In an empty coffee shop somewhere in the southern district, if one were to enter, they would be shocked to see the sight of a person crying his heart out as tears and snot covered his face.

Seeing that miserable sight, the person in front of him in a white Demon Mask and a black cloak offered him a glass of water before speaking.

"Sir, you need to stay calm. I will help you, but before that, I need you to answer some of my questions."

Hearing him, the man with black hair wiped the tears off of his face before accepting the glass of water.

…

After half an hour of Questions and Answers, Max bid him farewell.

From all the information Max received from him. He could sum that all up in a single word.

Strange.

Yes, it was 'strange.'

There were a bunch of things he found strange in that case to begin with.

First, was it really possible for them to not notice that their daughter was missing until they reached their car?

Second, the one which worried him a bit. He heard he had hired three mercenaries before me. But all of them refused that halfway.

Third, and the most important one which worried him the most, was the Guild Union's behaviour.

He said the officer in charge of his case had shown him the body of a girl, claiming that to be their daughter.

But he was adamant on the decision that that wasn't his daughter.

Now, Max could only draw two conclusions on the basis of the information he had at that time.

First, that guy had gone insane over the death of his daughter and was not willing to accept the guild's results. And that may very well be the reason why the other Mercenaries dropped his quest.

Second, a terrifying hypothesis. The father of the girl was right and there was a greater conspiracy behind it.

But it would be too early to reach any conclusions with the current knowledge he had.

Looked like he would be taking a walk around Arcane today.

…

Somewhere around in Shopping District.

The people on the streets kept looking towards an accessory stall as an unfamiliar scene was occurring in this place.

One could see two stunning ladies in their teens bargaining with a vendor.

Both the ladies were eye-catching. One had black hair and the other was a blonde.

"No.. No... you are asking too much for it. Do I look like a fool to you? I won't give a single zen more than 10 zen." The girl with beautiful black hair wasn't willing to budge from her stand.

"Lady, I can't sell you this at that price. It's too low. If I sell it any lower than 15 zen, I won't be making anything on it." The old vendor spoke with a troubled expression as sweat slid down his forehead.

"No, I wo-." Before the black haired girl could speak any further, the blonde girl next to her spoke.

"We will take it for 15 zen."

"No, what are you doing Elly?" The black haired girl lets out a desperate cry.

"I will pay the extra 5 zen for you Lisa, it's fine now." Elly says as she rolls her eyes at Lisa before paying the vendor and taking the accessory.

"No, it's not." Lisa murmured with a sad face as she followed behind Elly.

"You don't understand the joy of bargaining, do you?" Lisa says as she stared at Elly with a seriousness never seen before.

Seeing her expression, Elly lets out a sweet smile before replying.

"No, I don't. Why do I need to bargain, when I have money to buy it? And secondly, even if you like bargaining, leave the old and poor people like that."

"Fine, I get it. Let's go to the new shopping mall. This time I will show you my ultimate bargaining skill," Elly said as she thumped her chest with her fist in pride.

...

A while later, the two girls reached the shopping mall and the guard at the entrance greeted them before opening the door.

"Whoa, look at it, Elly. I never thought I would see such a big shopping mall in Arcane." Lisa said as her eyes widened at the sight of the Mall's interior.

"Yes, it looks pretty big." Elly noded and gave her approval at Lisa's remark.

As they walked inside the mall, they failed to notice an evil grin forming on the guards face.

Seeing them leave, the guard took out his phone before dialing a number on it.

Beep..

Beep..

Beep...

And the phone connected.

"What's the matter?" An eerie voice could be heard from the other side of the phone.

Hearing the voice, the guard shivered before replying.

"H..hello, sir, I have found two good quality ingredients."

"Ha..ha.. good, you have done an excellent job this week. Don't worry I will reward you. Just make sure there are no mishaps. I will be sending some people to help you. And you know, right, I don't like failures ."

"Y..yes s..sir. I w..won't f..fail you." The guard replied in a trembling voice.

…

After thinking for a while, Max decided to check on the mercenaries' website, and luckily he found what he was looking for.

It was the identity of the mercenaries who had taken that quest before him. If he could somehow contact them, he might be able to find something.

With that in mind, he looked into the accounts of those three guys. And luckily, out of the three guys, one had registered with his original identity.

Noting his phone number and address down in his mobile, Max closed the website and gave him a call.

...

..

..

And the call disconnected.

Looking at his address, Max found it to be in the district next to his Academy.

It was pretty late anyways. He thought of meeting that guy before returning.

And with that, he waited for a cab to come into his sight.

….

'Is this what I am truly looking for? Even though I am going to get what I wanted, is this how it was supposed to be?'

"Hey Newbie, get ready, we are about to leave ".

Hearing the voice, Alex pushed away all my thoughts.

He didn't. knew if that was right or wrong.

But he came too far to turn back.

So, he got up from his seat and walked towards the guy.

-------------