Chapter 451 - 451: The Fog of Mayburn

While both Lucen and Ferdinand were creating new weapons for the front lines, Alexander and his group were dealing with the problems within the kingdom.

As most of the more powerful individuals had joined the war front, there were only a few people protecting the kingdom from within.

As of now, the students of the Royal Academy were being used as a police force.

The higher-ranked students had been divided into groups and assigned to assist the remaining city guards. Most dealt with ordinary crimes such as theft, disorderly conduct, and merchants attempting to take advantage of wartime shortages.

Alexander's group was given the more dangerous assignments. Right now, he was in Mayburn, a city to the south of the Kingdom.

There had been reports of something similar to a monster lurking in the darkness, kidnapping children.

Mayburn had once remained active long after sunset. Merchants sold food beneath glowing mana lamps, taverns remained crowded until midnight, and children played in the streets while their parents finished working.

That had changed after the disappearances began. Once evening arrived, doors were locked, windows were shuttered, and the streets emptied. Even the remaining city guards refused to patrol alone.

Not only that, but at some point a fog had started covering the city. This used to be a city filled with sunlight, but now, no matter what time of day it was, it was filled with fog and darkness. When nighttime came, even with the help of mana lamps, it became hard to walk.

From the moment Alexander entered the city, he did not like the fog. It muffled footsteps, distorted the shapes of buildings, and made it nearly impossible to tell whether someone was standing ten meters away. More importantly, it never disappeared. He felt there was something ominous about the city itself.

The group had gathered in the mansion of the noble who ruled over this city. Currently, the Viscount who was in charge of Mayburn was on the front lines alongside his wife and eldest child, so the one currently governing the city was the Viscount's second son.

The acting lord appeared to be only a few years older than Alexander. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, and several days' worth of stubble covered his face.

Documents had been piled across the desk before him, while a half-finished cup of tea sat untouched near his hand.

Alexander had already seen several nobles after entering the Royal Academy. The only types he had seen were either very arrogant about their social status or those who exuded true nobility with unwavering resolve.

This was the first time Alexander had seen a noble like this, overworked and seemingly wanting to cry.

The moment he saw Alexander's group, relief spread across his exhausted face. "You finally arrived."

The words escaped before he could stop them. His eyes moved toward Elion, and he hurriedly rose from his chair.

"Forgive me, Your Highness. That was not a proper greeting."

"You don't need to worry about formalities right now," Elion replied. "We came because of your request."

The acting lord nodded his head. "Thank you for coming. I'm Hektor Hillgrave, the second son of Viscount Mirion Hillgrave. As you may know, my Father, Mother, and Older Brother have gone to the battlefield, leaving me behind to do the administrative work."

Hektor glanced at the documents covering his desk. "At least, that was all I was supposed to handle."

Hektor sighed as he sat back in his seat. "You see, unlike most noble children, I had no talent for battle. Administration is the only thing I can confidently say I'm good at. I was fine with being left in charge of Mayburn. Then the fog came."

Hektor's face became even more gloomy as he spoke of the fog.

"At first, I assumed it was nothing more than unusual weather. Mayburn has experienced heavy fog before, but it had never lasted more than a few hours. This fog has covered the city for nearly three weeks."

"Has any mage examined this fog?" Alexander asked.

"Due to the war, most of the mages have been called to active duty. The only mages available were first circle mages. As of now, they have found nothing strange about the fog and need more time to study it. Yet we have little time for that, as I reported several children had started going missing."

"How many children have disappeared?" Elion asked.

"Seven over the last eighteen days." Hektor searched through the documents on his desk before pulling out a map of Mayburn. He pushed his unfinished tea aside and spread the map across the table.

Seven locations had been circled in red ink. They were scattered across the city, with some in the wealthier central districts and others close to the outer walls.

"The first child disappeared three days after the fog arrived. At the time, we believed that the child was simply lost. We searched the city and the surrounding forests, but found nothing."

Alexander could not help but grind his teeth. He did not like what he was hearing, but he continued to listen.

"Two days later, not just one child disappeared, but this time it was three. That was when we started to suspect that they weren't simply lost, but instead were taken. I, alongside the city guards and the people of the city, tried our best to search for the missing children, but we found no clue whatsoever."

Hektor once again sighed as he continued. "That wasn't the end of it; a few days after several more children disappeared. It would seem that whoever is taking them was becoming braver in his attempts, seeing as we are unable to track him or her."

"Were the three children taken from the same area?" Cael asked.

"No. They lived in completely different parts of the city. They had no similarities whatsoever aside from the fact that they were children below the age of thirteen."

"Where were they last seen?" Alexander asked.

"Inside their own homes."

Alexander frowned. "All of them were?"

Hektor nodded his head and replied. "Yes, and what's frightening is that whoever is doing this never made a sound. The reason for kidnapping the children is also unknown. Even now, whoever did this has demanded nothing. We already fear for the worst, and this fog is helping the fear to spread."

"Were there any signs that someone had entered the houses?" Elion asked.

"None. The doors remained locked, and none of the windows had been broken. We found no footprints, blood, or signs of a struggle."

"Then how were the children taken?" Ryan asked.

"We do not know. However, every person inside the houses fell asleep before the children disappeared."

"What do you mean?" Mina asked.

"The families did not remember becoming tired. One moment, they were carrying out their usual activities, and the next thing they remembered was waking several hours later."

Hektor picked up one of the documents scattered across the desk.

"One of the mothers had been sitting beside her child's bed because of the disappearances. She was determined to remain awake throughout the night, yet she woke the following morning on the floor. Her child was gone, and she had no memory of falling asleep."

"Did you examine their food and water?" Nina asked.

"Of course. We believed that someone might have drugged them, but we found nothing. The mages also examined the houses for traces of magic, but they could not detect anything."

"A spell capable of affecting an entire household should have left something behind," Nina said.

"Unless the first circle mages weren't skilled enough to detect it," Elion replied.

Hektor lowered his head. "That is what I fear. Under normal circumstances, I would have requested assistance from the nearby magic towers, but as I said before, nearly all their capable mages have been sent to the front lines."

"I might be able to sense something. Please guide me to the house of the last child taken." It was Catherine who spoke.

Hektor immediately stood from his seat.

"Of course. The house has remained untouched since the disappearance. I will take you there myself."

He grabbed a coat hanging beside the door and called for two guards to accompany them.

The moment the mansion doors opened, the cold fog pressed against Alexander's face. It had grown thicker while they were inside. The mana lamps along the street were now little more than pale blurs, their light swallowed after only a few meters.

Their footsteps sounded strangely distant as they followed Hektor through the empty streets. Curtains shifted behind shuttered windows, but no one dared step outside.

Catherine remained unusually quiet. She normally perceived her surroundings through sound, scent, vibrations, and the mana signatures present within everything around her. However, the fog muffled sounds and blurred those signatures, making even her heightened senses unreliable.

The journey to the house took roughly ten minutes, though the fog made it feel much longer.

Hektor stopped before a two-story home guarded by city guards. Its door had been sealed, and none of the neighboring houses showed any signs of life.

"This is where the seventh child disappeared," Hektor said.

Catherine approached the entrance of the house and placed her hand on the wall. She used her mana and every other sense she had to examine the place. As she was doing this, the more she realized that the fog was truly messing with her senses to a certain degree.

Through the interference, Catherine smelled the scent of blood and also sensed a faint trail of mana through the windows.