Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

As he spoke, he raised the bronze lantern, illuminating the wooden house nearest to him on the side of the road.

"If I'm not mistaken," the brave man said seriously, "the owner of this wooden house should not be in the wooden house either."

Mla's expression quickly turned ugly. He came to the door of the wooden house with a bronze lantern. He did something unknown but opened the door.

Then he walked in.

Under the cover of thick fog, the door of the wooden house was dark and everything inside was unclear. It was eerie and silent, like a mouth that wanted to bite someone.

Rachel and Charles waited for a moment beside the mouth before it spit out Mla.

Coming back to the two of them, Mula's face looked terribly ugly.

"No one is inside," he whispered, drawing his sword, "but the Archon has issued an order not to go out unless necessary."

The elf gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and looked around as if facing a formidable enemy.

However, just as they had witnessed along the way, they were shrouded in thick fog from beginning to end, and there were no unusual sounds except their conversation.

Komla seemed to have noticed something.

His eyes were fixed on a certain direction, and before Lacier could see what he was looking at, he suddenly growled:

"Who's there!?"

Then, like a gust of wind, he pounced forward and quickly disappeared into the thick fog.

Rachel and Charles had no time to stop him, so they had to follow him quickly.

It didn't take long for them to find the traces left by Mula.

But only traces remain.

Just like all the elves on the street who inexplicably disappeared into their homes, Mula also disappeared in the thick fog.

The only things left there were the pocket watch that he cherished so much and the bronze lantern that had not yet been extinguished and was even still shaking gently.

[To be continued]

-

16. Really?

Without any warning, Mula disappeared.

His last words were a low growl:

"Who's there?"

Rachel and Charles would probably never know who, or what, Mula had seen.

Because when they arrived at the scene, they only saw the pocket watch and bronze lantern left by Mula.

Lacele felt cold all over as she stood before the two objects.

She raised her head and looked around subconsciously, imitating Mula's movements before she disappeared.

But she couldn't see anything.

There was only fog—endless, all-obscuring fog.

Could it be that this thick fog was alive? Were all the elves that disappeared in the thick fog eaten by it? Komura had clearly said that the essence of this thick fog was the mistress's dream, so how could a dream eat people?

What's more, he was carrying a bronze lantern. Although the principle was unclear, the bronze lantern was undoubtedly the nemesis of thick fog.

Or is there something hidden in the thick fog?

Just as she had imagined when she followed Fuwenna to visit the breeding room, there was something invisible hidden in the thick fog, and Mra sensed the existence of that thing, chased after it, and then disappeared?

The more Lacie thought about it, the more frightened she became.

She couldn't help but clutch the corner of Charles' clothes, and even instinctively leaned over to him, almost sticking to him.

At this time, Charles, who had just inspected the scene, stood up again.

His movements were so fast that Lacie didn't react in time and almost buried her face in Charles' back.

Fortunately, there was still some distance between the two of them, which avoided any embarrassing situation.

But even so, Charles still discovered Rachel's abnormality.

"Are you okay?" he asked subconsciously.

When he asked this, Lacie immediately jumped up like a cat that had been slapped from behind.

Then, she subconsciously bared her teeth and claws at Ciel, and changed the subject:

"Will I be in trouble? I'm fine! What could possibly happen to me? But how is your on-site investigation going?"

Charles did not answer Laceline's question immediately.

He could tell the witch was bluffing.

Yet there was nothing he could do.

"It would be nice if she was Rachel." - Sometimes he would inexplicably have such strange thoughts.

If the witch was Rachel, he could go up to her, hug her, and tell her not to be afraid because he was there.

But the witch is not Rachel.

So he could only stand there, and after a brief silence, he replied in a low voice:

"There were no signs of a struggle, not even resistance or a struggle. Mura's disappearance was very...peaceful."

Lacele didn't understand what Charles meant by "peace".

Did Mulla meet someone familiar in the fog and follow him?

It doesn't make sense. Mla had clearly promised to take them to find Fuwenna. Moreover, if they really met someone they knew, why would he leave his pocket watch and bronze lantern here?

The witch couldn't understand the reason behind this - but it didn't matter, the omnipotent magic would help her figure it out.

