Ellen and Harriet cautiously proceeded through the maze of complex alleys between buildings.
“If they see us, the Guards will tell us to leave because it’s dangerous. We have to stay far away from them.”
Unlike before, because of Reinhardt’s disappearance, the back alleys were lined with guards, not criminals. Harriet nodded at Ellen’s words.
“I learned a noise-canceling spell this time. Let me cast it on us and move along.”
“Yes.”
“It would’ve been nice if I actually learned invisibility magic, but we’re not that far ahead yet.”
“It’s okay.”
Harriet had learned some new magic spells since the island mission; she learned them because she had already experienced a situation in which the magic spells she thought of as useless were actually very useful.
The underwater breathing spell and the heating ball summoning spell were two such examples. They were the lowest level of magic spells that one could learn without much effort, and yet they were such a great help to Ellen and Reinhardt in gathering food for the group and in helping everyone maintain their body temperature during the torrential rain.
In fact, many of the attack spells she learned, even if they were powerful, didn’t actually see much action. Due to how long it took to cast them, their practicality was greatly reduced as well.
In the end, after the group mission was over, Harriet started to think a bit differently about what was and wasn’t useful magic.
Low-level magic, such as noise suppression magic, would have been a great help when they were hunting on that island. So Harriet had passed on higher-level magic to learn more useful magic which could be used right away, noise canceling was one of them.
After the short casting time was over and the magic activated, the noise Harriet and Ellen emitted was greatly reduced, if not completely gone.
Ellen took the lead.
It was raining, so the smell wasn’t that intense, but if it had been hot, that space would have been filled with a nauseating stench.
Piles of unidentifiable garbage, food remains, and traces of urine were scattered everywhere—visible for anyone to see.
Harriet was not used to something like that; she tried not to look. She was so upset when she actually saw a rat running past her, it was a miracle that she didn’t scream.
Fortunately, it was raining and they had noise-canceling magic cast on them; the Guards couldn’t hear those two girls moving about.
“What are all these buildings?”
Even while being uncomfortable, Harriet seemed to be curious about the buildings they found in the back alleys of the market.
“They are probably homes.”
“Homes? At a place like this?”
How could people live in buildings so close to each other? Aren’t these places like anthills?
Harriet showed the typical reaction of a noble that couldn’t understand the way commoners lived.
The back alley streets behind the market, which were as complex as a maze, were completely silent except for the occasional Guard passing by.
Sometimes they would see homeless people crumpled in the alleyways, sleeping.
When Harriet saw one, she froze and wasn’t able to even get close to him. Ellen approached him instead.
“Mister.”
“Hey, be careful…”
“Uh, uhm… What? Who are ya? Oh~ what are pretty ladies like you doing in a place like this?”
“We’re looking for a guy with blonde hair about this tall. His name is Rein…”
“Ah, I don’t know. How many times do I have to say that I don’t know that guy?”
The homeless guy couldn’t give them an answer, seeming as if he had been asked several times before.
Following that, Ellen found a few more people that seemed to be homeless people, not criminals, but all of them only told her that they didn’t know anyone called Reinhardt, as if they were already tired of it.
After wandering around for a long time, trying to evade the Guards, Ellen and Harriet ended up with no new results.
“…I think everyone here has already been questioned about Reinhardt’s disappearance.”
“Yeah.”
They were beggars, but none of them knew Reinhardt, and the criminals that haunted those places already hid away because of all the Guards.
Did they even have to break into those buildings to ask if they were criminals or if they knew Reinhardt? However, it was already pretty clear that the Guards already did something similar.
They both wanted Reinhardt to return safely, yet hadn’t been able to find him. Harriet then spoke her next words rather carefully.
“Everyone has already searched every nook and cranny of this place… And if they didn’t find any clues after such a long time, I don’t think it would make sense for us to wander around here even more.”
In the end, they came to the conclusion that it would be meaningless for them to continue to search through the Wenster Market.
***
Harriet and Ellen left Wenster Market, going out onto the street again. The Market was already covered by others. It wouldn't change a thing if they were to be added to the mix.
“Did Reinhardt actually not come here?”
“I don’t know…”
The fact that the Guards hadn’t found Reinhardt yet, even though they combed through the place Reinhardt supposedly disappeared at, might mean that it wasn’t the place of his disappearance.
It was possible that Reinhardt didn’t actually go to that place. The reason why all the criminals that could have been kidnapped disappeared like that all of a sudden could be because they felt threatened by the sudden appearance of so many Guards.
Then where the hell should they start to look for Reinhardt?
“There are a lot of strange things about this situation."
Harriet raised another question.
“What?”
“The guards… questioned most of the beggars here, didn’t they?”
“Yeah.”
They did it to the point that the beggars were sick of hearing that question.
