Chapter 1: The Afternoon of the Wolf Part 3
"Going travel for a while…isn't too sudden?" The little Lloyd said with a hint of unsatisfactory to the young man that was preparing to go. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to Principality of Remiferia. I'm just going there for two months. If everything goes smoothly, I might come back earlier." The young man smiled.
"I-I know that…but you're an Investigator, right? Will there be any problem with the long trip?"
"What's up with you? Oh I see…are you feeling lonely without me at home? I never know my brother is scared being alone, huh?" The young man chuckled and rubbed Lloyd's head, messing with his hair.
Little Lloyd protested hardly, waving his brother's hand away from his poor head.
"…I can live better than you think even you leave for two years!"
"Don't get upset so easily. I'm just joking." Sighing, the young man crossed his arms together. "Actually…there's reason behind the trip. You can say that's…top secret."
"You sound suspicious." Little Lloyd's face immediately deadpan. "Okay…what is that top secret, then?"
"You finally ask me that." The young man smirked mischievously. "Let me tell you the truth…actually, I'm going to escort a super cute lady on the trip."
"Huh…?"
"I'm going to elope with her to the beautiful Principality of Remiferia. How is it? Feeling envy?"
Lloyd completely dumbfounded at this rate. He couldn't say a word to the man before him.
Just how insensitive he was…!?
"Alright, enough with the joking. I have to go now. I already inform our neighbor. You may eat dinner with them while I'm not around. However, you'll have to get yourself breakfast and lunch."
"…I don't think you need to worry me for that…hey, that's not the point!" Little Lloyd completely snapped. "What are you thinking? Travelling with cute girl…what if Cecil knows this!?"
"Huh? What's the matter with Cecil here?"
"…How dumb are you!" Why Cecil would fall for such a man!? Little Lloyd almost went crazy and wanted to punch his brother, but he pressed it down abruptly.
Looking at his brother dumb face, Lloyd suddenly felt so helpless.
"Talking about Cecil…actually, I already told her." The young man tilted his head.
"Huh!?"
"Umm…she seems to have some subtle misunderstanding. After all, it is a mission assignment, though. And the girl…she is so young…"
Lastly, Lloyd found a hint of sadness went across the young man's face. He looked so upset and distanced for a moment.
He opened his eyes, slightly confused with the situation.
"…A dream, huh?" Lloyd shoved the blanket from his body. "It's been how many years since then…?"
Perhaps it was the time when he was around twelve? ...No, thirteen, if he was correct. And after that, he was…
Suddenly, a sound cut in. He jerked up in shock, and quickly went to check the source of the sound.
"A call in the early of morning?" He frowned, but pressed the button. "Hello, Lloyd Bannings here."
"You're awaked. So, how's the report?" The one on the other side was Sergei.
"Yes…the content has been roughly sorted out."
"Very well. Get ready and come to my room, okay? Someone want to meet you."
… …
"I'm coming in, Chief."
As Lloyd expected, the one coming were no other than Sonia and her subordinate.
"Good morning, Deputy Commander Sonia."
"Just as I expected." Randy shrugged.
"Good morning, everyone." Sonia smiled gently.
"Good morning. So the guest is Deputy Commander?" Elie looked to Sergei and got his nod as a confirmation.
"She's just here, though. It seems she would like to know about the investigation of the case."
"I don't mind, but isn't it too sudden?" Lloyd asked and looked at Sonia with question.
"Yes…We are yet investigated Mainz…"
"I apologize for the confusion. But there are changes on our side now." Sonia explained with a sigh. "Until yesterday, we're responsible for the securities and patrol of Mainz. However, we're forced to retreat this morning."
"CSGF was retreated?"
All of them were shocked.
"…For what I remember, the monster appeared just three days ago, right?" Tio frowned.
"Although I think we should stay alert for one week or so…but Commander sent a notices, telling us to stop this."
"…Why…?"
"Tch…is that old man, right?" Randy cursed. He must have known who's behind this.
"Randy, you know that person?" Lloyd asked.
"Well, I've seen him a few times when I was on duty at Bellguard Gate. Although he is the Commander of CSGF, but rumor said he has deep relation with the member of empire. All he does is busy getting reception with those people." When talking about the Commander of CSGF, Randy's face darkened. He lowered his head and tried to hide it.
"…I've heard about that before. So the rumor is true…" Hearing that, Elie sighed and shook her head.
"…But it seems to be too unjustifiable to ignore the case." Tio shook her head, feeling unsure with the information.
"Yes, I agree with you. If only a local area is damaged, we still can leave the case to Bracer's Guild. But this time, the scope of the victim is too wide. CSGF must do something about this." But under such circumstances, even Sonia couldn't do anything.
