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Captain's POV
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From outside, the bustle from the early morning main street wakes me. The clattering of wood and the footsteps of people going to work penetrate my ears, forcing me out of the bed.

Though it wasn't worth the price I paid, I had a decent rest at the inn, and was fully prepared to start looking for whatever was going on in the fief.

And as I was about to leave the inn, I hear a voice calling from behind me.

"Err... Doujima? Doujima! You have a, err...  A letter?" (Innkeeper)

"A letter... Thanks." (Captain)

Walking over to the counter, I grab the letter and tear it open there.

It didn't hold much, other than a piece of paper.

On it, it read: Feel free to do whatever is required. Baron is a slave trader.

A simple letter, but it voiced its intentions clearly.

I have free reign to do whatever in this fief, so long as I find, and destroy, the slave trade here.

This gives me a clear mind, not one haggled down by restraints because I was in another noble's fief.

Pocketing the letter, after noticing the King's seal on the bottom right of it, I turn and leave the inn, heading first towards the area that was eerily quiet the night before.

I arrive quickly, since all of the paths in the town were interwined, yet, despite being morning, the air about this area was the same as before.

Nothing was different from last night, the same melancholic air ran through these streets, doors and windows closed as if trying to protect the outside from a plague.

My intuition told me, once again, that I was unlikely to meet with anyone from this side of town soon.

But, my curiosity got a hold of me, so I turned around and questioned the nearest person.

"Say, what's the deal with that street there?" (Captain)

"Ahh, Lopin Street? Yeah, that's a real downer, yeah. Not sure, to be honest. Not long ago, say 14 years, give or take. From what I heard, people began dissappearing, but those were said to be unfounded rumours." (Citizen)

"Unfounded? By who?" (Captain)

"Who else but the guards and the Lord? Honestly, the guards don't do much 'round here. Bang up some hooligans, only to be paid off by the bigger ones. The Lord simply sits in his high off estate over there and sips wine all day." (Citizen)

"He doesn't do anything for the town?" (Captain)

"Why would he? There's no reason to, I mean, we don't make a whole lot of money, yet he seems to be rolling his damn mind in it, so he obviously is making money elsewhere." (Citizen)

"... Slaves..." (Captain)

"Yeah, that's what the people been talking about 'round here. 'Specially after what happened to Count... Foin? Count Boin? Count Loin?" (Citizen)

"Count Poin." (Captain)

"Yeah, him. He was often seen visit here. I heard rumours saying he came 'round in a regular schedule, but I couldn't care any less to be honest." (Citizen)

"Alright, thanks for answering." (Captain)

"Anytime... Well, anytime I'm not working, I got kids to feed!" (Citizen)

I give a short chuckle before turning back to Lupin Street.

Pacing up and down, I choose a door of one of the several houses and knock on it.

My hand hits the wooden door several times over several minutes, but to seemingly no avail.

No one had answered by knocking on this door, so it turned to the next and knocked in the same way.

I did this for many, many houses, yet none answered, yet I know for sure that people were still inside, as I could still see shadows pass by the light that was made by a candle on the inside through small cracks in the door.

Finally, as I knock on one of the last doors on the street, an elderly woman greets me, couldn't be younger than 80.

Deep, grey bags hug under her eyes, and her skin was cracked and wrinkled.

She clearly hadn't had a smooth life. Even her clothes were torn, ragged, dirty.

She ushers me in and sits me down on an old chair that had obviously been used for several years.

"How... How may I... Help you?" (Elderly)

"Ah, I'm Captain Doujima from one of the King's Squads. I'm here to investigate Baron Vionne." (Captain)

"Ah... I'm Elinge Areng... Pleased to make... Your acquaintance." (Elderly/Elinge)

"You too... I suppose I should just ask but, what happened to this street?" (Captain)

"Oh my... Well, what hasn't... Happened to this... Street?" (Elinge)

"What do you mean by that?" (Captain)

"Well, during the... War 17 years ago... This street was hit... By a stray catapult... Rock. Not long after that... During the rebuild... There was an arson attack... And now, we have... Residents dissappearing." (Elinge)

"Dissappearing? Without a trace, you mean?" (Captain)

"Oh... Absolutely... Not a single peep... Not a single scuffle... I lost my... Son, you know? He was a... Brilliant boy... Brilliant father too... But now, now he's... Gone... Somewhere... But I don't know... Where." (Elinge)

She starts to tear up as she speaks about her son, and her voice begins to tremble.

"Please, I beg... Of you, knight... Please, get my... Son back... Get everyone back..." (Elinge)

"... I'll try my best." (Captain)

At my response, her face turns into a large smile.

