Loose Ends

“Are you certain?” She questions.

“No doubt about it, I checked each location and sure enough, the one we chose was the only one locked. When I opened it, it was empty. I even checked to make sure there wasn’t a false bottom.”

“This isn’t good,” Arte responded. “This completely betrays my memory!”

“Calm down. You said it yourself, not everything’s gonna be a one-to-one, right? Take a step back and think of the possibilities. It’s your thing, isn’t it?”

She takes a deep breath.

“You’re right, thanks.” She responds. “Just meet me here for now.”

“On my way.”

Emerald and Milq have a chat while she appears lost in thought. Between their laughter, a sound at the front causes the guard to walk back over.

“Think Arte, think… The mayor was making deals in the shadows to treat his daughter’s illness, but when the side effects manifested, he blamed it on the doctor. The doctor was the only one to know of Sarah’s symptoms, which is why they’re sending this assassin after him. There’s no way the mayor would get rid of the information he’s relying on to maintain his daughter’s condition. So the only explanation would be that someone got to it before us. It’d have to be…”

The guard comes hobbling into the room, gripping his bloody neck as he falls to the floor, dropping Arte’s sword. Emerald screams, bringing Arte back to reality. Walking in after the guard is a man dressed in a dark blue cloak and mask. In his hands, he carries a pair of short swords, one covered with blood.

“It’s pretty lively tonight, eh? What’s a few more bodies to the pile?” He questions.

Arte moves Emerald behind her and stands before the assassin. She peers at the guard’s body with a sadness in her eyes.

“Did you have to kill him?” She questions.

“Did you have to kill him?” He mimicked. “What are ya’ my mom?”

She quickly tries to grab her sword, but he points his blade at her throat.

“Ah ah ah, back on your feet.” He taunted.

Arte stood back up and received a blade in the gut.

“Arte!” Milq shouted.

“Let’s start with you as he shoved the blade deeper into her stomach. Arte’s body jerked as she groaned in pain, but she stood her ground. Blood spattered on the floor, pooling at her feet.

“This isn’t enough blood yet…” She thought. “Time to try out that trick I learned.”

An unnatural amount of blood began to spill from the wound and crawl across the ground to fill her weapon’s sheath. From the excess blood loss, her eyes turned red. She clenched her right fist, and with the left, she grabbed the wrist of his right hand, whose sword impaled her. Her fist shot across his face with a heavy right hook; the power sent him flying back into the next room, crashing into the desk and rolling over it, and continuing to fly out the door. She rolled a few times in the street before stopping. She takes a moment to remove his sword from her gut and grits her teeth.

“Are you both okay?” She asks.

“Are you insane?! We’re fine, there’s a hole in your stomach right now!” Emerald shouts.

“You get used to it.” She grinned.

“Although stomach wounds hurt like hell… I think my lunch is seeping out too… Gross.” She thought.

She grabs her sword and leaves the room to follow after the assassin, and sees him staggering to his feet. She drew her sword, which was coated in blood, and pointed it at the assassin.

“Ready for round two?” She asks.

“Screwgh that!” He exclaims with a dislocated jaw. “I’m not rusking my life fur thys!”

He takes out a small orb from his cloak and throws it into the ground, creating a giant cloud of smoke. Arte shields her eyes and is unable to see in the smoke.

“We can’t afford to let him escape!” She exclaims. “Leo!”

“I’m already on him,” Leo says.

“He has to be the one who took the documents!”

Running across the rooftops, the assassin had Leo hot on his trail. He threw knives at Leo, but Leo deflected them with his dagger.

“Who thuh hell ur you?!” He shouts while running.

“I am vengeance. I am the night! I am… avoiding copyright!” Leo responds in a deep voice.

“What ur you even sayuhn…?” He shouts back.

Leo tosses a throwing knife at the assassin and speeds up to the thrown knife as the man turns to parry the knife. Leo tackles him, and they both fall off the rooftop. They crash into a carriage below. The wooden carriage explodes into shards and fragments of wood. A cloud of dust and dirt fills the air, and Arte runs over. The dust cloud clears, and Leo rises from the rubble, along with several guards who come running over. Their spears pointed at Leo as he turned to look at them.

