During Professor Winraus’s lecture, Kenneth’s gaze drifted to the empty seat where Lucian usually sat. It had been days since he’d last seen him at the academy. I wonder if something’s happened, he thought, a trace of worry threading through his mind.

After class, Kenneth caught up with Ash in the hallway. “Have you heard anything from Lucian?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual, though his concern was evident.

Ash shook his head. “No, I haven’t. But my family’s been noticing an unusual number of Luminel guards around town lately,” he said, frowning. The Gairos family, tasked with maintaining peace and security in the city. Lucian’s absence, paired with the increased Luminel presence, struck him as more than a coincidence.

Kenneth felt his worry deepen. Something isn’t right, he thought.

＊＊＊

Rika and Kenneth were summoned to Professor Nero’s office, an unusual tension hanging in the air as they stepped inside. Kenneth couldn’t shake his concern over Lucian’s unexplained absence, but he pushed it aside, trying to focus on the task at hand as he noted the gravity in Nero’s expression.

“I’m assigning this investigation to your club,” Professor Nero announced, sliding a file across his desk.

Kenneth opened it, revealing profiles and photographs of young children. Their innocent faces were now haunted by the context he was just beginning to understand. Rika leaned in, her expression turning serious as she scanned the details.

“These are the missing children,” Nero explained, his voice heavy. “Most of them are children of vassals to the elemental families.”

Kenneth and Rika exchanged a quick, determined look, realizing the significance of what they were being entrusted with.

Back in the clubroom, the group gathered around a board, pinning up the photos and profiles of each missing child. They studied the faces intently, searching for a link or a clue hidden among them.

“Besides being vassals to noble families, I don’t see any other clear connection,” Ash murmured, frowning in concentration.

Rika’s gaze swept over the profiles as she leaned in closer, her tone thoughtful. “Anya Lambert is a vassal of my family, Emilia Morgan and Felix Kline are tied to the Mistral family, and Casey McCann is from Gairos family. They’re all associated with powerful families… Could this be some sort of ransom scheme? Money, maybe?” Her voice held a mix of frustration and uncertainty.

The room fell into silence as they considered the theory, but something felt off.

“There’s another connection,” Joash said slowly, breaking the quiet. “All of them are Elementless.”

Everyone went still, absorbing this new piece of information. They exchanged glances, the implication settling over them like a heavy weight.

Aine narrowed her eyes, piecing it together. “Right. As noble vassals, they’re expected to inherit elemental magic one day. But if they’re all Elementless…”

Ash interjected, his voice tense. “Hold on. My family has reports—some of the children who went missing and later returned had… lost their pnevma. They were just like Commoners when they came back. Most of those cases weren’t with nobles, but… Could this be connected?”

A heavier silence blanketed the room, the depth of the revelation hitting them one by one.

“No way…” Aine whispered, her voice barely audible. “Someone’s trying to remove their pnevma?”

Kenneth’s fists tightened, his jaw set. The idea of children losing their pnevma, their connection to magic and their future, sent a chill through him.

Rika’s voice shook as she broke the silence. “This isn’t just about taking children… it’s about stripping them of who they are.”

The group exchanged tense glances, the gravity of the situation sinking in. They weren’t just searching for missing children—they were up against something far more disturbing.

Ash looked away, struggling to find words. “If someone out there can actually drain pnevma from those children… what kind of power are we dealing with?”

No one had an answer. The room fell silent, the weight of this case pressing down on them.

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＊＊＊

The group split up to cover as many of the missing children’s families as possible. Joash, Rika, and Ash went their separate ways, each heading to different families affected by the disappearances, hoping to gather any clues or insights. Kenneth and Aine, meanwhile, were assigned to visit the Kline family, whose son Felix was among the missing.

At the Kline residence, Kenneth and Aine sat across from Felix’s parents. The weariness etched into their faces spoke of long nights and quiet desperation, shadows lining their eyes as they clung to any hope for their son’s return.

Aine leaned forward, her tone both gentle and resolute. “We’re here to help, Lord Kline. Anything you can share about Felix’s recent activities or anyone he might have encountered could be crucial.”

Simon Kline, the head of the family, nodded before summoning the guards and butlers who had accompanied his wife and son on their last outing. One of the butlers stepped forward, visibly tense, his gaze fixed somewhere distant as he spoke.

“We took Mistress and young Master Felix into town, as usual,” he began, his voice low. “But… at some point, we encountered someone cloaked and hooded. After that… it’s just blank. I can’t recall anything past that moment.”

