I Didn't Even Want To Live, But God Forced Me To Reincarnate!

Clavis. Missing. On a day like this. Nowhere to be seen.

From the looks of it, it seemed that Niina had gone from a place to another, in order to look for her son. She had gone to all the places she could think of, yet... there was no result so far.

"First, let's come inside and warm yourself up. Calm down a bit and tell us the details... can you, Niina?"

Mom seemed to be taken aback for a moment upon hearing the unexpected bad news from Niina's mouth, but she quickly regained her composure and decided on the best course of action.

Niina sobbed a little bit, but she quickly wiped her tears and obediently followed Mom inside.

"Niina-san, here is a hot chamomile tea for you."

The maid from before was sure a quick and capable one! In a short moment, she managed to brew a tea—and she picked the correct one for the moment: chamomile tea was also known was a calming tea. Just what Niina needed.

Not only that, she also handed over some warm clothes so that Niina could change her wet clothes and warm herself even further.

After Niina changed her clothes and took a few sips of the hot chamomile tea, it seemed like she finally regained her composure and began to talk. Her voice was no longer as shaky as it was before.

Yes, she began narrating the whole story upon being asked by my mom.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary, none that I can think of... Oh... Could it be that he was upset I lectured him again last night? My husband and I were trying our best to give him an advice with regards to his adolescent period. Like, how he could hold himself more and that the changes he felt were natural due to the hormones, so there was no need to be upset..."

Ah, they were talking about Clavis' temperament change due to him experiencing his rebelling period.

"He only remained silent at that time. Then, after he finished his dinner, he immediately went inside his room, saying that he was tired and that he needed to sleep. There was really nothing strange last night. But this morning, when I called him for breakfast...," Niina recalled the moment of her finding out that Clavis was missing, and I could sense a trace of panic in her eyes again.

Mom seemed to have sensed that too, as she gently rubbed Niina's back.

"There was no response... Am I right?" Mom guessed with a bitter voice.

Still with her eyes closed, Niina continued.

"The door's locked and no matter what kind of approach I tried, there was no response. I was starting to worry if something bad happened to him, so I called my husband. My husband then opened the door forcefully and... we were greeted by an empty room... with a half-opened window," Niina finished her sentence and opened her eyes.

"Us beastmen of the silver wolf tribe should have an enhanced sense, yet my husband and I didn't even notice Clavis running away in the middle of the night... His room was on the second floor too, that showed how strongly he wanted to get away from us, from our home..."

As Niina continued to speak, her words flew out of her mouth in a faster speed. It just got faster and her tone of voice started to get messier...

"Niina, calm down. You're starting to mix your negative opinions there. We don't know yet if that's true or not," Mom tapped on Niina's back in order to snap Niina out of her trail of thoughts.

"C-Cassie-sama... I... I'm such a failure of a mother... Hwaaa..."

That was the limit of Niina's composure. She broke down crying.

The twins were looking at Niina, full of worry. I felt like seeing tears acc.u.mulating in the corner of their eyes, too.

"Niina. Calm down first. Our top priority right now is finding Clavis, right?" Dad finally spoke, after staying silent for the whole time.

Niina wiped her tears as she tried to look straight at Dad and nodded, "Yes."

Her voice turned hoarse over there...

"So, tell me. Where have you tried searching? What about your husband? And do you still have other places in mind?"

Niina paused a bit to think over Dad's question before answering.

"F-first, we contacted all our relatives and friends in the neighborhood. When we realized that there were only negative responses, my husband and I decided to part ways to search for Clavis. I decided I would try looking for him starting from the area close to our home until I reached this house. Meanwhile, my husband focused his search around the neighborhood and the area on the opposite side of my route..."

"...I guess there's no news yet from your husband's side, then?"

Niina dejectedly shook her head.

Dad put his hand on his chin as he muttered.

"It's safe to say that he made his escape some time last night after you and your husband's fallen asleep. Logically speaking, he's only a 13-year-old beastman. Although his stamina and speed exceed that of a normal human around his age, he's still running on his feet alone. Add the current weather and the land's condition into consideration... He shouldn't have gone that far away from here or from the area near your neighborhood. Unless he took some money or items to aid his run..."

