The fighter looked at Rod with suspicion in his eyes.
"And why do you want to know?"
Searching his brain for an excuse, Rod began to come up with a story.
"Well, we are actually hired by a noble family from Edseria to find their lost daughter. She went missing for nearly a year and we searched everywhere in Edseria but we still can't find her. So, we decided to search in Anemoly instead. From what I could understand, I think she purposely ran away to pursue the love of her life since her father wanted to arrange her marriage with someone else. She's known to be using a strange language, something she probably made up on her own. It probably stemmed from her loneliness and boredom since her father and mother were far too busy to take care of her. She also has a rebellious attitude and a very reckless way of doing things. And seeing how you describe the girl in your story, they resemble each other quite well."
Although most of the things he said were made up, Rod made sure he put on a genuine expression while he spoke. He was hoping it would convince the two to just spill the beans already.
When the two men heard Rod's story, they finally understood the reason why Rod approached them and so, they decided to be more cooperative.
The fighter furrowed his brows as he tried hard to remember. But he can only barely remember what happened aside from the strange words the girl used and the fact that she called him with a weird name.
"Well, we didn't really have the time nor the right instance to introduce each other's name so I have no idea who she is."
Rod furrowed his brows as he tried to suppress his growing impatience.
"Didn't she say it at one point during their duels? Usually, they would introduce themselves before they start, right?"
The fighter roughly caressed his cheek as he tried to recall again. But back when the duels were starting, they were both busy cleaning his wet armor and weapons from the spilled drinks and food splatter that Inna caused. Hence, they both weren't really paying attention at the start of the duel.
After all, some measly quarrel is certainly not that important when it comes to their equipment.
That's because, as an adventurer, the weapons and armor are their life and thus, it was their top priority to prevent them from being damaged, soiled, and or deteriorated.
So, with a shrug, the fighter answered Rod nonchalantly.
"Nah, both of us didn't pay attention much because we were busy with our own worries."
Seeing the disappointment on Rod's face, the magic-user somehow wanted to help him out but he can only vaguely remember the name of what her man called her. After all, the only time they interacted was when the woman suddenly approached them but they were far too surprised to notice insignificant little details. Nevertheless, he still decided to tell Rod what he could recall.
"I just remember the fact that it sounded strange when her man screamed it out loud. Something like an exotic name. Something... Na? I think it has the syllable 'Na' in it. Rina probably? Or was it Nina? Rana? Dana? I'm not entirely sure."
Then suddenly, the magic-user remembered something.
"Oh! Why don't you ask that guy two tables back? The handsome one who's drinking by the corner of the room. I saw him talk with her man familiarly so he must know what her name was."
Rod widened his eyes as he looked at the man they were referring to. The man was certainly handsome, probably even the most handsome one in the whole restaurant but the longer Rod looked, the more he felt that the man was oddly familiar in his eyes.
Seeing that he's going to handle a handsome man, he wanted to call Renee in for support. But when he recalled what she did earlier, he decided against it. So, after politely thanking the two men, he made his way towards the handsome man drinking by the corner of the room.
"Excuse me, good sir. I would like a bit of your time, please."
The man looked at him with hooded eyes as he squinted, trying to see who Rod was despite his shaky vision.
"Sure, I've got all the time in the world after my little buddy ditched me to take care of the woman that I have a crush on."
Rod tried to hide his grimace with a smile.
With impatience coursing through him, he's totally not in the mood to listen to the sad ramblings of a drunk man. Thankfully, the man sobered up really fast after drinking a few cups of water.
"Apologies, I was just sulking. So, what do you want again?"
Rod put on his usual friendly smile as he asked.
"I heard from the two gentlemen over there about the incident earlier and they were kind enough to tell me that you were well acquainted with the drunk women who speak of strange words."
The handsome man raised an eyebrow as he scanned Rod from head to toe with suspicion clear in his eyes.
"And? What of it?"
Rod knew that the man was skeptical of him and he understood his reaction. But he didn't have enough patience to coax it out of the man so he planned for a more direct approach.
Seeing that the man personally knew Inna, the lie involving her family would surely seem suspicious, especially the part of her eloping with a man. So, to seem more realistic, he decided to make up another story. This time he assumed a neutral role as no longer pretended he knew Inna. Instead, he pretended to be genuinely curious about the whole incident. Luckily, he left his sword by the table which helped solidify the role he made up for himself.
"My friends, along with myself, are actually just a group of local writers who wished to write about the happenings. It was such a climactic event that we couldn't help but be curious as to what caused the whole duel, and such. Most people we've talked to have just been saying that it was the girl's fault and that she should be the one imprisoned. But although we haven't seen the whole event, from the testimonies of some witnesses, we somehow felt that it wasn't the girl's fault at all! And so we wanted to write the whole truth so that the people wouldn't misunderstand her and further ruin the Academy's reputation. But in order to do so, we just wanted to know the name of the girl since no one seemed to care enough to actually remember. Oh and if you have anything to add as well to the story, feel free to tell me more."
Rod widened his friendly smile as he hoped in his heart that it was enough for the handsome man to believe him.
Ugh, lying sure is tough.