"...Servant, hurry up and help me purify my magic power!"
At dusk, the blonde loli ran in from outside like a wisp of smoke, then incredibly naturally took the initiative to grab Sora's right hand.
Sora looked at her helplessly. "Did you go out to play while invisible again?"
"It was for gathering material!" Elf lifted her cute chin, correcting him decisively. "An author's business naturally doesn't count as playing!"
Unlike Kuroneko and Mahiru, Yamada Elf was a standard fun-loving girl. She went out every day using her invisibility ability to "gather material," never tiring of it. In the evenings, she would look for Sora to help purify her magic power; it had already become a habit.
This elf originally had very little sense of shame. Now that she was proactively coming over to hold hands, let alone being shy, she wouldn't even blush.
"Elf-san, have some tea."
Angel-sama poured a cup of barley tea and brought it over.
"Thank you, Mahiru."
Elf drank half the cup of tea in one gulp and began chattering about the novel things she encountered today:
"When I was out playing today, I saw quintuplets. Those five girls only had different hairstyles; their appearances and heights were exactly the same."
"Didn't you just say you went out to play?"
"I-I never said that..." Elf hurriedly denied it outright. "Anyway, their mom is amazing. I've seen the bellies of mothers expecting twins online before, and they're terrifyingly huge. I can't imagine how scary it must be to be pregnant with quintuplets. Her stomach would definitely explode, right?"
Sora said casually: "There are always people in the world who are exceptionally gifted."
Elf covered her flat, smooth little tummy with her right hand. "Anyway, I don't want to be pregnant with that many in the future..."
That's enough, you haven't even grown all your hair yet, don't think about things so far in the future!
As they were talking, Anna came out of the kitchen carrying dishes, her voice crisp:
"Everyone, wash your hands and let's eat!"
"..."
Dinner, aside from rice and miso soup, was entirely horse mackerel—charcoal-grilled, sashimi, and kabayaki—all sorts of flavors were available. Under Angel-sama's max-level cooking skills, every dish was exceptionally delicious.
With the gluttonous girl Anna present, all the prepared food was eaten clean, with no leftovers. A cause for celebration.
Several days passed in a flash.
Coming into May, Golden Week officially arrived.
This is a super-long consecutive holiday in Japan. If it falls on a weekend in the middle, those days are directly included, and there are no evil make-up workdays. This year, there were a full nine days of vacation, and many people choose to travel during Golden Week.
Sora didn't go traveling; instead, he stayed at home, earnestly working on his game.
During this time, Ruri came over every day to write code together. They also took on bounties together with Sora, going out to find lost cats and earn reward money.
Yamada Elf, as usual, went out every day to gather material.
Anna went traveling with her parents.
Angel-sama quietly took care of everyone.
When Golden Week was nearing its end, the game was also almost finished.
The second to last day of Golden Week.
Dusk.
Sora was sitting on the sofa waiting for dinner, feeling that something was missing today.
Finally, it was Mahiru whose words awakened the dreamer:
"Why hasn't Elf come over yet?"
"I remember now..."
Sora realized that it was already mealtime. The blonde loli, who usually appeared punctually, was nowhere to be seen today.
"Could she be having too much fun playing outside and forgot the time?" Sora took out his phone. "I'll send a message to ask."
"..."
Ten minutes later.
The message still showed as unread.
"Elf-san might have been delayed by something." Mahiru comforted him softly. "Sora-kun, don't worry, let's wait a little longer."
In the blink of an eye, it was 7:00 PM.
The sky outside had turned completely dark.
The several messages sent still showed as unread, and calls went unanswered.
Sora could no longer sit still. He got up, walked to the window, and looked out. He saw that Yamada Elf's house was pitch black; it was impossible to tell if anyone was inside.
"Sora-kun, wait a moment, I'll go back." Mahiru stood up. "Elf-san gave me a spare key before. I'll go back to get the key, and then go to Elf's house to take a look."
Yamada Elf had a careless personality and occasionally forgot her keys when going out, so she left a spare key at Mahiru's house.
"Nii-san, could Elf have encountered danger?"
Knowing that Elf was out of contact, Sagiri had already come from her room to the living room. Right now, her eyes were full of worry.
"It's unlikely she encountered danger." Sora's voice was steady. "Elf is already a teenager, and she has the invisibility ability; she's not a weak, frail girl... Anyway, I'll go over and take a look first. Maybe Elf is sleeping too soundly and hasn't woken up at home."
"Nii-san, let me know the moment you have news." Sagiri still didn't dare to go out, she could only earnestly instruct him at the entryway. "You absolutely must not forget."
Sora reached out his right hand and rubbed Sagiri's small head. "Wait for my news."
Stepping out of the house.
A bright moon had quietly hung in the night sky, but Sora had something weighing on his mind and was completely not in the mood to appreciate the moonlight.
"Sora-kun, I got the key."
Mahiru quickly walked out from next door.
The two went to Elf's door and used the key to open it.
"Elf, are you home?"
"..."
The house was incredibly quiet, with not the slightest response.
Sora and Mahiru walked into the house and began checking the rooms one by one.
A moment later.
"We've looked in every room, Elf is not at home." Sora's tone was serious. "But not coming back this late and having no news, it's highly likely she encountered some kind of accident."
Mahiru bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth. "Should we call the police?"
"We don't have guardianship status." Sora shook his head. "They won't accept the case."
In Japan, it's useless for people with ordinary friend relationships to call the police; they won't accept the case. It must be parents or teachers, people with guardianship status, who call the police for them to help look for someone.
Moreover, everyone understands the efficiency of the Japanese police. Sora remembered that a neighbor's child had run away from home in the past. The neighbor couple went to the koban (police box) to report it, but the police said the koban was too small and it had to be reported to a higher authority. After running around all day, the case was finally accepted, only for them to find out the runaway child had already returned home voluntarily.
"I don't know what situation Elf has encountered, but we definitely can't just sit and wait." Sora let out a soft sigh, quickly took out his phone, and dialed Gokou Ruri's number.
"...We have to use our own methods to solve this."
The call was quickly connected.
"Sora, what's wrong?"
Ruri's confused voice came from the phone.
"Elf is missing..."
Sora didn't waste words, getting straight to the point and explaining the situation.
"Wait for me." Ruri said quickly.
"I'll head over right now, and then mobilize cats and dogs to help find her."