Chapter 138: Search For Nicole (1/2)

I’ll admit that blaming Ferti’nier wasn’t really going to accomplish anything seeing as she didn’t scare away my pee pee on purpose. In light of that I should probably be more accepting of her as well but that still didn’t tell me how was I going to coax my pee pee back.

“Once this one separates from you, all you have to do is undergo another evolution and the problem should fix itself.” She promptly chimed in with a straight-to-the-point answer. Looks like she at least felt a smidgen of guilt for causing this.

That simple? Sounds a lot easier than I had initially thought…so how do we split up?

“First, we have to find Yi Yi.”

Yi Yi huh…the legendary fiancee! Alright then, first we’ll go find Nicole and then we can visit Yi Yi in Gehenna, that’s settled then.

Having dealt with the bandit troupe, the remainder of our trip to Azure City went by uneventfully. While my masked and hooded get-up was rather strange, it was still in vogue amongst the adventurers although admittedly, mask wearing adventurers were still in the minority. However, with so much thoroughfare passing through the city every day, our addition didn’t raise that many eyebrows. In short, it wasn’t strange.

According to Regine, Nicole was a student of Azure’s warrior academy so our first objective was naturally to head for the academy. With no time to spare for the city sights, we left straight for the academy, at least that was what I hoped to do…I still didn’t meet the requirements to enter the school…should I pose as pizza delivery?

Hmm…doesn’t sound like it will work.

Standing in front of the school’s gate were two burly men whose stature was akin to those guardian deities you saw in front of Asian temples. With backs straight and body at attention, their eyes which reeked of danger, swept back and forth over the entrance as they watched for any suspicious person.

Looks like the front entrance is out of the question with these two fellows guarding it…should I scale the walls? Hmm…that probably wouldn’t work either, they probably had patrols and magical spells guarding the walls. For all I know, my reckless infiltration might end up triggering some magical alarm array.

With no other choice left open to me, I decided to wait for a better opportunity.

Thankfully, our previous two opponents were pretty loaded so money wasn’t an issue for now. I rented a couple of rooms for us while we staked out the campus entrance. Thus began my daily morning routine of loitering around the front entrance which swiftly earned the guarded stares of those two guardian deities. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I hadn’t done anything overtly provocative, I bet they would’ve already “invited me over for a cup of tea”.

Everyday, a large number of students would pass through the gates and yet after two days, there was still no sign of Nicole.

As time ticked by, my heart grew ever more uneasy. Was she even in this city? Did Regine make a mistake or perhaps she decided to return home…these worries and questions swirled about my head as I stared intently at the bustling gate while pacing back and forth. It was as if I was thrown back to my high school examination days except this felt a lot more stressful.

Just as my nerves began to fray, a diminutive silhouette caught my attention as it passed through the crowd of students. It was an adorable little girl that seemed to have come out of some 2D animation. She had long, blue flowing hair and a peach face which, judging by her youthful skin, was probably that of a 10 year old’s. As she walked up to the fierce looking men, she would skip from time to time like an energetic and lively little girl.

What drew my attention however, wasn’t her appearance but rather the fact that I sensed the presence of Nicole on her.

As a devil, I was able to pick up the traces of a person’s aura and determine certain facts from it. Nicole’s aura was one that I was particularly familiar so there was no way I could ever mistake that aura I felt on the girl.

That girl definitely knew Nicole and their relationship should be rather close as well.

In that case, all I have to do now is to approach her and ask about Nicole.

“Master, here’s lunch.” From the nearby inn came Ancarin, with a basket of bread and juice hung around her arm. Ever since I began this non-stop surveillance two days ago, it was Ancarin who brought me food and drinks while Regine stayed behind in the inn to look after Duran.

“Food? Hold on, there’s something I must handle right now, just head back first.” The little girl greeted the two burly men after which I saw them point at me from a distance away and mention something to the girl. She turned to look at me for a moment before answering them and leaving.

Now’s the time! In order to find Nicole, I must catch up to her, she’s the only clue I got right now. No matter what, I mustn’t let her go!

“Master!” Ancarin immediately called out to me, worry written all over her face as she did so. Seeing that I stopped and knowing that I was in a hurry, she cut straight to the point and said, “I saw a number of robed people loitering nearby with a murderous aura surrounding them. They seemed to be searching for someone.”

I immediately understood what she meant. Knowing her, she would never mention such a thing right now if she didn’t think it was absolutely urgent, “And then?”

“Among them was a girl who wasn’t wearing a robe, if I’m not mistaken, she was one of the girls who was captured by Duran…”

Duran’s captives had all been freed by me and I even gave them a small fortune when I sent them off. Seeing as all of them knew of my identity and my goal of coming to Azure, that could only mean one thing…they were looking for me!

Damn it, why must this happen now! A lead to Nicole was just standing in front of me a few moments ago!

No…I must catch up to him, I mustn’t let this lead disappear.

“I know, you can return back to the inn for now, I’ll take care of it later.”

“But Master…”

Ancarin wanted to dissuade me but I immediately interrupted her, “I know you’re really worried about me but I have my own reasons. Just return to the inn first and wait for me there.”

Understanding that nothing would change my mind, she finally nodded her head: “…mhm, Master, take care.”

“I will.”

Without waiting for her to turn around, I took off after the little girl.