Pillars of Ita

Chapter 1171 The Missing Girl

"Arjean, why is it him?"

Fang He recognized the face in his sight. It was the Chosen Ranger who had been with Merrill not long ago. He was carrying a longbow and moving cautiously through the dry and gray woodlands.

A trace of anger flashed in his eyes. Could this person be related to the people who left the threatening letter? Or was he a spy planted by the Silver Wind Watcher next to Meryl and the others?

He was angry that he almost exposed his identity, but fortunately he was careful enough and only told Meryl and the others the truth. But on the other hand, he felt sorry for those unicorn girls. Was this the reward they got for their sincerity?

The Silver Wind Watcher seemed a little too rude.

He turned around and said coldly to Daryl beside him: "Go and catch the man in the forest. I have something to ask him."

Daryl heard the bad intention in his tone and was about to turn around and leave. But Fang He called her again. In the end, he did not let anger dominate his thinking. He calmed down and said, "Don't be too harsh."

Miss Catman nodded.

Not long after she left, Sylvie walked into the tent and saw Fang He putting on the magic gloves and inserting some parts on them one by one. His eyes were calm and there was no unnecessary expression on his face, so she breathed a sigh of relief:

"You've been acting more and more like a superior recently. Even Tianlan and the others have noticed it," she said softly. "During the day, you acted like a true Grand Master in front of the Chosen Ones."

"Are you afraid that I will act impulsively?" Fang He twisted the lock button of the magic glove and looked at her. "Did Daliel tell you?"

The ship officer nodded slightly, "The other party may not be an enemy."

"I thought of that, too." He put on his windbreaker, hung a string of clockwork fairies on the hook, and looked at his girlfriend. "Will you come with me to take a look?"

Sylvie smiled and nodded slightly.

When Taliel appeared silently in front of Arjan like the shadow of a night owl, the young man didn't react at all. He was so scared that he subconsciously reached for the longbow behind him, but before that, a cold iron sword was already placed on his neck.

The coldness of the sword made Al's hair stand on end, and his body stiffened, and then he could see the person in front of him clearly. "You are--" He shouted out in surprise, and Daryl frowned and was about to interrupt him.

At this moment, there was a rustling sound from the bushes behind the two of them, and a group of people emerged from there. Miss Catman was very smart and had already noticed the presence of these people. She glanced in that direction without being too surprised.

There were four people there, including Argen's three companions, who were also the Chosen Ones who acted with them and Merel at the time.

But one of them surprised Daryl. It was the unicorn girl from the temple, Eloya. She was guarded by three people and looked at him in surprise: "Miss Daryl!?"

"Ms. Eloya, why are you here?"

Behind Taliel, Fang He also came out with Sylvie, Jita, Tianlan and others. When he saw this apprentice unicorn girl, he realized that the situation might have changed.

When this question was mentioned, the elf girl seemed to be struck by something, her face suddenly became worried, and she stammered: "Mr. Ed, Meryl, she is missing."

"Wait," Fang He was stunned and asked, "What do you mean by Merrill is missing?"

"Mr. Ed, do you still remember the letter?" Ailuoya said, "After Mei, Meryl left the temple and never came back since she got the letter. We didn't hear any news from her. When we realized something was wrong, we called the police at the port and found Argen and his group. We searched all the places she often went to, and only then did we learn from a group of smugglers that Meryl and her group had left Silver Wind Harbor—"

"But Meryl will never leave Silverwind Harbor easily. She is a branch guardian and will not go too far from the Holy White Oak. However, those people at the port think that it is too much trouble to go out of the city to investigate. It is not worth it for a novice saint. Besides, she is not being coerced..."

"If it really involves the kidnapping of the unicorn girl, they think it will take at least a few days to prepare to re-file the case and then form an investigation team to go out of the city to investigate."

She was indignant, but helpless, her voice trembling: "But if that happens, what about Meryl's safety?"

"Argen and I couldn't wait any longer, so we left the city to look for him, but we had no clues, so we followed him all the way here. Then I remembered that you guys, Mr. Ed, were also going in this direction, so maybe there are some clues..."

As she spoke of the latter part, the elf girl's eyes became red, and she was enveloped by a huge sense of helplessness - Meryl was her best friend and their backbone, and she really didn't know what they would do if they lost her.

