Chapter 118: The Disappearance Case
“Ar-are you really… sure it’s safe? Is everyone… actually there…?”
Sarassa’s voice trembled slightly as she nervously glanced from side to side. Her hands gripped the straps of her bag, fingers white with tension.
“We’re fine. We’re close by,” came a calm reply.
“Do your best, Sarassa-san.”
From our vantage point, we were hidden in the family garden, completely out of sight, yet still within Sarassa’s line of vision. She was the bait—we were trying to lure the culprit out.
Loin-san had requested our assistance, but we had politely refused. We wanted to uncover the criminal on our own.
With my family garden providing such perfect concealment, we could observe without revealing ourselves. Joining forces with Loin-san might have risked exposing us and compromising the plan.
This criminal had so far shown no trace of their presence, and might have even defeated Lua’s party in a counterattack. Simply lurking nearby would likely not be enough—they could easily spot us and vanish again.
And as for Sarassa-san being the decoy… that was a choice made by elimination.
Sena… too foolish to handle it alone. Anii-san… indispensable for detecting suspicious intruders or chasing a fleeing criminal. Shifa-san… the party leader, could not serve as bait.
Looking at Sarassa-san now, her usual mage’s robes replaced by simple clothing, she could easily pass as an ordinary, quiet town girl. No one would suspect she was an adventurer.
She chose paths with as few passersby as possible, walking cautiously along the dim streets.
It was twilight—the time when most incidents seemed to occur.
“I wonder if the culprit will show up…?”
“Shh! Something’s approaching!”
“…A bat?”
A lone bat swooped down from the dusky sky, circling above Sarassa’s head as if surveying its surroundings. Then, without warning, it lunged at her.
“Eek!?”
Sarassa-san’s scream echoed through the empty street as the bat sank its teeth into her neck. She collapsed, unconscious, onto the cobblestones.
“…Do we go in?”
“Wait, Shifa!”
Anii-san grabbed Shifa-san just as she was about to rush forward. Miraculously, Sarassa-san’s eyes fluttered open—but they were vacant, lifeless. She staggered forward, aimless and unseeing.
“We’ll follow her,” I said.
“Right.”
We trailed after her, careful to stay hidden. Soon, she led us to an abandoned-looking mansion.
Once the home of some wealthy family, it was large and imposing. The overgrown garden had been left to wild, tangled weeds and shrubs, giving it a neglected, eerie air.
Sarassa-san navigated the broken gate with unsteady steps, disappearing into the grounds.
“Maybe the others who vanished are in there too,” I murmured.
Since we couldn’t pass through the gate from the garden, we took to the air, silently entering the property.
Sarassa-san trudged through the wild growth, finally approaching the mansion’s massive front door. It groaned ominously on its hinges, swinging open as if inviting her in.
We hurried after her, slipping inside to find ourselves in a surprisingly spacious entrance hall.
Despite its age, the interior was remarkably clean. Carpets and wallpaper were peeling, yet there was no dust or cobwebs. Someone might be maintaining it.
No—someone was here. Whoever it was had to be the one behind the disappearances.
Suddenly, lights flared up in the near-darkness—a candelabra ignited by unseen hands.
“Hehe, welcome… to my love nest,” purred a tall woman as she emerged from the shadows.
She was a stunningly seductive figure, clad in revealing garments, her crimson lips curling into a teasing smile as she approached Sarassa-san.
In an instant, Shifa and the others leapt out from the garden.
“Stop right there!”
“!?!”
Shifa-san’s gift, Empress’s Majesty, froze the woman in place for a brief moment. Seizing the opportunity, Sena drew her sword and closed the distance.
“Take this!”
“Ah!?”
Her ruthless strike severed the woman’s right arm in one swift motion.
“Where… did you even—!?”
Despite the loss of her arm, the woman didn’t cry out in pain. Instead, her wide eyes reflected sheer surprise at the sudden intrusion. Did she even feel it?
“Sarassa, stay with me!”
Anii-san shook Sarassa-san, trying to pull her back to awareness, but the girl’s vacant gaze remained unbroken.
“It’s useless. She’s under my control now,” the woman said, leaping back ten meters effortlessly, creating distance from Sena. Incredible… that jump.
Anii-san, undeterred, splashed Sarassa-san with holy water harvested from my garden.
“What!? W-what am I…?”
“It seems to be working.”
The holy water broke the woman’s control almost immediately.
“How… how can my influence dissolve so easily…?”
The woman looked astonished. I was even more shocked that the severed arm had somehow regenerated in the blink of an eye. I had suspected she wasn’t human—but now it was undeniably clear.
And if my guess was right…
“Well, then… I suppose I’ll just take all of you for myself,” she said with a sinister smile, eyes gleaming. “Looking closely… all three of you are quite… cute.”
A glimpse of sharp, fang-like teeth peeked from the corners of her mouth.
—Yep. Definitely a vampire.