"So ... you want to interrogate the daughter of Archduke Isabelle?" Madam Felicia asks me once again, "you see, I can deploy my own intelligence agents for this matter."
"I know her personally. I'll handle this."
John, Aelita, and I are meeting Madam Felicia, to consult about Remi buying Madu. Doctor Nawal is there too; he doesn't have his own headquarters (poor guy), so he is staying with us. He is leading an effort to reverse engineer the new Madu potion.
Madam Felicia takes a letter from her pocket. "Alright. It's no big deal."
It's a big deal, to be honest. The nobles are always heavily guarded and they don't accept house visits.
"Remilia Felix Isabelle. Reason for interrogation: suspicion of buying illegal drugs," Madam Felicia mutters as she scribbles a few words on the paper.
"Madam," I ask, "is it true that my grandma wields the Yellow Gem?"
"Hm? No, no," Madam Felicia says, "The Empire guessed incorrectly."
"I see," I, unconvinced, reply.
"Don't worry about it. Your grandma is no ordinary mage," Madam Felicia says as she signs the letter.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," I say as I take the letter.
"You guys prepare yourself. After I gain the information, we'll go straight away," I say to John and Aelita, who nod immediately. Both of them received a blow to the head; I think they ought to rest a bit.
The Isabelle family has a massive mansion in the capital, Batavia. Luckily, Batavia is not that far from my HQ.
Sure enough, the mansion is guarded by several soldiers wielding semi automatic weapons. I merely flick off my white ribbon and they understand; I am an Imperial Guard (Or maybe my face is that recognisable).
They walk me through the garden; a multitude of exotic plants are planted there.
"Greetings," the butler says as he opens the door.
"I'm searching for Remilia Felix Isabelle. This is my permission slip," I say as I hand him the letter.
His eyes widen. "Of course, Miss Vonville. Please follow me," he says courteously.
"Thank you," I equal his politeness.
"Miss Isabelle is training in the training room," the bald butler says as he guides me through endless parts of the house, all lavishly decorated with silk, silver, gold, and gems.
"Ha!" Remi shouts, thrusting her blade as the butler opens the door.
Instinctively, I draw my own sword and parry hers.
"What are you doing here!? This is my house!" she barks.
I simply hand her the letter. Remi reads it quickly before grumbling, "Make it quick. What do you want?" The butler has left by now.
"Well, you see ...." I take out a small vial of Madu. We confiscated tons of it when we sacked Lady Caitlyn's HQ.
She immediately extends her hand, covering it. "Okay, okay! I'll cooperate, but not here!" she mutters. Her eyes scan the hallway for the butler before sighing.
She leads me to her bedroom. It has a queen sized bed, a huge wardrobe, and it is decorated even more lavishly than other rooms are.
"Don't you know that if anyone knows I'll be doomed?" she asks.
"Yes, I do," I answer lazily.
"You bought this drug from a bartender in unnamed islands, west of Elaise, right?" I ask.
"How do you know that!?" she hisses.
"The woman sitting next to you was me," I answer.
"Tch! Fine, I have had fun using that drug ... why should that be your concern?" Remi grunts.
"Well, it's illegal," I shrug, "I'm sure there is a pretty detailed law on use of illegal drugs."
"So, you're coming to take me away," Remi scoffs, "sounds like a trivial task for a Guard. Feel free to–I'll be released in a week or so, just watch."
"Well, it has been agreed that we can let this go if you cooperate," I say.
Actually, that's false, but whatever.
Remi grunts, but she nods slightly.
"Tell me all you know about Madu, especially its origins."
"I bought it from Alice or the two boys, I don't know their name. You should have known that," Remi answers.
I recall my conversation with Alice, when I tried to extract information from her.
"Only the Dollmakers know about its origins. Only the Dollmakers have direct contact with whoever made it. Oh, and obviously their leader the Dollmaster too."
"But I have this," Remi continues. She reaches out to her wardrobe, almost emptying it. She then pulls out a piece of paper.
"I hired a private investigator to trace it," Remi says, "He died investigating, but managed to get some information. Now get out!"
I get up, leaving the gigantic mansion with Remi whispering, "Don't tell anyone!"
I return to HQ. Night has fallen and the moon is shining brightly, illuminating my paths.
I put the paper on a table. I have called John and Aelita, as well as Madam Felicia, to a meeting. Alice decides to butt in.
"Remi gave me this, in exchange of me staying silent about her using Madu," I hand the paper to Madam Felicia.
"Hmmm ... this doesn't reveal much," Madam Felicia says as she scans the paper, "mostly dead ends. But there is one possibility left."
"It seems like the area north of Francia might hold a clue or two," she says.
"Oh, no," Alice mutters, "It's the territory of the Brotherhood of the Stars!"
"What is that?" Aelita's curious mouth asks.
"Vampires are actually divided into Brotherhoods. Now there are only two of them: the Brotherhood of the Moon under the Princess of Terror, and the Brotherhood of the Stars," Alice explains.
"Matters are worse than that, dear," Madam Felicia sighs, "my intelligence forces have determined that Lord Eugene is taking residence nearby the area."
"It will not be easy," Madam Felicia says, "avoid confrontations. We have few capable mages left, and with Fronica out of picture our situation is desperate. I've arranged for a schooner to be ready for you."
"Can I say something?" Doctor Nawal asks with upmost politeness.
"What is it, Doctor?" I ask.
"For us to create a cure we need to understand the individual ingredients of the new Madu. So, if you cannot capture the maker of the drug, you can discover the ingredients and we can still make a cure," Doctor Nawal explains, "my team is trying to reverse engineer the drug completely, but if you can gain information by-er-less scientific means it would help us a lot."
"We will try, Doctor Nawal," I say. "come on, guys, we can't waste any more time."
With haste we ride to the nearest harbor. "Hey, Vio," Aelita says to me while on the way, "isn't it weird that Madam Fron got exiled so easily? Even if there are outside interferences, it looks like a horribly weak excuse."
"Of course it is," I grumble as we reach sandy areas near the beach, "It's definitely intentional."
Our horses suddenly stop. "What is hap-"
Aelita's words are cut off by the appearance of a massive horde of civilians, all holding signs and portraits and shouting curses.
"Damn it!" I mutter. I roll my eyes when I see Madam Fron's face painted on one of the portraits.
I twirl my fingers, signaling for John and Aelita to retreat, away from the incoming mob.
The mob grows even more gigantic (and angrier). They begin to carry torches and makeshift spears, or sharpened bamboo sticks.
"Uh-oh," I mutter as I notice the direction they are going to: Queen Seira's residence.
It's practically a castle, complete with its luxurious decorations and its guards. Irvine has four such castles for the King or Queen to stay on during visits; this one is located on Archduke Luxor's territory.
"We'll go behind them. Come on," I whisper.
Fortunately for us, we manage to get around the mob, who is getting really furious. They start barging in, pushing the line of poor soldiers trying to hold them back.
"Darryl!" I gasp in happiness, "you're here!"