But all that was so important to her was meaningless to others - not even as important as a private matter or a procedure. She begged them to tell them about Meryl's deeds in the Ash Bough Disaster, trying to gain some sympathy -

But the other party only gave her a cold and formulaic answer, asking her to go back and wait for news:

"Okay young lady, everyone describes the missing people as extremely important, but after the disaster, people are missing in Silver Wind Port all the time. The disaster prevention department has a mountain of cases. We are also human beings, and investigations require procedures. You can't unconditionally put you ahead of others just because you are unicorn girls, right?"

"She is your good friend, but aren't the other missing people someone's husband or someone's child? No one is more important than the other. Besides, Miss Merrill may have left the city of her own free will. Anyway, we have received the information you provided. If she hasn't returned in two days, we will set up an investigation team."

Only at this time did Ailuoya realize that she was just an ordinary helpless girl. The temple gave them an identity, but that identity was actually not that great. There were thousands of unicorn girls like her in Silver Wind Harbor.

Fang He felt a chill in his heart, perhaps because he felt the same way - what had Meryl and Eloya done wrong? They were just pursuing justice in their hearts. These kind-hearted girls lent a hand to help others and threw themselves into the fight against disasters without hesitation.

  Who is behind all this?

Fang He silently clenched his fists. If Meryl was really harmed, if that righteous and kind girl really encountered misfortune, he swore that even if he had to chase her to the ends of the earth, he would make these people and those behind them pay the price they deserved.

He had never been so angry before, but it was not a rage. Instead, he felt calm in his heart.

"So you caught up with us?" Fang He asked.

"Yes, Mr. Ed, if Al hadn't asked them to do that, I don't know what I would have done..." The elf girl said as she shed tears. She had been worried all the way, afraid that Meryl would never be heard from again, and also afraid of suddenly seeing the cold body of her friend.

A huge sense of uncertainty and uneasiness enveloped her. It was not until she saw Fang He and others appear that she suddenly relaxed, feeling exhausted.

Fang He estimated that the other party left Silver Wind Harbor about half a day later than them, but the investigation team did not move fast and the other party was lightly equipped. Plus, they had been traveling for most of the night, so it was not surprising that they caught up with them.

He began to think, if Meryl's disappearance was not a coincidence, then who was involved, and which party was the most suspicious? He first suspected the Silver Wind Watcher, but then ruled out this option.

The people of the Silver Wind Watch want to strike at the reputation of the entire Holy Maiden Society. Physically destroying a unicorn girl means little to them and may even be risky. Besides, the other party is backed by the Linoril-Sanshak Council.

As the ruling party, they tend to be more careful about their reputation. Even if these politicians really want to do something that is not decent, they will not do it in such a high-profile manner and leave any handles.

As for the Ring of Stars, there is no reason for it, and neither the Temple nor the Royal Court has any motive, unless the latter wants to use such an incident to damage the reputation of the Silverwind Harbor Council, but that seems too far-fetched - not only is the cost more than the gain, but it is also beyond their reach.

Fang He suddenly thought of the threatening letter that the investigation team received - it was also a letter, and Merrill also disappeared after receiving a letter. Is there any potential connection between the two?

A bolt of lightning dropped from his dark thoughts, as if illuminating a clue.

  He thought of what Lady Marian Titmouse and the court scholar Aryan had told him:

"That team was sent by the port to deal with the gray matter disaster. There was also an apprentice unicorn girl accompanying them. Nothing went wrong before they arrived at Sanshak, but after entering the gray matter area, there was no news at all."

Missing case, unicorn girl, some clues seem to be connected together.

At the side, Daryl put down the sword on Arjan's neck and looked in one direction of the forest. Fang He also raised his head and looked at her, asking her with sharp eyes: "Daryl, is that feeling still there?"

"Yes, it wasn't Al who asked them to do so." Daryl nodded slightly.

As she spoke, she picked up the sword and was about to go in that direction to take a look, but Fang He stopped her.

He turned around and said to the naturalist lady beside him in a somewhat cold tone: "Jita, scan the entire forest."

"The whole forest?"

Jita looked at her leader in surprise.

"Yes, by astrology."

