If it is just an ordinary jewelry, then just throw it away, right? Although it is a pity, there is no need to delay everyone's schedule.
But this girl just said that it was - "a necklace given by my mother".
This... must be found!
Nia is not a willful girl. If it is not important, she will not ask for help at all.
Since she said so, it also shows that this necklace is indeed too important.
As for Nia's mother, the young man and the others all knew about it.
That woman had been left in the ruins of that village forever, and they couldn't even bury her because of the lack of time.
At that time, the wolf-headed people were gathering towards them, and they had no time to stay in the village.
Whether it was the boy, Heimel, or Zeref, these three people knew very well that it was impossible for them alone to fight against that number of wolf-headed men.
They have no other choice but to run away.
It's hard for the young man to forget now: when passing by the house that was completely gone, no matter how hard the young man dragged her, Nia wanted to rush to the ruins that were still braving the high temperature.
If he really let her in, it would be over. This time, two adults, Heimer and Zeref, helped to force her away.
Through the girl's screams at that time, the teenager and the others also knew that it was Nia's mother who was buried in the ruins.
Then the necklace Nia mentioned is equivalent to a relic, and its meaning alone is too valuable.
"When was it lost?"
Zeref no longer smiled playfully. He turned serious and asked the girl about the situation seriously.
"I lost it when I was taking a shower."
Nia was sure of this, she had been wearing the necklace close to her body, but it was only at that time that she took it off.
"Then have you searched there?"
The question asked by Zeref seemed unnecessary to the boy.
Because he believed that this girl would definitely explore the lake area before coming here.
"I found it. I even turned over every stone and looked at it, but it's not there."
The girl's answer was as expected by the boy.
"I thought it was fine, but I still lost it..."
Nia put down all the clothes in her hands and took a deep breath to calm her restless mood.
"Nia, do you have any clues? What does that necklace look like? Can you describe it?"
The young man walked over from the car, and he didn't intend to sit idly by.
"After I came back from washing, I found that the necklace that was supposed to be in my clothes was missing."
Seeing that the boy was willing to help, Nia's originally anxious mood suddenly became much calmer, and her tone gradually returned to normal.
"The necklace is a silver necklace with a small gold snake on the pendant."
"It sounds like it's really not cheap."
Zeref muttered, his voice low enough not to interrupt the girl.
"If there are any clues..."
The girl recalled the situation at that time and then said:
"When I was about to finish washing, suddenly there was a high splash from the water."
"Uh, I understand...are there any other clues?"
A guilty person immediately changed the subject.
"there is none left."
Nia herself also regretted it. She was indeed a little too absorbed in the atmosphere at that time, so that except for the big movement on the water surface, she didn't pay attention to anything happening around her.
"When I got ashore, I discovered that the necklace was missing. I didn't notice any other suspicious things at the time."
"If there is movement on the water surface, could it be swallowed by a big fish?"
Zeref made a guess, after all, this was the only clue at hand.
It is true that some fish are interested in shiny things, and Nia said that if there is a small golden snake on the necklace, maybe some fish will regard the necklace as food.
"The clothes are still quite far away from the water. I don't think any fish can reach there."
However, the girl immediately rejected Zeref's guess. In order to prevent the change of clothes from getting wet by the water flow, Nia did not put the clothes too close to the water, and was still one or two steps away from the lake.
"Could it be that someone stole your necklace and then jumped into the water to escape?"
Since his last guess was rejected, Zeref immediately came up with the next guess.
"Well...it shouldn't be possible, right?"
When the already sensitive boy heard these words, sweat broke out on his back.
In that lake, except for the girl and the boy who slipped in, there was really no one else.
If you go by what Zeref said, then feelings themselves become suspects.
"No way, right? The splash doesn't look like the sound caused by someone diving into the water, it's more like a stone or something thrown into the water by someone."
Fortunately, Nia also agreed with the boy's remarks, saving him from embarrassment.
