"Another lost cat, Go find it, Gars," Wanora said.
Gars sighed but got up and left.
"Monday, check these documents out."
Monday rushed over, grabbing the stack of papers and shuffling through them.
"Sinus, the temple called again. Looks like they need a hand. Go check it out, will you?"
"On it."
Sinus left.
Since the start of TaskHand, I thought it wouldn't work well. But surprisingly, it was doing really well.
At first, we barely had customers. We had to renovate the entire building, set up task boards, and spread the word. We took on jobs for cheap, even the simple ones, so people who liked our services started talking. Within a month, TaskHand had become popular enough that we got customers daily.
Most of the jobs were small—delivering letters, fetching lost pets, carrying goods—but every now and then, we got tasks from temples, barons, and even viscounts. Good work. Stable income. Easy jobs.
The bell rang.
A man stepped in, slightly short, with a beard and nervous eyes. He walked straight to the board, pinning up a request.
I approached, smiling. "Hello. I'm free right now. I can handle your task directly. No need to pin it."
He looked relieved, handing me the paper before leaving in a hurry.
[Task Board Request]
Title: Missing Caravan – Reward for Information & Recovery
Issuer: Alric Varson, Merchant of Fine Wares
Location: Varson's Emporium, Market District
Details:
A shipment carrying fine silks, rare spices, and enchanted trinkets has vanished while en route to my shop. The caravan was last seen near the Old Stone Bridge two nights ago. My couriers and hired guards have not returned.
Reward:
250 gold for reliable information
500 gold for the safe return of my goods
Time is money. Find me at Varson's Emporium if you are interested.
—Alric Varson
My eyes widened.
500 gold?!??!
I rushed to Wanora.
"WANORA! A GOOD REQUEST CAME IN!"
She snatched the paper from my hands, studying it for a second before grinning.
"Yeah, let's do this. But we're busy. Heide, you're free, right? By tomorrow—no, by today—go to the emporium and tell him we'll take the job."
"Alright, alright."
I grabbed the paper, collected my gear, and left the building, stepping into the crowded streets.
Of course, we got requests. But this was big. 500 gold. A rich merchant wouldn't throw out that much unless it was serious.
I moved through the streets quickly, heading toward the Market District.
The emporium was packed.
A crowd had gathered outside, but they weren't being let in. The doors were open, but customers weren't allowed to inspect the goods properly. Fear of theft? Maybe. The merchant was on edge, that much was clear.
I approached the guard at the entrance, showing him the task request. He glanced at it, nodded, and let me through—alone.
Instantly, I heard the shouts behind me.
"Why's he getting in?"
"Oi, we've been waiting!"
I ignored them and stepped inside.
The store was filled with artifacts—not high-quality ones, but even the low-tier stuff here was worth a lot.
The merchant sat in the center, signing documents without pause.
He looked up as I entered. Young, sharp features, delicate skin. Yellow eyes, piercing even through his glasses.
I walked up to him. He looked at me with clear annoyance.
"Took your sweet time, huh?"
What? I was dumbfounded. It hadn't even been an hour.
He continued, "Alright, I'm not making introductions. Since you're here, I'll assume you accepted. Ask me any questions I can answer within two words. No—scratch that. I'll only answer in two words, no matter what you ask."
I stared at him. Is this guy serious?
"…Can I go?"
He stared at me for a moment before he smiled. "Yes."
I turned around and left.
He seemed pleased with my question.
—
As I stepped outside, the chattering didn't stop. A few people pushed closer.
"Hey, what artifact did you get? I'll pay for it, whatever it is." A man sounded frantic. "Ten gold—no, fifteen."
"…I didn't buy anything?" I stepped back, trying to get some space.
They stared at me.
"Don't fuck with us. We know you went in there to buy artifacts, you VIP son of a bitch."
"What? No, I swear—"
Before I could finish, five figures appeared behind me, shoving the crowd back.
