Case #2: Scammer

"GOBLIN LORD!!!" Lucy yelled, with the entire Adventurer Guild going silent. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU SUBJUGATED A GOBLIN LORD!!??!?!?"

"H-Here y-you g-go," Emila shakily placed a small glass container onto the counter with the Goblin Lord's testicles, before stepping back behind Haruno.

Lucy picked up the jar and placed it on an appraisal board, "I see...." she said, verifying the material, and proceeded to run upstairs to the Guild Master's office.

A few seconds later, Lucy and Ana walked out of the room, with Ana glaring down towards them with an angry face, "BOTH OF YOU, INSIDE NOW!" she ordered. 

Haruno & Emila sat in front of the large wooden desk while Lucy stood by, with a clipboard, ready to document the interrogation.

"Remind me, the quest you both took was to subdue ten Goblins, right?" Ana verified, "How did that result in a Goblin Lord?" She questioned 

"Don't forget about the Goblin Knights, Hobgoblins, and Goblin Mages," Haruno corrected Ana, with Lucy dropping her pen onto the ground. "I think we actually encounter a Goblin settlement", she stated proudly. 

"HMMMMMM?!?!?" Ana's eye twitched with anger, "WHY THE HELL DID YOU BOTH ENGAGE THEM THEN?!!?!?" she yelled. 

After being lectured by Ana for a brief moment about the danger of fighting a Goblin settlement with just the two of them, Ana finally calmed down.

"Show me where you found them," Ana asked, while Lucy spread a large map out onto the coffee table.

Emila opened up her map skill and pointed at the area where they encountered the Goblin settlement.

"We initially found the targeted Goblins around the road here. As we were about to engage them, we noticed that they were packing up the stolen food together and started to leave." Emila explained, "We followed behind them for a few minutes to a large open area with an underground cave in the distance and got detected by a Goblin Mage, which alerted the entire settlement." 

"There are no records of a cave being there?" Ana verified with Lucy, who shook her head in agreement.

"I wouldn't call it a cave if you were to ask me. It felt more like an abandoned tunnel left behind by someone." Haruno interjected, "The wall showed signs that a shovel was used to widen it instead of stone tools," she explained.

"A man-made tunnel, huh?" Ana muttered, "I'm going to send a request for the Knights to investigate the area for clues." 

"Unfortunately, you can't," Emila stated, "When the Goblin Lord started to attack us, the tunnel caved in and started to flood with water from an underground spring. I believe that's why it was abandoned."

"I see...." Ana muttered and stared at the map. "I can't say I'm happy that you took the initiative to destroy a large settlement by yourself, but as the Guild Master, I will give my gratitude," as she stood up and bowed.

"Please raise your head, Guild Master!" Emila requested, "We just happened to be there and ended up encountering them."

"That's correct, mother!" Haruno added, "It was also good practice on mana control," she added, throwing a few air punches. 

"That said, I still have to offer my gratitude as the Guild Master," Ana stated, standing back up. "Now then, as your guardian, I'm very upset at your action!" she yelled. "Do you have any idea how stupid and dangerous it is for two young ladies to attack a goblin settlement alone!!!"

"I'M SORRY !!!!" Haruno & Emila yelled, with Lucy shutting the door behind them to submit an emergency investigation to the Order of Valkyrie.

"Ughhhh......I'm exhausted," Haruno sighed, sitting on a wooden bench in the plaza, resting her brain while Emila turned in the materials obtained from the Goblins. 

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING??!!?" a male voice yelled, "YOU NEED TO PAY FOR THIS!!"

"What's going on now?" Haruno wondered, standing up and entering the crowd that had formed around a wooden stall.

At the wooden stall, an old man holding a small pendant with a flower design that had a long scratch going diagonally across it, with two Beastkin children, cowering in fear.

"I'm telling you, we didn't scratch it!" the male BeastKin yelled, "We only picked it to look at it!"

