Just then, a strange-looking man suddenly appeared at our table, standing beside Barshall.
As I observed this stranger, who–for some odd reason–continued to stare at a book he held to his face, I was able to fully grasp how truly bizarre this situation was.
There was a boundlessness to this man's strangeness that seemed intoxicating in an almost eerie sense.
My eyes traced his tall frame, noticing he wore a funny-looking pair of boots with curled tips, and that his trousers didn't seem to reach the required length to cover his exposed ankles.
He donned a black trench coat, fully unbuttoned to reveal a green shirt, perfectly complementing the color of the band that wrapped around his silk top hat.
"I-I beg your pardon, sir?" Barshall seemed startled by this man's sudden appearance, however, he wasn't the only one that reacted this way.
As the ignorant man's eyes remained glued to his book, I watched the expressions of my comrades begin to twitch with uneasiness like they didn't know how else to respond to this situation.
"E-excuse me, sir?" Barshall continued.
"Wait, I've almost finished this page," the stranger said while holding a finger up.
We all began to look at each other, sharing the same confusion.
"OH MY GAWD! WHAT A STRANGE TURN OF EVENTS!" he abruptly yelled, grasping his book more tightly while burying his face into its pages.
"Umm... are you okay there?" Amber asked him.
"OKAY!? I'M MORE THAN OKAY!" I was beginning to feel concerned by his strange behavior at this point. "I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT~!" He began to dance around merrily.
"M-may I ask what it is you seem to have found?" Barshall inquired.
The man began to giggle while the corners of his mouth stretched and curled upwards.
"THE ULTIMATE REVELATION!" he announced, while shooting his arms into the air for dramatic effect.
However, his audience didn't appear to reciprocate his uncanny enthusiasm–I included.
"Yeesh, tough crowd..."
He slid his small book into his coat pocket, and leaned against our table while staring at each of us individually.
Once his wide gaze was directed at me, it remained for much longer.
Huh? For some reason my body suddenly relaxed as if a cumbersome weight had just been lifted from my shoulders.
"Hmmm..." The man groaned while stroking his chin.
"Hey, is there some kind of problem?" Snapper asked. "You've been staring at him for quite a while now."
He demanded an explanation from him, but the man didn't seem to be listening.
"Do you feel tired at all?" The man asked me with a serious expression.
"No…?" I replied. "Am I supposed to be?"
Even though my body felt extremely relaxed for some reason, it didn't necessarily mean I felt tired.
It was more like the opposite actually.
"How interesting…"
"Okay, enough of your weird games." Snapper stood up, glaring menacingly at the strange man. "You're gonna tell us who the hell you are and whatever it is you want. Otherwise, I'll take you down with only my bare hands if I have to."
I watched as the two of them stared each other down like they had already engaged in a fierce battle internally.
"You certainly live up to that name of yours, don't you, Snapper?"
The mention of his name startled him slightly.
"There's no need to act so surprised. You're like a celebrity around here, aren't you?"
"... Who the hell are you?"
"Allow me to introduce myself."
The man took off his top hat before gracefully bowing to us all, revealing the crown of his long chestnut hair.
"My name is Jude Clover, and I'm a detective."
…
It was strange for a detective to be seen hanging around the Collectors station unless he was already in the process of an investigation, but that didn't seem to be the case with Jude.
Before anyone could ask, he explained that he was actually an undercover detective, who hung around the station to listen to and help investigate random mysteries.
Snapper's hostility gradually began to subside the moment Jude revealed his ID card and detective badge.
"Huh… and here I thought you were just a book worm," Snapper said, returning to his seat. "So what? You heard the old man making a fuss about the princess, and now you wanna help us out?"
"Absolutely," Jude replied cheerfully while holding a thumbs up.
Snapper stared at him blankly.
"However, you missed one vital piece of the puzzle." Jude's grin seemed to twist into something somewhat conniving.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"The reward for finding the Princess, of course."
He stared at Barshall intently.
"O-oh, right of course," he assured. "Well, if you are indeed able to find the princess, I will be sure to compensate you appropriately."
"Ah, well, you see... it's not actually the money I'm after." For some reason, Jude seemed to be acting quite sheepish. "I'd like you to put in a good word for me with the princess..."
He lifted his eyebrows up and down as if to add: "if you know what I mean."
"Eh!?" A plausible reaction from Barshall, who seemed as shocked as the rest of us. "I-I suppose the princess does seem to arouse quite a bit of attention these days. Are you perhaps romantically interested in her?"
"Yup… well, something along those lines," he admitted.
"This guy can't be serious." Snapper shook his head while trying to process this. "Aren't you a little too old for her?"
Snapper's words completely aligned with my thoughts.
Although the man known as Jude seemed to have quite a youthful appearance, I could sense an abundance of wisdom behind his green eyes as if they could tell endless stories about his life.
There was also something else in them–something I couldn't quite understand.
"Age is just a number, right?" he justified.
"Uh-huh…" Snapper said dubiously, "and lemme guess, you must've heard that from some shitty romance novel, am I right?"
"... No?" It was quite obvious that he was lying. "Anyway, I'm someone who has a lot of experience in this field, so I should be quite useful to you all… if you'll allow me to join you, of course."
Snapper frowned at him with a skeptical glare.
"Yeahhhh, go fuck yourse—"
"O-of course, that would be excellent!" Barshall interrupted, and welcomed Jude into our newly formed search party.
"Are you kidding me, old man? This guy's a complete nutjob. Do you really trust him?" Snapper intruded.
"It would be helpful to have someone well-versed in the art of deduction, no?"
