One-way traffic

but.

Footsteps reached his ears.

"…ah?"

Accelerator couldn't help but open his eyes.

A petite figure appeared in front of her.

That was a child he had seen a few times before when he played with him.

"You are...I remember your name was Petra?"

Accelerator slowly got up.

"What brings you here? You don't mean to expect me to play those boring games with you, do you?"

But the idea of ​​one-way passage was stuck in his throat.

Because he saw that the girl in front of him had a very panicked expression on her face.

There were even quite a few tears in their eyes.

"Mr. Yifang... Ryder... Ryder is missing!"

Ryder—Accelerator had absolutely no recollection of this name; he was probably some little boy or girl he had met in this village before.

He frowned in surprise.

"What's going on?"

"Just after lunch, the village chief noticed that one child was missing, and then... everyone discovered that Ryder's toy puppet, which he always carried around, had fallen to the edge of the forest!"

At the edge of the forest, if that's the case.

Hey—no way?

Even Accelerator couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

"You mean that brat ran into the forest?"

“Yes…yes!”

At this point, Petra's expression became even more panicked, and her voice even sounded like she was about to cry.

"We found footprints near the woods, and those footprints...!"

"It looks just like the footprints of a monster!"

The atmosphere instantly became strange.

However, the situation is often more complex than that.

"More importantly! After leaving behind the message that she would find Ryder, Hatsune Miku disappeared without a trace!"

what? !

Accelerator raised an eyebrow.

One-way, no—

The number one esper in Academy City stood up.

"...That stupid young lady, she's always causing me trouble."

After angrily finishing his canned coffee, he glanced at Petra, whose eyes were glistening with tears.

"lead the way."

"Eh? Excuse me, where do I need to go?"

"Need I say more?"

Accelerator put his hands in his pockets and crushed the coffee can in his right hand to pieces.

"I'm going to find that stupid young lady and that brat."

Chapter 49 The Existence of Magical Beasts

A gentle breeze began to blow.

In Alam village, people gathered in small groups at the edge of the village entrance.

Almost everyone was gathered around here.

"H-how is it?!"

"No, we still haven't found it."

"Not only have we found her, but the blue-haired girl has also disappeared. What are we going to do now?"

The villagers were now in a state of utter frustration because a little boy who had just been playing hide-and-seek with the children had gone missing.

Not only did they fail to find the child who had originally gone missing, they even managed to make the little girl with blue pigtails who came to the village disappear right under their noses.

The only clue is the wooden doll that Ryder once dropped at the edge of the village.

Standing at the edge of the village, the village chief frowned, completely bewildered.

How could there be no rush?

They knew exactly what kind of creatures lived in this forest, so the entire village used a unique magical artifact to protect its surroundings, preventing those creatures from rushing into the village and harming the villagers.

However, if you leave the village, these so-called magical items will have absolutely no effect.

That's the situation right now.

A little boy named Ryder, along with Hatsune Miku, has disappeared without a trace.

"How is it? Still haven't found it?"

The village chief turned around and looked at a villager who had just run over.

The villager shook his head, sweating profusely.

“We’ve searched the entire village, but we haven’t found a trace of them.”

"No... I think they're probably just outside the village, right?"

Everyone fell silent.

They were very clear about what the situation was like outside the village.

Perhaps the only hope lies with Rem, who can use magic.

But before that happened, Rem had already taken Subaru back to Roswaal's mansion to store things.

"village head."

The villager looked over with a headache.

He continued.

"We can only send someone to Lord Roswaal's mansion to report this matter...!"

"...Damn it, why did this happen?"

However, it's too late to regret it now.

Ultimately, nobody knows who should be vented on or who should be blamed.

They could only silently pray that it was all just a false alarm.

——————————————————————————————————————

The girl quickly ran through the bushes.

She looked around; the bushes were so dense that it was hard to see anything clearly.

"…what to do?"

Hatsune Miku, at this moment, ran out of the village alone.

After learning that a child had suddenly left the village, Hatsune Miku did not hesitate to follow the trail he left behind into the forest.

Her first thought was only of the dangerous environment inside the forest.

If a child like this is allowed to wander around in such a dangerous forest, there's no way of knowing what kind of dangers he might encounter.

She rushed out without even caring about her own safety.

"Um, I remember his name was something like... what was it again?"

As she walked, Hatsune Miku tried her best to recall what the other children had said about the child's name.

It seems to be... something like Ryder...?

"That's settled then... Hoo—Ryder!"

Although it sounds silly, it's the only way to call for that child.

Hatsune Miku called out the boy's name with all her might.

However, at the same time, she seemed to sense something.

It looked like the bushes had moved.

"Ryder—! Can you hear your sister calling you?"

There was no time to spare; she had no idea what might be in this forest.

Even a wild beast can be a deadly threat to a small child.

However, Hatsune Miku did hear the sound.

"The devil catches people..."

"Huh? Could that voice be—?"

Her eyes widened immediately.

Hatsune Miku quickly parted the bushes and walked deeper into the woods.

A little boy was squatting in front of her.

"Ryder!"

"Oh dear~ it seems my sister has found me!"

The little boy named Ryder was laughing very lively, which made Hatsune Miku a little anxious.

"This is no time for tag! Ryder, why did you come to such a dangerous place? Everyone in the village is worried about you!"

"Um, I'm sorry, Hatsune Miku-neechan..."

Ryder scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Because I suddenly saw a puppy, which led me here, Ryder followed it along."

"The puppy is...?"

Hatsune Miku blinked in confusion.

And then, at that very moment.

—Another voice came from behind.

"Oh? Sister, are there other people playing tag with us too?"

Ryder looked at the bushes behind Hatsune Miku with a look of surprise.

He said this.

"But this person is really tall—even his eyes are bloodshot!"

"Eh--?"

The girl realized something was wrong in an instant.

Followed by.

Almost instantly, she hugged the little boy in front of her and rolled forward rapidly.

Boom-! ! !

The wooden stake behind her was torn to shreds.

"Whoa-!"