Chapter 432: 406 Mysterious Disappearance Event
"An incident?"
Everyone was momentarily stunned.
Seeing this, Antie chimed in.
"It’s a disappearance, right?" Antie said, "It is said that many people suddenly disappeared for no reason from the army trained by the Meipros family, and my grandfather was invited here because of this."
As soon as she spoke, Fannie suddenly shivered all over, her small face turning deathly pale in an instant.
"A mysterious disappearance within the army trained by the Meipros family?"
Gel’s face also changed drastically, obviously thinking of something like Fannie did.
"Could it be..."
Liz covered her mouth in shock.
Reiger’s eyes also became profound as he fell silent.
"What... what’s wrong with you?"
Antie, who had casually interjected before, was confused by Reiger and his party’s strange reactions.
"Lord Brilliant?"
Nipede looked at Reiger with surprise.
"...It’s nothing." Reiger didn’t explain immediately; instead, he glanced at the pale-faced Fannie before asking Nipede, "Could you please tell us about this disappearance?"
Upon hearing that, Nipede looked steadily at Reiger for a while before nodding and beginning to explain.
It turned out that this was an issue that had already shown signs of emerging a long time ago.
According to Nipede, disappearances had been happening sporadically for many years within the Meipros territory.
The first to vanish were some civilians who often went out for work, including hunters and farmers working abroad, who never returned one day and were lost without a trace.
Then, some caravans disappeared suddenly on their trading journeys, with dozens of people from top to bottom going missing without a single survivor to be found.
Originally, these disappearances didn’t attract much attention from the local nobles, and even the Meipros family didn’t pay much attention to them.
Because this region was the Meipros territory, the most chaotic area in the Genas Kingdom, rampant with thieves and abundant in magical creatures, it was normal for accidents to happen to those venturing outside.
However, the disappearances grew more severe and the scale expanded, reaching the point where large caravans of hundreds and even sizeable knight orders guarding noble offspring traveling through the area started to mysteriously vanish. It was then that the Meipros family and other nobles finally realized the gravity of the situation and began their investigation.
Yet their investigation ended without success, not even controlling the situation, which led to an escalation of the disappearance cases, growing in scale until even the army trained by the Meipros family was affected.
This was like stirring up a hornet’s nest.
After all, the army trained by the Meipros family was a precious source of soldiers conscripted from throughout the kingdom every three years, including offspring sent by various noble families.
As these people disappeared one after another, the nobles who noticed something was amiss began asking for their people back from the Meipros family, causing the family to come under immense pressure.
Even though the Meipros family held the title of Marquis, and the current patriarch was the Border Guardian Sword Saint, such a huge matter would eventually become too much for him to suppress.
Thus, the investigation into the incidents hit a dead end, with the Meipros family making no progress and starting to seek outside help.
"They suspect there’s an unknown magic phenomenon involved in this mysterious disappearance, otherwise even they, as lords, wouldn’t be unable to find a single clue," Nipede said. "Because I have a certain reputation in the magic world and some relations with the Marquis of Meipros, he personally wrote me a letter a while ago, inviting me to come over and help with the investigation."
That was the reason Nipede came to the Meipros territory, preparing to go to the Meipros family’s estate.
"Finn..."
And as she listened to Nipede’s explanation, Fannie’s petite body began to sway, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Miss!"
Gel exclaimed in shock, hurrying to support Fannie.
"What’s actually wrong with her?"
Antie couldn’t help but ask out loud.
The one who answered wasn’t Fannie or Gel, nor was it Reiger, but Liz.
"Miss Fannie’s brother was sent to train with the Meipros family and suddenly lost contact three months ago."
Liz’s quiet explanation made Antie close her mouth.
"So it is," Nipede seemed to have already had his suspicions, and upon hearing Liz’s explanation, he hurriedly comforted her, saying, "Miss Alicel, you needn’t be too distraught. Although there are many strange aspects to this disappearance case, so far no news of harm to any of the missing has been reported, so your brother might be fine."
"Really?" Fannie asked through teary eyes, "Where is Finn now?"
"This..." Nipede gave a wry smile, seemingly at a loss for words.
He hadn’t even arrived at the Meipros family’s estate to begin his investigation, so how could he give Fannie an answer?
Fannie seemed to realize she had asked a foolish question and fell silent, but her tears kept flowing.
"Hasn’t anyone notified the capital, to have someone from there come over to investigate?"
Reiger asked with a furrowed brow.
