Clayton started issuing orders out. Nobody would feel right if everyone just dropped all the subjugation contracts they currently had, as there were few enough people taking care of bandits as it was. Clayton put Alfred in a small group that included Darren, Bruno, Clyde, and a few others. They were tasked with start investigating where Adam was sent and on what mission. From there, they were going to form a search party to go out and look for him!

The group quickly started working on their investigations. Franklin started out by saying: “Adam said that he was going to be protecting a spiritualist named Emery, right? Should we start investigating who this spiritualist is and what mission he was sent out on?”

The others agreed. “That sounds like the best course of action. We should also send someone out to where Adam was recruited. If we can't get any information on this Emery, maybe we can learn more there.”

After brainstorming a few options, everyone split up to begin investigating. However, no matter where they went they were blocked at every point! Nobody would give them any information as it was classified, not permitted to be given, or there was simply nothing to be found! For two whole weeks they tried to found out something, anything, with no luck whatsoever!

Everyone was filled with disappointment from day after day of no clues being found. One day, Alfred came back to the Silver Saviors after another unfruitful day of searching. As Alfred was entering one of their bunk areas, someone said to him: “Oh, Alfred, a letter arrived for you!”

“A letter? From who?”

“Don't know. We are hoping it is somebody getting back to you with information about Adam, but it could also be a personal letter so no one has opened it.”

Alfred quickly went to their post room to retrieve the letter and immediately opened it with expectation. The contents read:

'Alfred, I have heard that you have been looking into Adam's disappearance. I counted myself as one of Adam's friends while he was traveling with us, even though we could not see eye-to-eye on everything. I can't tell you much, as it is classified, but I personally believe the only reason why Adam hasn't come back is because he is indeed dead. If you are still insistent on trying to find him, I can give you only one piece of information; Adam disappeared in the port city by Sagan Wall.'

Alfred's heart was furiously pumping! This was both good news and bad. They finally had a piece of information to go on, but the one who sent this letter obviously had inside information and truly believed Adam was dead! Whatever had happened must have been dangerous enough to threaten Adam's life. Perhaps he really was... Alfred violently shook his head. If not for his sake, then for Helen's he would not believe that Adam was dead until he saw a corpse!

Alfred quickly rounded up the others who were also trying to investigate Adam's disappearance. The night was still young and they needed to find out everything they could about Sagan Wall! It didn't take long to find out where it was and about the port city behind the wall. The only problem was that it was close to the war front!

Alfred and the others hurriedly presented their findings to Clayton when they had finished collecting it. After looking over everything, he said: “It might take a little while, but let me get a military permit before sending you out close to the front lines. A small armed band that has no business at the front could easily be arrested as spies! Once everything is in order, you are going to go to Sagan Wall to locate any trace of Adam you can find!”

The only complaint Alfred and the others had about this was the idea of waiting for that military permit! If Adam was in some type of precarious situation, every day mattered! Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about it. If they got arrested along the way and charged with being spies, that would be worse!

After receiving their order, Alfred went to tell Helen the news! Since they had immediately gone to search for information on Sagan Wall and then reported it, he had had no time to tell Helen. They had searched over night so it was morning now and he was tired, but he needed to tell Helen about this before he finally took some rest.

Helen nearly came to tears when Alfred told her they had found where Adam was last seen! After two weeks of no leads, they finally found something this significant! Helen asked: “When do you think you will be able to find him?”

Alfred shook his head at a loss. “It will take at least a month to get there. Then we will have to find out if anyone remembers seeing Adam. Hopefully we will find a trail to follow and won't reach any dead ends. I can only hope that we will find him and drag him back before you give birth to your child...”

After this, there wasn't much more to be said or done. Alfred went back to rest and wait for the military permit before heading out to Sagan Wall. It took two days to get the military permit and Alfred and the rest immediately departed to Sagan Wall as soon as they had the permit in hand. With the permit, they might be stopped by the military at checkpoints but they would easily be able to pass the checks and continue on at the fastest pace possible.

