As Liu and Aleph passed by the cobblestone streets of Ignalia, they couldn't help but look around in wonder and fascination. The main street was lined with brick, half-timbered houses with red roofs. Most of them only had one or two storeys. Perfectly acceptable for a small town in an island. Liu had only seen such places in movies and video games. Like Aleph, he surveyed the bustling street with utmost fascination, while still on the back of the large bird, Mr. Docomelon.

"Wow," she exclaimed. "There's so many people!"

Liu looked at the townspeople. Everyone was occupied with their day to day tasks: from merchants, launderers, blacksmiths, roadmenders, bakers, to delivery boys. Children were also playing and loitering in the street. One almost bumped into Mr. Docomelon, and laughed when it saw the ridiculously large bird. But when it screeched, he ran away, yelling.

"Yes. Even though it's a small island, it gets a lot of traffic every year. Mostly because it's one of the main harbors in the eastern region," Deana said.

"What you said earlier, about Ignalia being a satellite town, what was that?" Liu asked.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Deana replied. "Satellite towns are like annexed parts of a city. In reality, this town is part of Ardainia, but they have their own local government here because it's quite far from the main city. Serra's the town chief."

He nodded slowly. That was when he noticed a number of people wore armors and carry swords. While there's a few who bring around some sort of sticks with crystals on them. He narrowed his eyes on them. Are those staffs?

Then, Liu was more surprised when he saw that some wore similar clothes, like a uniform or something.

"What's with those people?" Liu asked.

Aleph answered his question. "Oh, Aleph knows about those ones! Those are adventurers."

"A-adventurers?" Liu stammered. "There are people like that in this world? Like in an MMORPG?"

She nodded. "Yes! But, what is em-em-o--?"

He noticed Deana was looking in their direction. "Oh--you know what I meant, I rarely saw one before," he said, looking at Aleph intently. The girl crossed her eyebrows, but thankfully, she got on and nodded slowly. Then, to change the topic, he looked around. "F-for an island in crisis, the townspeople are surprisingly lively."

"A-and normal," Aleph agreed. He glanced at Deana, and fortunately, the hint of confusion on her face was gone.

Soon, he noticed some people were gawking at them. He tried his best to ignore the stares. But being an awkward person throughout his life, doing that was quite hard.

"Well, they feel safe inside the walls," Deana said. "And, I don't think they know much about the situation."

Liu's eyebrows furrowed. But before he could ask Deana again, he heard some of the people whispering. But was it actually called "whispering" if he could hear them, even with their voices hushed?

"Ugh. It's that knight from Ardainia again, isn't it?" one of them said. "Man, I thought she'd already left the island. What the hell is she still doing here?"

"I bet she's still pestering Chief Serra and the others. When will she let it go? We don't need their help, anyway. Especially not from an Aventine knight."

"Is she, really?"

"Yeah. And look at that, she brought two weirdos with her this time."

Liu closed his eyes. And now, they really are attracting attention. He was used to being talked behind his back, as he was sort of bullied since he was a kid. Now, he felt more awkward and vulnerable, which he hated to admit.

"That was rude of you! Aleph and Liu aren't weirdos!" Aleph yelled back at the gossiping townspeople. Liu patiently sighed and gently tapped her to keep her attention forward instead. "What? They're making fun of us!"

"Just ignore them," Liu said. Then, to Deana whose back was on them, he said: "If you don't mind me asking, why are they calling you an Aventine?"

She stopped for a while. "That's--my family name. A-anyway, we're just a few meters away from the headquarters, so you and Mr. Docomelon could rest. You're so tired now, aren't you, Mr. Docomelon?"

Deana reached out to touch the giant bird, but it avoided her hand again, and screeched wildly. The knightess just laughed and playfully patted the bird's head. Surprised, the bird tried to chase her hands with its beak.

Liu observed Deana for a while. She was quite the persistent one, even though people are trying to drive her away.

Tch, she is sure a dedicated knight, he said to himself.

Soon, they reached a modest building. However, it wasn't the headquarters he expected. Rather, it was an ordinary house, with stables at the back of the property. This was where Deana took Mr. Docomelon after Liu and Aleph stepped down from the bird.

Deana sat next to the window, looking at Mr. Docomelon. It was happily eating on a stack of wheat. Meanwhile, Liu and Aleph sat on a humble kitchen table. The room barely had any furniture, just a worn sofa near the window, and a few decorations. Most of the stuff around looked old.

Deana retired from the window and turned to them. "So, what would you like? Coffee, tea, milk, juice, or what?"

"Aleph would like milk and juice! And cookies, if you have!" Aleph interjected, even before Liu could open his mouth.

"Aleph. Manners," Liu scolded gently. Aleph looked at him, and turned red in embarrassment. He looked at Deanna. "And I'll have the same, too, thanks."

"Hey!" Aleph exclaimed. "And here Aleph thought that you have some etiquette yourself! What are you scolding Aleph for earlier?"

Deana chuckled. "He's just kidding, Aleph. Don't take him too seriously. And yes, I have everything of that here. Just wait."

Just like she said, Deana prepared them some drinks and food. Aleph started to eat immediately. Deana prepared a mug of coffee for herself, too.

"Nice, cozy headquarters you got here," Liu remarked. "I thought it was an actual militia outpost."

