Vol. 1 - Ch. 289 - The Case of Saintess's Disappearance (2)

Chapter 287 - 

The season had transitioned to the late spring already. It was a weekday when certain information made it to the base of Knight Order's 3rd Legion, a.k.a. Central Military Garrison.

—Saintess Jeuri Levarance has gone missing.

The chronology of, er, incident (?), went as follows. 

The first anomaly was noticed when Jeuri Leverance, a 2nd year student of Royal Academy, didn't appear during Monday's class with no prior notice. 

Concerned, three of her girl classmates visited her dormitory's room, also located inside the academy's premise, after classes. They heard no reply despite the knock, but strangely the door wasn't locked. 

They found it very odd, and cautiously stepped inside the room. The room was empty, and they found a single sheet of paper addressed to her father.

The letter had no envelope, but given handwriting, it was presumed to be of Jeuri's. It explained she was departing on a pilgrimage to various countries to continue her training and master holy magic.

Her classmates couldn't help but raise their brows at the solemn content, and the phrasing far too sudden and bare. Promptly, one of the girls—Feyroon von Dragoon—contacted the Leverance family.

They also sprang to gather eyewitnesses' testimony, and learned from Coconial Canardia—he was another of Jeuri's classmates, and the last person to witness her apparently—she had left the dorm on foot two evenings earlier. 

According to Coconial, who had been in the front garden working on an observation mana tool, Jeuri had left the dorm wearing the simple attire, her sister’s habit, she sometimes used. Then, she had returned shortly afterward, and went out again carrying only a small amount of luggage.

There was one detail that had particularly stuck to him.

On her second departure, Coconial casually asked her where she was headed at that hour, but he never heard from her. 

He didn't give it much thought then, assuming she must've lost in thought to hear him. But thinking back now, he recalled how she had walked with her head raised, eyes fixed straight ahead, lips pressed into a thin line. And for just a moment, it almost looked as though she slowed her pace and smiled.

After rounding up the testimonies, as well taking into account Jeuri's typical activity and the circumstances, they believed Jeuri had been caught into some situation. 

Jeuri hailed from the House of Leverance, one of the leading noble families in the Yuglia kingdom, and was a gem of talent herself, so it wasn't beyond her to meet with unsavoury situations. Immediately, they put up a search request to the Knight Order.

With all the testimony rounded up, as well taking Jeuri's circumstances and the situation a

Taking this testimony together with her circumstances and the surrounding details, officials concluded there was a real possibility of foul play.

Now, while the capital's police collected eyewitness accounts across the streets, the Knights were holding a review meeting in the conference room of the Central Garrison.

◆

"...Once the young lady had finished her activities, I had escorted her to the academy's rear gate and confirmed she went inside."

Sebas, Jeu's butler, reported with a haggard appearance.

The military garrison was off-limits to any personnel not from Knight Order, but given the situation, Sebas and Marquis Leverance's participation were allowed on this occasion. 

As a fact, Allen was also present at the military garrison, training with Kiana for his archery practice, but even he didn't get clearance. 

The activity Sebas explained had been about Jeu quietly performing holy magic at a downtown church free-of-charge the day she went missing.

"Hmm... Once a student is in the premises of an academy, it is nigh impossible for any outsider to abduct them. Did you notice anything strange about Lady Jeu when you saw her off?"

Justin, the graduate of the same Royal Academy from two years ago, contemplated and inquired. 

"...Everything about Lady Jeu was as she goes about typically, so nothing out of the ordinary... After finishing her charity work in secrecy, which exhausted her due to the depletion of mana, she would usually rest inside the carriage, but that day, she simply stared out the window the whole time, lost in thought. I... I should've noticed then, I failed in my duty."

"Hmm. The victim—maybe not yet, it's yet to be determined if she has been caught in an accident, the young lady's unusual act was noticeable after the charity work. Perhaps, someone made contact with the young lady then, and asked her to come to the suggested location. We also can't eliminate the possibility of an insider hand."