Kenneth’s brow furrowed as he leaned forward. “Do you remember anything about that person?”

The butler hesitated, frustration flickering across his face as he tried to dredge up any useful detail. “They were cloaked… definitely hooded. But I’m fairly certain it was a woman.”

Kenneth exchanged a glance with Aine, sensing the tension thickening in the room.

“A woman?” Aine asked, her voice calm but probing, encouraging the butler to dig deeper into his foggy recollection. “Was there anything at all that stood out? Even something small?”

The butler shook his head, frustrated. “I wish I could say more. But everything went dark… like she cast a spell on us. We only remember waking up later, and by then, Felix was gone.”

Simon’s expression hardened, his worry evident. “Please, anything you can do to help us bring Felix back…”

Kenneth gave a reassuring nod, determination in his eyes. “We’ll do everything we can, Lord Kline. Thank you for trusting us with this information.”

With that, he and Aine exchanged a silent look, understanding that this mysterious woman might hold the key to the kidnappings.

＊＊＊

After gathering in a quiet corner of a nearby cafe, the group spread out the clues they’d uncovered, each of them focused on understanding the mysterious kidnappings.

“Anya disappeared while she was playing inside her family’s estate,” Rika said, her brow deeply furrowed. “Her maid remembers nothing—just waking up on the ground with Anya gone.”

“The same thing happened with Casey,” Ash added. “Everyone with her had no memory of the event. It’s exactly like Kline's butler described.”

Aine tapped her fingers on the table, thinking out loud. “So it’s a woman using sleep magic. But that doesn’t make sense—it’s rare magic, and it doesn’t belong to any of the elemental families. How is she even able to use it?”

Joash leaned back in his seat, his expression grim. “It also means we can’t trace her through family lineage. We’re running out of leads.”

Silence fell over the group as they each absorbed the weight of the mystery. Kenneth let out a sigh, staring at the scattered photos of the missing kids. Just then, their food arrived, and they began tidying up the documents to make space on the table.

As they shuffled the papers, the server paused, her gaze lingering on one of the photos. She pointed at Casey’s picture, a hint of recognition in her eyes. “Oh! Is that the girl I saw the other day?”

Kenneth immediately looked up, his attention fully on her. “You saw her? Where?”

The server gestured out the window. “Right down the street. She was with a woman—they looked like they knew each other. She seemed… happy.”

Kenneth and the others exchanged startled glances, the hint of a lead sparking hope. “Did you notice anything unusual about the woman?” he pressed.

The server paused, thinking. “Now that I think about it, she’s often with a different child every week. At first, I assumed they were her kids, but something felt…off. That's why I remember her.”

Rika quickly laid out more photos of the missing children. “Have you seen any of these kids with her?”

The server’s eyes widened, nodding as she recognized several faces. “Yes, I’ve seen a few of them.”

Kenneth leaned forward, urgency in his voice. “Do you know when she usually comes by?”

The server thought for a moment. “Around this time, actually. She tends to pass by every week, so she could show up today.”

The group shared a tense, hopeful look.

They thanked the server and immediately turned their attention to the street outside, anticipation building.

Ash shifted uneasily. “What if she doesn’t come?”

“It’s better than waiting around with nothing,” Rika replied, her voice steady with determination.

Barely a few minutes had passed before the server hurried back, her face flushed with urgency. “There! That’s her!” she whispered, pointing toward the street.

The group turned to look, catching sight of a woman walking by, holding the hand of a young boy who was gazing up at her with a bright smile. Kenneth’s eyes narrowed, zeroing in on the woman.

There was something about her—a faint, dark aura that he recognized immediately, a trace of the same unsettling energy he’d sensed around the withering patches on the Tree of Life.

“That’s definitely her,” Kenneth muttered, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Aine leaned in, her expression tense. “She’s using the same kind of energy we sensed in the Tree of Life before… but why would she be here, in plain sight?”

“We need to follow her,” Kenneth said, urgency lacing his voice.

They slipped out of the cafe, tracking the woman from a distance. But as they moved closer, the woman glanced back, her gaze sharp as she noticed them. Without hesitation, she lifted the child into her arms and quickened her pace, disappearing around a corner into a narrow alleyway.

The group chased after her, breaking into a run. Just as they turned the corner, they collided head-on with two familiar figures, nearly toppling over from the impact.

“Lucian? Elena?” Kenneth gasped, his eyes widening in shock.

“Kenneth? Everyone?” Lucian echoed, his expression just as surprised.

They stared at each other, confusion and surprise written across their faces.