Chapter 235: Serie: Where Is My Kurtz?
An unusual silence filled the corridor of the city lord's mansion.
Because of Flamme's prior instructions, none of the maids dared to deliberately disturb the rest of these distinguished guests.
Flamme had been so excited that Kurtz accepted her invitation that she forgot about a certain girl in the room. So even though she had woken up, Frieren still hadn't received the breakfast she had been longing for.
Serie rubbed her head and pushed open her bedroom door.
The slight discomfort from the hangover already put her in a bad mood, but what annoyed her even more was that the hallway outside was completely deserted.
In theory, there should have been maids moving around or cleaning, but at this moment, there was no trace of them, and the silence was somewhat abnormal.
"Where did everyone go?" she muttered to herself, her cold voice ringing out clearly in the corridor.
She went next door, but still didn't see that familiar figure.
'Where have you gone so early?'
An indescribable sense of unease quietly rose in her heart.
After a moment's thought, she decided to go to another room to check on her other apprentice, Ayla.
'That one should be up by now, so I can ask her where Kurtz is.'
She walked to Ayla's door, not even bothering to knock, and pushed it open, but the scene inside made her already furrowed brows furrow even more.
Ayla was indeed still in bed, but her sleeping posture was truly unsightly.
Most of the blanket had slipped to the floor, and she was lying in a starfish position, with half of her body hanging off the bed, making it seem as if she might fall off at any moment. Her long hair was strewn all over her face, and there was even a faint glimmer of moisture at the corner of her mouth, which Serie strongly suspected was saliva.
Judging by her even, deep breathing, she was clearly still asleep and unaware of the outside world.
Serie's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.
She had never taken care of Ayla, after all, Ayla had her own family, but she never dreamed that her eldest apprentice's sleeping posture would be so terrible in private.
'And this one can actually sleep!?'
They've made such a grave mistake, and I haven't even figured out how to punish them yet, and she's still sleeping so soundly? Acting like nothing happened?
Serie knew that it was Ayla who proposed stealing the barrier's magic. Although Flamme made the decision, Ayla was clearly responsible for at least half of the blame!
She had lost all patience and couldn't be bothered to wake her gently.
With a casual flick of her finger, Serie caused the moisture in the air to condense rapidly, turning into a small, icy crystal that hovered above her fingertip.
The next second, the ice crystal shot precisely into Ayla's unsuspecting face.
Pff!
The ice crystal shattered the moment it touched Ayla's face, turning into icy water droplets that splashed all over her. Fortunately, Ayla's head was already hanging off the edge of the bed, so the water didn't wet her bedding.
"—Huh!? What!? Enemy attack!?"
Ayla sprang out of bed, instantly switching into battle mode, all sleepiness gone.
She hastily wiped the cold water off her face, and her other hand instinctively reached under the pillow for her weapon, but found nothing. It turned out that her wand had been sent for maintenance the day before and hadn't been picked up yet.
When she saw who was standing at the door, she froze instantly, as if she had been doused with a second bucket of cold water.
"Lady Serie!?" Ayla's voice trembled as she stared blankly at the unfriendly-looking teacher at the door, completely bewildered. "What's going on?"
Serie gave her a cold, wary look, her gaze sweeping over Ayla's disheveled face. Then, remembering her terrible sleeping posture, the disgust in her eyes almost materialized.
She originally wanted to ask Ayla if she knew where Kurtz was, but seeing her foolish appearance, she immediately gave up the idea.
'Asking her is pointless.'
"Get up now! What time is it? And tidy yourself up, what kind of appearance is that?"
Serie left those words behind, not bothering to look at her again, and turned to leave, slamming the door shut behind her.
Ayla was left standing there alone, her face and hair wet, shivering in the slightly chilly morning air, completely bewildered.
'Did I do something to upset her?'
On the other side, Serie felt her irritation intensify as she walked down the corridor toward Flamme and Frieren's room. She pushed open Flamme's door without hesitation.
The scene inside was much tidier, at least not as terrible as before. Of course, it was also possible that the person in the room had already woken up.
Flamme was not there; only the white-haired elf girl, Frieren, was present.
She was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, her face slightly scrunched up, one hand pressed against her stomach, her eyes somewhat vacant.
She seemed to be waiting for something.
Hearing the door open, Frieren looked up and saw Serie. A hint of surprise flashed in her emerald eyes, and she instinctively sat up straighter.
She glanced quickly at the doorway, but didn't see the person she was expecting, nor did she see what she wanted to see.
"Lady Serie," Frieren greeted softly, her voice sounding weak and listless.
Serie's gaze swept around the room before finally settling on Frieren. She spoke directly, her voice devoid of any emotion: "Frieren, where is Flamme?"
Frieren's body paused almost imperceptibly.
She remembered what Flamme had specifically told her before leaving: "Be a good girl and wait for me to come back in the room, okay? I'll bring you breakfast! Don't go out!"
Although Frieren was emotionally oblivious, her elven intuition allowed her to detect a dangerous undercurrent in Serie's calm tone that instinctively made her feel uneasy.
Just like small animals sensing an approaching storm.
She blinked her clear but bewildered eyes at Serie and chose to tell the truth, but out of a slight instinct to avoid trouble, she still concealed some details.
"I don't know. She was gone when I woke up."
To be honest, she didn't know where Flamme had gone either, since Flamme hadn't told her before leaving.
Serie narrowed her eyes slightly as she scrutinized Frieren.
The girl's expression looked innocent, even a little sleepy, showing no signs of lying.
But Serie's uneasy feeling grew clearer now that Flamme was no longer in the room.
Ayla was fast asleep.
There wasn't a single maid in the corridor.
Kurtz was nowhere to be found either.
All of this seemed to indicate that the two of them had gone out together.
Serie did not press Frieren further. She merely gave the white-haired girl, who was theoretically her grand-disciple, a faint warning glance, said nothing more, and turned to leave the room.
Standing alone in the corridor, Serie closed her eyes. Her probing magic spread out invisibly, its range expanding to its limit, sensing the magical fluctuations throughout the city.
In the end, she quickly detected two familiar magical auras, not within the manor, but in a certain direction in the city, and they were still moving.
Serie's eyes snapped open, a knowing glint in her golden pupils.
'Oh, I see. So that's where you are.'
Without hesitation, she rushed toward the direction of the aura, her footsteps echoing sharply through the empty corridor.
She wanted to see what her thoughtful and good apprentice and that man were up to so early in the morning.
[End of Chapter]