The Fall of Riefeld

I ran for all I was worth, dragging Erin behind me. I must have been made of gold, since Erin’s feet could barely even touch the ground. I was practically flying her like a kite.

We rounded the corner of the customs house and stopped. “Erin, did you manage to find where they transport the slaves?” I frantically asked.

"Y-yes, like you told me to last night," she panted. She shrugged her shoulder. It was sore from her arm having been dragged at nearly superhuman speeds.

"Are your parents still there?"

"I don't know. It was too dangerous for me to go in. But there's a city guard station nearby. Maybe they'll help?"

"Good thinking. Go!"

***

I sprinted out from behind the corner, my sword raised. The thugs were still some ways away. I confidently ran through them, ducking and weaving. However, I didn’t dare to slice anyone. The image of a blade hacking into flesh and getting stuck was nauseating, even if that flesh belonged to human traffickers. Instead, I smacked them with the flat side of my sword.

They, however, had no concerns for my safety. They wildly slashed and stabbed, though thankfully with little skill.

I counted as I took them out.

Headbutt to the nose. One…

Spinning kick to the temple. Two…

Sword whack to the stomach, followed by a vicious knee to the face. Three…

I was proud to note the quick work I had made of them.

Standing in the rear was Halton of Riefeld. He had sent his minions out to test the waters. I couldn’t tell if it was smart or cowardly. Halton drew his sword. “You can’t run anymore, you little weasel,” he snarled. Thin, white smoke poured from his hands, enveloping his sword. “If this sword so much as grazes you, you’ll lose your memories and be put in a coma,” he explained.

Footsteps like machinegun shots to the pavement. Halton was disturbingly fast for such a big guy. He closed the ten-metre distance between us in just over one second. His ferocious hacking and slashing was far more precise than his underlings’ had been. I put up a good fight. I parried and dodged but never had the opportunity to counter or attack. Even factoring in my unexplained surge of strength, I was quickly overwhelmed. However, Sato Kugo wasn’t a fighter. No, I was already cooking up a strategy.

*Woosh!*

A deadly slash. I dodged it at a hair’s breadth, then took off towards the customs house.

Despite never having done something like this before, something told me I’d be able to—

Yep, I was climbing. In fact, I was scaling the customs house’s wall like a spider monkey. The building was short enough that I didn’t have far to go, but high enough for my plan to work. I was grateful for its pseudo-gothic architecture, which gave me plenty to grab onto. As a result, I reached the top in no time.

Unfortunately, so did Halton. I barely had time to catch my breath, that he was already back to swinging his sword around like a lunatic.

Who is this guy? He’s superhuman!

Halton chased me across the entire roof. It was flat, with a chest-high railing all around. I could only do so much to avoid his swings.

A section of the roof’s railing gleamed in the moonlight. While it distracted me with near-fatal consequences, it also reminded me of my plan. With no time to think of the implications, I shifted into gear. I countered a hardcore downwards slash, then turned my back on my enemy. I sprinted towards the ledge. Halton followed close behind.

Then, I leaped onto the railing and jumped off.

Soaring into the air with my arms outstretched, I had no intention of flying. Instead, I twisted my body, gracefully as a cat. I turned to face Halton.

We locked eyes.

I stood atop the roof, staring into the void below. It was dark enough that I didn’t see Halton hit the ground, but my God did I hear it. It rung out in the silent night. His flesh made a thudding noise. His trojan horse of a skeleton made a crunching one.

The world spun. I felt so dizzy, standing up here. This time, I really had killed someone.

***

Erin had found her family. Good for her.

I, however, had been sitting on the floor, my back against the customs house, for well over two hours. The body of Halton of Riefeld lay nearby. I hadn’t taken my eyes off it, despite hating the sight.

It was self-defence, it was self-defence, it was self-defence, it was—

The words had danced around my skull to the point of exhaustion. I’d eventually conceded. It was true. It had been either him or I, up on that roof.

Erin was also accompanied by a flock of city guards, as well as a wave of tired and dirty looking people. Other slaves? I was glad to note their relieved smiles.

***

“City Guard Station.” So read the sign of the building we were escorted into.

The city guards had swept Halton’s death under the rug, after they’d identified the body. They hadn’t even cared for my explanation. I’d given it anyway, perhaps just to share my misery with someone.

Audio logs, photographs, physical evidence, my case notes and countless victim testimonies from the slaves Erin had freed. Everything was considered.

