"T-t-taken!?" Prince asked.
"Yes... by those bastards in the masks!" the boy with the scar shouted.
"Masks... like the one he's wearing?" Linnie pointed out.
They all looked at The Prince, who was still wearing his half-mask. The timid boy tensed up.
"Naw, full ones. And they're blank, too—none of that fruity rich stuff decorating it. They took all the adults, our parents!"
"So, what? You guys were the only kids that lived here?" Linnie asked.
"Obviously not, retard! The rest were taken, too!"
"By the guys with the masks?"
"No. That fuckin' horror house! That old lady's yankin' all the kids!"
'Ah. That makes some sense, I guess. I did get a creepy feeling from her.'
"Why?"
"I don't know! If I knew, do you think I'd be here dawdling around, beggin' for scraps of food like some dumb mutt!?"
"Calm down, I'll explain," one of the boys said. "We noticed it a few month ago, almost a year. It's definitely been going on longer, though, we think. But, when we noticed, it was too late. Some sort of creepy cult-thing spread among the adults around here! A bunch of the adults started acting real weird and stuff, and went up and left. And the ones that weren't a part of it were taken. For almost a month, it was only us kids running this entire place. We asked for help from the rich-folk, but no one seemed to pay us any attention. Like we didn't even exist!"
"Slow down, damn. I don't get it. A cult?"
"It's a group of people that—" Prince started to explain.
"I know what a cult is! I just don't get it. How come we haven't heard of it?"
"You have!" the boy with a scar said. "You just ain't know about it. All those missing posters around the city? That was us! I mean, we all put those up before all of us kids disappeared. Everyone older than fifteen was taken... my older sister, too."
"You guys made all of those? Huh. Then people definitely know what's happening. I guess they're just ignoring it, for some reason. Arrghhh... I don't like mysteries!"
"D-don't worry, guys," Prince spoke up. "We'll help you!"
'What? Huh!? I never said anything like that!'
"Really?" one of the boys asked in a hopeful tone.
"Forget it, Dirol. What can these people do? They're barely older than us..." the boy with a scar said all sad-like.
"Lin—uh, Linnie here's a wizard, d-don't worry!"
'Why the hell would he tell them that!? No—no!"
The group of boys froze, then all turned to face Linnie directly. Their expressions were... too much to handle. Why were they looking at him like that, he wondered. Like he was their... savior.
"Ehehehehe." Linnie rubbed his nose, blushing. "I suppose we can figure something out. It's true, I am a wizard, after all."
'I'm an idiot.'
"Thank you! And, please forgive us—especially Rias! He didn't mean any of it!"
"Of course, of course... you're only children, it's to be expected," he waved it off, still enjoying the idolatry.
'Rias? Where have I heard that, before?'
"Hey, is that your surname?" Linnie asked.
"Huh? Me?" the boy with the scar asked.
"Who else!?"
"Tch. It is. Why do you care?"
"Your sister's Celine, isn't she? I saw her poster."
The boy with the scar, Rias, looked very sad for a moment. Linnie put his hand on Rias's shoulder, smiling with confidence.
"Don't worry, kid. I'll find her."
"Who the hell are you calling kid? My voice is deeper than yours!"
"Dammit, are you grateful or not!?"
"...Tch! T...tha—thank y-yo—fuck you! Bring her back or don't, I don't care!"
"Fine then, die!"
Rias yelped in pain.
After that exchange, which lasted entirely too long, Linnie and Prince were back in the city's center. Mostly everyone seemed to be at the lantern showing, which left the streets the emptiest that Linnie had seen them since he arrived. The people that were around were all heading in the same direction—the beach.
When they got to the beach, Linnie was forced to acknowledge a glaring flaw in his plan to meet back up with Liora.
'There's... too many people! How are we supposed to find her in this mess?"
Knowing her, Linnie guessed she'd be somewhere near the front. See, for the lantern showing, there was a massive wooden stage that was lined up against and above the water. This was a completely different section of the beach than the fighting stages had been on, but Linnie still couldn't believe he hadn't noticed such a large structure.
Mounted on the stage were towering, shrouded things. They were probably lanterns, considering it was a lantern show, but Linnie couldn't understand how such things could be so big. He wondered if perhaps he didn't actually know what a lantern was.
'Isn't it those things that light up?'
Linnie pushed through the dense crowd, making his way to the front. Prince, despite his timid nature, was doing well enough to keep up. He was certainly out of his element, though. And, everyone was taller than the both of them.
'Now that I think about it, I understand now why I'm so short, but why's he short, too? Somehow, Marielle is the tallest out of all of us.'
Prince and Liora were around the same height, maybe he was a little taller. But, he was neither a wizard, a girl, malnourished, or even had an impressive amount of mana.
What Linnie failed to realize is that, even without those things, some people were just... small.
Finally, the two of them reached the front. It took a few minutes of intense struggling, and even starting a few fights. Between others, of course. Twice or thrice did Linnie slap someone in the back of the head, then quietly pretend it was someone else who had done it.
Even at the front, though, there seemed to be no way to find the girl. Then, the announcer walked onto the stage.
"WELCOME, CORVAILLES, TO THE ANNUAL LANTERN SHOWING!"
The crowd cheered.
"WHO'S READY FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND IMPRESSIVE LANTERNS YOU'VE EVER SEEN!?"
The crowd cheered.
"BEFORE WE BEGIN, I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU ALL! CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT IS!?"
The crowd cheered.
"IT IS OUR VERY LADY OF CORVAILLES! BEAUTIFUL LADY MARIELLE, GET ON UP HERE!"
'Huh?'
"Oh, who's this? This isn't Lady Marielle... no, I can't give you the amplifi—hey! I—"
The man's voice was cut off, and the crowd murmured in confusion at the strange scene.
"HEYAA, CORVAILLES! LET'S MAKE SOME NOISE FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL LANDERNS, ALRIIIIGHT~!"
Linnie looked to his right, and Prince looked to his left. They stared at each other in confusion.
"W-what is that idiot doing up there!?" Linnie stammered.