“Step away from that person!” They shout.

“Wait!” Arte shouts. She sheathes her weapon before approaching, emphasizing a limp and holding the hole in her stomach. “He was chasing after the man who killed the guard at the prison! He would’ve killed me too, if he hadn’t cornered the assailant….”

Arte drops to a knee, pretending to grimace in pain. A pair of guards runs over to Arte and helps her up. They lower their spears from Leo and instead grab the unconscious assassin on the ground. Leo sighs and sees Arte’s face, slightly obscured by her bangs, grinning.

“Did you get it?” She asks.

“Got it.” He replies.

That night, Arte’s wounds are given basic treatment at the guard post. Afterward, they confirm that the guard was killed at the prison and come to the conclusion it was the assassin who did it, due to the presence of blood on his sword and witness testimonies from Milq and Emerald. The assassin was confined to the cells, and the duo was released from the guards late that night.

Leo stretched his arms upward, letting out a yawn.

“It’s practically midnight… That inn sounds pretty good right about now.” He says.

“Ditto. I didn’t think they’d question us for that long.” She continued onward. “Either way, let's rest up. We’ve got a lot to finish up tomorrow.”

They went back to the town square and rested up at the local inn, and tomorrow came by in a flash. That morning at the mayor’s estate, the mayor was pacing back and forth in his office, veins in his forehead and neck. He was of a lighter complexion and had various wrinkles that dressed his face. His build was stocky like a barrel, and the roots of his hair had begun to turn white. He wore a bright blue blazer-like jacket with yellow accents, his pants matched, and his shoes were polished to a keen shine. He massaged his temples as he threw himself into his chair.

“Tell me why when I wake up… My files are missing?!” He slammed his desk with a heavy fist.

His words were directed at the captain of the guard unit.

“We’re not sure, sir! We were patrolling around the entire night!” He exclaims.

“Apparently not if someone has my belongings! They even took my sofa cover! That was mintai mane! Easily worth more than three of your salaries, which will be cut severely. Get out.” He commands.

The guard dejectedly left the room, and the mayor leaned back in his chair.

“The assassin failed, too. All because someone took his pitiful request. I’m out of options. My only chance at keeping his mouth shut is a trial at this point. Damn it!” He exclaims.

Later that day in the town hall, citizens gathered to watch the trial of Doctor Milq T. Ost. The town hall was built resembling a courtroom, with the mayor sitting in the high chair as the judge. Doctor Milq was standing at the podium, twitching at every little whisper from the townsfolk.

“He can’t even stand up for himself. Why would we need a doctor like that in this town?”

“His hands are so shaky. Why would I trust him to give me the right dosage?”

“What a waste of time, just give him the max sentence and be done with this already.” The townspeople whispered.

Emerald heard all the slander and was poised to rip her bag in half. Tears filled her eyes as she could only listen to the terrible things said about him.

“Mr. Milq, ah, forgive me, Doctor Milq, the charges against you are serious. Poisoning my daughter with your supposed ‘medicine’. Falsifying medical records, Illegal medicine use, and even collusion with assassins to garner sympathy from the townfolk? You’re quite the handful.” The Mayor reads.

“I’m i-innocent.” He mumbles.

“Could you speak a bit louder? I’m prone to mishearing. Was that your admission of guilt?” He asks with a grin.

“N-no!” He says louder.

The Mayor wipes his gavel clean with a cloth.

“Could you repeat that?” He asks.

“Even with his livelihood on the line, he can’t even speak up.”

“Just sentence him already! His lack of defense is an admission of guilt itself!” The townspeople whispered.

“Should we just end this farce of a trial and move on to sentencing?” He questions. “Let's not waste our citizens’ time.”

He clutches the handle of the gavel and raises it high into the air. Emerald shakes while clutching her bag and shuts her eyes, hoping for a miracle.

The doors to the town hall fly open, slamming into the wall. A hail of feathers blasts into the room, landing on the carpet leading to the podium. Blocked by the harsh rays of sunlight, their silhouettes fill the doorway as they point their fingers simultaneously at the Mayor.

“OBJECTION!” They shout together.