Lilia's Tale

Chapter 50: Investigation

As I was carefully folding all my dresses on my bed, I realized I didn't have any suitcase or anything to put them in. I went to knock on Father's door to ask for one, which he gladly gave me. The one I was given was the same one I had when we went to Miyu's place, so I knew it was capable of holding a lot of clothes.

I brought it back and put everything into it before realizing I had quite a bit of room left. Figuring I might as well bring everything I can, I started scavenging around the room, eventually finding an old envelope I had completely forgotten about.

I opened it and found inside one silver, two bronze and six copper coins. I had forgotten the conversion rate to USD for those, but remembered that it was the money I obtained through working for Olivia back in Terra. It brought me quite a few good and bad memories, as I put it on top of my clothes.

I went back to scavenging for belongings and came out empty-handed. I was relatively surprised at the lack of items I possessed, before remembering about something I had forgotten about that felt quite important to me - the Cataract. I went to retrieve it, still amazed at the laboratory, and went to ask Father about it.

"Are you really sure you want to bring that with us on the way? I was planning on having my equipment be taken to a new location in whatever town we stay in. It would have been taken as well."

"Y-Yeah. I really want to take it, and I'm not sure why."

"Well, you did connect with it, so it's not really surprising. We'll take it then."

I was abnormally happy hearing I could hold onto this artefact. I was keenly aware I was being childish, yet I could not stop myself. I proudly went back to my room with the object in my hands and put it aside my suitcase.

I then searched some more around my room but could not find anything worth keeping. Deciding I was done, I once again went to notify Father. As I opened my door, I heard some noise towards the entrance and gave it a look. I noticed a silhouette leaving the house in a hurry. Most likely being Father's, I followed.

He was going quite faster than his normal walk speed, meaning there indeed was some sort of emergency or important event happening. I ran up to him, confirming my suspicion it was Father as I got closer.

"What happened?" I asked as we went towards the entrance to the forest.

"The Fifth Imperial Division arrived. I stationed a summon near the burnt town to notify me if it saw any flying carriages. It did, I waited, and they indeed were the ones we waited."

That, to me, meant we were about to move out. I was struck with a wave of nostalgia as we kept running, eventually arriving at the edge of the forest. There, a group of around twenty people, all clad in shining silvery armor, were standing in front of a familiar, immobile Holy Knight. Their formation seemed standard at first glance, with a better-equipped man in front, and the rest ordered behind him in a rectangular fashion.

While I stopped to look from afar, thinking I shouldn't intervene without knowing what I would get myself into, Father kept going. After a short self-deliberation, I followed, making sure to stay a certain distance in the back.

"Are you perhaps the Fifth Imperial Division?" Father shouted.

The leader of the group went towards him as well, while the rest stayed put.

"Are you perhaps the Great Summoner, Kouji Jirou-sama?"

"Yes. Were you notified of our request to be taken to Glace once your investigation is over?"

"We were not. We recently received the mission to investigate the mysterious burning down of a town in the southern part of the Empire, but have not been given directions since, as we do not have access to a mobile magiphone."