Chương 41: How Do You Even Go Missing Like That?

By now, the conversation had died down, broken only by the faint scratching of Senna's charcoal stick against the paper as she cheerfully worked through the forms while humming under her breath. Ophila had her chin propped on one hand, looking at the notice board across the room with the distant expression. Lio glanced at her, then looked back away. He sighed quietly and let out a stretch, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. The chair was pretty uncomfortable and his tea had gone cold and bitter.

Well, Lio had gotten what he needed from this visit. After Senna had mentioned the strange Delver asking about lone girls, he'd steered the conversation naturally toward the descent logs, which Senna had shown him without hesitation. The logs had confirmed what he'd already suspected. Lupin and Acacia had not registered an official descent. Lio set his empty cup down and was about to suggest to Ophila that they should leave when the door behind them opened.

Turning around, he watched as the guard captain of the Trestfall guard, Erygn Columbine, came through it, a folded report under one arm and his ledger in the other hand. His ocean blue eyes looked around the room. He noticed Lio and Ophila, and his eyes widened with recognition. But he crossed over to Senna's desk first, setting the folded report down in front of her.

"I need this sent up to the surface Union office," he said.

"It's a Code Red, so please make it fast." Senna took it, and quickly stamped it.

"I'll send it as soon as possible."

"Thank you." He straightened up, then turned to face Lio and Ophila.

"My name is Erygn," he said, shaking Lio's hand and nodding politely at Ophila.

"I'm the current guard captain of Trestfall." He smiled.

"I believe we've already met briefly at the flower shop."

"We remember," Ophila said charmingly.

"Very good." His face turned more serious.

"Then you'll understand why I need to ask you both some questions. Nothing extreme, just standard procedure for anyone present at the scene this morning." He gestured toward the door.

"If you don't mind following me to the guard post, it shouldn't take too long." Ophila looked at Lio, who was already standing up.

"Of course," he answered cordially. He then turned to say goodbye to Senna, who watched them go with a small worried frown. The guard post was just a short five minute walk from the outpost, a squat fungal building located near Trestfall's eastern edge with the same sword and hand insignia as on Ergyn's uniform above the door. Erygn led them through at a brisk, sharp pace, nodding a greeting to the two guards stationed outside as he pushed through the entrance.

Inside, it was sparse, with simple, minimal furniture that included a long desk running the length of one wall, which was covered in maps and incident reports. Two small rooms branched off from the main space, their doors tightly closed. Erygn stopped and turned to face them.

"I'll speak with you one at a time if that's alright," he said.

"It's just easier to keep the records clean that way." He looked at Ophila.

"Would the lady mind going first?"

"Not at all," Ophila said brightly. She glanced at Lio, who shrugged in reply, then followed Erygn through the left door. Watching it click shut behind them, Lio sat down on the bench against the wall. He wasn't worried about what Ophila would say. She was composed and good at managing herself. A polite questioning from a guard captain was well within her capabilities. No, the important thing was what he was going to say. It was time to plant some seeds inside the guard captain's head.

As he waited, the minutes passed by rather quietly. And after perhaps fifteen minutes, the door opened. Ophila came out first, Erygn a step behind her. Her expression was cheerful, and she was chatting animately with the guard captain.

"Don't worry," she remarked, turning to look at Lio.

"It's all very straightforward." Erygn nodded, smiling.

"Thank you for your cooperation." He looked at Lio.

"Your turn, please." Ophila pulled her coat on, giving Lio one last small smile.

"I'll be at the lodge," she mouthed. Then she turned and walked out through the front door. Lio watched her go. Then he stood up, walking through the door Erygn was holding open. Inside, the room was like the previous space—small and plainly furnished with only a table, two chairs, and one lamp. Erygn sat across from him, flipping his ledger open and readying his charcoal stick. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Lio sat down, folding his hands on top of the table. Then he gave a small smile. Erygn smiled back.

"So, let's start with just a few straightforward questions. Nothing to worry about." He glanced down at his ledger.

"Starting with, can you confirm you were present at the scene this morning?"

"Yes," Lio said.

"And you arrived with two companions. A young woman and a young man?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what time you arrived at the scene?"

"Just before midday," Lio said.

"We'd just finished shopping." Erygn nodded, writing down the information with clean, precise chirography. As he finished, looking up from his ledger, Ergyn leaned forward.

"Now, did you notice anything unusual at the scene? Anything that struck you as out of place beyond the obvious?" Lio gave a small shudder, staring straight down at the table. Oh no, he thought. Here it comes. Brace yourself, Captain. From the outside, what Erygn was seeing was a teenager slowly pulling his shoulders inwards, his eyes turning dull and dark, his entire body exuding an anxious air.

