Chapter 27: Search

"I came here for a quest. But few things went wrong and I am here." Karl explains.

Serena doesn't react much. "Was your quest related to the three horned ape?"

'That huge monkey?' Karl recalls how Sian's single attack killed that ape.

"No. I was here to hunt some white manned desert wolves."

Serena raises her eyebrow to that sentence. "Hunting desert wolves in a forest?"

Karl clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Like I said few things went wrong and I am here."

Serena looks not so convinced by Karl's answer. 

"RELEASE ME!" Karl yells in frustration. At that moment his chest pain acts up and he grabs his chest as he struggles to breath. Leonard's body went through hell, till now it was somewhat stable but due to continue mana overuse and lethal injuries it finally gave up. Karl's vision is blacking out.

On the other hand, Serena does not show any sign of sympathy and watches Karl crawl on the ground.

Karl gathers his last bit of energy and says "Save me! I tell you about that ape." He tries to grab Serena's feet. Serena looks at Karl as if she is looking at a beggar.

Suddenly her gaze softens as her face takes a sadistic expression. Karl loses his consciousness.

SNAP!

Karl is in his room back at earth. He is lying down in his bed. Suddenly, the alarm rings. He gets up to stop it.

"You abandoned her." Karl notices Leonard standing beside his bed.

"You abandoned Zena."

"Stop-"

"YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER!" Leonard's voice distorts. For some reason Karl hates Leonard's voice, he finds it too unsettling.

Everything starts to shake. Few frames and Karl's computer falls on the ground. Everything starts to crumble. Among all this destruction, Karl is thinking about his decisions now.

'Why did I cry? For Zena? Since when I became this weak. No. I barely known her. I didn't cry. I didn't become weak.'

Karl slowly looks up. 'He is weak.'

Black tears coming out of Leonard's eyes.

"I was fighting Sian. She lost her battle. It's her fault. I can't change that." Karl boldly states it.

Leonard's gaze turns hostile. "I THOUGHT YOU WILL HELP ME. HELP MY FRIENDS. HELP ME. HELP!" Leonard puts his hands around Karl's neck and tries to suffocate him to death.

'How much more should I pity you?' Karl smiles apathetically and pushes Leonard back. He easily overpowers him. Tears falls on Karl face.

"Help me. Please." Leonard is shaking as tears are falling. Karl pulls Leonard into a hug.

"P-Please make my life better."

"Yes. I promise you this won't happen again."

Back at the academy. Andressa is standing near the main gate waiting for someone. She is not wearing her usual uniform. Instead, she is wearing a blue jumpsuit and white sneakers at bottom with a small purse in hand. Her hair is tied up in low ponytail. She is constantly checking her watch for time.

Suddenly wind blows slightly faster, she grabs her hair to protect it. Orange-red leaves are gracefully following on the ground. Just then she spots Ian walking towards her in a distance.

He looks majestic. His hair dishevelled from the wind, combined with his petite face looks cute. He is wearing a white shirt on black trousers and formal black shoes on the bottom. First two buttons on his shirt are open. He notices Andressa and slightly waves at her. Andressa waves back.

'He smells nice.' That was Andressa's first thought as Ian is walking besides her.

"Did he contact you in anyway?" Ian asks. Andressa just shakes her head.

Ian sighs loudly. 'It has been 3 days since he left with Zena and both of them aren't answering any of my calls.'

"Listen, Ian."

"Hmm?"

"I know this should not be our concern now but Leo's reward arrived this morning." Andressa opens her purse and reveals a scroll.

It looks old and rough on the edges. Ian opens the scroll but his eyes quickly lose interest. "Keep it. Give him when he comes back." Andressa takes the scroll back.

Suddenly a white van resembling a G-class stops infront of them. Without saying anything Ian opens the door and sits in. He glances back at Andressa who is standing there like an idiot.

"Are you going to walk?"

"N-No." She quickly hops in and the door closes itself.

"I told you this on call but listen again, On my father's request I hired an experienced individual to find Leo. You just need to give any information he asks about Leo and Miss Zena." Ian explains.

"Y-Yes." Andressa nods aggressively clearly showing that she is nervous.

Ian noticed it but doesn't point it out.

'Normally, I would have done it alone. But the catcher asked to see the last person who came in contact with Leo. Unfortunately, I wasn't present there which makes her the last person Leonard talked to. What a mess!' Ian touches his forehead in stress.

To distract himself Ian looks outside from the window. On the ground, roads are filled with cars. People walking could be seen almost everywhere, various stalls which sells vegetables, meat and other food items are open.

