Chapter 105 - Azriel's Problem

“I’m only a trainee. They said that they’ll watch me work until I graduate and hire me only if I do well.”

“That’s still amazing! Congratulations!” Azriel smiled brightly and hugged Maylie. Maylie, as well, beamed and hugged Azriel back. “Then, are you going to be working at the newspaper company from now on? Will you also write articles?”

“Oh, I have a long way to go until I can write. I was told to follow a senior reporter when they collect news and learn from observing them.”

“What is your senior reporter covering?”

“This is less known information…,” Maylie glanced around. She met Marthi’s eyes, who was sitting in an absentminded manner, put a finger over her mouth, saying ‘hush.’ Marthi blinked and covered his mouth with his front paw. Only then, Maylie opened her mouth. “He said that strange disappearance cases are occurring all over the country these days. He’s collecting information about that.”

“Disappearance case?”

“People are disappearing all of a sudden regardless of their age or gender. There are no signs of resistance or witnesses. It’s like they’ve evaporated.”

“Urgh, isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’s alright. They won’t bring a cub reporter around for a dangerous investigation. As a matter of fact, it’s only a rumor that’s like an urban myth.”

“An urban myth? Just like in those stories where people went missing without a trace, but later they turned out to have run away from home?”

“Yes, mostly it is like that. So, don’t worry.”

“Then, why are you being careful not to let anyone hear it?”

“Umm, we thought most of the stories were such cases… but there are some suspicious circumstances.”

“Like what?”

“You know what, allegedly, the royal family is investigating this case.”

“What? The royal family? The Modjankle royal family?”

“Yes. My senior reporter thought it was nothing special, but because of that he is quite excited. Please keep it a secret until the article is published, okay?”

‘The royal family?’ Azriel, who had met the king of Aucandor just today, felt strange. ‘No way… Could this be what Charles was working on himself?’

“Azriel, so who on earth made a confession to you?”

“Wh, wh, what?” Maylie’s sudden question blew away what was on Azriel’s mind briefly. “You heard it wrong, Maylie! It’s nothing like that!”

Azriel shook her head strongly, with a reddened face that was obvious to anyone. Maylie cupped her chin in her hands. “You are so bad at hiding these kinds of things.”

“…”

“What kind of a person is he? What did he say when he confessed? Did you give an answer?”

Azriel shook her head silently and drew up her knees. Then she leaned her forehead against her knees and said in a small voice. “I don’t know. My head is blank and I can’t think of anything.”

“I guess he wasn’t a weird person after all. You’d just feel bad when you receive a confession from someone you don’t like.”

“Yeah, he’s not such a person.”

“A good person?”

“A good person.”

“Are you fond of him?”

“I’m fond of him. But if you asked me if I like him in that way, I don’t think that’s the case…,” Azriel blurred the end of her sentence.

“That’s complicated,” Maylie said as she looked at her disturbed-looking friend. She thought about the white wizard. There were things that became clearer when you looked at them a step away. The relationship between her friend and the Wizard of the Horizon was also like that. There was a peculiar bond between Azriel Esthera and Rhema Reshith that could not be disturbed by others. Azriel, who was a mere precious and intimate friend when she was with Maylie, suddenly looked like a completely different being when she was with Rhema.

‘Come to think of it, doesn’t Azriel have any feelings for Mr. wizard?’ Maylie, who was retracing Azriel’s actions, shook her head in the back of her mind. ‘I don’t think she’s thought of it that way. She’s probably not interested in him at all… Then which side is Mr. Wizard?’

Maylie had lived with him for the past three years but still did not know what the white wizard was thinking. ‘If Azriel finds a lover, how will Mr. Wizard react?’

He might be a little saddened since he cherished Azriel so much. But on the other hand, he might celebrate it  calmly. He might just nod and say, ‘I see. It’s about time she finds someone,’ before taking his attention to somewhere else. Her experience with him so far was predicting so, and it was natural if they were just in a usual master and pupil relationship. But Maylie’s intuition was pointing in a different direction. ‘What if this causes trouble? Phew, no way… There’s no way.’

While Maylie was having such worries, Azriel was struggling.

“It hasn’t been that long since I met him in the first place. I don’t really know what kind of person he is. There’s no doubt that he is a good person, and I like him a lot but…,” Azriel said.

“Yeah. It’s natural to feel disconcerted when you receive a confession from someone you met recently,” Maylie consoled her.

“Right? Urrgh, what do I do, Maylie?”

“Hmmm. Does he want you to give an answer soon?”

“No, that’s not true…,” Azriel took out a card, making a rustling sound. “He told me to think about him over time and invited me here.”

“Masquerade?” Maylie’s eyes widened as she received the card. “Oh my, this is the masquerade of the family of the Duke of Madriol!”

“What? It’s held at the Madriol’s?”

“Haven’t you looked at it carefully? Look. It’s written here.”

“I’ve been all over the place…,” Azriel read the part where Maylie was pointing. “Masquerade location, the mansion of the Duke of Madriol.”

“The masquerade held around this time at the Duke of Madriol’s must be ‘the Night of May Flower’,” Maylie flipped the card and pushed it below Azriel’s nose. On the backside of it, there was a silver-plated drawing of detailed may flower design.

“The Night of May Flower? Is it a famous ball?” Azriel asked.