“I think I might have seen her the other day when I was out walking.”

“R-Really!? When did that happen!”

“Calm down, it’s been two days. We just talked for a little.”

“I see ……”

Roy releases my shoulder and mutters a little, looking slightly disappointed. Then Makina joins the conversation and asks Roy.

“I wonder why that kid left at dawn? She could have waited until the sun came up to go for a walk.”

“It seems that her mother wanted to throw away the tree that she cares for. That’s why they argued last night.”

“Tree …… Oh, that tree.”

“You know it?”

“Yeah, she was holding it like she cared for it. I didn’t know exactly what she was talking about, but I remember what she looked like.”

“I see …… if you’re free, would you mind going over to Sonea and taking the request? This town is huge. It’s better to have more manpower. I’ll go with you then.”

Roy said and left the place. I chuckled at his devotion, wondering what he was thinking he came at me at that time. 

“Did something funny happen?”

“No, it’s nothing serious. Let’s go, then.”

“Yes!”

Makina says nothing, but smiles, nods and follows me. I think she knows what I’ll do without saying it. Eventually, we arrived at the guild and told Sonea-san what we’ve heard from Roy.

“By the looks of it, are you on a date? Sorry, and thanks for your help. Even if she’s just a child, there’s no way we can just abandon her. Her name is Chelle, and she’s eight years old. Her mother says she’s got a tree.”

“Yeah, I remember what she looks like because I saw her the other day. Do you have any idea where she’s going?”

“No, only a park. It’s not too far from her house, so she used to go there by herself ……”

So, no clue. If the commotion from the morning was about Chelle, then it is understandable that she has not been found at this point.

“I’m worried …… This reminds me of what happened with Luciel.”

“Let’s go look for her right away. Fortunately, it hasn’t been a day yet, so let’s find her before anything else happens.”

“I’ll leave it to you!”

With Sonea-san’s voice at my back, we left the guild and went outside to use my magic.

“Instead of splitting up, we might as well do it this way. .”

“Oh, so that’s what you mean!”

When Makina noticed my intentions, she jumped on my back, which was floating, and when she put her hands around my neck, I increased our ascending speed. 

“I’m glad I’m not wearing a skirt.”

“That’s right. Two eyes in the sky would be quite effective. We’ll look for her in the residential areas.”

“Leave it to me!”

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“It’s so-so.”

“What’s that, Basleigh, saying that the castle food is so-so ……”

“Yesterday, I had a “back falling” experience from my eyes. Lars-kun cooked for us.”

(T/N: The “the back falls” part here is “Uro ga ochiru” in japanese, she said it wrong and this is what I got when searched it. It is from this verse that the Japanese saying, “me kara uroko ga ochiru” comes … It has the feeling of, “Oh, I see” or “Now I get it!”You can change this into the past tense by saying, “Me kara uroko ga ochimashita” or shorten it by just saying, “Me kara uroko desu.”, you can also say it like she had an “eye-opening” experience.)

“It’s “Uroko”!? And scales don’t fall! …… Ah, whatever, then?”

In the castle at lunchtime, Basleigh and Kedi came to the dining room for lunch. The cook is not the same as the king’s, but of course he’s got good skills. Kedi was asking Basleigh, who was putting on airs, then Himmel came in.

“Hey, I’m having lunch too. Can I sit next to you?”

“Ah, big brother. You can sit next to Kedi.”

“Hahaha, you’re so shy, Basleigh.”

“Please don’t stick to me!?”

“Just tell me the rest of the story.”

“Sheesh …… Lars-kun made me an original dish yesterday, and it was so, so superb! It’s called Hamburger, and it’s made of scrap meat that is rolled up and grilled, but it’s better than steak.”

“Wow, so he can cook too. At any rate, I’m sure it was quite delicious.”

Himmel laughed at the proud expression on Basleigh’s face.

“No, it was really good! It’s a shame you couldn’t have it, both of you! I’ll request for it again when I get home ……! After preparing some good meat!”

“Hmmm, Is Lars’ food that good?”

“Yes, even the prince has never eaten–“

When Basleigh turned his head in the direction of the voice, he saw a smirking, laughing man.

“Prince Orden ……! What brings you here!”

“Well, I must show my face to my subjects once in a while, or they might forget me, right? So, you’ll ask Lars to let me have some of that food too, won’t you?”

“Oh, no, I’m not sure about that ……”

I was thinking about how to escape, not knowing what the king would say if I invited the prince to my house. Then the people by the window started to make a  commotion.

“A-Are those …… people ……?”

“They’re flying in the sky!? Is that the ancient magic, levitation!?”

“Carrying a girl on the back …… It looks like they’re looking for something?”

When she heard the word levitation, Basleigh got the idea and stood up from her chair.

“A flying figure ……! I have a feeling something is going on ……Grandpa is always alone……!”

“Oh, hey! Wait, Basleigh!”

“I’m sorry, Prince! I have to solve the mystery before the cat dies because of my curiosity!”

With these unintelligible words, Basleigh ran out of the dining room. After the whole group was stunned by the flash of events, Kedi opened his mouth in a huff.

“That bastard …… she ran away from her afternoon job!?”

“Hahaha, don’t mind it, Kedi.”

“It’s not a laughing matter!? Damn …… the take over isn’t progressing at all …….”

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆　

“I can’t find her.”

“Well, there are kids, though. Oh, that kid’s waving in here.”

–We’ve been flying through residential areas a little faster than a bicycle, but we can’t find Chelle, even though we’ve searched the entire block from near the outer wall.

“Do you think she might have left town?”

“I don’t think the gatekeeper would let a little girl out by herself, but we’ll see.”

When I got to the gate, Kruiz-san was there and I asked him about it. There had already been a few people there since this morning, and they replied to me with a sigh.

“A girl didn’t come here. If she wants to get out of town, there are two other exits, here and there, but they have gatekeepers there too. I’m pretty sure they won’t let her out.”

“Thank you …… Do you see any secret passage or anything like that?”

“…… I can’t say that there aren’t any, but we’re doing safety checks around the outer walls, so there shouldn’t be any.”

However, Kruiz-san also wondered why we hadn’t found her at this stage, and sent us off with a bitter look on his face, saying it was possible that she had gotten out somehow.

“If she was taken by some method …… she might have been taken as luggage or something ……”

“But she went out on her own, it would be hard to kidnap her on a moment’s notice.”

We flew to the sky again, this time aiming for the livestock area. I hope there’s a clue there, though ……

How in the world did she get out? The correct answer is after the commercial!

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“I kind of know it out, but ……”

Seriously?

“Yeah, she climbed up the outside wall!”

With no tricks, no twists!?