“The criminals ran away, but the beggars stayed in this place.”
“However, it seems like none of the beggars that lived under the bridge came here. None of them knew Reinhardt.”
The beggars that lived under the bridge.
According to the Guard, the beggars should have come over to the Wenster Market to take shelter from the rain. If they didn’t want to get completely soaked, they would have no other choice but to go there. The Guards weren’t really kicking them out of that place. That’s why the beggars remained in the back alleys whether the Guards were patrolling or not.
There were beggars, but none of them were the ones that knew about Reinhardt.
“They never went to the Wenster Market.”
Ellen nodded at Harriet’s reasoning.
“I think we have to find those people first.”
“Yes.”
Wenster Market, the most clear trail, was already crowded with people. If that place held any type of clue, it would be found someday, even if they weren’t there.
The two decided to look for the beggars of the Bronzegate Bridge, a group no one really cared about. Everyone else had only focused on the Wenster Market.
***
Their theory was correct.
Neither the forces of Temple nor the Guards focused on that lead under the assumption that Reinhardt disappeared in Wenster Market. They were trying to find some criminal gang that was connected to Reinhardt’s disappearance.
Reinhardt hadn’t even found the group of beggars he was looking for at that point.
That was the problem with people who only did what they were told to do. That was the reason why Temple’s forces and the Guards were only concentrating on the fact that Reinhardt definitely went to Wenster Market.
So Ellen and Harriet came to the decision that they should go somewhere else because other people were already covering that place.
Those beggars that lived under the bridge were a bunch that stood out quite a bit, even the Guards knew them well.
Although they didn’t seem to impose any sanctions on them, they didn’t really like them, either. Ellen and Harriet hadn’t seen them in person, but they imagined them drinking booze and chattering under the bridge. That definitely wouldn’t have been a pretty view.
Ellen and Harriet reached the entrance to the riverside park where they first gathered information to look for that guard again.
However, there was a different person standing guard, probably because that other guy’s shift was over.
“Oh, those beggars? At times like these, they’d probably go to Wenster m—”
"They aren’t there."
When they were about to get the same answer as before, Ellen cut him off. It was highly likely that Reinhardt went there, but the beggars were definitely not there.
“Hmm… Really? Then where would they have gone on rainy days like this? They don’t even have houses or anything, you know?”
It rained a lot those past few days and they couldn’t stay under the bridge in that situation, so the only choice they seemed to have was to head towards Wenster Market.
One of the guards chimed in after hearing the other talk.
"Well, don’t they make a lot of money these days? Maybe they don’t have to go to the market anymore. Who knows? Maybe they even found some inn to stay in.”
"Money? What money would beggars have? And an inn? That’s funny.”
When the other guards were laughing at his statement, treating him as if he was talking complete nonsense, he started to chuckle.
"Those bastards aren’t selling cheap candy anymore, you know? They are now selling knick-knacks on the mana train. Didn’t you notice? That’s why we don’t get any complaints from people visiting the riverside park anymore. But I’m sick and tired of seeing those guys every time I go to work.”
“…You’re telling us that those vendors were those beggars?”
“Yeah, they are pretty active, aren’t they?”
Ellen and Harriet’s eyes met as they were listening to the Guards’ conversation.
‘Aah, greetings, dear citizens of the Empire.’
‘Could you please lend us your precious time for a bit, I would like to introduce to you one of our new items.’
The two had already found their target without even knowing.
* * *
* * *
***
The only people interested in the job change of the beggars from under the bridge were people of the same ‘trade’ and the underworld. So there were only a few people among the guards who knew that the beggars became train vendors.
Beggars were still beggars, people often didn’t care about who they actually were, and the vendors were just a mild annoyance, so no one wondered about their background.
Anyway, unlike the solicitors in the riverside park, the mana train vendors could continue their business regardless of whether it rained or not. They were still going from train to train to sell their wares even during the rainy season.
Ellen and Harriet immediately boarded a mana train, not caring where it went.
"I hope they know where Reinhardt is.”
“Yes.”
Both hoped that nothing bad had actually happened to him and that he was absent from Temple for such a long time because of something else. The two moved from compartment to compartment of the mana train, looking for those junk sellers.
They didn’t have to look for long. After moving through four compartments they found a vendor who was twirling a spinning top on the floor and talking excitedly about the ‘magic spinning top’.
It was no wonder that people wouldn’t connect the vendors with the beggars living under the bridge.
According to Reinhardt’s instructions, the merchants riding on the train were properly dressed and cleaned up.
“Aah, everyone, let me tell you about this spinning top…”
“Excuse me, mister.”
As was to be expected, Harriet was still pretty shy, so Ellen stepped up to the guy. When Ellen called out to him, the merchant smiled.
“Hello there, it’s only one silver coin.”
