Though mages are in-demand among combat professions, such as in the military and the adventurer’s guild, one is required to have a strong arsenal for them to succeed and In order for one to advance in that career, one needs to be on par with the frontline; as a weak artillery support from a mage is as good as a party without one. Such is the problem with a certain spellcaster.

Though called a “Veteran spellcaster”, he is more of a veteran adventurer than a spellcaster as his arsenal barely advanced during his time as an adventurer. Due to this, he was kicked out of his original party and ended up jumping from one party to another, until the only ones willing to accept him were parties of beginner adventurers; becoming more of an advisor to them than what a mage should be. Obviously this became a personal problem for him as his source of income became scarce, heavily relying on his portion of the rewards of low-ranking quests beginners usually take than the treasures from dungeons in mid to high ranking dungeon clearing quests. Should he be the perpetrator of the dead and missing party members, this may be a motive. With that in mind, the investigator mage and the hero party are now heading towards the low-cost housing district, where the veteran spellcaster resides.

“Do you think that he’d really be at home?” The farmer asked with hints of skepticisms.

“No, the opposite actually. I’m sure that he’s not in there.” The investigator replied as he continued to walk towards their destination, not even glancing back.

“What? Wait! I don’t get it, then why are we going there?” The farmer looked confused at the investigator mage’s plan.

“Shh, keep your voices down…” The investigator mage warned.

“Now that we have a suspect, we need to investigate him further to track him down.” The investigator replied.

“Since we don’t have much info on him, his residence would be the best place to start. In there, we’ll most likely learn a lot about him like his hobbies, places where he might go, people he might know, and so on.” He continued.

“I see…” The farmer uttered in amazement while holding back his emotions. If it was him, he’d definitely just turn the whole underground ruin upside down trying to look for the suspect without even considering that what they’re looking for might not even there.

“Hey…” The young cleric silently called.

“When did you guys become all friendly?” The young cleric asked.

“We’re not.” The farmer replied with a straight face, flat out dismissing her assumptions.

Just as the trio is about to enter the low-cost housing district, the investigator mage pulls the farmer and the young cleric to the side in an alley, hidden from public view. He quickly casted a barrier spell enchanted with reverse silence to prevent other people from hearing what they’ll talk about.

“I’m gonna explain the plan once so you guys better listen carefully…” The investigator said after making sure that no one is around. Even with the soundproofing barrier spell around them, they would look suspicious if they are seen hanging out in an alley.

“First we will go to the target’s house, though I’ll be using a cloak with invisibility enchantment so in the eyes of any would be onlookers, it would look like just the two of you. Since you two are unfamiliar faces around here, I need you guys to pose as a father and daughter looking for their relative, which is the target.” The investigator mage instructed as the farmer looked a bit disappointed, his face clearly saying “Do I look old enough to have a daughter this age?”.

“Upon reaching the front door, knock and call out to him. Should he be in there and show up, he would most likely have his guard down as you two looked like you’re just there for solicitation from the temple. The moment he shows himself, I’ll restrain him swiftly.” The investigator mage continued.

“What if he’s not there?” The young cleric asked.

“If that’s the case then I’ll enter his home and try to find any useful information. On the other hand, I need you two to gather information on him from his neighbors. Afterwards, we’ll meet here to discuss our findings.” The investigator mage replied.

“Agreed.” The farmer and the young cleric said in unison. With that, the investigator mage cast invisibility on his cloak before donning it as the three make their way in front of their target’s, the veteran spellcaster, house.

-Knock, knock-

The farmer knocks at the door as the young cleric tries to call for anyone inside the premises, but there is no answer.

-Knock, knock-

The farmer knocks again, this time louder than the previous, as the young cleric continues to yell.

“Seems like there’s nobody home.” The farmer remarked as the investigator mage walked towards the back, looking for a window he could enter discreetly. 

The farmer took a step back, taking a look at the surrounding houses, five in total.

“So where should we start?” The farmer asked. The young cleric then proceeds to scan the area for life energy. As someone who often deals with healing and life energy, the young cleric could somewhat detect any presence of life in an area albeit not as accurately as an expert mage does, as hers is more of a skill gained from being a cleric than a spell.

“Out of the six houses around the target’s house, three of them are the only ones occupied at the moment.” She said.

“One out of two on the left side, two out four on the right.” She added.

“Good work…” The farmer praised.

“But we’ll still be going over to the other houses, okay?” He added, confusing the young cleric as she took the trouble to detect any presence in the other houses to get their job done quickly.

“We don’t want to look suspicious right? If someone sees us picking only the houses with someone inside, they might suspect us.” The farmer, seeing the young cleric’s reaction, explained.

Don’t worry, it’s not like what you did is totally useless. At least, we can take defensive measures should one of them try to do anything funny.” The farmer added; seeing how the young cleric’s reaction didn’t improve.

