Case # 3: Leo Kalos

After the long night, the fight was completely over, and Naga was finally destroyed. The Order of Valkyrie was able to arrest thirty-three bandits who were subdued or lost their will to fight after witnessing Fenrir. The exact number of members that were in Naga remains a mystery, as their remains were scattered by the Fenrir's children, serving as nourishment for the forest. The knights were able to free two dozen BeastKins slave laborers and rescue ten civilian merchants who were being kept for ransom. Due to the hideout not being flooded as intended, the Haruno was able to recover three encrypted black ledgers hidden behind a wall detailing the illegal selling of BeastKins and to whom they were sold.

After resting for a whole day, the party reconvened at the Vice Captain's office to decipher the black ledgers. 

"I can't figure this out!" Alexis exclaimed, falling over to her side and lying on the leather sofa. As she closed her eyes, she felt a soft, fluffy paw pad touching her face. "Did you come to comfort me, Fubuki?" she cried, picking up the Fenrir cub and proceeding to snuggle with her. "Who is the cutest baby in the world!!" she teased, with Fubuki making small, happy yelping noises. 

During the initial planning period, Haruno & Emila declared that they would refrain from participating in this operation as they are detectives, not soldiers or knights. They stated that solving mysteries is more of their expertise and remaining on the sidelines is better suited for them, with Ana & Alexis agreeing. Since the Fenirir pack was participating, Haruno & Emila were in charge of babysitting Fubuki, who was still too young and small to learn how to fight. Haruno & Emila hold up inside the Vice Captain's office with Fubuki until the operation is over. 

"Do you have to return her home?" Alexis asked, tickling Fubuki's small pink tummy as she retaliated by nipping her fingers. "I want to raise her!" she declared. 

"You are more than welcome to negotiate that request with the mother," Haruno suggested, flipping through the black ledger. "We are only watching her for a few more days, as the pack is currently going around and eliminating the invading monsters that may still be occupying their territory." 

"I-I d-don't think I can ask from the mother," Alexis stated, remembering her encounter from two nights ago. 

"I second that, too," Elias added, drinking her third cup of black coffee this morning. "I'd never thought I would have the opportunity to meet a Fenrir and to even play with her child," she took Fubuki from Alexis's hand and started to smell her pink tummy. "You smell like sunshine!!!" she exclaimed, with Fubuki yawning loudly. 

"I know that Fubuki is cute, but can we please focus?" Ana requested, struggling to find the key that was used to create the complex cipher.

"Mother, this isn't going to work," Haruno determined, giving up. "There isn't a single common word or letter that each ledger shares that could be used to decode it. This could take days or even years before we decode it, and by then, all the buyers would have disposed of their BeastKins slaves once they hear that Naga has been destroyed." 

"Did you hear that, Mother?" Elias teased in a high-pitched tone as she held Fubuki in front of her face and raised Fubuki's left paw up and down. Fubuki stared intently at Ana with her beautiful silver eyes, shimmering, eagerly awaiting her attention. 

Ana sighed loudly, standing up and walking over to Fubuki.  "This is your fault that we can't focus in here, do you understand?" Ana teased, rubbing her soft, silky ears as she let out a cute howling. "Why are you acting so cute when I'm trying to lecture you?" she teased in a playful tone. 

"Were you able to get any information from the other prisoners, Emila?" Haruno asked Emila as she entered the office.

"No, the prisoner all stated the same thing where the ledger was mainly handled by Henry," Emila answered, wiping her wet hands on her handkerchief. "One person mentioned that Leo might know how, as he was always by Henry's side." 

"Ah....the little boy I froze in that battle," Ana recalled, "He should still be alive, shouldn't he?" 

"Yes, he is. He suffered major frostburn injuries after being frozen in wet clothes, but with Emila's specially made salve, he has recovered." Elias stated, "He is currently sitting in his own cell as we were afraid of others using him as a toy at night," she added. 