Dew, the investigation officer of this case, cranked his neck, and glanced at Marquis Leverance.

“…Do you have anyone in mind?”

When Dew directed the question to the marquis—present as a key witness—the marquis grimaced and shook his head.

“There are too many to count… Jeu’s name has spread rapidly these days. Even if it appears she's doing her charity work in secret, anyone who knew a fraction about her would be able to guess her identity immediately. Naturally, there were countless people who’d want to get close to her, or people who’d want to exploit her holy magic.”

The entire reason behind quiet charity work had been to escape all the unwanted attention.

Part of it was practical—she wanted more real situations to train her holy magic, but didn’t like the idea of seeking out injured people just to gain skill. She also didn’t want fame gathering around her for such reasons.

Even so, rumors had been slowly spreading for over half a year about a young sister offering high-level holy magic, something that ordinarily only the privileged could afford, free of charge to the poor.

Given her overwhelming skill, her extraordinary mana reserves and stamina, and her distinctively young age with striking blond hair, it had become an open secret that she was none other than Jeuri Leverance, a Class A's student of the Royal Academy.

If anyone had wanted to approach her with ill-intention, it wasn't an everest level task. Marquis was implying that.

Naturally, Sebas, as he saw Jeu's ever increasing fame, suggested he arrange guards. If not, at least they could start by investigating the visitor's background first. Jeu, however, shut all the suggestion, insisting she didn’t have the luxury for such slow, formal procedures, and in the end the marquis respected her wishes.

She was right in that. The charity work had barely been squeezed in the narrow gaps of her packed schedule, and that schedule would eclipse as quickly if she waited for them to enforce security.

"......Oh goodness, the young lady is every bit as bold as I have heard about. ...The intriguing moment in this chronology is that she went back to her dorm room specifically to leave that handwritten letter. If it were ransom, or confine her to churn her holy magic's talent, they wouldn’t bother with such complications. The culprit needed to make it look like she left the academy of her own free will, even at the cost of taking extra risks.”

At Justine's analysis, Kiana, who had joined just a moment earlier from her training to Allen, nodded in similar fashion.

"...Mhm, which means it's highly likely whoever did it, they must have need her to have her title of «Saintess» while taking her way. Is there someone who might benefit from this?"

"......Do you have anyone in mind?"

Dew repeated his earlier question. Everyone's gaze gathered at marquis, as if expecting his answer.

The Marquis didn't take much to notice that. 

Archbishop Dolittle. He had been obsessed with Jeu's talent, however the later had clearly given him the cold shoulder, so he must have already become one of the major suspects.

The marquis clenched his jaw bitterly.

"......Dolittle left for his home country over a week ago. A paladin came to escort him, and I also had dispatched some of the guards from our family to monitor his activity. The convoy should be close to crossing the border. ...Well, he can pull it off if he has some collaborators, but... I really suspect there would be someone crazy enough to accompany him on this thin ice rope. Besides, he should've known better than anyone he would undoubtedly be seen as prime suspect should Jeu were to be abducted anyhow. ...As much as I suspect him to have loose screws on his head, that idiot... shouldn't be having pea for brain."

The current Pope of the Starlight Theocracy, and King Patrick of Yuglia had known each other for years, and shared an exceptionally close friendship. Their amiable connection had been reflected in the harmony of two countries for the last decades. 

If the preparator turned out to be a citizen of Starlight Theocracy, and even more importantly someone of crucial status like archbishop, it would destroy the decades of peace into dust they'd worked so hard on. At worst, it might even trigger a war. At the least, Rosemieur was going to have a good laugh seeing the friendship of years going down the drain.

As much of an idiot he might be, an act of such magnitude would surely be something even he wouldn't dare to attempt.

A heavy silence befell the meeting room. Eventually, Dante tore it apart.

"If he's not, then the situation doesn't add up. Why would the young lady respond to the summon alone, and without informing anyone? And even bigger mystery, she had been free to return once, but she willingly went out of her own accord again. The handwritten letter is another mystery in it. Did the culprit have some leverage over her strong enough to make her risk her life?”

