"I don't have any particular goal. No, wait, I need to take it easy. I might've had too much to drink..." Frank was dumbfounded. What was this mage lady talking about? Why couldn't he understand her? It was only half a kilogram of alcohol. Was he actually drunk?
Seeing Frank squat off to the side, trying to clear his head, Emma felt puzzled. Wasn't he supposed to be a taciturn hidden expert? How did he really look drunk?
Whether you're truly drunk or pretending, we're at the docks now. As long as I seize a ship, I can use Wind Magic to fill the sails. No one here will be able to catch me.
Emma acted the moment she thought of it. She had never moved so quickly in her life. After a few strides, she rushed onto an unattended boat at the dock and quickly chanted a spell. A Sandstorm Technique of the wind element was cast. Its purpose was to use wind to stir up dust and block an enemy's vision. Put simply, it could make the wind blow sand into someone's eyes.
This was the open sea, so naturally there was no sand. However, the effect was even better than expected. A powerful gust swept past, and the small sailboat shot away from the dock.
Unfortunately, that was where her good luck ended. The rope on the boat was firmly secured to the dock. Emma lost her balance and fell onto the deck, twisting her ankle.
Leaving Emma's thrilling escape aside, Holmes Kerry had already found Medical Unit 1 in the backyard. Medical Unit 1 was recounting what had happened when it encountered Emma.
At 3:10 p.m., tea time was fast approaching. Medical Unit 1 saw Miss Emma climb out through her window. After making a difficult descent down a length of rope, she safely reached the grass in the backyard.
Medical Unit 1 then noticed that Miss Emma looked unwell and was breathing irregularly, possibly because of the strenuous climbing. In accordance with the service protocols of a medical robot, it stepped forward and asked whether she needed an examination.
"So Miss Emma was still in the castle at 3:10." It was now 3:45, which meant Emma had been missing for only about half an hour. Yet the guards at the only gate had not seen Miss Emma leave.
Kerry immediately deduced what might have happened. Many servants had gathered around him. Seeing Kerry lower his head in thought, as though the truth would soon be revealed, they held their breaths.
"Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how unreasonable, must be the truth..." Kerry muttered to himself.
Everyone waited eagerly to hear what the lord's truth was. The atmosphere grew extremely tense.
"Faglan people have a birthday custom of climbing out windows and hiding afterward!" Kerry said with absolute certainty.
What else could it be? She's only been gone for thirty minutes. Why make such a fuss? Maybe it's a game of hide-and-seek before the birthday party.
Everyone nearly collapsed. Still, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the lord's reasoning. She had only been missing for thirty minutes, after all. What was there to fuss about? She wasn't a child—at fourteen, a girl was already practically grown.
"Those of you who aren't busy this afternoon, search the castle again. Miss Emma may be hiding somewhere. Finding her might even bring a surprise." Kerry suddenly felt that playing hide-and-seek before the birthday party wasn't a bad idea after all, so he led a group of servants, young and old, around the castle in search of her.
"Reporting to Mrs. Wesley, she isn't in the water tank."
"Reporting to Mrs. Wesley, we only found a mouse in the storage cabinet. It has already been humanely eliminated."
"Reporting to Butler Carson, the spiderwebs in the basement are still intact. No one should have gone down there."
"Stop slacking and get down there to search," Butler Carson urged. So many people were searching already. Did that kid want to be lazy?
"Reporting to the lord, there are only wine bottles under Frank's bed."
It was almost six in the evening. The game of hide-and-seek had gone on for more than two hours, and everyone had nearly searched the entire castle without finding any trace of Miss Emma.
People suddenly held the profession of mage in great reverence. At the very least, no one could easily find a mage during hide-and-seek, right?
Frank returned to the castle before the six o'clock party began.
Sobering up had taken far too long, but fortunately, he had made it back in time. He simply had no idea why Miss Emma still hadn't come ashore and returned to the castle to prepare dinner.
Everyone had kept the birthday party a secret from Emma, but by afternoon, one look at the decorations in the castle should have told her what was going on.
Carrying his doubts, Frank led Maria back to the stable. He suddenly noticed someone sneaking around and rummaging through Maria's stall.
"Hey, you! What are you doing? Are you trying something with my Maria?" The stable was Maria's private territory. Anyone who suddenly came in clearly had no good intentions.
"So it's Frank. I'm not interested in your Maria. I'm only following orders to search for the hidden Miss Emma," replied the servant whose name Frank could never remember.
When Kerry saw Frank hurrying toward him, he was in a very bad mood. He knew Frank had needed to haul a shipment of supplies back from the docks that afternoon, but the man had not only been drinking on the job—he had also driven drunk.
Damn it. I used to think you were an expert and that you could drive drunk safely. Why are you still pretending to be some expert now? Don't you know drunk driving can get someone killed?
"Young master, I know where Miss Emma is. She's at the docks practicing how to steer a boat." Frank paid no attention to Kerry's darkening expression and spoke on his own, looking very much like he was expecting praise and a reward.
"What time is it already? Why is she still practicing how to steer a boat?" Kerry was puzzled. Dinner was served at six every evening. How could Frank still have the mood to practice steering a boat? Could this be part of a birthday custom?
"Stop searching. Miss Emma is practicing how to steer a boat. Go prepare the party tonight. I'll bring Miss Emma back." Kerry brought out the four-wheel-drive Beach Buggy he had just bought.
Powered by Micro-nuclear Power, with low noise and impressive torque, it could reach a speed of 120 kilometers per hour on good roads. Its off-road performance was also extremely powerful, making it an indispensable means of transport on the island.
After a low rumble, Kerry felt as though he had only just stepped on the accelerator before arriving at his destination: the northern dock.
He didn't know whether the vehicle was truly that good or whether South Australia Island was simply too small.
When Kerry reached the dock, he saw Emma from a distance, struggling to control the sail and keep the boat on course. However, this old-fashioned sailboat was an enormous test of sailing skill. Fishermen needed several months of practice before they could hope to handle one properly.
With no experienced sailor guiding her, Emma was in extreme danger. A sailboat could easily capsize, after all.
"Miss Emma! Come ashore and return to the castle with me. Everyone's waiting..." Kerry rode the Beach Buggy rapidly onto the dock and shouted from the berth closest to Emma's little boat.
"Oh, heavens, have they found me? They came so quickly." Emma was in despair. She had never expected Kerry to find her after only two or three hours. Well, all right, that was actually quite a long time.
She had only just begun to get the hang of steering the boat when her pursuer arrived. It seemed she really couldn't escape her fate this time.
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