Meruru's Disappearance
All things had finally returned to their proper places.
I departed early in the morning for the guild, checked the quest board, and accepted a day's worth of quests.
In the evening, I received the reward for the completed quests and indulged in eating delicious food to my heart's content on the streets.
It was a mundane yet truly longed-for life.
The guild building had been repaired and was completely back to normal, drawing even more adventurers than before.
I heard that guild masters had changed in other regions, and many adventurers were relocating there.
The fact that the reason for their relocation wasn't due to operational issues but because of Algot's popularity as guild master was somewhat unexpected.
Tina's expression, which had been so exhausted that it could tire anyone who saw it, had brightened noticeably every day.
The dark circles that might have made her look like a fox if they got a bit darker had faded a lot.
Released from the hellish paperwork, Tina was gradually regaining the appearance she had had during her saintess days.
One day, as soon as I entered the guild, Tina called out to me.
"Yunoa-ssi! It's a big problem!"
She looked extremely flustered, unlike her usual self.
"What's the matter?"
"Meruru isn't coming to work!"
"What do you mean?"
"It had never happened before, and she's not coming to work and has disappeared somewhere. Have you seen her?"
"No, I haven't seen her either..."
Tina was visibly agitated and genuinely worried.
Meruru.
A beastkin who had smuggled herself across the continent from Helvetica Island to find her older sister.
Too innocent to survive alone, Tina had hired her as a receptionist.
She used her beastkin status to handle responses for different races at the guild, and surprisingly, she became popular and had become the guild's mascot.
But for her to suddenly not come to work and disappear was definitely concerning.
She was a guild member but, being a rare beastkin, she could become a target for slave traders if she got too far from Koubel.
"Where does Meruru usually stay?"
"She was renting a small room nearby. I introduced her to it. But she's not there either, hasn't come to work at the guild, and no one has seen her when I asked people at the guild."
"Is there anything suspicious?"
Tina thought deeply and then spoke.
"As you know, Meruru collects and tells me information about beastkin that comes into the guild. Recently, I've been hearing rumors that a beastkin was surrounded by monsters somewhere..."
"Beastkin surrounded by monsters?"
"It's an uncertain sighting report. Like, 'I saw a tailed human being chased by monsters here,' or 'I saw from afar a beastkin with ears surrounded by monsters here.' It's just rumors."
Meruru came to the continent to find her older sister.
Tina passing on beastkin-related info to Meruru at the guild was started out of goodwill to help Meruru find her sister a little.
But if Meruru had disappeared, the only possibility I could think of was...
"You didn't go looking for your sister after hearing that rumor, did you?"
But Tina shook her head.
"Such beastkin-related rumors have happened before. But later they turned out to be false. Like sightings of monsters that look like beastkin, or mistaking shadows. This is also just that kind of rumor. But it doesn't seem like she would suddenly disappear without saying anything, saying she's going to find her sister now."
"Hmm..."
If Tina's words were true, Meruru's sudden disappearance was strange.
She was a simple but somewhat peculiar person, so her actions were hard to predict.
"What's going on from the morning?"
At that moment, the door behind the counter opened, and Algot appeared.
"Ah, Master, you're here?"
"I am always in the office."
The guild had an office for the master.
Unlike someone obsessed with potion refining.
"Meruru didn't come to work today. She said she's not at home either."
Tina said to Algot with an anxious face.
"Unauthorized absence?"
Algot narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice.
Tina's face showed a momentary "ah, crap" expression.
"The reason we kept the beastkin-only counter instead of eliminating it was because Meruru helped the guild's reputation. If she suddenly disappears, I'll be in trouble too."
"That's..."
I started to feel like I was watching a subordinate being scolded by their superior.
Just as I was about to feel the uncomfortable atmosphere, Algot spoke again.
"If she's not at home, is she missing? Where might she have gone? Did you ask all your acquaintances?"
"I'm investigating that now, but no one has seen her."
Tina answered while slightly lowering her head.
"If there's no news by lunchtime, I'll post a quest in the afternoon. The requester is me. Set the bounty at 30 gold."
"What?"
"Didn't you hear? It's to post a quest to find Meruru and bring her back safely. Not a regular quest, but a standing quest."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
Algot, giving instructions to Tina with a nonchalant expression, turned and entered the office, closing the door.
By suddenly asking about unauthorized absence and creating a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, I thought she was trying to cut off Meruru.
Tina seemed a bit surprised too, placing a hand on her chest and taking a light breath.
"Is Algot always at the guild?"
I asked Tina in a small voice.
"Yes, after the office was completed, she always stays at the guild. She even solves her meals there."
"I was startled earlier. I thought you were cutting off Meruru."
