“Emori’s missing?” I couldn’t hold my voice. My sudden shout pulled the attention of our classmates, who all turned to me in shock. Murmurs began to spread, but neither me nor Prilus paid any attention to it. He nodded his head, his expression darkened.

“She said she went out to grind yesterday, but I saw you in school, so I thought something must have happened.”

“What about her ring?”

Emori usually wore a Ring of Protection, which allowed the kingdom to track her location.

“It was left in her bedroom.”

“Can you contact her through Connect? She’s rejecting my calls.”

“What do you think I’ve been trying?” He quipped. Despite that, a symbol for Connect appeared in Prilus’ right eye, but nothing happened. “No, she rejected it.”

“Are you sure she rejected it?” asked the worried Solicea. Connect being rejected implied that the target was alive and conscious. If the target chose to block the spell, then it would get rejected every time, but that block status would be reset once the target fell unconscious, whether by intention, by sleeping or by harm, just like a regular spell.

“It is getting through. Besides, a friend in Nanawak could contact her no problem.”

“Then why doesn’t she ask her about it?”

“She told me that it’s Emori’s wish. She needed to cool down thanks to a certain someone.” Prilus glared sharply at me.

Does he really want to fight me here and now?

“It has been a while since we asked her, though.”

“And you’re not going to ask her again?”

“It’s not that simple. Besides, she told me that she has important matters to attend to in Nanawak, not something I hear from her often.” He sighed.

“Does your parents know about this?”

“My parents- You really need to be taught manners, Fortisbel!”

“Pardon me, Your Freaking Highness. It seems your sister matters so little to you.”

“Ah, children.” Maya shook her head.

“I don’t want to hear that from you!” Prilus yelled. He turned back to me, still angry at the way I addressed him. He took a deep breath. “They know. They’re talking with the knights and the adventurers as we speak.”

“When was the last time you contacted her?”

“Yesterday afternoon, that friend from Nanawak said last night.”

So quite some time had passed. We must move.

“Maya, can you turn into dragon form and look from above?”

“Solicea, come with me.”

“Okay!”

The two rushed out of the class. Prilus turned to me. “What are your plans?”

In this world, you could find monsters everywhere, from the deepest dungeons to the tallest mountains. That said, dungeons were like centers for monster activity. Like regular animals, the monsters based on them longed for a place to safely rest, so most monsters preferred to live in dungeons.

If Emori went out grinding, this meant she would be inside a dungeon somewhere. Maya and Solicea could handle the scouting from above, looking at any area outside dungeons, but inside dungeons posed a greater challenge.

We couldn't check each and every dungeon in this world, so,

“I need a list of all dungeons within a five hour walking distance from the capital.”

The farthest we went was five hours with a carriage, but that was with me teleporting us back. Emori had tried using Teleport before, with me teaching her. She couldn't use it consistently, so I doubt she would risk it.

If she asked the royal family to lend her a carriage, they would've known where she went, and they wouldn't need to involve us. Thus, I could only assume that she went there walking.

“I’ll fetch it for you. Meet me in the Adventurers' Guild after school.”

“Alright.”

I couldn’t concentrate on the rest of school. Prilus, Maya, and Solicea all didn’t attend the afternoon class in search of Emori. I, unable to do anything at the moment, tried my best to jot down whatever thing the teacher was saying, intending to share my notes with the others. Concentrating was really tough, though. I couldn’t stop thinking about Emori.

Just what is she doing?

I knew it was my fault, but did she really need to go out and disappear like that? She made everyone worry about her.

“That is it for today,” the teacher said, much to my relief. We ended classes earlier than usual today.

“Don’t forget to do your homework.” She walked out of the classroom. Before she left, she glanced my way.

She must have known about Emori’s disappearance.

I thanked her inside and rushed straight out of the classroom, running down the hallways. I sprinted all the way to the Adventurers' Guild. I visited the building a couple of times before. It was an entirely different building to the one I visited back in Mimosa Online. The old building had been demolished and replaced by a tavern, not exactly a place I enjoy visiting.

I hadn’t visited this new one often, however, so I got lost on my way to one of the meeting rooms. I eventually found the right place, the prince already waiting for me inside. Thanks to the teacher ending the class early, I didn’t arrive late.

“Here’s the map you requested.”

I opened the roll of paper, then using a pencil, crossed out several dungeons. I honestly doubt Emori would go to the nearer dungeons, as she risked running into adventurers and hunters that way, so I crossed out every single dungeon within an hour of walking.

Then, I circled every dungeon that the two of us had visited. Those were familiar dungeons, but since we already cleared them out, she may not go there, on account of not finding monsters.