As Alfred had told Helen, it took them a little over a month to get all the way to Sagan Wall. In this particular area along the border between Luxom and Heider, this was the front line! Sagan Wall was originally intended to defend the mountain pass from Heider. Now, Heider troops had to build up defenses so that it could more adequately defend against forces from Luxom! To prepare these defenses, the front line troops had stayed stationed at Sagan Wall and had yet to advance further into Heider, even after a few months of fortifying the area.

The journey to Sagan Wall had been uneventful and fraught with worry over Adam. Now that they had finally reached their destination, they were eager to start their investigation. Alfred and the others headed to the port city by Sagan Wall. Heider troops had long ago erected defensive wood walls around the city as a form of protection. Entering the city, there was a depressed mood that could be seen wherever Alfred and the others looked. This was a city that was being occupied so many of the citizens were feeling oppressed by the marital law of the military and the bitter feeling of having lost their home to the 'enemy'. It was evening when they entered, which cast a dark shadow over everything which didn't help the mood at all.

The first thing Alfred and the others did was to find and inn to settle down in and call home for the duration of their stay. Since this was the front line of the war, it was actually quite easy to find a good inn for a cheap price, since there would hardly be any visitors here. After finding a good inn, someone tossed out the idea: “This is as good a place as any to start asking questions, so why don't we get to it?”

The inn they had chosen to stay at doubled as a tavern, since the were the only inns that could stay open with the current ebb in visitors to their city. Alfred and a few others fanned out across the tavern to start asking questions. They had to be careful with how they worded their questions, though. If they knew it was a person from Heider that Alfred and the others were looking for, the civilians may be disinclined to answer any of their questions truthfully. Alfred chose to start asking the proprietor and went to the bar he was currently tending.

As Alfred approached, the man tending the bar said: “Howdy sir, did you and your friends need some meals?”

Alfred nodded his head: “In around an hour, we will. What I really wanted was to ask you some questions. We are part of a group of mercenaries called the Silver Saviors and one of our friends disappeared a while back when he had gone out adventuring on his own.”

At this point, Alfred noticed that the bar tender was giving him a queer look, as though he had said something odd. Alfred's heart started pounding. Did he already say something wrong that would keep the man from answering him? He couldn't help asking: “What?”

The bar tender shook his head. “No, it's just that your mercenary name is similar to a recent legend. At the time those limey bast- eh, soldiers, took over the city there was this horde of ghouls that attacked the city as Heider fought against Sagan Wall! It was the whole reason why our forces crumbled and lost! During the fighting in the city, there was this mysterious man who fought alongside a glowing silver wolf against the ghouls! Due to his wolf casting a silver glow onto him, the man has been referred to as the Silver Savior. He managed to save a few folk before he disappeared. A few are guessing he was overwhelmed by the ghouls, since the wolf can still be seen around the city!”

Alfred starred, dumbfounded. He had thought that they were going to have to search for a month or more in a city of this size to find information on a single man who had only briefly been in the city! However, they hadn't even been here more than a couple hours and already found this much! Alfred immediately became excited and leaned over the bar to the man: “Where is Silber, the wolf!? They are the ones we are looking for!”

Surprise flickered in the bar tender's eyes. Franklin and the others started to head over as well, after hearing Alfred nearly shouting at the tender. “Did you already find something out!?”

The bar tender then chuckled. “That the Silver Savior came from a band called the Silver Saviors, it makes some sense. Well, it is no secret. The wolf, Silber you say his name is? Well Silber can typically be seen in one of the central orphan districts. Many people died and many kids were left without parents. A few districts were put aside to house the orphans and it seems that Silber is protecting two particular orphans. However, he is also seen constantly leaving as though he is trying to find something. It is believed that he is looking for his master, the Silver Savior.”

Alfred and the others had already started talking among themselves. “I can't believe we found Silber already! What about Adam, though?”

