Eustar and Laila immediately rushed to where Felix was. He, Captain Tiltil, and her subordinates held lamps to illuminate the ground.

“Look.”

As Felix stepped back, the two could see strange marks that had deeply scratched between the fir trees. Eustar knelt down on one knee and measured the depth and width of the marks.

“It goes in about half a span of my hand. Something extremely heavy struck forcefully, then dragged forward…”

He muttered as if talking to himself, moving his gaze. The thick roots of the fir trees exposed above the soil had been fiercely clawed, revealing their inner flesh.

“This is definitely not an ordinary beast.”

Eustar said. Laila shone her lamp in the direction the marks had moved. The initial width was wide enough to fit an adult’s head, but it gradually narrowed and eventually disappeared.

“Any other marks?”

At Laila’s question, Felix shook his head with a troubled expression.

“We’re still searching, but this is the only one found so far. I don’t understand why marks were left only here. Given this size and weight, it wouldn’t be strange if it had knocked down all the trees while moving.”

Tiltil said.

“If this is a trace of a magical beast, judging by the direction, it moved north. If you go straight north from this fir forest, you’ll reach the ‘Land’s End’.”

Laila looked up at Eustar, then turned to Tiltil and asked,

“Land’s End? Where is that?”

“Ah, Lady Kristrad must be hearing it for the first time. ‘Land’s End’ is the nickname for that place. To get to the capital Benalis from here, you have to cross the Portguard Mountains, and one of those mountain ranges connects to this fir forest. However, due to a break in the terrain, a very deep cliff has formed. Below it is a small stream that flows into the Solarus River.”

Felix added an explanation.

“It’s generous to call it a stream; at that depth, it’s almost like exposed groundwater. The width of the cliff is narrow, but it’s too wide to simply jump across, making it very dangerous. If you slip there, you’d be lucky to find even a single strand of hair, let alone a body. That’s why the locals call it ‘Land’s End’, meaning where the land ends.”

In other words, it was a rock formation that had split very deeply. As Laila nodded in understanding, suddenly something cold touched her cheek.

“Damn, I knew it. It’s raining.”

Felix looked up at the sky and muttered a short curse in a heavy voice.

The raindrops that had been falling sporadically suddenly began to pour down noisily. The subordinates holding ordinary lamps, not magical tools, gathered around their respective captains, careful not to slip on the mud.

“The marks are being erased.”

At Tiltil’s words, Eustar and Laila looked down. Indeed, as the soil collapsed under the rain, the deep impressions were quickly disappearing.

Eustar said,

“Could this be why no traces have remained until now?”

Felix continued,

“Winter rain has been frequent in this area recently. There were many snowy days too.”

Felix, who had been staring down at the disappearing marks with empty eyes, brushed back his soaking wet hair and said,

“Could this magical beast control water? Or is it just a coincidence?”

“We’ll need to cross-reference the weather records based on the dates the children went missing. We should look at a range from one to three days at most from when the missing person reports were filed with the security forces. Let’s withdraw for now.”

He took off his jacket and draped it over Laila’s head. Though already soaked and dripping with water, his expression seemed apologetic for not doing so earlier.

“Let’s go back, Laila.”

Laila glanced back at the almost disappeared marks with an uneasy expression before taking a step. The ground was slippery with rainwater.

“You’ll fall, be careful.”

Eustar said, holding her shoulder. His voice had softened completely, unlike when he was giving orders to the subordinates earlier. When Felix, who was following behind, whistled teasingly, Laila glanced at Eustar.

“I think we’re being made fun of right now.”

Eustar said, futilely wringing water from his soaked hair,

“Felix, remember that I’m always watching you.”

“Wow, Sir Eustar. You’ve changed since getting married. This is, what do you call it… abuse of superior’s authority or something?”

“You don’t seem to have experienced what a real threat is, have you?”

“Eek, then I better keep my mouth shut.”

Felix, who had retorted jokingly, quickened his pace and strode past the two. Laila, looking even more like a drowned rat with the damp jacket over her head, said,

“You’ll be disliked at this rate.”

“I’ve never been disliked before, you know?”

Laila gave a sidelong glance at Eustar, who responded glibly.

“You’re annoying right now.”

“Being annoying and being disliked are different things. Oh my, the rain is getting heavier. We’re already soaked, but should we walk a bit faster? I’ve heard that catching winter rain the wrong way can make you sick for the whole year.”