"And the problem is…it has been three weeks since the first case, and we're yet to grasp the true identity of the monster. Plus, the scope is too wide, but the exact damages are far beyond serious…that's why Commander uses this excuse to make us retreat." Sonia's subordinate added behind. She seemed to be unconvinced.
"I see…I get the picture now." Lloyd nodded.
"Oh yes, I still haven't introduced to you, right?" Sonia clicked her fingers. "She is Sergeant Noel. Although she's young, but her combat skill and driving skill are great. She uses to be my guard and assistant."
"My name is Noel Seeker. Nice to meet you all." The orange haired girl – Noel Seeker bowed to the team and Sergei.
"Nice to meet you, too…wait, Seeker, you said?" Suddenly, the team recalled something. Lloyd looked at his teammates. They're all having the same question.
"Are you related to the receptionist Fran…?" Elie asked carefully.
"Yes, I am her sister." The girl replied with a big smile. "Thanks for taking care of Fran."
"Don't mention it. She helps us a lot." Lloyd answered sheepishly.
"So…you're Sergeant Noel. I've heard about you. There's rumor said that she is a high anticipated star in the team." Randy smirked, a bit surprised.
"I've heard about you, too, Mr. Randy. I always wanted to meet you after hearing a lot of your rumors." Noel giggled, making everyone sweat dropped.
"A lot of rumors…?" Lloyd curious about what kind of rumors he could have.
"…Rumors about how he flirted with girls, huh?" Tio's face deadpanned.
"Well, it's true I am famous among girls. I can see most of the males are envying me." Randy seemed to be proud of his rumors. Tio and Elie shot him a glare at the same time.
"Alright, enough with that, Randy." Sonia coughed, sending him a cold glare as well.
"Arrgh…"
"Just as I told you…the situation is turning worse. I'll have no choice but to depend on you. That's the only hope I can grasp."
"I understand."
"Then, shall I explain the report we have sorted out?" Elie volunteered.
After the brief explanation, Sonia understood more about the case, and the part they're over sighted.
"How is it, Sonia? Are they achieved your expectation?" Sergei lighted a cigarette, looking to the woman beside him.
"Well…they went beyond my expectation, more correctly." Sonia smiled, adjusting her spectacle. "[Wolf God]…and the invasion route at the rooftop of the hospital…what do you think, Noel?"
"…To tell the truth, it was surprising. So, this is the point of view from the professional." The girl was amused.
"I think that's the difference of our thinking modes." Sonia pondered for a while. "Please continue investigate the case. I'll leave the investigation of Mainz on your hand. In present state, it might be possible to discover unexpected new facts."
"Yes, we plan so."
"Deputy Commander, what about the notice from the old man?" Randy asked behalf of the team.
"Well, he didn't say we can't request someone to investigate the case. I plan to set out once we get the information of the monster. Don't worry about that." Sonia raised a smile. She already had plan for this.
"Ahaha…that's just the Deputy Commander I know." Randy shrugged, smiling bitterly.
He couldn't imagine what would happen to CSGF if Sonia wasn't there.
"…The monster seems very sensitive to our action. Comparing to us, minority action might catch them off guard." Noel added.
"Understood. We plan to head to Mainz after this."
"I'll leave it to you, then. If you find anything, please contact Tangram Gate." Then, Sonia turned to Sergei. "Sergei, I have to go now. I shall discuss the matter with you later."
"Alright, alright." He scratched his head. "Don't push yourself too much."
"Well, the same goes to you, too." She chuckled. "Let's go, Noel."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Noel followed behind Sonia, biding them team goodbye.
"They seem so busy."
"Yes…they just retreated from Mainz, though."
"Looks like they've been fooled by the useless Commander." Sighing, Sergei went to the chair and sat down. "Plus, they have to take care of the Republic…"
"Sounds tough…by the way, do you know Deputy Commander?" Lloyd asked.
"…Now you talked bout it…you seem to know her pretty well. You even call her by first name." Tio turned to Sergei, saying with a hint of curiosity.
"Oh yeah…she even recommended me." Randy smirked. "What's the relationship between you two?"
"Old friend, I guess." Sergei sighed, changing the subject. "You guys were pretty tough yesterday, from what I heard. Do you plan to walk to Mainz today?"
"Umm…well, there were many coincidences…" The team sweat dropped.
"We plan to take bus there."
"Huh? I though you're going to learn from bracer."
"Learn from bracer…?" Tio tilted her head.
"It seems to be their habits to walk the surrounding area with bare legs. While training, they can also cumulative fighting experience with monsters. And more importantly, they'll get to know more about the area. Sounds pretty good, right?"
