This guy is genuinely trying to deceive her. Does he think she is a fool? Then again, Lyn initially refused this services. However, she received word from eldest brother Andrew. "Even if you don"t want him to be part of your team. You have no choice, at least humor him a bit." With such frustrating instructions, Lyn reluctantly allowed him into her team. But to think he would go ahead and do something like this."Isn"t it possible that she ran away from her duty? Forgive me for saying so. But for a while now, Knight Pupillam has been neglecting the investigation. Perhaps she ran away, afraid of being targeted by the enemy since she is your guard," Masoka said.
Lyn immediately noted that something was different about him.
"I highly doubt that"s the case," s.h.i.+oka interjected. He looked over at her and mumbled something — before he turned back to Masoka. "Despite what it seems like she isn"t the kind of person who would run away. Although it"s true that her inability to make decisive actions on her own has put us through trouble so far, her perceptions aren"t always wrong, and she is dedicated to the job."
"I agree. Inspector — no Pupillam wouldn"t do something like that. As young as she is, it"s even more so the reason. Because she"s still young, she still has hopes and dreams of being able to reach the top. She still has potential. I know she"d never do something like that," Zenith said.
Her lips curved into a smile when she heard their words. The two had a nonchalant expression on their faces. But, Lyn could tell how defensive they were getting.
Whatever happens, she knew she could always count on them no matter what the situation was. Or rather s.h.i.+oka even spoke up for Pupillam. She was under the impression that he didn"t like her, but perhaps she was wrong about that. "In that case, wouldn"t it be better to check out the scene?"
….
After much discussion, they all headed out. Traveling in two carriages would draw too much attention, so some went on horseback. It did not take long before they arrived at the location. Looking around at the abandoned area. She frowned. "Pupillam came to a place like this?" While her guard does not belong to the elite, the girl"s family is normal. Lyn took a deep breath and examined her surroundings properly. Tall grey, stone buildings with broken rooftops. She glanced down at her feet, small droplets of sand and muddy looking water.
Grey sand? In the Mist Kingdom, it"s not unusual to get a lot of sand due to the strong Mists. However, this is the first time she saw this color before. How strange, this place is not normal. Even an abandoned area shows traces of life. Those without homes or even hang around. But there is nothing here.
"Princess Lyn this ...."
She snapped out of her thoughts and saw what Ginoza was holding. A sparkly pendant.
Zenith made his way over, "That"s Pupillams."
s.h.i.+oka raised his eyebrows, "Huh, that isn"t like her at all."
Indeed, if Zenith did not mention it, then she would not have known.
"Yes. Actually, after the second case. Pupillam came to me and said that she was worried about her actions that she was afraid of people attacking her. So I gave her that. It has a tracking spell on it...but..." Zenith trailed off, "Its useless since she doesn"t have it on."
"Jay, can you scan this area?" Lyn addressed the man on her right. This person is Jay, a knight under her little sister Shaarya. When her sister heard what was happening, she immediately offered one of her knights. Lyn sighed; she needs to do something about her own group of Knights. She can"t continue relying on s.h.i.+oka and Zenith. This guy from King John"s side, too, she does not want to use him any longer. Who knows what he is reporting? As long as this person is on the team, nothing will change.
"R--right," Jay stammered and tapped his watch. The small s.p.a.ce around them engulfed in a turquoise light. "...two...no three people pa.s.sed by here not long ago. They tried to conceal the third person, but I can still trace it. This belongs to Lady Pupillam. "
s.h.i.+oka sighed, "Mystery solved. So she did come here after all. But that doesn"t solve the issue regarding Masoka."
"Can you check what time?"
"It was around 11 am," Jay informed.
Zenith shook his head, "That"s impossible, though. Pupillam was reported missing at one."
"It"s a trap. Someone"s messing with us," s.h.i.+oka said.
Someone? No, that"s wrong here. Lyn looked around and scanned the floor. From the edge of one of the buildings, she saw a piece of purple fabric. She made her way over and pulled it out.
This didn"t seem like something her sister would do at all. Could it be someone else? But either way, the entire kidnapping scenario was strange. People reported Pupillam missing at 1, yet she was definitely by this area at 11 and dropped her necklace. From what Zenith told her, this necklace seemed to hold some value. If that"s the case, then Pupillam would never let go of it. The enemy wouldn"t know about the tracking magic infused in it.
Zenith scooped up the necklace in her hands. "Tracking magic aside. I recorded it."
"Can you access it?"
"I should be able to. But it will take a bit of time."
Lyn nodded. "Then, I will go look over there."
"Hey, wait, Lyn, don"t go off alone-" s.h.i.+oka called out but stopped when he looked at her. "..be careful, okay?"
"Yes," with those words said Lyn quickly left the area and increased her footsteps by the minute. The reason for this was because she sensed him. Lyn did not think it was him at first, but the more time went by, her senses became clearer.
After walking for a few minutes, she turned a few corners, and a hand shot out and reached over to her. She found herself in a familiar pair of arms. "Kazuya."
"Hey, good job."
Lyn sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"I thought we could investigate together," Kazuya trailed off and frowned. "You don"t want to?"
"No, that"s not it," she reached over and caressed his face. Is he better now? If he isn"t, then she should co- her thoughts broke when he brushed his forehead against hers. He whispers a few words in her ear, and Lyn felt the tears well up from her eyes. "You really are a fool." She noticed it the moment he got close, Kazuya is heavily wounded.
Kazuya laughed, "You know Lyn, I have many wishes and dreams when it comes to you. When it comes to our future. I"ve already deviated from the plan. The elders are surely going to reprimand and punish me when I return. But, even then, I don"t care. I want to be with you, Lyn."