The Failed Formula
Leon smiled widely at the three people, but, in truth, he couldn't let his mind relax for even a moment.
One of these people, Luke, was an acquaintance he'd recently met for the first time and was someone he'd be glad to cooperate with because Lala was the one who brought him with her.
And while the other two people remained a mystery to him, they couldn't be left unchecked. He sensed the overwhelming pressure that they carried with them the very moment they'd entered the building.
Leon still couldn't figure out why these people were with Luke, but he got a hint once the man in the dark orange robe introduced himself as Luke's master after Leon pretended to accidentally hit Luke with the door.
The reason he did that is because he wanted to test the waters and see the reactions of the two seemingly powerful people.
Just where did you meet such a beast of a master… thought Leon, a bit jealous of Luke's good fortune… or perhaps it was misfortune? He couldn't know.
The woman was not to be underestimated either, as Leon was confident that she would have little trouble overwhelming him in a fight as well.
As much as Leon would've liked to sit here and chat leisurely with Luke, the pressure he felt from the two people wouldn't allow him to pretend that he was fine for long. Sweat had already started forming on the back of his neck, but he hoped that no one would take note of that.
After the formal introductions were over, Leon got to the heart of the matter.
"How can I help you?"
This question was directed at Luke.
"I'm looking for Lala," answered Luke with a furrowed brow.
Sighing internally at Luke's answer, Leon nodded at him while keeping up his nervous smile. He was relieved that Luke didn't bring these people to strong-arm him into helping against Joseph.
Of course, Luke wouldn't even need Leon's help if he got the backing of these two people. Leon didn't know much about Joseph, but from what he knew, he wasn't overly accomplished as an elementalist.
"She was worried and went out to search for you. I assured her that you'd be fine, but she insisted," Leon said with a strained, albeit slightly more relaxed than before, smile. He tried keeping the conversation as short as possible, even though he was almost sure that these two people wouldn't harm him in any way; the pressure they emanated was just that strong.
"When did she go out? And did she tell you about where she was going to search?" continued Luke, completely oblivious to Leon's internal struggle.
"I believe it was a couple of hours ago. And about the other question… she stormed off in a bit of a fit once I told her that waiting for you to come back would be a better idea."
Hearing that made Luke scratch the back of his head with a shy smile.
'That girl… She really keeps giving me the impression that she cares about me. But why would she feel any kind of attachment to me?'
As he thought about the deeper meaning behind it, Luke's smile froze in place.
"Luke?"
But Leon called out to him, which caused Luke to break out of his doubtful thoughts.
"…Yeah, I heard what you said. Guess I'll ask around town."
As Luke stood up to leave, both Ellios and Anastasia followed.
Looking at them with a sense of dismay in his eyes, Leon hesitated to speak.
Just before Luke grabbed the door handle, Leon managed to blurt out what was on his mind ever since he witnessed Luke in the presence of his two new companions.
"Are you going to travel to Millef after finding Lala?"
The actual meaning of the question was obvious. There was only one thing – no, one person – of interest to them in Millef.
Stopping his hand, which had almost reached the handle of the door, Luke turned only his head around to grin at Leon with a confident look on his face.
"Who knows?"
Saying that, Luke exited the room as well as the embassy building, along with Ellios and Anastasia.
Standing on the street just outside the embassy building, Luke looked to the left and then to the right.
"Where do we even start asking?" asked Luke, wondering if he could even find Lala in a city this big merely by word of mouth.
Ellios shook his head and smirked as he stood proudly with his hands on the sides of his hips.
"That will not be necessary. I have already located the girl."
Luke's jaw hit the floor immediately.
"Huh? Huuuuuuuh?!"
Everyone in the city could hear Luke's shocked scream as it resounded throughout the streets.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Millef, while not nearly as big as Naiccos or the Imperial Capital of the Empire, still had a lot of problems concerning the monsters plaguing the territory within the city's direct jurisdiction.
Areas such as the Great Swamp or the Forest of N'Gool were prime examples of such territories.
They were populated by a vast number of very weak monsters, but such monsters were more than enough to destroy entire villages that consisted of elemental-less commoners.
Regulating and resolving the problems that arise was the responsibility of the Bounty Hunter's Association branch in said area.
Joseph had never known any of his relatives or family, so carrying all of life's burdens and duties on his own shoulders wasn't anything new to him.
But when it came to the various schemes he developed, he had to use other people because it was nearly impossible to handle all of them simultaneously, together with the work that came with serving as the Association Head of the Millef branch.
Even with his connections and capabilities, Joseph couldn't keep track of every little detail and contingency that occurred within his plans.
He gets very little sleep as it is, so knowing everything about anything would be too much to ask of him.
And lately, he's been getting even less sleep. A couple of weeks ago, an incident occurred in the village of Obron, which was a part of Millef's direct jurisdiction.
Military investigators were sent as soon as the word about it spread, which was less than twelve hours in this case, considering the regular patrols sent from Millef to the surrounding villages as well as the survivors attesting to the incident.
Concluding that the incident wasn't caused by monsters but instead by an elementalist, a proper investigation was launched immediately.
Joseph was also one of the people "helping" with the investigation, even though he was the perpetrator.
He had falsified an alibi for himself, so it was safe to say that no one would suspect him. Except for two people. He had sent two of his informants to keep an eye on them well over two weeks ago, but he still hasn't heard anything from them.
It was within the realm of possibility that they had been dealt with by his opponents.
'A weak brat and a two-faced bitch… Just great,' thought Joseph as his brow slightly twitched.
The quill in Joseph's hands snapped under the pressure from his hand, producing an uneven line across the neatly written words on the paper sitting on his desk.
Closing his eyes, he sighed and started tearing the paper with a sour expression.
Two pieces, four pieces, eight pieces.
He tore the paper in half as many times as he could and then threw it away in front of him.
The small pieces of paper floated through the air like snow before landing in front of someone's feet.
"Hey, fucker."
Widening his eyes, he looked at the person standing in front of him in disillusion.
'When did he appear there?!'
Convincing himself that the reason for not noticing him was simply because he was tired, Joseph glared at the uninvited guest.
While they were in the Bounty Hunter's Association building, it was long after its closing hours. There currently shouldn't be anyone else aside from him inside the building.
'What is that useless bastard outside even doing?'
Joseph was thinking of the shadow elementalist, who was stationed outside of the building, with his only job being to guard Joseph and alert him to any suspicious activity.
The person standing in front of him wore a hood over his head, and considering the only source of light in the reception area of the building was coming from the candle on his desk, Joseph couldn't tell who the intruder was.
"The silent treatment, huh… That's also fine."
'Did I make a miscalculation?'
Joseph couldn't gauge the power of the person in front of him, so he started having doubts.
'I couldn't have pissed off anyone powerful… All of my plans are thought through to perfection, so there are no possible mistakes to be made in the execution!'
The hooded figure started approaching Joseph.
"Let me make myself crystal clear. You have not miscalculated anything."
Trying not to show any shock on his face, Joseph remained seated at his desk, his expression as calm as a lake.
'W-what? Did he just read my mind? No, that's impossible… Definitely impossible.'
Standing in front of Joseph's desk, the person took off their black hood and grinned in a condescending manner, their face lit up by the red flame of the candle.
"I'm simply an unknown variable."