To say Robbo is a friend is definitely an exaggeration.
Even to say that Esther and the others were friends would be an exaggeration.
But this kind of exaggeration is needed now, they need a reasonable excuse to intervene in the predicament.
"Friends?"
Sintara scratched her head.
"Okay, what do you want to know?"
This guy is easier to communicate with than I thought.
Hitzfeld asked questions while complaining in his heart.
She said she needed to know how many people were in the hunting team when they set out in the morning, when and where they encountered the attack, and the details of the attack.
"There were 49 people when we set out in the morning," replied Sintara.
"I was in charge! I counted the number of people. I'm sure I didn't count wrong."
"Of the 49 people, 16 were Rob and his students, including two male students and a group of female students."
"We set out at about 5 ., riding in sleighs, with dogs and donkeys."
"At first we were just hunting outside the jungle at the foot of the mountain, hoping to kill some small animals. But Robo insisted on going up the mountain, and threatened to quit the team. The others couldn't do anything about him, so we went up the mountain, and just as we touched the edge of the ice field, we encountered a group of hungry polar bears."
"We were obviously no match for them. We left behind some donkeys and fled back. Some of them must have been separated when they fled. I was just arguing with Polly about going up to find them."
After a pause, he began to complain:
"To be honest, these people are simply a burden. Some of them have just arrived here and can't even adapt to the wind here. Robbo actually wants to take them to the ice field for an investigation. I have always disapproved of this behavior."
"You know Rob?"
Hitzfeld was acutely aware of the difference in his wording.
"I had a few words with him seven years ago."
"Robo is missing. Which other students are missing?"
"His daughter, the one called Esther, and the girl who was with her and never separated from her, and the two boys, and then there is himself."
"What about the other students?"
"There are a few injured people who were just taken back by their companions."
such……
Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Xia Yibing.
The woman nodded slightly at her.
She continued to ask: "Are you planning to find someone?"
"Yes... my brothers are among the missing ones! I can't abandon them!"
"Then I'd like to come along."
The girl's tone was extremely firm.
"By the way, I can also ask you more...about this town on the way."
Chapter 26: Midnight Whimper (Two in One)
Mayor Polly wanted to pester Hitzfeld to say something, but at this point, she really didn't have the patience to deal with him.
"Let's do our best to deal with this matter first, Mr. Mayor. Then we can see if we can still agree on the treatment and favors for this piece of Arctic land."
Then they left the scene and went back to pack their travel equipment according to Xintara's suggestion. The rescue team also needed some time to deal with the wounded, including asking for more specific information from the survivors, such as whether they had seen the direction in which the missing person fled. These also required time to confirm.
"You seem quite sure he wants something by pestering you."
On the way back, they still took a sled. Heidi didn't need to teach Xia Yibing this time, so she went to Hitzfeld to express her curiosity.
"That's obvious." Hitzfeld seemed reluctant to say more. "A mayor... not a big deal, and he can't stand loneliness. So of course I have to suspect that he has other ambitions to stay here."
"for example?"
"For example, pushing Sara to eat up the entire Arctic!" Xia Yibing answered from the side, "A little-known fact - Ice Lake Town is not Sara's territory. We just took advantage of the geographical location, crossed the Orwater Mountains and headed north - that road is the closest to them, so they can only communicate with us."
As for why Sarah didn't just eat up all the Arctic ice sheets and officially designate them as her own territory, it was of course because such an approach would not bring any benefits to the country.
It's so cold here that many places are not so much covered with ice as they are made of ice and snow. How can such a territory count? Who would claim a large block of ice or a large iceberg as their territory? You know it's impossible to turn it into arable land!
So that's pretty much it. Relying on their past history of fighting together, Sarah is willing to form an alliance with the survivors of the Ice Lake and help them repair their houses, docks, and monasteries, but Sarah is unwilling to formally bring them under her control.
The resources invested are not proportional to the returns, so this is a business that is destined to lose money.
But Polly was clearly unwilling to give in.
He could develop such a character in Binghu Town, where the people are relatively straightforward and simple. Any normal person can see his ambition. He is definitely not satisfied with staying in this broken place and bullying others. This leads to an unsolved mystery, that is, why he didn't just resign as the mayor and go to the big city in the south to develop.
"With his thick skin, he can climb to a good position as long as he finds an opportunity." Hitzfeld said softly, "But he is probably not satisfied with this future. He wants to occupy the title of 'mayor' and make it recognized."
This was the core of the issue they were discussing. She guessed that Polly wanted to push for the complete incorporation of Ice Lake Town into the territory of Sara. In this way, his position as mayor would become an actual official position, recognized by the Sara Kingdom, with power and salary, and his status would be very different from what it is now.
"And he can't just make one plan." Xia Yibing added.
"That's how he treated the ancient witch. You all saw it. It's obvious that his respect was only superficial. His control over the town is very strong, so strong that no one dared to say anything when he treated Geyeso like that."
"But he is still willing to keep Geyeso in the town." Hitzfeld smiled slightly, "Leaving behind an unstable factor who is disobedient... He must think that this person is still useful."
Xia Yibing also laughed: "For example, if he can't make an appointment with you, a great noble of Sara, he might turn around and support 'Lord Gu Wu' and instigate others to move the town - directly from the Arctic glacier to Sara territory."
Being a detective is a dirty thing...
Heidi didn't say anything, she just sat there and shook her head.
Even if Polly had been given another brain, he probably wouldn't have imagined that in just a few minutes of their first meeting, all his past and thoughts were seen through by these two people.
