Now we just need to find out where Rena is. If we find Rena, we find Mully and potentially the people that were taken, a.s.suming that they're still alive of course.
We're currently still inside of Rena's home. We don't know where she is, so we're formulating a plan.
"Okay… What do we do?" Tael asked.
"Maybe we could just wait here? Rensan will most likely return to her home tonight." Erana suggested.
"No, I don't think we can do that." I said.
"Eh? Why's that Onii-san?"
"Well, don't you think it's a bit strange that Rena isn't here? It's a bit early in the day for her to be gone without a trace like this." I began.
"So then she's in the village?" Kany asked.
"No, I would guess that she's with Mully right now!" Tael announced.
"That's the most likely thing that's happening, but I get the feeling that it's something else…"
"What do you mean, Kenji-san?"
"Well… For some reason I get this feeling that Rena isn't missing by coincidence." I began.
"You don't mean that she's avoiding us, do you?" Kany asked.
"I do. I think it can't be a coincidence that the day after a group of adventurers arrived that she suddenly isn't in her home in the morning."
The party grumbled in response to my a.s.sumption. If Rena is trying to avoid us this would make finding her far more difficult.
"So then… How do we find her?" Is there any method we have to trap her or something?" Kany asked.
"Well…" I began. The party looked at me with inquisitive eyes.
"I think she ran off to this Mully person." I stated.
"I a.s.sume that would be for protection?" Erana looked at me expectantly.
"Yeah. If Mully is a monster then I think that Rena would look to her for protection in some capacity."
"But she can't stay with Mully forever! She has to leave at some point!" Tael a.s.serted.
"That's true, but I think that Rena believes that she can wait us out. I also think she knew that we would find the diary. The diary was basically telling us 'I have a friend and we'll fight you.'"
"Ugh! Why couldn't it have just been goblins again?" Tael shouted to the sky.
"What, did you like getting cooked Mr. Sparkles?"
"That's not what I was saying!"
"Well Tael-san, Kany, we have to deal with what we have. Just because she's hiding doesn't mean we cannot find her. My father told me once that n.o.body can disappear, they can only hide. Anyone prepared to find the hidden can make them be found."
I nodded my head at the words of wisdom Erana was preaching. We needed some hope so this was perfect for us right now.
"Of course, this is merely conjecture right now. We don't know where Rena actually went and we don't exactly have any clues as to where she went either." I said.
"Ah, that's not true Kenji!" Tael declared as he went back towards the desk.
Tael showed me over towards the desk and then showed me the window. He pointed me towards a mark on the bar of the window that one would need to grip to open it.
"This is…"
It was a fingerprint. A fingerprint that was definitely fresh. The dust around the grip was undisturbed, but this spot was cleared of any dust at all. I looked out the window to see what was behind it.
"So then, she went to the forest from here…" I muttered.
"Yep. So then that means that she most likely ran into the forest from her home. Since she's on the outskirts of the village n.o.body would have seen her do it." Tael responded to my muttering. It seems that we were on the same page about this.
I turned over to Erana.
"Can your hunter cla.s.s track humans, or is it limited to only animals?" I asked.
"It can track a human, but if they're using a skill or magic to hide their tracks then there's nothing I can do."
"That shouldn't be a problem. We'll be depending on you Erana." I announced as I began to head out of the shack.
"Yes! I'll do my best!" Erana shouted out.
We stepped back out onto the dirt path that we had come from. The time of day was now around noon, so the sun was beating down from overhead. The heat from late spring was beginning to make itself known.
We walked around the shack to the backside of it where the window was. I ensured that we wouldn't disturb any footprints that had been left in the gra.s.s and ushered Erana towards the area. When she got to the spot, she crouched down and investigated the area thoroughly.
"It seems like Tael-san was correct. Someone came through this specific part. There are footprints here." Erana confirmed.
Our group gave out our worry about being able to find Rena in the form of a group exhale. As we were calming down, Erana stood up and faced towards the forest.
"These tracks head into the treeline. Stick with me please." Erana declared as she began to walk towards the forest.
We quickly followed Erana as she went into the treeline. Though this forest isn't particularly ma.s.sive, the trees are still numerous and the foliage above us blocks out sunlight enough to make many shadows. We went deeper and deeper into the forest for what felt like at least 100 meters. If it weren't for Erana, we would have probably lost our way by this point.
This constant walking with no information has made me incredibly tense, so I decided to get up to Erana and talk to her.
"Hey, do you have any new information?" I asked as I nudged her shoulder.
"Ah, Kenji-san, I can't tell if what I'm following is a human anymore…" Erana trailed off.
"What? What do you mean human anymore?"
"Well, A little way back I saw a drop of blood on a blade of gra.s.s. It could have been anything, but from then on I only saw what appeared to be paw prints on the ground. I've been following these prints since I saw the blood."
"You didn't think it was important to tell us this?" I could feel myself getting frustrated, but I didn't want to let it out at her. I had to keep myself under control.
"I'm sorry. Whenever I track creatures I focus on that entirely. I'm not used to sharing my thoughts or reasoning…"
Ah, similar to me. I can't stay mad at her.
"Fine. Look, do you have any idea how much longer we're going to be following this trail? It's already been an hour since we went into the forest and I'd rather not spend more time in the forest than we need to."
"It shouldn't be long now. Creatures tend to hunt not far from their homes. From the distance we've covered, the creature that I've been tracking should be nearby."
I nodded my head to indicate that I understood and fell back to Tael and Kany. These two have been trying their best to stay quiet so as to not bother Erana, but it seems that they're at their limits.
"Oi Onii-san, what did Erana say?"
"No, Kenji tell me!"
"Why don't I just tell both of you?"
"You will, but you should tell me first!" x2
I looked at these two problem children. Despite one of them being older than me, it seems that their mental development stopped a few years back. I sighed in exhaustion and put an arm on both of their heads.
"U-Uh, Onii-san you know that girls don't really like getting headpats, right?"
"W-Wait what? They don't? Wait I'm not a girl Kenji!"
I ignored their comments and simply patted them a bit. I've heard that a gentle touch can help something grow, so I hope this helps develop their minds. I released these two when Erana shouted something out from a bit in front of us.
"Get low! I think I've found something!" She announced.
Following Erana's instructions, we all got low to the ground as we sidled up close to her. As we all got next to Erana, we looked forward at what she was pointing at.
In front of us was a small cave entrance.
"Ah jeez. Not again…" Tael muttered.
"No Tael-san. This is no goblin cave. I think this is a bear cave." Erana replied.
"Bears? Are you sure Erana?" Kany asked.
"Either bears or some monster race. I can't tell exactly but judging by the depth of the prints as well as the shape of them they're probably bears."
"What do bears have to do with Rena?" Tael asked.
"I think these bears attacked Rena and dragged her off." Erana quickly declared.
We all went silent after this.
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