"I know you're probably wondering why I brought you here instead. As you could see, my presence is unwelcome in this town, so I had to rent a place here and act independently. Fortunately, the landlords were kind to me and allowed me to stay here."

"Honestly. Aleph doesn't understand why they treat you like that when you are just trying to help?" Aleph said, crossing her arms.

"You couldn't blame them. Even though Ignalia technically belongs to Ardainia and the knights have jurisdiction over this town, they are distrustful of us," Deana replied.

"And why's that?" Aleph asked.

"Well, some years ago, there was another crisis that took place on this island. That time, it was between the merchants association of this town and some powerful guy from St. Gallen. I've heard the knights didn't immediately come to Ignalia's aid, which made the townsfolk resentful and disgruntled of them."

"What happened why it really had to come to that?" Liu asked, sipping from his mug of hot milk.

But then, he felt there was something lacking in taste, so he also took a teabag and dropped it on the drink. He tasted it. There, much better. He noticed Deana was looking in his direction, with wrinkled forehead. She was clearly weirded out by what he did. Meanwhile, he just innocently stared at her from behind his mug as if he didn't do anything.

Deana shook her head and then cleared her throat. "A-anyway, I heard there were really nasty things that happened that time. There might even be a few casualties."

They were all quiet for a while. Aleph was the first one to break the silence.

"Wow. No wonder why they dislike the knights so much. They must've felt abandoned," she remarked. "But still, you are trying to help them out right now. They should at least be more respectful to you, right?"

"Well, there was not much I could do about what they feel towards us, right?" Deana shrugged and smiled a little.

"So, why were you the only one assigned here? Don't tell me the knights refused to send help again this time?" Liu asked her.

"It wasn't like that," she responded, rather coldly. "It's more like, they don't know what's happening here."

"They don't?" Aleph asked incredulously.

"Yes. It was actually the Ardainian Lodge of the Adventurer's Guild that sent me here. I'm on a commission," she said. "You see, even in Ardainia, things weren't so smooth. They have lots of things to take care back there, so out-of-town quests are usually forwarded to the Adventurer's Guild."

There's even an adventurer's guild, he said to himself. Huh, this is really starting to look like a world straight out of MMORPGs. "Then, what's your commission here?" Liu asked. For a long time, Deana stared at him intently. He got confused by that, but then he realized what it probably meant. "O-oh, I'm sorry. Y-you don't need to answer that, if you don't want to."

Deana sighed. "Normally of course, I wouldn't share the details of a commission with others. Especially with people I just met," she said. "However, this case is different."

Aleph looked at Liu, while he just narrowed his eyes on Deana. "How so?"

"There was an anonymous request sent to the Adventurer's Guild from two children. They asked help from anyone there to find their parents. But then, knowing that the request may not have any big compensation, most of the adventurers weren't interested in the job. The guild receptionist felt sorry for the kids, so she showed it to me and asked if I could help," Deana said.

"But then, when you came here, you found out that the island was under attack from slimes? And you decided to help?" Liu guessed.

"Sort of," she said. "But I got even more involved in this when I found out that the two children who sent the commission were missing themselves."

Liu was taken aback. Aleph was evidently surprised too, that she had to put down the juice she was chugging.

"What? How could that happen?" Aleph said.

"When I got here, I immediately started investigating. I tried to locate the children who sent the commission to get more information. But when I went to their supposed address, they weren't there. The neighbors even said that it was a long time since they were home," she said. "What's worse was that they said the two kids ran away."

"Oh no!" Aleph exclaimed. "Those poor kids!"

"This made the case all the more mysterious to me. And I wanted to solve it even more," she said. "But then, I got caught up in the town when the slime attack happened. Ignalia declared a self-imposed lockdown. They ceased all the operations in the port, so I got stuck in here."

"And since then, you've still got no clue where those children are or where are their parents?" Aleph said.

"Nope. Things are getting worse here day by day, and the town's chief still won't ask for help from the knights in Ardainia," Deana said. She breathed a deep, tired sigh. "And every minute that passes by means more danger for those two kids."

Deana buried her face on her hands.

"You still have no clue as to where they are possibly?" Liu asked.

"No. Not a thing," she said. She pulled a box from the cabinet and placed it on the top of the table. "That was the only thing I found from their house. And yet, I have no idea where they went. I actually searched every corner of the island, every cave, but--nothing. They're probably not even here by now. Now, I'm not only looking for the parents, I'm also looking for the kids as well. And then this situation here's making everything more difficult. That's why I'm hoping you at least have something for me, since except for myself, Chief Serra, and the militia, you were the only ones outside the walls during the lockdown."

Liu thought about it for a moment, and then he remembered something. He looked at Aleph, and the kid looked at them, too. Aleph gasped. Liu nodded gravely, then turned to Deana again.

"What? D-do you know something?" Deana said hopefully.

"Okay, but don't get too excited about this yet, alright? We aren't still sure if they are the kids you are looking for, but we found a boy and girl in the village we passed by earlier," Liu said.

Deana stood up so suddenly that she moved the table. Liu had to stop it from turning over. "Really?"

"Yes, that's right! It's a boy and a girl. They were in the village where we found these bags and stuff," Aleph added.

But upon hearing those words, Deana slumped back into her chair again. "I-in that village? B-but that's impossible."

"Why so?" Liu asked.

"That was the village I was talking about. The entire village that got swallowed by slimes. Overnight," Deana said.