"Forehead..."

The next day, early in the morning, Bai Qiyun met Ying who had returned from an outing.

Judging from her appearance, she must have been doing something hidden.

"To the restroom?"

"Has anyone ever said that you are bad at talking?"

"Feel sorry."

Facing the girl's eyes with a hint of murderous intent, Bai Qiyun chose to give in on the spot.

But problems also arise.

"Why do you have to go out to use the toilet? Isn't there one in the house?"

"Really? We don't have a bathroom in the house."

"That may be because when the village was first built, some people didn't have private bathrooms."

The two of them didn't struggle too much with the construction issues.

It's just a little troublesome to go to the toilet.

Bai Qiyun started to prepare today's breakfast. Darcy and Paimon, who smelled the aroma, walked out of the house together, rubbing their eyes and looking like they were still awake.

"It feels a little cooler than yesterday."

Kujo Sora stood by the courtyard, looked out, and found that some of the families who stayed last night had not gotten up yet.

"Who knows, maybe they are not in a hurry at all."

Bai Qiyun is not interested in the whereabouts of other people, as long as they don't stand in his way.

"Um?"

But just as he was putting away the pots, the tourist named Doerha, whom he had met on the boat before, was walking out of the house.

And judging from his appearance, he seemed to be wary of his surroundings.

Really sneaky.

"After dinner, let's go to the forest to investigate. Darcy, do you have any clues?"

"Ah? I wouldn't have come if I had any clues."

"makes sense."

Looking at the female reporter who was eating a piece of sweet and soft rice cake in her hand, Bai Qiyun nodded.

After the meal, the adventurers pestered Ying again and began to ask questions.

As a last resort, Bai Qiyun could only let her and Paimon lure away the adventurers, while he led Kujo Sora and Darcy towards the woods.

The area of ​​this small island is not very large. Apart from the village, there is only a forest on the island, and there is no place to hide.

In other words, if the Lord of the Rings really exists, it can only be hidden somewhere in the forest.

But Bai Qiyun felt that there was little hope. It had been fifteen or sixteen years, and the island had been visited by tourists. How could there be any fish that had slipped through the net?

"Look at this!"

Darcy seemed to have discovered something and called a few people over.

"Are these...footprints?"

In the soil, an animal-shaped footprint that was strikingly different from a human foot appeared in front of several people.

"Kind of like the traces of a wild wolf."

Kujo Sora nodded and began to alert the surroundings.

"It doesn't seem unbelievable that there are wolves in the woods. Wait a minute and Darcy won't be too far away from us."

"Um."

As if she was afraid of the intrusion of wild wolves, Darcy leaned closer to Miss Tengu.

Bai Qiyun reached out and touched the soil near the footprints. The traces were still very new.

"Well, the wolf should have appeared recently, and may still be in the woods. Let's tell them when we get back to the village."

Having said that, everyone in the village had evil intentions. Except for the three adventurers who looked silly and sweet, Bai Qiyun felt that everyone was not simple.

Even if you tell them that there are wild wolves in the woods, they probably won't listen.

Several people continued to follow the footprints, but after rounding a bend, the footprints disappeared.

Looking at the piles of large rocks around him, Kujo Sora said casually.

"Maybe he jumped on the rocks and ran away."

Bai Qiyun stopped and began to think about the news about the Lord of the Rings.

First of all, the rumors about the island were revealed fifteen years ago, which means that there is indeed something on the island that can confirm the existence of the Lord of the Rings.

But the next batch of people found no useful news at all.

"Well... By the way, when did the people in these villages move away?"

Bai Qiyun suddenly discovered a blind spot.

"This...I don't know either."

Darcy touched his head and looked confused.

Normally, this place has become a holy land for adventurers. Even though the environment here is a bit harsh, there are still certain business opportunities.

Although Mondstadt doesn't say that it's hard to leave home, not everyone is willing to fly far away.

But now there is not even a single family in the village, indicating that something must have happened here that forced them to move away.

And this matter is very likely related to the news about the Lord of the Rings.

Anyone who can find out about this...

"Come on, let's go back and ask the tour guide if he's not a local."

Bai Qiyun left immediately, leaving the two girls behind.

"Hey! Brother, please wait for us!"

————

"Not here?"

Bai Qiyun came to the room where the tour guide stayed last night, but found no trace of him.

Thinking of the sneaky appearance of the tourist in the morning, his heart moved.

"Maybe he went out with those two tourists. After all, he was their tour guide."

Kujo Sora glanced around the room and found no trace of a struggle.

"No...something's wrong."

"Um?"

Bai Qiyun suddenly bent down and looked around.

"There's something missing here."

"what."

"Traces of a meal."

He walked to the cupboard and opened the cupboard. The bowl inside didn't move at all.

You can't feel the water stains on it after cleaning.

It shows that the dishes and chopsticks here have not been touched at all.

But it has been two meal times since they arrived here yesterday, how could they not eat a single meal.

Kujo Sora also realized that there was something wrong with it, but he didn't take it too seriously.

"Perhaps it was to eat with those two tourists?"

"It's possible."

Bai Qiyun held his chin up, remembering the sneaky appearance of the tourists in the morning, and really couldn't let go.

"Let's ask after they come back."

Although he wanted to look for it, the woods were so big that he couldn't find anyone at all.

"The cooks, you are here."

Paimon's big face pressed against the window, startling Darcy.

"Huh? The torture is over?"

"That's right."
To be continued...