[Lifespan Remaining: 29 days, 3 hours, 46 minutes.]
Lenia Eis, a 7-Star Magus that specialized in Water and Ice Magic, perhaps having the highest skill level in them in the whole continent as well as being one of Rexford’s few S-Rank Adventurers.
Coincidentally, she was an old friend and benefactor of Amon de Arcadia.
According to the game’s lore, Lenia had settled down in Altaire five years ago, built her own tower, and was pretty much never seen again.
Well, until Faust and Amelia started their cold war.
With her connections and power, both sides had to cautiously tiptoe around her, making sure not to anger the calamity that could potentially topple both factions with ease.
Noct left the Diamond Merchantry several hours later. The sun had already begun to disappear under the horizon, leaving the first stars to emerge above Altaire.
Noelle followed close behind him, while Aurora had volunteered to remain with Amelia, reasoning that her presence might discourage Faust’s officials from harassing the merchantry too openly.
"Are you going to visit her, Young Master?" Noelle asked. "I’ve heard the Witch’s personality is quite fickle..."
Noct shook his head, looking at Altaire’s darknening streets. "No, I want to do some personal investigation first. Any information is valuable if we want to build a better case."
Though what he gave was only a half-truth.
Noct remembered from her dialogue with the protagonist of how she figured out a part of the incident in the game’s plot.
She had discovered something suspicious happening under the crystal mines and sealed it away. This caused the disappearances to stop, but so did the production of mana crystals.
Even if Noct knew they were connected somehow, he couldn’t afford that solution at all.
The Altaire mines were one of the few resources capable of extending his life. And if Lenia repeated her original solution, his greatest potential lifeline would disappear in the blink of an eye.
The problem was...the game never got anywhere close to Altaire, and it never mentioned what she found down there. Her reasoning to close the mines down was also vague at best.
There had to be another solution.
Noelle tilted her head. "Then where should we begin?"
Noct unfolded the list that Amelia had given him. It contained the names of several allegedly missing laborers and the families who had attempted to report them.
The first name belonged to a man named Otto, a fisherman who had reported three of his workers missing within the same month. And unlike the others, he had continued demanding an investigation even after the knights dismissed his concerns.
More importantly, his home was only a few streets away.
"We’ll begin with him."
***
"Young Master...I don’t believe you’re particularly suited for this."
They were currently perched on top of a nearby roof, staking out Otto’s home just as planned.
Noelle wasn’t questioning Noct’s investigative abilities exactly. It was the fact that it took Noct an embarrassing amount of time and effort just to climb the one rooftop to get into position in the first place.
"I can’t rely on you for reconnaissance every time I need something, can I?"
"Yes...you can."
For nearly an hour, nothing really happened. Noct stared at the blue panel to his side, sighing softly that he was wasting his precious lifespan on nothing.
[Lifespan Remaining: 29 days, 2 hours, 31 minutes.]
Noct frowned and brought his attention back to the fisherman’s home.
Through the illuminated window, they could see the man sitting alone at his table, eating a simple dinner.
He certainly didn’t look like someone involved in some kind of sinister disappearance conspiracy.
The man simply finished his meal, washed the plate, and returned to the table with today’s newspaper in hand.
"Young Master," Noelle whispered. "Why are we watching him instead of asking him questions?"
"Edward worked inside Amelia’s organization for three years," Noct answered. "We have no way of knowing he was the only informant."
"You’re suspecting that this man is—?"
"No. But my gut is telling me that this man hasn’t gone missing yet for a reason," Noct stared closer. "Either he’s working with them—"
He paused mid-sentence, eyes catching onto a group of people. None of them carried a lantern despite the darkness, and each remained suspiciously close to the walls off of the main street.
Two then split off and entered the alley leading behind the building while the other two knocked on his door.
"...Or they haven’t gotten to him yet."
After a bit, a quiet click followed by the creak of Otto’s back door told both of them what was about to happen. Noelle instantly moved to the edge of the roof, but Noct caught her sleeve.
"Wait."
"Young Master, they’re entering his home."
"If we stop them now, then there’s no point in staking the house out for this long."
A muffled crash came from inside the house, followed by struggling and squirming, before all sound suddenly vanished.
Noct narrowed his eyes, feeling a faint trace of mana that had surrounded Otto’s home right after the attackers entered.
’They must’ve used some kind of sound-dampening tool...’
"What if they intend to kill him? Noelle turned around to ask. "Then we’d have no witness and no evidence..."
"Then you can intervene before they can."
The maid frowned at her Young Master’s answer. "That’s a great deal of faith you’re placing in me..."
But Noct hadn’t replied, keeping both eyes solidly placed on the silhouette of Otto being dragged away from the table and back down.
"Get ready..."
Less than a minute later, the front door finally opened, and two men emerged carrying Otto’s unconscious body. By that time, a black carriage was already approaching them from the main street.
They loaded Otto inside, and Noct watched the final abductor climb aboard before finally giving the order.
"Let’s move. Follow them."
At first, they tried hopping through the rooftop to chase after the carriage. But upon realizing that Noct definitely couldn’t keep up, Noelle just decided to swoop him up and carry him under her arms.
"This is...embarrassing."
Wind struck his face as she leaped across the rooftops, clearing gaps that he would have needed a running start to cross. Below them, the unmarked carriage forced its way through the evening traffic.
They were finally beginning to close the distance. Then something whistled through the air, causing Noelle to twist sideways.
THNK—!
A crossbow bolt buried itself in the roof where her foot had been just moments earlier. She landed behind a chimney, putting Noct down.
’Tch...they’ve got backup?’
Five masked figures emerged across the neighboring rooftops. They wore plain black clothes and masks covering their faces. Two held crossbows while the remaining three drew short blades.
Noct glanced past them, at the carriage that had just disappeared around another corner.
"Ugh...why does it always have to be so hard?"
Before the attackers could move, Noct was already standing out in the open, palms outstretched, chanting a single spell.
"O fire, burn and cinder."
?Ars Flare.?