Casca.
Captain Valtor released his tenth sigh of the day.
"I implore you to not make this any more difficult for me, Sir. You're creating unnecessary chaos."
The wrinkled and elderly demon refused to move from the center of the street where he had stubbornly raised his strike.
"I won't let a single carriage pass from here until you give me my son!"
"Sir, your son is not in Casca. How many times should I tell you?"
"Don't take me for a fool! You rich capital city folks think that you can wrap a lie into a neat little story, but I won't fall for it!"
Several gasps then escaped from the crowd with Zerath entering the center of commotion.
"What's happening here?" He blinked questioningly.
Valtor and his small troop of knights immediately dropped to their knees. "Rise for the Crown Prince, Zerath!"
He raised his palm. "Please stand. Tell me what is going on. What does this gentleman want?"
Valtor gave him the full report. "Please forgive us for not containing this disturbance, my lord. We've been trying to make this sir understand that his son is not in Casca, but he refuses to believe us."
"I refuse to believe you because you're not telling us the truth!" He valiantly remained undeterred even in face of Zerath's regal aura.
"Speak with respect, you impudent!" Valtor glared. "You're in the Crown Prince's presence."
Zerath said, "That's fine, Valtor. Step back."
He immediately heeded his command, and the knights created some distance.
Zerath dropped to his one knee and watched the elderly demon's eyes filled with fury and distress.
"My lord is too kind! Bowing to a mere commoner…" Hushed voices spread in the crowd with his humble gesture, which was brought to a stop with Valtor's warning glare.
No gossiping!
Zerath asked, "Can you tell me everything from the beginning?"
The elderly demon bit his lip hard, his frail body trembling with bubbling rage. "My son came here for a better life! Why do we move from smaller towns to well-developed cities? To get decent work, money and to live a good life."
"Yes, indeed."
"But what happened with Drak? He came to Casca a month ago in hopes of a better future but since then, I haven't received even a single letter from him! Well, yes we had a big fight before he stormed off, but Drak would never be so ignorant. At first, I thought the new city life was keeping him busy, but there's no way he wouldn't send a letter no matter how busy he was!"
His fierce gaze then caught Valtor in its grip. "So I decided to look for him myself and understand what's happening. I went to the house he was renting here, but the landlord there says that no one named Drak ever came to him. And now this knight is saying that there's no one named Drak in the entire city of Casca! Am I really supposed to believe such blatant lies!?"
Zerath held his shoulder, attempting to pacify him. Eurus peeked from behind him, wondering if he should dispel a gust of a pleasant, cool air to soothe the demon's angry nerves. But considering his failed attempt to soothe Zerath's face last night, he pursed his lips and promptly held back his noble intentions.
Zerath glanced at Valtor for an answer, to which he helplessly replied. "My lord, my knights and I checked all the registers, official documents and searched all accommodation places at Casca. We didn't find any demon named Drak. Not in any work place nor in any house. Not as an owner or as a renter either. We asked around and nobody knows Drak or ever heard about him."
"Lies!" The father protested again.
"Sir, why would we lie to you?"
"Because you did something to my son and you're trying to cover it up now! You're covering up your crimes!" He shook hard, tears threatening to form in his already misty eyes.
"I want my son back. That's all I know! I don't care who all I'll have to bring down, but I'll find my son for sure, and he's here in Casca! I know it. Until I get the real answers, I'll not move an inch from here!"
"It's possible that he might've…" Valtor cleared his throat, fully expecting a backlash, "run away under the pretext of coming to Casca."
The reaction came as he had expected. "You shameless knight! How dare you accuse my son's character? I know my son, and he'd never run away like a coward. He has no reason to. Well yes, we fight a lot but so do all fathers and sons! He wouldn't run away just because of some petty fights. You're just trying to pin the blame on Drak to protect yourself!"
Zerath said, "Sir, please calm down. I understand your distress, and I give my word that I'll find Drak."
"All empty promises! This knight here promised me too, but he went back on his word!"
Valtor lacked the tears to shed. "I didn't break any promise, Sir. I truly believed that Drak is in Casca, but our investigation proves that he's not here."
"You-"
Zerath intervened before he could spew another breath of fire. He held his hands and stared straight in his eyes, serious and sincere.
"Sir, in the name of Rudaheim, I will find Drak. It doesn't matter if he's in Casca or not. I'll find him wherever he is and bring him to you."
His jaw clenched. "Does a royal prince like you even have the time to look into a measly matter like a single citizen's disappearance when an esteemed Order has died?"
Zerath offered a soft, reassuring smile. "If I don't have it, then I'll make the time, but I'll find Drak at any cost. Casca's knights are very efficient and capable, and I'm confident they wouldn't have ignored any thread of investigation to locate your son. So if Captain Valtor says that Drak is not here, then he really is not here. But wherever he might be now, I'll do everything in my power to find him."
The father challenged his gaze with his heated ire but found no gaps in his sincerity. His expression eventually mellowed a bit.
"...I'll trust my lord then."
"Thank you. I won't break your trust."
The knights helped him move to a safer place, bringing relief to everyone. Zerath faced Valtor, his expression immediately looking like a bleak layer of a distant storm approaching.
"Report to me today after Sir Malphas's funeral. We have a big problem in our hands."