[55.3] Owl Hunting

Later that night, I paced back and forth trying to come up with a plan.

The vacation plan isn't working. I have to figure something else out to bring the three of them out of their depression.

There's nothing I can do for Zephyr…

You can't bring a sibling back from the dead.

Well. I guess I could bring her back with necromancy, but I promised the Headmaster I wouldn't use necromancy again and I barely managed to survive bringing my own mother back.

So what if I prove that Hazel wasn't the killer?

Maybe that would lessen his bad mood.

…However, if I prove that it was Hazel then there would be no question that his Ex was the enemy all along.

I shook my head and drilled my fists into my temples, "Too hard! I'm not an investigator!"

Maybe I should hire Chief Gonza to look into it…

Ah, wait. No. Then he would find out I have involvement with demons.

I'm not too sure how strong his stance is against demons, but it can't be good. His job is literally to find the demon sympathizers and bring them to justice.

I let out a sigh, "What about Cyrus then?"

If I find Caldwell, I can drag him to Cyrus to explain himself.

Of course, that means I have to put effort into figuring out where he went and I'm not an investigator.

I paused.

Wait. That might not be too hard.

I found all of the kidnapper's camps when I was a child and all I had to do is ask around and eventually I was pointed in the right direction.

A snowy owl can't be too hard to find, right?

This Kingdom doesn't have snowy owls!! This will be easier than eating cake!

Then after I bring Caldwell back, he can go and help Chief Gonza with his crazy adventure.

Then when Chief Gonza ultimately finds nothing, he will make up with the Headmaster!

THEN! I can have Chief Gonza figure out if Hazel is innocent or not!

I grinned brightly, "I can solve all three problems with the least amount of effort! I'm BRILLIANT!"

I patted off my hands proudly and went into the kitchen to quickly write a note. Then I summoned my ice chunk and soared off in the direction I remembered Caldwell flying off to. I stopped at the next village and poked my head over my ice chunk to see the surprised faces of the villagers.

"Hello! Um, did any of you see a snowy owl fly this way a few days ago?"

The villagers all silently pointed in the same direction.

As I thought! Snowy owls are hard to find in this world.

I nodded with a bright grin, "Thank you!"

I continued to soar off in that direction. I was already making good time passing through each village and getting directions to where Caldwell had flown to. I had to give myself a pat on the back.

I should become a bounty hunter! I'm so good at stalking-ER I mean, I'm good at finding missing people!

I arrived at the next village and found the villagers were more wary of me than the others.

I lowered the ice chunk to get closer to them, "I'm looking for a snowy owl. Did he pass through here a few days ago?"

The man in front of the others looked me up and down critically. He spoke in a harsh tone, "Why are you looking for this owl?"

Eh. Aren't they a nosy bunch?

"He's my good friend's pet."

A lady behind him scoffed, "Is your friend a demon sympathizer?"

I blinked in confusion, "I'm sorry?"

The man answered, "That owl flew into the Macabre forest."

I pinched my eyebrows together as I thought.

Macabre forest, Macabre forest… Where have I heard this name before?

The lady answered my thoughts, "The demon folk lives there."

The man huffed, "I suggest you turn around. We've barely been living peacefully with that bunch and we don't need an outsider ruining that for us."

"Eh? But if it's the Macabre forest-" I looked around, "Where are the Royal knights? Aren't they supposed to patrol the forest?"

The group of villagers burst into laughter.

Someone scoffed, "Those Royal Knights just take their duty as an excuse to lounge around on paid vacation."

A lady shook her head to answer my question, "Fighting with the demons of the Macabre forest is more than just foolish. The Great Fairy blessed that tribe and now no one can touch them, let alone hurt them. The Royal Knights know this too. As long as the demons don't cause trouble, the knights won't have any issues with them."

The man shooed me with his hand, "So I suggest you leave. Now."

"Well I'm sorry, but-" I raised in the air on my ice chunk and soared towards the forest. I shouted behind me, "-That owl is my friend!"

The lady panicked, "She's going to ruin everything!"

The man held up a hand to calm her down, "Relax. She won't even get the chance. The forest will spit her out just as it did with all the others."

When I got to the edge of the forest, I hopped off of my ice chunk. Staring at the dark and ominous trees with dense foliage, I had an odd sense of familiarity. I tilted my head in confusion as I slowly reached out my hand. The trees suddenly warped and I immediately realized there was a barrier surrounding it. However, I didn't feel any sense of danger and gave a shrug. I entered into the forest, swallowed up by the barrier.

The villager's eyes all widened as I suddenly disappeared into thin air.