Lead investigator on the Whip case, Joseph Hollowfield, informed us that arrests were being made. These included the three conspiring dock workers and the thugs who had attacked us. Apparently, they had even arrested the magician Erin had tied up the day before.

As we spoke, the HMS Wind-up was being raided by dozens of armed city guards.

I looked Hollowfield over. He was a tall, serious man, with a crew cut and a chiselled jaw. He appeared to radiate strength and righteousness, but I wasn’t fooled.

Lead investigator Joseph Hollowfield. You stand smug and proud now, but you and your team made less progress in the months you worked this case than Erin and I did in two days.

Honestly, this goes beyond incompetence. Erin suggested bribery amongst the city guards, and I think she was right. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the corruption went higher up than that.

I closed my eyes. But I’m not here to get involved with all that.

“This is all very impressive work. You certainly have my admiration,” he praised. “We’ll take it from here.”

I imagine you’ll take the credit, too. I thought, only half-jokingly. I was still a little sad about not having found my backpack.

***

We triumphantly barged into the Investigator’s Hub, holding up a signed document, which we deposited it onto the counter.

“Someone’s excited,” Miriam chuckled. She put on her glasses and read over the document. It instructed to declare the case closed to private investigators and stated that we were owed the full reward. “100 gold coins and a free longsword?!” she read out, shocked.

The patrons within earshot all turned to look. I put on my most inoffensive, apologetic smile.

“Did you really solve this case?” Miriam asked in disbelief.

“Honestly, it wasn’t even hard,” Erin said. Hey, she wasn’t lying.

Miriam shrugged her eyebrows. She disappeared through the Staff Only door behind her, muttering about wrong career paths. She returned a minute later with a pouchful of coins.

Should she really be showing us where they keep all of their money? I wondered.

Miriam handed me the pouch. “It’s all there, but you can count it if you want. Who’s the sword going to?”

“Me!” Erin exclaimed, as if she were calling dibs.

“Yes, Erin, as we agreed earlier. You don’t have to be so loud,” I glared.

The embarrassment on Erin’s face was quickly replaced by confusion when Miriam handed her a slip of paper. “I can’t kill anyone with this,” she said.

Psychopath.

“It’s a coupon for a free sword. You can turn it in at any official Equipment Shop,” Miriam explained. “Congratulations to you two and thank you for dealing with those disgusting criminals."

I slightly bowed. “Listen, Miriam, it was nice meeting you, but I think that was the first and final case I’ll ever take,” I admitted.

“Wha-a-a-at! You’re so boring,” Erin told me.

“Then I’ll go be boring somewhere else. I’m leaving. Goodbye, Miriam.”

Miriam bid me farewell.

As I walked off, Erin grabbed my wrist. She bounced over to the Cases board. “Don’t let your talents go to waste, Kugo! Let’s do another case. You have what it takes to become a world class investigator!”

The only thing I’m concerned with investigating is exactly why I’m here. Plus, I haven’t gotten my bag back, yet. I theatrically sighed. “I’m not saying yes, but what case would you want to solve?”

“Maybe a missing person’s case! It’ll probably be less dangerous than the one we just did,” she said, already snatching posters off the board. “Here, look! This is interesting. Twenty cases of people vanishing into thin air over the past eighteen years! They have all the posters stapled to the back of the quest,” she observed, flipping through the pages. When she was done, she handed me the case file.

The posters went from the most to least recent disappearance. The first one had a woman sketched onto it. She had a gaunt face and straight, brown hair. From her description, I read that she was thirty-three when she went missing eleven months ago. “Nasyra Price disappeared in the blink of an eye, whilst outside with her family. Eyewitnesses said one moment she was there, the next she simply wasn’t,” I read aloud. A part of me wanted to laugh.

I know just how you feel.

“Isn’t that so scary?” Erin chimed in.

“Maybe it’s a powerful magician?” I suggested, flipping to the next poster. Henry Sampson. Vanished under similar circumstances.

Next page.

Rocca Light. Thirteen, straight, black hair, slanted eyes. The way she was drawn, she almost looked Japanese.

Honestly, there’s no way she expects me solve such an insane case.

“The fourth one has a photograph,” Erin told me.

I raised a curious eyebrow and turned to the fourth poster. It was the face of my homeroom teacher, Mr. Matsumoto.