Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 69: Ch67. Where are you?

Chapter 69: Ch67. Where are you?

Miles woke up to the faint glow of daylight filtering through the cracked blinds, the distant hum of the city just beginning to stir. His mind was groggy, weighed down by the remnants of uneasy sleep. A dull ache pressed against his temples, but as he rubbed the exhaustion from his bones and went to wash his face, something felt... Off.

The apartment was silent. Too silent.

"Dee?" Miles called, waiting to see Diego appearing out of the living room with a [Novice Ration Pack] in his hands, munching on it excitedly as he always did. But no sound or movement came in response.

Diego wasn’t there.

Frowning, Miles got out of the bathroom and glanced around, checking the clock. It was already well past dawn.

"He should’ve been back by nightfall, last night..." Miles sighed. "What’s taking him so long in there...?"

He grabbed his coat and slipped it on, his instincts tingling with a slight hint of unease as he stepped out onto the streets. The early morning air was crisp, carrying with it the scent of damp concrete and distant smoke. As he walked, the streets were quieter than usual, most players still holed up in [Safe Zones], recovering from the dangers of the day before.

He moved with purpose, his boots clicking against the pavement as he made his way toward the Hall of The Seers.

When he arrived, he was met with an unusual sight. The grand, vine-covered building stood eerily silent, its large wooden doors shut tight. There were no guards, no players lingering around.

It was as if the entire faction had sealed itself off from the rest of the city.

Miles frowned.

Diego should still be inside. After all, he was only going to would visit the Seers, and nothing else.

But something was bothering him, his stomach churning ever so slightly.

Something wasn’t right.

He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the stone pillars near the entrance, deciding to wait. Minutes stretched into an hour, the sun climbed slightly higher in the sky, and still, no one came. No signs of movement from within the Seers’ domain.

"Anyone in there?" Miles knocked as hard as he could at the heavy doors. Then, finally, they creaked open, and Nadia stepped out, her eerie violet eyes feeling like piercing Miles soul, sending a jolt of goosebumps through his skin.

Her flowing silver robes shimmered under the daylight, and she didn’t look surprised to see him. If anything, she looked... Mildly annoyed.

"I have no business with you, Miles Thorn." She said smoothly, yet with a cold indifference permeating her tone, before he could even open his mouth.

"Yeah? Well, I have business with you." Miles straightened, crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes.

"Do you, now?" Nadia arched a brow, unimpressed. "I-"

"Where’s Diego?" Miles exhaled sharply, already growing irritated with her demeanor as he cut her mid-sentence.

"What?" A flicker of genuine confusion passed across Nadia’s face as her brows creased upward.

"Diego," Miles repeated, his voice sharper now. "He was here last night, right? I asked him to come and see you. What’s taking him so long?"

"Diego left before nightfall." Nadia tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable.

"Bullshit." Miles’ stomach twisted. He took a step closer, his voice low and dangerous. "He hasn’t come back. If he left before nightfall, where the hell is he?"

"I do not know. He left on his own. I assumed he returned to you." Nadia studied him for a long moment before exhaling softly.

Miles clenched his fists, his mind racing. If Diego had left before nightfall, that meant he had been missing for hours. Something had happened.

"Well..." Miles glared at her, his heart beating harder. "You’re the leader of the Seers. Can’t you, like, see what happened to him?"

"I... Can’t." Nadia’s tone was hesitant, for the first time, making Miles frown.

"What? Why?" He tapped his foot on the floor, forcing back the urge to lash out at something. Anything.

Nadia hesitated once more, before breaking the awkward silence that built up between them.

"Diego asked something from me, and after using my powers to look into... You..." She looked down. "I exhausted my reserves of Magi, which means that I can’t see anything until I’m fully replenished."

"How long until you can do it again...?" Miles’ heart throbbed in his throat, his tone undressed of the early anger. Now coated with a hint of plead.

"I don’t think you understood what I said when I opened these doors, Miles Thorn." Nadia’s voice became cold and indifferent again. "I speak for all the Seers when I say that we have no business with you." And after a brief pause, she added. "Diego is a good kid. He wouldn’t have gotten himself in whatever it is, if he hadn’t allied himself with you. If he-"

Without another word, Miles turned and took off at a brisk pace, leaving Nadia speaking to the wind.

’How dare you, how dare you, HOW DARE YOU?!’ He had to force himself to not shout his words out loud, to not attract the attention of the players who had already begun going on with their daily activities.

He scoured the streets, retracing the path Diego would have taken. He even questioned players along the way, going out of his usual comfort, antisocial zone, but no one had seen him.

His gut twisted further with each passing second. The tension coiled in his chest like a vice, squeezing tighter and tighter.

Then, near the outskirts of a crumbled building, he found something. Traces of a battle.

Scorch marks marred the pavement, and fresh bloodstains splattered across the cracked asphalt. Scattered debris torn and turned, but there were no bodies. No sign of Diego.

Miles’ jaw tightened.

His fingers twitched as he bit his lower lip, so hard that he felt the metallic taste of blood, frustration and worry warring within him. Diego was strong, but if he was caught alone...

"Was it my fault...? Really?" He asked out loud, though barely above a whisper, with Nadia’s words ringing in his mind.

"He wouldn’t have gotten himself in whatever it is, if he hadn’t allied himself with you."

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to think. He needed help. And unfortunately, he knew exactly who to ask.

Gritting his teeth, he turned on his heels and made his way toward the one person he despised the most, with his guts twisting ad the mere idea of asking for anything.

Sarissa.

***

A sharp, throbbing pain dragged Diego back into the waking world.

His body screamed in protest as consciousness returned, his limbs feeling heavy, weighted down by exhaustion and something else.

Ropes? Shackles?

His vision was blurred, but as his senses gradually adjusted, realizing he was lying on cold, hard concrete. He did not need to check on his HP know that it was dangerously low. One more hit, and he was done for.

’Where...?’ Memories surged back. The goblins. The overwhelming numbers. The electricity searing through his veins. The last thing he remembered was falling and being hit by the [Goblin Centurion] that stepped on him, pinning him to the asphalt.

But he wasn’t dead.

Why wasn’t he dead?

A slow, deliberate clap echoed through the room.

"Finally awake, are we?"

Diego’s blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. Smooth, calculated, laced with amusement.

Hinata Shinji.