"Step aside."
The men surrounded me, leading me out of the emporium and into the market district.
One of them spoke. "We're sent by Lord Varson. We'll assist you in the investigation. My name is Douglas. This is Frier, Sonovan, Prism, and Caton."
"Oh… yeah, sure. Totally." I shook his hand. Unique names, I guess.
Prism grinned. "Oh yeah, it is."
Douglas gestured ahead. "Shall we? We have a carriage prepared."
I spotted it right away. A guard carriage—but expensive. No surprise there. Varson didn't seem like the type to care about losing money. 500 gold for a lost shipment, high-end transport for guards—he was spending without hesitation, was he desperate? Likely not.
We climbed in, and the carriage rolled out of the market district.
Small talk filled the space. That's when I learned something new.
The Varson house informant had gone missing. On the same day as the caravan.
"But we didn't get a task for that?" I asked.
"Of course you didn't," Caton said. "We're keeping it low. Other factions might take advantage of the situation."
"How so?"
"If they find the informant before we do, they'll pull out information—about Lord Varson's emporium, trade routes, buyers, everything. It's dangerous."
"…And it's fine for you to be telling me all this?"
Sonovan laughed. "Quite the gentleman, thinking about us. Well, Caton here is an idiot for running his mouth, but we didn't stop him. The Lord was bringing in outside help anyway. We can't do this alone. We were hoping you'd help us too."
I smiled. "Of course I will."
—
We arrived at the bridge.
The six of us got off.
"So, the last time they were seen was when they were approaching the bridge, huh?"
"Yes," they replied.
I knelt down, fingers touching the ground.
I focused.
Vibrations.
Movement.
Footsteps.
Carriages.
Everything.
There was something unusual.
The image formed in my mind—vibrations from the past days replaying like an echo. The caravan had stopped in the middle of the bridge. Four people got off. Only one got back in.
I opened my eyes and looked toward the edge of the bridge. Below, the river flowed steadily.
I spoke up. "Alright, I think I figured it out."
They turned to me, stunned.
"…Already?"
"Yeah." I pointed at the ground. "A caravan stopped here. Four people got off. Vanished. Only one got back in. Suspicious, isn't it? I mean, it could be random, but the caravan was heavy all the way up to this point. After they got off, though? A lot lighter. They lost dozens of kilograms. What do you think?"
Douglas narrowed his eyes. "They took off the artifacts. That's why the weight changed."
"Correct."
"But how could you tell?"
"The Clarion of Touch. I have it."
A brief silence. Then—
"…The what?"
I sighed. "With the vibrations left behind, I can sense movements from days ago. A caravan doesn't vibrate the same way even if you change the weight by a few grams. I factored out the people, and the numbers didn't match—something else was offloaded." I pointed at the river. "And those people who disappeared? Yeah. They went down."
"They jumped?" Sonovan asked.
"Yep."
There was a brief pause. Then Douglas spoke. "Alright. Let's go."
The others nodded.
"…Jump down?" I echoed.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, what? No, I can't jump down."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a literal river?"
Douglas frowned. "Oh. You're scared. Frier, carry him."
Before I could react, a pair of arms scooped me up.
"Oh. Wow. Okay… this was unexpected."
Frier jumped first.
Prism, Caton, Douglas, and Sonovan followed right after.
—
We landed in the water.
Frier floated easily, still carrying me in his arms. "The water isn't that deep."
I stood up.
The water was deep.
I was almost submerged, and the riverbed was easily a dozen meters down.
I floated beside them.
"Well then, let's head downstream," Prism said, already beginning to swim.
I frowned.
They were swimming?
Why?
There was literally land right over there.
I held up a hand. "Wait."
The four of them stopped, looking back.
"Go downstream. Me and Frier will go upstream."
Frier turned to me, confused. "What?"
Douglas squinted. "Why upstream? Did you check it?"
"Nope."
