Bang!!
At that moment, the tavern door was violently shoved open. Several young men in Marine uniforms burst in one after another, all wearing anxious expressions. The moment they entered, they ran toward the group.
"Something's wrong! Bertrand is missing."
"Huh?" Basile froze for a moment, then snorted with laughter. "Hahahaha... Are you here to entertain us? Missing? Maybe he went off to take a piss. Get back and look properly. Maybe he was taking a dump and forgot to bring toilet paper!"
Koby and Helmeppo could not help shaking their heads. Basile's words were harsh, but they agreed with him. It had only been the time it took to eat a meal... Though that was a little long, someone being out of sight for such a short time could not possibly count as missing.
This town was not large, but hiding a person would be easy enough.
"No, we agreed on a meeting place, but Bertrand never showed up," the man said, refusing to leave it at that.
Helmeppo curled his lip. "Maybe something held him up. You can't conclude he's missing over such a short time."
A half-masked figure from the back stepped forward and shoved the man aside. In a slightly hoarse voice, he said, "I only said Bertrand was missing because we found this."
As he spoke, he pulled out a pendant necklace from his pocket. "This is Bertrand's most precious possession. Unless something happened to him, he would never have taken this necklace off his neck."
"Brice?" Basile frowned. He might not have taken it seriously if anyone else had said it, but Brice was absolutely not the sort to joke around. If he had come here, then he must have been very certain.
"Where was he last seen?" Colonel T-Bone, who had remained silent