Chapter 356: The Clever Pretender
"Hello - is anyone home? We are looking for Harold! Tinari and Seno asked us to come here!" Paimon shouted.
The rhythmic knocking continued for half a minute, but no response was received.
Kong stopped knocking on the door, took a step back, and gave Paimon a helpless look.
"It looks like none of them are here..." Paimon said frustratedly.
At this time, an old man passing by looked up at the three people and said, "Strangers, are you here to see Harold?"
"Well! Old man, do you know where he went?" Paimon asked.
The old man shook his head and said, "I haven't seen them for a long time. According to Secretary Elhaisen, they moved to another place a few months ago. It is said that Kavi is involved in a big project and it is impossible for him to come back for a year or so...
Harold... No one knows where he went, but you can go to Huachengguo to look for him. His research institute is located there."
"But we came from Huachengguo. His students and friends said that he was in Xumi City." Paimeng scratched his head.
A trace of surprise flashed in the old man's eyes: "Is there such a thing?"
"Then he might be in Kawanyi or Aru Village. People like him always disappear for a while for no apparent reason, and then shock all of us with a lot of research results." The mercenary said proudly.
"That's right." The old man nodded approvingly.
Sora: "Okay, thank you."
“You’re welcome. By the way, my name is Naitym. If you see Harold, remember to mention him.” The young mercenary, Naitym, said expectantly.
Kong nodded to show that he remembered it.
Netim and the old man waved goodbye, and only Sora and Paimon were left in front of Harold's house.
Sora: "It seems like Harold and the others are really in trouble."
Paimon: "What should we do? Should we go back to find Tinari and Senor?"
Sora thought for a moment, "No, judging by their reactions, they are hiding something from us, because Tinari may have known for a long time that Harold was controlled by the Order..."
"Ah?! Why would he do this? Are they in the same group as the House of the Decrees?!" Paimon said in horror.
Sora: "I can't be sure yet... I don't think they have any bad intentions."
As the two were talking, Kong's eyes were suddenly attracted by a sweet flower in the flowerbed in front of Harold's house. The sweet flower looked bright and eye-catching, making the golden flowers around it pale in comparison.
A guess emerged in Kong's mind, and he slowly moved closer.
"Traveler?" Paimon looked at Kong's actions with a puzzled look on his face, but he immediately shut up after receiving a "silence" gesture from Kong.
Kong had already walked to the sweet flower, and the dialog box between them really changed to "Capture!". This word made Kong's eyelids jump, and he instantly recalled the bad adventure last night.
But he hesitated for only a second before taking the sweet flower (the pretender) into his pocket.
Obtain: Clever Disguiser x1
[Clever Disguiser (Quest Item): The Disguiser in the flowerbed in front of Harold's house looks very, very smart]
"There's a pretender here too?" Paimon asked in surprise. Then, she said worriedly, "If we catch it, Haroldt won't make us work in his research institute for a month, right?"
Sora paused and said uncertainly:
[1. "...Probably not?"
2. "...then I will fight him to the death."】
"If we can't find Harold, what should we do next? Do we really have to visit the House of the Decrees?" Paimon asked, spreading his hands.
Sora checked the status of the pretender in the backpack again, and then said, "Perhaps we should look for the scholars who have received invitations from the Order."
Paimon nodded heavily: "These scholars may know something! They can also ask for clues about the little auspicious grass king. You are really smart, traveler."
Sora: "So is Paimon."
"But where should we go to get this information?" Paimon asked.
Sora: "Grand Bazaar, Zubair Theater."
Paimon: "Yes! There are a lot of audiences there. Natim said that merchants, scholars, and officials of the Ministry of Education in Xumi City all like to watch performances there!"
"It feels like the actors there would know a lot of things too... Paimon, don't forget, Harold's 'Pretender'." Sora said.
Paimon: "Yeah, there are a lot of 'Pretenders' in that theater! They must have a good relationship with Harold, right?"
Sora: "Let's go ask."
Paimon: "Yeah!"
Sora searched outside Harold's house again, but didn't find anything else suspicious, so he returned to the Grand Bazaar with Paimon.
"It's so lively here. It's so deserted near Harold's house." Paimon said happily while enjoying the street acrobatics with great interest.
"It's probably because his house is near the Church of the Immaculate Conception." Sora said.
The two walked along the way, enjoying various performances, and forty minutes later they arrived at the Zubair Theater. Just as they were about to enter, they were stopped.
"Hey, you two, tickets!" said the mercenary.
Paimon: "We are here to look for someone. Has Harold been here recently?"
Hearing the name, the mercenary's eyes widened. He handed the cut ticket to his companion and whispered to the two of them, "Please follow me."
"It looks like we've found the right person," Paimon whispered.
Sora smiled and nodded, then followed his pace.
The two followed the mercenary to the theater's staff lounge.
"Mr. Zubair, these two are looking for Harold!" said the mercenary.
After these words were spoken, everyone in the preparation room looked at Sora and Paimon.
Paimon pulled at the corner of Sora's clothes and muttered quietly, "The atmosphere seems a little off."
Sora nodded, then asked, "Excuse me, do you know Harold?"
know.
very familiar.
His talent is admirable.
The theater is what it is today thanks to Mr. Haroldt.
The prop masters, playwrights, and actors in the theater all expressed their impressions of Harold in their hearts.
"Mr. Harold is a distinguished guest in our theater, but we haven't seen him for half a year." The theater's manager, Sheikh Zubair, said, "If you have any clues about him, we are willing to buy it."
"In the end, they don't know either..." Paimon lowered his head and said dejectedly.
"Did he say anything to you before he disappeared?" Kong asked without giving up.
"The last time I saw him, I bought a batch of 'Pretenders' from him. He hopes that we can record their status to provide data support for his research," Zubair replied.
Then, he repeated the conversation he had with Harold to Sora.
Zubair: "Half a year has passed, and there may be some deviations in some individual words, but the general meaning is this."
Paimon looked at Sora and said, "Hmm...it sounds like they're just discussing business."
Kong tried hard to think, but a sense of disobedience welled up in his heart. He always felt that something bad would happen in the next second.
Just as he was thinking this, all the pretenders in the flower pots in the room suddenly stood up and pounced on him like possessed.