Chapter 74 Everglade [4]

74 Everglade [4]

Seated face to face with Amy, Raven sipped on his coffee.

As he did so, his eyes lit up.

In front of him, Amy flashed him a wide grin.

"How is it?"

"It's good."

For the first time in his life, Raven had finally admitted to himself that coffee was good.

But it wasn't the kind of bitter coffee that he was used to.

With a smile, Amy held her head with her hands, leaning close to look at Raven.

"Hehe, I told you."

"This coffee, it's different. What is it called?"

"A macchiato."

"Mac...?

"Macchiato."

"Hehe."

It became apparent to Raven that Amy had been quite comfortable with him, ever since they studied together.

Brandon was usually cold towards him. While Reinhard would often teach him things he would rather not want to learn.

For him, being with Amy felt quite refreshing.

'She's a good friend.'

Is what he thinks.

Placing the coffee down, Raven looked at Amy who was sipping on her own coffee.

"About the quest. I haven't picked one yet."

"Hm? That's fine..."

Sip~

"We can pick one together."

"Yes, but I don't believe in easy quests. There's a reason they were requested in the first place.

Raven paused and looked around. He then looked back at Amy and continued.

"Which is why I gathered information first."

"Oh."

Amy was quite taken aback.

Raven was really thorough when it came to anything.

This was a habit he had built up ever since he was young. And because of that, he was now a Special Officer trainee.

Sherlock.

The title he had earned within the group.

Looking around, Raven leaned close to Amy's ear.

"Eh!?"

Amy flinched slightly. Her ears instantly turned red.

But Raven didn't notice and softly whispered in her ear.

"This city... At first glance, it seems peaceful. But..."

He paused and took a deep breath, then continued.

"Every year, there's a missing person case."

Amy's eyes shot wide open.

She stayed quiet for a moment to digest the information.

Once she did, she looked at Raven who leaned back in his seat.

"...Why haven't they reported it back to the main city?"

"They couldn't."

"What?"

Amy leaned back in her seat in shock.

"Then what about the Rankers here? Can't they put up a quest for it?"

Raven crossed his arms. He then opened his mouth.

"That's the thing. It wasn't explicitly stated, but from what I could deduce, most of the rankers who tried to leave this place had gone missing as well."

Once again, Amy stayed silent.

The sudden revelation seemed to shake her to the core as she started rubbing her shoulders.

There was one thing she wanted to ask.

But the very thought of it made her shudder in fear.

Lifting her head up she looked at Raven. Pursing her lips, she asked the very same question she didn't want an answer to.

23:03

But before he took a sip, he turned to look at Raven who looked at him back skeptically.

"May I?"

"....Go ahead."

"Thanks."

Sip~

Sipping on the coffee, he redirected his attention to Amy, who looked at him with widened eyes.

Placing the coffee back down on the table, Brandon cocked his head at her.

"What?"

"..."

But Amy didn't respond and continued to stare at him with an open mouth.

It seemed like she wanted to say something but the words wouldn't leave her mouth.

But then it did as she pursed her lips.

"You."

"....?"

"That was...."

"What?"

"An indirect..."

"..."

Amy muttered the last words as silently as she could. But she failed to do so as Brandon heard it anyway.

"K-kiss..."

"..."

But Brandon shrugged it off and turned his attention back to Raven who seemed to not have heard Amy.

Shrugging, Brandon opened his mouth.

"So? What do you know?"

Taking a deep breath, Raven briefly looked at Amy, then back at Brandon. He began to recount everything he had told Amy.

It took no more than five minutes, and by the time he finished, Brandon was pinching his chin, appearing deep in thought.

23:06

"I see."

"....There's definitely something going on in this city."

"Agreed."

"Alright, it's my turn."

Brandon then retrieved the missing person quest poster and placed it on the table.

It was now his turn to debrief on them on what happened.

Raven appeared to be listening the whole time as he stayed silent.

But as soon as Brandon finished, Raven's eyes darted around as if he had not listened at all.

Glancing around, Raven awkwardly opened his mouth.

"Uh..."

He seemed to be struggling to choose his words. But eventually, he spoke up.

"Who's Sarah....?"

"..."

"..."

Even Amy was taken aback.

***

Inside her office, Evelyn was piling up the documents which contained details about the trip the first years were having.

But as she piled them up, one of the documents slipped out and slowly fell on the floor.

Placing the stack of documents on the table, Evelyn leaned down to pick up the fallen document.

"....Everglade?"

Her eyes widened.

The other sections had their trip in urban places. Much less, they didn't even have quests unlike Section A and B.

And in the first place, Everglade wasn't a popular city to visit. She had heard rumors about the place during her time in the guild.

It was quite peculiar.

It was supposed to be a trip, and yet they had given the students a task.

"Isn't Vanessa their adviser? How did something like this get approved?"

But as she continued to scan the document, the signature section caught her attention.

"....This."

The Headmaster's signature...

It was forged.