"I wonder how a little boy ended up in this group," Ana questioned. " There is nothing we can do, right? Is there a possibility of releasing him, considering him as a victim too?" she suggested, recalling how badly Henry treated him.

"As of now, no," Elisa answered, "There is too little information regarding him. I can't release him into an orphanage without verifying he isn't a future threat," she shrugged her shoulders. 

"Leo, huh?" Haruno muttered, reading through the testimony from the BeastKins & hostages. "Let me talk to him alone," she requested. 

"Why?" Ana asked, "You aren't going to physically break him, are you?" she inquired. 

"There are some details from these testimonies that have me a bit confused, and I was hoping Leo could answer them," Haruno stated. "Not to mention, I don't have the skill to break people like Emila," she added, looking at Emila's red sleeves on her long white button shirt. 


*CREAAAKKKK* Haruno enters the single room cell to see a little brown-haired boy wearing a tan shirt & short pants all curled up on the cheap prison mattress. 

"W-Who are you, big sister?" Leo asked timidly, "C-Can I go home now?" he asked with tears falling from his eyes. 

"Where is your home exactly?" Haruno questioned, placing a wooden chair in front of the cell bars and staring at Leo. "Do you mean back to the prison in Cremonia?" she inquired. 

Leo remained silent, staring only back at Haruno with small sweat beads forming around his neck.

"By the way, you can cut the crap out about being a little frail boy," Haruno demanded, "I know you are not nine years old, but rather twenty years old," she stated. 

"I-I'm not t-tweny y-years old..." Leo stuttered, "I'm only nine and a half years old," he insisted. 

"You did well trying to hide the branding you were given during the time you spent inside the Cremonia prison by applying Naga's symbol over it," Haruno stated, "The only downside was the ink you used for Naga is a completely different shade from the one they branded you with, so it actually makes it stand out even more when illuminated. I took the numbers that were on your right hand and verified them with the escape prisoner list shared across the nation, and I was able to find you." 

Leo remained silent, crawled out of bed, and stood up in front of the iron bars. As he stood in front, Leo's short height became extremely noticeable, being only four feet, nine inches. 

"Quick question, was your mother a dwarf?" Haruno asked, noticing how short he was for a man his age, "I know for sure it wasn't your father because he was a rather tall and handsome man, or at least from this old newspaper," she explained, dropping it in front of the cell. 

The old newspaper was dated eight years ago with a bold title:
Assassination Attempt on the Third Princess of Cremonia Foiled by the Prime Minister

On the front page cover, a picture of a tall, handsome, bearded old man in his thirties was standing in front of a tall guillotine. 

"This is your father, Rex Kalos, the man whose assassination attempt on the Third Princess failed. He tried to poison her, but the dosage was inaccurate, resulting in her still sleeping to this day." Haruno restated the article, "You are his son, Leo Kalos, right?" She smirked, seeing Leo's body tremble with anger. 

"LIES!" Leo yelled, grabbing tightly to the iron bars, "MY FATHER DID NOT ATTEMPT TO KILL THE PRINCESS! HE WAS FRAMED BY THAT SHITTY PRIME MINISTER, ROLAND STRAIS!" he yelled. 

"I figure as much," Haruno stated, leaning her chair backwards. 

"I knew you wouldn't believe me, no one d-......huh?" Leo muttered, "What did you say?" he asked.

"Oh come on, it's a cliche troupe!" Haruno exclaimed, "A handsome commoner merchant attracts the attention of the beautiful young Princess during one of her excursions out of the castle. The creepy old man, either the King's Advisor or Prime Minister, doesn't like how a commoner is getting too close to nobility. He becomes envious, so he frames the commoner for a crime," she stated. 

"WAIT! HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?" Leo yelled, realizing it was exactly how she stated. "Who are you?!?!" he asked. 

