Case #4: Investigation

"Haruno, do you have any idea where to start from?" Ana asked, wiping her tears away. "Have they found anything else other than that green cloak?' she asked. 

"I haven't heard anything else other than the green camo poncho," Haruno stated. "There are a few things I'm not understanding regarding your story." 

"What part?" Ana asked. 

"You mention the guns were destroyed, but why were they destroyed?" Haruno questioned the reason behind it. "Who was in charge of destroying them?" she asked. 

"Wouldn't it be because they were afraid of it corrupting someone else?" Emila suggested. 

"No, that may not be the case," Ana stated, "Most cursed weapons, armor, or tools are commonly sealed rather than destroyed. If you destroyed a cursed item without following the correct procedure to purify it, the curse can go out of control, killing hundreds to thousands. The more I think about it, why was it destroyed?" 

"Let's ask Grandpa who was in charge of destroying them," Haruno suggested, with Ana & Emila looking at each other. 

"Grandpa??!!?" They exclaimed, realizing Haruno's quirk had kicked in again. 


"GRANDPA!!" Haruno yelled, running towards King Eldrin in the hallway as he was surrounded by the same grumpy four old men from before. "I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU!!" with Emila & Ana following behind, embraced. 

"HARUNO, YOU FINALLY CALLED ME GRANDPA!" King Eldrin exclaimed, happy to hear his granddaughter call him that, "What question do you have for me?" he smiled.

"Who was in charge of destroying Cedric's guns?" Haruno asked, smiling as the King's face turned sour, remembering that incident from a while back. 

"Why do you want to know that?" King Eldrin asked, "Do you think it's related to this incident, too?" he questioned Haruno's intent. 

"I just find it a bit weird that Cedric's guns were destroyed rather than sealed?" Haruno answered back, "Doesn't that strike a bit weird to you?" She smirked, noticing one of the old men nearby started swearing profusely. 

"Now you mention it, why was it destroyed?" King Eldrin questioned, trying to recall the reason why, "Normally, we would seal anything we believed to be curse-related, so why did we destroy it? Prime Minister Elowen, can you remind me why you did that? You are in charge of sealing anything curse-related on behalf of this Kingdom after all," as he turned to face an elderly, balding man dressed in a navy blue tunic. 

"W-Well......" Prime Minister Elowen muttered, "I-I-I would need to check our records to see why. I'm getting a bit old and my memories aren't as perfect as they used to be," he stuttered. "Let me go check on that," he said as he turned around. 

"Don't sweat it, Elowen," King Eldrin answered, placing his right hand on his right shoulder. "We can all go together," he suggested, with the nearby guards surrounding the Prime Minister. "I truly hope you didn't have involvement in ruining my family's second wedding," he warned.

"I-I-I," Prime Minister Elowen stuttered.

Suddenly, random red lines of writing appeared all over Elowen's body as his bones started to twist and pop in gruesome manners until he finally dropped to the ground, dead. 

"W-What just happened?" King Eldrin questioned after witnessing the gruesome death of his advisor. 

"It was a Strangulation Curse," Haruno answered, as she slowly walked over the managled body. "Things are finally getting interesting," she smirked. 

"I've never heard of that curse before!" King Eldrin exclaimed, "How do you know about?" 

"It's written all over his body," Haruno answered back, standing up, "The writing is in Ancient Elvish, and the curse activated the moment he was found out about Cedric's guns." as she walked past King Eldrin. 

"Who are you?" King Eldrin questioned, seeing a devious smile on Haruno's face. 

"I've already told you before, my name is Haruno Sayaka, I'm a Detective," Haruno restated her name & title, "Those bastards that dare hurt Mother, I'm going wring their necks and make them wish they were dead, I promise," she declared, walking away. "By the way, where is his work office?" she asked. 

"*sigh*, I'll take you," King Eldrin stated, shrugging his shoulder. "Before you wring their necks, I should be allowed to go first," he requested, "They hurt my daughters and sons, so I should go first," he winked back at Haruno. 

"SEE, YOU GET IT, GRANDPA!" Haruno quickly held onto King Eldrin's hand as the two quickly walked down the hallway toward Prime Minister Elowen's office. 

"This isn't good, is it?" Emila asked Ana, holding her hands tightly. 

"This might end up badly," Ana replied, turning around to see Prime Minister Elowen's body all managed. "Serves you right, you bastard," she muttered softly, with a smile appearing. 

While the group moves along, the King's personal guards quickly sequester the other three Prime Ministers for further questions and begin to carefully remove Elowen's body, cautious of any residual curse effect. 


"EVERYONE, SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!" Haruno demanded as she opened the door to a room full of papers, without a single person in sight. "Did Elowen not have any assistants or something?" she asked, seeing as how untidy the large room was. 

"Unfortunately, I can't answer that," King Eldrin answered, "Each Prime Minister employs their own staff, so if one chooses not to hire anyone, I don't have any say in it," he explained. "What a slop he was," he commented, stepping onto the remains of a moldy sandwich. "Maybe I should change that? What do you think, Haruno?" he asked. 

"If the Prime Minister allows his work to consume him like this, you probably should fire him instead of allowing him to remain in power, "Haruno answered. "One's environment dictates one's work ethnics." 

"HOLY," Emila walked in and saw the piles of papers everywhere. "How do you work in here?" she asked. 

"Emila, you are a genius!" Haruno stated, "The reason why this room is a mess is that Elowen wasn't working here. He was working somewhere else the entire time!" she deduced. "The only question is where?" as she noticed a stack of unopened receipt letters from the Merchant Guild inside the letter box, "Help me find an address that is nearby!" she requested. 

The King, Ana, Haruno & Emila began opening all the receipts letters and were able to locate a single warehouse ten minutes away from the castle. 

"Bingo!" Haruno exclaimed, with King Eldrin & Ana looking confused. 

"Lars will be waiting outside for you," King Eldrin stated, "I'm going to talk with the other Prime Ministers to see if they were involved in any funny business," as he cracked his knuckles and walked away. 

"Did you teach him that, Haruno?" Ana asked, pulling on her cheeks, "Don't you lie to me." 

"I DIDN'T!" Haruno exclaimed, "When I was sparing with Lars, grandpa wanted to know why I was doing that each time. All I said was it makes you look more threatening in certain situations," she explained, with Ana releasing her cheek. 

"I find it a bit uneasy to find out how close you got to my father, Haruno," Ana said. "What about my mother, did you teach her anything bad?" she questioned, as they walked towards the gate to meet with Lars. 

"Emila has been spending more time with Queen Lyariel, "Haruno answered, rubbing her cheeks. 

"Is that so?" Ana answered, "What do you think about my mother, Emila?" she asked. 

"She is very nice," Emila complimented, "We spend most of our time sword fighting and resting with a nice cup of tea," she smiled. 

"I see, that's good to hear," Ana smiled, knowing her daughters were getting along without any issue. "There is Lars," she pointed, as an overwhelmingly large elf was dressed in a green uniform, ready to head out. 

"We will be in your care, Lars," Ana greeted Lars, with him ignoring her and climbing into the driver's seat of the carriage. "I guess he doesn't like me still," she sighed, stepping up into the carriage. 

"Hmmmm....I don't know about that," Haruno muttered softly, as she glanced at Lars, whose ear tip was slightly red. 

"Hurry up, Haruno!" Emila yelled, pushing Haruno inside as she fell into the carriage floor, with Emila closing the carriage door shut and beginning to move.