The night had yet to emerge, but the intense sunbeams lit out, and clouds occupied the clear sky, signalling it was still early for the sun to set down and ablaze the sky. It only took the investigation squad that Sir Romero requested a short moment to arrive through teleportation magic.
The person leading the investigation squad was someone who personally knew Sir Romero as he immediately ran towards Sir Romero once he took a step out with much enthusiasm and the intention of embracing the man who was not necessarily taller but bigger than himself. The scrawny man had his arms wide open while running madly, all set to give his beloved coworker a heart-warming hug, but all that ended up with him hugging the grass instead.
"Ow, ow. My dear Azzy, how could you avoid my greeting hug for you? I haven't seen you for too long." In contrast to his exuberant acts, his voice was laced with lethargy and gloom. It perfectly fitted his outer appearance; haggard face, messy hair, weary eyes with heavy bags, and clothes that couldn't be differentiated from the garbage. Although, it was somewhat hard to distinguish his facial features from the wild hair covering them.
Sir Romero didn't hide the disgust on his face. He swiftly backed away and warned the other party, "Keep a good distance from me, Jaeke. You look and smell like shit. Touch me, and the Association will need to hold a funeral for their member."
Heartbroken, Jaeke, who had just gotten up from the ground, immediately went down, shattered into pieces like a broken mirror. He whined with his ever-lethargic tone, "Why won't you love me, my dear Az—"
But his whining was shortly cut off by a rock firing at him that landed, thankfully,
right next to his face. He could practically see smoke coming off the rock. He could've died, right? He could've died just now, right? He almost died, right?
"Quit your disgusting act. You have better things to do." Sir Romero was disappointed that the rock didn't hit the person. He moved on and began to elucidate the situation to the investigation squad, ignoring their shell-shocked leader in the background. "It’s an illegally operated laboratory, hidden from the public. An unidentified person, presumably a black mage, has been conducting artificial demonic beast experiments. The crucial research papers are missing as they’re not found inside. I believe the perpetrator is suspected of working with an organisation given the resources. The perpetrator is also nowhere to be found."
He had already checked for hidden spots but to no avail. It was likely that the researcher took the rest of the research papers with them. There wasn't much he could do about the whole situation himself, so he left the investigation squad to take care of whatever was needed. Things like finding leads and evidence, writing reports, and so on… That was their job and none of his business.
When he brought up artificial demonic beasts, the investigation squad quickly became invested and didn't waste a second to enter the laboratory and examine the entire place. However, their mood took a turn down when they received the bad news about the bodies of the artificial demonic beasts when some of the investigation squad went to inspect the bodies.
"So, you basically grilled them all and burnt them to a crisp," Jaeke said attentively as he wrote in his notepad. His previous stunts were no longer to be seen, replaced with his work mode. "May I know the reason why?"
"No, you may not," Sir Romero flatly rejected.
A tiny smile arose on the investigation squad leader's face, a smile so small it could easily be missed, but his spiritless voice never changed. "I will report to the Association Head however I wish then. For example, you went against the protocol and are suspected of deliberately obstructing the investigation by hiding information."
"...."
"You could even be suspected as an accomplice as there is no hard evidence of artificial demonic beasts, only animal corpses burnt beyond recognition. You were also the one who discovered a well-hidden illegal laboratory. The most important parts of the research are missing. How convenient. It doesn't sound so favourable to you now, does it?"
"...."
"Alternatively, you may tell me everything now, and we can get this done already."
"This is why I don't like you." Sir Romero reluctantly caved in and complied with the investigation squad leader. "It was because they lacked more strength than I thought. My magic was too strong for them to handle. That’s all."
"I see." There was no hesitation in Jaeke's response as he readily accepted it. He proceeded to write in his notepad, and Sir Romero saw the words jotted down, his brow twitched with discontentment, but he stayed silent.
[Cast a powerful magic skill for his level and had no proper control. Lost the test subjects due to his irresponsible action.]
Sir Romero silently reasoned himself; he would get back at this person one day.
Jaeke closed his notepad and took a glance at the small figure behind Sir Romero; he had just noticed an extra person at the scene and let out a surprised sound. "Oh, dear Azzy, since when was kidnapping children a hobby of yours?"
"Kidnapping children? What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?" Sir Romero's face darkened at the accusation suddenly thrown at him.
"Hm? Then how would you explain an unconscious, bleeding child behind you?"
"What are you—?" It was then that he remembered that there was another person with him. Right, there was that weirdo. "Did you say bleeding?"
Sir Romero turned around and spotted Eislyn leaning against the tree with a nosebleed. The blood had gone down to her chest, and although it was difficult to see on the black shirt, he was sure there was blood on it as well. The bleeding seemed to have stopped a while ago, as most of it had dried up.
Since when did she start bleeding?
"Damn it." He cursed and said to Jaeke, "Get a healer."
"We don't have a healer, though?" Jaeke dismissed the idea. Why would anyone have a healer in an investigation squad? There was no point.
Hearing this, Sir Romero changed his words, "Go get a bucket of water."
"We don't have—"
"Find one, then." Sir Romero sent Jaeke a chilling glare. Jaeke had no choice but to give in and do as he was told.
In the meantime, Sir Romero tried to wake Eislyn, who didn't budge at his attempts. He told her to wake up a couple of times, then shook her shoulders and finished off with a light slap on both cheeks. Seeing that she wouldn't wake up at all, he contemplated whether he should slap her harder or just leave her dead.
Fortunately for the oblivious Eislyn, before Sir Romero let his impulsive thoughts get to him, Jaeke arrived. Obviously, he didn't bring a bucket with him since it wasn't possible to find one on time. Instead, he got an investigation squad member with him.