This is to directly suspect a person from the worst perspective. Hmm... I seem to understand why the people of Trierred hate detectives more than the police.
After returning to Bart's house, they quickly went upstairs, first put on more clothes, then took out the folding sled and put it on their backs, and then took out the military metal lunch box, water bottle, and mountaineering lock, and finally replenished some bullets.
"Would you like to bring some cookies?"
"Bring them all!"
"Where's the candy?"
"Bring them all!"
When the discussion was almost over, the Blood Crystal Crow flew into the room. It landed on the girl's shoulder and asked in a dazed tone as if she had just woken up: "What's going on... What are you going to do?"
"Robo is missing." Hitzfeld briefly told her what happened. "An amnesiac has appeared in the town. We suspect that the Arctic has not been taken seriously because it is shrouded in a curse involving 'cognitive tampering'. We need to find Robbo and ask for information."
"Classic plot." The crow snapped its wings. "Is there anything the great King Zachariah can help with?"
"Just shut up." Xia Yibing came over and bumped into Hitzfeld, forcing the crow to fly up, "Don't get in the way, thank you."
This made Crow very angry, and the two of them started quarreling again on the spot.
"That's enough." Hitzfeld quickly stopped them. "If you want to argue, just go on the way. Don't forget that Sintara only gave us forty minutes."
But Xia Yibing also had her reasons. She thought: since the blood-source magic, even things like the original blood species were controlled by Hitzfell alone, then the Blood Crystal Crow was useless.
In peacetime, she could give lectures and make use of her remaining energy, but now is "wartime" and they have to do things!
Can the Blood Crystal Crow play a role during this period?
She was unwilling to fly as a scout, as she thought it was an insult. Then she was not as useful as her own Black Owl, because at least Black Owl would not disobey orders.
"I'll follow you this time!"
The Blood Crystal Crow yelled, "How dare you despise me? I'm going to show you what empiricism is!"
After discussing for nearly two minutes, the three finally reached a consensus and decided to transform the Blood Crystal Crow into a dark red hairband and tie it to the small braid hanging on the side of Hitzfeld's hair.
A hairpin is impossible...she needs to wear a hat.
Necklace... even more impossible. Xia Yibing would never allow anything else to get close to the "abyss".
"Okay, that's it. Stop arguing. Haidi will be here soon."
"Should we let Heidi know about her existence? It's troublesome to keep it a secret."
"Yes, but it's not necessary for now. We are still unsure whether she has been affected by the curse, so we should keep it a secret for a while."
"Alright, girl?"
Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, Heidi came over and supported the door frame.
Compared with his two companions who were wrapping themselves up like dumplings, the Binglanluo tree man was lightly equipped.
Not only did her clothes remain the same, they were still leggings, hiking boots, and an expedition vest, and she didn't even carry any bag on her - she didn't even bring a water bottle.
"Almost done, let's go downstairs first."
They quickly arrived at the first floor, and Hitzfeld, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.
She saw that the hostess Mani was also dressed as if she was going out, and was trying to comfort Lulum, trying to tell her to "stay home alone and not panic."
In this situation...could it be that Kurumu...?
When I walked up to ask, it was indeed the worst situation: Kurum was also on the missing list this time, and he was not among the returning survivors.
After thinking about it, Hitzfeld made a decision.
"Just don't go, Marnie."
"It's too dangerous for Lulum to be alone at home. Your house is at the outermost part of the town and is easily attacked by wild beasts. Why don't you stay here while we go find Kurum."
"This……"
Marnie was slightly moved.
"You are just guests... There is no reason to bother guests..."
"Because we are guests, we should repay the hospitality appropriately." Xia Yibing also said, "Okay, don't insist. We haven't paid the rent yet. We have to go up with Xintara to look for someone anyway. Isn't it the same if we look for Kurum?"
She still admired Marnie.
The normal development would be that the hostess would kneel down with her child and cry to them, begging them to help find someone.
Xia Yibing has a rich resume and has seen many women like this.
But Mani obviously didn't want to trouble the guests, and would rather leave Lulum alone at home and go out to look for her herself.
Although it was a bit too aggressive, she felt more comfortable helping.
Mani also understood the danger of letting Lulum stay at home. She had originally considered whether to temporarily send the child to someone else's home, but seeing this situation, she no longer insisted. She repeatedly thanked them for their kindness and said that if Kurum came back, she would definitely ask him to reduce the rent for the three of them.
"Let's talk about it later." Xia Yibing didn't finish her words.
Promising to help is one thing, but guaranteeing to bring the person back is another.
She didn't want the relationship between the two sides to deteriorate sharply in the end, and she didn't want to give too high hopes and cause a psychological gap... This kind of thing couldn't be done.
After saying goodbye briefly, they left.
At this moment, Lulum suddenly ran towards Hitzfell and hugged the girl's hips tightly under Xia Yibing's vigilant and cautious eyes.
"Lulumu?"
Hitzfeld looked down and frowned.
"Yes...is there anything you want to say to me?"
This kind of communication seems to be the first time for both me and Lulum, right?
I have observed this girl many times, but I have never had a proper conversation with her. I feel like she is a little too introverted.
So this time she suddenly broke her usual habit, she must have something very important to tell me.
"this is for you!"
The little girl reached out and handed something up.
"We got this from the teacher's desk!"
“They say this is a lucky stone!”
“May it bring you good luck!”
Lucky stone?
