Chapter 108: The Spirit Spring and the Missing Doll

Since they had received Iwen’s permission, Miss Vilyric and her companions naturally followed the two hurriedly moving Puppeteer Clan girls without any hesitation.

The girl who came to deliver the message trotted ahead with familiarity, showcasing her impressive prowess and clearly having an intimate knowledge of every tree and shrub in this forest. She moved with such confidence and elegance, almost like a forest spirit dancing among the trees.

In contrast, Iwen, being the clan leader, seemed to be struggling, looking utterly lost, probably because she really loved staying home playing with dolls and rarely ventured out.

The path through the forest was a bit tricky; the mountain wolves were quite large, making it difficult to move quickly through the dense underbrush, so Miss Vilyric and her group opted not to ride. Fortunately, they were all strong enough not to have much trouble keeping up.

After about ten minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

A gentle warmth and humid air welcomed them, and the soothing sound of flowing water gradually reached their ears. While Miss Vilyric felt a bit perplexed by the sudden change of environment, she refrained from asking questions in this awkward moment, quietly trailing behind Iwen and the others.

As they turned past the treetops and got a clear view, everything suddenly became clear.

Smooth white stones surrounded a circular clearing of about several hundred square meters, with raised stone walls forming an arc-like enclosure. A wispy, white mist rose, carrying warm and humid air mixed with a subtle scent akin to sulfur.

This was, astonishingly, a hot spring.

Since arriving in this world, it was Miss Vilyric’s first time seeing such a delicately crafted forest hot spring.

While similar sights did exist in certain cities of the United Kingdom as tourist attractions, which tended to be crowded, the Priestess disliked being crammed with a lot of people, let alone partaking in a hot spring bath, an act that almost exposed one’s body.

Furthermore, more refined health springs usually resided in the private estates of high-ranking nobles or merchants. To be honest, Miss Vilyric didn’t have many trustworthy friends like that in this world.

Looking at its shape and style, it was apparent that this hot spring was skillfully carved out by the Puppeteer Clan rather than formed naturally. It was indeed exquisite, confirming what she learned about this crafty and artistic race.

While several outsiders, including Miss Vilyric, were taken aback by the beauty of this enchanting location, the two Puppeteer Clan girls who had lived in the forest for who knows how many years seemed relatively unphased.

They immediately scanned the open hot spring valley for any familiar doll silhouettes, but to their dismay, none appeared. Realizing this absence heightened Iwen’s already anxious demeanor.

“Imeng, what’s going on? Where is Iriush?”

“I… I don’t know, Iwen! She was clearly by the spirit pool earlier; how did she just…”

The Puppeteer Clan girl named Imeng seemed flustered as well. It was evident she was the shy type, freezing in place at such a situation, though she appeared to want to explain something, her panic preventing her from articulating clearly.

At this moment, Iwen, as the clan leader, quickly regained her composure and took a deep breath, raising her hand.

“Calm down. Just tell me everything that happened in detail.”

Under her reassurance, Imeng finally started to gather herself.

“I arranged to meet Iriush this afternoon to relax at the spirit spring… That’s quite common. But since she’s a bit impatient, she usually arrives earlier than I do.”

“This time was no exception. When I got to the spirit spring, I saw her waiting inside, but oddly, Iriush didn’t enter the spring; she was just standing there, looking like she entered some kind of emergency mode.”

“You know what emergency mode is, Iwen. It’s not something that typically activates casually. I intended to observe for a moment, but then Iriush suddenly started malfunctioning, scaring me so much that I rushed to find you for help. Who knew…”

“Tsk…”

After hearing Imeng’s account, the clan leader furrowed her brow. She started searching around the hot spring for any signs, even staring at the water for a long while. But with how small the area was, there was no way someone could be hiding in the water. It only meant that Iriush was likely gone.

“Ugh… Iwen, what should we do now?”

It was clear that Imeng lacked initiative; upon witnessing how things had unfolded, a hint of a quiver entered her voice, and she appeared bewildered and at a loss, indicating her close relationship with Iriush.

Iwen took a few more deep breaths, reining her emotions in.

“Stop crying. It’s not your fault; no one could have predicted this sudden issue. We don’t know what kind of trouble Iriush has gotten into… Imeng, go gather all the sisters and have everyone search the forest separately. I need to search the spirit spring a bit more.”

“Okay! Iwen, I’ll go now!”

“Wait.”

Just as Imeng was about to step away, the Priestess, who had been listening in and observing, suddenly reached out to stop her.

“Eh? You…”

To save time, Miss Vilyric didn’t explain to the evidently troubled Imeng but rather turned her gaze to the more authoritative clan leader, getting straight to the point.

“Iwen must be feeling a bit confused and suspicious, right? After all, it is quite a coincidence that such an issue arose shortly after we arrived at Puppeteer Forest…”

“…”

Iwen didn’t respond right away, but from her silence, Miss Vilyric could tell she wasn’t wrong—this was a reasonable line of reasoning. If Miss Vilyric were in Iwen’s shoes, she too would think the same way.

“While I don’t know precisely what emergency mode entails, from what you’ve described, it shouldn’t activate easily, which means that Iriush could be in danger. I dislike being suspected; instead of wasting words in pointless explanations, I prefer to prove myself through action. So, let’s help locate her, shall we?”

“To be honest, if this is a premeditated attack, Iwen, your approach is quite risky and could exactly play into the enemy’s hands.”

Hearing this, the clan leader furrowed her brow. For some reason, her gaze seemed to repeatedly drift toward the direction of the spirit spring, though she concealed it well—only Miss Vilyric noticed.

“Are you suggesting that Iriush was attacked by an unknown enemy?”

“Well… It’s too early to jump to conclusions. It could also be that something went awry with Imeng; perhaps what she saw was merely an illusion or something entirely different, and the intruder’s goal was to bait you into taking some sort of action. This too can explain Iriush’s absence here. While all of this is conjecture, I think the likelihood is quite high. What do you think, Iwen?”

“…?”

Iwen instinctively opened her mouth to refute but paused to think carefully. She seemed to half-understand and half-agree with Miss Vilyric’s hypothesis, nodding slightly.

“So what Miss Vilyric is suggesting is that we should avoid hasty actions and allow you outsiders to handle this instead, so we can catch any potential enemies off guard, right?”

“Exactly.”

The Priestess nodded to herself.

One couldn’t help but acknowledge that the Puppeteer Clan indeed lived up to the acclaim of being a wise and rational race. If it were a typical or more hot-headed creature, they’d undoubtedly be frazzled and unable to keep calm to analyze the situation when a clan member suddenly went missing. At the very least, Miss Vilyric wouldn’t have to explain herself multiple times.

After all, the Priestess was an outsider, able to think calmly; however, Iwen might not be able to remain as composed.

Seeing Imeng glance at her for help, Miss Vilyric shook her head, signaling her not to act recklessly for now. The clan leader, treating the matter with newfound respect, looked at the black-haired girl with admiration.

“Then tell me, what do you propose we do?”

   

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