The case that seemed off

>>Enri

She removed the cloak from the front of the hand cart, "See," She said, "All clean."

I looked at the freshly washed vegetables and nodded.

Hmmm. 

Indeed I saw a bunch of eatables there, nicely washed and ready to be used.

"I see," Was I being suspicious for no reason? She seems odd though.

"Do you need anything else sir knight!?" She closed the rag and covered the whole cart again.

….

"No," I replied, "You may go."

She passed me a smile and picked up the cart to leave while I stood on the dirt road watching her. Nothing was off to the naked eye but I kept feeling that there was something more underneath.

I let her go because I had to make sure I had the right woman. So when she was far away, I slowly began to follow her.

I understand that the river is near the house but still, it doesn't make any sense that she goes to the river to wash her vegetables when the water pump for commoners is nearby too.

I quietly made my way on the road when my teammates joined in and I gestured to them to just quietly follow me.

The woman made it to the house we had searched in the morning and I nodded to myself as I felt assured that I didn't make a mistake when I stopped her. She opened the door to her house but didn't remove the rag or park the cart.

Instead she took the cart all the way to the door. But that wasn't it, instead of properly taking things in, she wrapped her arms around the rag, making it into a big bundle with her things still in it, then dragged it inside and slammed the door shut.

…

What the-?

"I wasn't the only one who saw that, right?" I asked the soldiers who came with me.

"No," The three of them agreed, ``That was definitely a little suspicious."

"And that bundle rag." One of them, Ains, said.

"It seems like she had quite a lot of stuff in it." The other one, Yeol,spoke.

"A little too much." Clearly just vegetables aren't supposed to be that heavy, "You three go back." I began to walk towards the house, "I'll investigate a little more on my own."

"Yes sir!"

***

I didn't notice this before but the windows are higher than they normally are but thanks to that it wasn't a problem to go around the house without getting detected. Honestly, I didn't notice anything strange. When I looked inside I just saw the woman cutting the vegetables and doing her thing in the kitchen. The only other thing noticeable was the girl sleeping on the bed.

She must be the daughter who came back while I was in the forest, other than that, there was nothing that would raise an issue.

Hmmm

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I doubt I'll be able to catch anything near this house. Maybe I'll have to follow her to see who else she deals with but I feel like she won't be going out anytime soon considering she just came in contact with a royal knight.

I tapped my foot on the floor for a while as I thought about what to do.

…

For now it's best to leave, I nodded to myself, I'll station someone here for a lookout later.

I turned around to leave when the most unexpected thing happened. I came across a person that made me stop in my path. The kind of person you'd never see roaming in the streets but I recognized her immediately. Probably because she had no intention to hide herself from me as she directly looked at me without hiding herself.

"Your Eminence," I addressed the person who stood directly in front of me in a cloaked hood, "What brings you here?" I was clearly taken aback by it. 

"Hello captain." The Oracle smiled at me, "I'm glad I saw you here. I was troubled about how I could solve this problem."

"Problem?" I asked, "What problem?" I was confused. What could there be that brings a high priestess out in the streets at the corner of the city?

"You're investigating the case for your mother right?" Her soft voice was very pleasing to the ears.

"Yes."

"I see," She nodded, "Have you seen a girl in the house?"

"Yes, she's sleeping in her bed." I answered her honestly.

"I see…" The Oracle didn't have her staff with her that she usually brought anywhere she went which was quite odd but then again, she was trying not to stand out as well and most likely wanted to freely move around considering she's in a hooded cloak.

"Your Eminence," I was a lot taller than her so I kneeled down, "Is there something I can help with?" She is really short perhaps because she's still a kid. 

I asked the question because I was curious. She was troubled by something about the same house I was sent to investigate. Could it just be a coincidence? Or are there two entirely different problems here?

"Yes," She smiled at me, "Perhaps you can." She looked towards the house, "It was hard enough to find the child, now I don't know how to approach her." It was sort of cute to see her call the other person a child, when she herself is like sixteen at most.

"Why do you have to approach her?" I asked.

"There was a mistake-" She paused, "The previous Oracle gave me a task to do, it's related to that child."

A mistake…? She changed her words but that definitely slipped out. It would be rude to ask her what sort of mistake now that she's already altered her words but I have to say, I'm very much interested to know. Especially because it seems like a mistake from the previous Oracle.

"What do you need from that child?"

"I've been coming here for a while and it seems that girl is being held captive."

….

"Excuse me?" I looked back at the house, "Isn't she her daughter?"

"Yes,"

I looked back at the Oracle in greater confusion, "And she's still being held captive?"

She nodded, "And that is exactly why I don't know how to get her out. They're definitely parent and child but the girl is suffering."

…

I slowly turned my head towards the house, "That woman looks like a weak fellow…" I ran some thoughts through my brain, "If the girl was being held captive, she could have run away easily." I placed my hand around my chin as I thought about it, "Unless,"

The Oracle smiled, "You're quite sharp."

"She's being drugged." The answer was very simple. The girl was most likely sedated at all times. But if that is the case then how she'd come back home- AH! I got my answer even before I could finish my thought.

She was under that rag in the cart that woman was pulling. No wonders she wrapped everything in that and dragged it inside.

"It seems to be the case." The Oracle sighed.

"You could have asked the knights to handle this." I told her, "Why didn't you?"

"I can't,"

I eyed her suspiciously, "And why is that? This could be easily solved if you reported it to anyone." I shrugged, "I mean, you're telling me right now."

"I can't reveal everything. I know you're not a bad person captain, but I can not trust the others," She paused, "Or well, I can't trust you to the fullest either…." Her words stung a little.

"Have I done something to betray your trust, your Eminence?"

"Not to me, no," She smiled, then sighed softly, "But well, I'm also telling you mostly everything because you helped the previous king despite knowing her secrets."

"What has this got to do with that?"

She just passed me a smile, "Like I said, there are some things I'd rather not say." She softly looked at the house, "Those things are not for me to reveal." She looked at me again, "But will you still help the girl out?"