“You’re giving me gold coins?”

Young Pin’s eyes widened. The jingling sound became clearer, now as loud and distinct as thunder.

“My name is Pin. It’s actually Pinion, but everyone calls me Pin. Are you really going to give me gold coins?”

“Of course, child. Here you go.”

Something light fell to the ground with a clinking sound. Pin’s small head quickly turned towards the noise. In the moonlight, a shiny yellow circle caught Pin’s eye.

“Wow!”

Pin picked up the coin that had fallen to the ground and let out a joyful exclamation.

It was a real gold coin! And it was brand new without a scratch. The face of an ancient king was clearly engraved on its surface. Pin had only seen a gold coin once before, over a year ago when his father was still alive.

Pin spoke towards the invisible someone:

“Can I really keep it?”

“Of course, child. You can have it. There’s plenty more here.”

The clinking sounds continued. Pin walked into the fir forest, almost hugging the basket.

With each step following the sound, coins were stepped on by the tips of his clogs. They were all gold coins, shimmering brilliantly even in the dim moonlight. Pin’s mouth gaped open as he picked up the coins until his pockets bulged.

“Where were you heading? At this late hour.”

The voice spoke again. Pin suddenly came to his senses and looked down at the basket on his arm.

“I was going home. I was gathering firewood with my sister. And picking snow mushrooms. Grandmother’s knees hurt.”

“I wish I could go mushroom picking with others too.”

Pin tilted his head.

“You can go. Snow mushrooms are hard to find, but in autumn, everyone goes mushroom picking.”

“I’m too ugly to go out in front of other people.”

Something dropped with a thud in the darkness. It was a different sound from the gold coins. Pin leapt deeper into the forest like a sensitive herbivore, following the sound. It was candy.

“Is this for me too?”

“Yes, it’s yours.”

Pin excitedly unwrapped it and threw the wrapper far away. Inside was soft taffy that tasted of caramel and butter. He put it between his teeth and bit down, then slowly sucked on it with the tip of his tongue, letting the sweet taste spread in his mouth.

Pin said:

“You have a lot of money, mister. If you have a lot of money, no one will say anything, right? No matter how ugly you are.”

“Is that so? Then why don’t you take a look at my face.”

“Me? Why?”

“To see if people won’t be surprised.”

After pondering for a moment, Pin leaned forward, lowering his head towards where the voice was coming from.

“I can’t see anything.”

“Come to where the moonlight is.”

Something was seen moving between the fir branches.

It looked like a large round boulder rolling, or a large beast lumbering about. Just as Pin was about to reflexively step back, the sound of falling gold coins was heard again.

“Child, I’ll give you gold coins.”

Swallowing hard, Pin carefully approached the moonlit area, clutching the basket tightly. An ugly and terrible face – seeing it wouldn’t cause any harm.

He also felt that he should grant this small request, having already received so many gold coins that his pockets were bulging.

The shadow drew closer. Just as his figure was about to be revealed in the flickering moonlight, Pin heard Mariella’s voice calling from afar.

“Pin! What are you doing there!”

Pin turned his head reflexively, but couldn’t see his sister. Mariella probably could see him because of the moonlight.

“Sister, I’m here…!”

At that moment, something pitch black suddenly appeared before Pin’s eyes.

“Pin!”

Mariella screamed. The basket containing firewood and snow mushrooms rolled on the ground, and there was a crunching sound before it quickly disappeared.

“Children are disappearing?”

As Laila asked in a surprised voice, Galen nodded.

“That’s right.”

He handed over a bundle of documents tied with string.

“This is the list of missing children sent from the Kiron branch. I think both of you should look it over together.”

Eustar, who was flipping through the documents with a serious expression, said:

“Is there absolutely no possibility of simple kidnapping, Galen?”

Galen nodded.

“No, there isn’t. As you can see, children have been continuously disappearing from three or four villages, but there’s no connection between them at all. The places and times of disappearance are all different. According to the local security forces, there’s no possibility of kidnapping for money or due to grudges.”

Eustar said:

“If money were the goal, robbery would be much faster and simpler. Even if caught, the sentence would be lighter. But even if that’s not the purpose, there are very diverse and… clear reasons for kidnapping children. As you know.”

Galen’s expression darkened. He couldn’t deny what Eustar had said.

A few years ago, several children under ten years old had disappeared near the capital.

