Haalfrin Loses His Patience

Several months later, we see a pair of petty thugs in their early twenties swaggering down the street with unkept hair and half their head oddly shaved bald; a lot of the young people in this generation seem to think this hairdo makes you cool… though Haalfrin and the other old folk think it just makes you look like an idiot.

The pair of thugs walk through town, and all the villagers hide in their houses and keep their doors closed. "Doug," the young thug says to the elder one, "Boss says we's supposed to find more merchandise to capture… But how're we supposed to do that when everyone's hiding away?"

Of course, the previous slave snatchers in this town had long been murdered by Haalfrin, and their bodies were dumped in a river. These 2 youngsters were recently brought in from another province, and after only a few days on the job, they still have no idea what the situation here is really like.

Normally, in slave hunting jobs, you're supposed to have dozens of strong bandits, as well as an organized set of cages, caravans, and logistics crew… Unfortunately, such large movements like that get found out by Hanalee pretty quickly, so they've received orders to move out in smaller groups now.

As the pair of bandits is waltzing around town, Doug turns to his companion, "Why'd we turn to smuggling people anyway? Aren't slaves the most dangerous kind of merchandise to move?"

His younger friend shrugs, "I dunno. I heard Gorima country next door is about to go to war with someone. We were probably told to focus on capturing boys because the nobles over there need more fodder on the front lines. I mean, if the clients were nobles or rich people, we'd probably be told to capture pretty young girls or something – not boys."

As they're making their rounds through town – looking for an opportunity to make a move without drawing too much attention, one of them spots a healthy-looking young boy chopping wood just outside his house. Next to him is a little girl playing with a straw doll next to a tree.

"Oi, you seeing this Doug?"

"Yeah."

As one, the two thugs run forward. Doug, being the bigger and stronger of the two, immediately pins down the young boy and locks his arms behind his back. The little girl lets out a loud shriek, and the other bandit clubs her over the side of her head – knocking her out.

Of course, they were told to not let any witnesses go once their faces were seen at a crime, due to Haalfrin and Hanalee's incessant attempt at making trouble for them. Best case scenario, the two thugs would be shipped out by their boss to another location, and they'd get a pay cut.

And so, they take the little girl with them too.

…The troubling thing about this situation is that the little girl is far too young and plain looking to sell, and she's far too weak looking to actually do anything useful around camp, even if they can't sell her.

Even if they fed her till she grew up, the cost of keeping her would be more than the price of selling her; little girls definitely aren't worth it unless she's a noble or something, or outstandingly beautiful.

Doug and his friend decide to let their boss make the choice of what to do with the little girl. The boy, on the other hand, will go with the rest of the merchandise being shipped out later in the week.

… Of course, if Doug and Rek hadn't been new to this town, they'd have never chosen to kidnap these children in particular…

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Later that day, Haalfrin comes back to Randel's house, while Hanalee goes back to her little horse shed. Despite being given money by her family now, she doesn't want to move to another house where she won't have easy access to a strong mage's protection. Being by herself surrounded by bandits is quite unnerving for her.

Meanwhile, the second Haalfrin walks through the front door, he senses that something's off. Just his spirit magic alone is enough to show him the lingering feelings of fear and anger permeating around the house.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Haalfrin hears a noise coming from Lia's room. Slamming the door open, he sees the woman sitting on her bed bawling her eyes out.

"Lia!" Haalfrin screams out, "What's wrong!?"

"T-the children!" she stutters out, "T-the children are gone! I've searched everywhere and I can't find them!"

"Where's your husband!?" Haalfrin demands.

She keeps crying and blurts something out incoherently.

"Where is he!?" Haalfrin yells out, shaking her shoulders vigorously. "Speak clearly!"

"R-randel! He's still out looking for the kids. He went into the woods."

"Then why aren't you out there helping him!?" Haalfrin growls out.

She looks down and cries even harder. "Randel… told me to wait in the house… in case the children were simply lost and find their way back… He doesn't want them wandering off in case they can't find us."

Haalfrin stands back and breathes through his nose angrily… Oddly enough, instead of feeling scared or anxious in situations like this, the only thing Haalfrin can feel is anger – pure, burning hatred.

Frankly speaking, nobody would feel calm if two children you know well, played with, and tutored suddenly disappeared "randomly" in such a dangerous area.