This doubt had clearly been through everyone's mind at least once. It would've been another matter if she had been physically restrained, but the young lady's action cleared it off. Obviously, none present believe Jeu would obey the command of abductor willingly. 

Given her position, it was hard to imagine she possessed any sort of vulnerability or secret grave enough to justify risking her own life to comply.

Marquis Leverance shared the same confusion, and could only shake his neck at Dante's inquiry.

"Neither this fits, not that angle... if so, is it possible the young lady really did leave by her volition?"

Parch added his perspective with a wry smile. The marquis slammed his hand on the table. 

"She would never do it! I know her, there's no way—"

"Now there, Samuel-san. What Parch said is we can't dismiss family angles. In case of either abduction, or willing departure, the knight's responsibility differs like heaven and earth. We need permission even if we want to spread our investigation range, or investigate possible locations. The last thing we would want after combing through every detail is to hear it had all been willing action. We can't just take your "No, my girl is the sweetest. She would never do it" words as it is. 

We would be accused of tyranny for using heavy hand simply on the collected information. And this brought us back to the beginning, we need a baseline to start, like someone we can have legitimate reason to suspect."

Dew laid it out blunt. The marquis, and Sebas were equally stunned for a few moments, and grit their teeth. But, they knew their feelings aside, they couldn't push knights to be accused of something so grave. They'd been the foundation of this kingdom, and the allegation of authority abuse wouldn't come off lightly.

After another moment of complete silence. Sebas squeezed out his voice, his eyes brimming with tears.

"...I, Sebas, have seen it up close. The sacrifices the young lady had to make to reach at her current status. ...To speak honestly, before her enrollment at the academy, it would not have been strange if she had crumbled under the weight on her shoulders. But these past months… her face, her expression—she shone. She bloomed. I can state this with absolute certainty; The young lady would never abandon her current life to go on some wandering pilgrimage. Never.”

He knew full well that his conviction alone could not serve as legal grounds for the knight order to act, but he emphasized it nonetheless.

“…Anyway, the police are already using manpower to gather eyewitness reports. As long as it's proved to be a conspiracy, we would have strong means to deploy. I assume House Reverence is conducting its own investigations, so share anything you learn with us.”

The meeting was adjourned in a heavy, suffocating atmosphere.

◆◆◆

"Master! How did it turn out? Is there something I can contribute?"

I immediately approached the master as he came out of the conference. 

"...Didn't you hear me earlier? It's not something you should be involved in."

"...But why? She, Jeu, is my classmate. My important friend."

I really did consider her as a cherished comrade. It wasn't just her, I saw everyone in the academy as my comrade. 

I might have found them annoying at first, and had no qualms in getting dispelled, but after one whole year with them, I don't think my opinion had ever changed so drastically that even I find it startling. 

Of course, there were people I didn’t like, and everyone had their own reasons for attending.

But at that academy, each person lived every day striving to become the version of themselves they wanted to be. You would never know how incredible a privilege this was until you actually live through with them. 

Now, one of them could be abducted for no good reason. There was no way I could just sit still and wait for the investigation.

“…That’s exactly why you can’t. Personal feelings cloud judgment. Just my hunch, but this whole thing stinks. I can’t even tell how big a mess this might turn into.”

“What…? All the more reason I can’t just wait quietly!”

I pressed him again, but my master shook his head once more.

“…Please, Master. I won’t do anything reckless.”

“No means no. When have you ever not done something reckless!? Leave this to the adults and stay put!”

He turned to walk away, but I grabbed his sleeve.

“…Please…!”

I wasn’t backing down. Not for anything. If worst came to worst, I was ready to quit the knight order and investigate on my own. But alone, I’d be limited in what I could do.

Putting every ounce of resolve into my voice, I begged him again.

My master looked into my eyes for a long moment, and finally let out a deep, weary sigh.

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