Chapter 21
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
After they exited the house, they did not move towards the neighboring home to follow up on the trail immediately. Instead, Felicia moved to the wooden fence that separated both homes, leaned against it and asked Arthur, "Well, Arthur what do you think? What do you think really happened to the boy?"
Many thoughts were going through Arthur's mind and he arranged them before beginning with, "I believe both the parents love Mason, but in their own distinct way. The mother obviously cares about her son and the father wouldn't have used alcohol to drown himself in the misery if he does not care about his son. He does not strike me as an alcoholic because the mother would have brought it up as an insult if he was."
Felicia nodded along to what Arthur had to say and she allowed him to continue with his analysis, "Therefore, I think the disappearance of this boy perhaps really has to do with this mysterious Blood Mother. After all, the boy disappeared from home and none of the family members seem to be responsible for his disappearance. Unless some other villager sneaked into the home to smuggle Mason away in the middle of the night, which I don't think is the case, after method of elimination, the Blood Mother is most likely the one responsible for Mason's disappearance."
Arthur supplied that with additional observation, "Furthermore, if this is just a simple kidnapping case, the adventurer's guild wouldn't have categorized this as a level D quest. Isn't that an indirect proof that some monster is involved in these disappearances? The monster in this case is probably the Blood Mother, whatever she might be."
When Arthur finished, Felicia gave her comments, "While I understand and agree with some of your analysis, I have some counter arguments.
"For one, I don't think it is wise for us to use the categorization of the guild's quest as a reliable reference."
"Why not?" Arthur asked.
"Have you forgotten what happened to us on our previous quest?" Felicia was referring to how they ended up in an uphill battle against elite phantasms in a supposedly level D quest. If not for Arthur, all three of them would have died in that battle. Granted there was manipulation behind the scene, it was all the more proof that the guild's categorization couldn't be trusted 100 percent. Felicia concluded, "There are too many variables that go into categorizing the level of a quest and sometimes accidents or miscalculations are bound to happen. We have experienced one ourselves, haven't we?"
Arthur agreed with Felicia and he nodded.
"Other than that, in your analysis, you said none of the family member seem to be responsible for the boy's disappearance but I don't agree with that."
Arthur was surprised. "You think the mother or father might be behind this?!"
"No, it's not that." Felicia shook her head, "I can sense that their grief is real but you have not considered the other family member, the boy himself."
Arthur looked at Felicia with slight confusion but what Felicia was hinting at was slowly coming to him. "You suspect this is a runaway case?"
Felicia nodded. "But it is just a suspicion. Honestly, from their argument earlier, I noticed that this is not the first time the parents have this sort of falling out. You're right in the fact that the parents love in the boy in their own way but if they fail to seek a compromise, they're just going to keep arguing even after the boy returns.
"I do not think that is a healthy family environment for any child to grow up in and perhaps the boy agreed with me. He could have sneaked away on his own when no one was watching."
Arthur thought about it and he realized he could not write that off as an impossibility. With this type of toxic home environment, there was a chance that the boy could have run off on his own.
"Of course, that is just mere speculation. I have no actual proof," Felicia added.
After a moment of silence for both of them to process the discussion, Arthur commented, "Actually, there is this other thing that I don't quite understand."
"What is it?"
"If there are other missing children, why didn't the other parents do anything about it? I understand there's the fear of the Blood Mother but at the end of the day, it might just be nothing more than a local legend. Shouldn't their love and concern towards their children be bigger than the fear of a mythical creature?
"At the very least, Mason's mother asked for help from the adventurer's guild, and even though he failed, Mason's father tried to gather a search party. So what about the other parents? Don't they care about their children?
"And the other villagers, how can they be so heartless? Aren't they afraid that same thing will happen to their own children?"
Felicia turned to look at Arthur and she explained patiently, "I understand your frustration, Arthur." She saw how the situation could have reminded Arthur of the abandonment of his missing father but she did not point it out openly since it was not her business to comment on it. Instead, she moved the conversation back to a more mutual ground, "but it is not our place to judge other village's tradition and custom. Perhaps they have done other things that we're not privy to.
"The other villagers probably did not want the same thing to happen to their families and that could be why they shy away from the topic.
"Furthermore, if this Blood Mother is the real deal, then we cannot expect the villagers to have a chance going up against it. This is where we adventurers come in, to help the normal people solve the problem that they couldn't on their own."
Felicia allowed Arthur a few minutes of silence to himself and when she saw the frown left the young man's face, she pushed herself off from the fence and told Arthur, "Come on, let us go visit the other home. Perhaps we will find more clues."
Arthur nodded and off they went.
This time, they found a woman washing laundry in the yard. Felicia introduced herself and when she stated the reason why they were there, the woman lifted her head and she asked, "My missing daughter? What are you talking about? All my children are safe at home."