“You’re starting to think like him, what happened with you two this morning anyway?” The young cleric, referring to the investigator mage, looked at the farmer with a jokingly surprised expression.

“Let’s just get this over with.” The farmer, not knowing how to react, darts away towards the next house, to the left of veteran spellcaster’s.

They knocked and called a few times before going to the next after waiting for a few minutes, knowing full well that there were no people inside to begin with.

-Knock, knock, knock-

The farmer could hear movements from inside the second house. It seems that they don’t need to call out for someone to greet them.

“Yes?” A disheveled young man, probably a few years older than the young cleric, opened the door.

“Hi, Do you know the man that lives there?…” The farmer introduced while pointing at the house of the veteran spellcaster.

“A bit, why?” The young man answered.

“Well, I’m his cousin and this is my daughter. We’re wondering if you happen to know where he is at the moment? I tried calling out to him but it seems that he’s not at home.” The farmer said.

“Sorry but I don’t really interact with anyone around here…” The young man replied.

“I see… I haven’t heard from him since he left our farm ten years ago you see…” The farmer looked a bit disappointed.

“Ah I’m sorry… But he comes home from time to time so I’m sure he’ll come home soon.” The young man, feeling a bit guilty for not being much of  use, said.

“I see… When was the last time you saw him?” The farmer inquired.

“Uhh… Last month, I think?” The young man, trying to recall as hard as he can, replied.

“Ah, I see… Thank you for your time, sorry for the trouble.” The farmer said before leaving.

“Well, at least we know that he comes home.” the young cleric commented as soon as they’re a few meters away, at least not within earshot, from the house they were at.

“Next house then?” The farmer said before moving towards the house on the other side.

-Knock, knock, knock-

Unlike the previous house, there was no immediate response or movement, even though the young cleric knows that there is at least a presence inside the house.

“Hello?” The young cleric called.

-Knock, knock, knock-

The farmer knocked a little louder.

“Don’t bother with that guy, he’s most likely drunk!” A short, dirty looking man from next door came out.

The farmer and the young cleric look at one another, trying to see if they’re both thinking the same thing, before approaching the man for a proper conversation.

“Excuse me, but do you know the man living in that house?” The young cleric asked while pointing at the veteran spellcaster’s house.

“Ah that guy, not really… why?” The man replied, averting his eyes away.

“I’m his cousin and this is my daughter, we were hoping to meet him but he doesn’t seem to be at home right now.” The farmer said.

“The guy from that house said that he hasn’t come home since last month so I’m a bit worried you see.” He added.

“Ah! Maybe he’s deep in the mountain doing some research. I mean, he’s a spellcaster right? Spellcasters usually do that sort of thing.” The man replied, his voice seemed shaky but neither the farmer nor the young cleric noticed that as strange. 

“Oh, you know about spellcasters?” The farmer asked, trying to prolong the conversation in hopes of finding out more information.

“Oh! Ah, not really… I mean, I know that they cast spells right?” The man replied, looking more agitated. The farmer paused for a second…

“Well, what about the guy inside?” The farmer, referring to the house they were previously at, inquired.

“Maybe he knows where my cousin is.” He added.

“I doubt it…” The man confidently replied.

“That drunkard just doesn’t get along with everybody. He just drinks, picks a fight with anyone he comes across, sleeps, then drinks again…” He continued.

“What’s with him?” Curiously, the farmer asked.

“Well, they say that he used to be an adventurer. One day, he comes home to find his wife and kids dead…”

“That’s horrible!” The young cleric commented.

“Well, those are just the rumors I heard. I mean, he was already like that when I came here so, I wouldn’t know for sure…” The man said, hiding his nervousness with a forceful smile.

“I see, thank you for your time…” The farmer said. The farmer senses that something was off with the guy, he just couldn’t tell what it was.

“Do you think that he’s really somewhere in the mountains?” The young cleric, in a quiet voice, asked as soon as they stood in front of the last house they’re about to check. 

“Probably? I mean, I’m not really familiar with spellcasters so I wouldn’t know what they’re into.” The farmer replied before knocking at the door.

“Well, it does make sense if he were in a mountain, especially if he is hiding.” The young cleric uttered, thinking loudly to herself.

“What about the other guy? The drunkard? You think he’s suspicious?” He looked at the farmer, waiting for a reply.

“I don’t know, I mean we didn’t really meet him. All we got are just rumors about him.” The farmer said.

“And the guy before doesn’t really seem to be reliable either. It’s like, he’s just spouting things to make it seem like he knows a lot of things.” He added.

“I guess?” The young cleric said.

“Anyway, let’s just report all this to that investigator and let him decide what to do.” The farmer said, taking a step back from the house before returning to their meeting spot.