Chapter 22: 22
The woman's face was worn and she looked tired. The overall exhaustion added at least 5 years to her appearance, causing her to look older than her actual age.
What the woman said made both Felicia and Arthur frown. According to this mother, all of her children were safe at home. Did they get the wrong house, perhaps it was the neighbor on the other side? However, there was no neighbor on the other side for several miles, it was an open field.
To clarify the situation, Felicia explained, "Ma'am, but the couple next door whose son has gone missing, mentioned that your youngest daughter has also gone missing as well. I apologize if we got the wrong house but in that case, do you know anything about..."
Before Felicia could finish, the woman slammed her first on the laundry board and grumbled with annoyance, "That bloody couple, couldn't they just mind their own business? Why must they intervene into other people's life?!
"Yes, my daughter has gone missing about a week ago, so what do you want? I suppose life has been so busy that I kinda lost sight of it. I'll have you know, raising 4 children on your own, all of them boys is not an easy feat."
That was honestly quite a difficult excuse to stomach. No matter how busy a mother was, how could she forget that her daughter has gone missing? Furthermore, in the very next sentence, she had conveniently left out her daughter again when she mentioned her children. It was as if the daughter was of so little significance to this woman that the daughter's appearance had completely erased her from this mother's mind.
As a child who was practically orphaned after his mother passed away, Arthur felt his patience fraying dealing with this woman. He could not understand how could a mother ever act this like to their own flesh and blood.
In contrast, Felicia was the less judgemental of the two. She gave the woman the benefit of a doubt, perhaps this was her way of dealing with the anxiety and grief. Furthermore, they were there to complete the quest on behalf of the adventurer's guild and not to judge so she kept her judgement to herself. On top of that, Felicia did not have the same childhood and history as Arthur so she was not as invested as the young man was.
Felicia continued patiently, "Ma'am, we would be ever grateful if you can give us a little information about your daughter's disappearance. The time of her disappearance, the playmates that she had at the time..."
Once more, Felicia was cut off by the woman, "And I would be ever grateful if you just leave me alone. I don't have time to entertain guest. It wasn't me who called for your service so go harass them and not me. Now, if you'll excuse me, my work is not going to do them. I don't see you trying to help a poor woman with her household chores, now do I?"
Then, she stood up from the ground and collected the washed laundry into an empty pail. She was going to dry them at the clothesline that was at the other side of the yard.
Try as he might, Arthur really couldn't put himself in this woman's shoes. There they were, trying to offer her help to bring her daughter back but the woman appeared like she did not want their help and did not want her daughter home. This was a concept that the young man had difficulty wrapping his head around.
As the woman turned around, Arthur shouted at her back, "Don't you want to save your daughter?"
The woman answered with a kick to the basin of laundry water. The basin toppled and the water splashed at Arthur and Felicia. Felicia jumped back and she pulled Arthur along with her. The water doused the spot that they were standing earlier.
Felicia probably did not hear this because the woman grumbled under her breath as she moved back to her home, "Bloody busybody! Why would I want that girl home? She's unable to work the field and just wastes my food! Don't they know I already have so many mouths to feed?!"
Arthur had the urge to use his vocal materialization to send the woman flying into the wall but Felicia planted her hand firmly on his shoulders. Arthur turned to look at her and she shook her head. Having an injured civilian on their hand was not going to help their situation. "Arthur, don't lose sight of our goal."
Arthur needed a few minutes to calm himself down and Felicia gave him all the necessary space. When the young man was feeling more like himself, he spat, "I do not like that woman, not one bit."
Felicia kept her hand on Arthur's shoulder to show that she understood his feeling. However, she also understood that they were there to complete the quest on adventurer's guild's behalf. They were there to find and locate the missing children, not to solve social ills and teach people parenting lessons. As unfortunate as it was, that was simply not within their job scope.
Furthermore, misfortunes and injustice were simply the way of the world. Felicia was kind but she was not bright-eyed enough to think they would be able to fix the world. That was not within their capacity.
In the end, Arthur only sighed. He too felt the powerlessness of their position. He said, "The woman refused to communicate with us, what are we going to do now?"
Felicia frowned. "Indeed, it seems like this is where our trail ends. Maybe we should ask around the village for more information? Perhaps there might be more missing children in the village."
Just as they turned to leave, Arthur stopped Felicia. "One sec." He was looking down the direction of the wooden fence that curtained in the yard. Hanging by the fence, staring at them inquisitively was a young boy who looked very much similar to the woman who just blew them off. "Perhaps the trail has not yet run cold..."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone