Chapter 5 - The Disappearance of Other Girls

Sebastian glared at the books with barely concealed frustration. Clover was still handing out his enchanted books.

It was a disaster waiting to happen.

His foot tapped impatiently against the wooden floor as he rested his chin on one hand, deep in thought. Ever since explaining what had happened to his mother, countless worries had begun flooding his mind.

This wasn't the first time Sebastian had encountered someone from another world. They were rare. But every one of them had changed this world in ways no one could ignore.

"You shouldn't be here."

His voice was firm. "You have to go back to where you came from."

"What?!"

Rosella shook her head vigorously. "No!"

"If that's the case..." Sebastian strode toward the table.

"...then get rid of those books."

Rosella snatched both books into her arms before he could touch them.

"They're mine!"

"You can't just throw them away!"

"Did you not hear a single word I just said?!"

"I'M NOT GOING BACK!"

Rosella shouted. "No matter what happens..."

"...I'm never going back."

Her voice trembled.She hugged the books tightly against her chest. Back to Faraway? Never.

She had already said goodbye to that filthy farm and the life she'd hated.

"I dreamed of leaving that village."

"I wanted to see places I'd never seen before."

"I wanted to read countless books."

"I wanted to escape my aunt, who treated me like a servant."

She lowered her gaze. "I wanted to be free, Sebastian."

"I've only been here for two weeks..."

"...but for the first time in my life..."

"...I feel like I can become whoever I want to be."

She smiled faintly. Her clothes were cleaner now. She no longer smelled of livestock. Her curls were neatly tied instead of tangled and wild.

She had Madam Helen, who cared for her despite her sharp tongue. She had Isabella, who happily braided her hair every morning.

"When I was younger..."

"My biggest dream was joining a travelling carnival."

"They were my only hope of escaping that village."

"Clover gave me another chance."

She looked down at the books.

"I know I'm not beautiful."

"And after watching your performance yesterday..."

"...I realised joining your troupe isn't as easy as I imagined."

She laughed softly.

"But that's alright."

"I'm free now."

"I can find another path."

Sebastian watched her quietly. His expression remained unreadable. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"The Shadow Bandit..."

"...once dreamed exactly as you do."

Rosella looked up sharply. Her blue eyes searched his face.

"He loved books."

"Just like you."

"He wanted to escape the life he had in his own world."

"...His own world?"

Rosella frowned.

"Does that mean..."

"...he came from another world too?"

Sebastian nodded.

Silence settled over the room once again. Rosella lowered her voice.

"Sophie..."

"Your mother..."

"She's written about in the novel."

She hesitated. "That happened twenty years ago."

"...Sebastian..."

"Maybe your mother isn't—"

"She's alive."

Sebastian interrupted without hesitation.

"There is a book called STORAGE."

"It contains five hundred completely blank pages."

Rosella blinked.

"Five hundred blank pages?"

"What's the point of that?"

"It's a storage book."

"You can place anything inside it."

Rosella's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing."

She paused. "But what does it have to do with the kidnappings?"

Sebastian's expression darkened. "The missing girls..."

"...are being kept inside that book."

"Inside STORAGE."

"Its name makes it sound harmless."

"But in the Shadow Bandit's hands..."

"...it became a prison."

Rosella felt her head spinning.

Everything she'd believed since arriving here was crumbling apart. Clover... The kindly old bookseller who loved giving books away... Was somehow connected to all of this?

Sebastian's mother...

Was trapped inside a magical book?

And now there existed another book capable of imprisoning people? It was too much. She didn't want to believe it. Books were meant to preserve knowledge. How could they become tools for such cruelty?

Rosella looked at Sebastian. The recent disappearances of young women suddenly felt terrifyingly real. She had never worried about herself. She'd always assumed the kidnappers only targeted beautiful girls.

But...

What about Isabella? What if one night... Her best friend disappeared too? The thought alone made Rosella's chest tighten.

Sebastian had lost his mother when he was still a child. He had grown up among the travelling performers. Eventually, he formed his own troupe.

Since then... He had travelled across the continent searching for a single book. Searching for the Shadow Bandit.

Rosella slowly pieced everything together. "You came to Great City because of the kidnapping that happened two weeks ago..."

"The one that happened just before I arrived." Sebastian nodded.

That night... A beautiful young noblewoman named Diana had vanished without a trace. Then another girl disappeared. And another.

Each victim was known throughout Great City for her beauty. Diana was the daughter of one of the city's most influential noble families. The morning after her disappearance, soldiers searched every street, every building, and every corner of the city.

They found nothing. Everyone believed the Shadow Bandit had taken her.

Eventually...

With no body to bury and no hope of rescue... The families held funerals for the girls who had vanished.

"I believed the Shadow Bandit would appear in this city." Sebastian spoke quietly. "That's why my troupe decided to stay here for a while."

Rosella looked down at the books.

"What can we do?"

Sebastian's eyes softened. "There's nothing inherently wrong with Clover's books."

"They're simply knowledge."

"But when they fall into the wrong hands..."

"...they become dangerous."

He took a slow breath. "The Shadow Bandit is one of the people who abused Clover's gifts."

Rosella gently placed both books back on the table. "So much knowledge..." She traced the worn cover of the encyclopaedia with her fingertips. "...and yet it ended like this."

Sebastian watched her quietly. "Then protect them."

Rosella looked up. "You and I may have only met yesterday..."

"...but I want to believe you're a good person."

He smiled. "So don't let anyone else see those books."

Without another word... Sebastian stepped onto the windowsill. Then he leapt out of the open window. Rosella froze. Only moments ago, he had wanted to destroy the books.