Jita nodded, gently adjusted the thick lenses of her glasses with her hands, then raised her hands, and a magic book appeared out of thin air in her hands, floating three or five inches away from her snow-white fingertips.

She stretched out her hand and lightly tapped the magic book. A faint green halo spread out from the magic book, like an invisible wind, lifting the girl's long hair and blowing away her pointed wizard hat. Jita held it down with one hand.

The halo swept across everyone present. Most people could not see the faint green light, but only felt as if an invisible hand was caressing them, lifting their hair in front of their foreheads, ruffling their clothes, and causing the forest to emit a low rustling sound.

  The girl behind Al was shocked by the scene. She turned around and watched the invisible waves sweeping across the forest. She opened her mouth and was about to say something, but Fang He stretched out his hand to stop her from speaking:

"Don't speak, the forest is answering."

In a corner of the gray and dead woods, a ghostly eyeball floating in the woods suddenly became awakened. The fluctuations of the ether locked onto it like a tide. It turned around uneasily and immediately fled in one direction.

But this moment of hesitation also exposed it.

"Found it, Captain," Miss Naturalist immediately raised her head, "It's a Peeping Eye. Its magical fluctuations... are consistent with those in the letter this morning. It's escaping."

"Location coordinates, Jita."

"G984B243."

Want to escape? Fang He felt a chill in his heart. He did not move. A black shadow flew out from under his coat. The shadow hovered around him, and then flew away in the direction of his gaze. "Clockwork Fairy!" Argen finally could not help it. "Mr. Elion, you are..."

"I am not Ellion." Fang He answered him. He raised his hand and a huge construct emerged silently from the dark blue light curtain, dropped from the sky, and then landed with a bang. Fang He took a step forward, held its arm with his hand, stood on his palm, and then turned back to Daliel and said:

"Dariel, follow me."

Miss Catman nodded slightly, put away her sword, and turned into a shadow and shot into the forest.

……

In the forest, the ghostly eyeball was trying to escape, but a black shadow with flapping wings descended from the sky, buzzing, blocking its way from above, below, left and right.

"...Damn it, what is this thing, a clockwork fairy?" Its controller had no choice but to let it turn around and flee backwards -

But at this moment, a construct emitting silver-white light that he had never seen before suddenly hit him from behind, and drew an arc in the dark forest at an unimaginable speed.

The last thing the ghostly eyeball saw was the end of the arc, a spike that flashed silver light.

"Ahhh-"

The spellcaster a few miles away suddenly covered his left eye with his hand and wailed. Blood gushed out from between his fingers, staining his palm red, and the magic wand rolled to the side.

However, he endured the severe pain, gritted his teeth, crawled over to retrieve his magic wand, and passed the message to others.

But at this moment, a strong wind blew from the forest, and a huge dark sword flew over, and stabbed in front of him with a bang, hitting his magic wand and splitting it in two.

The wizard was shocked: "No!"

The magic wand was his life's work and all his savings. But he suddenly remembered something and no longer cared about his magic wand. He hurriedly got up and ran away.

But he had just taken one step when he stopped.

There, Fang He was standing in front of him, looking at him silently, with one hand in the pocket of his windbreaker, and the cold light flashing between the claws of the strange-shaped magic glove on the other hand - the Pride of the Lone King, was pointing far away in the direction of his heart:

Behind it, there was a gigantic structure that was almost three men tall. The elegant alien had folded its wings and was looking down at him with a video crystal that emitted a cold light.

The wizard looked behind him tremblingly.

Only then did he see Miss Catman's sharp claws grasping the hilt of her greatsword. She gently lifted it up, carried it on her shoulder, and looked at him coldly.

"I can give you a piece of advice, sir," Fang Yu said, "Don't think about committing suicide."

But this sentence instead reminded this person. The wizard gritted his teeth, immediately took out a gray crystal and placed it on his chest - but Fang He didn't seem surprised by this scene at all, and Daryl on the side didn't intend to stop him.

The wizard looked at them and hesitated for a moment. Although the attitudes of the two made him feel uneasy, there was no way he would stay and be their prisoner. He exerted force with his hands, and with a roar, the wizard immediately turned into a blood mist.

