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nThe clinic that Loren and the others ran into was in the middle of the shopping district, so there were a lot of different stores in the area.

nAfter leaving Klaus to guard the clinic, he took Shayna and after walking around slowly for a while, he started going into the stores and examining its products.

n“The vegetables are wilted, but they aren’t rotten. There’s no trace of any fighting anywhere. There’s some houses with their meals left unfinished and a bit messy, but no traces of an attack.”

n“I wonder where everyone went?”

nLoren couldn’t find the words to answer Shayna’s question.

nIn fact, he himself wanted to ask the same question, and wished someone could pop up and explain what happened, but there was no way that things would be so convenient.

n“This place looks too alive to have been abandoned by a group of people. Most of their things are still here, including their valuables.”

nIn the stores and houses that they went into, all the money and valuables were left there untouched.

nA mercenary would have looted them with no hesitation, but Loren didn’t touch any of the things he found.

nLoren had looted enemy bodies on the battlefield before, but this wasn’t a battlefield, and the owners weren’t enemy soldiers.

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nIn addition to that, taking things from people who disappeared for an unknown reason didn’t appeal to him at all.

n“Shayna, do you know what the population of this city is?

n“Population?”

nShayna asked him with a blank look on her face. Loren waved, telling her not to worry about it.

nIt looked like even though she knew about the city and the area around it by following her father around, she didn’t know about things like the population.

n“Judging from the size of the city, I guess it would be around thirty to fifty thousand? No one would believe that this many people disappeared like smoke even if I reported it.”

nWhether they were able to return Shayna to her parents or not, once they returned to Kauffa, they had the responsibility to go to the adventurer’s guild and report the deaths of the others who had joined them, as well as what happened to the city of Hanza.

nBut Loren sighed heavily as he guessed that even if he reported exactly as what happened and what he saw, the guild wouldn’t believe him.

nLoren knew for a fact that it was true because he was seeing it with his own eyes, but to someone who did not would scoff after listening to a report saying that the population of a whole city-state had disappeared.

nThat was how unreal the situation was.

n“There’s no way a person could just disappear without a trace. If I could find traces of blood or dead bodies, then it would be a whole different story though.”

n“Onii-san…”

nLoren heard Shayna, who was walking beside him while holding onto the coat he was wearing, let out a worried cry, and became embarra.s.sed that he had been talking out loud the whole time.

nSaying things like if he could find a dead body in front of a girl who was from this city was being very inconsiderate.

n“Sorry, I was irritated.”

n“It’s okay, I’m fine. But…I really wonder where father and everyone else went?”

na.s.suming that Shayna’s parents were okay and still in the city, Loren guessed that they would be in the central area.

nThere were quite a few reasons to why he thought so, but the main reason was that most of the time, but those with authority usually built their mansions or castles in the center of the city.

nGetting there wouldn’t be hard.

nThey just had to go all the way down the main street.

nAlthough Hanza had high walls, it seemed that it wasn’t designed for street fights, as there was one large street that went straight to the center of the city.

nLoren wondered if it was okay to build the capital city like that, even though it was a small city-state, but in the end it wasn’t really his problem to worry about.

n“I wish I could go search the president’s home as soon as possible.”

nHe wasn’t sure if there were survivors left in the city, but since it was so quiet inside, Loren guessed that it was most likely that they would be inside the president’s home in the center of the city.

nThat was why he wanted to check to see if there were any survivors, and if there were, take them and say goodbye to this spooky city, but four out of the seven of them were in no shape to move, and figuring everything out among the remaining three was too dangerous.

n“It’s best if we wait for the four of them to recover before we start moving, but do we really have that much time on our hands?”

nWhatever may be the reason for the city to become like this, if there was something or someone that willed this to happen, it was close enough to say that they did not have much time at all.

nLoren’s thoughts caused him to be unfocused on his surroundings, and noticed it a heartbeat later than Shayna.

n“Onii-san, someone’s there.”

nIt was after they had searched inside a number of houses.

nThey could not find anything so they were on the way to another house when Shayna strongly tugged on his clothes.

nAs he came back to reality at her words, Loren saw a woman looking at them from behind the corner of a nearby building, and called out to her.

n“Wait! We aren’t suspicious people.”

nThe thought that he was already a pretty suspicious character due to the fact that he intruded other people’s homes and stores crossed his mind. But although the woman trembled for a moment, she didn’t run away and instead just stood there, continuing to watch them.

n“I’m really not someone suspicious. I’m and adventurer that came here on a quest, but saw the state of the city and I’m trying to figure out what happened…”

n“Are…you here to help?”

nThe woman that nervously asked him looked around twenty.

nShe had dark brown hair, with no other outstanding characteristic whatsoever.

n“Not exactly, but are you a resident of this city?”

n“Yes. My name is Shutel.”

n“What happened to this city? Where did everyone go? Why are you still here?”

nLoren asked question after question to the woman named Shutel.

