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The man sized Davian up and down, then said,
"That uniform? Isn't that an Elton Academy uniform?"
The man's 'Operation Revive Deflated Bellus' was somewhat successful.
"Ah, yes, that's right. Davian oppa here is a freshman at Elton Academy. He's incredibly strong."
"Oh, a student from the prestigious Elton Academy all the way out here in the boonies."
The woman who had been forcibly pushed inside the house timidly came back out.
The man turned and glared at her.
Meaning, don't say anything unnecessary.
Fortunately, the woman succeeded in making a remark that satisfied everyone.
"It's before dinner, right? Come inside and have dinner with us. You too, handsome student in the nice uniform. If you're with Bellus, you're practically our neighbor."
Only then did the satisfied man let out a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha. Alright, let's go in. Before we lose our cute Bellus to another house, let's have dinner together at our place tonight."
Bellus glanced at Davian.
She was already worried that if they went to her house, she wouldn't have anything proper to offer, especially since he had come all this way with her.
Ever since her grandfather went missing, Bellus had been living alone in the empty house.
"Just the smell of food is making me hungry. If you two don't mind, would it be alright if we imposed on you?"
Bellus smiled brightly at Davian's reply.
The woman went behind Davian and Bellus and pushed them towards the gate.
"Don't mention the imposition. Come on in. I've already made a huge pot of soup anyway."
"So, how many people have gone missing in this village?"
At Davian's question, the man swallowed the meat he was chewing and replied.
The man was 43 years old and worked as a lumberjack.
"It's already over ten, isn't it?"
The woman chimed in.
She was the same age as the man, and the two were a married couple.
The woman made a living doing odd jobs around the village.
"Yesterday, Philos's eldest son went missing again."
"It's a really big problem. Not just our village, but the surrounding villages are all in the same situation, I hear."
He knew that a large number of disappearances were occurring throughout the northern continent around this time.
But coming directly to the village and hearing the stories firsthand felt different.
"Where are the missing people usually last seen?"
"It's not easy to know that. Most of the people here are lumberjacks or hunters like me. There's no way to know if they went missing while wandering alone in some far-off forest."
"So, it usually happens when they're alone in a remote place. Has anyone in this area seen a demon?"
"Not in our village. But there are definitely people who have seen them."
There were people who had seen demons.
But meeting a demon isn't common enough that there would be one in this village.
'It's definitely not the work of demons.'
Recalling his memories from the 3rd playthrough, a royal investigation team will be dispatched to this area in about a week.
And at the same time, the disappearances will suddenly stop as if nothing had happened.
The royal investigation team will ultimately neither find the missing people nor identify the culprit.
'If demons were kidnapping people, the disappearances wouldn't have suddenly stopped as soon as the rumor of a royal investigation team being dispatched spread.'
It's definitely the work of humans.
He doesn't know who is doing this for what reason, but they must have backed off as soon as they heard that the royal family was sending an investigation team.
'I only have three days, including the weekend, to investigate these disappearances here.'
He had gotten all the information he could from this couple.
"Thank you for the meal. Bellus, now you should show me around your house, right?"
Bellus looked at Davian with surprised eyes.
They had been eating dinner at the aunt's house for so long that it was completely dark outside, and night had fallen.
"Our... house? At this hour?"
"Yeah."
Davian's nonchalant face was reflected in Bellus's flustered eyes.
'Ah... I guess. He saved me and came all the way to my neighborhood, so I can't tell him to sleep outside, can I?'
It's not like they have to camp in the forest.
He came all the way to the village with me, so that's out of the question.
'But if we go home now, it'll just be Davian oppa and me... What should I do?'
Meanwhile, Davian had such a nonchalant expression on his face.
'Anyway, I can't just leave him to fend for himself and sleep outside. He's my savior, and he said he'd help me find my grandfather. Then I have no choice but to go home with him...'
Just then, the woman interjected.
"It's late now, and you need to sleep, right? If it's uncomfortable for you two to be alone at Bellus's house, Davian, you can stay here..."
Pinch.
"Ouch! Why is this man suddenly pinching my side!"
The man pushed the woman's shoulder back and said,
"Yeah, yeah. Go on, go on. You said you'd show him around the house, so you should show him. Sleep well, you two."
"What do you mean, a grown man and woman at this hour... Ouch! Why do you keep pinching me, you old geezer!"
The man grabbed both of the woman's shoulders, lifted her up, and headed towards the kitchen.
They were trying to whisper, but Davian and Bellus could hear everything.
"Don't interfere with young people's love lives."
"Ah...? Is that what it is? Is our Bellus already...?"
"Quiet and follow me!"
With that, the couple hurried off into the kitchen.
"Aren't you going?"
"Oh? Oh..., yes. Let's go, oppa."
Davian and Bellus left the couple's house and walked along the main street of the village again.
A short while later.
"That's my house over there. It's a bit small, isn't it?"
"No. It looks perfect for living with your grandfather, what are you talking about?"
Bellus looked at Davian in surprise.
"You knew I lived with my grandfather?"
In fact, Davian had already known from the previous playthrough that Bellus was an orphan.
