Investigations are a series of steps

It was my first time seeing a dead body outside a coffin. Surprisingly, the scene didn’t bother me that much even if it was bloody. Well that was to be expected. I’ve been through many bloody battles and I’ve even seen bones stick out of the flesh.

Although seeing the victims eyes filled with pain and horror was kinda unnerving. If I was unlucky, those eyes would haunt my dreams. I’ve seen people who had despair on their faces. Like there was a time that I fought a group of thugs and their faces were filled with despair as I took them all down. But that was a story for another time.

“Good morning, Mikage. Although this event doesn’t make this morning good”, Amelia greeted me when she arrived.

“Yeah. We just arrived and it’s a mess. Let’s ask them for the details”, I said and we approached a knight.

He had brown hair and blue eyes. The knight had a sword strapped on his side and was wearing the standard white knight uniform.

“Hello. I’m Mikage Kamishiro, an administrative officer of the 13th unit and the lead investigator of this case. This is Amelia Watson and this guy is Temma Kishido, the vice-captain of our unit”, I introduced ourselves to the knight.

Although calling my vice-captain, who was technically a superior, as “this guy” might sound a bit unprofessional. But if I thought about it, I was his superior in this investigation since I was the lead investigator.

“Ah. I’m Theodore Sen, a knight from the 14th unit. Our victim is a man named Victor Ri. There’s also a claw mark made from the victim's blood in the scene and Victor is part of the Familiaran”, he said.

“Victor Ri, age: 39. He’s an executive of the Familiaran”, Amelia said as she inspected the body.

“How did you know his name?” I asked.

“When I took on this case, I memorized all of the important members of the Familiaran and Kageyama Clan. Since the murderer’s victim was an executive of the Familiaran, I had a hunch that he would target another one”, she answered.

We approached her as she was touching the body.

“Three stab wounds. One in the stomach, one in the heart, and one in the brain. The murderer must really hate this guy”, Amelia muttered.

“What do you mean?” Temma asked.

“I’ve read about this before but in the southern parts of this world, a murder that involves stabbing both the brain and the heart meant that there was a deep grudge or hatred between the murderer and the victim”, she answered.

“I see. To stab the body 2 more times after he died, it must be deep hatred”, Theodore said.

“I think I should rethink the profile of the murderer”, Amelia muttered as she stood up.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I assumed that they had a grudge on the Kageyama Clan since they were pinning the blame on them. But from this murder, it seems the grudge is with the Familiaran. Can we talk to them somehow?”

“We could arrange a meeting with a representative. And I think they would want to talk with the investigator too”, Temma answered.

“While you’re working on it, can I see the records of some previous cases?” Amelia asked.

“Sure. You can go over them in the record center. Mikage, can you show her the way?”

“Got it.”

The record center was a building that contained all reports of the Westa Knight Order. Every case from each district of Westa would be stored in the record center. Cases from the formation of the Westa Knight Order could be found in the record center.

Amelia and I went to the record center while Temma was trying to contact the Familiaran. After the keeper saw my badge, we were granted access to the files we needed.

“Mikage, help me find cases that involve the Familiaran. Bonus points if the names of the victims are there. Probably cases from 10 years ago until this day”, Amelia instructed me.

“10 years ago?! That’s a lot of cases to search from!” I complained.

“Well. You’d better work those eyes instead of that mouth if you want to be helpful. Besides, we could avoid a murder if we do this right”, she told me.

“So you’re saying that the murderer is involved with a previous case?”

“Yeah. He must be part of a case that involved the victims or the Familiaran family. So find anything that is related to that and bring them to me.”

Even if she said that, it would still be a lot. The record center contained copies of cases that happened all over Westa. And 10 years was a huge range to search from.

After a while, someone knocked on the door. It was a knight from my unit.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Temma said that you needed this”, he answered as he handed me a map with marks on it and pieces of paper.

“Ah! Thank you!” Amelia took the things and the knight left.

“What’s that?”

“I asked Temma if it was possible to see the knights’ patrolling schedule and their respective areas. Good thing it was made in such a short amount of time.”

“But why?”

“No reason. Just trying to see how the murderer sees things. Get back to searching cases.”

I shrugged and continued searching. Time passed and I managed to find 23 cases that involved the Familiaran and 5 of those involved both of the victims. They were executives of the Familiaran so it was normal for them to be involved. The cases were a murder from a year ago, robbery from the same year, arson from 5 years ago, another murder from 7 years ago, and a missing person from 3 years ago. I gave them all to Amelia and she read it for a while.

“I see… This is interesting”, she muttered as she read the files.

“Find something?” I asked.

However, Amelia didn’t answer while she rubbed her chin. I didn’t know what she found but I hoped it would help the case.

Temma arrived after a while.

“How’s the searching?” he asked.

“I did my best and Amelia’s reading through them right now”, I answered.

“Temma… Just in time. Did the Familiaran allow us to meet them?” Amelia asked.

“Yes. They said they will prepare a meeting with us. The boss wants to know the current progress of the investigation. Mikage, this one’s on you since you’re the lead investigator.”

“Wait… I will explain everything to the Familiaran? Isn’t that supposed to be your job as a vice-captain? You’re my superior.”

“In this case, you are my superior since you are the lead investigator. Don’t worry. You can handle the representative. It’s probably just one of the executives so there’s no need to think a lot. Just tell the truth and things will go well.”

We cleaned up the documents we used and left the record center. Amelia was humming while walking and Temma still had his trademark warm smile. They were relaxed since they weren’t the ones who would make a report to the Familiaran… I wonder why I was chosen as the lead investigator when I had no experience.

Unlike the Kageyama Clan that had wooden buildings and a large wooden gate, the Familiaran’s place resembled a huge mansion with a large iron gate. We were invited inside and were led to an exquisite room.

After a while, a gray-haired man with glasses and beard entered the room. He was wearing a green coat and was quite tall. Temma tensed up and even Amelia had a serious expression. I didn’t know who that guy was but he must be an important figure in the Familiaran.

“Vice-captain Temma Kishido, Detective Amelia Watson, and a Japanese boy... This is an odd group”, he said.

Wait a minute... Did he just call me Japanese?

Despite his greeting, Amelia and Temma didn’t respond. What was wrong with them? Were the Familiaran’s executives that scary? I could understand their fear because if we made the wrong move tonight, there would be war between the Familiaran and Kageyama Clan. That war would lead to many casualties. If we didn’t want to see the streets to be littered with bodies, I needed to convince the Familiaran to at least withdraw their declaration of war.

“What’s wrong? Is this how the Westa Knight Order would act in a meeting? You do know that silence won’t bring us anywhere”, the man smiled.

In order to break the silence and avoid being rude, I spoke up.

“Good evening. You must be the Familiaran’s representative. I’m Mikage Kamishiro, an investigator for this case.”

The man chuckled and I saw sweat drop from Temma’s face.

“Mikage... That man is not just a representative”, Amelia said.

“Technically, I am still a representative from the Familiaran. Although it could also be said that I’m the boss”, he grinned.

He’s the boss? Oh crap...

“Mikage... This is Arurandeisu, the head of the entire Familiaran”, Temma said.