I love time travel the most!

"Hehehe."

Elsa did not answer, but the meaning conveyed in her soft laughter said it all.

He didn't answer.

Soon, the bright moon, which had been obscured by dark clouds, reappeared. Bathed in moonlight, only Kobayashi remained in the room.

At the same time, a faint sigh echoed in the empty room.

Chapter 399 Future Vision

Clouds obscured the night sky, and the mansion, devoid of moonlight, sank into darkness.

On the rooftop at the very edge of the Sword Saint family's territory, two figures stood, surveying the familiar yet unfamiliar territory shrouded in darkness.

"Elsa, my dear sister."

"What's wrong."

"Are you really going to leave?"

"If you can't bear to part with me, then stay. But in return, I will abandon you from now on."

"...Never mind, I want to go with my older sister."

After a brief silence, Mei shook her head.

She was very happy living there, and although she was reluctant to leave, she still chose to follow Elsa, with whom she had a deeper bond.

“Is that so?” Elsa said softly.

His hand kept stroking her head. This was the last bit of tenderness from the gut hunter who didn't know how to express his care.

"It's okay, you'll be back soon and continue living with them."

"Ok!"

Meili nodded heavily.

She believed Elsa's words without a doubt, thinking that this mission would be just like any other, and she would definitely be able to finish it quickly and return, completely unaware of the sweet trap that the Bowel Hunter had hidden in her words.

"Big sister, big brother has taught me a lot of magic, which will definitely come in handy for this mission!"

"...You have a good relationship with him?"

"Yes! It's very relaxing to be with my older brother; he smells wonderful!"

"That's it."

The voices of the two people, one big and one small, gradually faded.

After a busy day, Reinhard returned to his quarters looking a little tired. With his keen hearing, he seemed to sense something amiss and stopped in the corridor to look outside.

Just then, the clouds that had been obscuring the moon were blown away by the wind, and silver light shone into the corridor through the window, but there was no one in sight.

Am I being too sensitive?

The Sword Saint murmured to himself, then took another step.

The next day.

As dawn broke, the warm sunlight filled the room, dispelling the chill.

On this beautiful morning, a loud howl came from the Sword Saint family, waking up the chaos that had been raging all day.

"Xiao Lin! Xiao Lin! Xiao Lin——"

A clear voice accompanied by hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor of the Sword Saint family's residence. The little girl, seemingly flying through the air, shook off the maid who was taking care of her and ran towards the location at an extremely fast speed.

"Xiaolin! Wake up! Xiaolin!"

With a loud bang, the door to the room was kicked open by a small foot wearing exquisite shoes. The reckless high kick showed no concern whatsoever about whether the view under her skirt was exposed.

Ferut bared her fangs and charged in.

Kobayashi released the beautiful maid from his embrace, sat up from the bed, and rubbed his temples, which ached slightly from lack of sleep and his many thoughts.

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic? Magic class is in the afternoon, you should be in your education class right now."

"Do we even have time to learn that now?! Mary... Mary is missing! We need to find her quickly!"

The anxious little girl roared at the lazy man on the bed.

She genuinely cared about Mary.

In the entire Sword Saint family, the only one of similar age who could be called a playmate was Melly, and after spending a long time together, she had long since started to call herself the eldest sister.

Recently, Melie has been depressed because of Elsa's disappearance, and Felt has also become worried. Now that she has suddenly disappeared, how can she not be anxious?

"Lady Ferute, please calm down."

Just as the little girl was throwing a tantrum, the Sword Saint and his maid finally arrived.

Xiaolin greeted him.

Reinhard nodded in response, and said helplessly to the little girl, "Lady Felt, given the defensive strength of the Sword Saint family, Miss Meli would never leave here on her own."

"So you mean she was kidnapped?!"

"Hey, are you even listening?" Kobayashi interrupted Felt's thoughtless words, "Think about it, ordinary people can't get in or out of the Sword Saint family's defenses, so why would someone so powerful kidnap Meryl? Obviously, you're of a higher status, right?"