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
After they exited the house, they did not move towards the neighboring home to follow up on the trail immediately. Instead, Felicia moved to the wooden fence that separated both homes, leaned against it and asked Arthur, "Well, Arthur what do you think? What do you think really happened to the boy?"
Many thoughts were going through Arthur's mind and he arranged them before beginning with, "I believe both the parents love Mason, but in their own distinct way. The mother obviously cares about her son and the father wouldn't have used alcohol to drown himself in the misery if he does not care about his son. He does not strike me as an alcoholic because the mother would have brought it up as an insult if he was."
Felicia nodded along to what Arthur had to say and she allowed him to continue with his analysis, "Therefore, I think the disappearance of this boy perhaps really has to do with this mysterious Blood Mother. After all, the boy disappeared from home and none of the family members seem to be responsible for his disappearance. Unless some other villager sneaked into the home to smuggle Mason away in the middle of the night, which I don't think is the case, after method of elimination, the Blood Mother is most likely the one responsible for Mason's disappearance."
Arthur supplied that with additional observation, "Furthermore, if this is just a simple kidnapping case, the adventurer's guild wouldn't have categorized this as a level D quest. Isn't that an indirect proof that some monster is involved in these disappearances? The monster in this case is probably the Blood Mother, whatever she might be."
When Arthur finished, Felicia gave her comments, "While I understand and agree with some of your analysis, I have some counter arguments.
"For one, I don't think it is wise for us to use the categorization of the guild's quest as a reliable reference."
"Why not?" Arthur asked.
"Have you forgotten what happened to us on our previous quest?" Felicia was referring to how they ended up in an uphill battle against elite phantasms in a supposedly level D quest. If not for Arthur, all three of them would have died in that battle. Granted there was manipulation behind the scene, it was all the more proof that the guild's categorization couldn't be trusted 100 percent. Felicia concluded, "There are too many variables that go into categorizing the level of a quest and sometimes accidents or miscalculations are bound to happen. We have experienced one ourselves, haven't we?"
Arthur agreed with Felicia and he nodded.
"Other than that, in your analysis, you said none of the family member seem to be responsible for the boy's disappearance but I don't agree with that."
Arthur was surprised. "You think the mother or father might be behind this?!"
"No, it's not that." Felicia shook her head, "I can sense that their grief is real but you have not considered the other family member, the boy himself."
Arthur looked at Felicia with slight confusion but what Felicia was hinting at was slowly coming to him. "You suspect this is a runaway case?"
Felicia nodded. "But it is just a suspicion. Honestly, from their argument earlier, I noticed that this is not the first time the parents have this sort of falling out. You're right in the fact that the parents love in the boy in their own way but if they fail to seek a compromise, they're just going to keep arguing even after the boy returns.
"I do not think that is a healthy family environment for any child to grow up in and perhaps the boy agreed with me. He could have sneaked away on his own when no one was watching."
Arthur thought about it and he realized he could not write that off as an impossibility. With this type of toxic home environment, there was a chance that the boy could have run off on his own.
"Of course, that is just mere speculation. I have no actual proof," Felicia added.
After a moment of silence for both of them to process the discussion, Arthur commented, "Actually, there is this other thing that I don't quite understand."
"What is it?"
"If there are other missing children, why didn't the other parents do anything about it? I understand there's the fear of the Blood Mother but at the end of the day, it might just be nothing more than a local legend. Shouldn't their love and concern towards their children be bigger than the fear of a mythical creature?
"At the very least, Mason's mother asked for help from the adventurer's guild, and even though he failed, Mason's father tried to gather a search party. So what about the other parents? Don't they care about their children?
"And the other villagers, how can they be so heartless? Aren't they afraid that same thing will happen to their own children?"
Felicia turned to look at Arthur and she explained patiently, "I understand your frustration, Arthur." She saw how the situation could have reminded Arthur of the abandonment of his missing father but she did not point it out openly since it was not her business to comment on it. Instead, she moved the conversation back to a more mutual ground, "but it is not our place to judge other village's tradition and custom. Perhaps they have done other things that we're not privy to.
"The other villagers probably did not want the same thing to happen to their families and that could be why they shy away from the topic.
"Furthermore, if this Blood Mother is the real deal, then we cannot expect the villagers to have a chance going up against it. This is where we adventurers come in, to help the normal people solve the problem that they couldn't on their own."
Felicia allowed Arthur a few minutes of silence to himself and when she saw the frown left the young man's face, she pushed herself off from the fence and told Arthur, "Come on, let us go visit the other home. Perhaps we will find more clues."
Arthur nodded and off they went.
This time, they found a woman washing laundry in the yard. Felicia introduced herself and when she stated the reason why they were there, the woman lifted her head and she asked, "My missing daughter? What are you talking about? All my children are safe at home."