Then I crossed all the dungeons with five floors or less. There weren’t many monsters to fight in these smaller dungeons, so assuming she went out to grind, she would most likely look for deeper ones first. The deeper ones also took a while to grind through, so the likelihood of us running into her when she was still grinding inside increased.

“Do you have any leads?” I asked the prince who was observing me work.

“She went out through the southern gate, but that was yesterday.”

I marked all the dungeons south of the capital. I then cast Connect, using it to connect with Solicea and Maya.

“Maya, Solicea, where are you?”

Normally, group calls weren't something you could do with Connect. Dual wielding ‘phones’ in this world required you to imagine both the faces of your targets, then used two separate Connect symbols to contact them. Keeping such a spell active was draining.

“Fortis? Wait, how?”

“He has his ways.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Since I connected to them both, they could hear each other through me.

“That's not important. Where are you?”

“We swept the area south of the capital, now heading west,” Solicea reported.

“No signs of her,” Maya added.

“Alright.”

I returned my attention back to the map. I marked some of the dungeons there.

“I suggest checking these places.”

I showed the locations to Prilus. He rolled up the map, taking it with him.

“What are you going to do now, Fortisbel?”

“I'll investigate some of these dungeons myself. I'll send the one I've checked through Connect.”

“Alright.”

I stood up and was about to leave, when I realized I could use Teleport to maybe impress the prince. I painted a picture of one of the dungeons we visited, making sure I got the details right. I then painted the symbol for Teleport, and when I opened my eyes, I stood inside the dungeon.

I began searching, defeating any enemies that stood in my way. There weren't many of them, and the ones that appeared were weak. I explored the entire area, not finding anything.

I then teleported through different dungeons, going through the ones I visited before first. I know that it was counter-intuitive, considering most of these places were empty, but since I could use Teleport, it cut down the travel time. Within half an hour, I finished checking three different dungeons, all from the place we visited.

Where is she…

I left the last dungeon. I checked in with Prilus.

“Noted. There's one unchecked dungeon not far southeast from where you are.”

“Okay, I'm moving.”

Unfortunately, I didn't have a wind-element wand. If I had one, I could use Fly. I couldn't use Boost, either. If I got frozen in the middle of nowhere, even pesky low level monsters could get me.

I wish I could call a taxi!

Connect could only be used to connect people that you're close to, as you must imagine their face. Even if taxis exist, it's not like I could use Connect to call them.

Imagine their faces…

Wait, can Teleportation be used if I thought about just her face?

It wasn't a feature that existed in the game, but if… if I imagined Emori’s face, could I teleport to her location?

There's no harm in trying, so I decided to try that. I imagined her face, creating a very clear image of the girl, then I cast Teleport.

It didn't work.

I let out a sigh, thinking about where she might be as my foot took me toward the dungeon.

So much for being a gamer…

And they say I'm the leader.

It was precisely like back then. My life may have changed, but I was still a terrible leader. No good leader would force their members to do something they couldn’t. They would encourage them to improve what they already had.

Emori… I’m sorry.

I let out a sigh as I walked.

Are you sure I'm the right person?

I may have a high level and decent combat knowledge, but I was better suited as a soldier, not a commander.

I wish my in-game knowledge would be useful in times like this, but it had been years since the world I knew. Not much stayed the same…

… hold on.

The ones that change the most are the humans’ areas… but what about the dungeons?

In fact, the dungeons that we visited, I chose because I was familiar with them. And they changed very little in the years.

Does that mean?

I closed my eyes again, remembering the dungeons of my past life. I cast Teleportation.

It failed, meaning the dungeon had changed, even if just slightly. But I didn’t give up. I tried remembering the layout, looking for places far from the reaches of humans and nature. The deeper areas tend to be left untouched. I switched picture with picture, casting spell after spell. After a few more tries, I finally found a spot that looked exactly the same as the location I remembered in the game.

I arrived in a large empty room. Above me was a large opening, sunlight pouring through that hall, creating a kind of arena in the center of the room. In front of me stood a dark purple minotaur, its back facing me. Standing in front of it, a small girl carried a light magic wand, her focus solely on the minotaur. I moved backward, away from the minotaur, sticking to the wall.

The girl took her stance. I remained silent, watching from behind the minotaur. She didn’t notice me, her attention solely on the monster. A white circle appeared in front of her right eye, followed by a symbol.

But not the symbol of White Void. A different symbol, one I didn’t recognize. A massive white beam spewed forth from her eyes, and within a single instance, the minotaur’s head disappeared. The body fell and dissipated, leaving nothing but a single gleaming red magic stone.