"Well, you haven't mentioned your parents, and the way the neighbors reacted when we just met on the street and they asked us to have dinner together..."
"Ah..."
Bellus nodded slowly, as if understanding.
But then she flinched again.
"Even so, you, you still said we should go to my house?"
"Why, is that not okay? Are you going to make me sleep outside instead of at home?"
"N-no, it's not that..."
It seemed that their feelings of closeness and trust were different.
That was because they had known each other for different lengths of time.
Davian chuckled and slapped Bellus on the back.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything weird. Wearing such an eye-catching uniform? To someone who's going to enroll next year?"
Bellus lowered her head, feeling embarrassed.
"N-no, it's not just because of that..."
"And I'm not going to sleep here tonight anyway. Don't worry."
"Huh?"
"Let's go in first."
"...Yes."
The two of them entered Bellus's house.
Davian took off his school uniform jacket and threw it carelessly on a chair.
Bellus's eyes began to dart around again.
"A? A, ah... over there..."
"What, again? Give me some clothes to wear. Something that people in this village usually wear. Your grandfather's clothes are fine too."
"Yes?"
"Give me some clothes. Usually, kidnappings happen at night when there aren't many people around, right? Your grandfather also went missing at night, right?"
"Probably. He went out in the afternoon and didn't come back."
Bellus opened her grandfather's wardrobe and took out what looked like a clean set of clothes.
Cheap, baggy material.
It seemed like he could put them on over his uniform shirt and pants without having to take them off.
As Davian put on the clothes that Bellus handed him, he asked,
"Do you have a map of this area or something?"
"Huh? Ah, yes! My grandfather was also a hunter, after all."
Bellus brought a fairly large map.
The locations of roads, mountains, forests, lakes, and villages were drawn in considerable detail.
"What are those places with wood and animal drawings?"
"Um, those are the spots that people in our village often go to."
"I see. Just one pen."
"Yes!"
Whether she had gotten rid of her unnecessary tension, Bellus's tone of voice had returned to normal.
Davian drew lines connecting the villages, marked places where hunters or lumberjacks would likely visit, and then drew lines connecting them all.
"They probably committed the crime in a place where people don't go as much as possible. They absolutely can't let themselves be seen."
"If they wear masks, won't people not know who they are even if they see them from afar?"
"No. They have to make it look like a demon did it, but then they'd be exposed as human. There's no way a demon would be walking around the human world wearing a mask."
"Ah...!"
Places where the connected lines overlapped as little as possible.
There were about six places.
Davian pointed to the largest of them.
"I'm going to go here tonight. Bellus, you stay home. I'll be back before sunrise."
"I'll go with you, oppa!"
"From what the aunt and uncle said earlier, it doesn't seem like two or three people go missing at once, does it?"
It was just a normal dinner, but Davian had gathered quite a bit of information.
"Ah...! Then I'll go ambush another place here!"
"If you do that, I'll probably have to go looking for you first tomorrow. Just stay home."
Bellus lowered her head.
She slowly raised her head and looked at Davian.
"Um... Davian oppa."
"Yeah?"
"I'm really grateful for you saving me and for the grandfather's matter. But why are you going so far for me...?"
Davian hesitated for a moment.
He took a short breath as if he had made up his mind.
'Alright. Let's put a wedge in here. Bellus is definitely a needed party member in the future.'
Davian put his hand on top of Bellus's head.
"Because you're my first junior that I'll meet next year."
Damn it.
Davian felt like all his fingers and toes were curling up.
On the other hand.
Was it just his imagination that Bellus's big eyes seemed to be getting teary?
And why are her cheeks getting red?
Davian decided to leave quickly.
"I'll be back, Bellus."
"Y-yes..."
"Is it okay if I borrow this too?"
Davian also picked up a large bow that was hanging on the wall.
"Oppa, you know how to shoot a bow too?"
"I don't know. I have to look like a hunter, right?"
"Ah! Of course, you can take it."
Davian, with the bow slung over his shoulder, opened the gate and stepped out.
After looking around briefly to get his bearings, he took a step to go towards the place he had pointed out earlier.
Just then, Bellus, who had come out to the gate, shouted.
"Davian oppa! Be careful! And... thank you!"
Davian arrived at the place he had identified on the map.
It just so happened that the crescent moon was low, so the moonlight was not bright.
He took out the magic clock from his pocket and looked at it.
The time was 9 PM.
It was dark, but still a time when a few people would be walking around here and there.
And here, deep in the forest, no one would pass by.
'This is the perfect timing to get kidnapped.'
To make it look natural, he busily walked around, looking around.
As if he were someone trying to find his way before it got too late.
'Is today Thursday? I'll just try until tomorrow, and then I'll have to find the culprit using other methods on the weekend.'
To get a panoramic view of a wide area, he could use his magic to sense the mana.
But if the other party had a magician, there was a risk of Davian's identity being exposed in reverse.
'Well, for now, let's just walk around. The outfit, time, and location are perfect.'
That's when it happened.
Pyoowit!
A tiny needle flew out of the darkness.
The needle was lodged right in Davian's neck.
'Is this a poison needle...?'
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