This time, I won't be the devil.

By the time Frey was dressed and headed to the square in the city center, it was already packed with people.

According to the plan, Stella will be the performer of the Wind Feather Ceremony under the watchful eyes of the public, and will then sing to the God of Wind on behalf of the entire island.

Upon learning that Stella was going to make a personal appearance, all her little fans gathered outside the square and cheered loudly.

"Ai-chan! Ai-chan! Ai-chan..."

“Stella! Stella! Stella…”

If you don’t know, you might think that someone’s archer blew himself up after using his ultimate skill.

Frey observed the crowd and found that several gangsters he had seen in the red light district last night had also mixed in.

The security for the ceremony was extremely strict, and it was obviously impossible for these few people to disrupt it.

Frey tried to look for other suspicious individuals in the crowd, but with so many people present, it was impossible to observe everyone closely.

At least from the results of the identification, no threatening characters appeared.

Amidst the fans' cheers, the ceremony time soon arrived.

However, when the bell rang, Stella did not show up as promised.

A while later, the city government issued an emergency announcement that Stella was temporarily unable to attend due to illness and the enthronement ceremony would be temporarily cancelled.

At the same time as the ceremony was cancelled, an anxious Didoris found Frey and told him the bad news after avoiding the crowd:

Stella is missing...

Chapter 55 Far away, yet so close.

Frey learned about the current situation from Didoris.

The canonization ceremony for the performer was supposed to start at 10:, and Stella would arrive at the square about half an hour in advance to be on standby.

It only takes about 10 minutes to drive from the hotel to the square. As a top-level hotel, [Sound Dream] has dedicated dressing rooms and rehearsal rooms, so preparations will be completed in the hotel in advance.

However, when Stella did not show up as scheduled at 10 o'clock, the mayor hurriedly contacted her agent and learned the bad news from him.

According to her agent, she and her makeup artist lived in the room next to Stella.

At around 10 o'clock last night, after confirming the schedule for the next day, Stella said that she was a little unable to sleep. In order to ensure her sleep time, she hoped that her agent would wake her up later tomorrow morning.

So the agent handled the coordination work with the organizer alone this morning and did not knock on Stella's door until 9 o'clock.

But there was no response from the room. After calling many times without getting an answer, around 9:, that is, after Frey left the hotel, the agent contacted the hotel front desk and forced open the door with a spare key.

However, there was no sign of Stella inside. Not only that, the room was in a mess, as if someone had broken in forcibly.

After searching for a while, she found a black letter on the windowsill of the room, on which was written the following message:

[We are the Demon King Cult, the criminals who kidnapped Miss Stella]

[Foolish human, if you want to get her back, then try to catch us.]

After searching the hotel repeatedly without success, the anxious agent reported the true situation to the mayor.

The news of Stella's disappearance was so sudden that all those who knew about it were now in chaos, and even Frey was a little dazed for a moment.

Fred and Stella parted ways at around 1 a.m. last night, and then he went out to follow Sherlock.

When he returned to the hotel at 3:, he did not notice anything unusual around him, so the case most likely occurred between the time he fell asleep and the time before dawn.

However, the security measures of the Sound Dream Hotel are very complete. There are 4 elite soldiers above level 20 guarding the entrance of the hotel, and there are security guards on duty in the backyard 24 hours a day. If anyone invades, they will definitely be exposed.

Especially the VIP suite where Frey and his friends stayed, a simple defensive magic was set on the door. Even if it could be broken open by force, it would make a loud noise and trigger the alarm device in the room.

What is certain is that if Stella was really kidnapped, she must have opened the door on her own initiative.

And considering her level 21, if they wanted to kidnap her without making any noise, the criminal must be extremely powerful.

In the eyes of others, Stella is a weak woman who is powerless, but Frey knows very well that she is not.

After quickly reviewing the current situation, Frey immediately looked at the gangsters in the crowd.

Their expressions were the same as those of everyone else in the square, showing surprise and confusion, and they seemed unaware of the situation.

Moreover, the levels of these minions are not even 10, and they do not have the ability to commit crimes.

As for those fans who came specially to see Stella on stage, they all showed disappointed expressions.

There was no strong man above level 30 in the entire square, so the criminal was obviously not here.

As for Sherlock, as one of the sponsors of this festival, he was staying with other organizers.

“How many people know about this matter now?”

"The relevant staff are more or less aware of the girl's disappearance, but the Demon King Cult's criminal declaration, aside from us, is known only to the mayor, the hotel manager, and the agent."

The organizers of the Wind Feather Festival are mainly government officials of Bondolim, among whom the current mayor is the most responsible person.

The reason why a well-known idol was chosen to perform this time was the mayor's decision after overcoming many objections.

In Frey's view, he did this to win the favor of young people and thus gain more votes in next year's election, but he didn't expect that such a big mistake would occur.

Judging from the city government's actions, the mayor obviously wanted to conceal the news as much as possible to avoid causing panic.

"What will be the consequences if the Wind Feather Festival fails?" Frey asked. He first wanted to find out the severity of this incident.

