小嫂子的味道

"Where did she go?" Anya asked.

"Who?"

"Ellyn."

"Wasn't she with you?" I inquired.

"Yes she was, but now she's nowhere to be found," Anya stopped in her tracks and looked around to see, but her eyes only met with disappointment.

"She must have wandered to some shop again," I implied.

"Maybe, but she would've told me if that were the case," at this point, Anya was starting to get a little worried and concern was beginning to show on her face.

"Do you think she got lost?"

"I don't think that's out of the question. She is new to these areas, after all," I stated. Losing your way in an unknown city or place was a common thing if you got careless. It was nothing new.

"Tch! It's starting to get dark as well, we need to find her soon or it'll spell trouble," Anya said while trying to look in every direction possible.

The sun was starting to hide behind the clouds, and since it was a winter day it wouldn't take long for the sky to completely turn charred. Soon the cold winds will start to pick up the pace, and staying out won't be the best choice. If Ellyn was really lost then she might have to book an inn or something in order to maintain her health—given that she knew where the inns were located.

"Why are you just standing there? Come help me find her!" Anya's instructions came from behind.

"But where are we going to find her? This marketplace is way too big for us to search for a single person. And she will be on the move as well so it'll be even more difficult," I said as I walked up to Anya and stood next to her.

"So what are you saying then? We should leave her be and go back home?" she replied, there was a hint of anger in her voice.

"That's not what I meant here—though it won't be that bad of a choice if you ask me. Anyway, what I'm saying is that we should split up and then search for her. It will be faster this way and since both you and I know this area well, there won't be any chances of getting lost," I suggested.

She stopped at her place and took some time to think about it. Most likely she was calculating her options and figuring out the best possible option.

"Fine. I also think we'll find her sooner that way," she said, finally coming to a decision.

"Okay. Then you go check in the direction where we bought the clothes, I'll check the way that leads to home," I stated.

Anya nodded, "Let's meet here, right here again in about half an hour," those were my final words before both of us left in different directions.

Going through the crowd of people, I passed through the main roads. As twilight was approaching the population of people on the roads was slowly decreasing. It took me a few minutes before I was in an opening where there were relatively fewer people.

I was walking toward one of the alleyways when I looked up in the sky and saw that the snow was falling from the sky. This was not good, not for Ellyn. The winds were also picking up their pace, if I had to guess so in about an hour the conditions outside won't be suitable for roaming around.

Looking away from the sky I entered one of the alleyways, it was narrow unlike the main roads and there was barely enough space for three people to walk side by side. After walking for a few minutes there were two turns in left and right, I turned left and kept walking.

Following the path, I was again introduced to two turns, this time I took turns rightward. The same sequence repeated itself multiple times as I dived deep into the maze of alleyways that led toward the outer part of the city—in short, the slum area.

'Which side now?' again there were three paths in front of me.

[Go straight, after that it will be left again, then straight, and then right. Also, increase your pace. I won't be able to detect their mana if they wandered too far.]

'Yeah, I know.'

I looked around and saw that there were little to no people in the alleyway I was currently in. Thus there was no need to hold back either.

I took a stance and channeled mana throughout, a second later I kicked off the ground and launched myself in the directions Req had told me. I was C rank, after all, covering this distance quickly didn't even count as a problem. In less than a minute I reached the location as Req continued to guide me along the way.

[They've stopped at a place. You should hurry.]

'I disagree with that.'

I stopped myself just before I count step out of the little cover. In front of me was a left turn and after that was an opening with enough space for a small crowd of people to stand. I peeked from the side and saw five people standing there beside a wall.

Four were males, dressed in tight, pure black clothing and each of them was carrying a short sword. Their faces were covered beneath masks as well, so it was impossible to identify them. But judging from their physic and their ability to masterfully hide their presence, I could tell that they were no ordinary humans.

All of them stood in front of a wall and were pinning down the sole female, she was dressed in normal clothing and wore a dark crimson-colored cloak. Ellyn.

Her hands and legs were tied with what I could identify as a tight rope, and her mouth was sealed with a thick lace of cloth. On her neck was a pendant with a red crystal on its end and it was emitting a dim light. Ellyn was desperately trying to free herself from her current position but wasn't even able to stand on her feet.