesitated at the mention of the Lunaceria, their lips slightly loosened.
“In, in fact…”
Among them, the man who seemed most knowledgeable about Minerva’s situation began to speak hesitantly. I listened silently.
“As a result, the talk is that Minerva suddenly vanished, and the maid who first noticed it was fussing about abduction. The knights also seem to lean heavily towards this line of thought…”
“Why… why would Minerva get involved in a kidnapping?”
Having heard the man’s entire account, I was now more profoundly shaken than before.
To summarize the man’s words, it seemed Minerva had gone shopping on her day off. The maid noticed she went missing, and according to someone nearby, she disappeared with a young man—possibly in his twenties or thirties.
Who could the culprit be? What was their motive? Was Minerva truly kidnapped?
Many questions stirred within me, but the real concern wasn’t about that. The most pressing issue regarding this incident was…
“This kind of event never happened in the game.”
Yes. An irregular event had occurred, unbeknownst even to me, who had completed <Lovely Sorcerer>.
