The Smoke

William continued to eye Kazi as the tension between Detective Matasaburō and Ksenia boiled over. There was shouting on Ksenia's end and a cool, logical refutation by the detective.

"You can't just declare him dead willy-nilly! He might be alive! What's the word—MIA?"

"If he's missing in action, then there's a good chance he's the killer," Detective Matasaburō replied.

"What evidence do you have, buddy?"

"No evidence," he said. "Only logic. If he's not here, either he doesn't want to be found or he can't be found. I hope you realize what the first option entails."

Ksenia growled. There wasn't much she could say to that.

William drew in a erratic breath of air. 'I can understand both sides. Paul was pretty fidgety. If you were to ask a group of people on who would likely be a serial killer, they would probably choose him. Still, I got the vibe he was just super awkward. Not like…a murderer or something.'

The detective was going too far in his view. There was no evidence implicating him but there also wasn't evidence deeming him innocent. Why not just look over the other evidence, find the killer, then try and find Paul?

"Your Honour," Kazi suddenly called. "We have a basic timeline of events. We have listened to all testimony, made some suspects, and now sit at a crossroad: where is Paul? That is the question I believe we should be answering."

'Oh, okay.' William leaned forward, listening.

Danzaburou consulted with the jury before responding. "The jury agrees! Continue, Defender!"

"Tony goes to the bathroom in the middle-class compartment ten minutes before the train enters the Seikan Tunnel. Why? Because Ms. Sun-young was using the bathroom in the dining area." A flicker of attention went to the sickly woman. Kazi kept going before the gazes would linger for too long. "The world goes black. The murderer goes to the bathroom, where the lock is already broken, and kills him. Simple and easy. Before anyone knows it, the killer is back to where he originally was and nobody is able to witness it. However…"

Kazi directed a hand at the evidence table—at a certain piece of evidence. "I believe that the killer tried making their move a long, long time ago. As everybody can see here, evidence was found in the kitchen. I call attention to the hair dye and the sake. Where was it found though? Could the discoverers care to tell?"

The pale lady named Pauline rose from her seat. "In a lower cabinet in the kitchen."

Detective Matasaburō was visibly confused. Kazi merely smiled.

"Interesting. Very interesting. Thank you, Pauline, you can sit down now." Kazi picked up the glass bottle. "Sake: a type of Japanese alcohol. In this time period, which I estimate to be at the turn of the century or a little after, sake was quite popular. This is specifically Genshu where alcohol content ranges between 18% to 20% alcohol by volume. Pretty impressive."

"Get on with your point," Detective Matasaburō said.

"High alcohol content plus hair dye. Back in these olden days, before the refinement of hair dye, what did they use for hair dye?" Nobody besides Kazi seemed to know the answer. "It's hydrogen peroxide. Now, smell the bottle. The chemicals contents go beyond just hair dye and alcohol. In other words, somebody was trying to concoct a sleeping agent."

The witnessed and jury broke out in a series of exclamations. "W-what!?"

"Sleeping agent? Like a chemical weapon?"

Kazi's calm voice sliced through the uncertainties. "The moment this bottle and hair dye came in my view, it became clear that this was a premeditated murder. Somebody has been thinking about it for a while. Days even. In fact…"

Kazi's face suddenly withered. His smile fell and his eyes furrowed.

"In fact what?" William asked.

Kazi didn't answer immediately. Something huge dawned him, that much was clear. A huge puzzle piece that clicked and gave him a wider view of the mystery.

"That must mean…" Kazi muttered off. His eyes went wide and he whipped his head to the nearby window. "Paul is—"

Click!

Somewhere nearby, William heard a sound, like a metal ball falling. A faint hissing sound followed. "Huh—"

Before he could turn or react, an abrupt eruption filled the air with dense smoke, engulfing the room in a thick haze. There were screams and shouts. Chaos.

Leon's yells erupted. "Uggghhh! There's too much smoke!"

Followed by Noor: "I can't see! My eyes!"

"What the hell!?" Ksenia yelled. "Who the hell—"

The detective cut her off, "Protect the evidence! The killer is on the loose!"

William's heart raced as panicked voices and shuffling feet echoed through the chaos. Blinded by the billowing fog, he could hear the muffled commotion but was unable to see the source or assess the situation.

Disoriented, he coughed, struggling to find clean air amidst the thick smoke. Voices swirled around him, muffled and fragmented by the opaque veil. He felt a surge of adrenaline.

Through the haze, William strained to make out shapes and movements, but the dense fog obscured his vision entirely. But behind him, he heard something. Someone was opening the window. Someone was trying to escape.

