"Yeah…"

While Melina practically pranced around, Adrian followed, carrying several boxes of food. He chuckled as he watched Melina enjoy herself, whirling about as she took in the sights and sounds. On either side of them, people yelled from stalls and booths, eagerly hawking their wares and trying to win customers over.

Adrian smiled as he balanced the boxes of food, which included hotdogs, fried noodles, oriental pancakes and octopus b.a.l.l.s. There were even cotton candy mixed somewhere in there, something that Melina particularly enjoyed.

"Is this your first time at the Weaver's Festival, Adrian?"

"Ah, yeah." He nodded as he followed Melina around. "We had a few festivals back in Southampton City, but it's nothing like this. We didn't set up stalls in the streets and launch fireworks."

"Ho…what sort of festivals did you have in Southampton?"

"Football festivals…at the end of every season, we would have a parade." Adrian paused when he caught sight of Melina's expression. "Oh, I mean soccer. I guess you guys call football soccer in Flandor."

"Oh! Soccer! Yeah, I heard it's a popular sport."

"Has been for thousands of years," Adrian said proudly. 'And Southampton football club can trace its lineage to millennia ago. By the way, Brother Richie supports Blackburn Rovers for some reason."

"Aha…I see. So Sensei has a favorite team too." Melina felt a bead of sweat drip down her face. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about soccer…"

"Oh, that's all right." Adrian looked around and his eyes rested on a stall. "You want to play a game? That stall looks fun?"

"Okay! Let's take a look!"

The stall that Adrian had picked out was a gaming booth with air rifles and targets. It was the usual "shoot down the prize you want" game, where you picked up the rifle and aimed for whatever you desired. The targets ranged from stuffed animals such as teddy bars, a yellow electric mouse with a lightning-bolt shaped tail, a dinosaur standing on two legs, with spines on its back, to more ornamental accessories such as a pink box with a heart on it, a stand where a necklace dangled from, and a hairclip that was propped up precariously. Easy to knock down, but so small that it would be difficult to hit it unless you were wearing hi-tech gla.s.ses like mine.

Too bad I wasn't accompanying the kids…

"If Sensei was here, do you think he'll be able to shoot with 100% precision?" Melina asked. Adrian grimaced before chuckling.

"Ah, Brother Richie is not known for his accuracy. Even with those hi-tech gla.s.ses of his, he'll miss half the time." Adrian then chuckled. "But, I can guarantee that he has the ability to blow all the targets off the shelf if you allow him to."

Melina giggled. "That certainly sounds like Sensei."

"Yeah, he's the mage of ma.s.s destruction."

"Huh? I thought he's known more for summoning monsters."

"Monsters that can cause ma.s.s destruction then."

The two of them bantered before reaching the booth. The guy grinned at them and raised a finger.

"A dollar for three tries, young mister and missus. How about it?"

"Sure." Melina placed a dollar coin on the table and slid it over. She then glanced at Adrian, who gave her an encouraging nod. Picking up a rifle, she then tested the weight a bit before aiming at a teddy bear and squeezing the trigger.

The first shot grazed the teddy bear, and while its fur was ruffled, it didn't fall over. The second shot skimmed over its head, and the teddy bear appeared to shudder at the close shave. Melina pursed her lips, adjusted her aim and fired again. This time, the air burst struck the teddy bear square in the chest and it finally toppled to its back.

"Great job, little lady!" the guy in charge clapped his hands, and then strode toward the shelf. "You've earned yourself this handsome looking bear!"

He then plopped it down on the table, allowing Melina to eagerly sweep it up into her arms.

"Yay! Thank you!"

"No problem. What about you, bro? Would you like to give it a try too?" the guy s.h.i.+fted his gaze toward Adrian, who was watching Melina's performance patiently. The blond girl turned toward her date partner.

"Yeah, you should give it a try, Adrian!"