"That's correct!" the female BeastKin added, as she hid behind the male. 

"LIES!! YOU SCRATCHED IT WITH YOUR DIRTY BEASTKIN CLAWS!!!" the old man berated the two, "GUARD, I NEED A GUARD HERE!! I HAVE THIEFS HERE!!!" he screamed, and with a patrol guard shuffling through the crowd, approaching the stall. The old man proceeded to hand over the damaged pendant to the guard for inspection and turned towards the two BeastKin.

"I know accidents happen, but the pendant does show a long scratch on it," the guard said, "You need to pay for it; otherwise, I will have to take you both in, where you will work it off as a debt slave."

"I'm telling you that's not what happened!!" the male BeastKin yelled, before being tossed to the ground by the guard.

"BIG BROTHER!!!" the female BeastKin yelled, "HOW MUCH IS IT?!?" she asked.

The old man smirked, "Five gold coins!" he demanded.

"There is no way that pendant is worth giving five gold coins," the female BeastKin disputed the cost.

"OF COURSE IT IS," the old man announced, "This is an authentic pendant by Vala Crec from Cremonia. I personally went to Cremonia and purchased this pendant from his store last week, returning just this week," he stated proudly.

"WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT!!" the female BeastKin yelled.

"In that case, both are coming with me to the station," the guard stated, tying up the male BeastKin and proceeding to walk towards the female BeastKin.

"NOO!!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE A SLAVE!!" she yelled with tears falling down her cheeks.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!" Haruno yelled, approaching the old man."You are a scammer, aren't you?" she accused him.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!??!" the old man yelled, "STOP THESE FALSE ACCUSATIONS OR ELSE I'M GOING TO HAVE YOU ARRESTED TOO" 

"Arrest me for what?" Haruno questioned, "I'm not the one who is trying to scam people out of money for fake goods," she smirked. 

"Fake good?!?!," the old man yelled, "You are just saying that because you can't afford decent things either. Are you going to pay for this damaged pendant?" he mocked, noticing how poorly Haruno was dressed, and assumed she was a commoner. 

"Sure, I'll pay double for it". Haruno stated, placing ten gold coins she received from the Goblin Lord's testicles. 

The old man reached out to take the gold coins, but Haruno swiftly took them back, "Before I purchase the damaged pendant, I'm well within my rights to inspect it, right?" she demanded. 

"Hey, Haruno, what's going on here?" Emila asked, telepathically as she watched from the sideline with Ana. 

"Just watch for now, okay?" Haruno requested, taking the damage pendant from the old man's greasy hand. 

"You are stating that these two BeastKin scratched this pendant, right?  Haruno loudly re-verified with the old man, who proceeded to nod yes. "Based on what I can tell, these scratches cannot be done by these BeastKin as the scratch marks are too wide for their thin claws," as she walked over to the female BeastKin and requested her hand, revealing their claws' size was indeed too thin. 

'That's a load of crap!" the old man yelled. "They could have forced their dirty BeastKin claws into it and widened it!" 

"If you are going to continue arguing about this, why don't you explain to me why you are trying to sell this fake pendant as a real one?"  Haruno asked. 

"AGAIN, MORE LIES!!!" the old man yelled, "You have no proof!" 

"The design is certainly from a real Cremonia pendant, but the pendant itself is a fake!" Haruno declared, "Take a good look at all your other Cremonia goods! You can see that not one of them shares this vibrant shade of green color," she added. 

The old man looked around his wares and noticed some truth in Haruno's words, and started to back up.

"Cremonia is located in a desert where the climate is extremely dry. Vegetation that is commonly used to make paint in that region does not produce such a vibrant green color, but a duller shade like that mask over there." Haruno pointed," This vibrant green comes from a plant called Larico, which is commonly used in this Kingdom," with the crowd applauding.

"The real pendant must have gotten swapped by someone else," the old man suggested. "My apology," he apologized, hoping to end this conversation. 

