The Secret of the Missing People

My house was close to the palace. This meant that there were many mansions owned by powerful nobles in the area.

Because of this, it was a safe neighborhood. There were officers patrolling the streets at all times.

“It’s unusual for people to disappear from this area.”

Ten people in fact.

It would be one thing if it was ten people in the entire city, but it was ten people from this district alone.

“That is true. I also looked through the missing person requests from last month as well…”

“Were there any from this area?”

“No, hardly any. I mean, none at all. If I went back to last year, there was at least one request, but that has already been resolved.”

Serulis muttered seriously,

“So that means there was a sudden rise in incidents this month? That is very suspicious.”

“It really is.”

Ten people had disappeared in just one month.

It would definitely be necessary to investigate this area a little.

“So, this is a map of the area…”

Shia said as she took out a residential map.

It was very large and included not only this district but the surrounding ones as well.

It was about as big as Milka was tall.

“Did you buy this today?”

“Indeed I did.”

“It’s very detailed. It must have been expensive. You can send me a bill later. I’m going to forward them all to Eric.”

“Understood!”

Maps were very costly. Maps of residential areas weren’t published by public institutions.

They were drawn and sold my cartographers.

Of course, that meant that the more detailed ones would be expensive. And Shia’s map was definitely up there.

“Marquis Mastafon’s house is here. Count Markle’s house is here. And Viscount Fria lives here.”

“I see. All in the same neighborhood. But not that close either.”

“That is true. And the houses that have a single missing person are here and here…”

Shia made marks on all of the houses.

“Pretty scattered then. It’s like the disappearances are evenly distributed in the district.”

“Exactly. There are eight houses that have missing servants or apprentices, but there doesn’t seem to be any connection between them.”

“So I guess we will just have to check all eight houses.”

That was the worst case scenario. But I wished we could narrow it down a little.

I stared hard at the map. Surely there was some kind of regularity here.

“What about the addresses of the people who went missing?”

Obviously, the apprentices would be living in the house, but the servants would have their own houses.

“Among the people that went missing, six of them were apprentices and four were servants.”

“So there are fewer servants.”

“Yes. And their addresses are here and here…”

Shia marked the houses of the servants.

Districts that had a lot of mansions for nobles tended to neighbor a district where a lot of servants lived.

And all of the missing servants lived in that area.

But while it was the same district, the houses weren’t close together. They were all scattered.

“I don’t see any common points…”

“Hmm. Mister Locke. I was just thinking…”

“What is it, Milka?”

“Yes. Uh, this house and this house are right next to each other. Yet only one of the houses has a missing person.”

“Yes.”

“It’s the same with this and this house.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

I wasn’t sure what she was getting at. Everyone now stared at Milka’s face.

“So I was thinking about the differences between this and this house. Also this and this house…”

“…Ah.”

When she said this, I finally realized it.

Perhaps Milka was some kind of genius.

Shia, Serulis, and Luchila still looked confused.

“Groof?”

Grulf was also tilting his head to the side.

“Cluck-cluck.”

But Gerberga understood it. At least, that is what it looked like.

He was looking at Milka with an expression that read, ‘You’re really smart, huh?’

“You noticed it too, Mister Locke? The servants of these mansions had to go through this street to return home.”

Milka said as she pointed to one street.

“Hmm…”

Serulis listened to Milka’s explanation with a serious expression.

“So, for this mansion, you have to go here and pass through this street. And the servants of this mansion as well…”

“What about mansions where apprentices went missing?”

“Since they are apprentices, they probably got asked to buy something.”

“Yes. That likely happens a lot.”

“In that case, they would have to go to this district, where the shops are. And see, they would still have to pass this street, wouldn’t they?”

“Milka, that’s amazing!”

Serulis said in awe. Milka turned a little red.

She scratched the back of her head bashfully.

“Oh-uh, it’s nothing!”

“…Wait a second.”

Shia said in a cool voice.

“Sister Shia, what is it?”

“It is indeed a sharp observation, but the people of this mansion and this mansion would also go down the same street.”

Shia pointed to the mansions that hadn’t had any missing people.

And then she pointed at one of the mansions that Milka had indicated, where there had been a missing person.

“This is the mansion’s entrance. In that case, I think they would go down this street and not that street.”

“Ah, that’s what you mean? Well, but the staff entrance of that house is over here? And this one is here. So they would go down this street after all.”

The other mansions had a separate door for staff that was in the same direction but a short distance away from the main entrance.

But the staff entrance to the mansions that Shia pointed out, were on the opposite side.

And generally, servants only used the staff entrance.

“You sure know a lot, Milka.”

“I used to look through the trash here before I fled into the sewers!”

Milka said proudly.

The servants would take the trash out from the staff entrance. That’s probably why she remembered.

“Milka, well done!”

“Really? I’m glad I could help!”

She said happily.