His body moved before his mind. He didn't know where he was going and simply followed the sound of the wind. His head out the window, he sucked in fresh air. However, this wasn't the time to relax. Above, he saw a black shoe.

'Shit, shit, shit! This is so stupid! So stupid! But the evidence! I have to get it!'

Heart pounding, William's curiosity and concern drove him to follow, ignoring the risks of venturing onto the roof of the speeding train.

The rush of wind and the rhythmic clatter of the train's wheels against the tracks echoed around him as he emerged onto the open roof. The panoramic view revealed the expanse of the landscape rushing by, the wind whipping against him as he searched for the masked figure.

In the distance, he spotted a dark robed figure pushing against the wind. A slow, gradual fight against mother nature. William went after him. Each step took immense effort. If William let himself go for even a second, he would have been blown away.

Unknown level, no equipped class, and his name an unknown symbol. 'He must have readied himself right before he set off the smoke screen!'

But the figure was far ahead. At this rate, he would lose him if his acrobatics came into play again. It was time to do something stupid. 'Open inventory!'

Through the rush of wind, he equipped a basic axe and threw it. 'I saw Kazi do this once! Gust Slash!'

The thrown axe went faster, the wind supporting despite coming the other way. It was like being carried by a friend and it struck the figure on the shoulder. In place of a cry of pain, he saw the figure collapse to his knees.

William clenched his fist, feeling the magic flow through him. It was like the axe spoke to him. It glowed red and promptly flew back to return to him.

[ New skill learned : Gust Slash Thrown! ]

'That's it! Better late than never,' he exclaimed to himself. He had never been able to do it before. He didn't think why either. It must have been his lucky day!

Bit by bit, William closed the distance. The figure remained on one knee, blood gushing from his shoulder. William leapt onto the third middle-class compartment, then saw it.

'A white mask?'

Before William could make sense of the situation, the masked figure lunged backward, the suddenness of the attack catching him off guard. A fierce struggle ensued atop the speeding train, the sound of their grunts and the clashing of bodies against the metal roof drowned out by the rushing wind.

His heart stopped as he realize he was on the edge of the train, his head looming over the rushing ground. It was far down yet it felt so close. William didn't know what to do.

The man in the white mask—he couldn't overpower. He was fast and calculated. It was like he saw William move before he did it.

"From ember's spark to skies apart, In flicker's dance, ignite my art. Fire's fury, swift and smart, Let flames take form—Fire Dart!"

Boom! The man above him was blasted in the face, a massive piece of his mask breaking apart. From this close, he heard the cry of pain. He saw the smoke pooling off his face. William got up and promptly kicked him in the chest. There was no resistance and the man toppled back till he was back to the dining compartment.

'Oh no.' William instantly understood his mistake. The masked man pushed himself off and then rolled off the compartment. Like an acrobat, he threw himself through the window and back to the inside of the dining compartment.

"Shit!" William cursed, as did the woman that had supported him.

"Goddammit! He got away!" Noor said, huffing and puffing. Her hair was long and whipped behind her. They exchanged nods and went to the edge of the compartment. William went first, going slow and steady as he climbed down the ladder. Between compartments, there was a small platform for them to walk on. A peek to the outside world that wasn't overtly windy.

"Phew!" The wind dying down, William took a breath and spoke to his saviour. "Thanks! How'd you find me?"

"Why do you think I was told to guard the place?" Noor pointed at her fancy jewellery. "I'm been giving so much magical shit that I can sense it. I sensed magic go off above, climbed the ladder, and blasted that freaky masked guy. By the way, he is the bad guy, right?"

"Yeah, I assume so." Noor peered through the door window. She cursed under breath. "That guy…he filled all the compartments with smoke. He'll be able to recover and slip back in without anyone noticing."

"Can you sense him again?"

"I can sense magic but I can't differentiate it. I'm not at that level yet," Noor admitted.

"Damn." William clenched his fist. "So what? He gets away scot-free?"

Noor shrugged, unexpectedly lax. "Depends on how long the smoke stays. The station is two hours away, I think. I'm sure my attack left a mark, I added incantations to it, so he'll probably waste half an hour trying to heal from it."

Inside, they heard screams and arguments. Noor clicked her tongue.

"Yep, he'll get that half hour." Noor looked over at herself and started fixing her hair. "Everybody is in panic mode."

Once again, there was commotion inside, "Murderer! Murderer! There's a murderer on the loose!"

"That's Lala." Noor face-palmed. "She loves to scream."

William inhaled sharply. Standing here between the middle-class compartment and the storage area, he smelled something.

"Is that…" William took a whiff of the air and found himself looking up. "...blood?"