“Oi Humdee, have you seen the pin I use?”

The middle aged man called out to his friend as he sifted through the piles of rubbish that had gathered in their room. He couldn’t use his hands since they were full by holding up the bun of hair that he was tying up.

It was early in the morning on the 20th of Redmoon. As always, Scriled had to follow the schedule he had set for himself. Being a part of the kingdom’s army, he pretty much had to follow a set schedule, lest he become a disorderly mess.

“Hm? Pin. Nah mate. I never seen it today now have I?”

The scrawny man replied as he kept reading the book in his hand. Beads of sweat could be seen on the top of his head, indicating the heat in Gureis even in the early morning. Actually, the early morning heat was one of the things that drove away visitors from Gureis.

“Humdee. This is not funny you know! I need to get to the meeting today. The captain’s already sent for me”

Scriled, a well built man with long light brown hair was the captain of one of the best Seeker teams in Gureis. He resumed fishing for the pin to tie up the bun of hair on his head. After all, it was gifted to him by his wife on their first anniversary. He always made it a note to wear the pin at all times, adopting the hairstyle he currently had on.

“Hm? You looking for the pin again Scri?”

Another person walked in, this time a woman. With a small and petite body accompanied by her freckled face, Naiva was not one to be judged based on her appearance. Contrary to the studious look her spectacles gave off, Naiva was one of the head knights in the Gureis knight order. Her combat potential made her one of the most needed people in the Knight Order.

“It’s been missing aall this time Naiva! And this idiot Humdee won’t even help me find it!”

Along with a murderous glare, Scriled kicked off a pile of clothes on the floor towards Humdee.]

“Oi! That’s disgusting that is! We haven’t washed this you moron!”

He struggled to get out of the pile of filth, and Naiva chuckled at the sight.

“You guys are as rowdy as always. But I didn’t expect this from you Scriled”

“Huh? Expect what?”

Scriled’s face distorted in confusion, as he immediately began guessing what he had done wrong. Due to his wife always pointing out his faults, he had developed such a habit.

“The Guard captain called you, and you’re late? Even the captain was surprised”

“Oh that. I just… need to find my pin!”

Naiva sighed and began to walk away.

“Just make sure you get there. And here”

She picked up something from among the pile of trash and tossed it towards Scriled. Startled, he quickly caught it with his mouth. As he recognised the item, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Fanfoo Faiaa~!”

She laughed quietly as she swung the door shut behind her. Scriled quickly finished tying up his hair with the pin and then proceeded to take out the armor from his room. A red and gold armour without sleeves. That was all the armor that a Seeker required.

He traced the words that he himself had inscribed on the armour as he wore it.

Amelia

I wonder how she’s doing now. It’s been awhile since she got to see her pops hasn’t it… Almost two years. Heh.. The last time I saw her she was struggling to say ‘Mama’....

Scriled couldn’t help but sigh as he reminisced about his past. Because he had to work for the king of Gureis, he had no choice but to leave his family in the neighbouring cities rather than in the capital. The King of Gureis was pretty tyrannical, and no one ever wanted anything bad to happen to their families.

All prepared, Scriled set off to meet the guard captain.

“Ah Scriled, you’re here”

The war rugged guard captain, Sayeed turns to face Scriled as he walks into the Guardsroom. The place was as dingy as ever, with the paint peeling off the walls. The king rarely cared about his subjects, so this place becoming like this was only an eventuality.

Some of the guards and knights sat around tables in the lobby as they chatted about the latest missions they were sent to. Near the back of the huge room there was a desk arranged, and Sayeed sat there.

His face looked as if it were mutilated with the old puckered scar running down his face across his eye. Even though he was a fierce warrior, Sayeed could no longer perform on the field anymore. He could only perform the role of the secretary, handling paper work and dispatches.

There was no hint of the light brown hair that was quite frequent in these areas on the head of the bald Sayeed.

“Hey, my eyes are down here”

Sayeed grunted, turning his attention back towards the pile of papers on his desk.