"This is Morin, our lovely water mage investigator~" Jaeke introduced the member with an intentionally cute tone, but all that came out of his voice only made it sound foul to the others.
However, the water mage wasn't affected by it, as if he had long adjusted to it, and normally greeted, "Greetings to the Association's Top Ranker, Sir Romero. My name is Morin Kinkel. Although my abilities may be lacking, I hope I can be of help to you."
Sir Romero nodded, acknowledging him. "At least you have good manners, unlike your leader."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Hey, hey!" Jaeke disagreed and wanted to voice out his complaints but got ignored by not only his dear Azzy but also his own subordinate.
Morin looked at the unconscious girl covered in blood but didn't raise any questions. He activated his magic and followed Sir Romero's order; a big blob of water was created above his hands and moved towards the girl. It stopped directly on top of the girl's head, and a second later, the entire blob of water dropped. The moment it made contact with the girl, it exploded and drenched her whole body.
The water was freezing; Eislyn, sleeping soundly, felt the sensation and gained consciousness in no time. She jolted from the sudden drop in temperature.
"?!?!" Eislyn was dumbstruck to find herself sopping wet in ice-cold water. She was utterly lost in what was happening to her. One moment she was resting, and the next moment she woke up all drenched.
"Oh my, it worked."
It was a voice she didn't recognise; she finally looked up to see three people standing before her, one she couldn't be more familiar with.
"Sir Romero?"
He wore an annoyed expression like he was blaming her again for something she didn't know. She continued to stare at the group of people with a disorganised mind and a pair of groggy eyes.
One of them eventually broke the awkward silence. "Hi, my name is Morin Kinkel. I'm sorry for pouring water on you, but Sir Romero ordered me to because you wouldn't wake up. Are you alright?"
This Morin person had the appearance of a good boy; fluffy hair and puppy-like eyes which bore a pair of round glasses. Eislyn took a note. He didn't look anything special, but his good nature was apparent. He reminded her of a hamster.
However, that wasn't important to her right now. What did he just say? The reason why her clothes were all wet was because of that man?
Eislyn scowled at the culprit. Thousands of curse words were written plainly in her eyes. It was to the degree that Sir Romero couldn't refrain from feeling guilty—only a little.
"Now, now, don't blame my dear Azzy," another man said.
Dear Azzy? No, who's this garbage-looking man? He looks like the one who needs water the most.
Eislyn raised a brow at him, but he ignored her crystal clear judgemental look and continued, "I am Ran Jaeke, the leader of the investigation squad here. You had a severe nosebleed and wouldn't wake up. Unfortunately, there is no doctor or healer here, so we tried another method."
"Nosebleed?" She wiped her nose with her arm to confirm and spotted some diluted blood that got transferred. The water couldn't fully wash off the blood, and some residue remained. It looked like he was telling the truth.
Could it be because of her magic? She undid ten seals at the same time, so it must have taken a toll on her body.
Jaeke asked suspiciously, "Can you tell me what happened? Don't be afraid. Nothing bad will happen to you."
She couldn't tell them it was due to overexertion of mana. What kind of excuse should she give them? The feeling of wearing wet clothes was unpleasant; she just wanted to get changed right now and wasn’t able to think properly in her current state.
Eislyn took her time to answer, so Jaeke thought she was still afraid and wanted to reassure her. "It's okay to tell me the truth. That man next to me is the bad guy, right? He kidnapped you and brought you with him. Did he also injure you? You can simply say yes if everything is correct. If yes, we will arrest him on the spot."
The words that flowed out of his mouth stumped everyone. Sir Romero took a double take and drew his sword to kill a man. The air became heavy, and a sense of death was overflowing from his body. He even went so far as to inject his mana into his sword and make it bear his fire magic.
Jaeke widened at the sight of the flaming sword getting nearer to him. "I will take this as you resisting and are guilty of kidnapping a child! Attacking a fellow member of the Association with no reason is also a crime!" His voice was shaking, and he wanted to cry already.
"Looks like today will be your funeral. Don't worry. I will let the Association know you were in an accident."
He didn't want to die yet. Someone, please help him. It wasn't him who kidnapped the child, so why was he the one dying?
"Pfft-!" A puffing sound was made and eventually grew into a belly laugh. "Ahahahaha! Sir Romero, a kidnapper! That's so funny!"
Eislyn was on the ground and held onto her stomach, laughing until tears came out. Her burst of laughter made everyone pause and look at her. Sir Romero sheathed his sword, and Jaeke sighed in relief as he barely escaped from death.
"Hahaha, kidnapping a child! He's a kidnapper! You're a child kidnapper!" Eislyn couldn't stop laughing and taunting Sir Romero.
At this point, instead of his death, Jaeke believed it would be hers.
"Enough." Sir Romero grabbed her by her collar and dragged her to the river to throw her into it.
Eislyn finally stopped laughing, but because she was in a good mood, she wasn't angry even when she was tossed into the river. She still had a stupid smile on her face, and Sir Romero was seriously reconsidering his decision to take her to the capital city.
Jaeke wasn't an idiot and realised he had reached the wrong conclusion. He scratched his head guiltily and let out an awkward laugh. "I knew you wouldn't commit such a crime, dear Azzy. Someone of your status would never."
"Shut up if you don't want to die."
"As you command." It was best not to rile him up anymore. Even though Azzy might not actually kill him, what if he accidentally did because he lost control? Like with those beasts. He didn't want to turn out like them.
Jaeke became as quiet as a mute.
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