65 – Meruru, Disappearing
Transforming our senses to see smells with our eyes.
If that were possible, it seemed like it would be more helpful in finding Meruru than simply enhancing our sense of smell.
“Is that really possible?”
“Theoretically, it seems possible. However, we would need to adjust the intensity. If it’s too sensitive, you might see smells of all colors and end up in a state where everyday life becomes impossible, like being constantly bombarded with scents. I think it’s safer than just enhancing our sense of smell.”
Lian explained to me.
When explaining the efficacy of the potion, Lian’s eyes sparkled.
You could really feel how much Lian enjoys potion-making just from their appearance.
There didn’t seem to be a need to search for another workshop.
“Then, please make it for me.”
“It’s a custom order, so it’s a bit pricey.”
“How much is it?”
Well, it’s a potion, so it must be expensive.
“It’s 30 gold. Because it’s not a ready-made product, but has to be freshly prepared according to the customer’s needs.”
Expensive!
It was more expensive than I thought.
30 gold meant pouring in all the money I had saved up for the commission to Meruru.
If this was an ordinary request, I would never have purchased it.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that this potion will definitely help me find Meruru.
But…
“If Yunoa hesitated to pay to find Meruru, who helped him make money by finding herbs when he was in need, was Meruru just a mere connection worth no more than 30 gold?
I wonder where she is now, and what kind of dangerous situation she might be in.
Yunoa, who lacks both blood and tears, may not have learned anything from his long journey.”
Suddenly, the narration delivered a sarcastic line.
No, I never thought Meruru was worth less than 30 gold in the first place.
I was just surprised because it was a little more expensive than I had thought.
The narration just now was clearly a falsehood.
Why does the narration maintain objectivity when explaining other things, but fill its words about me with malice?
If there is time to attack me like that, they should at least tell me where Meruru is and whether she is safe.
Anyway, 30 gold, although quite expensive, was not an amount I couldn’t pay.
If I successfully recover Meruru with this, I will receive 30 gold again as a permanent request from the guild… No, money is not the issue.
I sincerely set out to find Meruru because I am genuinely worried about her.
In the end, I officially requested Lian to make the potion.
“Please do it as quickly as possible.”
—
A few hours later, the potion I requested from Lian was completed.
“This is the finished product. The combination is more complex than I thought, so mass production seems impossible. Please use it carefully when necessary,” said Lian, handing me a small potion bottle filled with green liquid.
Why is it green of all colors? It’s not some kind of poison.
After paying Lian 30 gold for the potion, I headed straight to Meruru’s room.
I hope it’s worth the expensive price I paid.
While waiting, I pondered in various directions about Meruru’s whereabouts.
As expected, the most concerning points were the two eyewitness accounts of the aquatic people that Narration claimed were true.
Based on my past experiences, even though the information Narration provides seems abrupt, it has ultimately given me the necessary information.
The fact that Narration confirmed the truth of the two eyewitness accounts of the aquatic people implied a strong possibility that they were somehow connected to Meruru’s disappearance.
The Third Trade Road and Halleberry Forest…
But even if I went to the origin of the rumors about sighting the aquatic people, I had no means to track Meruru.
I want to find Meruru quickly, but searching the surroundings without any clues would be a waste of time.
It’s unlikely that Meruru heard the rumors and left without telling anyone to find her sister.
In that case, I have no choice but to use this potion to track Meruru’s scent and find the connection between the two places Narration mentioned.
“No matter how you look at it, it feels like Meruru will come back as soon as we enter her room.”
I said, looking at the unchanged scenery of Meruru’s room.
From Noble mtl dot com
It’s already been a day since Meruru disappeared.
Whether she got lost somewhere or was kidnapped by someone, time is not on the side of the missing person in most cases.
“Senpai, is that potion really reliable?” Sylphi asked, looking at me with a slightly worried expression, holding the potion bottle.
The color of the potion, shining brightly in a vivid green, seemed ominous to her as well.
“Phew….”
I opened the lid of the potion that Lian had concocted.
I held it up to my nose and took a slight whiff.
“How does it smell, Senpai?”