"That's all I... Can ask for..." (Elinge)

"Then, one last question. Where was your son when he disappeared?" (Captain)

"My... Well, he did... Meet me the same... Night. He was antsy... As if he knew... Someone was after him. He... He came into here... And just told me... 'Mama, please... Take care of Luke... For me, yeah?'" (Elinge)

"Luke would be your..." (Captain)

"My... Grandson. But I could see... My son was scared... His hands... His hands were trembling... I just, placed my hands on his... Shoulders and tried to... Calm him down. When I did, he... He said that the... The Representative was after... Him. It didn't make sense... To me." (Elinge)

"Did he say anything else?" (Captain)

"Not much... But little Mary... Across the way... She seemed to have seen... Something. After my son was... Gone... She stopped leaving her house. The first of many... As you've seen." (Elinge)

"Thank you. I'll try and get them all back." (Captain)

I pick myself up off the chair, before asking Elinge where I'd find who she called 'Little Mary'.

She lived across from Elinge, in a house not too much different from the others, though a little more taken care of.

It wasn't a house I had already knocked on, but from what I'd heard, she wasn't likely to come out.

But I knock anyway, and much to my dismay, I get no response.

"Mary? Can you open up?" (Captain)

I knock again.

I hear a small creak from the inside, but nothing more, but it atleast told me someone was inside.

"Mary? Elinge told me you saw something." (Captain)

Once again, I knock. This time, me mentioning Elinge seemed to spur something and I hear a slight click as the lock on the door releases, and the door itself squeaks open.

"What do you want?" (Mary)

A small head pops around the door. A small girl, no younger than Ryu, with red hair greets me, a face full of scorn and fear.

"I want to know what you saw on the night Elinge's son disappeared." (Captain)

"Why?" (Mary)

"I'll tell you if you let me inside. I don't know who is listening out here." (Captain)

"... Fine." (Mary)

She pushes the door wider and I enter.

It wasn't as homely as Elinge's house, but I suppose that's to be expected from a young girl living alone.

A single candle sat atop a wooden table in the center of the room with a single chair around it.

Mary seemed to have left the room to enter a storage room as she reappeared with another chair.

She set it on the opposite side of the table and gestured for me to sit on it.

"So, what did you see?" (Captain)

"... There wasn't a whole lot to see. It was dark. And I mean pitch black. If you haven't already seen, there aren't any lights out on this street, so seeing things at night is hard, to say the least. But what I did see was two black-robed men." (Mary)

"Black-robed men? Anything notable about them?" (Captain)

"Hmm... I did manage to see something shine under the robe of one of them. It looked like a gem, not one that you'd just find lying around. And from what I could see, they weren't like most of the people here in Serti." (Mary)

"'Like most people', what do you mean by that?" (Captain)

"They looked fit. Well-built, I guess. They weren't thin like most people, so I could only guess that they'd been eating well, and there are only a few people who can do that here, and they're all of the same group." (Mary)

"Nobles..." (Captain)

"Exactly." (Mary)

"Was there anything else?" (Captain)

"Nope. Like I said, it was pitch-black. I'm lucky to have even seen that." (Mary)

"Alright, that helps me enough." (Captain)

As I stand up to leave, Mary reaches across the table and grabs the edge of my jacket.

"D-do you know what's going on here?" (Mary)

"... I do." (Captain)

"Can you tell me?" (Mary)

"... Only if you don't do anything after." (Captain)

"I won't!" (Mary)

"... The Lord, Baron Vionne, is dealing is slaves." (Captain)

"...! S-slaves? T-then... You don't think..." (Mary)

"... It seems as though the disappearances here are connected." (Captain)

Hearing this, she let's go of my jacket and slumps back in her chair.

"You can get them back, right?" (Mary)

"I'll try." (Captain)

Though that answer didn't seem to satisfy here, she didn't stop me as I left her house, once again finding myself on the dreary Lupin Street.

Of course, this time, I'm now confident in where I need to go, so I turn on my heels and walk towards the main street, where the Baron's estate could be seen at the top.

I don't waste anytime as I start walking towards it.

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Author Notes
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Finally done with this chapter.

It doesn't feel like I've been writing as many chapters recently. I'm not sure why since I've managed to keep on my 3 day release, aside from that one a few chapters ago.

I suppose I shouldn't think too much about it, but it's kinda been weighing on me, since it feels like I'm abandoning this story, which I really really really do not want to do.

I'm extremely excited as to where this story will go, and I don't want to just drop it.

But I think I'm just rambling now, so thank you for reading the chapter, please continue doing so!