Chapter 072
Seeing Joy’s suddenly serious demeanor, I felt like I shouldn’t interrupt, so I quietly moved to sit next to him.
“Joy, are you alright?”
“I think I’ll survive as long as I don’t move.”
“How can you have even less stamina than I do?”
Seeing his slumped posture, which was the complete opposite of his usual confident and playful self, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
“People can’t be perfect. Doesn’t this make me look a bit more human?”
After resting for a while, it seemed Joy’s mood had improved, as he responded to me with his usual playful tone.
“Now that you look okay, let’s start moving slowly.”
With Roman’s attention diverted elsewhere, it was the perfect time to use detection magic.
I led Joy, who was still draped over the rocks, to a suitable spot and settled down.
“This looks good.”
As Joy searched for a proper place to use his magic, he seemed to find one he liked, placing his hands on the ground and closing his eyes.
Rustle.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew, and the sound of the rustling leaves echoed through the mountain like music.
I watched Joy, who was quietly concentrating with his hands on the ground.
Since the key was to examine as wide an area as possible, it would likely take a considerable amount of stamina.
‘He could have dismissed it as a futile effort, yet he readily agreed.’
While I naturally knew that somewhere in this area lay the Tilke, it was different for Joy.
Even though I had promised him a reward, I felt a sense of gratitude towards Joy for agreeing to search for an ore that wasn’t even certain to exist.
‘We must have become friends, right?’
Looking back to when we first met, I never expected we would become this close, and sometimes I found it surprising and amazing myself.
Although he was neither of the same gender nor someone I knew well, he was just a young man.
Strangely enough, being with Joy made me feel at ease to the point where I wished he would stay here a bit longer.
‘I think they said the barrier in the border area would be nearly completed in two weeks… I wonder if he would stay a little longer if I asked him then.’
When I first approached Joy about the barrier request, he had shown an attitude that he would leave this place immediately after completing the task, without a hint of hesitation.
At that time, I didn’t think much of Joy’s attitude, but now my thoughts had changed somewhat.
If he were to show the same indifferent demeanor and say he was leaving two weeks later as he did when we first met, I had a feeling I would be quite disappointed.
Just as I was sinking into such thoughts and becoming increasingly gloomy.
“There’s not much to see over here.”
Joy’s voice, which came at just the right moment, pulled me out of my melancholic musings.
Rising from his crouched position, Joy shrugged his shoulders and spoke up.
“It seems like our area is a bust. There’s not even a coin, let alone a mine.”
The range Joy had examined using his magic to the fullest was similar to the area we were set to explore today.
“Well, then there’s no need to look here any further.”
My shoulders, once filled with anticipation, drooped, and a sigh of disappointment escaped me.
As I displayed this reaction, Joy, who had been watching me closely, crossed his arms and spoke in a teasing tone.
“Something’s fishy.”
“What do you mean?”
“The way you pointed out the mine from the start is strange. You look like someone who knows there’s definitely a mine somewhere around here.”
At Joy’s words, my shoulders involuntarily flinched.
“W-well, it’s just that in such a vast territory, there should be at least one mine that could be profitable.”
I tried to feign calmness, but it seemed I couldn’t help but stumble over my words.
But since I couldn’t speak the truth, I decided to be a bit more brazen.
“Just two months ago, an opal mine was discovered in the neighboring territory of Krindel. If we don’t try something, how can we expect luck to come our way?”
Until two months ago, the territory of Krindel had been a poor land, suffering from poverty as the entire region struggled to make ends meet.
The land had been devastated by long wars and was not suitable for planting crops, so they had no choice but to seek other means of survival.
To do that, they needed to know what resources were left in their territory, and under the lord’s leadership, they conducted a survey of the land, during which they fortuitously discovered the opal mine.
“Well… now that you mention it, that does make sense.”
Whether my continued explanation resonated with him or not, Joy nodded and seemed to lose interest in the topic.
“…Sir! Where are you?”
At that moment, we heard Roman’s voice calling for us through the dense trees.
“We’re over here.”
“Oh, there you are!”
Roman soon emerged from the bushes.
“Did you find something?”
“No, not yet.”
Noticing the hint of disappointment in my voice, Roman spoke with a bright smile.
“Haha. But it’s not like there’s been a complete lack of harvest. Coming out here to understand the terrain of the mountain and collecting the plants that only grow here will be a great help to the territory in the future.”
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to comfort me, but I did feel uplifted by the trust conveyed in Roman’s words.
“Now, it seems we’ve seen everything around here, so let’s head to the next point.”
“Ugh.”
As Roman took the lead to climb the mountain again, a desperate groan escaped Joy’s lips.
After wandering around the mountain for about five more hours, we headed back to the gathering point.
As we finished our investigation and returned to the castle, the sun had already set, and the surroundings had grown dark.
“Y-you’re back, my lady.”
As I dismounted and entered the first-floor hall, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“Is something wrong in the castle?”
I asked Nora, who was waiting at the entrance.
Upon hearing my question, Nora opened her mouth with a face that looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
“I’m so sorry. Right now, the child has gone missing, and the maids are searching for him.”
“What?”
My eyes widened in disbelief at Nora’s words.
“The child has gone missing? How long has it been since he disappeared?”
“Well… just an hour before you returned, we confirmed he was in her room, but when I went back to bring him a snack, he was gone.”
“So, no one has seen the child for at least 30 minutes.”
At my words, the heads of those in the hall bowed down in shame.
“She wouldn’t have gone outside the castle, so please search again in places where the child might have gone.”
“Yes, understood.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the servants quickly dispersed to search for the child.
The hall, which had instantly become empty, still resonated with a chaotic energy.
I, too, was deep in thought about where to start looking for the child when I heard a voice.
“Don’t worry, my lady. I’ll use my detection magic to find him.”
Joy, who remained in the hall with me, whispered softly to reassure me.
“Is that okay?”
Knowing that Joy had already expended a lot of energy in the mountains, I asked about his condition with a voice filled with concern.
“Of course it’s okay! My lady, are you underestimating me too much?”
Joy’s complexion, revealed beneath his hair, was paler than usual, but I simply nodded at him without saying anything.
Soon after, Joy used his detection magic just like he did in the mountains.
“Huh? Wait, this can’t be right.”
Joy, who had seemed so confident just a moment ago, started tilting her head in confusion with a flustered voice.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t sense anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“I should be able to feel the child’s energy, but I’m not sensing anything at all.”
In a seriously lowered voice, Joy seemed to try using his magic a few more times before taking a deep breath and speaking again.
“What is this…? It shouldn’t be possible unless the child is dead.”
midori
thanks! more likely that the child has the ability or predisposition to avoid magic/detection or something, hm?