The soft golden light of the morning spread through the room from the window.
Raijin slowly opened his eyes.
For a few moments, he simply stared at the ceiling.
The events from before flashed through his mind—
Zephyrus…
Vale…
His lost memories…
And finally, the Beast Continent.
He took a deep breath and got out of bed.
"At least this time, I didn't wake up inside a grave…"
he muttered quietly.
A little later, he got ready and walked out of his room.
The lower floor of the hotel was much busier than before.
Some Beast Men were walking around, some were packing their belongings, and others were arguing about something.
As Raijin came downstairs, his eyes fell upon a woman of the Cat Race.
She was pinning a piece of paper onto a wall.
At the top of the paper was a picture of a small child.
Underneath it, written in large letters, was:
Missing
Raijin stopped for a moment.
He thought that some child must have simply gotten lost.
But then he noticed—
It wasn't the only paper on the wall.
There were many of them.
Each paper had a different face.
A different name.
A different age.
But one thing was the same—
All of them had disappeared.
Raijin's eyes narrowed slightly.
He hadn't noticed these yesterday.
At that moment, the hotel owner, Fins, spoke from behind him.
"Another one…"
There was exhaustion in his voice.
Raijin turned around and asked,
"What is all this?"
Fins remained silent for a few moments.
Then he answered quietly,
"People have been disappearing in Vanguard."
"Children… young men… young women…"
"And this didn't start today."
"It's been happening for quite a long time."
Raijin looked at the papers for a few moments.
Then he asked,
"Does no one know who's doing this?"
Fins slowly shook his head.
"If we knew…"
"There wouldn't be so many pictures hanging here."
The entire hall fell silent.
Then—
The sound of a woman crying came from outside.
Raijin's gaze moved toward the door.
He had no idea that his first peaceful day in Vanguard—
would begin in such a strange way.
Outside, a woman was kneeling on the street, crying.
Her eyes were red, and she was holding a small wooden toy sword.
"Please… someone find my son…"
Her voice trembled.
Several Beast Men stood around her, but none of them looked surprised.
As if this was nothing new.
Raijin slowly walked over to her.
"What happened?"
The woman raised her head.
"My son… he was home last night… but when I woke up this morning, he was gone…"
She held the toy sword tightly against her chest.
"He's only ten years old…"
Raijin remained silent for a moment.
He looked around.
Some faces showed pity.
Some showed anger.
But above all else, he saw—
Fear.
Then an old man in the crowd spoke.
"Another one…"
Another man said quietly,
"This is the fifth child this month…"
The crowd immediately fell silent.
Raijin frowned.
"Did anyone see anything?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Raijin carefully observed them.
Then he asked the woman,
"What is your son's name?"
The woman answered in a trembling voice,
"Rufus… his name is Rufus."
"Did he go anywhere to play? Did he meet any strangers?"
The woman thought for a moment before slowly shaking her head.
Raijin felt bad for her, but he knew there was nothing he could do right now.
Trying to comfort her, he said,
"I'll keep an eye out. Can you tell me anything about him? What was he wearing? Is there something that would make him easy to recognize?"
The woman wiped her tears and said,
"He was wearing a small brown jacket… and…"
She paused.
"He had a small wooden wolf pendant around his neck."
After saying that, she reached into her clothes and pulled out another pendant exactly like it.
"I made these with my own hands… one is with me… and the other is with Rufus."
Raijin carefully examined the pendant and nodded.
At that moment, a man from the crowd said,
"There's no point in looking for the child… the people who disappear never come back."
There was both despair and fear in his voice.
"Be quiet!"
the woman suddenly shouted.
"My son is alive!"
The crowd became silent once again.
Raijin looked at the man.
"Why do you say that?"
The man hesitated for a moment.
Then he said,
"Because… my daughter disappeared six months ago too."
His voice became heavy.
"I searched everywhere for her… but found nothing."
Raijin frowned.
"Did all of these people disappear during the night?"
This time, several people nodded.
Some said yes, while others shook their heads.
"And no one ever hears a sound…"
Hearing this, Raijin fell into deep thought.
If someone is abducting this many people… then they're no ordinary criminal.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hmm…"
He looked at the woman once more.
"I can't promise anything… but if I find something, I'll let you know."
Deep in his mind, Raijin wondered if the slave trade had grown so much that even children, young men, and young women were being kidnapped.
And that too—
inside a major city like Vanguard.
He looked at the woman one last time before walking down the road ahead.
Even he didn't know why he was going in that direction.
He simply wanted to get away from the crowd.
For some time, he wandered without a destination.
Gradually, the streets became quieter.
The number of shops decreased, replaced by small houses.
Then—
his eyes landed on a wall.
Something had been scratched into it with fingernails.
"Do not go outside at night."
Raijin stopped.
Suddenly—
he heard someone crying.
He turned toward the sound.
A small girl from the Rabbit Race was standing there.
Raijin approached her and asked for her name.
Instead, she asked directly,
"Are… are you an Adventurer?"
Raijin looked down at her.
Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying for a long time.
"Yes… why?" he asked.
The girl hesitated.
Then she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
There was a picture on it too.
A picture of a young man.
"My older brother… disappeared ten days ago."
Raijin looked at the paper for a few moments.
Then he asked,
"Did you go to the guards?"
The girl slowly nodded.
"They said they're investigating…"
"But they're lying."
Raijin frowned.
"Why do you think that?"
The girl looked around.
Then she stepped closer and whispered,
"Because… they've never found anyone."
"What?"
Fear spread across her face.
Silence fell between them.
Then the girl said in a trembling voice,
"Everyone says he won't come back… but I know my brother is still alive."
Raijin's eyes slowly narrowed.
And then—
the sound of a bell echoed from somewhere far away.
Dong… Dong… Dong…
Raijin looked in that direction.
"If I'm right, it's probably nine in the morning."
Then he asked the little girl,
"Would you like something to eat?"
She shook her head.
In the end, Raijin escorted her home and then returned to wandering through the streets of Vanguard.
After walking around for some time, he returned to his hotel and sat there, thinking about his future plans.
Raijin stood beside the window.
His gaze rested upon the distant city.
In just one day, he had heard about so many missing people.
Slowly, the corners of his lips lifted.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"If I want to stay in this city… then perhaps getting involved in this matter wouldn't be such a bad idea."
But the gleam in his eyes suggested—
that he was thinking about something entirely different.