"I'm not sure. There's no precedent for this yet, but if the ceremony isn't held, the wind god's protection might weaken."

"How much of an impact will Stella's disappearance have on the festival?"

"It depends on the city government's next response measures..."

As a performer, Stella's task is to sing the lead. In addition, there are a large number of people responsible for ceremonies and accompaniment. It can be said that these talents are the main force of the festival.

As long as they are still there, there won't be any major problems with the overall process of the festival.

Today is December 12th, and there are still three days until the festival on the 16th. If the performers are replaced immediately, although it will be rushed, it will still be possible to catch up.

In other words, although it would cause huge trouble, kidnapping Stella alone would not be enough to ruin the entire festival.

The Demon King Cult's behavior is very confusing. If they really wanted to disrupt the festival, why would they act in advance and expose themselves?

To find out the truth of the matter, it is obviously not enough to rely solely on Didoris's oral statement. More information is needed right now.

Frey and Didoris returned to the hotel. At this time, several insiders, including the mayor, had gathered in the conference room on the top floor of the hotel.

The mayor is a Mediterranean man who looks to be in his 50s and wears a suit and glasses.

The agent was a plain-looking woman in her 30s. She was frowning and looked anxious.

"Your Highness, who is this?" The mayor asked warily when he saw Frey entering the room with Didoris.

"He is my..." Didoris stopped halfway through for some reason.

Seeing that she was in distress, Frey took the initiative to introduce himself.

"I'm Dido's assistant. You can think of me as her agent."

"If possible, it would be best if outsiders do not interfere in this matter." Seeing the mayor say this, Didoris quickly retorted:

"He helped me solve a special commission before. His ability and character are beyond doubt. If you don't let him participate, then I will refuse to cooperate!"

After hearing what Didoris said, the mayor had no choice but to agree to let Frey attend the meeting.

After the meeting started, the agent first gave a detailed account of her experiences that morning. After finishing her story, she asked the mayor to rescue Stella as soon as possible.

However, regarding the fact that Stella was kidnapped by the Demon King Cult, the mayor plans to conceal the news temporarily to minimize the impact.

He hoped that the agency would first claim to be ill, then replace the performer, and then make the matter public after the Fengling Festival was successfully completed.

As for the new player, he wanted Didoris to be the one.

Didoris seemed very unhappy about this. According to convention, the performer was a bard sent by the Forest Country, but this year the mayor made the change because he wanted to attract attention.

Now that this hype plan has run into problems, he wants her, an old artist, to take the blame. But Tidoris won't let him order her around.

Before Didoris could respond, the agent said hurriedly:

"Does the mayor mean to ignore Stella's safety?"

"I didn't say that. The investigation will of course be conducted in secret, but maintaining stability is more important right now."

"Our agency cannot accept such a plan!" The agent argued, her anxious tone like a mother who had lost her child. It seemed that she had a good relationship with Stella.

"This isn't something you can decide. Ultimately, this accident happened because you failed to protect the safety of your artists. It's you who are causing trouble for our city government..."

While they were arguing, Frey glanced at Tidoris a few times, and she nodded in understanding before interrupting their conversation.

"I agree with Miss Agent. The most important thing right now is to find Stella's whereabouts."

After Tidoris finished speaking, Frey added:

"Since she was kidnapped by the Demon King Cult, it means that this group of cultists is still lurking in the city. Their goal is likely to disrupt the festival. This threat cannot be ignored."

"Mr. Mayor, if the festival is disrupted by cultists, your approval rating will probably..."

After hearing what Frey said, the mayor, who was only concerned about votes, finally realized the seriousness of the matter.

If it was just the idol that was missing, he could still find an excuse to put the blame on the hotel and the agency.

But if the Fengling Festival cannot be completed smoothly, then this important responsibility must be borne by the city government.

It is obvious which is more important.

In addition, he really needed the cooperation of Didoris and his agent, so he had to make concessions.

After some negotiations, the mayor agreed to fully cooperate with them in investigating the whereabouts of the Demon King Cult and allowed Frey to participate.

As a condition, the agency cannot actively publicize this matter and cause negative public opinion to the municipal government.

At the same time, Didoris also has to cooperate with the city government in rehearsals and other preparatory work. If Stella cannot be found in time, then as a backup plan, she will serve as the new performer.

After all, tracking down cultists is an extremely risky job. Based on the principle of not doing anything wrong, the mayor does not want to take charge of the case personally. In order to make it easier to pass the buck in the future, he handed the initiative of the investigation to Frey, who has experience in solving cases.

For Frey, this is undoubtedly a good thing. He can now mobilize the power of the entire Bondolim to a certain extent to find the whereabouts of the Demon King Cult.

Compared to fighting alone, investigating the case under the guise of looking for Stella is not only more efficient and less risky, but also can hide his true purpose and prevent himself from being directly targeted by cultists.

And after successfully finding Stella, he can also receive a reward from the city government and the agency.

After getting the command, Frey immediately found the person in charge of the hotel and carefully inquired about the hotel's security situation.

In Bondolm, video recording equipment represented by the Arcane Blade is extremely common, and there are also magical props that can serve as surveillance.