Period pieces have prepared me for the respect one owes the lord of a manor, but I still don't know what to expect as we set off across town and make our way to the towering structure that serves as his stronghold. Izumi is trying to make conversation, but I barely hear it over the racing of my heart. The possibility that we could find another one of the missing girls so soon is thrilling. I think we're walking for a solid hour, but it feels like no time at all when I'm so absorbed in my thoughts.

Izumi uses the large knocker at the door to alert Lord Windwood to our presence.

When the door opens, we're greeted by a maid instead. That makes sense, I suppose. She's shorter than the average person.

My eyes linger on her for just long enough that my internal display activates: Halfling (level one). The name sounds a bit familiar.

"State your business," she sighs, not unfriendly but not entirely thrilled to see us.

"We're here to find the master's daughter," Izumi answers immediately.

"Then I shall inform him of your arrival," she says with a slight nod. "Please follow me inside. Take care not to touch anything."

We're set up in a room while she fetches him. I feel like we're about to interview a key witness. I've got butterflies.

"Stop smiling. It makes you look like an idiot." Helpful words from Mamoru bring me back to reality.

"I was not smiling."

"Sure."

The door creaks open. A figure looms behind the maid. Without a doubt, it's the master of the house.

"Announcing Lord Windwood."

As I've predicted, he's dark-haired and brown-eyed, clearly no father of a redhead. He may have carried himself tall once, but now he slouches. There are dark circles under his eyes, evidence of nights spent worrying about Lilah. He gives off the impression of a good man fallen on hard times.

"You're here about my daughter?" The man wastes no time, turning to all of us as we quickly rise from our positions on the couch and chair of the receiving room to bow. "Please, sit back down. You'll really help me find her?"

"I have a few questions—" I begin, but Izumi talks over me very deliberately.

"Yes. We'd like to know everything you do. We'll bring her back safely, I promise."

"My wife died before she could give birth to an heir," he says quietly. "So when Lilah agreed to my proposal to adopt her, I was overjoyed. She said she came from some far-off kingdom and, to tell you the truth, I didn't care. I've wanted a daughter for so long—"

"Did she tell you the kingdom's name?" I ask.

"No. I could tell she wanted to leave her past behind her. She'd have nightmares sometimes, crying out in her sleep..." The lord sighs. "She wouldn't even tell me her family name. She just took mine for her own."

Mamoru seems to be falling asleep, but I know it's important to know everything there is to know about the victim and their family.

"I don't mean to bore you," he says.

"You're not," I insist.

Izumi nods along with me. "She's important to you. We'll listen as long as you need."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Thank you." He begins to pace the room. "The point is, the one time I allowed her to go shopping without a guard, she never came home. Usually I insist, but she wore me down."

"What was she shopping for?" I ask.

"She didn't say. Lilah didn't want to be part of this family for status or wealth. She liked peasant fashion and watching street performers. I thought maybe she had a secret sweetheart among the bards in town. But maybe that's just a father's paranoia."

"A secret love affair!" Izumi swoons a little. "But she'd never run away from you."

"Do you think someone kidnapped her?" I finally get to the point. "Have you received any ransom notes? Has anyone in your household been acting suspicious?"

"I don't know. Nobody's acting out of the ordinary and you're the first adventurer's I've spoken to about this."

"Only us?" Mamoru leans forward.

"The Windwood name is... somewhat..."

The silence is palpable.

"Cursed. Everyone in the city knows. Lilah knew, and she stayed with me anyway. The curse is what killed my wife."

Did we make some kind of mistake coming here? I'm ready to exchange skeptical looks with the rest of the party, but they seem more intrigued than plagued by disbelief.

"What kind of curse?" Izumi asks gently.

"We're gifted mages from the time we're born," the lord answers. "But when we grow older, the talent leaves us, and the hole it leaves in the soul leads to an untimely death. We never know when it will strike."

"But Lilah wouldn't have had the curse if she's not your biological daughter," I point out. "Why is this important?"

"We have talismans. Charms. All sorts of things to ward off the hollow-sickness. They're very expensive to manufacture, and since the demons came to power, they've been harder to find. She was wearing my wife's last protective talisman when she disappeared."

"So it wasn't about Lilah, but the... thing... she was wearing?" I ask.

I don't know a talisman from a tarantula, so I’ll need to rely on Izumi and Mamoru more than I want to admit.

"I think so," Lord Windwood says. "I fear she may have been the victim of a violent act in the process of someone stealing it. But a missing talisman, even a token of my late wife, is nothing compared to my daughter's safety. I just want to know that she’s safe."

To summarize the facts and form a hypothesis, I run through the details. Lilah had nightmares; she liked the common folk; she had a mysterious past; she always carried a valuable object on her person. None of the details fit together yet.

"We'll find out what happened to her," Izumi promises.

"Half upfront—" Mamoru starts to say, but I shut him up with a glare.

"We'll take payment after we find Lilah," I follow up.

"No, no, it's quite alright," the lord says. "You may need the funds to buy information or to travel."

Mamoru gives me a smug look.

"We'll bring her back to you, Lord Windwood," Izumi says solemnly.

And that's how we ended up with our first quest, I guess.