“···Is this the place?”

“Yes, it is.”

Stella and her friends looked around once more, checked the address written on the paper, and were certain.

This is it.

It was a dark night. Unlike the other shops with their lights off and doors firmly closed, this place seemed to have just begun, with a soft light seeping through the cracks.

This was surely the place where Miss Ophelia and that old lady had first met.

“Hmm···.”

“Are you sure we should go in?”

“I’m not sure.”

They had come looking for traces of Miss Ophelia, but should they really enter?

That thought spread among the students.

After all, none of them had ever been inside a nighttime establishment like this.

Except for one.

“What are you hesitating for? We’re going in.”

“Wa-wait···!”

“Hello.”

While the others hesitated, Orca was familiar with establishments open at such late hours.

It was one of the few places where she could safely spend hours during the night.

···Though, it wasn’t always that way.

At the very least, it was a decent place to escape the wind and cold, so Orca had often treated such places as her home.

Not that she did anything in particular—she just used them like a home. It was essentially trespassing.

Some might wonder if anyone would dislike that, but anyone who did was quickly silenced by Orca’s threats.

The chime of a bell greeted them as they entered, announcing their arrival. A voice, surprised, called out.

“Oh my, students?”

“Hello.”

The bartender, with a gentle expression, raised her voice slightly in surprise as she turned to see them. Stella grabbed her head.

Who just walks in without an excuse?

If students enter a bar, they’d normally be thrown out.

“Hmm···. Could I see some ID? You need to be an adult to enter.”

“···Pardon?”

However, contrary to Stella’s expectations, the bartender calmly asked for their identification.

Stella had assumed they’d be thrown out immediately.

“You’re not kicking us out?”

“Well···. I know someone who’s older but looks young. I thought you might be like them.”

Ah, the old lady.

Since she was a regular, it wasn’t strange that the bartender didn’t make any judgments based on appearance and asked for ID first.

After all, the old lady looked younger than anyone else here.

Though she was older on the inside than anyone else here.

“Since you’re not reacting that way, you’re not that kind of person. ···Why are you here? I don’t sell alcohol to students.”

“We didn’t come to buy alcohol. We’re looking for someone.”

“Someone?”

“Yes. Do you happen to know someone named Ophelia?”

Thump, thump.

Everyone’s hearts began to race.

This place was their only clue.

But what if Miss Ophelia’s name was an alias?

What if the bartender didn’t know her?

Those thoughts made the students’ hearts pound even louder.

“Ophelia? Why are you asking about her?”

“···! Do you know her?!”

“Ophelia? ···Ah, are you students from the Academy?”

“Yes, yes!”

They knew. Instinctively realizing that, smiles began to spread across the students’ faces.

They had found her. Miss Ophelia had definitely been here.

But before they could celebrate, the bartender gave them a troubled expression and shook her head.

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”

“W-why not?!”

“Well, I don’t know what Ophelia did, but she left the Academy of her own accord. I don’t know why you’re looking for her, but I can’t just tell you.”

At that moment.

Unable to contain her anger at the refusal, Orca grabbed the bartender by the collar.

“Tell us! You know where she is! If you don’t say it now···!”

“And if I don’t?”

“Orca! What are you doing?! Let go of her right now!”

“But···!”

“Let go now! If you do that, she’ll never tell us anything!”

Stella and Anastasia hurriedly pulled Orca and the bartender apart.

···And they realized it.

They wouldn’t be able to get anything more out of this person.

As if to confirm their instinct, the bartender dusted off her jacket a few times and frowned.

“···Get out.”

“I-I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to···!”

“I don’t want to talk anymore. Please leave.”

After receiving the clear command to leave, Orca realized her mistake.

But just because she realized it didn’t mean anything would change.

It would be difficult to hear anything more about Miss Ophelia from this person now.

They thought they had finally found a lead on Miss Ophelia.

But just like before, Orca had lost her temper and caused trouble.

As she realized this, tears welled up in Orca’s eyes.

“···I’m sorry. I got too worked up because I wanted to ask her something.”

“···.”

