I am in a strange state between being extremely conscious of every single thing happening around me and half-asleep. I can even feel a warm sensation of my childhood friend’s back brushing against mine, which doesn’t help the situation at all. It’s very bad: I can’t sleep at all.

I decided to somehow find a way to pass the night safely, away from incredible dangers that awaited me in the inn room. Hence, I made my way to the kitchen where the owner, a kind beastwoman lady, was silently drinking all by herself.

“Oh, what are you doing here?” She told me with a smile and, after explaining my situation, quickly allowed to sit by her side. I am not a fan of alcohol – it’s too bitter – but I nonetheless accepted her offer. We talked for some time and she asked me a question. “Hey, what are your relationships with the girl you came with?”

I honestly replied. “I like Marie a lot!” Yes, I really do: she treats me kindly, makes me delicious food and teaches me important stuff. At this, the owner lady started to merrily laugh, as if I said some kind of joke to her, while saying something about “youth”. I was completely serious there, you know.

However, when I felt too tired to remain awake, I decided to take my chances with the lion’s den. I mean, it’s not like Marie will try to kill me for real, if I were to accidentally turn and hug her in her sleep… Not a good idea, Alan. Even if she slept deeper than normal today, Marie is still sharp as always.

I opened the door and there saw no familiar figure of my friend sleeping on the bed. “It’s strange” I muttered, feeling uneasiness spread through my body. “Her clothes are here” I checked the wardrobe provided by the inn as well. “Empty”

I couldn’t find a trace of her: she disappeared… Magic? No, it can’t be because…

“Listen well – I won’t repeat twice­ – it’s impossible to transport an object with magic: such phenomenon requires two impossible conditions from the caster.

One of them is very large quantities of mana, more than a human body can possess without damaging itself. While elves like me are more attuned to storing larger capacities of mana, they too have a certain limit and it is not near enough to teleport even a small item, much less a person.

Secondly, a caster in question needs to be able to operate with a massive amount of information – weight, length, shape, color, taste, inner structure, history and more. In other words, they must be able to store them all inside his head, which is entirely impossible in its nature. I can say it is a flaw of every sentient creature in this world and beyond”

… I already heard that lecture long time ago: I pride myself on always remembering what I was told before. Then, if it wasn’t a work of magic, and it wasn’t Marie then why did she disappear? In other words, who dared to attack us in our sleep? I may be a kind person, but now? I am royally pissed.

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I looked at the window and found the first clue: the open window. Marie always makes sure to close her windows before going to sleep: everyone back home does because it’s either this or slowly freezing through the night.

It a custom native to the western regions, but not to the natives of this city since their climate is milder, so those capturers are from here. Yes, they – I may be an idiot, but I hunted animals for so long I can recognize two distinct pair of footsteps on the floor. Oh, so one of them has a damaged leg, too. Amateurs…

It all connects: Marie’s drowsiness, the owner lady’s strange mood and an open window. They wanted to capture an elf, Marie, from the start and I was a hindrance. I think they drugged our drinks, but hopefully I am immune to poisons after the hell that was gramps’ idea of training. It was a horrible experience.

It was only their luck that I decided to wander a bit, wasn’t it? However, they even had the owner at ready to attract my attention and buy some time for them to do the deed, huh? It is pretty good for a quick improvisation, I must admit.

I only need to track them now. I will find them and when I do… I will kill them all, if they even dare to touch her with a single finger

Author Notes: It's Alan Time! 

In the next episode:

"So, mademoiselle, tell me what a tiny elf like you forgot in a rotten hole like this? Other than being a captive, of course..."

"I will give you one more try, bastard! Talk and I won't break your second leg!"

"Let's start our lesson, shall we? I believe an introduction is in order. I also hope we will have a nice and productive conversation ahead of us"

"Marie-e-e-e!!"