Chapter 307: Z’s Shop

Hours passed quickly as the two sifted through the files. There were just too many.

Rebo thought he’d spotted his mother’s name a few times, but it was just his mind playing tricks on him. It got late, and they still hadn’t found anything.

William noticed Rebo’s eyes lingering shut for longer stretches. The kid was exhausted.

“I think we should rest and pick this up tomorrow,” William said.

“But I can keep going,” Rebo insisted. “Don’t worry about me.”

“No, we really need to rest. There’s no rush. We’ve got plenty of time to find her.”

William stood up from the desk, gathered his stack of files, and stored them in his spatial pouch. Rebo handed over his stack as well.

This way, the files would be safe, giving them peace of mind. Losing those documents would definitely piss off the adventurers’ guild.

They left the tavern and looked for a restaurant nearby. Being in a luxurious part of the city, the area around their upscale tavern was full of great dining options.

They picked one at random and ate ground beef with pasta. It was delicious.

After dinner, they returned to their room. Rebo went straight to bed, too worn out to stay awake any longer.

William, on the other hand, was fine. He could keep going for a few more hours. Once he was sure Rebo was fast asleep, he pulled the files out of his spatial pouch and continued searching.

The number of adventurers who’d taken missions at the guild twenty years ago was still surprisingly high—not as many as today, but enough to make the search daunting.

Finding Rebo’s mother was proving difficult, and William was starting to lose hope. But then, he found something. Her name.

“Geneva Karl!”

It was at the top of a file, alongside two other names. Most guild missions were taken by groups, not solo adventurers.

William read the file’s contents: details about the mission, who had posted it, the rewards, and more.

He set the file aside and kept going, searching through the rest of his half of the stack until he was done. Then, he went to bed.

The next morning, when Rebo came to talk to him, William showed him the file he’d found about his mother. Rebo couldn’t believe it.

“You stayed up to keep looking for me? I… I don’t know what to say,” Rebo said.

“It was nothing,” William replied. “Just read it, and then we can go through the other half of the files.”

While Rebo read through the files about his mother, William stepped out of their room. He returned with bread, cheese, and tea.

Rebo finished reading and was at a loss for words.

“So we actually found her… That’s amazing. I thought it’d be harder to find any clues about her.”

William felt the same. “Yeah. Once we go through the other half of the files, we can start tracking down the people who hired her and those she teamed up with. Some might still be in the capital, and they could have answers.”

Rebo nodded. They ate the food William brought, then got back to the files. By the end, they had fifteen files in total.

“She took fifteen missions over four years. Not that many, honestly,” William said.

The number of missions was low, but the missions themselves were tough, with substantial rewards.

“I don’t get it,” Rebo said. “According to the files, she earned a lot of money, but we lived such a simple life. Why?”

Rebo’s father, Undir, wasn’t wealthy either. Geneva was the one with money, yet they’d lived in a small wooden house in a remote mountain village. Why?

William was just as curious. They picked one of the files and decided to track down the person who had hired Geneva.

According to the file, the person who hired Geneva was a wealthy merchant with a shop in the capital. The file even included the shop’s name, making their search much easier.

William asked around the city, “Do you know where Z’s shop is?”

Z was the nickname of the merchant who hired Geneva, and also the name of his shop.

“Yeah, I do,” someone replied.

After getting directions from the locals, William and Rebo navigated through the city, heading to a poorer district. That’s where Z’s shop was located.

The shop itself wasn’t small or rundown, though. In fact, it was a well-kept building.

William stepped inside, and a bell chimed as the door opened.

There, he saw an old man with little hair left on his head but a thick, long beard. His posture was hunched, a sign of his age.

“Welcome,” Z said. “What do you need?”

The old man looked to be in his late eighties or nineties, yet he was still running his shop, selling all sorts of items.

“We’re not here to shop, at least not right now,” William said.

“Can we talk about something?”

The old man frowned, a hint of fear in his eyes. “What do you want to talk about?”

He seemed worried, as if William and Rebo might be there to cause trouble.

“Don’t worry,” William said. “We’re here to ask about someone you hired twenty years ago.”

The old man laughed when he heard that. “Seriously? Twenty years ago? Back then, I was a young, good-looking man.”

He was still old twenty years ago, but William didn’t point that out.

“It’s really important to us. Please, could you help?”

William’s plea worked, and the old man eventually agreed. He walked to the door and hung a sign indicating the shop was closed.

He wasn’t sure how long their talk would take, so he decided to shut down for a bit, just in case.

They sat at a table to talk. William handed him the file about the mission posted in the guild.

“We’re looking for this woman, Geneva Karl. Can you tell us more about her?” William asked.

The old man took the file from William’s hands and studied it. His expression shifted as he read, like memories were flooding back.

“Right, I remember this. It was a really important mission for me, and Geneva and her team helped me out a lot…”

William and Rebo stayed quiet, letting him continue.

“Twenty years ago, my granddaughter went missing. She didn’t have a mother, so I was the one raising her. When she disappeared, I was at a loss…”

He paused. “So, I posted this request at the adventurers’ guild. If you read the file, you’ll see the description doesn’t match the actual mission. That’s because, back then, the guild didn’t allow missions like that.”

“Geneva and her team took my request, and when I told her the real task, she didn’t back out. I thought she would, but she didn’t. She worked hard to find my granddaughter, and she succeeded. I’ll never forget what she did. My granddaughter is alive today because of her.”

William and Rebo were surprised. The file had described a completely different mission.

“What can you tell us about her?” William asked. “She’s the mother of this young man with me. One day, she just left and abandoned him. We want to know why. We want to find her.”

The old man’s eyes widened. “She did that? I can’t believe it. She seemed like such a kind person.”

Rebo couldn’t believe it either. He felt the same shock as the old man.

“Look, I can’t tell you much about her,” Z said. “We didn’t talk much, and after she found my granddaughter, we never spoke again. But I do know one of her old teammates is still living in the city. Maybe you’d like to talk to him?”

William and Rebo exchanged glances. That was exactly what they needed. Someone from Geneva’s old team would surely know far more about her than the people who’d hired her.

“Yes, please. That would be great,” William said.

They left Z’s shop with a crucial piece of information: one of Geneva’s old teammates was still in the capital.

Following Z’s directions, they found the house where the teammate lived.

It was a fine house, as expected for a powerful adventurer who’d earned plenty of money over the years. They called out for him.

A woman answered, dressed in a housekeeper’s uniform.

“Hello,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“We’re looking for Collin. Is he here?” William asked.

“No, Collin left for a mission two months ago,” she replied. “Would you like me to send him a message when he returns?”

“Yes, please,” William said. “Tell him his old friend Geneva wants to talk to him.”

“I will,” she said.

“Thanks. Bye.”

The housekeeper had no details about Collin’s mission, but William figured the manager of the adventurers’ guild might know something.

So, they headed back to the guild to speak with him. When the attendant saw William, he immediately called for the manager. They met in the private room again.

William handed over the remaining files. “We’ll keep Geneva’s file for now, if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” the manager said. “Is there anything else you need?”

“Can you tell me about Collin’s last mission?” William asked. “We tried to speak with him, but he’s not in the capital anymore, and we have no idea where he is.”

“Collin? Which Collin, and why?”

“Geneva’s old teammate,” William said, passing him the file.

The manager read it, then shook his head. “I’m really sorry, but Collin’s on a special mission. I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know the details myself.”

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