Eric Flavel had stopped in Murdoch village for two days so Gojo and Grisella got a day to train their skills.
After two days the journey resumed. Both Gojo and Grisella had leveled up. The next stop will be the Musgrave Mansion.
Musgrave mansion had an interesting history. A hundred years ago the province was ruled by Musgrave family. Duke Mark Musgrave who was the duke a hundred years ago sided with a rival faction to the ruling family during a coup d'etat attempt in the imperial capital. However the coup plotters were defeated and the Musgrave family was removed from it's position.
After the fall of the Musgrave family one of their retainer families, that is the Alkorn family came into power and have been ruling for a hundred years. The Musgrave family was just spared their manor house which the family currently runs as an inn.
It was already dusk when they arrived at the gates of the mansion. Inside the gates the path to the mansion was lighted with lamps. After getting out of their carts Eric Flavel and the others headed inside.
As soon as they reached the reception they were greeted by an old man in dark but expensive clothes. After getting their assigned they walked through dimly lit hallways.
While Eric Flavel got a room at the center, Gojo, Grisella and Sid got two rooms at the end of the hallway. The dimly lit hallways reminded Gojo of the Jujutsu Tech dorms.
During dinner they met with Herbert Marvin. He was in a cheerful mood.
" It's thanks to you that I am safe. Keep up the good work. I will treat you in the future. " said Herbert Marvin looking towards Gojo and Grisella.
" By the way Eric have you heard about the recent disappearance of children from in and around the Musgrave Mansion ?" Herbert asked.
" Yes I have but aren't they just rumours ?" asked Eric.
" Well they are definitely rumours but I am just warning you. Especially you kids. " He said turning towards Gojo and Grisella.
The mansion went silent again after the dinner. Everyone returned to their rooms and fell asleep.
While Gojo was sleeping he heard a few faint footsteps outside the room. His six eyes detected some movement. He got up and put his ear on the door. Outside he heard a pair of footsteps moving away from the door.
Gojo opened the door and peeped outside. He saw two figures in black cloaks and hoods walking through the dimly lit hallway carrying something. He tiptoed outside the door. As nothing looked troublesome he didn't wake up Grisella.
He then started walking in the direction of the figures. The two figures then turned left at a bend. This time Gojo clearly saw what they were carrying. They were carrying a little girl of around seven or eight years old.
Gojo started to closely followed them as quietly as possible. The figures walked out of the mansion from a back door.
After getting outside they started moving through the forest behind the mansion. It was very dark in the forest but thanks to his six he managed to follow them.
After sometime the two figures reached in front of an abandoned mansion that was located in the forest. They went inside carrying the girl.
Gojo quietly walked in the mansion.By the looks it was a mansion belonging to some noble family who had abandoned it long ago. For a long time he couldn't see anything as he searched through the mansion.
Suddenly he saw a portion of a backroom lit by dim light. He followed the source of light and came across a flight of stairs leading to underground.
He started climbing down the stairs. After reaching the end of the stairs he saw several long corridors all dimly lit by torches fixed to the walls.
He searched through the corridors for the figures. There were several doors that were closed with a few ajar. Several of these rooms contained materials from demon beasts or magical beasts. These men were probably smugglers.
He also spotted several large crystals of mithril using his appraisal eyes. After sometime he came across a half ajar door. From inside that door he could hear several men talking.
He peeped inside the room and saw a group of five men clad in black cloaks and hoods sitting a round table upon which a lantern was kept discussing something. The girl was lying in a corner of the room.
" Did you hear about the news of Jarvil's capture ? It looks like his entire gang of robbers were captured alongside him. " said one of the men.
" Yes, lately it seems like it's pretty difficult to do our business here. What are the identities of the adventurers who captured Jarvil ?" asked another man.
" We don't know yet. By the way what do we do to the five children we have acquired ?" said the previous man.
" Sell them as slaves illegally just as we always do. " said another cloaked figure to which all of them shook their heads.
As they were continuing their discussion they heard the door of that room closed. Standing in front of the door was a young man with white hair and with a black cloth wrapped around his eyes.
" I guess I'd show off to you some of my power. " said Gojo as he walked towards the cloaked men.