And as if on cue, the sound of horse hooves thundered against the ground.
“It seems he is coming.”
As Mary spoke, I could see her expression being tinged with a slight blush.
“My Lady!”
William, who approached us quickly, pulled tightly on the horse’s reins and called out to me in a loud voice.
“Sir William.”
Feeling as though I had made them suffer for no reason, I intentionally spoke with a calm expression, acting as if nothing had happened.
“My Lady, where on earth did you go? I searched this entire area but could not find you, so I was worried.”
“They said it was a festival, so I went as far
as the streets.”
“Then you should have told us and gone with us. If something had happened to you, I would have…”
William muttered, unable to finish his sentence.
“Sorry. I wanted to go out quietly by myself.”
I answered with an awkward smile.
“I am glad you are safe. That is all that matters. But…”
William’s gaze shifted from me to the child beside me, and Mary’s gaze followed to settle on the child as well.
“Ah, this is a child I brought along, but I’ll explain the details to you later. More importantly, there is an urgent matter right now.”
After briefly summarizing what had happened so far, I told William what we needed to do next.
“So, you are saying there are other children about this child’s age in the circus, and you intend to rescue them?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“But My Lady, won’t taking the children out recklessly cause a great commotion?”
“It probably won’t. I don’t think the circus is holding these children legally.”
“If it’s not legal…”
“I think they either kidnapped them or forcibly dragged away children wandering the streets.”
“Then shouldn’t we report such wicked people to the security forces?”
Anger was mixed in Mary’s voice as she interjected into the conversation between William and me.
“The security forces?”
“That’s right. I think it would be better to report them to the security forces and prevent such a malicious circus from operating.”
William agreed with Mary’s words.
‘Now that I hear it, she’s right. Why didn’t I think of the security forces?’
After hearing the two of them, I wondered slightly why I hadn’t thought of the security forces from the beginning.
I nodded my head.
“You’re right. We can just report it to the security forces.”
“Yes. Then the security forces will take
care of the children’s whereabouts as well.”
Having been with the child for a short while, I must have taken the situation too emotionally.
I realized that I had almost committed to an act recklessly without thinking about the subsequent issues at all.
It was a moment when I felt fortunate to have a capable knight and maid by my side.
“Then let’s do that. Mary, stay at the inn with the child. Sir William and I will go to the security forces.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“I, I want to go with you too.”
However, at the mention of being left behind, the child suddenly pleaded with me, wanting to go along.
The child’s eyes, looking up at me, were full of anxiety.
“It will be better for you to stay here. I can’t take you when I don’t know how the situation there will turn out. Stay here quietly until the matter is resolved.
Understood?”
But I couldn’t take a child to a place that might be dangerous.
I had no intention of taking the child from the start.
That was the reason I had brought the child to the inn.
So, I spoke to the child with a firm but reassuring expression.
“Because I’m going to save all of your friends. You trust me, right?”
“Yes…”
I gently stroked the head of the obedient child.
Then, William and I immediately headed to the security forces, and even after arriving there, I did not reveal my identity just in case.
However, I did resort to a half-threat, stating that I was a noble lady from the capital and would certainly make this an issue upon returning to the capital.
Whether those words worked properly or not, the officers showed incredibly fast movement and rushed out to find the location of the circus.
William and I also followed behind the security forces.
Following the security forces, fortunately, the circus tents were located in a secluded vacant lot of the village.
It seemed they had not left yet.
Dozens of security guards swarmed the tents in an instant.
They dragged out every single person who was sleeping in the tents without exception.
I was watching the situation from a slight distance.
But it was strange.
According to the child, there should have been four more children, but among those who came out, there was no figure that looked like a young child, no matter how hard I looked.
“What is it?”
“What is wrong, My Lady?”
“The children aren’t there.”
“Perhaps they haven’t all come out yet?”
“No. Something is strange.”
I had a strange feeling.
I quickly approached the place where the security forces and the circus members were gathered.
Several familiar faces were kneeling in their undergarments, trembling.
And as soon as our eyes met, they avoided my gaze and hung their heads low.
I approached the massive man who had appeared to be the leader among those I had encountered earlier.
“Where are the children?”
“Ye-yes?”
Uncharacteristically, the man stammered.
“I heard there are more children.”
“Yes, yes. There are. The children are all in th-th-that tent over there!”
The man pointed his finger toward one of the tents.
I glanced at William, signaling him to go check.
William quickly headed toward the tent and returned, but his expression was not good.
“The children are not there.”
“They aren’t there?”
“Yes. There was no one.”
“Th-that can’t be! That can’t be right. The children all stayed in that tent!”
Looking at the man’s eyes, it didn’t seem like a lie.
And above all, there was no reason for them to have hidden the children.
They certainly wouldn’t have known that the security forces would raid today, and they had to leave soon at dawn.
‘If so, it means someone took the children…’
Who?
Who took the children?
It seemed it would take a long time to search the surroundings by walking around.
I contemplated what to do and eventually closed my eyes.
And I focused my strength toward my eyes.
A moment later, when I snapped my eyes open, heat was detected from everything I could see.
It was the ability to detect the heat possessed by people or objects using the power of fire.
I quickly scanned the surrounding area broadly.
Then, apart from those present here, the heat of small silhouettes and several adults was detected some distance away.
“Sir, please handle the finishing touches here.”
I returned my eyes to normal.
And after telling William to finish organizing this place, I quickly dashed outside.
“My Lady!”
I heard William calling me from behind, but I ignored it and ran at full speed.
However, even though I ran at full speed, by the time I arrived at the place I had detected, no one was there anymore.
I was about to use my power again when I discovered several footprints pressed into the dirt ground.
Just as I had detected, there were not only the small footprints of children but also the footprints of adults mixed in.
Convinced that someone had undoubtedly taken the children, I hurried to follow the footprints.
However, even after following them for about ten minutes, not even the children, let alone anyone else, could be seen.
Just as I judged that I would never be able to find them this way and was about to close my eyes again.
Suddenly, a man appeared abruptly in front of me from a few paces away.
‘I didn’t feel a presence at all…’
“Who are you? Who are you to be pursuing us?”
Perhaps because it was pitch black all around, the man’s face could not be seen clearly.
However, judging by the silhouette, the man was tall and had a good build, and strangely, the man’s voice was not unfamiliar.
“Was it you who whisked the children away?”
“I have no reason to answer that. Go back from here.”
But at that moment, as the moonlight that had been hidden by clouds peeked out, the man’s face, which hadn’t been clearly visible in the pitch-black darkness, became clear.
I realized that he was the person I had bumped into earlier near where the circus performance was held.
Whether the man had also only just seen my face clearly, his pupils widened in surprise.
“You are…”
It suddenly occurred to me that encountering the man near where the circus was performing might not have been a coincidence.
Then, was he intentionally loitering around the circus at that time?
“Why are you kidnapping the children?”
“It is not kidnapping.”
“If it is not kidnapping, how do you explain this current situation?”
“That is…”
The man seemed to be hiding something, hesitating whether to speak or not.
“I came to rescue the friends of one of the children belonging to the circus at that child’s request. So I raided the tents with the security forces, but the children had vanished without a trace. But to hear they were kidnapped by others—this is not right. So, send the children to me.”