“You called captain?”

“Yeah. Here you go. Your next assignment. Get it done, Pronto. Right now. King’s orders.”

Sayeed placed an envelope at the edge of his table, and gestured Scriled to take them. Bewildered at the sudden assignment, he quickly took the envelope and tore it open.

“Hunt the traitor? Why should we leave now? We can track him down easily! And evidence suggests that he’s going towards Qutyis right? We won’t be able to find him there”

“Did I say, it’s the King’s direct orders?”

Sayeed spoke menacingly, his eyes travelling towards Scriled’s face. Sighing at the terrified look on Scriled, he proceeded to explain himself.

“Look Scriled. Just do it. The job’s for you cuz your Nightstalkers is one of the best Seeker teams out there. The traitor is on the loose, hunt him down. See? Is there any problem?”

Scriled remained silent, not even daring to raise his voice anymore. The ‘conversation’ had already ended.

“They’ll be sending some knights with you. Get that Venturus brat killed quickly.”

Sayeed turned back to his paperwork, ignoring the astounded Scriled. Still not understanding some of it, Scriled walked back towards his quarters. After all, his vacation to visit his family just got cancelled.

*****************************

“Hm? Where do we begin searching, Scri?”

The blonde Humdee muttered as he rubbed his skinny hands together to warm himself up. Humdee always got cold quite quickly.

In the lonely streets of Qutyis, four figures walked rather quickly. They all wore grey cloaks with the hoods covering their faces. From time to time, one could make out sounds of conversation coming from them.

Scriled surveyed every nook and cranny of the street he was passing through. He was quite agitated at this surprise mission, and was determined to complete it quickly so that he could go back and meet his family.

The chilly night wind whipped against their skin, almost freezing them. Nights in Gureis were pretty intense. Scriled wrapped his cloak even tighter, attempting to keep out the cold. He kept rotating a coin in the palm of his hand as he used his Seeking magic on the surroundings.

The magic trace is really thick here. But something feels off…

Scriled continued searching with his friend, Humdee. The best ‘team’ of Seekers, the Nightstalkers. (Yes, I know it’s a duo)

The knight group was currently resting in a nearby inn. Of course, they also had their respective jobs. To deliver the ‘tribute’ to the Slave trader’s Union so that they could get information on the purchases Klaus made. They could easily track him down if they got something to trace along with Klaus.

Magic tracing was simple. It worked on perception and intuition. To perceive the remains of magic that every individual leaked, to be able to sniff out and isolate the needed trace. Then, to use magic to intuitively know where the trail leads. It almost felt like the Seekers get pulled towards that direction mentally. But thicker remains meant that a Seeker would have a hard time finding trails because it would overshadowed by the huge source.

Perhaps I should check out the slave market too. Who knows, perhaps I might find something of interest.

Scriled tossed the coin as he thought so.

“Oi Humdee, we’re gonna go to the auction place. Something tells me we’ll find something there.”

“Hm? Oh Alright”

Humdee immediately agreed, as he rarely ever took a tracking mission seriously. He was only required in specific situations, and Scriled could handle the rest himself.

Scriled walked into the auction place, feeling slightly disgruntled as he saw the slaves locked up in the cages around him. Right now the auction was over, but it would start up again tomorrow. There were some workers here and there, cleaning up the place.

We’re running out of time. I need to find this noble. And fast.

Pressed by the deadline of his daughter’s upcoming birthday, Scriled felt that he needed to quickly finish up this work. Humdee had already wandered off, attracted by the sight of the slaves. He might even buy some. Humdee always had perverse tendencies, but he was a trustworthy friend in Scriled’s opinion.

The trace is extremely thick here. He was definitely here.

Scriled looked towards the Slave Trader Union’s office, his eyes zoning in on the gold being given to the Unionmaster as bribe. Scriled couldn’t help but feel irritated at the sight. The Seekers could easily figure out his whereabouts from here.

Alright. I’ll just have to use it then.

