We began our quest of searching for Elizabeth by going to the Gornwell estate in the upper reach. As we walked up the steps, I was getting worse vibes than the ones when I was doing the ghost quest. At least on the trip up, I had the background noise of Rose and Box arguing. But with Violet, she's a quiet kid so nothing but silence fills the air as we climb the steps. To break the ice, I initiated conversation.
"So why did you decide to pick this game up?"
"Well besides everyone else's reason of needing the money, I picked it up due to escapism. This game is so real that it helps me get away from the troubles of real life if only for a moment." She looked off into the lower reach as we climbed the steps.
She does have a point. This game is certainly impressive in its attention to detail. Everything feels real from the taste of things, the feeling of swinging an axe, even to the tiredness you feel in the process of logging off. This game was definitely made with the purpose of fully immersing the player.
Once we got to the Gornwell estate, we were greeted with the door opening to reveal a fierce man that towered over Violet and even myself. He had long brown hair, purple piercing eyes, and rippling muscles. I was surprised to see the noble's physique. I was under the impression that the nobility of Jericho never had to fight.
"Are you the heroes from the guild?" He muttered.
"Yeah-"
"YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME FIND MY DAUGHTER" The man grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently. I could feel whiplash as my head shook back and forth. I'm certain that at any moment the FYL feature will kick in and I'll fade in and out of consciousness.
"P-please let go of him!" Violet tried to assert herself, but to no avail. He still was in complete hysterics.
The butler had to come in to break us off. Once everyone was calmed down, we were led to an office. As we were led to the office, I looked around at the furniture and decorations and realized that these guys weren't your normal nobles, they were warriors that happened to be nobles. They had armor sets and weapons on display. Once we made it into the office, we were shown to our seats by the butler and the questioning begins.
"Alright Mr. Gornwell, I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions and you answer as best you can." I told him.
"Go ahead." He gave me a determined glare.
"VIOLET!" I yelled out.
"Y-YES?!" Violet jumped out of fright.
"Take notes. I need you to be my Watson."'
"Did Watson even take notes for Sherlock?" Violet muttered as she equipped parchment paper and pencil.
I wouldn't know. I never watched or read any media regarding Sherlock. What exactly should I ask? I need to completely know about what makes Elizabeth the lady she is and find her. I'll ask questions on her character and figure out what her daily routine is like.
"What's her appearance?"
"She greatly takes after me. She has long brown hair and purple eyes just like mine." He said.
"Could you try explaining Elizabeth as a person?"
"SHE'S A BRAT! But she's my brat..." Max began.
"She does whatever she wants, when she wants. Ever since she was a child, she made a declaration of her want for something by pointing at that thing. If that thing was a concept or something 'she would point to the sky. Just recently, she became close friends with the heir to our rival family, the Bellow family. I was understandably angry and decided to asked her why exactly would she associate with those people? That is when she pointed below to the lower reach and announced to me 'Father! I'm going to wipe out the magicrumb industry and I need the Bellow family to do it!' Not soon after, she went missing."
"Magicrumb?" I asked.
"They're a drug that the people of the lower reach came up with. You take the crystals from monsters and use a wizard's heat spell to make it." The noble answered my question.
I'm so lost. Why did she gain such an infatuation with the magicrumb industry? And why did she need the help of a rival family to do so? Wouldn't any other noble family work?
"How much power does the Bellow family have?"
"Just as much as us. The Bellow family and the Gornwell family were the first two families to move from the lower reach to the upper reach. Us Gornwells made it out through our battle-prowess. Not a single noble knows how the Bellow family magically came up with the funds to make it to the upper reach."
"What do you think, Violet?"
"Me? Um... on surface level, it seems to me that the Bellow family got their fortune by selling magicrumbs and when she found out, they killed her-"
"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Max Gornwell's voice echoed throughout the office as he gave a resolute stare down to Violet.
"Oi oi oi..." I rose from my chair and put my hand on my axe.
"Who do you think you're yelling at? Nobody yells at my party member like that."
"S-sorry. I just want her to come back home..."