Erygn's pen slowed down as his brows furrowed, wondering why the boy wasn't answering the question like he had just had with the previous ones. Lio continued to say nothing, letting the silence do the work for him. And sure enough, after five seconds…

"Are you alright?" Erygn asked. There it is.

"I'm fine," Lio blurted out. He made sure to talk fast. Erygn set his charcoal stick down, his professional mask slipping as his naturally compassionate side took over.

"You don't have to perform for me," he said gently.

"What you saw this morning was very difficult. There's no expectation that you'd be completely unaffected." Oh, you sweet and naive young man, Lio thought warmly. You have absolutely no future in this job if you keep leading with your heart like that. He exhaled shakily, rubbing his face.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"It's just—" He halted, shaking his head fervently.

"I've been trying to hold it together all day for Ophila." He looked up at Erygn with a devastated expression.

"She worries too much, so I didn't want her to see me like this." Erygn's entire professional composure completely crashed, just like that.

"Take your time," he said, his eyes full of concern. He looked around.

"Do you… want some tea?"

"I'm okay," Lio managed. He gave a small, wobbly smile.

"But thank you." He let his hands shake, until he clenched them tight. Then he looked up again, a quiet resolve taking place behind his unsteady exterior.

"I saw someone," he explained.

"Running from the shop just before the crowd gathered." Ergyn's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to the guards," Lio continued, wincing.

"I know I should have. But he…" He shuddered.

"He saw me see him. Of course, it was just for a second. But…" He wiped the cold sweat forming on his brow, clenching his eyes shut tight.

"I'm sorry," he managed.

"I was just… scared." When Lio opened his eyes again, Erygn was leaning forward, his ledger now completely forgotten. His ocean blue eyes were fixed on Lio with such an open expression of concern that Lio almost lost it right there. He looks like a baby Capling.

"Don't apologize," Erygn assured him firmly.

"You did the right thing by telling me now. Can you describe what you saw?"

"It was a man, and I don't think he was a Delver," Lio answered, taking another shaky breath.

"Or if he was, he sure wasn't dressed like one." Erygn's pen began moving again.

"What was he wearing?"

"Plain, dark clothes," Lio said. He frowned.

"It seemed… I don't know why… but kind of professional?" Erygn wrote this down without looking up.

"What about the age?"

"It was hard to tell. Maybe thirty, thirty five?" Lio bit his lower lip, looking deep in thought.

"But I remember that he had a mark on his coat. I almost didn't catch it because he was moving fast, but I managed." Erygn looked up, his interest piqued.

"What kind of mark?"

"I don't know what it was exactly," Lio said carefully.

"But it was some sort of small emblem near the collar." He touched his own collar to indicate the location.

"It looked like it had been embroidered rather than pinned, for some reason." Ergyn's pen went still, and Lio watched gleefully as the other man's fingers tightened around it.

"Can you describe the emblem?" he asked. Lio let a small frustrated expression cross his face.

"It was small. And I only saw it for a second." He shook his head.

"I want to say it was circular? With something inside it. But I really couldn't tell you more than that." Ergyn pursed his lips. Lio watched him as his brain processed through the information, watching the wheels turning behind those earnest blue eyes. After all, the description that Lio had given had been constructed specifically to shift the blame of the murder to an organization. To which one, you ask? Well, in Trestfall, there were only three organizations whose members wore identifying marks.

One was a merchant consortium with absolutely no interest in murder. One was a minor religious order with no presence below Floor 3. The third was Kingmaker. Lio couldn't directly name them as it would require explaining how a seventeen year old Delver knew what their identifying marks looked like. But Erygn was smart. He would take advantage of this newfound information, and he would arrive at the discovery himself.

"You did the right thing telling me this," Ergyn said, looking up at him warmly.

"I want you to know that."

"Will it help find the guy?" Lio asked, a tinge of hope creeping into his voice.

"It quite might," Erygn said honestly.

"I can't promise anything, but..." He closed his ledger, his face one of resolve.

"I'll follow it up." Of course you will, Lio thought. Because you got that stupid hero complex. But he kept those thoughts to himself as he stood up, clasped Ergyn's hands and thanked him profoundly. Then, he walked out of the small room and out into the open air of Trestfall. He breathed in the crisp air, and gave a small chuckle. Then, he turned and began walking over to the lodge.

He arrived after ten minutes, and pushing open the door, he found Ophila sitting in one of the lobby chairs, still wearing her boots and coat. She was frowning, staring at the ceiling with her brows furrowed as she rolled her marbles around her palm. Looking up as he entered, she stood up.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Fine," Lio said.

"You?"

"Fine," she said. Then, she grimaced.

"William isn't here." Lio looked around the lobby.

"Maybe he just went out," Lio said, unbothered.

"Hours ago," Ophila said, exasperated. She glanced at the man behind the desk.

"According to him anyway. He left not long after I did, but he hasn't come back." Hours? Lio blinked at her. Say what now?