"Me too. But I didn't think you'd directly post a quest to find Meruru..."
"Then what is a standing quest?"
Earlier, Algot had said to post it as a standing quest, not a regular one.
Was there something else?
"Ah, it's a quest that is not accepted separately but proceeds. The master came from the capital Pipnel, right? It seems that's a common method used in guilds over there. It feels similar to a bounty."
"Then, anyone can find Meruru first and bring her back without needing to accept a quest?"
"Yes."
It was definitely a good way to find missing persons.
In regular quests, once an adventurer accepts it, no one else can take it simultaneously.
But by using the standing quest method Tina mentioned, all adventurers visiting the guild would participate.
Of course, it would have less expertise or focus than regular quests, but in the current situation where we don't know where Meruru is, it was optimal.
Moreover, the guild master personally set a bounty of 30 gold.
Algot was surprisingly the type who cherished her employees.
"Tina, I have a favor to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Could you tell me all the beastkin-related rumors that you told Meruru?"
I was worried about Meruru's disappearance too.
Personally concerned, and if it's posted as a guild quest, there's no reason not to look for her.
Tina denied that Meruru went to find her sister, but no matter how I thought, there was no other reason for her to disappear.
First, it seemed better to gather all the beastkin-related information Meruru had been receiving steadily and look for clues, rather than blindly going out and poking around randomly.
"I can tell you, but it might take some time to organize it."
"Sorry, but I'm busy. Can I ask for a favor?"
"You don't have to apologize. It's not as busy as before. I'll get it done quickly."
Tina immediately took an empty sheet from the bookshelf next to her and started writing something quickly.
Meruru didn't return to the guild by lunchtime.
As instructed by Algot, the standing quest to find Meruru was posted on the board.
The beastkin-only reception counter was temporarily closed.
Beastkin adventurers who had been responding to Meruru until now had to handle business at the regular reception counter as before.
A noticeably regretful expression appeared on the faces of beastkin adventurers coming and going at the guild.
It was like this feeling when the part-time job at the store you came to every day for a pretty part-timer suddenly quits.
Looking at that, it was clear that Meruru's presence was subtly helping the guild's operations.
I carefully read the beastkin-related information Tina had given me.
It was information not formally received but compiled from rumors circulating among people, so there were many strange things.
"A giant beastkin shadow flying in the sky and disappearing to the north on a night with a full moon? What is this..."
- I saw a strange race with nine tails hiding in the grass with glowing red eyes.
- While chopping wood in the forest, I heard a meowing sound from the sky, and it turned out to be a shadow of a human-like cat passing by.
- After drinking, when I got home, my wife had ears and a tail, and the next day they disappeared.
"Many bizarre rumors."
That was why Tina had denied Meruru going to find her sister.
No matter how much Meruru, she wouldn't be foolish enough to go looking thinking it might be her sister after hearing such nonsense.
It seemed the previous information had no meaning...
I gathered only the most recent beastkin-related information Tina had organized and handed over.
- On the western 3rd Trade Route, while resting, a caravan was about to be attacked by monsters. While fleeing, looking back, the monsters were chasing another target. According to the witness, the monsters were chasing a strange race with ears and tails that ran on four legs.
And another rumor around the same time.
- In the southwest Halberi Forest, while hunting, I saw monsters gathering in a circle as if performing a ritual. Since it was getting dark, I couldn't get close and hid to return, but in the center of the monsters gathered in a circle, there was a shadow of a human with large ears standing. It was hard to see well from afar.
That was the only somewhat believable rumor.
But there was too little information, and the two rumors contradicted each other, so the reliability was low.
According to Tina, perhaps the possibility that she went to find her sister should be excluded.
The narration suddenly provided verification of the rumors' authenticity.
"There are many strange rumors in the guild. Most beastkin-related rumors circulating in the streets were false. But the last two rumors confirmed by Yunoa were accurate information that actually witnessed the events."
The last two rumors... the incident at the 3rd Trade Route and the rumor in Halberi Forest.
But the contents of the two rumors couldn't coexist, right?
One said a beastkin was being chased by monsters, and the other said monsters were gathering around a beastkin as if performing a ritual.
If both rumors were true according to the Narration, then one of them must have been mistaken.
Moreover, there was no clue that the witnessed beastkin was Meruru's sister, nor even evidence that it was the same race.
Even I, who identified the authenticity of the rumors with the Narration, was wondering if this was a beastkin?
Meruru wouldn't suddenly move after hearing such rumors.
"Senior? What are you doing here?"
At that time, while sitting on a chair on the street near the guild, lost in thought, a familiar voice came from behind.
Turning around, Silphy was staring at me with wide eyes.