Chapter 526 - Where Are You, Master?

"What should we do now?" An anxious groan escaped the lips of a man as he gripped his hair in his fists.

His butt was planted on the snow and it seemed as though the freezing temperature did not bother him as he had other troubling thoughts occupying his mind.

After all, his Master had been swept away by a freak whirlwind that had emerged out of nowhere, taking him and his Master by surprise.

He had run towards his Master at full speed but had not been able to save him as the whirlwind was faster in making its move.

"Don't lose hope, Horace." Another man patted his shoulder in an attempt to console him.

The man seated on the snow-covered ground who had just been called Horace looked up and found that it was his fellow knight, Sigma.

Sigma was the driver who had stayed back with the carriage but after getting Horace's distress signal he had rushed over to see what was wrong.

That was when he had heard from his peer that their Master had fallen prey to the freak of nature which had swept him away.

Horace and Sigma were two of the best men serving Prince Draco as his black shadow knights.

Just the two would be able to ward off a platoon of regular knights but had been proven to be ineffective against the powers of nature.

Horace was blaming himself for he was accompanying the Master yet had not been able to save him but Sigma was more level-headed and knew that there was nothing that could have been done in such a situation.

The men then decided that they needed to look for the Master as anything could have taken place with him after the whirlwind had swallowed him up.

However, just the two of them would not be able to search throughout this vast area and hence Sigma had sent a message back to the Roschester Mansion, asking the Butler there to send reinforcements for them.

The knights of the Roschester Mansion, servants belonging to that mansion, and even the men working for Ocular had rushed over after hearing the news of their Master getting caught in the whirlwind.

Even the Master of Ocular had come over despite trembling in the cold and having a pale face.

His friend had gone missing so there was no way that Sevenz could sit still, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace when he had no clue about the current condition of the young prince who was a good friend of his.

Thus, a large group of people had come forward to look for the young boy.

With a good amount of men volunteering for this task, three search parties were formed who would go in different directions, trying to locate the missing young boy.

Horace, Sigma, and the Head knight of the Roschester Mansion were declared leaders of the three search parties and they headed out in different directions after a short meeting to allocate the areas they were to look into.

They had decided to reassemble at the spot where the Master's carriage was parked every three hours to exchange any information they obtained.

Numerous times they had reassembled here and again departed to look in different locations.

Many hours had passed by as the men continued their search mission and right now, they had returned to the spot of the carriage to rest for a while and also figure out the next location of their search mission.

Horace was seated on the cold ground while Sigma was trying to comfort him, requesting him to get off the snowy ground.

Sevenz was inside the carriage as he too had participated in the mission and was taking a short rest with the others.

The men working for the Roschester mansion were thorough and efficient as they had pitched tents and made a fire to try and heat themselves up before they could head out again.

None of them was willing to give up but their spirits were beginning to droop with each hour that their Master's whereabouts continued to be a mystery.

Roschester had a jagged terrain and there were numerous pits that were not noticeable due to the snow that filled them up.

However, it was possible for someone to fall into one and lose their lives, freezing to death once trapped inside it.

This made them desperate to find their Master sooner before something untoward took place to him.

Horace looked up at the sky when he heard a loud squawk.

His furrowed brows eased when a large bird flew straight in his direction.

However, as the bird neared his position, it was surprising to see that it shrunk in size until it was small enough to sit on the palm of his hand.

This was exactly where the bird landed, on his palm, and rubbed its head against his thumb.

Horace smiled and stared at the bird but Sigma knew that through those silent glances, the etcher and etched were conversing with each other.

After all, the white-throated needletail, a bird known for its swift motion in flight, was the etcher of the Prince's subordinate.

This bird was often called 'Storm bird' as it appeared and disappeared as swiftly as the storm.

Not only could it move at speeds that could compare with Tutu, Sevenz's etcher, it also had the ability to change its size at will.

In fact, Tutu was also included in the search mission and was currently resting with her Master, Sevenz, inside the carriage.

Once Horace had completed conversing with his etcher, he looked up and shook his head at Sigma.

"She found no signs of life inside the woods on the east." He revealed the result of the task he had assigned to his etcher.

Sigma's fists clenched but he did not let his dismay appear on his face, after all, his reaction might affect Horace further.

He looked at the tiny bird on his peer's palm and smiled, displaying that it had done a good job.

However, in the next moment, he heard a hiss which made him look down.

Raising his hand, Sigma smiled at the black-threaded bracelet on his wrist.

The people around Sigma flinched when they saw the bracelet begin to move and the hissing sound continued.

After all, if Horace's etcher was the bird in his palm, Sigma's etcher was a slender black viper that camouflaged itself to take on the appearance of the threaded bracelet.

Now that he saw his master smiling at another etcher, the snake revealed its true form and hissed to make its presence known.

Etchers were born territorial and possessive so even in this situation, the two mighty beasts of different species were leering at each other, wary of the other.

"What about you? Do you sense Master anywhere?" Sigma called out to his etcher to end this childish confrontation taking place between them.

His etcher, a black viper, had a keen sensory organ on the surface of his long slithering tongue.

Thanks to his high intelligence, he could recall and locate auras of anyone whom he had come in contact with in the past.

Therefore, Sigma had asked his etcher to try and sense his Master's aura which he was all too familiar with.

However, there was a drawback to this ability of the etcher coiled around the shadow knight's wrist.

The snake could only sense the auras of those who were on par or below the level of his Master.

He could not sense anyone whose level was above him and his Master.

This would not be a problem right now as Prince Draco's ability had not yet advanced above that of Sigma's so the snake would surely be able to sense him if he was nearby.

However, the long, darkened tongue of the snake slithered out for a long time but found no trace of Prince Draco's aura around their location.

Hearing the report of his etcher in his mind, Sigma sighed as the result was the same as what had happened numerous times in the last many hours.

'Where are you, Master?' He too was beginning to grow anxious just like Horace at this continued absence of their Master.

"Should we inform the King?" A defeated voice was heard coming from his side which made Sigma turn in its direction.

Horace's pale face and slumped shoulders brought a flaming fury into Sigma's eyes as he glared at his peer.

Informing the King about his missing young brother implied that they were willing to give up on the search for their Master.

How could he bear to do that? 

Therefore, he did not hide his dissatisfaction with Horace as he leered at him without concealing his emotions.

"Did I not ask you to not give up hope so quickly!?" He sneered at his fellow knight and long-time friend who was behaving in such a shameful manner.

They were the best knights in this Kingdom who were even above the vicious Silver snake knights guarding their borders.

Yet Horace was giving up and accepting defeat when there was still a chance for them to find their master.

"Sigma is right." Another voice they were familiar with butted into their conversation.

They did not know when this man had gotten off the carriage but right now, he was staring at them with a fierce look in those white irises of his.

"I am not giving up until I find the Prince!" Sevenz Oca declared, bringing vitality back into the drooping spirits of the men who had accompanied them to find their master.

Tutu was seated on his shoulder as he glared at the two closest to the Prince who were discussing matters which did not need to be discussed right now.

"If you have time to talk about this nonsense then you have time to search for the Prince." He sneered at Horace who lowered his head after which he nodded in acceptance.

The search parties had enough rest and with Sevenz's loud declaration, they were ready to set out once again.