Glok Bute stuck out his tongue with a very tense expression. His shortly trimmed bearded chin trembled slightly.

“The first missing person report was filed with the security forces about a month ago, Your Highness. There’s a small village called Vicious not far from this Kiron branch. A child named Millie, who lived there with her parents, disappeared in the forest. She was six years old.”

“Did she go to the forest alone?”

Glok shook his head.

“No, she didn’t. Her father said she went with him to cut wood. But a rabbit appeared, and while the father chased it briefly… It was just for a moment, he says. The rabbit was so quick that he only followed it for a few steps before returning, but in that time the child had vanished.”

“Were there no traces left of the child’s disappearance?”

It was Laila’s question. Glok glanced at her with a gaze still tinged with fear, then lowered his head, avoiding her eyes as he answered.

“There were a few footprints leading into the forest. But they stopped abruptly, and the child is still missing to this day.”

Eustar asked.

“Besides traces of the child, was there anything else?”

Glok furrowed his dark brows.

“There were some strange things left not far from where the child’s footprints ended. A wooden piece with a gold coin pattern carved on it, something like a pebble, and a piece of candy too old to eat.”

“A wooden piece with a gold coin pattern carved on it?”

“Yes. You know how gold coins have the portrait of the founding king engraved on them? It was like someone had tried to imitate that, roughly scratching the surface, or drawing pictures on pebbles. To be honest, they were crude things you’d expect to see in children’s play. Not something a six-year-old would be tempted to follow.”

Laila suddenly said.

“They might have shown hallucinations.”

Glok’s eyes widened.

“Wh-what did you say? Hallucinations?”

Laila’s red eyes stared blankly at Glok’s face.

“I mean, they might have shown hallucinations that made them look like real gold coins and real candy. Hallucinations that could enchant children in just a brief moment.”

Glok, with an expression clearly showing his bewilderment, moved his lips wordlessly before suddenly turning to Felix. His eyes were blazing.

“Then it must be the work of a demon after all!”

Felix, who had his arms crossed, frowned.

“I never said it wasn’t, Mr. Glok. I told you earlier, didn’t I? You were listening, weren’t you?”

Glok snorted.

“That’s why I came to ask Tentinella to intervene! Your Highness, please, I beg you. Not just Vicious, but the residents of Condon and Mile are all trembling in fear. Children are disappearing day and night, we can’t keep them locked up in their homes for their entire lives, can we?”

Eustar, who had been listening to his plea, nodded with a sigh.

“I understand. We will look into it actively, so please have the security forces do their best to calm the residents for now.”

Glok, seeming somewhat relieved at last, hurriedly bobbed his head and left.

Eustar, slowly rubbing his temple, said.

“Felix, summon all the unit captains. We need to discuss this matter.”

There were four unit captains at the Kiron branch, including Felix, the branch chief. There were also a technical department head in charge of machine repair and replacement, and a medical department head, but they rarely went out into the field, so they didn’t participate in the meeting.

This was the third time Laila had sat at the conference table with the Tentinella members. Meetings were often held when they had to deal with demons, but this time, since the exact nature of the opponent was unclear, it was simply a meeting to grasp the situation.

Felix explained based on the reports he had received.

“On our side, we’ve been tracking it assuming it might be a demon. Because it had a direct and physical effect on the missing children.”

Eustar looked at him.

“Is the reason for your certainty because the children disappeared without leaving other traces?”

“That’s right. It’s not easy for a purely spiritual being to do that. The children should have dropped something or at least left footprints while being lured away. But they all suddenly vanished.”

After finishing his words, Felix unexpectedly turned to Laila. His gaze seemed to say, ‘Don’t you have anything to say about this situation?’

Laila, who had been staring blankly at Felix with a momentarily confused expression, said.

“Among the demons that have appeared so far, have there been any that targeted only children like this?”

Felix and the unit captains looked at each other’s faces. Felix nodded and tapped the table with his fingertip.

“There have been. But this is the first time it’s been so hard to catch the tail. It’s also the first time so many children have disappeared.”

Laila lowered her gaze with a thoughtful expression.

Whether it was a ghost or a demon, nothing was certain yet, but like Felix and the other unit captains of Kiron, she too leaned towards thinking this was the work of a demon.

It’s not the pattern of a spiritual thing, Laila thought. Of course, a vengeful spirit can also bewitch people and make them disappear without a trace.

