NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 279: Search Dragnet (2)
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The friend thought he still had a chance at catching up to her, but he did not know whether to go left or right.
Ema had been standing next to the entrance, so he decided to ask her if she had seen anything, but the one who reacted was Elio.
「Wait, what did you just say? Could you tell me more?!」
All of Elio’s exhaustion had vanished into thin air as he rushed to the friend, urging him to talk.
「Huh? I mean, I’m in a bit of a hurry—」 The friend wanted to go out to search as soon as possible, so he did not have the time to explain everything. But he also felt pressured by Elio’s determination.
「That girl, was she perhaps wearing a magical girl style dress?」
「…Wait, do you know who that is then?」
Grandir had described the girl as such, but he did not know much more. Her appearance was all Grandir and his friend had to go off on. But now Elio seemed to know more, so this was a perfect opportunity to learn more about her. Elio’s reply was, 「Not personally, but I’ve heard a lot of stories.」
「Okay, I’ll tell you then, as long as you tell me what you know as well.」「Alright.」
The friend and Elio agreed to exchange information, and they began talking about the mysterious girl with long silver hair.
「The Spirit Queen… I didn’t think she would be in the same line of work as us.」
The description Grandir gave and everything Elio knew matched up perfectly. In other words, now they knew that the Spirit Queen had been in the same building as them just moments earlier.
At the same time, the friend learned that the girl was actually a Rank A adventurer who was also known as the Spirit Queen, which gave him a pretty good lead to follow her.
Elio was also distraught, realizing that he would have met the Spirit Queen if he just stayed to watch the tournament instead of going on a goose chase around the city, and Ema had to comfort him, telling him that there was no way of knowing that would happen.
「Still, I’m surprised that there’s still adventurers who haven’t heard of the Spirit Queen. She became pretty popular after the whole Chimera Clauzen incident.」
When Elio mentioned that, the friend just grimaced a little. He and Grandir had spent the last few months engrossed in the card game, getting ready for the tournament, so they had been pretty distanced from their main line of work.
「Oh yeah, I think I’ve seen you both playing out matches daily here for the last two months or so.」
Ema mentioned that as well, and the friend jokingly mentioned that even with all of that practice, Grandir still lost. But that was the reality of the world, there is always someone a step ahead.
「Anyway, I’ll search to the left then.」
「And I’ll go right.」
There was no more time to waste, finding the Spirit Queen was more important for both. They agreed that they would try to get her to come back to the shop, so both got a chance to talk with her, and if that was not possible, to at least find a way to contact her. With all of that decided, they ran off.
(Well, even if I don’t find her today, I still have ways to track her down now that I know she’s an adventurer.)
As he ran around the streets, the friend began to think. The Spirit Queen was a Rank A adventurer, which meant she had to be in contact with the Union. Even if he failed to find her now, he could still arrange for a meeting through the Union.
The only issue with that was that it would take a long time, as it would depend on when she would visit the Union again and receive the message. Especially if she was constantly traveling or visiting dungeons.
It would also take some time for her reply to arrive, and then arranging a meeting would add even more time to that. In the worst case, it could even take months, and having Grandir lovesick for so long would be a huge pain for the friend.
All the friend could do to avoid that was to utilize all the senses he had honed as an adventurer and do his best to track down the Spirit Queen while she was near.
(Please, be around here.)
On the other hand, Elio needed to find her in person to achieve his goal, as the Union did not allow for business transactions to be done across the messages they carried.
But this was not his first time trying to secure a deal under such conditions. Just like in all those other times, he used all his connections and social skills to ask various people he passed by if they had seen or heard anything about the Spirit Queen.
While those two conducted a frantic search, Mira heard nothing about it as she entered a room in the antique shop that had been turned into a photography studio.
「Now, Spirit Queen, please sit down on the sofa.」
The owner of the antique shop pointed at the sofa Mira had bought earlier as he said that. But she noticed that other than the sofa, there was a multitude of other antiques all around it.
「There’s quite a lot of things in here…」
Mira slowly sat down while voicing her thoughts. As far as she could tell, there was no cohesion in the selection of antiques, being from all sorts of places and time periods. But they were all in perfect shape and looked like they were on the more expensive side of things.
The only thing she could not understand was why they were there, so she turned an inquisitive stare at the owner.
「Those are… I mean, they’re here because you’re the Spirit Queen, of course! It wouldn’t do to have the background of a commemorative photo looking drab when the subject is such a distinguished adventurer.」
The owner hesitated and would not look Mira in the eyes as he replied. But Mira noticed that he was not smiling honestly, and instead had a more businesslike smile. It was completely different from how he looked while talking about antiques.
「Is that really it?」
Mira still seemed unconvinced and narrowed her eyes, staring at the owner.
That pressure made him say a bit more, explaining how this picture would mark a turning point in the world of antiques. That vital information would spread across the whole continent together with the picture they would take there, especially amongst other antique lovers.
So the owner decided to showcase some of his best items on sale as well, wanting to advertise his shop.
「I realized this was the perfect opportunity to advertise in a wide area for next to no cost, so I just did it on impulse…」
He spoke like he was confessing a crime, but there was no remorse in his voice. Then, with a bit of hesitation, he added, 「I can take them away if you feel overwhelmed!」
「No, there’s no need for that. Just do as you wish.」
As much as the owner loved antiques, he was still a businessman. Mira could understand his desire to use the opportunity he was given, and she did not feel like it harmed her in any way, so she decided to turn a blind eye to the shameless advertising.
「Thank you very much. Then, I’ll take the picture.」
The owner lowered his head in gratitude, and then quickly readied his camera, and said, 「Ah, try to appear a bit more natural please. And could you look around here?」 directing Mira on how to pose.
「Hmm… is this good?」
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