"I see…that's how they always do."
"…Then, it's not mere coincidence to meet Estelle and Joshua yesterday?" Tio looked at Lloyd.
"Pretty much the same as what Chief said…I guess."
"The two of them seem to have been through a lot of tough times. I heard that they made great contribution to the case in Calamity of Liberl."
"Calamity of Liberl…!"
"…Is it the incident lead to the paralysis of Orbal System in Liberl Kingdom?"
"Hey hey…don't tell me…"
"So…that's why they are strong…"
There's no way they could compare with them.
"Well, they're experienced. But now we're talking about Crossbell here. I don't think they know more about Crossbell than you here. Keep up your training and don't let them chase after you." Sergei smiled. "The same goes to the case. Bracer's Guild will sure intervene if it takes too long for us to settle. So, be quick, got it?"
"Yes sir. We plan to head out once we're done with the preparation."
As usual, they settle some of the delicate on hand before heading out. To reach Mainz, they had to go from the north gate, which located at Residential Street.
"Ah…"
Outside the north gate, Tio suddenly stopped her pace.
"What is it, Tio?"Lloyd asked. Elie and Randy also stopped by and looked at her.
"…Do you hear anything, again?"
"Yes…boosting sensor sensitivity!" Tio maxed up the sensor sensitivity once again to catch anything that could tell her hint. This time, even the team could hear the howl of the certain monster.
"This is…!"
"It's weak, but…"
"That's definitely monster…if wasn't little Tio, we could have missed it." Randy was impressed.
"…The howl seems coming from the direction of the hill, northwest about 40 Selge." Tio explained further.
"…Means the middle of the hill, right?" The team looked to the bus stop sign, showing different expression. Lloyd looked to the girls with a sorry look. "Hmm…Elie and Tio, although I have said it yesterday, but just in case…"
"We're fine, Lloyd." Elie interrupted with a smile. "Don't worry about us."
"…No problem." Tio nodded. "I think the howl…is trying to delivery some message."
"Message?"
"Is the monster trying to deterrence us?"
"No…how should I say this…it's not deterrence, but something more clear…" Tio lowered her head, trying to find the best word to explain to her teammates. Yet, she couldn't even explain to herself, so she shook her head. "…Sorry, I can't explain it."
"Don't worry. We can't wait for CSGF. We have to rely on ourselves." Lloyd said.
"""Roger."""
If they're going to look for the source of the howling, there's no way to take bus. At the end, they have to walk. It was a good idea for training, as well as a good way to match with bracers. They still had long way to go, though.
The paths were mostly the mountain hills. It was quite a challenge for the bus, let alone human. It was tough, but the scenery along the way made them felt worth it.
"This feels comfortable."
"The Crossbell we're living is beautiful…" Elie giggled, closing her eyes.
"…The hard works are worth."
"Yeah, there is such vast natural scenery just a little farther from the city." Narrowing his eyes, Randy looked around the place with sigh. "Don't you think Crossbell is weird, little Tio?"
"…Yes…" Suddenly, Tio felt the gazes from Lloyd and Elie. "…Sorry, I didn't mean anything bad."
"No…I kinda know the meaning in your words." Lloyd quickly waved his hand. "In fact, I have lived in foreign country before. Comparing the both, Crossbell is truly imbalanced."
"…I've also traveled across countries when I was studying aboard. Every country attaches great importance to the beauty of nature and tradition." Elie said with a hint of sadness.
Looking at Elie, Tio moved her gaze to the view instead.
"…But, l like Crossbell. I feel its strengths and weakness attracted me a lot."
"Thank you, Tio."
"Well, to me, this place makes me feel excited. It puts the unrelated like us to a team." Randy smirked.
"…SSS was formed because of Crossbell, too."
"Now you think about it, it feels good."
Suddenly, a howl cut in, as if telling them to stop chatting.
"Again."
"Tio, can you find the source of the howl?"
Tio once again maxed up the sensor sensitivity.
"…Northwest, about 10 Selge. According to the map, it should be right at the bifurcation point."
"Alright, let's hurry."
After a while, they came down to bifurcation point. To the right of the bifurcation point, there was a hill path, which Tio claimed that she had no information about, and the same goes to the two locals. While to the left, there was a metal bridge, where waterfall at the right side. At the end of the bridge, there was a tunnel.
"Weird…we don't see the wolf type monster."
"Perhaps it has ran to other places…everyone, will there be any clues over there?" Elie pointed to the hill path.
"…It seems we better check it out, just in case." Lloyd agreed to the suggestion. "Anyway, be careful."