“Surprisingly, it doesn’t have a distinctly unpleasant smell.”
There was a faint smell reminiscent of mugwort, and I could subtly sense the presence of magical energy.
The aversion I felt due to the color disappeared when I smelled it.
Recalling Lian’s serious and kind explanation of the potion’s effects, I quickly downed it in one gulp.
Gulp-gulp-
After finishing the entire potion, I waited for the effects to kick in.
“Senpai, do you see anything?”
“Hmm? Well, I’m not quite sure yet….”
At that moment, something resembling emerald stripes started to emerge from Sylphy’s body.
And in the air, various colors of smoke-like substances began to appear.
Suddenly, these things that started to appear before my eyes took on the appearance of smoke, stripes, and clusters of light.
They all had different colors, ranging from barely visible pale hues to vivid and intense ones.
So, this is what it means to “see” smells?
“Senpai, do you see anything?”
“I see emerald stripes blooming from your body. Ah, and also from your head.”
“What?!”
In response to my words, Sylphi covered her head and body with a startled expression, shrinking back.
Her movement caused a faint green color to radiate from her body, spreading slightly around her.
Hmm, what I’m seeing now is Sylphi’s scent.
Come to think of it, Sylphi always gives off a fragrance reminiscent of the forest or a meadow.
It seems that this potion shows a scent in a color similar to the image I perceive.
“S-Senior… Please don’t stare at me like that.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. The potion’s effects were just too strong.”
Sylphi turned her head slightly, her face flushed.
It’s not like she did anything wrong, but for some reason, I feel sorry for her.
Anyway, this is not the time for that.
The effect of this potion lasts for about half a day.
I immediately turned my gaze to the pile of blankets where Meruru’s fur was shedding.
“Oh…”
There it is.
The pile of blankets was intensely colored in a well-baked bread hue.
Above it, streaks of bread-colored stripes were also appearing.
Although I could see other colors in the surroundings, the color emanating from the pile of blankets was particularly strong.
Alright, that must be Meruru’s scent.
“Sylphi, let’s go out for now. We need to find clues while the effect is still active.”
I quickly rolled up a few of Meluru’s blankets and took them with me.
Now that I knew the color of the scent I had to chase, I had to track it down quickly before its effects wore off.
* * *
Even though I could distinguish scents with my eyes, tracking them was not easy.
The problem was that the scent that flowed out of Meluru’s room didn’t lead directly to where Meluru was.
The scent of Meluru, which was so distinct, disappeared as soon as I stepped out onto the street.
In hindsight, it was obvious.
No matter how strong Meluru’s odor was, it couldn’t linger in the air for long.
My mistake was thinking that simply following the scent from Meluru’s room would lead me to a clue.
“Even though Yunoha gained the temporary ability to see scents, it wasn’t as helpful in tracking as she had thought.
Scents can easily be covered by other scents, and scents in the air can easily dissipate.
However, this ability was very useful in finding traces left by the target or dropped items.”
From the beginning, I was thrown off by the fact that Meluru’s scent was interrupted, and a narration echoed in my mind.
Useful for finding traces or items… Even if it’s impossible to follow the scent in the air, it might be useful to find something that leaves a trace.
But even if I wandered around the Kubel district trying to find Meluru’s trace, I didn’t think I would gain much.
If only I could at least know a place Meluru had been to…
“Whenever Meluru heard new rumors about the Beastmen while working as a receptionist at the guild, she would visit the location of the rumor herself to directly confirm it, but only if it wasn’t too far away.
After completing the investigation, she would return home in the early morning and prepare to go to the guild for work.
Because of this lifestyle, she was often late to the guild.”
The narration gave me completely new information.
That’s how it was.
Whenever rumors about the Suin tribe came up, I would personally go out at night and investigate the place.
And it wasn’t the first time I did such a thing.
Even while working as a receptionist, I was diligently searching for my sister.
Now I understand why Meruru left without saying a word, as if she was looking for my sister.
Originally, Meruru intended to finish the investigation and return as usual, but for some reason, she couldn’t come back.
In that case, there is a high possibility that the reason is something beyond Meruru’s will, something coercive.