"Now, I do have a question for you. You mentioned that you recently returned from Cremonia earlier this week, right?" Haruno asked. 

 "Yes, that's correct," the old man answered with an uneasy tone of voice, "I just returned home earlier this week after trekking through the hot desert to purchase the rest of these authentic wares myself from Cremonia." 

"Hmmm...I don't think that's possible," Haruno commented, "The path to Cremonia has been locked down for the past two weeks due to a sandstorm, and not to mention, you aren't tan at all. You couldn't have traveled through that desert without your skin showing a sign of a tan, even if you made it through the sandstorm."

"How else would I have obtained all these items?" the old man yelled, turning red, as an uneasy feeling filled his body. 

"Hmm....maybe you stole it from another merchant," Haruno suggested, walking over to a red ornamental plate and picking it up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this shade of red isn't from paint, but rather blood, right?" as she proceeded to wipe the plate with a clean, wet cloth, revealing an orange painted plate, while the cloth turned red. 

The old man began to panic, knowing he truly screwed up at this point. 

"Two weeks ago, a warning was given to the Adventurer Guild stating that a body belonging to a well-known Cremonia merchant was found on the side of the road. It states that he and his guards were killed by bandits as his wares were missing." Haruno stated, "Why don't you explain how you were able to obtain these authentic wares, especially if you stated you recently returned from Cremonia earlier this week?" she asked. 

The old man fell to the ground, realizing he was caught red-handed. 

The guard proceeded to untie the male BeastKin and walked over to the old man, tying him up.

"Come here!" the guard demanded, pulling him up by the rope. "You are under arrest for selling stolen goods and conspiring with bandits," he declared the charges and began to walk away with the old man, with the crowd cheering. 

"Excuse me, but where are you taking him?" Haruno asked the guard as she stood in front of him.

"To the station for questioning, of course," the guard answered, stating the obvious. 

"Are you planning on turning yourself in, too, Mr.Fake Guardman?" Haruno asked, smiling.

"FAKE GUARD?!?!" the guard's man yelled, letting go of the rope, "I will arrest you too for that false accusation." 

"Remind me, you are a patrol guard, right?" Haruno questioned, "Based on the way you are dressed in an army uniform, you are a low-ranking patrol guard. Can you explain why you are carrying a sword?", pointing at the sword on his right hip.

"What do you mean?" the Guard asked, "All guards carry swords."

"No, only Captains, Vice Captains, or Knights are allowed to carry swords inside the Kingdom walls," Haruno stated, "Patrol Guards are required to carry short spears during patrols, and not to mention, your sword is too long for army regulation," she pointed out.

The guard began to back away as he realized he had also fallen for her trap.

"I also found it a bit strange regarding how fast you appeared when the old man yelled for a guard," Haruno stated. "What I found even more is that you were the only one who showed up when army regulations require you to patrol in pairs. Where is your pa-rn-ter?" she asked, walking forward towards him.

"What do you know about army regulations?" the Guard yelled, panicking, "You are just a girl!"

"Fine, don't take my word for it," Haruno stepped back, "Why don't we ask the Knight in the blue hood over there?" she requested.

"I'm very impressed that you knew I was a knight," a female voice said as she walked forward, applauding, and removed her hood. The female knight was a blonde-haired lady with her hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a black button-down shirt, a dark, navy blue shirt, black thigh-socks, and leather brown boots. 

"Regarding army regulation, she has been right about everything," she assured the crowd, flipping over her long blue cloak to reveal a purple rose insignia. "Explain to me why a girl knows more regarding army regulations that should have been drilled into your very soul during training, soldier?" she asked. 

The guard quickly froze after seeing the purple rose insignia, with the crowd quickly dispersing. 

"If you don't know who I am by now, my name is Alexis di Valteine, Vice Captain of the Order of Valkyrie." She introduced herself, "How about you introduce yourself, soldier,"  she requested, smiling.