'Unlicensed shops are open in broad daylight? Looks like Sian and his goons are out of the city. Else, things wouldn't be so cherry.'

On the other hand, Andressa is just staring at her purse. In her mind she is thinking about Karl. 'Is he safe? Has he eaten anything? He isn't hurt, is he?'

Ian doesn't bother to start a conversation. Therefore, the entire ride was just silence.

After twenty so minutes the van descends on the ground. "Looks like we are here."

The door opens and Andressa comes out first. There she sees a huge mansion in a distance. Surrounded by garden and various trees. Ian steps out of the van.

"Come with me." Ian proceeds to walk towards the mansion and Andressa follows him, no questions asked. From the distance the mansion looked huge but as Andressa walked closer she started to see its beauty as well. There are white polished stairs at the entrance which are slightly shinning.

Just a few meters away from the mansion Ian stops. Andressa who was admiring the decoration doesn't notice it and bumps into him. "Huh? What happened?"

Ian is looking at his watch. Suddenly he turns left and moves forward. "Hey! What happened?" Andressa asked but Ian doesn't say anything.

Andressa notices that Ian's face looks very serious. So, she follows him. They are now walking on a stone road. There are flowers on both sides of the road. In a distance there is a tea oasis.

A lady in royal-like attire is seating in the oasis. Now closer, the lady has blond hair, hazel eyes with mature face. She drinking some tea in a gracefully manner. Ian quickly bows. "I am pleased to meet the head of Treypins. I, Ian Desouza Phirsecot have a request to make for young Freya. May I see her?"

In the back, Andressa's throat goes dry. Her legs shaking uncontrollably. 'H-Head? Which means that she is a high knight.' The fact that Andressa is breathing in the presence of a high knight is a miracle for her. She immediately kneels down and bows.

Ignoring her, the lady says. "Freya is busy. I shall answer to your request, will that suffice?" An angelic voice comes from her mouth.

Ian makes a surprised expression. "I-I suppose so."

"Enlighten me." The lady puts her cup down and looks directly at Andressa. A chill is felt by Andressa.

"My brother and my friend Leonard Avaritia is gone missing. I require your assistance in this matter. Here is my father's letter" Ian reveals a letter from his back pocket. He walks towards her to hand her the later.

As the heir of the Phirsecots Ian will hand the letter, according to tradition this is an official request between two knighthoods. Therefore, the lady stands up in respect.

Andressa's eyes open wider than ever. The lady is towering over Ian easily and Ian is almost 6 feet. The lady opens the letter and reads it.

After few seconds, puts the letter down on the table. "Have a seat."

The lady snaps her fingers and 2 maids arrives out of nowhere, each of them having a seat in their hands. Andressa lets Ian sit first then she sits down.

Suddenly the lady summons her circle which is green in colour. It is too complex that Andressa's head hurts by just looking at it. The circle spans over the entire table. The lady begins her questions.

"Name?"

"Leonard Avaritia."

"Element?"

"Space." The lady looks up at Ian. Ian tries to keep his poker face.

"Last place seen at?"

"In Kepler mall near Saint Joel's Street."

The lady starts to insert mana into the circle which made the circle light up.

"Is there any entity who met the target before he went missing?" Ian glances at Andressa.

"M-Me." For a second Andressa notices a distasteful look in her eyes.

"Come here."

The lady commands and moves her hand forward. Andressa places her own hand on the lady's hand. 'So rough!'

Just then Andressa feels a slight shock in her palm. This means a foreign mana has entered her body. The circle on the tables shines even brighter.

Few seconds passes, nothing happens.

WHOOSH!

The circle starts to spin by itself. Also, the engravings on the circles starts to change. Andressa is fascinated by such precise control of magic.

All of a sudden, it stops. There are random lines everywhere Andressa wonders what could these even mean.

The lady is looking around the circle. "Oh. He is close. At the city gates to be precise."

Ian abruptly stands up. "Really? Thank you so much!" He bows once more.

"It was my duty. By the way, can you release my hand?"

Andressa returns back to reality. "O-Oh. I am sorry. I am extremely sorry."

To that the lady ignores it and picks her cup again. Before Andressa beg for forgiveness Ian cuts in. "I shall take my leave here. May the horizon see you."

"Tell Lameial that trader is missing. I can't find him anymore."

'Sian is missing? Wait.' A drop of sweat appears on Ian forehead as he thinks of dangerous a possibility.

"Yes, the Overseer." This time Ian bows more deeply.