“I just wanted to know if she really cared about us or not. That’s all I wanted to ask. ···I’m sorry. Please, tell us.”

Even after such an apology, it wasn’t likely that the bartender would reveal anything.

The students’ expressions darkened again.

They were back to square one. Where should they start looking now?

This place, which they had hoped held clues about Miss Ophelia, had turned up nothing.

As they were sinking into their gloom, the bartender sighed.

“Ha···. I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know where she went either. Didn’t I already say that? I don’t know where Ophelia is now.”

“···.”

“I don’t know why you’re looking for her, but it doesn’t seem like it’s for a bad reason···. But I really don’t know. After she left the Academy, she worked here for a while and then moved on.”

Maybe it was because of Orca’s apology? Or perhaps the bartender had decided they didn’t have any ill intentions. Either way, her suspicion seemed to lessen, and she shared what little information she had.

···But hearing her words only made their expressions worse.

She didn’t know?

This place was their only hope!

“···Is there anything at all? We just really want to meet her, even just once.”

“Hmm···. Ah, right. Someone took her.”

“Someone?”

“Yes. It was a person who spoke with a strange way of talking. Something like ‘sumda’? That was their dialect.”

“···What?”

“That’s all I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

“No, thank you. You’ve been a great help.”

Dejected, the students left the place they had thought would be their last hope.

“Are you crazy?! That person was our only lead. Luckily, they let it slide, but we could’ve ended up with nothing!”

“Don’t be so harsh, Eileen.”

“But···!”

“In the end, it didn’t matter. The bartender doesn’t know where she went either.”

“Ugh.”

“···I expected this. With hypnotism as her ability, it would’ve been foolish for her to leave any traces.”

Is this the end of the search for Miss Ophelia?

Eileen probably feels terrible. I might have given her false hope.

With that thought, Stella approached Orca, who was sitting down, looking lost.

“It’s time to go, Orca. I understand you’re disappointed, but you expected this too, right···?”

“I’ve seen them.”

“What?”

“I’ve seen someone like that···.”

Contrary to Stella’s expectation that Orca would remain in despair, she muttered something that immediately got everyone's attention.

“I’ve seen someone who spoke like that···.”

“What, really?! You’ve seen them before?!”

“When Leo was kidnapped, Miss Ophelia went to rescue him. I saw someone like that then···. Their name was Jane. They seemed close with the teacher.”

Memories from that day resurfaced in Orca’s mind as if it had happened just moments ago.

She remembered the voice of the person who had asked her to take care of the teacher, but she ignored it.

“···It’s an organization. We need to find the organization.”

“An organization?”

“Yes. That person said they were there to protect her in exchange for payment.”

“!”

“Leo, do you remember where it was?”

“Yes, I do! Definitely!”

“Then we go there and ask who’s protecting her.”

If that person had taken Miss Ophelia, they had enough reason to go to that organization.

“···Boss, aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I’ll go to bed after this.”

“You’ve said that so many times already···.”

“I don’t care.”

“That’s the fifteenth time you’ve said that···.”

I avoided Jane’s tired gaze.

Well, what can I do?

This game turned out to be more interesting than I expected.

Each chapter ended with such suspense that I couldn’t help but be curious about the next.

“I told you, you can go to bed first.”

“I can’t leave the boss alone.”

“···Alright, fine. I’ll sleep. I’ll continue tomorrow.”

Unable to win against Jane, who had stayed by my side all day, I finally turned off the game console.

To be honest, I wanted to stay up all night and finish it, but I couldn’t.

If I stayed up, Jane would stay up too.

Even if I slept in late tomorrow, I didn’t have much to do other than play with the kids, but Jane was different.

She was busy running around, looking after the kids. Probably doing patrols or something.

If she stayed up all night and ran into danger, it could be a problem.

“Alright, I’m going to bed, so you should too.”

“Oh, but can you pat my head first?”

“···Are you a dog?”

“Hehe, call me your loyal hound, Boss!”

Sigh.

Why does she still love physical affection, even as a grown adult?

I patted Jane’s head.

The soft texture of her hair flowed through my fingers, and Jane gave a satisfied smile.