Making sure that no one was looking, Scriled closed his eyes and concentrated. He willed the magic around him, the pure energy that powered every existence in this world to enter and permeate his body.

The pure white energy slowly entered his body, and Scriled gradually distributed it all across his nerves. The energy was now infused with him, empowering him. The art of Seeker magic.

A sample of every remnant magic trace entered Scriled. He then had to assort through them, and find the one he needed to track.

Scriled stood there meditating as he gradually categorised each type of magic remnant. Then finally, he found the right one.

He opened his eyes, and his irises were tinged with a pale white light. He looked towards the magic trace and embraced it, learning its every trait and every aspect of it that made it unique. His eyes could then see the magic trace. He then diverted his eyes towards the coin in his hand.

A perfect match

The coin was a thing Klaus frequently used. He had apparently left it behind when he fled, but the magic trace on it was practically irremovable.

But then, Scriled’s eyes noticed something else.

A boy. A boy who was one of the workers. He had dirty yellow hair, and had a body so weak that he looked like he’d die any second. But that was not what attracted his attention. The back of the boy.

On his back, a magic trace was imprinted.

A kick? Seems like it.

Scriled proceeded to walk towards the boy, intent on finding out what he knew. He was connected to the noble without doubt. And with luck, he could end up shortening the entire capture assignment.

With swift moves, Scriled covered the mouth of the boy and restrained him. After all, he was not allowed to search here until the Traders Union allowed it. But Scriled had broken the law, so he had to resort to such measures. The boy squirmed and tried to worm his way out of Scriled’s grasp, but he was just too weak.

Scriled quickly carried the boy off into one of the alleys, and then spoke to him in a whisper.

“I will take my hand off your mouth now. But if you yell, I WILL kill you”

Scriled would never kill the kid. After all, he even had a daughter. But a little enticement was necessary to have him spill the truth.

After a moment, the kid nodded. He let go off him, and the kid pushed him away, landing on his knees. He turned to look at Scriled fearfully. Scriled inwardly sighed at seeing him like that. For a moment, he wondered how he would feel if his daughter did something like that.

“Alright. I’ll get right to the point. Someone kicked you recently. Who is it?”

Realisation dawned on the kid as his eyes widened. He looked down for awhile, thinking hard.

“I-it’as a man wearin a whete musk, he was.”

His voice was hoarse, and without doubt, he was someone who never learnt to speak properly. Scriled took a deep breath to calm himself, and listened intently to the nearly illegible words of the kid.

“He… he wor a long cloh, coverin’ his hea’ an all, I couldn see it”

“See what?”

“It.. his… um.. His”

He gestured towards his face. Scriled nodded and asked him to continue.

“An then, he wah in hurri real. He want me pack fast. An then left wih three people… older. Two men and.. A…”

He gestured towards his chest, and Scriled immediately understood. He wanted to chuckle, but barely held it in.

“ He..he.. Kicked me..”

Scriled nodded and patted the kid’s head.

“Thanks kid”

He tossed him a few gold coins and walked away from the kid. But in the kid’s eyes, the gold coins were like gifts from heaven. For him to obtain such a reward was just unthinkable.

Sclerid chuckled as he heard the joyful yells of the boy. Maybe he should have tossed a few more coins?

But it was already easy for Sclerid now. Now that he knew that Klaus had left the city, he could easily hunt him down. Sclerid immediately set off towards the Union’s meeting, intending to break it up so that he could save the king some money at least.

AUTHOR's NOTES:

Nexus here.

You might have noticed my comment in the midst of the novel. Well, yes. I know that two people are called a duo. And that I shouldn't technically called them a team. Big surprise, I'm a pantser, so I just made it up as I went along. It has served its purpose.

A few more chapters involving Klaus and the battle, and then the story snaps back to " How to survive being a demon lord's experimental clone 101" Kudos~!

And so, Humdee wandered the slave markets forever, relishing the sights of naked wom-- Just kidding!

Thx for reading~! XD XD