Ella’s number one friend, Lady Leah, Saintess of Light, had to return to the Chapel first to prepare for the establishment of the Church of Light branch in Bright Cross Star City.
“Sigh, I didn’t expect to be so busy right after returning to the Royal City. If I had known, I would’ve played for a few more days.”
If she had played a few more days, she might have delayed this Royal City case, instead of ending up like this now…
All she could say was that the timing wasn’t great.
As her close sister, Ella’s number two friend, Necromancer Slayer Zero, accompanied her.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
As for Ella herself, she returned to the Magic Court with her number three friend to discuss the case that occurred this morning.
Since the person who died this morning was a civilian—just an unlucky soul—the pressure from above wasn’t too heavy.
They only demanded that the Magic Court quickly find out the truth, along with one small request.
“They want us to clean up the so-called residue immediately, to prevent the incident from happening again. For areas that can’t be dealt with temporarily, we should mark them out and report them.”
The Grand Sage said.
This was what someone from the Royal Palace came to tell him earlier.
It was reasonable.
Since an accident had occurred, the most important thing now was to eliminate all factors that could cause another accident.
But this was also the part Vina couldn’t understand most.
“There are so many places along the way with traces. Why was he the only one who caught fire?”
If the Fire Element residue was the cause of the case, then many people should have passed by along the way.
But after hearing the statements of witnesses at the scene, they found that the deceased was truly just an unlucky person—he didn’t provoke anyone or do anything strange.
“This question… you’ll probably only know once you find the people involved.”
The Grand Sage said.
“First, find them and figure out what kind of magic they were researching the night before.”
Finding people was already their task, even if this incident hadn’t happened.
Vina reached out and hugged Ella’s arm, making the Grand Sage’s eyelid twitch.
“Then let’s go~”
This time, the two girls were no longer fighting alone.
Since there was research above, the Magic Court needed to mark areas that could be dangerous, so several Grand Magicians were sent to clean up Elemental Residue along the route.
The job wasn’t difficult.
After all, so much time had passed that most of the Elemental Residue had already faded.
For the remaining parts, it only took a casual Ice Magic cast nearby, and the scorching Fire Element would dissipate completely.
Ella specifically requested a Map, and Vina drew on it with a Pen.
“We left the Magic Court and passed through streets and alleys, following the same trail. Their goal was clear—they wanted to leave the Royal City through the north gate.”
“So we need to chase them out too?”
“Of course, but for that, we’ll need transportation.”
Not to the extent of using a Dragon Hawk.
Vina suggested riding a Dilu, but at Ella’s strong insistence, it was changed to a Messenger Deer Carriage.
If they rode directly, the big mochi would suffer.
As they left, the Grand Magician dealing with the residue waved at them.
“Miss Vina, Miss Lala, do your best! The Magic Court is counting on you to solve the case!”
Ella clenched her small fist, a sweet smile on her beautiful face, and replied softly.
“We’ll definitely do our best~”
Whenever arriving at a new place and meeting new people, first impressions were important.
“…But why did they call me Miss Lala?”
Vina couldn’t hold back and chuckled twice.
“Because Old Deng calls you that, and they don’t know your real name.”
Fine.
Within the Human Kingdom’s territory, the Royal City was indeed a bit to the north, but in terms of distance, it was far from reaching the level of “the Emperor guards the border.”
Whether it was from the northern defense line or the snowfields, it wasn’t close.
The reason Ella thought of this was because Vina, riding the Dilu ahead, suddenly spoke.
“Hey, do you think they wanted to escape the kingdom from the north and dive straight into your Capital?”
“It’s our Capital.”
The good girl smiled.
“Everyone is an important, indispensable member of the Bright Society.”
“Really? Even that unknown general of the Elves?”
“Of course.”
“Then tell me his name.”
“………”
Ella truly didn’t know.
A cheerful voice came from the front of the carriage.
“You can ask next time, but I’ll have a different question next time.”
Since they had to follow the residue, Vina, riding the Dilu, held the reins in one hand and the Compass in the other, so the speed was not fast—one could even call it slow.
Ella liked this pace.
It wasn’t bumpy, and the big mochi sat on the rocking chair, only swaying occasionally, reminding her of the days she joined the Church with the Saintess.
Vina: “Surprise inspection—what are you thinking about!”
“Nothing, just serious things.”
“Then tell me what serious thing you’re thinking about.”
This little witch was really hard to fool, but fortunately, the Demon King wasn’t an ordinary person either.
“Mmhm~ I was thinking,”
Ella pressed her index finger gently to her lips.
“Since we set out, we’ve been walking in a straight line, without turning much.”
“Of course,”
Vina replied instinctively.
“This is the wild, not the city. There aren’t so many streets and alleys to turn into.”
After finishing, both of them fell silent, and soon even the carriage stopped.
A few seconds later, Vina lifted the curtain, her peach blossom eyes fixed on Ella.
The two spoke in unison.
“They walked in a straight line!”
To confirm this, and reduce error, the two continued forward a bit more.
After confirming, they turned around directly.
This time, there was no need to move slowly—the speed increased, the ride became bumpier, and it reminded Ella of the Saintess’s sudden anger when she joined the Church.
“Mm~”
“Why did you make a weird noise?”
The little witch’s question came from outside the curtain.
No way, she could even hear that?
“It’s nothing, you must’ve heard wrong.”
Ella patted the curtain and urged.
“Quick, faster!”
“…Are you using this as some kind of strange substitute?”
“No!”
How could that be?
Lala was a pure good girl.
Before noon, the girls returned to the Magic Court again.
“Why are you back again?”
The Grand Sage was a little confused.
“Don’t talk so much,”
Vina said directly.
“Prepare food and clothing for us—outdoor use.”
She rummaged in the room and quickly found the Map and Pen, spreading them out on the table.
Ella walked to the Grand Sage and explained politely.
“We discovered that their route in the wild was a straight line, so we can predict where they’re heading.”
For long-distance pursuit, blocking was more efficient than chasing.
Vina drew a tracking line on the Map, then extended it northward, circling several towns outside the border.
“They’ll definitely pass through here.”
The wild areas north of the city were mostly uninhabited, with two checkpoints on both sides called Gate of Iris and Gate of Hyacinth.
Checkpoints like these were military zones and heavily guarded, so it was impossible for them to go there.
For supplies or rest, these villages were the only options.
Ella and Vina planned to ride a Dragon Hawk and fly over to wait.