“When we find Silber, maybe we will be able to shed some light on what happened.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Why don't we leave right now and go to that orphan district?”

“Are you an idiot? Its getting late and they are kids, they aren't going to stay up that late. We should just wait until tomorrow and if Silber isn't there we can also ask the kids some questions too!”

“But to think, this city was attacked by ghouls! Just like when Adam was young... it is no wonder why he came to help the civilians here.”

Having generally decided on a course of action, Alfred and the others took a meal from the bar tender before turning in for the night. The next morning, they directly headed out to find the two kids that Silber was protecting. This particular orphan district was close to the center of the city and was fairly well taken care of. Those who felt for the orphans plight would share food with the kids and perhaps even hire them on as unskilled workers if they owned a business.

It didn't take too long for Alfred and the others to find the two particular kids they were after. Simply asking about the 'silver wolf' would have others pointing them in the correct direction. Silber was not aggressive against people, unless they threatened him or the kids, so everyone was rather amicable to his presence. He had helped protect some of them from ghouls and represented free spirit. There were many who sought out Silber, just to see his silver fur. This made it so that Alfred and the others did not stick out much by asking after him.

They walked up to a house with a decent sized yard that had a few kids playing in it while a couple elderly women looked after the kids. As Alfred and the others got close, one of the women came up to them and asked what they were there for. When they told her they were hoping to see Silber and talk to the kids, she responded: “We often get people looking for the silver wolf, but not many come to talk to Adeline or Everette. The wolf is not presently here but Adeline and Everette are right over there.”

In the direction the woman pointed were two children. They were about five years old and seemed to much closer to each other than they did with any of the other children. Since they would probably scare the kids if they all went over, Alfred went over by himself. The kids still seemed apprehensive as Alfred approached them, so he stopped a small distance away. “Hey, I heard you two are protected by Silber, the silver wolf. Silber and Adam, the Silver Savior, are my friends and I am trying to find out why Adam disappeared. Did you know anything that you could tell me?”

The kids had been asked a few questions before, but never like how Alfred had asked. Alfred directly gave the names of Silber and Adam, whereas the others would just refer to the names the legend of the Silver Savior gave them. Alfred also didn't seem to be mean or desperate to find them for some type of 'salvation' by seeing the silver wolf. He seemed kind of nice. Everette spoke up first: “You... you know their names?”

Even these two kids did not know Silber's name. Things had been too chaotic so they did not recall what Adam had called Silber. It was the first time the kids had heard of these names. Alfred said: “Yup, those are their names! Adam has a family waiting for him back home and they are worried after he didn't come home. That is why we are here to try to find him!”

Adeline then spoke up: “We don't remember too much of what happened, it was too scary! All that we remember is that the Silver Savior helped to save us before we were surrounded by lots and lots of ghouls! He put us on the silver wolf and the wolf took us away. That's all we know. You won't take the silver wolf away from us will you? He's nice!”

Alfred's face contorted a little. But he didn't want to scare the kids by saying he was going to take Silber away. At this time, there were a few small shouts as some of the kids in the yard noticed something. They were all exclaiming: “The silver wolf is back!”

Silber was slowly trotting up to the lot when he noticed Alfred and the others. Excitement shone in his eyes as he recognized them. He quickly ran up to them and started desperately barking. “Have you seen Adam!? I can't find him anywhere!”

Alfred and the others couldn't hear Silber talk, but they could hear the difference in his barking. They had never heard him barking in such a manner. Alfred said: “Hey Silber, do you know anything about Adam? We are here to help find him but the only clue we currently have is you.”

When Silber heard this, he turned downcast and whined a little. “I have no idea where he is!”

Seeing this, Alfred quickly started rubbing Silber's back. “Hey, don't worry. We are here now too so I am sure we will find something. We just need to start searching.”

Even as he said this, the worry in Alfred could only grow. Would Adam really just leave Silber behind? He had last been seen surrounded by ghouls... the implication of his disappearance was that he had fallen in battle! “No! I can't believe it! Not until I see his body!”