Leaving the room was Meruru’s will, but not being able to come back was not her will.
Then it makes sense why Meruru’s room was like that, and why she left without telling anyone, including Tina.
So, where should I look…?
As expected, Third Trade Road and Halberry Forest.
Third Trade Road is too vast, and going west past Bynar would take a long way.
On the other hand, Halberry Forest is a distance that can be easily explored in about a day by taking a carriage.
So, it was more likely that Meruru headed to Halberry Forest.
Anyway, I had to go to the guild the next day.
I immediately boarded a carriage passing through Halberry Forest from Kuber.
If I was wrong, then there was nothing I could do.
For now, while the effects of the medicine still remained, it was a priority to look for any traces of Meruru as quickly as possible.
“How long will the effects of the medicine last…?”
I had already consumed quite a bit of time due to the carriage ride.
If I couldn’t find any new clues here, it would be a wasted day.
Unlike the forest near Kubel, the village was surrounded by a more distant forest, so the undergrowth was denser.
I could see the green smell of grass and the brown smell of trees spreading throughout.
“First, let’s search the surroundings as much as possible. If you find anything strange, let me know. Even if you find fur of this color, let me know.”
I called out Shari, who was attached to my head, and instructed her and Sylphy to explore the area.
Even though I couldn’t see or smell with my eyes like them, Shari, being a ghost, had the agility to quickly search a wide range.
Sylphy’s presence would be more helpful for exploration than her absence.
I roughly indicated the direction for them to search, and I also moved into the forest, carefully examining if there were any places where the scent of Meruru or a similar color lingered in the surroundings.
How long did we continue our search like that?
“Huh? That…?”
I saw a faint smell of well-baked bread coming from the side of the grassy forest, where it looked like someone had trampled.
I hurried over and found an old, tattered robe lying on the grass.
“Shari! Sylphy! Over here!”
I called out to the two who were searching the surroundings, and picked up the robe that smelled like Meruru, shaking it a few times with both hands.
It was a robe with a hood that could almost be considered a rag.
“What is this?… A rag?”
Sylphy asked as she looked at the robe in my hand.
“That’s not a rag. It’s the robe Meruru used to wear.”
I couldn’t believe she still had it and hadn’t thrown it away.
She must have had money left over even after buying new clothes.
When I first met Meruru on the ship, it was that robe that I bought by haggling with the merchant, even though I was broke.
They said that if I wore this robe, I could hide my ears and tail and protect myself from scumbags like slave traders.
But looking at the condition of this robe now, it seems much more tattered than when I first bought it, so it probably couldn’t fulfill its original purpose.
Wearing this, not only would my ears and tail be exposed, but I would also look like a beggar, making me the perfect target for someone’s schemes.
“This idiot…”
The fact that this robe is discarded here means that it’s certain Meruru disappeared around here.
They immediately narrowed down the search radius to the place where the robe was found.
They carefully examined if there was any place with the lingering scent of Meruru.
And then, not long after, they discovered a very faint scent of Meruru on a nearby forest path.
There were muddy footprints all over the ground, and long hairs that matched Meruru’s color were scattered and falling off here and there.
Most of the fur seemed to have flown away, but there were some hairs that remained tangled with the grass on the muddy ground.
If they didn’t have the ability to smell scents, they would have missed these traces with their naked eyes.
Moreover, there were also traces of a long wheel passing by nearby.
The discarded robe, the messy footprints, and the traces of the wheel passing by.
Meruru’s fur, which seemed to have fallen off all over the place as if going through a molt.
And then.
“Oh no, it disappeared from sight.”
Half a day had already passed, and the effects of the potion had worn off completely.
Still, now that they seemed to have found where Meruru disappeared, maybe they could discover something by following the remaining traces.
“Sylphi, go back to the guild first and tell them that it seems like Meruru disappeared from here. It would be great if we could get some help with the search.”
“I understand. And what about you, senior?”
“For now, I’ll go after this trace alone. Come on, quickly!”
To be safe, I ordered Sippy to ask the guild for help and started chasing the wheel and footprints alone.
* * *