Three Brain Cells Fighting For Last Place

They've got three brain cells, all of which are fighting for last place. But as for my internal anger aside, this problem should've been addressed earlier and not held back because you need to wait for people to get hurt to stop the criminal.

How could that be the norm over here? How would the rulers of the Domain remain in power if they waited for something significant to happen and then acted upon it? Shouldn't they have their police to patrol the area to install order in the Domain?

I was getting increasingly frustrated about how the world works around here, and my face was scrunched up in disgust. Tomoe caught wind of this and gently rubbed my shoulder to ease my anger. I then relaxed and continued listening to Bryan's explanation.

"And I needed another Mission to fill the gap, so I was interested in it. At first, it was a request to patrol the Prisoners' Den, where Fabian's mansion was based. Then, it was a routine check from Ysabeau since she was bedridden, and I opted to go."

"However, I felt something was wrong with the number of people living in that area and the presence of a philanthropist setting up an Orphanage in a place for criminals. I was given the green light to look into the place and began doing some digging."

"And as we dug deeper, the Duchess wrote to me about her twin brother being found and missing kids. One thing led to another, and the only thing to set into motion was Fabian's invite to Mavislin, stating to meet her for dinner to thank her. I haven't asked her about it yet..."

The Slayer looked pale upon mentioning that fact. It might be too delicate to bring it up, especially after everything that had transpired. But I couldn't deny that I was interested in finding out what was the rich man's true purpose. And why didn't Mavislin stick around to see the final battle?

I was still bummed out about that fact, but she has her reasons for doing so.

"Ah! Another thing that VK wanted me to find out was something that had to do with the Valkyrie! Fabian had been rattling about beautiful maiden with armor and Element-changing wings for the longest time, so our first thought was to find her to learn more about the case."

"Mavislin has been on our records for a while now, and ever since, she 'stole' Ashley away from us. We had thought Fabian had defunct to your side, but that wasn't true since when we asked around, he wasn't in the Arks. Apparently, he had built a cult on his own."

"All about worshipping some Goddess. I sincerely thought that Mavislin was controlling Fabian to do these stuff and-"

Before Vincent could finish his ramble, the Slayer summoned a scythe and threw it beside Vincent, stabbing the wall behind him.

"Oops... My hands were slippery from the oil of the bacon. I should get a cloth to wipe it before more dangerous things slip out of my hand again. Or you could hold your tongue against talking bad about my boss. Do you get me?" warned Bryan, glaring at Vincent.

Vincent nodded as he swallowed a ball of saliva in fear. He then relaxed and continued his rambles.

"Anyways, I wanted to add more about the cult thing, but I got scared and forgot about it. All in all, I was glad to be of service to your folks!"

"You sure took your own sweet time to do so... If you had been there earlier, my Lizzie wouldn't have to be out cold for the week!" argued the Kitsune.

"Hey! At least I managed to help your friends in the end... We would have been on the case earlier if I had known that Fabian had been doing so much kidnapping and child slavery! That guy has so many people covering his tracks that we could hardly tell what his main goal was..."

I stopped my breakfast to stare at Vincent with wide eyes. What did he say?

"We knew the man was a kidnapper and possible murderer, but when did he become a child laborer? When we were at the mansion, we couldn't find any children there!" exclaimed Bryan.

"What do you mean? When I was around the premise during your fights, I saw many kids working in the gardens and guarding the house! They were everywhere! How could you have not spotted them?" questioned Vincent.

I stayed silent before slumping my shoulders, realizing that my fear was proper all along, that those dolls we had encountered in the tunnels were made from children. I knew that from the start because I couldn't fall for the illusion but still... Ignorance was bliss...