Alfred and the others started a round of investigations that lasted for over a month! They found the spot where Adam was surrounded by ghouls, but the place was too old and many places were already cleaned up. Silber had actually already searched the area before right after all the ghouls had left. There were a few bodies left in the street, but Adam's was not among them. Of that Silber was certain. Where ever else they looked, there wasn't much of anything to be found and they could only come back empty handed. They were faced with a hard reality; Adam had disappeared and left nothing behind!they were faced with the choice of leaving since they could not find anything or continuing to stay, hoping to find something they had missed. During the month of their stay, they had became fairly well known in the city. They were friends of the Silver Savior and were trying to find out anything about him. Many people sought them out on their own, as they had been saved by Adam and wanted to repay this favor. Unfortunately, there was nothing useful to be found. With as popular and well known as they were, all the information about Adam was likely already delivered to them and there was nothing else to be found.

Alfred really didn't want to go back to Helen empty handed, but there was literally nothing else he could do here. He could stay, hoping to find something, but that would only be a waste of time doing nothing. He and the others could only begrudgingly pack up to head home. Alfred could only think: “Adam, where the hell did you go!?”

As they were preparing to leave, Alfred went over to where the orphans lived. Silber had been staying there the whole time, watching over Adeline and Everette. The last words Adam had given Silber were to protect the kids. Since he couldn't find Adam, Silber continued to watch over the kids while hoping Adam would come back.

Silber was currently playing with the kids to distract himself from his worry over Adam. Alfred solemnly walked up. Noticing Alfred, Silber escaped from the play and went over. Alfred spoke with a regretful tone: “Silber, we are heading back to Hessler. Helen would love to see you again, will you come back with us?”

Silber gave a hard bark at Alfred: “Are you giving up on Adam!?”

Alfred could generally understand Silber was frustrated at him. “Silber, even if we stay, we have already found out everything that can be known about Adam's whereabouts! Helen will soon give birth to Adam's child! I... we need to head back.”

Silber was dumbfounded: “Helen is having Adam's cub!?”

This was big news! Silber thought for a moment. He wanted to stay here, in case Adam came back to this place to find him. However, it would be more important to watch over Adam's cub and protect it while waiting for Adam to come back! After he came to this conclusion, Silber ran over to Adeline and Everette. Silber used his nose to nudge them so that they got on his back! He then trotted over to Alfred: “Okay, let's go!”

Alfred realized Silber was going to try and bring the kids along! “No, no, no. We can't bring them Silber!”

Silber cocked his head at Alfred and gave a confused look: “Why?”

Adeline and Everette were a little confused at what was going on. They had gotten a little familiar with Alfred over the month he had been here. They asked: “What is going on, Alfred?”

Alfred heaved a sigh: “We are going back home. We can't find anything more about Adam here and Silber wants to bring you along.”

Adeline and Everette started to get a little excited. It sounded like an adventure! They were even going to go to the Silver Savior's home! In the absence of their parents, Adeline and Everette came to heavily rely on the presence of Silber and couldn't imagine life separate from him. Seeing them like this, Alfred hated to tell them that they were going to Heider, the force that took over their city. If they had a strong hate for Heider, Alfred didn't want to bring them all the way back for them to only discover what it meant at the last moment. Alfred said: “Do you two know what it means when I say our home is in Heider?” The two shook their heads no. “Before, this city was controlled by a kingdom called Luxom. The soldiers currently occupying it are from the kingdom of Heider. Do you understand now?”

The two thought for a moment. “Is everyone in Heider as mean as the soldiers are?”

Alfred almost couldn't help from laughing. He hadn't expected such a question. “No, while there are plenty of soldiers in Heider, there are plenty of other nice people like there are in this city.”

The kids eyes grew bright: “Let's go then! I Can't wait to see Silber's home!”

[AN: So many new follows, favorites, and reviews! Thank you so much! Also for them comments =D]