The Troubled Healer and Mage (2)
"Leana. Did you give those two some kinda search mission or something?"
"No? Why would I assign a request like that to a healer and mage?"
"Then why do they look like such a mess?"
"Guild administrator…."
The moment Celestine saw me, her face crumpled like she was about to burst into tears. Ornette gave her a indifferent glance before slipping straight into the guild.
"What the hell happened to you? Did you fall into a puddle or something?"
"It's not that…."
Celestine, who had followed inside, haltingly explained what had happened that day.
Their mission today was a missing person search. It was a request from a city councilor who ranked among Schlessi's upper class. The conditions included strict confidentiality—which was standard for any request, of course. On top of that, they specifically asked for guild members whose faces weren't as well-known as mine.
At first, I wondered why they'd add such a weird stipulation.
"Hmm, so the councilor's husband went missing, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Actually, it's not that he vanished—he kept sneaking out at night, and now he hasn't been seen for the past few days…."
"Did the client say anything else about it?"
"No. They just wanted us to find out where he is."
I got the picture. This was about securing evidence of an affair. As a pillar of the city, she didn't want any unsavory rumors spreading, so she requested guild members other than me. If it were a real disappearance, she'd have reported it to the border guard right away.
"So?"
"So we searched the whole city… even went out to the vineyards…."
"Why'd you do that?"
"Why? To find the guy, obviously."
When Leana had been agonizing over this request at first, I'd told her to hand it to Celestine and Ornette. With Ornette using tracking magic and Celestine, who'd gotten somewhat familiar with the local terrain, taking the lead, I figured they'd handle it no problem.
No way Ornette couldn't use tracking magic, right? That didn't make sense. It was basic for any mid-level mage or higher—child's play for her.
Glancing over, Ornette was hovering behind Leana in the kitchen, trying to scope out tonight's dinner menu.
"Ornette. Come here and sit down. Let's talk."
Ornette obediently approached and took a seat.
"You don't know tracking magic?"
"I do."
"Eek?! You do know it?!"
Celestine's eyes went wide as she started to chew her out, but when her gaze met Ornette's, she shrank back in a flash.
"Then why didn't you use it? We could've wrapped this up ages ago."
Ornette just shook her head.
"Tracking magic leaves traces."
"Yeah?"
"All magic leaves mana waves for a while. Anyone who handles mana can detect it. If I used it, another mage could read the traces and figure out roughly what happened."
"So?"
"The client didn't want the request details leaking out. So I deliberately didn't use magic."
"Besides Isisde, who else in our city can read mana anyway? Just use it."
"I'm not the guild administrator or master, so I can't make that call on my own."
"Hmm, fair enough."
Couldn't argue with that—it wasn't wrong.
Just then, Leana emerged from the kitchen carrying a huge pot, and Ornette's attention shifted completely away from me. From what I'd observed so far, she wouldn't respond even if I kept talking.
"Ta-da! Tonight's menu is albondigas."
"Wow!"
Celestine clapped in delight at the meatballs swimming in a rich tomato sauce simmered with wine.
As I fished one out from the bowl Leana served and popped it in my mouth, I mulled things over. This was definitely a request to confirm her husband's infidelity and gather proof. Ornette's tracking magic would've solved it easily, but she wasn't wrong about the risks. Blind Vision left no traces, so I'd have to step in myself. The client was a city councilor, not some average citizen. I had to close this out cleanly.
"I'll head to the councilor's place after dinner."
"It's already getting dark, though?"
Celestine's cheeks bulged as she chewed, her eyes going round.
"We didn't finish the request. It was supposed to be done today. And it's from a councilor."
"I guess so…. Understood…. I'm sorry I messed up and dragged you into this…."
"Nah, it's fine. I should've gone from the start—my bad for not thinking it through."
"I'm sorry…."
Celestine hung her head, looking all gloomy, then suddenly shouted.
"Then let me come too!"
"Huh? Suddenly?"
"It was my request!"
Ignoring Ornette, who was quietly eating her meatballs, Celestine turned to her.
"Ornette…! You're coming too, right?"
"If you say so."
"Guild administrator. Ornette says she'll go too."
"No need to tag along. Honestly, dragging you both out this late would just be a hassle."
"Hiiing! Guild administrator! Please let me come! You think I could sleep soundly if you went alone?!"
Celestine pleaded, wiggling her butt in her seat. Her breasts jiggled and smacked against the table edge with wet thuds. When did they get even bigger?
"Take the kids with you, guild administrator. It's all experience."
At Leana's suggestion, I finally nodded. If Leana said so, then that was that.
Having gotten permission, Celestine beamed and picked up her spoon. Watching her, Ornette quietly said,
"You ate a ton of snacks out there."
"Shh…! I told you not to say that!"
Celestine shot a glance at me and Leana before hissing back under her breath.
Leana and I burst out laughing at the same time.
And so the three of us finished eating and headed out of the guild again.
"Just in case, take these. Might be an all-nighter."
Leana hung saddlebags on the horses, packed with three blankets and simple provisions like bread.
We had two horses total. Ornette and I would share one, and Celestine would ride the other alone. The one Celestine was on was the one we'd borrowed from Carla for the Elodi Village trip—we still hadn't returned it. We kept needing horses, and Carla had said to use it as we pleased and bring it back whenever.
We all pulled our cloaks' hoods low and left the dark alley under Leana's send-off.
We arrived at the client's mansion along the outskirts road. As a councilor in a decent-sized border city, her place was impressively grand.
"Celestine. Go ahead and state our business. Say the administrator came in person since we couldn't resolve it during the day. Ask if we can meet."
"Ah, y-yes! Got it."
While Ornette and I waited behind a building across the street, Celestine went alone and pulled the gate cord. A bell rang inside, and soon a uniformed servant opened the door.
After Celestine said something to him, the servant closed the door and went back in—probably to report and get instructions.
Moments later, the door cracked open, and the servant whispered to Celestine. She soon returned to us.
"They said to use the back gate."
We circled around the large wall of the estate and sure enough, spotted the back entrance. Barely wide enough for one horse, it was hidden by vines and a locust tree, invisible from outside.
Once inside, a servant guided us to a secluded corner of the garden. Given the hour and the nature of the request, we weren't going into the mansion proper.
A middle-aged woman was already there waiting for us.
"Good evening, Councilor."
I dismounted and greeted her. She gave a slight nod.
"Sorry for the late hour. Since our guild members couldn't resolve the request today, I came myself."
The councilor nodded again without a word. She seemed to be sparing her speech entirely due to the delicacy of the matter.
"If you'll permit it, I'd like to take over personally tonight. Is that alright?"
Nod.
"Understood. I'll bring news before sunrise tomorrow."
Celestine had already heard all the details during the day, so the councilor didn't need to stick around. As she headed back inside, I immediately knelt and closed my eyes.
The councilor's husband was a middle-aged civilian. No trained assassin—he wouldn't be hard to track without a specific location.
Ugh, perfume. The moment I activated Blind Vision, Celestine's scent hit me strong. I expanded my detection range to avoid it.
"What's he doing on his knees?"
"Ornette…! Quiet. The guild administrator's tracking traces right now."
"Demon hunter ability, huh."
"I said quiet?!"
Celestine yelped as Ornette kept prodding. Didn't she realize her voice was louder? So damn cute.
As I gradually widened the range, I soon picked up a trace.
Oh, shit. What the hell is this.
I activated Hunting Dog's Mark, and red markers popped up here and there.