Chapter 187. The Calm Before the Storm (4)
The nights in Nortaris are cool or bitterly cold in every season.
When night falls, the warmth that had heated the earth evaporates in an instant, and all that fills the void left behind is a dry, cutting gale that slices to the bone.
Whoooooo—
A hushed night street. Jurgen, Serena, and Brigitte, who had followed them out, walked through the night streets in silence.
"I said it myself, but it won't be anything serious."
"That's right! Penelope always has so much on her mind!"
"She might have just stepped out for a late-night walk to clear her head, right?"
Serena spoke, not particularly wanting to create a heavy atmosphere.
In truth, it still wasn't anything to make much of.
Penelope was no helpless child left to fend for herself, and she was a fine Alchemist in her own right. Thinking about it rationally, the likelihood that something had happened was vanishingly low.
"Wh-why are you……? It's frightening……."
And yet Jurgen was far too quiet. Jurgen, who always smiled with an easy, unhurried air, had eyes that flashed sharply each time they caught the sidelight of a street lamp.
"It's all right, Miss Serena. Don't worry."
Jurgen reassured Serena belatedly.
The group first swept through the walking path Penelope favoured on her usual strolls.
"……She's not here. M-maybe our paths just crossed somewhere?"
But atop the empty bench, only fallen leaves were tumbling about. The embankment path with its clear view of the night scenery was no different.
"Let's try the Townhouse."
Jurgen said quietly.
"Oh! Right! She might be there!"
Brigitte brightened and called out. Serena nodded as well.
It was their old home, where they had lived before Y&P Trading Company moved to the grand manor, and a place that now served as Penelope's retreat and hideaway. When she had complicated thoughts or wanted to rest, she would often shut herself away there.
The three of them hurried their steps. Without a word in reply, Jurgen approached the front door and drew a key from his pocket.
With a click, the door swung open.
The inside of the house was submerged in pitch-black darkness.
Brigitte shivered. The air inside felt even cooler than the weather outside.
"Oh, looks like she's been here."
Where Serena pointed hung the cardigan Penelope had been wearing that day.
"Would you check the upstairs bedroom?"
After asking Brigitte and Serena, Jurgen walked without hesitation toward the living room fireplace.
Whenever Penelope stayed at this house, the fireplace ought to have been burning, however faintly, unless it was the height of summer.
'Why do you light the fireplace? It's not even cold.'
'Why? It sets a nicer mood, doesn't it?'
He still remembered that exchange.
He held his hand to the ash inside the fireplace. Not even a trace of warmth—only a cold chill crept up through his fingertips.
"It's gone out."
Jurgen's voice settled low.
Penelope's cardigan from today was here, and the fireplace was cold. Most likely, Penelope would not be upstairs either.
As expected, Brigitte and Serena came back down looking deflated.
"She's not there…… What's going on……."
"Could it be that our paths just crossed somewhere?"
Jurgen strode up the stairs and checked the Study. It was one of the few places Penelope might be, aside from the bedroom.
Books neatly arranged on the shelves. Atop the desk lay a book left open mid-read, and the teacup beside it was cold as well.
There were no overturned chairs, no books strewn across the floor, no scratch marks on the ground.
He examined the space as closely as he had when Serena had been abducted in the Soltera Protectorate—but……
"Hmm……."
Not a single clue was to be found. Jurgen's brow furrowed.
There was nothing more to be done here.
"Let's head back. Our paths may have simply crossed."
They returned to the manor with nothing to show for it. It was past two in the morning, and yet the lobby of the manor still had its lights on.
But the mistress of the house, Penelope, had still not returned.
"The two of you should get some rest. I'm sure it's nothing."
"W-we're not tired yet!"
"That's right, we'll keep looking."
"No, it may just be needless worry. But tonight, sleep here at the manor."
"But……."
"It'll be all right. Trust me."
Jurgen soothed the two with a smile and sent them on their way. He understood well enough their desire to find Penelope, but to put it plainly, they would not be of help.
Just then, a sound came from the direction of the front entrance.
"……!"
Jurgen reflexively slid his hand inside his coat and rose to his feet.
The figure that emerged from the darkness was an unexpected one.
"Crunch, smack smack. Ahhh…… the taste of home really is the best."
A man swept in with a long coat billowing behind him, a greasy chicken leg in one hand.
It was Aiden.
"Aiden?"
Jurgen's tension drained away at once. Aiden waved his hand, still chewing a bite of chicken.
"Boss, you weren't sleeping."
He was a sorry sight. His hair was matted, as though he hadn't washed in days, and the hem of his coat was caked with dust and dirt. Dark circles hung all the way down to his jaw, yet his expression was bright.
At the sight of him, Jurgen felt a measure of reassurance all the same.
Good timing. He had long trusted Aiden's abilities as a former member of the Secret Burial Unit, and right now the matter of Penelope's disappearance was weighing on his mind.
Jurgen instinctively suspected a connection between this situation and Rupert. In that sense, Aiden's return was most timely indeed.
"I came to make my report, Boss. Ah, before that—could I get some Cola…… I'm dying of thirst."
Without a word, Jurgen reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a cold bottle of Cola, and tossed it over.
"Nice catch! Ahhh! I feel alive again. This combination really is the best, I tell you."
