Arthur lifted his foot from the spot with wide eyes. All of his worry, fear, and anxiety hit the roof and flew to the skies as he found himself not breathing for a few seconds. The puddle of blood was simply too big and it was completely dry which meant that it had been there for a long time.
“…” Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself as he looked up, his eyes scanning the area around him like a precise machine. He took in every single detail there is. That was when he noticed many things he wasn’t aware of at the start.
The first thing was the footsteps. He noticed several frantic footsteps all over the place that belonged to people with different shoe sizes. That meant that apart from the dwarves, there were others inside the building.
‘This kind of movement… There was a fight that happened…’ He crouched down and stared at the footsteps with a deep frown. Arthur was on the verge of losing his mind and panicking. But, he decided to stay calm and take things in quickly and effectively. He knew that if something really bad had happened, he had to move smartly and solve the problem as quickly as possible.
“Fuck… Someone infiltrated the goddamn place…” Arthur cursed as he stared at the blood spots again. There were two distinct blood puddles with a few other bloody stains scattered nearby. The battle was most definitely very bloody and that only further pushed Arthur over the edge as he stood up.
“Goddamit! The worst had happened…” He muttered as he quickly turned around and walked out of the building and looked everywhere around him.
‘No traces of blood outside… Did they get covered in snow?’ He squinted his eyes as he clenched his fists and slammed the wall.
At that moment, Arthur turned around and looked at the other side of the street. He saw Isla and the others approaching him. They had arrived a few minutes late. Arthur quickly moved toward them as fast as he could.
“Hmm? Is everything ok, Arthur?”
“The kids. I can’t find the kids.” He said. “There are traces of a battle inside the wooden shelter. Someone or some people had snuck inside.”
Immediately, the group’s face turned pale.
“What?!”
“We need to find them. I think it had been hours since this fight happened. We are fucking late!”
Isla was the first to react as she walked past Arthur and headed into the building. A second later, everyone followed her and walked inside. They saw the blood, and the traces of battle and realized how horrifying it must’ve been.
“… We need to find them… We need to find them now!” Emmy muttered as he held her mouth, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
Meanwhile, Isla continued looking around before she turned to Arthur. “Did you see any footsteps outside or any blood traces outside of the building, Arthur?”
“… No, there are none. That’s what’s confusing me. I have looked outside and all around the area just now. There are not a single trace of them walking out let alone stepping outside.” He replied.
If the kids were indeed kidnapped, then naturally, the abductors need to step outside to leave the place. However, these weird footsteps stopped in the middle of the shelter. Something didn’t make sense at all.
“…” Isla squinted her eyes as she stared around her at the ground. Her mind was linking all the pieces of evidence together as quickly as she could. Although she wasn’t showing it on her face, she was as worried if not even more worried about the kids than everyone else.
She liked those kids and took them into her group as fellow companions and friends. If something bad happens to them, she will never be able to forgive herself. So, she had to stay calm and think quickly so they could find them again.
That was when Isla noticed a very small yet extremely important detail. In a particular part of the shelter, she noticed a weird accumulation of footsteps that walked toward one single direction.
“…” With a focused look, she walked toward that spot, making sure she didn’t step on any of the footsteps. When she reached the spot, she stared at it silently.
“Isla?”
“Shhh…” She shushed Danny quickly as she continued staring at the spot. ‘Something… Something… The footsteps… The fight… Why did they walk here? Could it be…’
That was when it clicked in Isla’s head as her eyes widened. Then, she pulled her amulet and channeled mana through it as quickly as possible, activating the tracking feature. She was already attending to try and use this tool to find the kids. But, now, an even more interesting idea came to her head.
When she activated the mechanism, an image formed in her head as an influx of information seeped into her brain. A map of the city appeared in her head and then that map zoomed in at a particular spot on it.
A second later, Isla opened her eyes as things finally cleared up in her head and her assumption was spot on.
Opening her eyes, she coldly looked at the group.
“I know how they left this shelter without taking a step outside.”
“Oh? How?” Herculia asked.
“I had this suspicion ever since I walked into the shelter. There didn’t seem to be even any signs of someone approaching the shelter and the fact they appeared and disappeared like that made no sense. However, when you think that one of them has a tool to come in and out without the need to walk in or out… It starts making more sense.”
“What are you trying to say, Isla?” Emmy asked with a frown.
“I’m saying… One of these men has a sort of teleportation ability.”
“A teleportation ability?”
“Yes, and what proved my assumption is the current location of the amulets. They have all been thrown into the river on the other side of the city.” She said.
“They got rid of them?…”
“Tsk, the bastards knew that the amulets are trackers.” Danny clenched his teeth.
“What… What are we supposed to do now? Our only way of tracking them…” Emmy frowned.
It was good that they discovered what they were dealing with. But, that still didn’t bring them any closer from finding their friends. The city was too massive to search it and it was simply impossible to track them if they simply teleported back to their place.
Isla frowned slightly as she nodded her head. She also knew that her deduction wasn’t really solving the problem even if it took them a step closer to it.
‘They must’ve left something behind… Any detail… Something we can use…’ She thought to herself as she rubbed her chin. All she asked for was a small lead and she knew she could find them. ‘Sora, Finlay, Serko… Did you leave us anything to find you? I know you wouldn’t let them get you without fighting back…’
Isla trusted that those three kids were extremely smart and if they had the opportunity, they would leave behind a trace they could use to get to them. But, where was it?
At that very moment, where everyone was trying to figure something out. Arthur spoke.
“Hey guys, you definitely need to take a look at this.”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3