Everyone agreed it was the work of demons, but in the end, it was proven to be the work of humans. All the kidnapped children were dead, and their gallbladders were all missing.

Then Laila said:

“The youngest child is five years old, the oldest is fourteen… The ages aren’t consistent.”

Galen added:

“That’s right, Lady Kristrad. But on average, there are more children under ten. Only two children are over ten years old.”

Eustar said:

“There doesn’t seem to be any report about a sink.”

“We haven’t received any reports related to a sink yet. It might be faster to talk directly with Director Felix.”

Eustar let out a low groan as if it was a headache and brushed back his fallen hair.

“I suppose we’ll have to do that. Prepare for travel.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

Galen withdrew to open a portal. Meanwhile, Laila continued to flip through the documents, chewing on the inside of her lip.

The number of missing children had reached fifteen. The first reported disappearance was about a month ago… Too many children had disappeared in too short a time. As Galen said, it didn’t seem like the work of humans.

“Let’s go, Laila.”

Eustar said. A humming sound was heard not far away. It was the unique noise made when a portal was activated. Laila folded the documents in half, held them in her hand, and followed him.

Meanwhile, at the Tentinella 5th Branch in Kiron, Branch Director Felix was having a not-quite argument with District Security Chief Glock.

Glock was a middle-aged man who would turn fifty the year after next, having worked as a security officer since his very young days and risen to the position of chief. Although his quick temper and lack of patience were flaws, he was trusted by the residents of the area he was in charge of, jumping into action regardless of the situation when it came to their affairs.

Felix sighed deeply and hung his head as if exhausted.

“Mr. Glock, how many times am I saying the same thing now? I told you, it’s not as easy as you think to solve this right away.”

But Glock didn’t back down and retorted:

“The residents’ fear is no small matter, Felix. If this was done by a person, I would have caught the bastard already! But since it’s not, Tentinella needs to step in! This is happening because of a sink!”

Felix sighed deeply once again. If it wasn’t Glock, he would have immediately thrown a punch…

No, that won’t do. Felix thought. This wasn’t something to be handled with temper. Glock’s words weren’t wrong either.

“Of course, that’s highly likely. But finding a sink isn’t like finding a butcher shop in the neighborhood. Do you understand?”

“Tentinella uses all sorts of magical tools!”

“Those magical tools aren’t omnipotent, you stubborn man!”

Felix’s effort to control his temper didn’t last even a few seconds. As Glock’s face turned as red as a boiled lobster, Felix immediately softened his tone and spoke as if to soothe him.

“Think about it, Glock. Do you think we’re being lazy because we don’t want to find this damn thing? You know better than anyone that’s not the case. Even if we find a sink, you know. Ghosts are very closely connected to sinks and only active within the range of their energy, but demons are not. Of course, demons also move only around the vicinity when they’ve just come out of a sink. But because they’re not as closely connected as ghosts, they can move freely. Even if a demon is roaming around here, the sink could be in a completely different place.”

“So you’re saying we should just watch as children keep disappearing!”

Glock slammed his solid fist on the table.

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

At the sudden unfamiliar voice, Glock turned around, snorting like an angry wild boar. Seeing the long-haired man who had suddenly appeared and the short-haired woman standing next to him, Glock was momentarily dumbfounded.

Glock’s eyes widened. A chill ran down his spine as if he had suddenly been doused with ice water.

Laila knew that she was the cause of the bull-like man’s surprise. When she blinked, Glock inhaled even more loudly.

Felix said:

“Mr. Glock, what are you doing? Greet His Highness the Prince and Her Highness.”

He jumped nimbly off the table and bowed gracefully. Glock turned to look at Felix with an even paler face, then bowed so deeply that his head nearly touched the floor.

“I have been disrespectful! I am Glock Boot, in charge of the local security. I had no idea you were His Highness the Prince and Her Highness, and I…”

Eustar said:

“That’s enough. It seems you two were talking first, so let’s listen together. Is that alright?”

“Of course, Lord Eustar. Please come this way.”

Felix brought two chairs, one slung over his shoulder and the other kicked forward with his foot, close to the table.

Glock, who was usually strict and serious in everything, was appalled by Felix’s frivolous attitude, but Eustar and Laila didn’t seem to mind.

“Sit down.”

At Eustar’s words, the four of them sat down in turn. He took the report that Laila had been holding, placed it on the table, and asked Glock:

“You speak first, Security Chief Boot. About the first child reported missing. Where did the child disappear from, and who was with them?”