He seemed to think that she talked him up because she was interested in the spinning tops lying on the floor. Of course, Ellen had no interest in those things whatsoever.
“Do you know Reinhardt?”
“…Reinhardt?”
The vendor tilted his head when she said that name out of nowhere.
***
Fortunately, he knew Reinhardt.
"That guy’s missing?”
“Yes.”
As soon as he heard that he immediately picked up his spinning tops and got off at the next station. Harriet and Ellen followed him, and when they reached a quiet place, they started to talk.
“You didn’t know?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this… This is a big problem. I should let big sis know about it.”
What did that mean?
However, the peddler seemed to feel compelled to immediately report the matter to someone.
“Thank you, you two. But you guys…”
“We're Reinhardt’s classmates.”
It seemed like he wanted to send them away, but Ellen and Harriet were burning with determination; they would follow him no matter what.
The vendor couldn’t win against those two, who’d inevitably follow him whether he liked it or not, so he had no other choice but to head towards the Rotary Gang’s current base with them.
Ellen and Harriet were forced to realize that it was only natural that they weren’t able to find the Bronzegate beggars in the Wenster District’s market street.
The vendor was heading towards the southernmost area of the Imperial Capital.
“I heard that you were staying close to Bronzegate.”
The vendor shook his head at Ellen’s words from underneath his umbrella.
“It was like that at first, but we’re gradually trying to settle down properly.”
They were slowly trying to get away from Bronzegate. That was why they moved their base completely while it was raining, that was how he explained it.
However, where they were going was close to the border between the Capital and the outside area. Only after riding the train until the end did they get off.
This was a remote area with only a few buildings and even fewer people.
They couldn’t help but feel nervous because they were heading to such a deserted place. ‘What if this person wasn’t a good person?’ These types of thoughts bubbled up in them.
“…I’m scared.”
“It’s alright.”
Harriet was speaking in halting words as if her voice was failing. As a response, Ellen whispered to her that she had nothing to worry about.
That put her mind at ease when she thought about how great Ellen, who was able to fight orcs on her own in the jungle, was.
Even if that vendor thought about harming them, it would be in vain—he was definitely easier to deal with than those orcs.
Fortunately, she could lay those worries to rest, as they were able to see a huge tent after they walked with the vendor for some time. It was set up in a distant and quiet vacant lot. Inside the tent, one could hear the loud roaring of people.
They could also see a construction site. It seemed like they were building something.
“Are… are they constructing a building?”
“I think so.”
It was raining, so they weren’t continuing the construction at the moment, but looking at the pillars and constructions, it seemed like they were trying to build a fairly large building.
"Alright, you guys followed me here and I brought you here, but once you get in here, you have to be careful of what you say.”
“Careful?”
The vendor saw Ellen tilt her head and nodded his head.
“Big sis’s personality is quite… Just know that she doesn’t care whether you’re a Temple student or not.”
Ellen nodded and Harriet sighed in slight annoyance that she had to be careful around a mere beggar. Harriet was a great noble who shouldn’t have a reason to talk to such lowly people in normal circumstances.
The large tent was completely open at one side so that people could look into it from outside. They thought that those beggars’ appearance and conduct would be incredibly shabby, but they were a little different from what Ellen and Harriet had imagined.
Although they seemed to have a hard time managing due to the heavy rain, compared to the shabby beggars they encountered in the Wenster Market, they seemed like nobility. Everyone was wearing proper clothes, after all.
“…Yo, what’s with the kids?”
Their eyes widened slightly when their colleague returned with the two girls following him.
“…These girls grew up fine, didn’t they?”
Even though Harriet was wearing casual clothes, one could still recognize her as a first-class noble or someone very wealthy, and Ellen looked far from a beggar as well with the energy she emitted and the clothes she wore. Their bearing and attitude were also indicative.
Harriet looked a little exhausted, and Ellen was calm. Still, the people started to mumble at the sudden appearance of those two pretty girls.
A young woman with messy white hair stood before them. Her attire wasn’t much different from the others, but the pressure those golden eyes emitted showed that she wasn’t an ordinary person.
Irene’s Wild Dog.
“Who’re these kids?”
Loyar frowned when she saw Ellen and Harriet standing before her.
The two introduced themselves as Reinhardt’s classmates.
“…Is that so? But how did ya find this place?”
Loyar seemed wary about why those two who seemed to be Reinhardt’s classmates went there. The only reason she could think of was that they might have found some clues to Reinhardt’s hidden identity.
“Reinhardt went missing.”
“…What did you say?”
Not only Loyar, but all the club members present were completely shocked.
Originally, the Thieves’ Guild planned on using Reinhardt as bait to catch Loyar.
However, a long time had passed since then, and the Rotary Gang was completely unaware of Reinhardt’s disappearance.
