Jack was surprised. So these two were bitter for being stationed in this backwater town? No wonder they were so unhelpful. But still, Jack suspected it must be their own attitudes that caused them to receive such punishment.
“That is no excuse to not lend a helping hand to civilians when they needed it,” Jack said. “You are dishonoring your status as the Themisphere soldier.”
Jonathan spat. “I can dishonor them however I like. We won’t do anything to you, but you can’t make us do anything as well. You are not of the military, we have no obligation to listen to your command. Unless you are a Duke, piss the hell off, kid!”
“Yeah, what can our superior do anyway? Demote us? Go ahead, we don’t care. No use for rankings in this shitty town anyway,” Harker added.
Jack didn’t go. He stood there and watched the place. It was indeed a pitiful place to live. The shack was too small. There was no facility to speak of.
The two soldiers who saw this young noble was not leaving simply ignored him. They laid back in their comfortable positions. Despite their tough talk, they still didn’t dare to lay a hand on Jack, the punishment would not be a simple demotion.
Finally, Jack said, “How about this. I am a good friend to the third prince. I am also pretty tight with Commander Quintus. You help me solve this missing case, I will have a word with them about reinstating you back to the capital, or other main cities if you prefer. What do you say?”
“Hm?” Jonathan turned back to Jack. “You know them? A kid like you?”
“Third Prince? The last I heard of him was that he was just a cadet. He has no power to speak of,” Harker said, sitting back up.
“He had now decided to fight for the throne against his two brothers. I am helping him on that,” Jack answered.
“You? Haha. Two kids trying to fight a grown-up battle? Good luck with that! Haha,” Jonathan laughed mockingly.
“Still, Commander Quintus is fair,” Harker said to Jonathan. “I always like him better than our commander. If he can pull some strings…”
“How can we know it is true? This kid could just be spouting bullshit, for all we know,” Jonathan replied.
“Well, I can’t give you any proof other than my words,” Jack said. “But how many chances do you think come your way. You let this one go and who knows how long someone else with the same offer comes rolling to this remote town? If you are not interested, then fine. Good day to you both.”
Jack then turned around and made a show of leaving.
He was walking slowly, trying to give the two soldiers enough time to think. He was starting to think his ploy was not working when Jonathan called out, “Wait!”
Jack stopped but didn’t look back. He called back, “What?”
“Come back here! We can talk,” Jonathan said.
Jack walked back to them. When Jack was back in front of them again, Jonathan said to him, “We want to be in the capital and we want to be placed under Commander Quintus’ camp.”
“Okay, I will try my best and talk to the third prince and Commander Quintus to make that happen once I am back to Thereath. But being under Commander Quintus meant you will be under the third prince’s camp. You don’t have a good opinion about the third prince’s chance just now, so why want to go to what you think is the losing side?”
“Because the other two sides are not appealing as well. We are originally under the second prince’s camp. There are too many shady businesses there. Do you think the two of us are here because of our own deeds? We were being framed to take the fall for our superior’s problem.”
“What about the first prince?”
“Well, let’s just say we have heard things about the soldiers under him. You make a mistake, it is not simply a slap on the wrist. The third prince might be a losing side, but at least we can enjoy our time in the capital first while he is fighting futilely for his ambition.”
Jack was speechless. These two were just lazy bums. But he simply promised a talk to reinstate them, whether it happened or not, that was an entirely different thing. All that mattered now was getting their cooperation.
“All right, you have a deal,” Jack said.
Jonathan nodded. “So, how can we help you?”
“What do you know about these missing children cases?”
“Nothing,” Jonathan shrugged. “We were only involved the first few times when it started happening five years ago. We thought it was the deed of the beast. But after many futile searches, nothing turned up. It happened so many times that we think it was a waste of time anyway. So, we leave them to it. The townspeople will call us when a real monster shows up. That, we can help with. Chasing children who had vanished to God knows where? Nothing we can do.”
‘Very knightly,’ Jack criticized inwardly. Outwardly, he said, “The Count said the missing cases might have happened before five years ago, not only to children. Do you know anything about that?”
“We only came here around six years ago,” Harker said.
Jonathan confirmed, “That’s right. One person was missing not long after we arrived, an adult though. Everyone thought he simply left to another city, so not much fuss about that incident.”
Jack never expected much information from these soldiers, so he was not disappointed. He said, “All right. Now, for the real help I require from you two. I want you to accompany me as I investigate this case.”
“You want us to be your bodyguards?” Jonathan asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Do you have any other better things to do?” Jack asked back.
The two soldiers looked at each other. Harker shrugged, implying that he would leave the decision to Jonathan. The senior soldier then said after some pondering, “Fine. So, we will just be following you around, right? But don’t expect us to be your lapdog! We won’t accept it if you order us to do this, or bring that, or any of that shit.”
“Okay,” Jack said. He just needed them for protection. The SS-difficulty indication was no joke. He suspected that at the end of this case would be a real powerful foe. Not to mention that mysterious hooded stranger he met at the graveyard. Jack was not sure if the person was an enemy. If he was, he would be a troublesome one as well.
“However, during a battle, you will need to follow my command,” Jack said, this was so that he was considered party leader by the world system and granted exp for anything the two soldiers killed.
Jonathan thought for a second before saying, “Fine, but only if your orders make sense. If you ask us to sacrifice ourselves, don’t expect us to listen!”
“Sure,” Jack said. “All right, come on! Packed the weapons you need to bring.”
“Now?” Harker asked.
‘Damn! These lazy bums,’ Jack complained in his mind. “Yes, now! The sooner we solve this case, the sooner I can go back to Thereath and put in a good word for the two of you. You want to get off this place as soon as possible, don’t you?” Jack asked.
“Sure, sure!” Harker said, getting up and going inside the shack. Jonathan took his time to rise before walking slowly.
Not long after, the two came back out garbed in armor. Harker was carrying a pike while Jonathan had a halberd and a longsword by his waist. Now the two looked more like proper soldiers. With these two soldiers, Jack felt more secure.
Jack took the two of them back into town and headed directly to the graveyard. The sun had set by then. Not that it matters since the sunlight rarely reached the place. But still, Jack couldn’t help but think why it just so happened that he had to visit the graveyard at night? Twice some more!
He half-expected the place to be covered by that mysterious fog again, but thankfully, it was not so.
“What the hell are we doing in this God-forsaken place?” Jonathan asked.
“The trail I followed the last time disappeared here,” Jack explained. “Do you people examine this place when you still join the search?”
“I prefer to avoid burial ground,” Jonathan said.
Harker supported with a strong nod.
Jack was spiritual but not superstitious, so he simply made prayer as respect before going ahead and checking the place out. He checked each tombstone, trying to see if there were anything out of place. Jonathan and Harker stood by the side and simply chat with each other. The deal was only for them to take action if Jack was in danger.
After more than an hour’s search, Jack didn’t pick up any clue. Not from his personal observation nor the magic of his God-eye monocle and Investigator talent.
When he was about to give up, he looked one more time at the largest crypt. It was the crypt of the Count’s ancestors. He studied it. He felt that there was something out of place. After looking at it for a long time, he finally realized what had caught his attention.
The floor directly in front of the crypt doors was clean, as opposed to the others that were filled with leaves and dust.. It was as if someone cleaned the crypt, or the door was opened frequently.
