Chapter 151 - Missing Students

A few days have passed and I quickly noticed that there were two missing students, at first I thought Paula was just skipping because of what I said to her the a couple of days ago and Cecile was just fed up with me and decided to no longer attend my training classes, but one day after finishing with the last Class, Gale shows up.

"hey Collin, it's been a while, but?

I shake his hand.

"yeah, it has."

I then ask.

"so brings you here?"

Gale responds.

"alright, I'll just get straight to the point."

he sighs.

"there are a couple of missing students from this academy and I need your help."

I ask.

"why don't you make this a quest at the adventurer's guild and have your people search for them."

he replies.

"I did, and the three of them have not returned yet."

I feel uneasy on which adventures he is talking about and so I ask reluctantly.

"are the adventurers your are talking about Jill, Grace and Bell?"

he nods.

"yeah, and I tried asking Ying for help but he's still busy cleaning up Leonard's mess, so he told to ask you."

I sigh and ask while I think about Paula and Cecile, who are missing.

"so do I know any of the students that are missing?"

he replies.

"yes I believe so, all the students that are missing currently, were born with ths hero's blessing."

I then ask.

"are Cecile and Paula, on you list of missing students?"

he nods.

"yeah, and a dozen others not including them."

I sigh feeling a sense of responsibility as an instructor of the academy to find these missing students.

"okay, I'll go have ask King Dave to excuse me and if he gives me permission, I'll help you investigate this matter."

he responds.

"well I don't need help investigating because I have a pretty good idea, what may have happened to them."

I ask.

"tell me then, I won't be any help of withhold information from me."

he responds.

"you won't laugh if I told you what may have happened to them?"

I shake my head.

"we are talking about missing students, why would I laugh at what you think may have happened to them."

he sighs.

"because I tried explaining it to King Dave, but he laughed and called it absurd."

I respond with a serious voice.

"I see, well go ahead and tell me what you think, I will not laugh."

he points at the seats of the training ground.

"let's go have a seat, I'm already getting tired of standing talking."

as we sit down at the nearest seats, he says.

"I believe they have been kidnapped by a group of fanatics that call themselves The Cult Of Mauri."

my heart grows heavy upon hearing those words, as I remember what happened to me when I left home at fifteen years old and getting kidnapped by the same group at Dead Pass Forrest, Gale notices my reaction and asks.

"Collin, is something wrong?"

I reply.

"I've encountered that group before back when I was fifteen years old."

his eyes go wide and his response shocked me.

"I also encountered them when I was young child."

I ask.

"what happened?"

he replies.

"I used to live in a small and remote village just outside of Arce, and my father made a living hunting animals inside Dead Pass Forest and selling their meat and their fur pelts."

he sighs and continues.

"and one day, he took me out to hunt with him so that I would learn our family business, but things went wrong, when we encountered a stalker, he uh."

his voice cracks a little bit, and then he takes a huge breath to stop himself from sobbing, I place my hand on his shoulder and ask.

"you alright?"

he sighs.

"yeah."

he composes himself and continues.

"the stalker killed my father, who was trying his hardest to protect me, but it was too much for him to handle."

as I witness him struggle with his story, I think to myself.

"that is tough, he witnessed his father die right in front of him."

he clears his throat.

"I was frozen in fear, and just as the stalker was about to lunge at me, I was saved by a stranger wearing a red hooded robe, with a white face mask, and distinctively remember him looking at my father's corpse and sighing under his breath that it was such a waste."

I think to myself.

"holy shit, Gale actually encountered a cult member."

I then ask.

"so did that stranger kidnap you."

he shakes his head.

"since I was a little kid, the stranger didn't think I would cause much trouble, but that stranger didn't expect me to summon a spriggan."

I then ask.

"so how did you know that the stranger you encountered was part of a cult?"

he replies.

"I didn't at that time, I just thought he was a random bandit."

I follow up with another question.

"when did you learn of the cult's existence?"

he responds.

"after officially becoming a magic knight, I returned back to my village to visit my mother, but something was wrong with the atmosphere there, and after spending a few days there, I found out many people in that village mysteriously disappeared."

I ask.

"was the cult behind the disappearances there?"

he nods.

"yeah one of the cult members became bold and snatched a local girl in broad daylight, and since I wad there, I chased the cult member down inside Dead Pass Forest, where I overwhelmed him with

my magic, and I managed to get few answers out of him that revealed the existence of this cult."

I respond.

"so did you capture him, to have him interrogated?"

he shakes his head.

"no, he killed himself after figuring it out that I was bringing him in for questioning, so when I made my claims of the cult's existence, I wasn't believed by anyone."

he pauses and says with a determined voice.

"and because of that, I became an adventurer, hoping to find any clues, to prove that they exist,

but I didn't have any luck, until I was appointed as the new guild master."

I ask.

"you found some clues?"

he replies looking at me like it was my fault.

"there was a few leads that were reported by one of my adventurers, but I was forced to focus my efforts on capturing a criminal."

I respond in feeling a bit guilty.

"my bad."

I then ask.

"so did you ever follow up on the leads the adventurer found."

he shakes his head.

"she was officially declared missing."

I then stand up from my seat and say.

"okay, let's go."

he asks confused.

"where?"

I answer.

"to visit a friend of mine."

still confused he asks.

"why?"

I answer.

"because when I was kidnapped and kept as a prisoner at their compound, she and her friends saved my life."

he asks shocked.

"you were captured by them?"

I nod.

"yeah."

curious with what happened to me he asks.

"what do they do to their victims?"

I reply with a solemn look on my face.

"they keep their victims prisoners until they are ready to be eaten."

he responds with urgency.

"then we must find them quickly."

he then asks.

"so how will you friend help us find this cult?"

I respond.

"she should still know the location of the compound, she rescued me from."

he replies.

"alright let's go pay her a visit."

I nod and think to myself.

"we better hurry, because time is of the essence."

we exit the academy and make our way to my home so that Celeste can take me to Remy.