NOVEL WEB Ch. 96
Chapter 96
Three days had passed since Ragu left.
No monsters had come to Grimoire, and Yuurai and the others were spending peaceful days.
They had been thinking and discussing various things about monster countermeasures and the town's reconstruction, and some progress had been made.
However, since there were no specialists for the town's reconstruction, in the end, nothing may have actually progressed.
"If monsters come this way, we'll just drive them off for now, but if we're going to rebuild the town, we'll need to bring in professionals. Otherwise, we can't do anything."
Yuurai spoke about the future while strolling through the town with Claire.
Claire linked arms with Yuurai and replied while snuggling up closer than necessary.
"Yeah. There's not much we can do ourselves, so we should talk more with the guild leaders of Yusef and Rugimano."
"Right."
"But... with more than half the buildings collapsed, reconstruction would take too much time, money, and effort. Maybe we don't have to be so fixated on rebuilding. Leaving this place might not be such a bad option."
"True. It's not like we absolutely have to rebuild. If there's a place that will accept us, maybe we should go there..."
"That's another difficult issue."
"Yeah. It's a tough one. Well, we could just say this town has a big central plaza or something."
"That's not bad either. But there's no point in having buildings if there are no people."
"What started as just needing to gather people now requires a more long-term plan. Since our lifespans seem to be long, it's fine to take it slow."
Undead have no lifespan. Left alone, they can live for two or even three hundred years.
If life is long, watching the town gradually change might be a nice way to spend it.
"Let's take it easy in our long lives, just you and me, Yuurai."
"...Me, Claire, and Lipia too, right? I'd be lonely if Lipia were gone, you know?"
"Lipia is planning to marry someone else."
"Don't just decide Lipia's plans on your own. I mean, if Lipia truly falls for someone and wants to get married, I won't stop her, but still."
"We should add finding a good person for Lipia to our future plans."
"What are you even thinking?"
As Yuurai let out a light sigh.
"Don't go making weird plans on your own! I have no intention of leaving Yuurai's side either!"
Lipia appeared and complained to Claire.
"Why is Lipia here? This is supposed to be my and Yuurai's time, isn't it?"
"I know that. It's just... Rifiris is nowhere to be found. I thought maybe she came to you two, but she hasn't?"
Yuurai and Claire looked at each other.
"I don't think she came here."
"I haven't seen her either."
"Really? Then where could she be...? She was with us, but the next thing I knew, she was gone..."
Lipia tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
Yuurai had a slightly bad feeling.
"...I'll go look for her."
She used the ring she got from Lipia, the Third Eye, to broadly scan the town.
Ever since becoming the Dark Lich Princess, using this ring allowed her to see the general state of an entire town. It showed too much, even letting her peek into people's private lives, so she usually avoided using it, but this might be an emergency.
Yuurai quickly checked the areas Rifiris might have gone. Even when expanding her view, she couldn't spot Rifiris. Though her detection accuracy was inferior to Lipia's, there was no way she would miss Rifiris's presence.
"...Rifiris isn't in the town."
Yuurai panicked. Rifiris going somewhere on her own was unthinkable. She had nowhere else to go besides this town.
In other words.
"Rifiris was kidnapped...?"
"Kidnapped...?"
"No way..."
Rifiris was a special existence to the human side. She held the Title of Hero and was a key force in defeating the Demon King.
It wasn't strange for her to be kidnapped.
"Even with Lipia there, she didn't notice? The culprit must be someone as skilled as Gilka...?"
"Uh, I'm not sure, but maybe... I might've lost consciousness for just a moment..."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Right before Rifiris disappeared, I had a brief moment where I felt dazed. It was barely noticeable, but I think it might've been some kind of hypnosis magic..."
"I see. By the way, Lipia, are you hurt or anything?"
"I'm fine. Nothing's changed. I think everyone else is fine too."
"They targeted only Rifiris and kidnapped her swiftly... That's efficient. Who could've done it?"
If she was taken away without anyone noticing, there was no way to track the kidnapper.
There was a high possibility that a surviving Church member was the kidnapper, but no proof.
"If they wanted Rifiris dead, they could've killed her on the spot. The fact they didn't means they need her alive. So she won't be killed right away. But we have to rescue her quickly."
A rare reunion with a fellow countryman. If Rifiris had gone somewhere by her own will, Yuurai wouldn't stop her. But if someone had taken her, she had to find and bring her back.
However, even if she wanted to bring her back, she couldn't act without knowing who the culprit was.
Just being strong was useless in situations like this.
"Hey, Claire, Lipia, what should I do in times like this? I don't even know who the kidnapper is..."
"Yuurai, calm down. There might be some clue left behind. Let's look for that first."
"Y-Yeah..."
"I'll help look too. I'm sure we'll find something."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Yuurai returned to the house where they usually lived, together with the two of them.
(Rifiris... Please come back safely...)