Chapter 127 A Guess Close to the Truth
"But how did the Young Master leave?" Anna asked, puzzled. "He doesn't know Animagus magic, so it's impossible for him to silently avoid Muggle sight."
"Besides, the Ministry of Magic prohibits minors from using magic in the Muggle world, and the Young Master is well aware of this; he wouldn't expose himself voluntarily."
"Even if he had a flying contraption, the Young Master couldn't use it in broad daylight; that would be too conspicuous."
"But if the Young Master waited until night to use a flying contraption, that doesn't make sense. With our search speed, he couldn't have hidden until night, and besides…" Four paused for a moment, then continued, "And most importantly, I carefully checked all the magical items in the Castle and found no missing flying contraptions."
Gines heard this and a bitter smile appeared on his lips. "A mistake in our intelligence?"
Flight doesn't necessarily require contraptions; magical creatures can also be used.
He knew that the Young Master kept a white dragon, and it could control its size at will. With the enormous form Abeytook when flattening a set of armor in the armory, carrying one person for long-distance flight would be no problem at all.
"Boss, what do you mean?"
"Nothing, Dika, I just suddenly remembered that the Young Master has his own flying contraption," Gines said awkwardly. "It's understandable that you didn't know, but I actually overlooked it too."
The six people exchanged glances and fell silent.
To find the Young Master, they had sealed off a hundred-kilometer radius, but if the other party had a flying contraption, that blockade would be of little use. As long as he found an opportunity, the Young Master could definitely escape this range.
After a while, Anna finally voiced her doubt, "Boss, even if the Young Master has a flying contraption, he would only have a chance to use it at night. How did he avoid our search during the day?"
"Furthermore, we have no record of any spending by the Young Master. He can't possibly go hungry for an entire day just to hide himself, that's too extreme."
"It's not impossible," Gines said with a wry smile. "This was a premeditated runaway. Yesterday morning, the Young Master and Abey ate almost twice their usual amount, as if starving, and it was all high-calorie food. That energy is enough to sustain him for several more meals."
"As for how he avoided our sight? Didn't you just say it?"
Anna froze for a moment, her expression becoming a bit unnatural. "It can't really be the sewers, can it?"
"Who knows?"
"But waiting in the sewers for over ten hours, then using a flying contraption to go far away after dark—that's the only thing I can think of."
"If you were the Young Master, would you have a better plan?"
"What if the Young Master did the opposite and stayed hidden in the sewers?"
Three spoke up abruptly, but before he finished, he was met with six sharp gazes.
"Moduo, can you use your brain before you speak?" Ginessaid, exasperated. "Staying in the sewers like a rat for three days is worse than diligently attending tutoring classes at home!"
"Even if they can endure not eating for one or two meals, can they go three consecutive days without food?"
"As soon as they can't bear the hunger, they'll come out to buy food, and then they'll be right under our noses."
"What do you think the Young Master would gain by doing that? To experience the feeling of hunger? Or do you think the Young Master's intelligence is on your level?"
"My apologies, Mr. Gines," Moduo chuckled sheepishly. "A slip of the tongue, purely a slip of the tongue."
Gines snorted coldly, then turned to the others. "Don't look so dejected. All of you, think hard about where the Young Master might be."
"Including today, we still have two days. It's not much, but it's not too little either."
"Sigh!" Dika let out a long sigh. "Mr. Gines, it's not that we don't want to find the Young Master, but this area is too vast, extraordinarily vast."
"It's currently certain that the Young Master has broken out of our blockade, otherwise there wouldn't be absolutely no clues."
"His escape funds are definitely enough for all expenses for three days. In fact, if the Young Master wished, he could treat this runaway as an impromptu trip."
"Under these circumstances, trying to find him is like looking for a needle in a haystack; we have no target whatsoever."
After hearing this analysis, even Gines felt a particular headache.
If the Young Master ran away according to his guess, then Abey's flying distance in one night would be their actual search range.
How fast can a dragon fly?
This is a very complex question, but certainly over a hundred kilometers per hour.
How fast can a dragon with no recorded history fly?
This is a matter of opinion, depending on… imagination.
But even at a hundred kilometers per hour, and calculating for the worst-case scenario, if Abey flew from dusk until sunrise the next day, that would be over a thousand kilometers, and it's not impossible to fly out of this country.