nHer eyes widened at all the sudden questions, but after a moment quietly shook her head.

n“I don’t know. A few days earlier the people around me suddenly started going crazy…I was scared so I hid in my bas.e.m.e.nt, and I just came out because I ran out of food.”

n“Don’t you have any family?”

n“I’m not married, and my parents have already pa.s.sed away.”

n“Is there anyone else besides you?”

n“I’m sorry. I’m not sure…”

nLoren thought that he would finally know what happened, but Shutel didn’t give any useful information at all.

nIf she lived alone it couldn’t be helped, but Loren couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face.

n“Umm, aren’t you the president’s daughter?”

nShutel noticed Shayna standing next to Loren, who was trying to decide what to do, and she nodded at her question.

n“The I would suggest going to the president’s mansion…Many of the city’s soldiers are stationed there, and there are fences all around so I believe that they would be safe.”

n“I guess that’s our only option.”

nThe problem was the four injured, but Loren guessed that once Lapis treated them, they would be recovered enough to ride the caravan.

nHe decided that they should get to the mansion as soon as possible and group with the survivors, so he started turning back to discuss it with Lapis.

n“What’re you going to do?”

n“P-please take me with you! I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to the mansion by myself.”

nLoren couldn’t see anything that blocked the main street.

nSo he thought that she would be able to get there safely, but if there was something hiding in the area waiting for someone to pa.s.s by, and if that someone happened to be a woman, it would indeed be hard for her to run away.

n“Alright, I guess you can. Follow me.”

nAlthough he wasn’t able to identify the enemy, Loren decided that finding a survivor made some progress, and headed back to the clinic where Lapis was waiting.

nWhen they reached it, Klaus, who was guarding the clinic as he was told to, was about to reach for his sword at the sight of a woman he never saw before. But after Loren explained that she was a survivor, he went back to keeping guard.

nSince Klaus at least did what he was told to do, Loren guessed that his pride and bad mouth came from the environment that he grew up in wasn’t the best one, and decided he was somewhat likeable. They were about to go inside the clinic to head to the room Broas and the girls were being treated, but they b.u.mped into Lapis before they reached could.

n“I’ve finished treating them but you shouldn’t enter for a while.”

nLapis didn’t let them enter the clinic.

nAlthough Loren thought it was a bit weird, but he went on to tell Lapis about Shutel and his speculations about how the survivors were most likely at the president’s mansion in the center of the city. He also told her about the results of his exploration, how he couldn’t find any enemies or any other survivor other than Shutel.

n“The sun’s still high up, so right now would be the best time to move. What do you think?”

n“That’s true…but…”

nLapis crossed her arms and thought about Loren’s suggestion, but then started telling him about the conditions of the four people in the clinic.

n“The three with the unknown illness are fine. They will recover after some more rest. The problem is Ange. She lost too much blood from her injuries, and her organs are badly damaged as well, so I can’t recommend moving her at all.”

n“How long until we can?”

n“She needs to rest for the rest of the day at least. Once Roll recovers, her divine arts should be available as well, so we should be able to move her tomorrow.”

n“Accidentally killing her would leave a bad aftertaste, I guess.”

nBut if they chose not to move, it meant that they would have to spend the night not knowing what exactly was out there.

nAt this point, there was no way to know for sure how dangerous that would be.

n“There’s the option of leaving Klaus here to guard them while we go on our own.”

n“Loren, that’s a pretty cold as well as ruthless thought right there.”

nLoren let out a troubled laugh at Lapis’ calm response.

nIf spending the night here was indeed dangerous, Loren knew that leaving Klaus and the four injured was the same thing as leaving them to die.

nEven for Loren and Lapis, it meant they had to guard Shayna and Shutel by themselves, and would increase the risk of danger for themselves as well.

n“What will you do?”

n“We stay here for tonight. We go after everyone recovers.”

nRight now, the only ones who could fight were Loren, Lapis, and Klaus.

nLoren decided that the three of them sticking together was a lot safer than splitting up and increased their chances of survival.

n“I understand. Then we’ll have to set up camp.”

n“If that’s the case I’ll help.”

nLapis stopped Shutel with a raise of her hand.

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n“There’s no need for that. I’ll have you and Shayna stay put in different rooms.”

n“But…at least let me take care of Shayna.”

nShutel tried to argue, but Lapis bluntly refused.

n“If you wish to stay with us, you’ll do as we say. If you cannot, we cannot take you with us.”

n“Huh? What?”

nShutel was confused at the sudden change in Lapis’ way of speaking.

nLoren softly nudged Lapis’ side with his elbow, drawing her attention.

n‘I’m sorry. I the way I speak norm…I mean the way I spoke during my days of training as a priest slipped out…But we’ll have you do as we say. Is that clear?”

nLapis seemed to come to her senses at Loren’s nudge, cleared her throat, and said to Shutel once more.

nShutel was still confused, but realized that Lapis wasn’t going to change her mind so she nodded her head reluctantly.

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