Chapter 39:Miss

Her steps, even though she was trying to mask it, were still somewhat anxious, so taking a breath she stopped for a moment and adjusted the scarf around her neck after that she continued her walk in the dark alleys.

But as she arrived at the meeting point, she couldn't help but remember what she had read in the newspaper a few days ago.

...

.. .

-Explosion at Backlund Bridge-

On Friday morning, after having returned to buy some things and finish her breakfast, Xio was sitting with a cup of coffee in hand reading the newspaper.

_On Thursday morning at the Backlund Bridge a large explosion destroyed the roofs of several residential buildings and destroyed a carriage killing the horses at the same time, according to the authorities it was due to a gas leak that ignited, it is estimated that the repair of all the damage will be around 900 pounds..._

'~Explosion~, of course..' Xio thought as she took a sip of her coffee while sitting down reading the newspaper and on the other side was Fors who had just entered the kitchen with messy hair and was having a very late breakfast.

"You have to improve your sleep time Fors" Xio scolded Fors who seemed to move while still sleeping.

"Yes yes yes mom" answered Fors sleepily while taking a bit of bread to her mouth.

Shaking her head, Xio continued reading the newspaper and as soon as she turned to the next page, her hand that was raising the cup of coffee to her mouth stopped.

In the announcements section there was one extremely striking since it even included a drawing.

-Any information is wanted related to a man called Mr. Holmes, he always wears a black windbreaker and a mask whose eyes and mouth seem to be in an eternal scream, any information will be rewarded with 50 pounds...information must be delivered in the Lucky Bar...-

The drawing was the appearance of Mr. Holmes although it was somewhat inaccurate, Mr. Holmes was not that thin and he also had a strong posture but it was enough for her to confirm that it was her "coworker".

Placing the cup on the table and placing the newspaper on her lap, Xio frowned.

'Mr. Holmes, what did you do now...' Xio thought and due to the posture she had, she caught the attention of the sleepy Fors who spoke to her.

"Is something wrong Xio?" Sighing Xio just grabbed the newspaper and showed her the picture of the man.

"I would like to talk to you about something..."

.....

Fors was as usually lying face down on the sofa as if she were a dead fish.

"Fors get up tell me have you found any information about your formula?"

Xio asked her friend as she held today's newspaper in her hands.

"There's nothing Xio I don't know what to do anymore" Fors answered without raising her head making Xio frown in concern.

"We will find it, trust me" Xio said as she sat on a chair and opened the newspaper.

She had been looking for information about Mr. A's party since one was not held last week but she found something else that caught her attention being the head of it.

-THE CREED FELL AND THE FIRE MAGE OF EAST BOROUGH-

The more she read, the more her eyes trembled and her pupils trembled.

_Yesterday on the afternoon of Saturday, July 7 in East Borough at 5:20 p.m. an event never seen before happened, the well-known gang The Creed has been destroyed by a single man, the man who calls himself Mr. Holmes hunted down the members of the Creed during the day, managing to kill more than half of them and not satisfied with that, he destroyed the gang's base and burned the gang leader alive in front of the eyes of the public, it is unknown how..._

'What is this?!!' she thought alarmed the more she read and getting up abruptly from the chair drawing the attention of Fors who finally raised her head from the pillow and looked at her friend.

"What's wrong Xio?" she asked as she scratched her eyes trying to get rid of the sleepeness.

Xio didn't speak but threw the newspaper in her friend's face so she could see for herself.

Removing the newspaper from her face, Fors began to read and she had a more striking reaction than Xio's.

"XIO THIS WOULDN'T BE THE MAN YOU WORK WITH TO CATCH THE BLACK SKULL LEADER." Fors yelled at her friend as she pointed to a sketch of what Mr. Holmes looked like while on the roof in the newspaper.

Frowning, Xio nodded as she raised a hand to her head.

"It's him, I can't believe he did something like that..." Xio replied.

...

Returning to the present, Xio adjusted her scarf again as she reached the meeting point and there was the man in question.

Leaning against the alley wall with his arms crossed and looking up at the cloudy sky.

Mr. Holmes as always was dressed in the same clothes that she read in the newspapers and she could not but raise her eyebrows in doubt.

'Doesn't he care that he may get caught for not changing his clothes?' Before she could continue thinking, Mr. Holmes stopped looking at the clouds and looked at her with that gloomy mask.

"You arrive a little later than agreed, miss, and I already thought that you abandoned me" the man's voice continued with that provocative tone that made Xio's veins throb, but using her training as a noble and knight she maintained a cold mind.

"Looks like you've been busy for the last week Mr. Holmes" Xio spoke causing the man to let out a dark laugh.

"Don't worry miss, I was just getting rid the trash..."