Detective?

After spending about 80 Florins on a bottle of wine, Silas returned to the Divination Shop.

He had taken his time going to the winery and back, so by the time he arrived back at the shop, it was almost 1:30 p.m.

Seeing how there were only 30 minutes left until the lady showed up, Silas decided to ask Mr. Rudolph what he was going to do with Luis.

"Eh, probably whatever the lady wants. That was the commission anyways."

Mr. Rudolph let out a big burp as he chugged the bottle of wine.

"You'll even kill him?" Silas asked in disbelief.

"Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how drunk I am."

Deciding not to talk to his teacher anymore, Silas stepped out of the shop and wandered around the market district.

After a couple of minutes, he found the place he was looking for.

As Silas entered 'Ricardo's Potions,' the owner greeted him.

The store was pretty small, with shelves filled with all sorts of bizarre stuff.

The windows, which made up most of the walls, were covered by vines.

In the middle of the shop, the owner sat behind a wooden desk that was rotting.

He was wearing a simple blue gown.

"Ah, hello! I haven't had a customer in a while."

"How may I help you?"

With a sly smirk, the man who Silas presumed was named Ricardo, reached down and grabbed a flask full of a dirty-looking, brown liquid.

"Hehe, this will help you with certain activities in bed. I've even tested it out myself!"

He put the flask down and got another bottle from under the desk.

"Or this! It can help you grow taller."

Silas shook his head.

"I'm just looking for some mercury. How much would 20 liters cost?"

That should be enough for a small pool. Well, I don't know the exact measurements.

Ricardo scratched his chin. "It should be around 1,000 Talends."

Holy sh*t. I'm going to have to save up for years, maybe even a decade! Maybe I should try to get a loan? Or rob a rich person?

"Maybe I'll stop by another time."

Silas said as he laughed nervously.

The owner simply nodded.

...

He returned to the Divination Shop just in time to see the tall lady entering.

This time she was wearing a crimson red regal dress, and no veil was covering her face.

Her golden hair had been tied up into a bun, and her black eyes darted left to right.

Her extremely hollow and pale face made Silas jump when he first saw it.

Exactly on cue, Mr. Rudolph appeared.

"Madam, you may follow me."

The two men and the lady entered the divination room.

There, in a chair, sat an unconscious and tied-up Luis.

He still wore the official priest wear of the Sky.

The cannon blast really did f*ck him up.

With a simple slap on Luis' face, he woke up.

He tried breaking out of his binds. When he realized he couldn't, he started swearing at Mr. Rudolph.

Ignoring Luis, the Old Man said, "Madam, feel free to question him. I can make him say nothing but the truth."

Sparing no time, the lady started in her melancholic voice.

"Why did you kill my husband?"

"It was what I had to do to advance to Chain 3. The spirit requested it."

Luis simply responded, his voice sounding almost mechanical.

The lady raised an eyebrow. "That's all I need to know. Thank you, gentlemen. Feel free to hand him to the knights or the police force."

And with that, she left.

I thought she was going to freak out and try to attack Luis. Or ask multiple questions. Or cry. Maybe we should look more into her background. Her husband must have been doing something important; he even made a spirit his enemy.

"Come on, we're handing him in."

With another slap, Mr. Rudolph knocked Luis unconscious. He hoisted him on his back and started towards the nearest base of the Royal Knights.

There were at least three bases per sector. The lower sectors such as 9 and 10 had much more, due to their considerable size and danger.

...

The base of the Royal Knights in Sector 7 was a large rectangular wooden building.

Damaged oak pillars supported the building.

Its clay roof tiles were crumbling.

In a courtyard next to the base, knights practiced their swordsmanship.

The system of the Royal Knights was pretty simple.

They keep the city safe, so they are exceptionally happy if you do some of their work for them. That's why anybody can report a crime or even hand in a criminal.

"Do they even take care of the building?" Silas asked.

"I think in other sectors they are kept better. Since Sector 7 has a low crime rate, they focus on the more dangerous parts of town." Mr. Rudolph replied as he approached the building.

Two guards stood at the stone door entrance. They were both clad in armor with the symbol of the headless griffin.

Their swords were ready to be drawn.

Seeing them getting closer, the guard on the right said, in a deep, authoritative voice, "State your purpose!"

"We've come to hand in a criminal."

The guard raised an eyebrow and let Silas and Mr. Rudolph in.

The guard then led the two men up a staircase into a room.

Entering the room, Silas only saw writing.

On the desk, chairs, and even walls, words had been scribbled.

Then Silas noticed a man writing on the ground.

He was extremely lanky.

He had black eyes and messy black hair, his square-shaped face was extremely pale.

He had an aquiline nose and a couple of wrinkles.

The man was wearing a bright red gothic-style blazer and black pants.

He wore glasses, but the lenses had shattered.

The guard seemed pretty nervous.

"This is Detective Malvin. He'll help you with handling the criminal."

After saying that, the guard quickly scurried off.

Hey, this guy's pretty creepy.

As if Silas' thoughts had been spoken out loud, Detective Malvin stood.

He immediately darted towards Mr. Rudolph.

"So tell me, what did this criminal do?" Malvin's voice was squeaky.

"He killed Andreas Maji."

"And how do you know?"

The Detective was standing right in front of Mr. Rudolph.

"Well, um. We saw him doing it." Silas spoke up.

Malvin nodded. "Yes, yes. That makes sense. Just leave him on the ground here. I'll take him to the dungeon."

"Feel free to leave."

Mr. Rudolph signaled to Silas to leave. Before the two men could step out, the Detective spoke up.

"I'm getting the feeling that you found out a different way."

"Keep walking." The Old Man muttered.

...

After exiting the building, the two men parted ways.

Silas was headed to the Rockette Food Bank, and Mr. Rudolph went back to the Divination Shop.

While walking, Silas thought to himself.

It's Saturday tomorrow. I wonder what I should do. I could try getting all the mercury required. Ah sh*t, I don't even know what domain I want my powers to be from.

He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.