I don't blame him. When I ran away from home one time, my parents were furious with me. They said things like "Don't you ever run away again" and "I thought you loved us?" After that, I never tried to run again. Max is probably bottling up his anger. He looks like he's destroyed, but it doesn't make sense to me. What kind of parent would show anything other than anger over their troublesome daughter? I know he's putting on a front and I want to see it break down.
"You know, you can let all of your emotions out. You don't have to keep it all in." I said.
"I'll save any emotions I feel for when I see my daughter." Max said.
"Suit yourself..." I rose from my seat and began to leave. As I left, Violet gave a light bow and followed me out of the room.
As we left the Gornwell manor, Violet asked me what the next move was for solving the case. As of right now, the only leads we have are the Bellow family and the magicrumb industry. To save time, we'll just split up and look for clues. The Bellow family seems easier for me. I'll just go guns blazing through the manor and if I see anything that might lead to me thinking they distribute magicrumbs, I'll turn them in to the guards. They'll probably launch an investigation and find Elizabeth's dead body in the process. That's the most likely option. All Violet would have to do is track down a magicrumb dealer and ask if they even recognize her. If they don't then that pretty much confirms my theory.
"I want you to look for magicrumb dealers and-"
"HOOOOOOOOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A voice boomed as a fairy poofed in front of the both of us.
The fairy was a man in a black business suit with white stripes. He wore glasses and a fedora I could see short white hair poking out of underneath it. He wore an expression of fury and had his eyes dead set on me.
"I stayed on the sidelines long enough! Milady, I respected your wishes to not interfere for this special quest, but he's treating you like his doormat!"
"Damien, it's okay. He probably has his reasons-"
"NO! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" The fairy got in my face and began waving his finger in front of me. "YOU'RE GOING TO RESPECT HER FROM THIS POINT ON! YOU WANT HER TO GO TRACK DOWN MAGICRUMB USERS?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! LET HER INTERVIEW THE BELLOW FAMILY! RIGHT NOW!"
I really hate it when people try to tell me what to do. I was literally giving her the easiest lead. So its pretty funny how this pipsqueak is trying to tell me what to do without even hearing out what I have to say. Sorry Violet, but I'm gonna teach your fairy some manners.
"Sure thing. I should've thought more about it. Violet, you can interview the Bellow family. Meet up with me at the guild hall whenever you're done. If you're not there in three hours, I'm gonna assume you died."
"Oh...Sure thing." Violet nodded and we went our separate ways.
As I walked down the steps to the lower reach, I realized that Damien was the only fairy that I saw out of the people I was acquainted with. Do fairies have an unwritten rule where they're supposed to keep contact with other heroes at a minimum? Because now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing Aegis or Lucia with fairies. I decided to ask Faye as I climbed down.
"When fairies summon heroes, they use up the majority of their mana to do so. However, the summon is incomplete. The stronger the hero becomes, the harder it is for the fairy to keep the incomplete summon in this world. Once a hero hits level 10, their fairy gives the rest of their energy to keep the hero's body in this world."
"Wait so when I become level 10, you'll die." I couldn't help but stop in my tracks as she said that.
"Yeah..." She stopped as well and looked at me with a saddened expression.
Damn it! Don't look at me like that! All this time you put on a smile and never told me...DAMN IT! Since the very beginning, Faye has been with me. She was even the first person to cry for me. She was my first ever friend. And now she's telling me that she's going to die for my sake so that I could live on? A piece of trash like me?
Faye could see the dejected look in my eyes. She pointed at me and joked with tears in her eyes "Ha! Now it's YOUR turn to cry!"
"I don't cry." I walked past her and continued down the steps.
"The one thing a fairy wishes for is for their hero to overcome their biggest hurdles. One thing I've noticed with you is your feeling of worthlessness. The only thing I can think of is surrounding yourself with positive people. I want you to make lots of friends. Friends that'll care about you like I do. I'm sure if you find people like that, you'll begin to heal-"
"I don't think a person like me deserves to heal after what I did, but I'll keep your wish in mind. After all, you did bring me into this world." As I finished walking down the steps, I made my way to the guild hall to see if I can find anyone who's been in contact with magicrumb dealers.