"I see. So that's what happened…"
Noah's voice echoed in the vast hall as Rey nodded his head. The latter had just finished telling the former all about his relationship with Esme—well, the important bits anyway—and how he was currently searching for her,
At first, Noah was relieved to find out Esme was in no way related to Rey, though that should have already been clear.
However, the more Rey spoke about her, the more Noah began to see some problematic signs.
Signs from both Rey and the Esme of his stories.
'Do these two like each other?' He thought to himself, still contemplating if he should ask the question or keep it to himself.
From the way Rey spoke, it seemed as though everything he talked about was normal. The guy probably didn't think anything of their relationship.
'If that's the case, then I better not give him any ideas by bringing it up.'
Plus, the topic at hand was a lot heavier than romance. Esme had vanished from the Grand Calamity Class Dungeon and he had no way to track her down.
"But why do you think she'd be here?"
"Because I think, even if she left the Dungeon, it's only rational that she'd move somewhere we both have a connection to—at least, pending the time I found her."
The most rational thing Rey would have done would be to wait for Esme in the Royal Estate, since she already said she was coming for him, but that would only work if she wasn't a couple months late.
"She should have reached the Capital at this point, so that leaves two major possibilities." He began, raising his fingers.
"One, she arrived at the Royal Estate, but for some reason decided not to enter or make her presence known. If that happened, then she'd have gotten the gist of what happened to me."
From that point on, she could either choose to remain in the Capital or leave.
Rey suspected she left.
"Esme's desire to grow strong was still evident the last time I saw her. If she wanted to keep growing strong, and also ensure she was accessible when I woke up, then…"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"The Adventurers City is her best bet." Noah completed Rey's sentence for him, and the lad nodded with a silent sigh.
"That's why I'm here. She should have given me some clues about her presence here. Maybe the name she used to register as an Adventurer… or something like that."
"So you want me to look into the archives for you, starting from the suspected date that she would have registered?"
"Us. I want us to do it. There's no way I'm leaving all that work to you."
Even though Rey said these considerate, friendly words, Noah couldn't help but sense some measure of protectiveness oozing from his lips.
Still, he avoided saying anything on the matter.
"Well, let's get to work, shall we?"
"Yeah, the sooner the better." Rey said with a sigh, jumping to his feet very quickly.
The dreary atmosphere was no place for a conversation, but the two had managed anyway. As Noah also stood to his feet, he observed Rey's stoic demeanor once again.
It felt almost doll-like, and the eyepatch complemented it even further.
"You sound like you're in a hurry, but you don't look like it." He commented with a broad grin.
"Well…" With a shrug, Rey opened his lips to explain. "… There'll be a city parade today, and all the recognized Otherworlders have to be present. I'll have to pick up Trisha for the event too."
Noah heard this and heaved a sigh, raising both hands as he shook his head.
"It's a good thing I'm not officially recognized as one. I dislike events like that."
"Likewise, but it's necessary." Rey muttered. His eye narrowed as he remembered the dreary fact that the parade was only one part of his busy day.
"There's also going to be a Gala later at night. I'm sure it'll be tedious, but it's better we get it over with now."
"True. Welp, good luck clinking glasses together and having small talk with snobbish rich folks."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"It's not like in the movies, man."
"Really?"
"Well… maybe a little."
"Pfft!"
"Anyway…" Rey created a portal in an instant, it's spatial distortion generating a purple glow that pulsated with power,
"… Let's get going, shall we?"
"Alright. Ah, by the way… you mentioned two possibilities back then. What's the second one?"
"…."
Rey narrowed his eye as soon as heard the question. It seemed he didn't want to explore it at all, but current circumstances had forced his hand.
Still, it wasn't like he was going to hide it from Noah at this point.
"She could be with the Elves…"
Noah stared at Rey for a while, and while it was difficult to tell his actual emotional state from the look on his face, the boy tried.
"You don't want that, do you?"
"No. But… if she does, then I would respect her choice."
Noah raised his brow even further as he looked at Rey.
"But didn't she say she was coming for you? Why would she go to the Elves? Especially when, according to what you told me, they dislike her guts."
Rey sighed and shrugged in defeat.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Look, I don't know. It's just a possibility anyway, so—"
"Well, it's a dumb possibility."
"Tch. Whatever…"
Noah could see a small smile tugging on Rey's lips as that thought process was discredited by him. Even though he didn't show it very much, Rey was most likely glad that the possibility for Esme's departure was slim.
'Dumb indeed…' Noah ventured into the portal, followed by Rey.
As soon as they entered inside, the purple wormhole sucked them in and then vanished into oblivion.
********
[Hours Later]
A look of defeat took over Noah's face as he plopped to the ground. Rey still remained standing, going over the records one more time with his superhuman speed.
This was his ninth time going through the archives now, yet it didn't seem like he had given up.
"We've searched all of them, Rey…" Noah mumbled, not sure how to approach the issue exactly.
Still, it had to be said plainly.
"Esme didn't register as an Adventurer here."
*
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Thanks for reading!
I think I'm going to return to this. It's just so intuitive, and I can't help myself.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