I gasped.

“What spell is that…”

“Huh?” She only noticed my existence now. “Show yourself!” She pointed her wand to my general direction. I lifted my hands and stepped forward into the light.

“For- Fortis? What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here? You don’t know how worried everyone is?”

“I-... I’m sorry…” She averted her gaze. “I-”

I stepped closer and pulled her into a tight hug. She looked at me, startled. “Fortis?”

“Don’t do that ever again! I won’t mention that spell ever again, so don’t disappear on me! Do you know how worried I am?”

“I’m sorry.”

I kept her in my embrace. She didn’t resist. The incredible loneliness that I felt had all floated away. After experiencing her ignoring me, only then I realized just how important she is to me. After her disappearance, I realized I didn’t want to let her go.

“I promise I won’t touch on that spell ever again… but…” I pulled myself away, wanting to look at her face.

“That spell… That’s your own spell, isn’t it? Something you made yourself.”

Emori nodded. “Yes. It is. How do you know?”

“I never saw the symbol in my life.”

“...” She stared at me. “You’re not supposed to know about White Void, either.”

I scratched my head. “Yeah… I guess I just have good instincts…”

It was a poor excuse, I knew, but Emori didn’t pursue it further.

“Still, creating your own spell? You’re impressive.” Creating a spell from scratch was no little feat. I never did it, despite my wide knowledge of magic spells.

“No. It’s not impressive.” Emori shook her head. “What I did simply weakened White Void.”

“You’ve disguised it as your own spell, a spell that requires light magic to be used, right?”

Unlike White Void, this spell had a white circle surrounding it, a proof that it wasn’t elementless nor sacred.

“Yes, so for me, it’s like adding an extra requirement.”

Despite being a light-element spell, it was still a spell only she could use, because the body of the spell itself was attached to her. Similar to vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on it. Inside, it was still vanilla, but the chocolate syrup covered a part of it.

Or that’s my guess, at least. I didn’t actually know the details of how it works.

Explaining that only she could use the spell she created was much easier compared to explaining White Void to someone that knew about the spell, though.

“But now you can use White Void without worrying about the country.”

And White Void, as a spell on its own, was already powerful. Emori’s modifications to it didn’t tone it down all that much. With this spell, she would essentially be our main DPS. With her strengths, she wouldn’t have trouble dealing with monsters. The grinding would only get easier from now on.

But then I remembered something. The reason for her new spell existance in the first place.

I took a deep breath and kneeled in front of her, my head down on the dirt. It was the only way to apologize that I could think of.

“For- Fortis?”

“I'm sorry. I only now realized just how capable you are. I’m sorry for underestimating you, and I'm really sorry for hurting you.”

“It’s alright… I- I think it hurts because you have a point.”

“... I do?” I lifted my head.

“Please stand up.”

I did as told.

“What you did in the past is in the past. I won't hold that against you. And… you're right. I'm sorry for the way I acted.”

“But-”

“I'm a princess. I have the responsibility for the safety of my people. The way I acted was foolish and egotistical.”

“I know this doesn't sound right coming from me, but you're allowed to do what you want, Emori. This is your life. If you decide that you don't want to use it, that's your choice. No one should force you to do otherwise.”

“Even you?”

“Even me… If anything, I'm the last person that should be forcing you. As your partner, I should have been the one encouraging you, the one trusting you.”

“Pa- partner?” Emori’s face turned red. “If- if- that's the case… I'm not ready, but…” she began twiddling her fingers, looking restless.

Did I say something wrong?

“I mean, we grind together all the time. Wouldn't that make us grinding partners?”

Was she thinking about something else? Surely not? Especially after what I did to her?

“Ah, right. Grinding… partners…”

“Anyway, I promise to support you whatever happens, regardless of which spell you want to or don't want to use.”

“Thank you… I'll do my best.”

“By the way, that new spell, what is it called?”

Emori looked up at me. She was about to say something when she averted her gaze. “Umm… This might sound dumb…”

“I’m sure it’ll sound nice.”

“... White Spring.”

“White… Spring? I think that sounds cool, even if I don’t get the meaning.”

“Haha, thanks…”

“So, shall we continue?”

“Huh… what?”

“If we return, you’ll probably get punished for disappearing.”

“Oh…” Emori looked depressed again.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side. Now that I’ve seen your strength, I know I don’t need to worry. If anything, I want to see more of it.”

“Ok- Okay then!”

I extended my hand and she gripped it. I looked through my memories, searching for a dungeon farther away from the capital, then cast Teleport.