"Nah, I'll pa.s.s." the dark-haired guy shook his head and then raised the boxes he was holding. "I'm pretty loaded down anyway."

"I can take those from you." Melina made to relieve him of his burden but he stepped back with a smile.

"It's fine, really. I was never a good shot. Let's try out that store over there."

"Okay…"

The two of them continued their date in that pleasant manner. As they explored the bustling streets of festive Flandor, they sometimes came across friends from Saint Teresa's Academy.

"Eh? Isn't that Iris and her friends?"

Melina caught sight of Iris Langford, who was currently together with her friends. The girls were dressed splendidly in sparkly or flashy dresses, while the guys were in more casual attire. It seemed like a group date of sorts, with couples already pairing up for some reason. Most likely they would all have a partner during the dance later.

"Oh! Melina! Adrian!"

Iris noticed them too, and hurried over. Her friends followed, a lot more enthusiastically than either of them expected. Their performance during the tournament styled practical examination had earned them both a lot of fame and built up their reputation, and now everybody respected them highly.

"Good evening, Iris." Melina then nodded toward everyone else. "I'm glad to see that everyone is enjoying the festival so far."

"Yeah!" one of the guys gushed, having taken his place beside Iris. Adrian recalled that his name was Ivan. Ivan Hoe or something like that. "How about you guys?"

"Loving the food," Adrian replied as he showed them the boxes of food. "In fact, we might have purchased a bit too much. Do you guys want some too?"

"Eh? Is that fine?"

"Yeah, otherwise they will go to waste."

"Oh, then we won't hold back then."

Adrian shared the food, pa.s.sing them around to the grateful group. Iris and Ivan also had food to share, having bought sausages, onion rings and corndogs. For some reason, I was reminded of the annual Minnesota State Fair while I watched them from afar.

…what? You thought I switched to third person perspective or something in the middle of the story? Nah…I was keeping an eye on the kids from afar, not wanting to be a third wheel and intrude on their date, but at the same time I was being cautious because I had received some information regarding a possible kidnapping.

This sounded ridiculous, but there were rumors that several relatives in the Franklin family felt threatened by Melina's meteoric rise. She was not supposed to have any talent for swordsmans.h.i.+p, yet she demonstrated a deep understanding of it during the tournament that was broadcasted throughout the Global Federation. Suddenly, Kureha's claim to being the next head of the Franklin family had gotten very shaky. After all, if Melina caught up with her, she would have greater grounds to succeed as the next head of the Franklin family over the current Sword Saint of our generation.

h.e.l.l, Melina might actually take her place as the Sword Saint of our generation if she continued her remarkable rate of improvement.

While this was great news, especially for me, as with all things in life, it didn't come without complications. As usual, you would have idiots refusing to be happy for others and wanting to make things difficult for other people. Maybe it was jealousy, perhaps it was fear, but whatever the case they would rather drag others down than celebrate their success.

"But to go as low as to hire criminals to abduct your own niece…can you even be considered human?" I muttered darkly. Being urban society in the future, I was bound by laws, so I couldn't barge into those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds' houses and slaughter them. That would earn me a death sentence, and Melina could even be charged as an accomplice for no reason other than because of her relation to me. Besides, even if I was willing to break the laws and either go on the run for the rest of my life or resign to my execution, I didn't know who was behind this. These were ultimately rumors, and I hoped they weren't true.

Better safe than sorry, though. I hadn't lived this long by being naïve, as much as some readers would like to believe.

"Hey, Richard!"

"Ho…? What a coincidence."

I turned around when I heard those familiar voices, and caught sight of Rossetti and Miura approaching me. They were joined by Kufa Van Peer, who was also looking around warily, mirroring my caution as I swept the area for any suspicious persons.

"h.e.l.lo, guys."

"Richard." Kufa nodded to acknowledge my presence and I waved dumbly. I didn't expect to meet them here. I almost asked them what they were doing here and then swallowed my stupid question. Of course they were here to enjoy the Weaver's Festival. Duh.