Fang He watched this scene until a few starlights appeared on the other party's body, then he took out his communication crystal:

"Jita, lock onto all the Resurrection Temples within 14,000 meters."

"Captain, the Xinghui reaction is heading north."

Fang He immediately looked up in that direction.

……

In a secret camp among the withered woodlands, a man in a gray guild uniform suddenly raised his head and said to the others beside him: "Captain, the ghost's reaction has disappeared."

Judging from his attire, this man looked like a Nightingale, with a curved black dagger hanging from his waist. He wore ordinary leather armor, and on the outer grey guild robe there was a rather peculiar pattern - it looked like an old three-headed hellhound with its left head chopped off.

The middle-aged man called the 'Captain' raised his head and frowned slightly. "The ghost was discovered? This idiot, he can't even do such a small thing. I told him a long time ago that the investigation team found some people outside our control to serve as guards in the port, and even our people were driven away. Let him be careful-"

Suddenly he stopped.

The middle-aged man's pale face suddenly turned gloomy and he looked in that direction. Almost everyone in the camp felt a shudder passing through them and sweeping across every inch of their skin at that moment.

It was like casting a gaze, an invisible gaze on everyone in the darkness.

The night sky seemed to be lit up by something. A beam of light dropped from mid-air and hit an area in the south. The dazzling light made the night as bright as day. The flame lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour before gradually disappearing.

But others already understood what was happening.

"Captain, that's Aimaya's resurrection altar..." the nightingale said tremblingly, "The ghost is finished..."

The middle-aged man's face was also uncertain. He wanted to call him a lunatic, but when he thought about what they were doing, it seemed that they did not show much respect to the forest goddess, so he swallowed his words back.

"Leave here immediately."

He gave a cold order, "Take that lady with you, whether she is willing or not, and let's go into the gray matter area."

……

"Notify everyone to gather immediately," Fang He walked out of the forest and said to everyone.

What happened before has alarmed everyone in the camp. Arian, Kailan and Marian are still unclear about what happened and are looking for other people who stayed in the camp to ask.

But the Chosen Ones had already gathered and asked Fang He:

"Mr. Captain, what happened?"

"Go tell Mr. Arian," Fang He replied, "The break is over. We have found the people who left the threatening letter. They are related to this case, and their accomplices have also kidnapped another unicorn girl."

"So there's no time to rest. Let's get everyone packed up and get ready to enter the gray matter area."

"Now, sir?"

"There is a hostage in the hands of the enemy," Fang He interrupted him, "You can ask Scholar Arian and Ms. Marian if they are willing to rescue him. They are here for this purpose. Do they want to back down at the last minute?"

He took out a pocket watch and opened the cover: "Go ahead, I'll give you a quarter of an hour."

The Chosen Ones did not dare to question his authority and immediately dispersed.

Fang He put down his pocket watch and saw Princess Lian Kuiya Alsana standing not far from him.

"Have you met Aloya and the others?" he asked.

The elf girl nodded slightly to him.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before she took the initiative to speak: "Mr. Ed, I need your help, Meryl and the others..."

Fang He shook his head and said firmly: "Don't worry, Princess, I will definitely rescue her. But I need you to promise that every mastermind behind this incident will be punished in the end."

His tone was somewhat unfriendly. He thought that although the Linorel-Sanshak Council had played some tricks in private and allowed rumors that were unfavorable to the elf lady to spread outside, at least Meryl and the others should be safe in Silverwind Harbor.

That's why he let down his guard.

But no one expected that some people had more bottom lines than he imagined. One unicorn girl has disappeared, and another is being kidnapped. Although he still doesn't know who is behind all this -

But this incident has already successfully angered him - because it is not only directed at Meril and Aloya and the others, but also at those righteous and innocent girls, and the spearhead is also directed at the Saint's Society -

Pointing to the elf lady behind him.

Lian Kuiya Arsana obviously understood all this in her heart, and she herself represented one side of this political struggle - whether she liked it or not, she was the daughter of her Elf King and Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Elf Court.

The future saint.

She bit her lip gently and nodded to him.

"I promise," she whispered, "although I am powerless, Mr. Ed, I will stand on the side of justice and fairness and give my all."

"I swear, and under the witness of the goddess."

……