"Why is there nothing?" Nipede said, "I heard that the King had sent several court magicians to investigate, and even dispatched a detachment of the kingdom’s knights to assist, yet they still found nothing at all."
No wonder the Sword Saint from the Meipros family had sought the help of Nipede.
Seeing Reiger fall into deep thought again, Nipede spoke once more.
"We grandfather and grandson have left the city to head to the Meipros family in Besare to begin our investigation into this matter, but unexpectedly we met Lord Brilliant here," said Nipede.
Upon hearing these words, before Reiger could react, Fannie had already edged closer.
"Please, please let me join you on your journey!"
Fannie rarely raised her voice, but she made such a request loudly.
"Please don’t be rash, young miss," Gel promptly held Fannie by the shoulder, saying, "We’ve just contacted the master; the master indeed said to wait for him in Carudi, that he would immediately send someone to pick us up, we haven’t even entered the city yet, how can we ignore the master’s orders and run off to Besare?"
Hearing this, Fannie did not speak, but simply gazed at Nipede with stubborn eyes brimming with tears, silently expressing her will.
This indeed put Nipede in a difficult position.
Although Fannie was not an unrelated person, what could such a young lady, still a child, possibly accomplish even if she did follow along?
Moreover, since her father had said as much, Nipede naturally didn’t wish to agree to Fannie’s request and take her to Besare.
Furthermore, with so many strangenesses within the matter and the unknown risks involved, Nipede dared not take a small girl, helpless as a chick, with him.
So, Nipede was prepared to refuse.
But at that moment, Antie tugged at Nipede’s clothes.
"The young lady’s brother might have been involved in this incident, Grandpa, just agree to her request."
Out of the blue, Antie said such a thing.
"Nonsense," Nipede frowned, saying, "This is a matter that neither the royal family nor the Meipros family have been able to find any clues to, potentially hiding unimaginable danger. How can we casually take someone along just because of this reason?"
"What about me?" Antie pouted and said, "How come you thought of bringing me along?"
"Is that the same?" Nipede laughed out of frustration, saying, "You’re already seventeen years old, you’ll soon have to embark on the path to study magic on your own, I am bringing you along to gain experience and incidentally teach you some things, not for sightseeing."
Antie wanted to respond, but she was interrupted by Reiger.
It couldn’t be helped.
While Reiger was deep in thought, the little princess at his side also tugged at the hem of his clothes, instantly making him understand the young girl’s thoughts.
Apparently, the little princess had also developed a bit of compassion.
This left Reiger, who had snapped back to reality, feeling somewhat dumbfounded.
He felt that Nipede made a lot of sense.
Had it been him, he would not have wanted to take a helpless 12-year-old girl to a place where dangers beyond imagination could arise.
The proposals from Liz and Antie were actually quite whimsical, wanting to satisfy the requests of others out of sheer pity, something Reiger found quite nonsensical.
Thinking this, and seeing Liz looking at him expectantly, Reiger’s heart involuntarily softened.
"Well then,"
Reiger turned towards Nipede, and before Antie could speak, he said,
"Actually, having Miss Fannie with us could have its advantages," Reiger said, "If her brother has truly been caught up in this mysterious disappearance, perhaps her presence at the scene could help uncover some clues that others have missed?"
This statement left Nipede momentarily stunned.
Reiger then continued.
"Besides, now that she is aware of the situation, I don’t believe she would obediently stay in Carudi and wait for her father to pick her up," Reiger said with a semi-smile, "After all, this young lady, out of concern that her brother hadn’t contacted her, dared to sneak out of her home with a servant and nearly got abducted and toyed with by a band of thieves, right?"
His words turned Fannie’s stubborn face pale with shame as she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Without a doubt, Reiger was indirectly accusing Fannie of recklessness, of not comprehending the nature of danger.
Liz and Antie were both taken aback, exchanging glances and falling silent.
Perhaps they now began to consider whether speaking up for Fannie was the right thing to do after all.
"What do you mean, Lord?"
Nipede, with a thoughtful look, turned towards Reiger.
"What I mean is, for the time being, letting her take a look can’t hurt," Reiger said with a slight smile, "If she really can’t be of help, then we can just have her leave."
After all, they had the highest-level teleportation magic, "Teleportation Gate", so Reiger could send the young lady back to Carudi at any time.
Moreover...
"We will also be accompanying you."
In the midst of Nipede’s surprised gaze, Reiger said so.
"In any case, our destination includes Besare."