Silence.
"…Then why?"
I shrugged. "Just a feeling."
They stared at me.
I continued. "I could check the waterbed, but my proficiency isn't high enough. I wouldn't be able to track anything properly—not when the water's moving every nanosecond. It's too hard. But this way, if either of us encounters something, we can contact each other."
I held up my hand. "You guys do have the plates, right?"
They pulled them out.
Small, circular mechanical devices. They operated like old phones—except they could only send colors. Mostly used by military types. Red meant danger or enemy sighted.
I nodded. "Frier can alert you if we find something. If you find them first, you can alert us."
The others exchanged glances.
"…Alright."
They shrugged it off, turning away. Within moments, they had already disappeared downstream.
I exhaled, turning to Frier.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Can you take me to the land? It's too cold."
Frier carried me to land, where the two of us started walking upstream.
He glanced at me. "Why do you think it's upstream?"
I gave him a side-eye. "Think about it. Do you think they'd be able to carry all the stolen goods upstream?"
"…No?"
"Exactly. That's why they want us to think they went downstream. Of course, I could be wrong. That's why I sent the others that way."
Frier frowned. "That doesn't expl—"
I cut him off. "I'm explaining, wait, wait. So. This world has Clarion users, right? Meaning people can use their Clarions to track where the thieves went. They must've known that. That's why they did this at night, avoiding any unnecessary attention. Still, someone saw them and tipped us off."
Frier blinked. "…You're telling me they were the ones who made sure we'd know where they were last seen?"
"Yeah. There's no crime without evidence. And a fabricated piece of evidence? That's easier to find than real evidence hidden near the crime itself."
"…That rhymed."
"I know." I chuckled. "Anyway. They must've planned ways to bypass Clarion users. For sound, they used the river's flow to mask their noise—not that it matters. Hearing past sounds is a high-level skill. Same goes for vision. They did it in the dark, just in case… or maybe they didn't care about vision users at all. The real concerns were touch, taste, and smell."
Frier nodded slowly. "You figured out the touch part."
"Yeah. And they knew that tracking them through the waterbed would be useless—because I can't tell whether something moved upstream or downstream after we got in the river. Meaning, the most basic assumption for us would be that they went downstream. For smell, the river mud would've masked any lingering scents. And taste—what are they gonna do, taste the water?" I scoffed. "It's flowing. Pretty clever. Likely someone smart."
"…True." Frier fell into thought.
We walked in silence for a while.
Eventually, a village came into view.
Frier exhaled. "Alright. Let's question people."
He started forward, then stopped, turning back. "Aren't you coming?"
"Me? Oh, no. I'm gonna dry myself. You go question people. Come find me at that tree when you're done."
He frowned but didn't argue, leaving toward the village.
I sat down, shrugging off my coat, gloves, and scarf, spreading them out to dry. Now only in my shirt and pants, I walked barefoot across the dirt.
It had been a long time since I last walked barefoot.
It felt… different.
But not unfamiliar.
"Alright, let's see where these criminals are hiding, shall we?"
I started walking, analyzing the village through my feet. The vibrations painted a rough map in my mind—seven warehouses in total. Oh? An underground basement. Interesting. I wonder what they're hiding down there.
I glanced around. Several people were eyeing me, wary and ready to warn others. That's why I was sensing through my feet instead of my hands—it was less obvious. Using my hands would be far more accurate, but they didn't know that the Clarion of Touch could also be accessed through the legs. Only high-rankers from the upper-class districts knew that trick, and they never revealed their secrets.
Should I shake them off? Hm. Maybe later. Right now, I was hungry.
I walked toward a local shop, drawn in by the rich aroma of something cooking. As I approached, I placed six copper coins on the counter.
"One plate of whatever that is, please."
The cook nodded, preparing my meal as I sat down.
I closed my left eye.
My mind reached out, linking with a familiar presence—a very certain chicken.
Diagung.