"First, calm down. Have you reported this to the police?"
Lanen recognized these two girls as two of the several who usually surrounded Beta, having met them a few times before. Seeing their swollen eyes, panting breaths, and anxious expressions, Lanen took several deep breaths to force himself to calm down.
"Not yet. We're still searching separately. The two of us came to ask you because Beta often mentions you... Have you seen him?" one of the girls, with flaxen hair, asked Lanen urgently.
Her name was known to Lanen—Heidi Grant, a classmate from the same city and the same train.
"Miss Grant, take a moment to catch your breath and calm down. Panicking won't help solve the problem. First, tell me, what happened?"
By now, Lanen had steadied himself. His first thought was to comfort his two classmates, helping them to calm down and clarify the situation.
Then, he quickly gathered his belongings, packing his pen and hardcover notebook, and locked the borrowed journals and books in the cabinet.
After taking several deep breaths, Heidi managed to steady her breathing. Pressing a hand to her still-heaving chest, she said, "We noticed something was wrong at noon today. Beta had arranged to go to the zoo with us this morning, but when the time came, he didn't show up. Beta has never broken a promise before, which made us uneasy, so we went—"
The girl beside her continued, "—to Beta's dorm to ask. But his dormmates told us he hadn't returned all night, apparently after receiving a letter."
"A letter?" Lanen asked curiously.
"Yes, a letter. His dormmates said he seemed to have gone out the west gate, but they didn't pay much attention to him not returning all night."
"Could it have been a letter from home?"
"No, his dormmates said it was an anonymous letter, and it seemed to contain only one sentence, so they were curious but didn't ask further."
"And," Heidi Grant added, "they said Beta seemed puzzled after reading it, but they still didn't pay it any mind or ask more."
Lanen frowned, sensing that this was no simple matter.
"You mentioned you were splitting up to search. Where did the others go?"
Hearing Lanen's question, Heidi replied, "Tina went to check the places we usually frequent on campus. Kameri and Julie went to West Street to ask the residents and check the shops. Vera and I came to you since you've known Beta longer than we have and might have a better idea."
"Well, no time to waste. Miss Grant, take me to West Street to see how their search is going. Vera, go to the teaching building and find my study group—you've met them. Explain the situation and ask them to help search. More hands make lighter work."
"Okay." "I'll go right now."
The three quickly parted ways.
"Kaira! Any luck?"
"No sign of Beta, but a shop owner at the end of the street said he saw someone who looked like Beta yesterday evening, heading hurriedly past West Street toward the west. But beyond the end of West Street, there are too many branching paths to continue searching."
"Let's report it to the police."
After hearing their account, Lanen decisively said.
At that moment, Hal and Elena Sophia arrived, and Lanen quickly gathered them to head to the nearest police station.
The group rushed noisily into the station, startling an officer who was about to leave.
"Halt! Don't come any closer! What are you doing here?" A burly officer behind the front desk jumped back, clutching the weapon and tactical shield generator at his waist nervously.
The group quickly raised their hands to show they meant no harm.
"We're here to report a case!" Lanen shouted. "We're students from the neighboring school!"
Hearing their purpose, the officer gradually lowered his guard and called them over to verify their identities.
"What's going on? Why so many of you at once? You rushed in so fast, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He paused, then added, "Whatever it is, come back tomorrow morning. We're about to close for the day."
"This is urgent!"
"Did someone die?" The officer clearly wasn't convinced.
"But someone is missing."
"Missing persons cases aren't high priority. Most of the time, they turn up on their own after a while." He shook his head and continued packing up.
"For the sake of my title as a baron's son and these silver coins, please help us." Lanen said loudly, handing over ten silver coins.
"Alright, alright, for your sake." Whether it was the title or the shiny silver coins, the officer sat back down, pulled out a report form, and began questioning. "Who's missing? Are they capable of taking care of themselves?"
Everyone began talking at once, overwhelming Officer Lister, who had to shout, "Enough!" before pointing at Lanen. "You first."
"In short, one of our classmates is missing," Lanen summarized succinctly.
The officer looked surprised. "Atlanta Magic School? Another student missing? Well, you all do look like students. I didn't think of that earlier."
"Another?! Has this happened before?" Hal voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Of course. This is the second case this month alone. Both were freshmen this year. Just the other day, the parents of the last missing student came here, and I accompanied them to meet your principal. His parents were heartbroken."
Lanen remembered then—he'd seen the parents of the previous missing student during gym class. The officer with them must have been Lister.
"And it's not just these two cases. This is part of a series." Officer Lister stood up, retrieving a large box of files from a glass-fronted wooden cabinet. "Last year and the year before, there were disappearances too, with no trace of the victims, dead or alive."
He opened the files, showing them the records. "Here, and here. See? Two last year, two the year before. And one common thread—they were all freshmen, inconspicuous and low-profile."
"But that doesn't help us find him."
"Listen, I've taken your statement and logged the case. My advice? Go back, get some sleep, and take time off tomorrow to deal with this. A clear head helps in any situation. It's almost nightfall—residents are heading home, shops are closing. There's no way to gather information or conduct a search now."
"But the longer we wait, the more danger Beta's in, and the slimmer our chances of finding him."
"Well, this was caught early, unlike the previous cases where they weren't noticed missing for days. By then, it was too late... Anyway, I'm off duty. If you're in a hurry, keep searching. The report's been filed. You can come back during working hours for assistance anytime."