【Re:Freezing】 | Gray Fullbuster x OC

40. Pieces of Yore

And that same person he was speaking of was supposedly gone from this world.

Seeing the way Lyon's face became coloured with a tint of solemn, Clarus decided to pull out a map of Bosco and discuss about the towns they were planning on visiting.

...

...

...

It took five days to find another lead in the town of Olios.

They went down to the local job posting office as usual to ask for any leads. And they found a big one. Apparently, Olios was the town where Zack and Domilia settled down in once. They lived in the empty house up on the hill that overlooked the entire town. However, the house no longer existed there. It just vanished one day along with Zack and Domilia. Because of the sudden disappearance, the locals stayed away from the hill out of fear of the place being haunted. It seemed like the logical thing to think for the inexplicable. Whatever the staff had left to say about the two was left unheard by Clarus. He immediately went dashing for the hill, surprising his guildmates.

Presently, Clarus was running up the hill as fast as he could. He was practically leaving them all behind after they realized he had left. He didn't even think of using his gravity to get him there faster. His mind was just telling him to move and get there to find something. Anything. He wanted to find any trace he could find.

He followed the obvious path that led him straight to the top. The black haired mage huffed when he finally stopped when he got close enough to get a peek of what could be at the top. Just as the staff had said, there wasn't any house in sight. There was no sign of a house getting destroyed by a natural disaster of some sort. It just looked like nothing existed there aside from the nearby forest.

Clarus heaved out pants as he moved closer to the empty area. His head kept glancing around to find something. He was thinking that he might be missing something every time he turned to look around. There was literally nothing out here.

Disappointment is what he felt first.

Not here, huh?

He fell on the ground to his knees and then sat on his rear.

"Clarus!" That was Sherry.

Clarus fell on his back to tilt his head back on the ground. Upside down, he watched his guildmates run over to him. He lifted a hand and waved at them. "Hey, guys. Sorry I ran off by myself." He smiled sheepishly and used a finger to scratch a non-existent itch on his cheek. "I got a little too excited."

"They told us there was nothing up here." Lyon reminded him. "I know you want to find something, but try not to get your hopes too high. It's good to have hope, but just don't go believing in it blindly."

Clarus sat up, showing his back to them, and nodded once. "I understand, Lyon."

As Sherry went over to Clarus, Yuka glanced over to the empty space with his hands tucked behind his back. He kept thinking back to what the office worker told them. The residence of Zack and Domilia just up and vanished into thin air? That seems quite impossible. And even if it was, there should have been at least something to show that a house used to be situated here. If no one came up to the hill, there should been a trace of something.

Bristled, Toby snarled at the empty space. "I bet that person was lying to us!"

"You're so loud." Yuka sighed and walked away from him.

It seemed like the locals were being honest about staying away from the area. The grass was way overgrown. The shortest member of the group walked towards the empty space. Then he felt it. Something electrifying ran across the back of his hand. His black eyes widened by a fraction. As an Anti-Mage, his ability to sense magic were honed enough to detect even the smallest presence. It was necessary.