The hill path connected to the high mountain. They climbed up the mountain slope with extra caution. Thanks to the stair built at the slopes, it made a lot easy for them. But since there were monsters along the slopes, they still needed to be very careful.
"Phew…finally we reach the top of the mountain…" Lloyd wiped the sweat off his forehead, checking the others' condition at the same time. "Is everyone okay?"
"I'm fine…though I want to say so." Smiling bitterly, Randy let out a big sigh. "It's been long time I climb a mountain."
"…I'm fine, too." Tio said with red face.
"I think we have to thanks for yesterday's hard work…I feel a lot easier than that." Elie panted, but she is right. It felt a lot better than yesterday. "Anyway…what is that?"
In front of them, there was a huge house with fancy and fine designs. The gate was all made of metal, completely blocking anyone from entering. No one was around, looked like a pretty dead place.
At the corner of the gate, a signboard was written [Rosenberg Studio].
"… [Rosenberg Studio]?"
"Oh…this is the industry's famous Dolls Workshop." Elie said. "I heard there is a talented master who can make expensive antique dolls."
"A workshop that making antique dolls…? Sounds interesting."
"…I've heard about it, too." Tio tilted her head, trying to recall anything from her mind. "It is said that the dolls can be sold with incredible price during the auction."
"Yes…I have seen the dolls few times, and I must say, the dolls are incredible arts." Recalling the dolls her friends owned, Elie smiled bitterly. "Although I know the workshop is somewhere in Crossbell, but I never expect it would locate in such a desolated place."
"Talented master…from the signboard, it doesn't seem he is a friendly person. Could it be possible we can ask him few question…?" Holding his chin, Lloyd examined the workshop and pondered.
"Sorry, but grandpa is not around."
Suddenly, a childish voice sounded behind them.
They're startled, quickly turned over to their shoulders and found a purple haired little girl who wore a beautiful one-piece.
"You're…?"
A little girl walked closer to the team.
"Hello…and who are you? What do you want from the workshop?" The little asked with innocent face.
"Don't worry, we're Crossbell Police…"
"Police? Weird, I only saw police in the city…are you patrolling the area?"
"No, we're not patrolling. Actually, we would like to question about the incident happened lately. Just wonder if the master of the workshop knows anything about it."
"Incident…?" The girl looked up to the sky, thinking. "Do you mean the Monster Mauling case? What kind of monster is that?"
"A wolf type monster." Elie answered her. "Did you hear anything about the monster from your grandpa?"
"No, he never tells me so. But…now you talk about it, I heard a howl from somewhere quite far away…is it from that wolf type monster?"
"Exactly." Lloyd said. "You said your grandpa is not around…then, no one is inside beside you alone?"
"Well yes. But grandpa said he will be back in evening."
"Anyway…just as we said, this area is dangerous. Can you stay in the house before your grandpa coming back?"
"I don't mind though…but I think it would be more interesting to follow you all around." The girl smiled mischievously.
"Eh…?"
"Are you all playing hide-and-seek with the wolf type monster? It sounds funny!"
Hide-and –seek, huh? The team smiled bitterly.
She could have said so.
"Hey, this little girl is something." She didn't seem scare at all. Instead, she seemed pretty curious.
"…Well, you see, we don't know what will happen, so we can't bring you along. I'm sorry, but could you stay at home?" Lloyd tried to convince the girl. He was really not good at handling kid.
"Uh…boring." The girl pouted. "It would be better if 'he' is here…well, I should have just sneaked and find freckles boy to play, or should I go to Glass Castle?"
She seemed to soliloquize. However, half of her statement was unclear to the team.
"Did you just say…sneak?" Lloyd hoped he was mistaken.
"Glass Castle?" Elie exchanged a glance with Lloyd.
What was she saying?
"Ahaha…it's nothing!" The girl stopped her pace and turned around. "Oh yes, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Renne. I have a friend, and would like to introduce to all of you. But currently he is injured. How unfortunate."
Was she talking about dolls…? Lloyd sweat dropped.
"I-I see…"
"Hehe…it seems the wolf type monster is pretty clever. Although I would like to play with it for a while, but Renne is an adult, so I will just leave it be." Renne walked back to the workshop. "I will cheer for you, Special Support Section."
"T-Thanks…"
The gate opened when Renne approached it. Soon later, the girl disappeared behind the gate.
"…Quite a strange girl…" Tio commented. "Perhaps the granddaughter of the master?"
"Well, I guess so." Randy shrugged.
"She is pretty cute." Elie giggled. "They way she talks is interesting, too."
Lloyd turned to the team, looking unconvinced.
"…Guys, did we tell her we're SSS?"
Hearing that, the team gasped in shock.
