Chapter 3: The Four Daughters
Sword Saint Eris’s Master—Orphelia had traveled all the way from the Royal Capital to this distant Bordaf in search of him.
Desperate for any clues about his whereabouts, she spoke to those who had witnessed his intense training sessions with Eris at the training grounds. However, all she received were vague comments like, “He truly was a Hero,” leaving her with no concrete information.
The only thing she confirmed was that he had parted ways with his disciple, Eris. A swordsman of his caliber would surely be immersed in some perilous location—perhaps a battlefield—no matter how far he was from the Royal Capital.
If he had indeed separated from his beloved disciple, it was unlikely he would do so halfway; he would likely distance himself significantly. It was entirely possible he had ventured to the northernmost or southernmost reaches of the country, or in the worst-case scenario, even abroad.
With only these speculations and a vague plan—”If he has fled the country, then so be it,” and “If I want to gather information, I should head to a big city, especially one near a challenging Labyrinth”—Orphelia set out.
Her parents had instilled in her the principle of “Act swiftly when inspiration strikes,” which had taken root in her. As a capable individual with a keen sense of intuition, this philosophy became her guiding principle.
Thus, she sought a location that fit her plan. Despite the abundance of such places, Orphelia followed her unusually sharp instincts and successfully pinpointed Ichiro’s location in this city—Bordaf—on her second visit.
However, Orphelia herself was still unaware that he was indeed in this place, and sadly, she continued to chase the shadow of the person she sought.
Orphelia had taken on the role of guardian and caretaker for the two troublesome girls with a purpose in mind. In Bordaf, one of the Arcana Kingdom’s major cities, she believed she could efficiently earn funds while also befriending influential figures to gather various information. Yet, just a few days into her role as their protector, she found herself sighing frequently, questioning whether she had made the right choice.
“Rau, Sofia. Can you tell me how many days it’s been since we came to Hidden Mountain today?”
Having grown accustomed to their company, Orphelia no longer cared about formalities. Thus, when they asked her to call them Sofia and Rau, she complied without hesitation and began speaking casually.
“Well, I think today marks four days, right?” Sofia replied, resting her chin on her hand, while Rau nodded with her arms crossed behind her head.
“I really hate just sitting around doing nothing. Sure, I agreed to be your guardian, but spending hours every day waiting in this dull place is just not my style.”
It wasn’t as if they had spent their time idly. During their wait, the three of them had engaged in plenty of conversation. They shared light-hearted stories, discussed their upbringing, and even talked about their respective quests to find their missing persons. In truth, the time had passed quite enjoyably.
By the way, Orphelia thought to herself that Sofia and Rau’s missing persons were probably “some dark, pretentious types,” while the two girls speculated that Orphelia’s missing person was “a muscle-headed, sage-like figure.” Each held their own biases about the others’ quests.
Regardless, Orphelia’s comment prompted the two to agree that they were indeed getting nowhere and to shift their plans.
What Orphelia sensed was that the two girls had a knack for attracting trouble.
As they returned to the town by carriage and headed to the market, they encountered thugs trying to harass them or flirt with them multiple times along the way. Each time, Orphelia chased them off.
“Is it possible I’m giving off some weird pheromones…?” Orphelia muttered to herself.
“Pheromones? You mean sexy ones?” Rau exclaimed.
“Way to go, Rau!” Sofia chimed in, and Orphelia buried her face in her hands. This had become their usual banter.
“Well, whatever. Let’s discuss our next steps. We need to find a girl named Milan, the tour guide. That much is certain, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. She has been spotted walking with Row frequently, so she can’t be a complete stranger,” Sofia confirmed.
Milan’s name had also come up in the information gathered by the Gore Trading Company.
“Understood. Let’s go.”
In a twist of fate, the girl Milan was quickly discovered, as if all their previous misfortunes had been a lie. When they arrived at the waiting area for guides, they found Milan happily chatting with other guides.
Finally able to take a breather, the three approached the girl. “We have a few questions,” Orphelia said, taking the lead.
“What is it?” the boyish girl replied, casting a suspicious glance at them.
“Is your name Milan?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
The girl answered without changing her expression. However, Orphelia noticed that Milan’s wariness was rising.
“What we want to ask you about is a young man named Row, who has black hair.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Milan turned her back and bolted away with incredible speed. The two girls were left stunned, but Orphelia reacted immediately. To an onlooker, her swift movements would have seemed like magic or sleight of hand. In an instant, she had grabbed Milan by the scruff of her neck.
And thus began the fateful encounter of the four daughters, all connected through Ichiro Yamada.