After they exited the house, they did not move towards the neighboring home to follow up on the trail immediately. Instead, Felicia moved to the wooden fence that separated both homes, leaned against it and asked Arthur, "Well, Arthur what do you think? What do you think really happened to the boy?"Many thoughts were going through Arthur's mind and he arranged them before beginning with, "I believe both the parents love Mason, but in their own distinct way. The mother obviously cares about her son and the father wouldn't have used alcohol to drown himself in the misery if he does not care about his son. He does not strike me as an alcoholic because the mother would have brought it up as an insult if he was."Felicia nodded along to what Arthur had to say and she allowed him to continue with his analysis, "Therefore, I think the disappearance of this boy perhaps really has to do with this mysterious Blood Mother. After all, the boy disappeared from home and none of the family members seem to be responsible for his disappearance. Unless some other villager sneaked into the home to smuggle Mason away in the middle of the night, which I don't think is the case, after method of elimination, the Blood Mother is most likely the one responsible for Mason's disappearance."Arthur supplied that with additional observation, "Furthermore, if this is just a simple kidnapping case, the adventurer's guild wouldn't have categorized this as a level D quest. Isn't that an indirect proof that some monster is involved in these disappearances? The monster in this case is probably the Blood Mother, whatever she might be."When Arthur finished, Felicia gave her comments, "While I understand and agree with some of your analysis, I have some counter arguments."For one, I don't think it is wise for us to use the categorization of the guild's quest as a reliable reference.""Why not?" Arthur asked."Have you forgotten what happened to us on our previous quest?" Felicia was referring to how they ended up in an uphill battle against elite phantasms in a supposedly level D quest. If not for Arthur, all three of them would have died in that battle. Granted there was manipulation behind the scene, it was all the more proof that the guild's categorization couldn't be trusted 100 percent. Felicia concluded, "There are too many variables that go into categorizing the level of a quest and sometimes accidents or miscalculations are bound to happen. We have experienced one ourselves, haven't we?"Arthur agreed with Felicia and he nodded."Other than that, in your analysis, you said none of the family member seem to be responsible for the boy's disappearance but I don't agree with that."Arthur was surprised. "You think the mother or father might be behind this?!""No, it's not that." Felicia shook her head, "I can sense that their grief is real but you have not considered the other family member, the boy himself."Arthur looked at Felicia with slight confusion but what Felicia was hinting at was slowly coming to him. "You suspect this is a runaway case?"Felicia nodded. "But it is just a suspicion. Honestly, from their argument earlier, I noticed that this is not the first time the parents have this sort of falling out. You're right in the fact that the parents love in the boy in their own way but if they fail to seek a compromise, they're just going to keep arguing even after the boy returns."I do not think that is a healthy family environment for any child to grow up in and perhaps the boy agreed with me. He could have sneaked away on his own when no one was watching."Arthur thought about it and he realized he could not write that off as an impossibility. With this type of toxic home environment, there was a chance that the boy could have run off on his own."Of course, that is just mere speculation. I have no actual proof," Felicia added.After a moment of silence for both of them to process the discussion, Arthur commented, "Actually, there is this other thing that I don't quite understand.""What is it?""If there are other missing children, why didn't the other parents do anything about it? I understand there's the fear of the Blood Mother but at the end of the day, it might just be nothing more than a local legend. Shouldn't their love and concern towards their children be bigger than the fear of a mythical creature?"At the very least, Mason's mother asked for help from the adventurer's guild, and even though he failed, Mason's father tried to gather a search party. So what about the other parents? Don't they care about their children?"And the other villagers, how can they be so heartless? Aren't they afraid that same thing will happen to their own children?"Felicia turned to look at Arthur and she explained patiently, "I understand your frustration, Arthur." She saw how the situation could have reminded Arthur of the abandonment of his missing father but she did not point it out openly since it was not her business to comment on it. Instead, she moved the conversation back to a more mutual ground, "but it is not our place to judge other village's tradition and custom. Perhaps they have done other things that we're not privy to."The other villagers probably did not want the same thing to happen to their families and that could be why they shy away from the topic."Furthermore, if this Blood Mother is the real deal, then we cannot expect the villagers to have a chance going up against it. This is where we adventurers come in, to help the normal people solve the problem that they couldn't on their own."Felicia allowed Arthur a few minutes of silence to himself and when she saw the frown left the young man's face, she pushed herself off from the fence and told Arthur, "Come on, let us go visit the other home. Perhaps we will find more clues."Arthur nodded and off they went.This time, they found a woman washing laundry in the yard. Felicia introduced herself and when she stated the reason why they were there, the woman lifted her head and she asked, "My missing daughter? What are you talking about? All my children are safe at home."