After all, the water splash looked very different from an object as big as a person falling into the water. Nia had thought about this possibility before, but the loophole was too big, so she dismissed it herself.
"This is not, and that is not. Then, what exactly should it be?"
The confused Zeref scratched his head. He really didn't have any good ideas now. After all, the clue was just a "splash", and Zeref, a rough guy working as a handyman, could only guess these things.
"I think you can search around this forest first. Maybe it was taken away by birds or other animals."
The boy, who was sweating profusely from Zeref's sudden remarks, decided to end the topic.
"In short, let's look around first. If we can't find it, we'll talk about it later."
"Okay, I'll go back and look for it, I'll leave the rest to you."
The girl agreed with the boy's point of view. In fact, she never denied the boy's opinions and ideas.
"Then I'll go take a look around."
Since the girl who was the owner said so, Zeref had no objection. He walked towards the surrounding bushes and said angrily as he walked:
"NND, if you want me to know which little thief it is, it will be for dinner today!"
Well, you're the chef, you decide.
The boy wiped the sweat from his forehead and planned to go to the jungle on the other side to find the girl's lost necklace.
But he found that the girl who was eager to retrieve the necklace didn't even dry the wet clothes in the wooden box, so she carried her sister back to the woods.
In order to change back into his original clothes as soon as possible, the young man decided to dry Nia's clothes first.
When the boy put the washed clothes one by one on the cloth strips at the top of the tree, he was also thinking about the whereabouts of the necklace.
It couldn't have been done by someone, otherwise you would definitely have discovered it. And the girl hid the necklace very well. If she hadn't mentioned it, the boy and the others wouldn't have known that the girl actually had this kind of necklace.
The girl's identity is just that of an ordinary village girl, so no one should be eyeing her for no reason.
What's more, even they who had been traveling for a few days didn't know where the necklace was, and it was even less likely that others would know.
Therefore, this should be a good deed done by one of the animals surrounding the lake at that time.
So who will it be?
The young man put the last piece of clothing in the wooden box on the cloth strip, and his thoughts were immersed in his own memories.
Thinking about it, I might have seen that little thief before.
He is a very suspicious guy with a little white hair on his head.
It looks a bit like a squirrel, but its body is much larger, and its ears are pointed in shape, like an inverted triangle, which is a bit different from a squirrel.
"Jiji?"
While he was deep in thought, the boy felt something tugging at his trouser leg.
He looked down and saw that it was a small white-haired beast standing beside the wooden box beside him.
Those round black eyes looked quite cute at first sight, but the young man never expected that he would be so close to a small animal.
Well, he looks similar to the guy in front of me.
Thinking like this, the young man subconsciously touched the oily fur of this little beast.
"Chi! Chi!"
The little beast suddenly opened its teeth and claws, bent its calves, and jumped around the edge of the wooden box.
"uh-huh?"
Do you not want to be touched by yourself?
Thinking this, the young man raised his hand.
"grumble!!"
However, at the moment when the young man raised his hand.
The little white-haired beast suddenly jumped up and pounced directly on the young man's waist.
"Well?!"
Because his consciousness was not very focused, the boy who was attacked was still a little dazed at this time.
Although he was hit, the force was not severe and the boy could not even feel any pain.
And he seemed to have heard a "crack" sound just now, as if it had bitten something with its sharp teeth.
The young man subconsciously touched his waist and found that the lace holding his dagger was broken.
The dagger and the strap on it were all held in the mouth of this little white-haired beast.
Why does he look so similar to this guy?!
It’s obviously it!
The little white-haired beast that was sneaking around in the girl's clothes perfectly matched the appearance of the guy who snatched away his dagger.
The culprit is right in front of you!
"Don't even think about running away!"
Before the boy was about to jump towards it, the little white-haired beast had already run into the bushes with a dagger in its mouth.
As a result, the young man completely missed the opportunity and fell into the mud.
This made the originally calm young man so angry that he couldn't help but curse: