"Here you go, Conan. Say ahh…," Princess Aila handfed a cookie to the familiar who was currently sitting on her shoulder.
Conan and her had become good friends ever since William had asked the familiar to guide the Princess around the academy.
After experiencing the war in the Southern Continent, Princess Aila had lost her innocence. Nor was she the only one the War forced this loss upon. They had to learn quickly that they either had to kill or be killed by others.
Owen had not only taught her the arts of being a Life Mage, he also taught her how to defend herself during combat. The Princess had become a Battle Mage under Owen's teaching, but this was something very few people knew.
Princess Aila's innocent appearance would make anyone think that she was no more than a harmless girl, but if force came to shove, she would be just like Owen. A Life Mage who would not blink her eyes when needing to kill people, using the secret arts passed directly to her, by the Grand Life Archon.
"A-Aila, I can feed myself," Conan stuttered. "Someone as great as me doesn't need to be hand fed. My hands are not for decoration."
Princess Aila smiled as she handed the cookie to the Familiar who insisted on eating by himself.
"I know that you're great, Conan," Princess Aila replied. "This is why I am assured that we will complete this mission."
"Right! As long as I am around, this mission is a walk in the park. Don't worry. I will carry you."
"Thank you in advance, Conan."
Princess Eowyn looked at this scene while sipping her tea. Right now, they were inside a flying carriage that they had rented from the academy. They were on an expedition to solve mysterious disappearances that were happening in a small town, located a day's ride away from the academy using a flying carriage.
Hestia Academy is not just an ordinary academy. One could think of it as a Mercenary Organization that sent people to solve various problems plaguing the entirety of the Central Continent.
Lilith lay on the couch as she lazily bit into a cookie. She was also observing William's Familiar because she was curious about what the little Devil could do.
As someone who was a good judge of character, Lilith knew that Conan wasn't like his twin brother, Elliot, whom she couldn't' read no matter how hard she tried. T
The Angelic Familiar even gave her a dangerous feeling everytime their gazes met. It was as if Elliot could see through her schemes, and this made her feel uncomfortable.
'Compared to him, Conan is like a gullible child,' Lilith thought.
Kenneth, who was seated beside Princess Eowyn sighed internally. Since his main task was to watch over his Junior sister, on behalf of the Elven King, and his Master, he wasn't able to accompany William in his dungeon expedition.
In the end, he decided to study the information they had about the mission in order to pass the time.
'Something is very fishy about this mission,' Kenneth thought as he read the documents. 'Regardless whether it is night or day, someone from the village disappears every three days. There is no pattern in the disappearances.
'It doesn't matter if it is young or old, men or women. One will disappear without fail after three days, but whenever someone investigates the matter, the disappearances are delayed two days. Very strange.'
They were not the only ones that had chosen this mission from the academy. Aside from them, there were ten other teams that were currently headed to the town of Willowdale.
The rewards for this mission were quite high, which included Ten Thousand Merit Points for each team member, and a thousand gold coins.
The town was not that big, and the villagers were not that well-off so the compensation money was not much. In order to entice the students to take on this mission, the academy decided to increase the merit points as well.
"Still, I don't think this mission is going to be easy," Conan said after eating his cookie. "The Academy has also dispatched professors to deal with the disappearances, but all of them came back empty handed. The only good news is that of those who went there to investigate disappeared."
Princess Aila who was about to give Conan another cookie also found this strange. "I think that whoever is responsible for the disappearances didn't want to provoke the Academy. They probably know that once a student or a professor disappears, the Academy will send enough manpower to flip the entire town upside down."
Princess Eowyn nodded her head in agreement. "The Academy is taking this mission seriously. They already dispatched two professors to accompany the students. It seems that they want to solve this mystery once and for all."
Lilith only smiled as she listened to the conversation. As someone that was the embodiment of greed, stealing things was her specialty. This also included kidnapping people.
Under Andraste's command, she would travel alongside Elite Amazon Warriors in order to kidnap talented young men to be brought back to their Empire in order for them to spend a few days with her sister.
Naturally, after a few days, the young men would be safely returned to their homes, loaded with gold coins, and other treasures, given to them by the women whom they had embraced in the Amazon Empire.
For Lilith, this was a walk in the park. As long as she activated her Divinity, she would be able to catch the culprit without fail!
A few hours later, the flying carriages finally arrived at their destination.
The Town Mayor had already prepared accommodations for all of them. Although they weren't comparable to the comforts that they were used to in the Academy, the rooms given to them were clean and comfortable enough to stay in.
Professor Garen, William's homeroom teacher, was one of the Professors that had been tasked to supervise the mission.
Since the three Princesses in his class had taken the mission, the Headmaster of the Academy ordered him to accompany them to ensure their safety. Although the Academy usually didn't give the members of the Royal Family special treatment, the current mission was sensitive.
If one of the Princesses were suddenly spirited away, Byron would have a hard time pacifying the members of their Royal Families.
Since they had just arrived at the town, the professors as well as the students, who had taken the mission, decided to rest for the time being.
They thought that since they had arrived at the town, whoever was responsible for the disappearances would stay their hands.
But, their expectations were broken the next day.
As if to mock their arrival in Willowdale, the daughter of the Town's Mayor disappeared, from under the same roof where the Professors of Hestia Academy were staying.
"Please, Professors, find my daughter!" the Town Mayor pleaded. "She is about to get married next month. Please, save her!"
Professor Garen did his best to assure the Mayor that they would do their best to find her daughter.
This was why, right after eating breakfast, the ten teams alongside their Professors, immediately started their investigations, in the hope that they would find the culprit before the day was over.