None of them felt fishy about it until Lloyd pointed it out.
"…Now you talk about it, we haven't introduced yet…"
"Who is that kid, anyway?" Randy frowned, looking to the workshop.
"…I don't know. Well, maybe she recognized us because of the articles on the magazines." Even so, Lloyd still found it is hard to convince himself, let alone the team. "Anyway, this area seems pretty safe. We should head back to the bifurcation point and continue our journey to Mainz."
Before leaving, Lloyd took a last glance to the workshop.
They returned to the bifurcation point, followed the only possible path and headed to their destination Mainz. They went through the metal bridge, passing the tunnel. While inside the tunnel, Tio heard the howl from a particular monster again. It seemed like guiding them and needed to tell them something.
Once exiting the tunnel, they truly found a snowy fur wolf was waiting for them. Lloyd and Randy quickly took out their weapons ready to charge. But the wolf simply ignored them, slowly jumping down to the front of the team.
"That snowy fur…just exactly the same as the legendary [Wolf God]." Elie said.
"So, you finally appear!" Randy raised a smirk. "I'll crush you here! Here we go!"
"…Wait." Suddenly, Tio pulled him back by tackled his jacket. "He doesn't seem aggressive at all."
"Eh…? What do you mean by that?"
Taking a step forward, Tio brought herself to the front of the white wolf.
"H-Hey, what are you doing!?"
"Stop it right there!"
Randy and Lloyd both rushed over to her, but the girl simply waved their hands away.
"…Leave it to me." Tio looked straight into the wolf's eyes. "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you."
The wolf remained alert for a while, keep glancing at the men behind her. She reassured the wolf until it was convinced.
"…We finally found you. You're planning to meet us, right? What do you to tell us?"
"Grrrr….."
"I see…hmm…hmm…"
"Tio…?" Tio seemed to understand what the wolf was trying to tell them. They looked at each other, all surprised.
"Do you understand his words?" Lloyd asked, putting down his pair of tonfa.
"…Somehow, I know what he means." Once again, she looked to the wolf. "So, what do you want tell us?"
"Grrrr…..grrrrr…"
"…That's…!"
The wolf completely ignored her shock, jumping up to the hill. Before he went off, he gave the team one last glance.
"What the hell!? He can jump up to such a high hill!?" Randy was somehow amazed by the white wolf.
Tio lowered her head, crossing her arms.
"Tio, what did he say?" Lloyd asked. All of them put down their weapons. "He seems want to tell us something."
"Hmm…how should I put this…?" She tilted her head, looking up to the sky. "[The last piece of fragment is in the front], and then [I'll leave the rest to you]…like this."
"Last piece of fragment…!?"
"Yes…this is probably what he meant. It's up to believe it or not. "
"I don't mean I don't believe in you." Lloyd quickly explained. "Does he mean, we're going to find the last hint about the incident soon?"
"Hmm…p-please wait…" Elie stopped him by walking nearby. "Even what Tio said is true, but can we really trust that wolf?"
"Yeah…that's the culprit of the incident." Randy looked to Lloyd, sounded doubtful. "Let alone his high spirituality, is there possible he is lying?"
"No…" Lloyd pondered for a while before speaking. "That white wolf might not be the culprit."
"Huh!?"
"According to the investigation in the village and hospital, no one has ever heard of the howl like this. And, according to the training doctor's testimony, he was attacked by the dark wolf type monster." He shrugged, sighing. "Of course, I can't sure he is innocent. After all, he could be the leader of those dark wolfs, and ordered them to attack people."
"Well…since it was collective action, we can't rule out the possibility…" Still, Tio wanted to believe the white wolf. To her, he didn't seem to be evil at all.
"I think, from now on, we have to change our thinking mode according to the type of the wolf monsters." Elie fronwed.
"Exactly. And, he is probably the legendary [Wolf God]."
"And the dark wolfs are the culprit behind the case, huh?" Randy scratched his head. "Alright, at least that makes sense."
"…Yes, I'm thinking the same." Tio nodded. "The white wolf…I didn't feel malicious from him."
"I feel the same way."
"[The last piece of fragment is in the front]…was he referring to the mining town, Mainz?"
"Perhaps so. Since we're almost there, we should hurry."
"Well…that white wolf…he sounds pretty arrogant." Randy sounded unpleasant, following behind Lloyd.
"…To tell the truth, I can tell he is looking down on us." Tio said, closing her eyes.
"T-That aside, we should stay focus till the end of the investigation."
"It would be nice if we can get more hints…"
This chapter is quite short, because it will be too lengthy if I continue. Next chapter will be the final chapter of Chapter 1. See you until then!