97. Missing?
“Welcome.”
The receptionist greeted me. However, it was not Elma, the receptionist of the inn, nor her parents.
The person welcoming me was Rion.
“I’m sorry for coming back two days in a row…” “No, we’re happy to have you, Takuma-sama.” “Is that so?”
I had come to Marona again today, right after yesterday. Of course, Lena was staying behind at the inn today.
Doing night activities during the day might seem lazy, but I had both the money and the time to do so now.
Unearned income at its peak. The highest in this other world!
“By the way, Takuma-sama. What would you like today?”
I looked at the waiting women, and once again, Shiro was on the far right.
I had been thinking I would choose Shiro again today, but I also wanted to see the person I hadn’t seen yesterday.
She had round kemonomimi that protruded from her head and a thick, fluffy tail.
She was probably a dog beastman girl. Her breast size was smaller than Shiro’s, but that didn’t mean she was inferior to Shiro.
From my perspective, a kemonomimi beautiful girl was an extremely attractive woman.
“Um, that girl…”
“Which girl, please?”
I looked at the girls seated with Shiro and then at Rion at the reception. Then I remembered something.
“Rion-san. I’d like to ask a small favor.” “…What is it?”
It was a trivial matter. I had never seen the face I had spotted yesterday, and the first person Shiro had looked at was clearly looking off into the distance with a sad expression.
But that change had made me feel a certain unease.
“Is something wrong?”
Rion didn’t answer right away. She was probably thinking about whether to say something or not.
To her, I was just one customer. Even if something happened in the shop, she would have to ask someone else to help. So I told her that I was that person she should ask.
“Actually, I’m an adventurer, you know?”
When I said that, Rion’s eyes, which had been swimming, suddenly looked straight at me.
“Takuma-sama, could you help us?”
I answered her request without hesitation and was led to the room behind the reception. After being told to wait a moment, Rion and Shiro returned to the room in less than a minute.
“Shiro. Takuma-sama, about what happened yesterday…” “I understand…”
With a serious expression, Shiro told me what had happened between yesterday and the moment I came here.
“Nea-chan is missing?” “Yes. This morning, when I went to wake her, she wasn’t in the room, and I couldn’t find her anywhere.” “Who was the last person to see Nea-chan?” “It was me. I sent her back to her room and then went back to my own room.” “Do you remember what time it was?” “I think it was around nine at night. After that, I went to sleep. No one from the night-shift staff saw her leave the room, so I’m the last one who saw her.” “Is there a window in that room?” “Yes. But it was closed.” “I see…”
In a detective story, one would go to the scene. But I had no fingerprint analysis, and I couldn’t tell how old the bed was rumpled or the footprints were.
What concerned me was whether the window connected to the outside in some way. But since there were no signs of someone entering or leaving, I thought the window wasn’t related to today’s incident.
“Is it possible that Nea-chan left on her own without anyone noticing?” “I can’t say there’s no possibility… The night-shift staff basically wait at the entrance like the day staff, and the owner is also at the reception…” “So Nea-chan could have left the building without anyone noticing if she wanted to?” “Yes…”
From the facts so far, it was reasonable to assume Nea-chan had left the shop on her own will.
If an intruder had kidnapped her, someone would surely have noticed. Also, the possibility of someone targeting Nea-chan was low.
Because only the people who worked here knew about Nea-chan, and even I — the one who had met her in the shop — didn’t know where she slept.
From all that, it was reasonable to say that Nea-chan hadn’t been kidnapped.
“From what I’ve heard, it seems most likely that Nea-chan left on her own will…” “We also came to that conclusion. However…” “I’m worried. Right?” “Yes. I don’t think she felt complete trust with us. But she should at least recognize us as reliable people. Still, the fact that she left without saying anything to anyone makes me a little uneasy.”
Shiro was right.
I didn’t know the relationship between Shiro and Nea-chan. But leaving without saying anything to people who had helped her was strange by any normal standard.
“I understand. I’ll investigate a little.”
“Please do.”
Shiro and Rion bowed deeply to me.
At the same time, I, as an adventurer, had accepted the request to search for Nea-chan.