In that moment, Haalfrin feels something in his soul realm. It's... his Yiir Name burning and writhing.

By now, Haalfrin knows what this phenomenon is. Your Fate Name reacts strongly when you encounter a situation that's similar to some pivotal moment in your future. Trying to fuss over what this means is pointless, so Haalfrin quickly puts it to the back of his mind.

It's time to worry about the children - not about what future event this may be foreshadowing.

With a dark look on his face, Haalfrin tears into the woods and shortly finds Randel holding his homemade club tightly and circling the woods where he knew his children were last. Haalfrin catches up to him, he helps his friend look around.

After a few minutes, Haalfrin orders, "Wait here and keep to this part of the woods. I'll go find Hanalee. She's been studying forensics lately, so she should be pretty helpful in finding your kids."

Once Hanalee finds out what happens to the kids, she leaps off her pile of hay with fear gripping her heart. Over these few months, she's come to know these kids pretty well, and they've grown on her mind a lot.

Since she's too slow, Haalfrin ends up slinging her over his back and sprinting off with a speed spell on his legs.

After they both arrive again in the forest, Hanalee looks around and finds a fallen ax with a small pile of wood. "Has anybody walked around here since the kids disappeared?" she asks.

"I searched here like crazy since I told the kids to collect firewood," Randel replies.

Hanalee sighs at this since she's not nearly a good enough expert tracker to tell the father's footprints apart from any assailant's.

She looks around some more and speculates, "The kids were probably kidnapped since the firewood chopping was a chore left unfinished. It was that, or something VERY urgent came up."

If Hanalee hadn't known Galla is a diligent worker, she'd have also added the possibility that the kids simply abandoned their chores.

Haalfrin looks around for some good ambush spots. Perhaps they could follow the tracks from there? …But… the whole forest is a good ambush spot... UGH!

Feeling his patience snapping, Haalfrin raises his voice, "We're not going to find any good leads in this forest. If the kids were kidnapped, then it's certain it was done by the local syndicate we've been tracking. There's only one prominent figure we KNOW is in on the smuggling business."

Hanalee looks up and says, "You mean the baron? What? You can't exactly rip his door down and beat him up until he confesses. He's a noble. You have to have evidence for doing that kind of thing."

Haalfrin scowls at this and retorts, "We've been fighting these guys for a while now to no effect."

Hanalee sighs since she really doesn't want to have this conversation right now. "I can look through some border check schedules and recent move-ins around the province; I'll be able to find them in a few days."

Frowning, Haalfrin rejects her idea. "We can't afford to wait…"

"But-," Hanalee tries arguing.

"ENOUGH!" Haalfrin snaps, "I'm not risking these kids over a maybe! We're doing this my way this time! My way is shorter, simpler, and it'll get results!"

"But…"

"It'll be messy, girl," Haalfrin says, lowering his voice again, though he has a terrifying black aura oozing ominously around him. "But sometimes, things have to get messy to work out. If you don't like it, then you can watch the house with Randel and Lia."

Randel looks Haalfrin in the eye. "Watch the house? Haalfrin, I have to get my kids back. Plus, what's this about the baron and the crime syndicate?"

Haalfrin looks the man in the eyes and replies, "Oh, your baron is in cahoots with some organized criminals. Honestly, he's the reason we both have been running around busy these past few months."

Randel looks down and says softly, "If the baron's people took my kids… I know it sucks to say, but I'd just get in the way… Fine. I'll go back and wait with my wife. If it's you, I trust you can get my kids back."

The father steps back with a VERY unwilling look on his face, and Haalfrin admires him in his heart for his clear mind.

… In the end, Hanalee chooses to come with Haalfrin. She knows full well that Haalfrin is feeling emotional right now, and that when he's like this, he can't be argued with.

So, Haalfrin straps her on his back again, and he puts all his mana into his legs as he zooms across the landscape. Despite running faster than a horse, this consumes a lot of mana, so it's not recommended for mages to do this.

Just a little later, Haalfrin and Hanalee are standing in front of the baron's mansion. She looks over at Haalfrin and says, "I know the baron is one of the owners of the syndicate... but he's a landowning noble. He knows we can't do anything to him, so he has no reason to tell us anything."

Haalfrin just gives a kind "smile" back to her and says, "Don't worry. I'll be gentle."