Laila had heard similar things from her mother, but somehow it was funny hearing the word ‘sick’ come out of Eustar’s mouth.

Eustar said,

“May I carry you?”

Laila’s response was immediate.

“I have legs too, Eustar.”

The members who returned to the Kiron branch—even the branch chief Felix—rushed to their respective rooms, hunching their shoulders against the sudden chill. They desperately needed a bathtub full of hot water and a glass of brandy.

Eustar too came out after washing his body with warm water in his temporarily prepared room.

He still seemed to smell the wet soil at the tip of his nose, but the warmth made him feel alive. As he was wringing out his long, dripping hair like a towel, he heard a light knock and answered casually.

“Come in.”

After a moment of silence, the door opened. Eustar looked up and parted his lips in surprise.

“Laila?”

Laila, holding the doorknob, neither entered nor left, just staring at Eustar. Though not showing as much surprise as Eustar, she too was at a loss for words. And for good reason…

“I’m sorry, I thought it was Branch Chief Felix.”

He said, fumbling awkwardly and tightening the towel around his waist.

Laila still couldn’t find words and just stood there, looking at him.

She had seen his front when he took off his top to let her copy the formation on his back last time, but it was just for a moment. However, now it was much brighter and more defenseless than then.

His hair, half-wrung out, was disheveled, and the obliquely protruding hipbone was visible above the towel tightly wrapped around his body.

From his slender yet firmly built waist to his muscular abdomen and chest, up to his squared shoulders.

Laila momentarily thought that Eustar looked like a sleek and agile predator. Despite having such a gentle voice and a face so beautiful that anyone who saw it once would never forget.

What would it feel like to have your neck bitten by him?

Once again, a strange voice echoed in her head. A voice that was neither her own nor anyone else’s. The drawling end of the sentence ignited a fiery desire.

But the moment she saw the flickering flames, Laila came to her senses and doused them with cold water.

“I’ll come in, Eustar.”

At Laila’s nonchalant voice, Eustar felt relieved but also slightly disappointed. It was regrettable that there was no time to contemplate exactly what was causing such emotions.

“Of course. Come in. Sit by the fireplace.”

Laila did as he said. Eustar, holding onto the towel lest it slip down, put on a loose tunic as a substitute for nightclothes.

While the sound of well-dried cloth brushing against his skin could be heard, Laila kept her gaze fixed only on the blazing flames in the fireplace.

“What’s the matter?”

When the sound of tightening strings was heard, Laila finally turned her head. Eustar, who had tucked the loose tunic into his pants that slightly revealed his calves, no longer looked like a predator. He looked no different from usual.

“The results of the weather records are out. It’s still an estimate as we haven’t confirmed it accurately, but…”

“Already? That’s fast.”

“I heard the security forces brought the records in advance. And there was a member who could read incredibly fast. It was almost like magic.”

Eustar smiled and moved towards the table.

“It must be the member called Dries. He reads at an impossible speed. And has a good memory too.”

He opened the lid of a small brandy bottle and filled two glasses.

“How were the results?”

Laila answered, staring at the liquor flowing into the glass,

“It rained without fail within at least half a day to a day after the children went missing. Or there was so much snow that you’d sink in it.”

“What do you think, Laila?”

Eustar handed Laila a glass of brandy. She lightly touched the rim of the glass to the tip of her nose, smelled it, and then took a sip without hesitation.

Laila replied,

“I don’t think the magical beast deliberately made it rain.”

“Why do you think so?”

“If it had made it rain to erase its traces, if I were the magical beast, I would have made it rain only locally. Controlling weather phenomena requires considerable energy. Whether it’s pure magical power or whatever.”

Eustar nodded slowly, swallowed a few sips of brandy, and said,

“Now that you mention it, I think so too. I would do the same.”

Laila continued,

“The areas where it rained or snowed were very wide and inconsistent. Of course, the places where the magical beast was presumed to have stayed were always included… And sometimes there were showers, other times drizzle. There were times of heavy snow, and days when only sleet fell briefly.”

“Then was it all coincidence?”

“No, I don’t think so. In my opinion…”

There was a moment of silence. Laila, who had been tapping her lips with her fingertips, fiddled with her brandy glass and said,

“What I think, Eustar, is that the magical beast might be able to sense weather changes in advance.”