"Watching your little disciples, as usual?" Miura tutted and shook her head in disapproval. "You should just let them enjoy the festival. There's no need to be a chaperon for them. They're old enough to look after themselves."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Except that I've come across some disturbing rumors…"

"Rumors?" Rossetti frowned in puzzlement. "What sort of rumors?"

"Rumors about kidnapping and abductions," Kufa explained in my place. He nodded at me again, as if to tell me that he had received similar intelligence. "The n.o.bles and their political intrigues. There is gossip flying about, regarding some scheming uncle or ambitious aunt hiring kidnappers to target nieces and nephews, to ensure that their own children succeed as head of the family. Typical conspiracy stuff, but most likely with a grain of truth in it. This wouldn't be the first time it happened, after all."

"If we could just find the evidence, we could get them arrested." I clenched my fists in frustration. The legal side, I could leave to Duke Franklin. From what I knew, he was working on it, having put his network of spies to use. Unfortunately, he either had nothing to share with me or didn't trust me enough, having simply told me to watch out for his daughter.

That last ominous note he left me said that even Melina's grandfather couldn't be trusted. The whole thing was making my head spin.

"Nonetheless, this is the Weaver's Festival. You should take the opportunity to relax." Miura then brightened up. "Speaking of which, do you have a partner for the dance later…?"

"No," I told her. She smiled, and was about to suggest something when there was another commotion. Ji Yan and her friends were pa.s.sing by and drawing a bit of attention. I could see Zhao Yan in the distance, staying away from her triplet sister's clique, and generally doing things by herself. The distance between them grew, with Ji Yan outright ignoring Zhao Yan and seemingly leading her friends away from her.

That was when her group stumbled across Melina's, and the b.i.t.c.hes in Ji Yan's group began heckling them for getting in the way.

One of the girls in Iris's group burst into tears and ran off, only for her date to chase her. Adrian and Melina exchanged a glance, and then pursued them, to make sure that she was all right.

"Ji Yan, you've gone too far."

Having witnessed the whole thing, Zhao Yan stepped up, but Ji Yan folded her arms and turned away.

"Why should you care? This is none of your business!"

Whatever the sisters argued, I had no idea because I was already hurrying after Adriana nd Melina, to make sure they didn't leave my sight. I felt the sharp p.r.i.c.kle of a premonition stabbing my gut and I hastened my pace to catch up.

"Hey! Wait!" Miura called after me. "Don't be such a worrywary! I'm sure they'll be fine!"

I ignored her and continued running, leaving them behind. Miura sulked, but Kufa placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Let him go. If something really happens…will you take responsibility then?"

"Uh…no, but…geez!" Miura stomped her foot on the ground. "That guy is so thick! I can't believe it! It's almost like he's the protagonist of a light novel or web novel!"

"Actually…" Rossetti giggled, enjoying the sight of her friend losing her composure. "I think he is just simply not interested in you at all."

She had that right. And at that moment, I was more interested in tracking down Adrian and Melina before something terrible happened.

"??"

But even though I spent five minutes chasing after them, I realized that they had disappeared.

"You've got to be kidding me! How did I lose sight of them?!"

Sweeping a gaze over the entire area and relying on the hi-tech sensors in my gla.s.ses, I attempted to recover their location, but to no avail. However, one of the sensors picked out something of note, and I hastily rushed over.

"This…"

It was one of the food boxes that Adrian was carrying earlier. He had dropped it on the ground, and it lay somewhat squashed, as if someone trampled on it. Other than that, there were no signs of Adrian, or Melina, but I noticed faint traces of mana, which indicated that there was a struggle earlier, in this location. Two of the distinctive mana signatures belonged to both of my students and my heart dropped before I punched a nearby lamppost in frustration.

"d.a.m.n it!"

My worst fears had been realized. Apparently my two disciples had been…abducted.

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