But that was ‘just how it appeared’, and traces were bound to be found eventually. Ghosts can kill humans, but they can’t make the corpses disappear.

Unless a powerful curse was involved, like what happened in the villages of Vintosis and Hoiersis before, it was impossible.

Born as an excellent and complete medium, Laila’s abilities had improved by leaps and bounds without her even realizing it while working with Eustar in Tentinella.

Not just in practical abilities, but also in terms of knowledge. There was a reason she thought the current disappearances were not the work of ghosts.

“Many things target children. But I agree that this pattern is a first. Moreover…”

Eustar’s gaze turned to the pebbles, wooden pieces, and decaying candy pieces placed on the table.

He continued speaking.

“There were not only young children, but also a fourteen-year-old, weren’t there? A child of that age wouldn’t have been bewitched by something so crude. Even if it were real gold coins or candy, fourteen is an age where one should have some discernment.”

“Then, Your Highness, do you not think this is the work of a demon?”

One of the unit captains asked cautiously. Eustar was lost in thought for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

“Not necessarily. But it’s hard to believe there’s a demon that can create this level of hallucination.”

At that moment, another unit captain raised her hand. When Felix nodded, giving permission to speak, she shook her tightly tied hair once. It seemed to be a meaningless habit.

“Could it be a mark left by a demon? Not causing hallucinations, but…”

Felix looked at her as if dumbfounded.

“Tiltil, are you serious? A demon deliberately leaving marks for us? That’s even harder to believe than hallucinations.”

“I know, Chief. But as everyone here knows, this disappearance case has a pattern we’ve never seen before, right? We can’t rule out the possibility that a new type of demon has appeared.”

Laila nodded at Tiltil’s words, but Felix remained skeptical. He shook his head, arms crossed.

“If there were a demon with that level of intelligence, Muge Olga would fly here in one breath.”

Muge Olga. Laila recalled that fierce woman with a girl-like appearance she had seen at Branch 2. Although they had met only once, and even that was several months ago, who Muge was still remained strongly imprinted in her mind.

By the way, why did he say she would fly here? Laila tilted her head and turned to Felix.

“Excuse me, but why would that person come here?”

Felix opened his eyes wide.

“No, Lady Kristrad. Don’t you know about Muge?”

Laila’s expression became even more puzzled. At that moment, Eustar extended his hand to interrupt the conversation between the two.

“That’s enough about that, later. Tiltil’s words are not entirely without merit. The possibility of a new demon, let’s keep that in mind as we conduct the investigation. Tomorrow, as soon as day breaks…”

It was then. Just as the commotion outside the half-open conference room door seemed to intensify, a group of people, almost tangled into one mass, burst into the room.

The member standing guard at the door couldn’t withstand the forceful push and tumbled to the floor.

“What’s going on!”

Branch Chief Felix sprang to his feet. However, seeing the men and women in worn clothes sprawled on the floor, he let out a dejected sigh.

The man was young. Boy would be a more fitting word than man. He looked to be about fourteen years old at most.

The woman showed clear signs of exhaustion, and due to her many gray hairs, she looked like an old woman at first glance. However, it wasn’t that she was actually old, but rather she showed signs of premature aging due to hard days.

And next to them lay a girl who looked about nine years old. All three of their faces were a mess, and they were still shedding tears.

The woman cried out.

“Please! Please, this is Tentinella, isn’t it? Isn’t it?”

Felix gestured for the members to support them, then walked to the front of the table.

“Madam, please calm down. I am Felix Carrot, the branch chief of Tentinella’s 5th Branch, Kiron. What brings you here?”

The woman’s reddened eyelids seemed to swell. With a face that looked like she might faint at any moment, she grabbed Felix’s hands and burst into tears.

“Please, I beg you! Find my son! Huu-huuk… My, my son has disappeared. Please, please find my son. I’m begging you like this, please…”

Felix’s expression hardened instantly. The others watching the situation from behind were the same.

Eustar and Laila stepped forward. Eustar, along with Felix, leaned back to support the wailing woman, while Laila crouched down in front of the young girl who was sobbing as if she might pass out.

“What’s your name?”

The girl opened her mouth wide and burst into bitter tears. Her lips, chapped from the cold weather, were cracking, and a thin line of blood could be seen seeping out.

“Me, Meriel, Meriela. Hic, my, my little brother. Please find my little brother… A, a strangely shaped house ca, caught and ate my little brother…”