"My name is Haruno Sayaka, I'm a Detective!" she introduced herself, "As I mentioned, your father's story isn't uncommon and very cliche in most cases. The only question I have for you is why did you deviate from your father's dream and go down the path of crime?" she questioend, failing to understand his motives. 

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY FATHER'S DREAM??!!?" Leo yelled, "ALL HE WANTED TO DO WAS BUILD HIS BUSINESS AS AN HONEST MERCHANT!" 

"Rex Kalos was a single father in his mid-thirties, raising his only child after his wife died from illness. He was a terrible merchant and was often scammed by his clients, but he never gave up hope. When asked why, he stated he didn't want his only child to grow up to be a quitter. " Haruno read an interview piece dated a year before the assassination incident. "Rex continued to build his empire by being a completely honest man, never taking advantage of his clients, especially in hard times. This led to his success as a merchant after obtaining immense trust in the commoner & nobility community, especially with the BeastKins."

Leo sank to the ground and started to cry. 

"Shortly after your father was executed, his business empire was seized by the Prime Minister, and you were sentenced to work in the mines for the rest of your life until three years ago," Haruno deduced. "According to the official prison report, the new tunnel that was dug out had collapsed, killing you and ten other prisoners. Due to how unstable the rock wall was, they could not verify it and assumed you all perished. I assumed you were the mastermind behind this incident and escaped through a hidden tunnel you all pre-dug up," she asked, with Leo remaining silent. 

"After escaping from prison with your colleagues, who I assume were also wronged by the Prime Minister, you all decided to form Naga to expose his wrongdoing." Haruno continues with her deduction, "This would explain the reason for Naga's symbol of a single moon instead of two moons and the snake holding it in its mouth. The single moon represents the Goddess Eostre, who is widely worshipped in Cremonia, and the snake is the Prime Minister who is holding the Kingdom hostage, "she deduced, with Leo trembling with frustration. "Don't you find the whole kidnapping and enslaving the BeastKins a bit counterproductive if you are trying to expose the Prime Minister's evil deeds?" she questioned the reason for heading down that direction. 

"IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT!" Leo yelled, "Naga's main objective, like you said, was to expose that shitty Prime Minister, but things changed when Henry joined the organization," he explained, " Henry started to sway my other colleagues with talks of money and women, slowly shifting their attention away from the Prime Minister. It was only two years ago that he suggested that we should be kidnapping the BeastKins & merchants as a way to hurt the Kingdom of Cremonia. If the people start to feel uneasy travelling to Cremonia, then it will eventually lead to civil unrest." 

"Of course, Henry did that. He was working for the Prime Minister after all," Haruno stated, with Leo's eye darting open. "The Prime Minister knew about your organization's plan to expose him, so he sent his right-hand man to either destroy or use you all to obtain his vendetta of becoming King of Cremonia." 

"WHAT!??!!?" Leo yelled, "HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?!?" as he gripped the iron bars. 

"The Prime Minister planned to use the act of selling BeastKins to ignite a war against Teralisa," Haruno stated. "I assumed the majority of the BeastKins that were illegally sold were to Teralisa's noble right?" she asked, with Leo nodding in agreement. 

"I figure as much. When the Nobles bought the slaves from Naga, they violated a sacred treaty between the two Kingdoms, giving reason to declare war." Haruno stood up and started to pace. "I assumed the Prime Minister planned to use this war to stage a rebellion against the King of Cremonia and to take his place. He will most likely kill all the remaining Royal Family, leaving only the sleeping Third Princess to take as his future wife. He is properly the reason why she is still sleeping after all," she shrugged. 

"What?" Leo asked, "What is the point of all this?" 

"The Prime Minister needs the Princess's Royal bloodline to open the Royal Vault," Haruno stated, "If he wants the ability to open it, he needs to be officially married into the bloodline under oath in front of the Goddess Eostre. I believe he, or rather, someone he is working with to plan all of this, wants something inside that vault. The actions your organization took are actually helping him speed up his plan," she smirked. 