Snapper sighed with clear regret written across his face. "Okay then, "Mister detective", go ahead and show us how it's done."
"Alright…" Jude began to think for a moment while placing a hand against his chin. "Well, first of all, for someone to just suddenly go missing like this, we'd have to consider the possibility of a suspect being involved."
"Y-you don't believe this could be a possible kidnapping, do you?" Barshall asked worriedly.
"I'm afraid it's very plausible, and it's not exactly an uncommon occurrence."
Although it wasn't too frequent, East Contra seemed to have a history of kidnappings. The same could be said for any other region, however.
"I just find it so hard to believe," Barshall said. "The Princess is well-trained in the Path of Chivalry, and like her eldest brother, Prince Melluk, she showed extraordinary talent from a very young age. To think that someone was able to subdue her..."
I also had trouble believing it since Mel had told me all about her rigorous swordsmanship training, and how she was likely one of the greatest sword masters in the East: behind her eldest brother, and their trainer.
Jude continued. "Worst case scenario, her kidnapper may not just be one person. Either that, or they're just extremely powerful. But if what you're saying is true, then she must've at least been able to put up a fight against them."
"R-right, so we must find her at once—"
"Wait." Jude completely shut Barshall down right before he was about to get out of his seat.
"What is it?"
"In cases such as these, the first thing to do is gather information–any clues that may lead us to our potential suspect. Judging by how impulsive you're acting, you either have all the information required, or you don't have anything at all."
"... I'm afraid it would be the latter," Barshall replied, disappointedly.
"I thought so," Jude sighed. "In order to find the answers we're seeking, we've gotta ask the right questions first. For example–what was the princess's last known location before her disappearance?"
"Well, that's easy," Amber answered. "We last saw her here at this station."
"Alright then, next question… What was she doing at this station?"
"She was looking for information from a member of our party–a man named Larg Loman," I answered.
"Information about what exactly?"
"It was information regarding the profession of a Collector. As complete beginners, she and I learned everything we needed to know from Larg."
"In order to become a Collector, you say?"
"That's right," I replied.
Jude paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts before he continued this search for information.
"Alright, so what did she do after gaining her Collector's license?"
"She left afterwards." Snapper answered this time. "I assume she was planning to rendezvous with the old man over here."
"That's correct," Barshall affirmed.
"And where exactly were you guys planning to meet?"
"The Northern gate… but, of course, she never arrived." Barshall's expression dulled like he was reliving the moment of panic he suffered when he first realized that Mel had gone missing.
"The Northern gate, huh? I guess just about anything could've happened during that time then."
Jude pondered for a moment, until I watched his eyes suddenly light up.
"Alright then, let's retrace our steps shall we," he said, cheerfully clapping his hands together. "This Larg Loman guy, who exactly is he?"
"I-Isn't he a well-known info broker?" May finally pitched in, albeit nervously.
"Well, as someone who's never heard of the guy, he seems quite sketchy to me."
"He's quite notorious among Collectors, but he's also a well-respected Collector himself with years of experience," Snapper added as though Larg's name had already suffered enough slander.
"Interesting…"
I couldn't help but wonder what kind of thoughts Jude was having after listening to our responses.
"Do you think that he might be a suspect?" I asked.
"Well, you said that he's a member of your party, right?"
"That's correct," I replied.
"Then, where is he? It seems like the rest of your party is currently present except for him, no?"
"He said he was gonna gather some equipment at his home some time after Mel left… Oh crap." Snapper's face paled at the thought that we all currently shared in our minds.
Amber turned to him.
"You don't think…?"
"I've known Larg for quite a while. I wouldn't exactly say we're especially close or anything, but he would never do something like that–I'm sure of it," Snapper asserted.
"Never say never," Jude added rather arrogantly. "Every possibility needs to be taken into account: another rule of deduction."
"Shut your face, clown!" Snapper snapped.
He wanted to defend Larg, but everyone else seemed to be questioning things.
"To be honest, he did seem to be acting strangely toward her," Amber said, mentioning his attitude toward Mel and his surprise when she shook his hand.
"Well, most nobles are known to be a bunch of snobs who usually look down on other people, so you can't really blame him," Snapper added.
"That may indeed be true in most cases, however, the princess is quite different," Barshall added. "She is quite estranged from her noble title, and considers everyone to be equal."
Jude smiled upon hearing those words. "She's quite unique for a noble, and yet it only seems to make her that much more admirable."
Snapper glanced at him in disgust.
"Hey, get your head out of the clouds and focus on the task at hand. Tell us what's next on your 'How to be a professional weirdo' to-do list."
"... Well, if Larg had left after the Princess, then–given the timing of events–it's definitely possible that he could have something to do with her disappearance. Do you have any idea where we can find him?"
"He'll probably be at his home—"
"Great, then we can start there."
Jude seemed ready to leave, but Snapper stopped him.
"Hold on, what the hell are you planning to do? You're not just gonna go question him about this, are you?"
"Well, that is what a detective does with a potential suspect... ask questions?"
"I can tell you for a fact that he has nothing to do with the princess's kidnapping, or whatever the hell this is."
"You can never be too sure about these things, Snap." Snapper's face winced upon hearing that nickname. "I've read enough novels to know that there is always an unexpected twist to every story."
"... Did you just call me Snap?"
Snapper seemed so dumbfounded, that he lost all interest in arguing with Jude any further.
"You know what? Fine. Let's all just head over to the place, even though it'll just end up being a waste of everyone's precious time."
"Alright!" Jude placed his top hat back on his head, holding the brim before posing dramatically. "Time to solve this mystery!"
"... I really don't like you."