I had entered the principality as asked. The city wasn't exactly nasty or smelly... in fact, it was well kept. Now I had to find the three people the duke had sent here to investigate. This is a place for exiles so I have to be careful with how I conduct myself here. I would prefer not getting on anyone's bad side.
"Hey!" I heard a male voice from behind me.
"W-Wha-" I quickly turned around to see a guy around my age. He had silver hair with green highlights. He was wearing a usual commoner outfit and wasn't exactly sticking out from the rest of the public.
"You must be Kara? Duke Durfort sent a letter that you would be coming here to help us. Nice to meet you. I'm Jean."
"Right... Anyways, yes, I'm Kara. Nice to meet you. So fill me in with details."
"Come with me to somewhere more secluded. There my teammates are waiting for me."
I followed him to a house the was in the middle of the city. A location so public that it can be considered secluded. Like... 'it was right in front of eyes' type of thing... I don't know...
There I was introduced to two other people. A guy who seemed more reserved just like me while other was a girl. They strangely resembled Jean.
"If you're wondering then yes, we are siblings." Jean said. "This is Raphael and the girl over there is Elea. She is in charge of sneak missions while Raphael is in charge of more dangerous missions."
"Both seem busy with their own things." I noticed.
"Leave them be for now. Anyways... the basics is that this principality can be treated as a prison. Like a place for exiles. Somehow this principality is the only place not hit with the prophecy yet and it has been noticed that people are randomly going missing. These two incidents happening at the same time can not possibly be a coincidence and our prime suspect is the Duke. Duke Gabriel. He knows EVERYTHING."
"Missing? Have you tried to track them down?" I asked but he shook his head.
"We tried. Every time we sent people to spy on them, they too just disappeared. Duke has to be involved in all of this."
"How often does disappearances happen?"
"Once a day. There is no relation between people who disappeared. They're chosen at random. There are rumors that the duke is using them as sacrifice to gain favor of the divine, so that he can keep his people safe."
"It can't possibly be true. Furrina is the god of this dominion so how is he gaining her favor? There has to be something bigger going on. For now, I'll go out and get used to the area. I'll be living here for a couple weeks... so yea... is the food okay?" I asked.
"For the most part but I would recommend cooking your own meals." Jeans answered.
"I'll accompany you." Elea closed her book and walked over to us. "I have to go on my usual patrol too and we can't be having yet another disappearance. Much less an outlander."
...
I had no real reasons to reject her offer so now we were walking on the street when we came across a fortune teller. I took out a gold coin and gave it to her to tell my fortune. I knew it was all bullshit but it's not like I'm spending my own money.
She looked at her crystal ball and then gasped.
"It...it can't be possible! You have so many ... admirers?!" She cried out.
A harem? I mean... I was proposed to by Elena and then there is also I know Amelia has something for me. This information seems useless to me. It's not like this matters.
"How many?" I asked.
"I... I can't see an end to it." She responded.
Wait- that was worrying. Am I misunderstanding the meaning of admirers here?
"I guess... Anyways, I'll be on my way." I said before walking away. I shouldn't think too deeply about it.
"Are you concerned?" Elea asked.
"It is concerning." I answered. "But believing it would be stupid... Everyone knows fortune telling is just a scam."
"For your world, it might be. But fortune telling in this world is very much real." She said.
"I guess... prophecy can be similar to fortune telling in that regard... What do you think would happen if the prophecy is fulfiled?"
"We die. Can't do much about it." She answered in a rather nonchalant manner.
"My bad for asking a dumb question. So have you found anything especially concerning during your investigations?"
"In Duke's house, there is a chamber. He keeps it locked away and even the family members of duke are not allowed to enter. That location is the most concerning. It has some sort of magic spell on it that keeps it from being opened. It seems like the duke paid some extraordinary magician to cast that spell."
"Disappearances, no victim of prophecy... a hidden chamber. Duke is definitely the most suspicious but isn't he the most obvious suspect too?"
"Maybe. Maybe it is a clear cut case. Who knows?" She answered.
"Right... I do have a letter that can let me meet with the duke. Tomorrow morning, I'll go visit him." I said.
"We will keep an eye on it. We know you don't have magic so we will protect you."
...
I was laying in the bed when I heard the voice again.
'I'll become a star in the sky. Our conversation will stay unfinished.'
I quickly sat up and scanned through the room. This is getting creepier with each passing day. Who is this person? Unfinished conversation? A star? Whoever this is... would they die?
...
Next day, I visited the duke but was turned away. Apparently the duke was too busy at the moment.
"What are you going to do now?" Elea asked.
"Maybe check other locations. There must be some locations that are just as suspicious."
"I see. So as you know this kingdom is a jail of sorts. We do have the Jail of Tihar. It has been noticed that no one has ever escaped that prison... or... no one has ever come out of that place. They have some weird way of taking care of the criminals."
"I doubt citizens would be allowed inside."
"No. We just have to break in. I've done it a few times." Elea said.
"So... we are going to break INTO that place? Interesting."