So she waved the wand in her hand:

"You can't, let me try."

She cast a tracking spell.

The thick fog still severely hindered the spread of magic, but under the light of the bronze lantern, the spell could function normally.

Lacie closed her eyes and opened them again, and a faint white light covered her blue pupils.

She looked through the white light in the direction they came from, following the traces left by Mula along the way.

Just like walking in the snow will leave footprints, as long as too much time has not passed and the footprints have not been covered by new snow, she can "see" what happened at that time through the remaining traces of Mula's magic.

She saw Mulla rushing out of the fog with a long sword in one hand and a lantern in the other, looking stern, as if facing a great enemy. But when he came to the place where the gold coins dropped, that is, where the lantern and pocket watch fell, Mulla suddenly stopped.

He was no longer so nervous. On the contrary, an indelible confusion filled his face. He even dropped his arms and let the bronze lantern fall from his hands.

And there was the pocket watch that he particularly treasured.

Mula seemed to regard the pocket watch as a talisman, so when he was in danger, he would take out the pocket watch and hold it tightly in his hand, as if he had obtained an invincible protection.

But now, the lantern and the pocket watch fell to the ground together, but Mula was slowly rising.

Like a caught fish, an invisible line was wrapped around his neck, forcing him to raise his head and look toward the sky.

Laceier looked at the slowly rising Mla, and Mla looked at the sky covered with thick fog.

Suddenly, the elf smiled with relief.

Then, the invisible line tightened, and he was pulled up into the sky little by little, disappearing in the seemingly endless fog.

"..."

Lacee shuddered.

She couldn't help but imitate what she saw, Mura, and looked up at the sky obscured by thick fog.

As it should be, she couldn't see anything.

There was no hook or line, no invisible being with delicate arms and legs dangling down.

But maybe there are elves.

Were the elves that disappeared in the fog suspended under the dome? Would she be able to see the densely packed cocoon-like bodies of elves hanging in the air as soon as the fog cleared?

The more Lacie thought about it, the more her scalp tingled.

But at this moment, someone called her:

"Owner……"

"Alas!!!"

Lacey's whole body trembled.

But she soon realized that this was not Mura coming to take her life, nor was it the invisible line in the sky falling down to take her away.

It was Charles.

Charles had come to her side without her noticing, staring at her with a serious expression, and asked:

"Did you find anything?"

Lacey heaved a sigh of relief.

"Nothing," she pretended to be very calm, "but I do seem to know how Mula disappeared."

"How did he disappear?"

Lacie didn't say anything, but stretched out her index finger and pointed toward the sky.

Charles didn't understand what she meant.

But it's normal. Who would have thought that such a small place like Lentiheim could hide so many creepy anomalies?

Then Lacie explained in a low voice:

"He went to heaven - it was as if some invisible string came down from heaven and dragged him away."

"..."

Ciel's expression froze.

Obviously, this strange fact made even this brave man feel fear.

Lacey almost laughed out loud.

Let Ciel scare her just now? Serves her right!

But Charles was a brave man after all, so he quickly adjusted his state and his expression became serious again.

"So," he asked, "the elves that disappeared inexplicably were also pulled up to the sky by something like the Shire?"

"I don't know," Rachel shook her head, "but now it seems very likely."

"But why...why did the thing hidden in the fog capture the elves? What is its purpose? And what exactly is it?"

"How can I possibly know if you ask me this?" Laceel spread her hands helplessly. "After all, I'm not the master of Lentiheim..."

Having said this, she suddenly paused.

"Gudong-"

The witch swallowed her saliva, and then asked tremblingly:

"Xia...Xiaer? You...you said, could it be possible that the one who took the elves away was...the elves' mistress?"

She didn't know why she suddenly had this guess, probably because the only person in the whole of Lentiheim who could do this unknowingly was the mysterious matron.

But if it was the mistress of the elves who took Mula away, then why did Mula show such a relieved expression when he was taken away?

Lacey couldn't understand.

The same is true for Charles.

He gripped the holy sword tightly, looked up at the thick fog, and replied in a low voice:

"What you said is not impossible, but why? Why did the elves' mistress take away those missing elves? Where did she take those elves?"