A girl was lying on the sand in the beach beside Crococliff. The sky was painted in orange as the sun made its way home. It looked like a big round orange dumpling diving under the sea at the end of the horizon.
The gurgling of water filled the air as a large wave crashed against the rocks with a resounding splash.
Gentle wind shook strands of Maple's hair. Her body shivered slightly and her nose felt sore, as if she caught a cold. The first thought that entered her mind was of her father. She cautiously looked around. Her eyes reflected fear as she had dreamed of her yellow shield slowing dyeing in the violet poison.
The beach dyed in an orange hue felt cold and lonely. She thought of the sun that glowed in the sky before she fainted. It made her feel colder as the winds had now overpowered the warmth of the sun.
Atlus and the man who tried to kidnap her were nowhere to be seen. Her hand involuntary moved to her chest to clutch the pendant underneath her dress. This was her father's gift on her ninth birthday. She couldn't remember the reason for this gift but it ached her heart to even think about the past.
In the present moment, two round green pills were half buried under the sand along with three rubies glistering deep red with reflection of the sun ray. She bent down to pick up the loot. The thought of how Atlus hid one pellet while throwing away three to bait the opponent crossed her mind.
Initially, she had four pellets but now she was only left with two. Plus Atlus left three red rubies.
It appeared that Atlus took one extra pellet. If he left one ruby in exchange for one pellet, then what was the third ruby for? She pondered as she hurriedly walked away from the beach, towards home. She wanted to see her father.
Pentaville was a large residential area with clustered brick houses. It was two miles away from port Sailsbury. In the heart of the peaceful place were five identical mansions.
As Maple strode along the lamplit road, she saw a horse carriage parked in front of her house. But as far as she recalled, her father never brought work home. She looked towards the carriage where two guards in military uniform were standing.
The one wearing glasses was a 26-year-old man. His name was Knox. He was tall and lean. His back was a little bent and his eyes were half closed, as if he was in a battle to avoid sleep. While the other one was a 22-year-old girl. She smiled as soon as she saw Maple. Her name was Harriet.
Maple kept walking as she confusingly looked at the guards for a few seconds. She had never seen either of the guards before.
"Seems like all potions went down the beauty drain." Harriet said as soon as Maple disappeared from her vision. "No rich family will take her as their daughter-in-law." She smirked thinking she had the chance at the riches.
"I disagree." Knox said. "Statistically, good looking girls have 99% chance of getting married."
"And statistically whoever takes sentences literally is an idiot." Harriet snorted. "That 1% will soon turn 30% if every girl is magic-less like her."
Two dogs from the opposite direction came running towards Maple as soon as she entered the gate.
Woof! Woof!
The dogs had wicked teeth, but they shut their mouth and acted like little babies as soon as they neared Maple. They nudged her dress and rubbed their heads on her feet.
Maple stopped to pet the dogs. She rubbed their fur and shook their cheeks. Then patted them thrice in quick succession. The dogs backed away as soon as she did that.
"Good boys." She smiled and headed towards the mansion's front door.
A girl dressed in maid's clothing opened the door. She had a white headband on her head and her hair was tied to a bun. Her name was Skye.
"Welcome home." Skye said. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Fine." Maple said impatiently. — — "Where's father? I saw guards in front of our house." She kept walking. "Father!" She called out as she urgently climbed the stairs.
"The study room." Skye called out to inform her master's whereabouts.
The study room was big, with too many shelves filled with files that were stuffed with papers. Behind the desk, a man with neatly trimmed hair was seated. He was looking at various papers that were scattered on his desk. His name was Arden Finch.
. . .
Arden was reading official papers and news notes from 9 years ago. He wanted to find more about the ship named Brightmoon. By collecting information through various sources, he found that it was one of the 4 identical ships that are still lost to this day. — — He put down the papers as soon as his daughter entered.
"Evening Maple. I was waiting for you." Arden put down the papers on his desk. He looked at his daughter kindly, still worried about the argument they had this morning.
"Father, now I know I've acted childish in the past, and I want to tell you that you were right. I need to take magic seriously." As Maple spoke, she placed a hand over her chest, feeling the pendant beneath her dress.
"What happened?" Arden asked worriedly, but Maple looked away. He stood up from his chair as his eyes changed color from brown to yellow.
He could not see the pendant's energy. It was as if the pendant didn't exist at all. He clenched his fists tightly, bulging veins appeared on his arms.
The last time when Westfront Syndicate kidnapped Maple, he had made sure to make an example out of them. So no one would ever dares to lift a finger on his daughter.
Causing harm to someone might breed the desire for revenge, but what he did that day not only eliminated such thoughts but also struck fear into everyone's hearts.
"It wasn't anything serious. I met a boy and out of fear he attacked me. But the pendent protected me and he went flying into the sea. I had to dive underwater to rescue him."
Arden's heart sank as he listened to the story. Every criminal feared him on the island. On top of that, he had purposely spread rumors about the pendant, and they had spread like wildfire. Everyone talked about the pendant when they talked about magic treasures.
The rumors had continued to grow until the pendant was elevated to a position among the top ten treasures in the empire. Most people feared that it could send a signal to Arden, calling him was akin to calling a beast.
"You went to save him?" Arden kindly smiled to make her daughter feel at ease. But inside was raging like a beast and wanted to eat her assailant.
"I mean, he would have drowned if I didn't." Maple sighed and smiled. Her father didn't seem mad.
"Oh my daughter, you are so kind," Arden said, walking towards Maple to embrace her. "I would increase my expenses on treasures if they ensure you return home unharmed"
"Thank you, father. But I will grow up to be a strong girl so that you have one less thing to worry about." Maple looked towards the desk.
"You have grown up so much. Tell me about your incident later."
"Is everything okay? You don't usually work at night, so it must be really important."
"This time it is really something. If it isn't confidential, then I will tell you about it over breakfast. You have a good night now."
Arden's light smile vanished as soon as Maple left the room. He picked up a few papers from the table and headed outside. On the way, he nodded at the maid. But the poor girl had sweat beats appear on her head on seeing such a furious face.
The two guards waiting outside straightened their backs when they saw Arden. Knox adjusted his glassed before opening the carriage door.
"Trace Maple's footsteps and find out who attacked her." Arden said to Harriet.
Fear appeared in her eyes. "Yes, captain!" She said in a loud voice as Arden entered the carriage.
The horses dragged the wooden carriage outside the house. It caught up speed and headed in the distance.
At this moment, Atlus peeked out from behind an alley's wall. He was wearing a different set of clothes, a fresh shirt and pants that he bought from the guy who was selling cheap clothes by screaming out they were cheap. His eyes were set at the mansion in the middle. He had seen the flying military man leave the house. It was the perfect time. He grinned, revealing his newly sharpened teeth.