One day later, Amon was sitting in his office while Roxanne sat on a nearby chair.
"And did the memory crystal show anything interesting?" Roxanne asked Amon, who was writing something on parchment.
"Fifty-fifty. Leon found out that she is one of Baron's tools. I just wonder why he wants his revenge now after two years." Amon had dealt with that man before and during that encounter, he rescued Personia, who later became a member of the guild.
"Does Personia already know this? I also want to kill that bastard. In the last two years, she has become like a little sister or daughter to me." Roxanne was honest, and she knew Amon shared similar thoughts.
"Yes, she was the one who obtained the data. She has the item." Amon was quite worried about her, but he couldn't neglect his work either.
"I will look for her. You just focus on your work." Roxanne pointed her finger at him and left the room. Amon felt relieved that she took the initiative. She understood how challenging it was for him to work while constantly thinking about Personia.
Roxanne used a black crystal to teleport herself throughout the castle. These crystals connected every part of the castle, and only a few possessed them. Leon had invented this system a year ago, and with Bruna now in their guild as a spy, the system was perfect. Every guild member was ordered to use these "warp stones" exclusively, preventing Bruna from learning the castle's layout in detail.
Eventually, Roxanne found Personia in a small laboratory, visibly frustrated with the lack of progress. Roxanne couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for intruding on her private space without permission, but she needed to understand Personia's reaction. It was evident that Personia had a habit of burying herself in work when stressed or attempting to conceal her feelings, using it as a means to escape from reality. Unfortunately, during these moments, nothing she attempted seemed to yield any results. Roxanne deeply disliked this habit, knowing all too well that it could eventually lead Personia to work herself to the point of exhaustion or worse, jeopardizing her own well-being.
Roxanne gently sat down on the bed and stroked Personia's hair. The girl woke up in shock but quickly calmed down.
"What are you doing here? I thought you had work to do," Personia said, aware that Roxanne didn't have any tasks at the moment and just wanted to be alone.
"Don't worry too much about that woman. We will handle it. Just live your normal life and do what makes you happy." Roxanne continued stroking Personia's hair, providing a comforting presence like a mother soothing her child after a bad dream. The little girl appreciated that feeling, considering Roxanne as a mother figure, and Amon as her father. She was particularly grateful to Amon for rescuing her from her personal hell, a place from which she could never have escaped.
"We will find this man and make him suffer. So don't dwell on it for one night," Roxanne hugged Personia tightly. However, Personia couldn't find peace.
"I can't. I'm scared since I found out she is related to that man. I'm afraid and don't know what to do. What if I end up in his hands again?" Personia sobbed, consumed by fear. Her body trembled as she remembered what she had gone through.
"Let it out, don't hold back." Roxanne didn't know what to say, so she simply wanted to listen. But then, Personia cried out, casting a spell involuntarily. She didn't want it to happen, but her emotions were overwhelming.
"Oh no, what have I done?" Personia's voice quivered with fear. Roxanne was unharmed, but in Personia's eyes, she had just hurt the person who was like a mother to her. In panic, Personia grabbed a white crystal and teleported away.
"No, don't go!" Roxanne screamed, witnessing what had just happened.
"Roxanne, what happened?" Amon rushed into the room upon hearing his wife's screams.
"Personia teleported away. Go after her!" Roxanne couldn't control her emotions and yelled at Amon. Amon immediately started running and used his black crystal to teleport through the entire castle, but he couldn't find her.
Amon stomped the ground, and a gate appeared behind him. He used a skill to locate her but was unsuccessful. He ran through the whole castle, informing everyone to search for her. Every member of the twelve coats of arms present in the guild building, including Bruna, joined the search.
Bruna put aside her role as a spy and helped genuinely. At that moment, she was just a concerned individual worried about a little girl. They searched for eight hours but found no sign of Personia. Exhausted, all twelve members of the guild's coats of arms gathered in the meeting room. Leon, Roxanne, Dorothea, and Arthur, the masked old man who had welcomed Bruna, were present.
"So, what do we do now? We've searched every inch of the guild. Do you think she could be outside the castle?" Dorothea voiced her thoughts, the first to speak.
"I don't think so. It's January, and it's nighttime. She may have run away, but she wouldn't be foolish enough to hide outside. Besides, she's the smartest among us, second only to me," Leon expressed his belief. He couldn't imagine her making any instinctively foolish decisions that could endanger her life. Though she had run away, the fact that they couldn't find her indicated her intelligence. Her emotions prevented her from returning, obstructing her rational thinking.
Leon shared this perspective with the others, and it made sense.
Arthur also had something to contribute. "Leon, you spent a lot of time with Personia in her laboratory. Is there any invention of hers that could help us find her?"
"I've already considered that, but I haven't found anything yet. I don't even know what some of her other creations do."
Silence fell upon the room. If Leon didn't know what they do, no one else would.
"What about the people in her department? They specialize in research and development. Perhaps they know something about a device or invention that could help us," Arthur suggested in a somber tone.
"No, I've already asked them, and they have no knowledge of any device, item, or invention she made that could assist us," Amon replied, his voice heavy with disappointment.
---
Meanwhile, in a small room:
"What am I even doing? Why do I have to do this? Why am I letting everyone worry like this?" Personia sobbed, alone and filled with regret. She knew her actions were wrong, and she should return.
But her anxieties prevented her from going back. She believed that everyone would hate her now, especially Amon, after hurting Roxanne, whom he loved deeply.
"I'll just stay here. It doesn't matter anyway." Memories of her time in a personal hell resurfaced—a place where no one would come to rescue her—as she became lost in the void of her own memories.