Alric rushed back to the place where he remembered they had placed the caravan. He investigated and came to a definite conclusion. The caravan isn't here.
'Of course it isn't here, you idiot! Who could have missed such a big thing? I need to gather some sort of clue!'
He began searching around the area and found the exact place where the cart was supposed to be. There he saw some skid marks on the ground, but it stopped only after a short journey.
'They carried the caravan? But how?'
He racked his brain as hard as he could, but couldn't find any more clues or any plausible way something like a big caravan could go missing. He decided to just walk back to the gate to get help from the knights; hopefully, this time they'll be cooperative.
As the gate became visible, he saw only one person, a lanky figure with a sleepy eye, Lando. He didn't even seem to notice that Alric was approaching the gate, and was only aware once he was only a few feet away from him.
"You're back quick, got that permit already?"
Alric rubbed the back of his head, "About that- The caravan actually went missing, and I need your help-"
"Wow, wow, slow down there, friend. Missing you, say? How does a caravan just go missing?"
"That's what I want to know too! Please, you need to help me, or the three of them would be in trouble."
Lando scoffed at the request, "I need to stay here and guard the gate. I don't owe you any favors, not with a person who has a problem with my attitude."
"You're a knight! You have a responsibility to the people. How did someone like you even become-" Before he could finish his sentence, the back of a spear was hovering on his throat.
"That's how, kiddo," He pulled back his spear, lazily leaned on it, "My responsibility right now is to this gate. Yours is the family of three you so heroically decided is your problem. Figure it out."
He looked down to where the spear was. He was powerless. Was the gap really that big between him and a knight in this kingdom? He couldn't believe it. He looked back up and saw another person walking out of the gate.
He wore a long leather overcoat that reached down to his knees. Beneath it was an expensive-looking linen undershirt, riddled with tools and belts. The man walked with a swagger that excluded confidence, but he made no sound. He tapped Lando on the shoulder, making him jump.
"WAH! Who goes there!" He flinched and pointed his spear at the man.
The man swiftly dodged the spear, putting his hands up in surrender, "Wow! Hey- Easy now, Lando, it's just me." He said calmly.
"Graves. What do you want?" Lando hissed, malice not hidden from his voice.
"Come now, we're friends, aren't we? Your old buddy Cherry, here just wants to see you!" He extended his arms and wrapped them around Lando's shoulder.
Lando quickly removed Cherry's arm and pushed him away.
"Hostile, aren't we? Fine, I'll cut to the chase, I'm here to talk about our 'arrangement'."
Lando's eyes widened, "You have it?"
"Depends, do you have what I asked for?"
"I would have if it weren't for that brat over there," Lando pointed at Alric.
"Oh? And who might you be?"
Alric crossed his arms. This man seems suspicious. "Alric. I'm just a traveler," But to his better judgment, Alric gave away his name anyway.
"A pleasure to meet you, Alric!" The man shook his hand, "The name's Cherum Graves, but associates and friends all call me Cherry."
Alric nodded in approval, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Cherum.
"What's that I didn't hear you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Cherum?"
"Aahhh, I still didn't get that. Can you come by me again?"
Alric let out a sigh. This person is so difficult. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Cherry?"
"Hey! There you go!" Cherry laughed and wrapped his arms around Alric, bringing him down to his level.
"You look troubled. Is my buddy boy Lando here causing you some trouble?"
"I lost a caravan," Alric said weakly.
Cherry raised his eyebrows at him. Alric could only reply with a weak nod. Cherry then burst out in laughter, "You didn't lose it, you stupid goose! Someone stole it!"
"How? The tracks disappeared only a few steps from where they were originally. Are you telling me someone carried the whole thing by themselves? And even then, they would need to have been footsteps?"
Cherry smiled. He fished out for something in his coat and put out an Aether Converter. Unlike the regular converters, though, this one seemed rough. It was clear that it was a heavily modified converter. He tweaked the converter, adjusting carefully with the knobs and occasionally pushing a button on the sides.
"Done!" He said, "Watch this." He pushed the main mechanism and activated the Aether Converter. The small machine whirrs with power, and a stream of wind comes out of the machine. The winds then flew towards the direction of Cherry's legs and lifted him off the ground. Leaning his body forward, Cherry was able to move. Without creating footprints.
He clicked the machine and the stream of wind stopped, brushing off his coat, he turned to Alric, "Now that we know how it got missing, how say we go investigate where that caravan went?"
Alric looked at him with surprise, "You'd help me?"
"Of course! We're friends, aren't we?"
With a pat on the back, he let Alric lead the way to the caravan. Cherry took one last look at Lando and put a finger over his lip. The two ran until they reached the place where the caravan should be.
"Here we are! These tracks are where the caravan was. How are we going to find the culprit?"
Cherry was huffing and puffing his lungs out. Alric had run at his full speed, and Cherry, trying to keep up, almost killed himself. "Wait a minute, kid, give me a good hour."
"Cherry! We don't have time!"
Cherry waved him off as he continued breathing, hands to his knees. After a minute, he fished out his converter and tweaked with it again, punching in a different setting. He let his Aether flow and activated the converter.
A beam of light came out of the output and it expanded until it engulfed them in a circle. The circle was around 1 meter in diameter. Inside the circle, they could see traces of Aether, and it formed a trail. The two looked at each other, Alric with a grateful smile, and Cherry smug as all hell.
"Well then, shall we?" Cherry got up from his knees and dusted himself off.
Alric went into a running position, but was stopped before he could take off, "Slowly."
The two of them followed the trail in silence. Alric is on guard in case any attacks from Aetheric Beasts come from the side. Cherry is focused on tinkering with his device to make sure it works. After about 15 minutes of following the trail, it seemed to continue deeper into a cave. Cherry pulled Alric into a rock just outside the cave to hide and regroup.
"Seems a group of bandits got their hands on some illegal converters," Cherry said.
"How are they illegal?"
"Unlike the regulated ones, they can modify the spells and use limiter-removed cartridges."
"So like the one you're using right now?"
They both looked at each other with blank faces. "Don't worry about that."
Their conversation was interrupted when two bandits walked out of the cave, "Man, what a haul! Didn't think we'd find a caravan in the middle of the road like that, unguarded too!"
"Yeah, man, whoever left it there must be a fucking IDIOT." The two roared with laughter, and Alric could feel a few blood vessels pop; even Cherry was stifling a laugh.
"Should we just go in there and beat them to a pulp?" Alric whispered.
"With what? You're not even armed."
"What do we do then?"
Cherry flashed a smug smile. Alric shivered; he had a feeling this smile would always prelude trouble for his future.
"Just follow my lead."