"What have I done?" Leo muttered, "The past two years, I've been helping the monster I promise to take down," smacking his head onto the iron bars with blood dripping down his head from a cut.

"No, you did well for the past two years to prevent the war from happening," Haruno kneeled, wiping Leo's bloody head with a handkerchief. "I read the testimonies from the Beastkins & the hostages. They mentioned that a very kind little boy was consistently interrupting their beating by purposely messing things up and would become the target of their beatings. They mention you were constantly giving them extra food on the side, making sure they received medicine for their wounds, and even clothes & blankets during the colder nights," she stated. "This is the reason they never considered fighting back, even though they can easily overpower Henry and everyone else in terms of strength. They were worried about you." 

"I ONLY HELP THEM TO EASE MY CONSCIENCE, THAT IS!!" Leo yelled, "IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT I HELPED PUT THEM THERE!" 

"After the hideout was empty, the Order tried to destroy the hideout by igniting the preplaced explosive stone, but nothing happened," Haruno stated. "They did some investigation and found that all the explosive stones were shattered. If I recall, you were the last one to emerge and leave the water, right?" she asked.

Leo remained silent. 

"I thought it was due to your short legs that you struggled swimming, but in reality, you were destroying all forty-four explosive stones, weren't you?" Haruno deduced, "You wanted to save their lives even if it means forfeiting your own, especially once Henry finds out what you did. Henry will eventually wonder why the explosion never happened after a second or third attempt and will send one down to investigate. After that, your sabotage will be discovered, and you will be immediately killed by him." 

"THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE EVERYTHING I DID!!" Leo yelled, trembling with frustration. "What do I do now?" he asked.

"Beats me," Haruno stated, shrugging her shoulders, " I'm not here to absolve your sins or make you feel better, Leo. I'm here to receive confirmation of who my true enemy is regarding this case, Prime Minister: Roland Strais." As she started to head out of the room, leaving Leo frustrated. 

"If I had to say one thing about your actions, you were the BeastKins & the hostages' hope in their darkest moment, and that's why you shouldn't give up on living either," she stated, concerned Leo might take his life, "It'll be a shame if your father find out that he raised a quitter after all his hard work," she smiled, with Leo seeing a tall smiling man behind her.

"Don't worry about that, Prime Minister," Haruno assured, "I promise you, I'll reveal all his evil deeds no matter what," with a serious threatening tone. 

"HARUNO!! I know you found Henry's secret ledgers inside the hideout!" Leo yelled, grabbing hold of the iron bars. "The key to deciphering has to do with the Gospel Hymn they sing during the Harvest Festival in Cremonia. Henry grew up in a religious family and was forced to attend extra after-school classes at the village church. He would often hum the hymn when he was working on it," he explained. 

"THANK YOU, LEO!" Haruno thanked, finally getting close to closing this case, with the heavy metal door closing. "You heard him right?" as she turned to the crowd of people waiting for her return, their faces boiled with anger. 

"THAT FUCKING PRIME MINISTER!!" Alex yelled, "I MET HIM BEFORE AND I KNEW HE WAS SHADY!!" she stated. 

"Calm down, Alexis," Elias requested. "We can expose him as soon as we finish deciphering the journals," she stated. "Thank you, Haruno," she thanked her for her assistance. 

"I really wasn't intending to ask him for that information," Haruno said. "I  wonder how I gained his trust?" she wondered. 

"It could be because he likes the way your funny hat looks," Elias commented, seeing Haruno's unusually black deerstalker hat. "I don't remember you wearing that when you entered," she questioned. 

"What ha-" Haruno asked, before quickly reaching above her head and feeling something tweed-like. "ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?!?!" she yelled, pitching the hat into the air as it was carried off by a heavy gust of wind.

*THUNK*

Ana proceeded to smack Haruno's head, "LANGUAGE, YOUNG LADY!!" she scolded her as everyone laughed.