The Gaius Family doesn't have the ability to get a country to help find someone in such a short time, unless they contact the media, offer a high reward, and leverage their influence.
But as soon as this idea appeared, Gines threw it out of his mind.
Family shame should not be aired publicly. If it became common knowledge, where would they put their faces? At that point, the Patriarch and the Old Patriarch might even drop their work to specifically come back and scold him.
"Are we just going to admit defeat like this?" Gines said, somewhat indignantly. "What a disgrace! I can already imagine the Young Master waiting for me at the station in two days with a triumphant look on his face."
"Our generation of guardians will become a topic of conversation for future heirs, just like the generation from over three hundred years ago."
"Mr. Gines, I think…" Anna hesitated for a moment, then stopped mid-sentence.
"Six, just say what you have to say. The situation can't get much worse now," Gines said calmly, but a glimmer of hope appeared in his heart.
Anna was the most meticulous among them; she might discover some loopholes.
"I don't think the Young Master would run that far," Annasaid, stating her guess. "The Young Master is more mature than most children his age, but even so, he is still just a twelve-year-old child."
"Hmm?" Gines's eyes lit up, as if he had caught onto something important. "Continue."
"Yes!"
"An adult running away from home wouldn't go too far, let alone a twelve-year-old child. Moreover, the Young Master left a note, clearly treating this runaway as a game."
"He doesn't care about winning or losing; he just wants to have fun and enjoy himself during the last few days before school starts."
"So, I don't think he would run too far, and he might even find a cost-effective hotel to stay in once he feels safe."
"This…" Dika paused. "It's not impossible. That means the Young Master did indeed break out of our blockade, but he wouldn't be too far from the blockade line, perhaps even nearby."
"That's what I mean," Anna said. "But this is just a guess."
"A guess very close to the truth," Gines stood up and gave Anna an appreciative look. "Your bonus this month will be doubled."
"This…" Anna was flattered. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate? We haven't found the Young Master yet!"
"This is what you deserve. I have a hunch that your guess is particularly accurate."
"Besides, you are much more reliable than those two who lost track of the Young Master. Your bonus will be deducted from their salaries, so don't feel any psychological burden."
One and Two exchanged glances, both seeing the bitterness in each other's eyes.
One could only say they had bad luck; a misfortune that hadn't happened in hundreds of years just happened to fall on them.
"Since we have a direction, let's get moving!" Ginescommanded. "Focus on checking hotels beyond the hundred-kilometer mark."
"But what if there are none?" Moduo poured cold water on the idea. "And this range is also very large, and we have less than two days left."
Gines glared fiercely at this straightforward Three. Did he not know about this possibility?
But knowing it was one thing; saying it out loud was shaking morale.
"Ahem! You all go search first; I will have specific arrangements later," Gines said calmly, then turned his gaze to Six. "Anna, stay behind."
"Yes!"
Two minutes later, the other five people left the small shop, and Gines finally dropped his earlier composure.
"Anna, your analysis just now was very insightful."
"However, based on my understanding of the Young Master, the probability of him being in a hotel is not very high, perhaps not even exceeding thirty percent."
"Surely not?" Anna frowned.
"Very much so. I understand the Young Master, but the Young Master also understands me," Gines said with a wry smile. "He definitely knows we are looking for him, and he learned too many things this holiday. It wouldn't be difficult for him to analyze our search range."
"If the Young Master wasn't so cautious, perhaps we would still have a chance, but if he is even more careful, we might not find him."
"Uh… Mr. Gines, I don't think you need to overthink it," Anna chuckled softly. "It's broad daylight right now! Even if the Young Master has a flying contraption, he won't have a chance to use it. We can completely finish our search before dark."
Gines breathed a sigh of relief, but thinking of Moduo's words just now, a shadow crossed his face again. "But what if we still can't find any clues?"
"That can't be! Besides a hotel, where else could he stay?"
"That's a hundred kilometers away; who would take him in?"
As her words fell, Anna and Gines seemed to have thought of something at the same time.
They exchanged glances, and a smile appeared on both their faces.
Anna pulled out a map from somewhere, while Gines took out a small notebook, his eyes quickly scanning the names and addresses listed.
A few minutes later, Gines closed the notebook, his eyes shining as he looked at Wiltshire on the map. "Found it. It must be here."