Chapter 13: Disappearing again

After that, we went back to the room and started making holy water again. With me joining in, the water tub downstairs was not enough very soon. The landlord somehow found two more water tubs. With three tubs going at the same time, there was plenty of supply which made the buyers very happy. The queue even went to the next street.

I don't know how long it took, but I saw that all three tubs were filled with holy water already. I clapped my hands and decided to stop production for the day.

"Okay, this should be enough for your stock tomorrow! Also, I can't keep making holy water with you all the time. I have other things to do!"

I looked at the time again. It was night time already. I wondered why that fellow Nicola still hadn't come back. I decided to go to the royal castle later to check out the situation.

"Alright, after selling holy water the whole day, we already earned a lot. It's indeed time to close shop and rest."

While counting the silvers on the table, Cyra nodded and agreed. The sky was dark already. Although there were still some customers queuing outside the bookstore, the numbers were much lesser compared to before.

"About how much did we earn?"

Seeing the tall stack of silvers in front of her, I couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Less than 100,000 silvers. But I still need to pay the three temporary workers..."

"That's a lot already!"

Although I was mentally prepared, hearing this number still shocked me a little. In less than half a day, they earned close to 100,000 silvers! The speed was quite terrifying.

I guessed tomorrow's sales would be lower. But no matter what, the share I could get was much more than doing quests for a month.

"Is Feliciana coming with us later to celebrate over dinner?"

At this moment, the landlord walked out from the bookstore and asked me.

"dinner..."

Earning so much money in one shot, it was reasonable to celebrate a little. I pondered for a while.

"But Nicola still hasn't come back. It doesn't feel right to leave her out. You guys go ahead first. I'll find her then we'll come together."

"Fine! Although that fellow argued with me earlier, I'll graciously allow her to join us for a free meal!"

Having earned money, Cyra was in a very good mood. She didn't bother about their quarrel last night anymore.

"Come over quick later. I booked a table at that 'Autumn Pavilion' restaurant we passed by yesterday!"

Before leaving, Cyra reminded me. They were packing up now. Of course, the three new temporary workers would join the celebration too.

There was an advantage at night. I didn't need to walk anymore. Like before, I just had to find a secluded spot, spread my wings, then swiftly fly towards the royal castle at the lake center.

However, I met with an obstacle this time. Before I could get near my destination, I saw a row of hippogriff knights blocking my path.

"Er, I'm going to the royal castle to find my friend Nicola. She came here early this morning to discuss some matters with King Galahad..."

Probably because of the assassination attempt yesterday, security was greatly increased around the king's castle. I had no choice but to honestly state my purpose.

"Nicola is the name of the angel who protected His Majesty the King right? I remember she came to the castle together with her yesterday. There shouldn't be any issues then!"

One of the hippogriff knights recognised me. Upon hearing this, the others didn't stop me anymore. After all, angels were considered friendly to the Astralrealm Kingdom. I easily passed through.

"Miss Feliciana, may I ask what business brings you to the royal castle at night?"

Like before, as soon as I landed on the square roof of the castle, the castle steward immediately came out from the building to formally ask. It seemed the hippogriff knights had immediately passed word of my arrival to the castle.

"Nicola came here early this morning to discuss cooperation matters with the King. But she still hasn't returned. So I came to inquery..."

"Miss Nicola did come this morning. But she already left around noon."

His reply was somewhat unexpected.

Unexpectedly, Nicola had left so long ago! But why did she leave the castle so early without returning home? Could it be she went to the arcade again?

"I see... I'll go look for her elsewhere then..."

Since he already said so, I didn't insist on entering. This reminded me of when Nicola previously went missing. Could there be something wrong with her mentally again?

Naturally, the next place to go was the entertainment lounge. The arcade owner welcomed me warmly like we were old friends. But the result was the same as before. There were no discoveries.

Now I was totally confused. Could the same thing really happen a second time? Don't tell me this fellow is drinking wine alone by the lakeside again!

But when I went to the lakeside where she got drunk previously, the chair was already occupied by someone else.

A pair of ducks...

I could only quietly fly back up into the sky again. Now I didn't know where else to look.

Considering the wide area the lake covered, what if Nicola didn't choose the same spot to drink alone this time? That would be more troublesome. I'd have to search the entire lakeside?

Just as I was fretting over what to do, I suddenly sensed a huge cluster of light elements moving in the sky nearby. Although it was too dark to see clearly with my eyes at night, I judged from experience that it should be an angel flying over there.

"Which angel is still flying around the sky so late at night? Could it be..."

Without hesitation, I flew swiftly towards the light elements. The other party seemed to also notice my approach, turning around and moving closer to me.

"Feliciana?"

"Nicola?"

After I could clearly see the other's face, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Expectedly, it really was her. I finally found her.

"Hey! Where exactly did you run off to? I searched so hard for you. I thought you hid somewhere drinking alone again!"

"No way, I won't do something so silly again!"

Hearing me, she was a little embarrassed and quickly explained.

"Actually, I went to Parristol earlier. Because that place is located at the eastern border of the kingdom, going there and back took quite some time. So I didn't manage to get back before dark...I'm sorry."

"Parristol? Why did you go there?"

Hearing her, I felt confused. I didn't understand at all why she ran to such a far away place.

That was a border region of the Astralrealm Kingdom! Taking normal flight speed, it would take at least half a day to reach that place. Nicola probably used a high speed flying skill to accomplish a return trip within half a day.

"Of course it was to scout the situation!"

While replying, Nicola pulled me along slowly flying towards the rental house.

"After finishing discussing cooperation matters with the King at the castle this morning, I was about to leave when I overheard some maidservants whispering among themselves about matters in Parristol. After all, the assassination bombing yesterday caused quite a big commotion. So I hid nearby and listened for a while..."

"Anything special? Didn't that castle steward already briefed us about Parristol yesterday?"

I still didn't really understand.

"He didn't say everything. But the maids' conversation had some mysterious parts."

Saying this, Nicola meaningfully glanced at the king's castle standing in the lake center. She slowly asked.

"In the past, the country Parristol didn't have a very large land area. Just slightly bigger than a city area. But it was able to survive for thousands of years sandwiched between the three big nations - Astralrealm Kingdom, Ilandra Dominion to the south, and Cresthaven Papal Dominion to the east. Don't you find this a bit amazing?"

"Yeah..."

Hearing her say this, I also felt something was amiss.

Such a small country, its military strength should be very weak. Yet it was able to survive so many years without being annexed. It was difficult to explain this just by skilled diplomacy. It was impossible for every generation of the royal family to be diplomatic geniuses!

Even considering the surrounding three big nations checked one another, good fortune couldn't have lasted this long for thousands of years.

Considering this world was different from Earth, with the existence of magic and such, individuals could become much more powerful. So there was only one possibility.

"Could it be that in the past, this country had many big shots defending it? And the reason Astralrealm Kingdom could annex it was because these big shots had all died, or were no longer willing to defend the nation?"

"No!"

Unexpectedly, she shook her head and immediately denied my guess.

"Perhaps there really were some so-called 'big shots', but these 'big shots' were definitely not what you imagine..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I was completely confused now, and could only roll my eyes to urge her.

"Come on, stop beating around the bush and just say it directly!"

"At that time, I heard an interesting matter from the maids in the king's castle..."

Nicola nodded and slowly shared the information she got with me.

"You should still remember Chromos Tower, the iconic Parristol tourist attraction that the castle steward specifically mentioned before right... It's said that the Raul royal family who ruled Parristol lived in this tower for thousands of years. They used it completely as their palace, never changing this over the millennia!"