"No, if I remember correctly, he didn't take anything with him and that made me even worried...," Niina said.

"Is that so..."

Dad then turned to look at Alt-nii.

"Altaire. Do you have any idea where your friend might have gone off to?"

I quickly turned my gaze towards Alt-nii. Aah yeah, I didn't hear him mutter a single word after hearing Niina's news. The smile that was on his face had also gone without any single trace, and he was having a serious and grave expression right now.

"If it's the area nearby... There's this forest we often went off to play and train... On the opposite direction, there's a path that leads to the downtown and we liked playing there, too...," Alt-nii muttered.

"I see. Have you searched that way, Niina?" Dad asked.

"No... I haven't..."

"If that's the case, we should try looking for him there. Will you be unable to stay calm unless you're moving to search for him, Niina?"

"Yes, I'd rather keep running until I find him," Niina quickly agreed.

"Then, let's search for him in two separate groups. Cass, will you accompany Niina?"

"Naturally," Mom answered.

"Then, Cass and Niina will try looking for him in the path that leads to the downtown. That should be as far as he can go by now. They can also try asking the other a.d.u.l.ts' help there. As for the forest that Altaire mentioned..."

"I'll go, Dad," Alt-nii suddenly volunteered.

"I was planning on looking for him there by myself while you stay with your younger siblings and the others here, Alt," Dad raised his eyebrows.

"I know that forest well, Dad. It's not dangerous at all and I know places where he might visit. It's better for me to go. Maybe you should use your connection to look for any suspicious activities around."

Alt-nii stole a glance at Niina before he gestured Dad to lower his head to listen. Since I was standing next to Alt-nii by this time, I could hear what he was saying to Dad.

"In the worst case that he didn't run away and was kidnapped instead... It'd be better for you and the other capable a.d.u.l.ts to find out about it."

I shuddered at Alt-nii's words. I honestly didn't think of that possibility.

Despite being best friends with Clavis, Alt-nii still pondered over that worst-case scenario while trying to calmly find the best course of action to take. If it were me, I'd be overcome with my worry about my best friend and I wouldn't dare to think about such scenario.

It seemed that Alt-nii's mentality had started to overtake mine, little by little.

Or it could be our distinct personalities.

"...All right, then. You've had your coming-of-age ceremony, and you've been acknowledged as an a.d.u.l.t more or less. I trust that you will be able to take care of yourself while searching for him, will you?" Dad seemed to think that Alt-nii's words made some sense, so he agreed with Alt-nii's plan.

Alt-nii nodded, "Of course."

However, I had this strange feeling inside... And this feeling was compelling me to do something.

"D-Dad, Alt-nii! Can I go with Alt-nii?" I didn't want to ponder over this weird feeling only to lose my only opportunity and regret in the future.

Time was of essence now. So, I decided to quickly voice my thought.

"Lyra? No, that's dangerous," Dad immediately rejected my request.

"B-but! I'm 10 years old already! I... I know what my limits are, and just in case... I can be of help to Alt-nii!" My head was a bit muddy and I didn't know what to say, so I just... blabbered, I guess.

Alt-nii seemed to look at me in wonder, but he quickly added.

"She's right, Dad. It's always been like that between me and Lyra, right? Whenever I went too far with my pranks or anything, Lyra would be the one to remind me. I think it's better for me to bring her along. And don't worry! I'll make sure to protect her! I won't let anything happen to her!" Alt-nii oddly backed me up.

I looked at him in wonder, yet at the same time, I was also relieved to hear his words.

"But..."

"...Remember when we were attacked in the Chinosato? I don't think we could escape that attack unscathed if we were alone," Alt-nii suddenly brought up the matter of a distant past.

Upon hearing that, I recalled the only crisis I've experienced in this second playthrough of my life so far.

"Alt-nii's right, Dad. I couldn't do it alone, too. But if we're together, I think the chances of success and safety would be higher..."

Dad went silent for a moment.

It was Mom who unexpectedly broke the silent.