"Well."

"Furthermore, Meli is a Beastmaster. If they encounter an enemy, the wolf she commands only needs to howl, and the entire encampment will go on alert. So, what comes to mind?"

"Merry left with someone else on her own initiative, and that person is very powerful?"

"That's right. Who do you think that person is?"

"Elsa..."

Following Kobayashi's guidance and unraveling the mystery step by step, Felt obtained the true answer and realized that it was the never-before-seen Elsa who took Melie away.

Then he let out a disgruntled hum.

He didn't know if he was angry that Meili left without saying goodbye, or angry that he had made a fool of himself in his haste and become a laughingstock.

"So no matter what happens, you have to stay calm. Only by staying calm can you discover the truth of the matter."

"I understand, so please stop using this opportunity to lecture me!"

"Although I only found out about this last night when I met Elsa."

"Hey! Are you kidding me? What was with that deduction just now?!"

He placed his hand on the frenzied Felt's head, preventing her arms from reaching him as she swung them like windmills, and teased the little girl who had disturbed his peaceful morning.

Reinhard stroked his chin thoughtfully before saying, "It seems last night wasn't just my imagination."

"what happened?"

"It's nothing. It's just that I think I missed Elsa last night."

He smiled and recounted the strangeness he noticed in the hallway last night, believing that the voices he heard were Elsa and Melly talking.

Of course, after hearing this, the little girl arrogantly took her anger out on him, loudly questioning why he hadn't stopped the two of them, much to the invincible sword saint's dismay.

After a while of arguing.

Unable to suppress her worry, Felt asked softly, "Kobayashi, where did Meryl go?"

"...went on a mission."

"Task?"

"Hey you, you haven't forgotten what Mary used to do, have you?"

Xiaolin's words made her purse her lips.

The little girl then remembered that the seemingly innocent little brother (sister) who had been following her all along was actually an assassin, a monster user who could become a partner of Elsa the Bowel Hunter!

"An assassin..."

“That’s right, just like you, Mary also lives in the shadows.”

This is the reason why Felt and Meryl were able to quickly become friends. Their tragic childhood experiences led them to unconsciously huddle together for comfort. Felt's anger at Meryl's silent disappearance stemmed from her own intense resentment at being abandoned.

"Ha, ha... Now that we know she's with Elsa, there's no need to worry. After all, that Bowel Hunter is ridiculously strong; she'll definitely be back soon. ...Hey, Kobayashi, say something!"

The blonde little girl desperately wanted a positive answer, but Kobayashi's silence and Reinhard's reluctant expression made her feel uneasy.

“Felt, you should know that this isn’t always the case.”

This is something the little girl, a former thief, understands all too well. Every move she makes is accompanied by risk, and even she, a self-proclaimed master thief, has her share of mishaps.

The most obvious example was when she encountered Kobayashi, where she was easily subdued and had no chance to resist.

Elsa suffered the same fate that time, and was quickly subdued when facing Kobayashi and Reinhard.

In other words, the Gut Hunter is not invincible.

"Most importantly, her assassination target this time is... Natsuki Subaru."

"Young man?!"

Kobayashi's deliberately drawn-out tone made Felt extremely uneasy, but when he slowly uttered the familiar name, she opened her mouth wide in surprise.

It's impossible not to be surprised!

Even the Sword Saint frowned upon hearing this.

"Could it be..."

"No! It wasn't my or Reinhard's order."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiaolin interrupted her forcefully.

It's easy to understand if you think about it for a moment.

That's Subaru Natsuki, an ally of Felt's camp, and a close friend of both Kobayashi and Reinhard. Given that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, there's no reason to attack him.

Could it be that this is why Meili didn't say goodbye to her?

The little girl fell into doubt.

Reinhardt asked curiously, "Why did Elsa want to assassinate Subaru? What was her reason?"