Now...

He was entrusting them to her.

"Sebastian!"

Rosella rushed to the window. But he was already gone.

Just like Clover.

The two of them vanished as suddenly as they always appeared, leaving behind nothing but silence.

Every night, patrols swept through the streets of Great City.

Working alongside the men from the travelling carnival, the city guards made certain every young woman was safely inside before nightfall.

A grand event like the carnival performance was the perfect opportunity to lure the culprit out.

If the Shadow Bandit intended to abduct another girl, the confusion of a crowded festival would have been the ideal moment to strike.

But he was far more patient than they had expected.

He never appeared.

Not during the festival.

Not even in the week that followed.

Perhaps...

He had already moved on to another city.

---

Rosella lay awake, staring at the ceiling above her bed.

Outside, the steady rhythm of boots echoed through the streets as the nightly patrol continued. Flickering torchlight slipped through the cracks in her window, painting shifting shadows across the walls.

Unable to sleep, she climbed out of bed and walked over to the window.

She pushed it open. Someone was already looking up at her. Blue eyes met blue eyes.

Sebastian stood in the street below, quietly watching her window.

He smiled. Rosella smiled back and waved.

CRASH!

The sound of shattering glass exploded somewhere inside the tavern. Rosella spun around. Running footsteps thundered along the upstairs corridor. Sebastian's expression changed instantly. He sprinted toward the building.

Rosella threw open her bedroom door.

Isabella's room...

...was wide open.

"ISABELLA!"

She rushed inside. The room was empty. Madam Helen burst out of her room downstairs at the same moment.

A black shadow flashed past her. Then another window shattered. Sebastian climbed through the broken window at the back of the tavern. Glass littered the floor. Whoever had been there...

...had already escaped.

"Isabella!"

Rosella cried as she raced downstairs. Madam Helen stood frozen beside the shattered window while fragments of glass glittered across the floor.

The men on night patrol immediately gave chase. Sebastian clicked his tongue in frustration before running after them. Rosella followed without hesitation.

"Ro!"

"Stay here!"

Madam Helen shouted after her. Rosella ignored her completely. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder. He wanted to stop her. But there wasn't time. Another girl had been taken. Nothing mattered more than catching the kidnapper. Rosella sprinted after the search party. As she reached a narrow crossroads...

A rough hand suddenly grabbed her from behind.

Another clamped tightly over her mouth.

"Mmph!"

She struggled violently.

Trying to scream.

Trying to break free.

THUD!

A powerful kick struck from the front. The attacker was sent crashing backwards onto the ground. Sebastian lowered his leg. The man groaned in pain.

He wasn't the Shadow Bandit.

Just another drunken thug taking advantage of the chaos. Even with the city under heavy guard... Men like him still existed. Sebastian seized Rosella's wrist.

"Run."

Together they raced toward the city's northern gate, where the guards had gathered. Torches blazed along the edge of the forest. Everyone was searching. Isabella had disappeared into the darkness beyond the trees. Rosella and Sebastian finally stopped running. Both of them were breathing hard.

A guard approached Sebastian.

"We lost her."

Sebastian clenched his jaw. Despite every precaution... Another girl had vanished. Right before his eyes.

"Isabella..." Rosella whispered.

Her voice cracked. They had only known each other for three weeks. Yet Isabella had become one of her closest friends. She had listened patiently to every story about Rosella's cruel aunt...

About the filthy farm...

About the lonely life Rosella had escaped.

Now...

She was gone.

Taken by the Shadow Bandit. Rosella could no longer hold back her tears. Sebastian quietly watched her. "She may not be here..."

He spoke gently. "But I'm certain she's still alive."

Rosella wiped her eyes. "I'm going to find Isabella."

Sebastian frowned. "Don't be reckless."

"We've already lost the trail."

"Then take me with you." Rosella looked him straight in the eye.

"You're going after him, aren't you?"

"I'll come too."

"Let me help."

Sebastian fell silent. He considered her words. After a long pause...

"...Alright."

"What?!"

A young man carrying a torch emerged from the trees. "We already have enough people."

He frowned at Sebastian. "You want to add another member?"

"Do you have any idea how much more food we'll have to carry?"

Sebastian sighed. "Isaac."

"Don't be rude to the newest member of our family."

Rosella recognised him immediately. Isaac. They had met a week earlier at Madam Helen's tavern.

The very first day she'd met Sebastian. Isaac folded his arms.

"You make decisions whenever you feel like it."

"Our group's already big enough."

"Do you think managing everyone's expenses is easy?"

Sebastian answered calmly.

"...She's met, Clover."

Silence fell. Isaac's expression changed instantly. Isaac looked Rosella up and down before letting out a long sigh. "Oh, come on, Sebastian."

"So that's why your taste in women has suddenly become so questionable."

He clicked his tongue. "For a second, I actually thought you'd fallen for an ordinary girl like her."

Rosella's eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me?"

Isaac ignored her. He simply shook his head and started walking away. "...Though I suppose we don't really have a choice."

His tone grew more serious. "If she's met Clover..."

"...then she's already involved."

He glanced back over his shoulder. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "We're not an ordinary travelling troupe."

"So brace yourself."

With that, Isaac disappeared into the darkness. Rosella stood there in silence, clutching Clover's books a little tighter.

Sebastian turned toward the waiting wagons gathered beyond the city gates. The search for Isabella... Had already begun. Behind them, the lights of Great City flickered against the night sky. Ahead lay only unfamiliar roads...

...and a journey with no guarantee of returning.

Before dawn broke...

They left Great City behind.