Lilia's Tale

Chapter 42: Disappearance

Upon waking up, I felt quite relaxed. I didn't spend much time lazing around in the bath as I quickly got up, checked for every limb, including my tail, then went to dress myself. There didn't seem to be anyone awake yet, the sun having yet to rise, so I figured I'd cook breakfast for them, despite the apparent lack of ingredients. It took me a while to figure out what I could do, but I went to work once I decided.

By the time I finished, neither of them were awake. I was slightly worried that the food would be cold by the time they wake up, so I waited a bit, dispelling my size change spell so I could play with my wings a bit.

Father was the first to wake up, and he seemed exhausted. I didn't want to push so I simply served him a plate and waited for Kyo.

He never woke up. By the time Father was done, he hadn't shown up yet. I was starting to get a bit worried, but I myself was hungry so I instead asked Father to check up on him while I ate my now cold food.

As I was finishing the small portion I poured myself, I saw Father come back from the hallway.

"I checked his room, he isn't there," he said.

"Did you check other rooms?"

"I did. I even checked the laboratory and empty rooms in case, but he wasn't there either. I'll check the other hallway."

I simply nodded and finished the little left, cleaned my plate and went to help him. By the time I arrived, he closed the door and continued:

"Nowhere. Did he leave the house?"

"I don't know, maybe? Where else could he be if not in the house?"

We ended up searching the whole house again to no avail. We came back to the main room to discuss the sudden disappearance of our friend.

"Maybe he went to town very early in the morning?" Father offered.

"I don't think so, I woke up when it was still dark, so I doubt he went out."

"Kidnapping? No, Holy Knight would have taken care of anyone who would have-"

Father stopped mid-sentence, which confused me. I looked at the entrance again and quickly realized what he did.

"Why did Holy Knight despawn." I asked bluntly.

"I don't know myself, I didn't realize."

"...We have a problem" was all I could mutter after a short silence. "Check if anything is missing from the lab please."

As Father nodded and went to the lab, I went outside to try and look around for any potential clues on Kyo's whereabouts. Nothing could be found, whether it be in front of the house or in any of the fields I normally use. I went to check on the way out of the forest and couldn't find anything either. Worries started filling me as I tried to figure something out.

Where could he be? In town? Father offered the idea already, but it seemed more realistic that it wasn't the case. Did he flee? Why would he flee? What would make him want to flee? Has he been feeling like we were treating him poorly due to the fact we have been leaving the house chores on him? That sounded logical, but it would be much more likely he would talk it through with Father or me first. What if he was kidnapped? By who? Why would they kidnap him instead of me? Was it because I slept in the bath so they couldn't find me? What would they gain from kidnapping him and not telling us?

Maybe he was kidnapped by the remaining goblins after Father attacked and apparently annihilated them? They definitely would have found us after following other people. They wouldn't know about me either, so it would make sense they would try to get Kyo.