Aiden set down the empty bottle and wiped the corner of his mouth, then drew a crumpled notebook from inside his coat.
"Rupert Rosemore, as you instructed previously. The background investigation on that fellow. It's done."
"Did you find anything?"
"To give you the conclusion first—nothing."
Jurgen's eyebrow twitched.
"Nothing?"
"That's right. Not a speck of dust. I went all the way to the Capital as well as the North, and combed through everything thoroughly—he's clean."
Aiden let out a hollow laugh.
"Seems like he did a bit of cleaning ahead of the title succession review. No records of illegal dealings, no connection to the End Order—nothing of the sort. There are some signs he bent the rules on tax avoidance…… but that's something every businessman does……."
Aiden shrugged.
"I think you may have overreacted on this one, Boss."
Aiden shook his head and continued.
"Anyway, it was a complete waste of effort. Still, I suppose it's good news. At least there's nothing for Miss Penelope to worry about…… Hm?"
Mid-grumble, Aiden glanced between the empty living room and Jurgen's sunken eyes.
"Something's happened, hasn't it, Boss. The atmosphere in this house is all……"
"Penelope has disappeared."
"What?"
Aiden's mouth fell open.
"Of course, she's only been missing since this evening, so nothing is confirmed yet……"
"Roughly what are the odds, in your estimate?"
"Fifty-fifty."
"What in the world!"
Aiden was utterly dumbfounded.
Fifty-fifty in words—but given the Boss's cautious nature, even that was an understatement. And Jurgen's animal instincts operated at a level that defied reason.
Aiden lost his words for a moment. Then, after a brief clearing of his throat, he spoke.
"By any chance, Boss—forgive me for asking—you didn't fall out, did you?"
"Hm?"
"You know, a lovers' quarrel, and she stormed off in a huff for a bit……"
"Nothing of the sort."
Aiden furrowed his brow.
"So you're suspecting a connection with Rupert."
"That's right."
"Shall I take a look around?"
"I'd be grateful."
With that said, Jurgen sought out Vic for the first time in a while.
Since Y&P Trading Company's logistics system had been fully established, Vic had been living the good life, cadging snacks and desserts from Penelope, Brigitte, and Serena in turn.
"Vic."
If possible, he preferred not to ask this of Vic, but…… For Penelope's sake, she would no doubt be willing to step forward.
"Vic, are you asleep?"
Jurgen called again, and the bag slowly slid open.
[Sleepy][Vic][Tired]
Vic's tentacles moved sluggishly, then began to retreat back into the bag.
"Vic, I have a favour to ask."
Vic stopped its fidgeting and formed two eyes, looking up at Jurgen.
[Hanbin?][Angry?]
"I'm not angry. I simply need your help."
Jurgen drew from his coat the cardigan he had taken from the Townhouse earlier. The item that carried the strongest traces of Penelope's scent—the last thing she had worn.
"Miss Penelope has disappeared. Can you track her through this?"
[!!!!!!]
Vic's eyes went wide, then narrowed with seriousness.
Vic liked Penelope. Penelope was the one who always made sure to bring snacks and desserts.
Accordingly, Vic set about the task with eager, unfaltering purpose.
[Target confirmed][Tracking initiated]
Eyes and mouths sprouted densely through the gap in the bag. A small mouth gaped open and absorbed the surrounding particles along with the air.
Vic's sense of smell surpassed every hunting hound in the world.
Wherever Penelope might be, whatever state she might be in—Through the concentration of scent, Vic would be able to track her at once.
Had it not been Vic's help that had led them to the hideout of the Outlaws who had made their base in the Demon Realm, back when Serena had been abducted?
Even if complete tracking was impossible, if they could at least identify the starting point, things would move quickly.
Vic, which had been moving about in a wriggling fashion, suddenly raised one tentacle high.
A signal that she had found something.
"Where?"
[That way!]
Vic's tentacle pointed east. East of Nortaris—beyond the old town district, the forest perhaps?
Just as Jurgen was about to rise to his feet—
[That way?]
Vic hesitated, then turned the tentacle to the west.
[That way?][That way?]
Then south. Then north again. Like a compass gone haywire, the tentacle began spinning in all directions.
[Smell][Strange]
Vic was clearly flustered. The tentacles curled and twisted. Vic kept sniffing the cardigan again, only to become confused once more.
But the result was the same. Vic could not get her bearings at all.
Had something like this ever happened before?
[Gone][Mama]
"Gone? Do you mean the scent has been scattered?"
[Vic][Doesn't know]
Vic drooped her tentacles, bewildered.
Rupert Rosemore had been proven innocent. And yet Penelope had vanished. And Vic had failed to track her.
[Sorry]
"Thank you."
Jurgen patted a dejected Vic and headed to his room.
At the very least, one thing was certain.
Something had befallen Penelope. She had been 'isolated' in a manner so thorough that even Vic could not pick up so much as a trace.
In that case, it was time for Jurgen to respond not as Jurgen, but as Hanbin.
Creaaak!
He moved the bookshelf and opened the heavy safe behind it. Inside lay a rainbow-coloured cube he had been quietly crafting whenever he found spare moments.
The Alchemy Catalyst required for using Material Creation.
Thirty 'Dice' were laid out within.