Not even ten minutes after the two investigators left, the rented terrace's door was opened and a handful of police officers walked in, looking around the area and checking if anything was amiss.
They wore standard police badges, with one of them especially shining, decorated with stars signifying the man's stance.
Melissa immediately recognized the man by the description provided by the two inspectors.
The superintendent, Dunn Smith.
He was present during the first wave of investigations after Klein's death but Melissa didn't pay much attention back then.
Now—she did.
The man in question turned around and nodded at the three other officers, causing them to fall back a little as he scanned the small room and approached the young lady.
This time, Melissa didn't cower away anymore, nor did she keep drowning in grief.
As she mentally prepared herself, Dunn Smith took off his top hat and gave her a small standard greeting.
"Good afternoon, my lady. I believe we don't need an introduction?" He tried to start the chat with a small joke, but his serious appearance made it die on his own lips.
A few seconds later his indifferent expression was back as he let out a small sigh.
"Miss, this is standard procedure. I believe we have found new leads regarding your brother, however you must follow our instructions."
Melissa didn't say another word as she bobbed her head up and down in agreement.
Dunn Smith, with his receding hairline, signaled for her to lay down on the bed. Melissa was a bit anxious but soon calmed down.
Remembering what the two investigators from before told her, she simply went after his lead.
She followed his directions to a tea.
Soon enough, her vision was overcome with complete darkness, and she found herself in a lucid dream—standing above a small island surrounded by the silent waves of a colorless sea.
The tall officer sniffed his pipe, opened his mouth and spoke. "I believe you are aware of what's going to happen next."
There was no threat in his voice, only a faint smile.
Melissa immediately began retelling the events that happened earlier that day not missing a single detail. "Two of your subordinates came by. One of them—a woman found out the cause of his death. She mentioned an ancient notebook that Welch had Klein's help in deciphering, however that led to madness."
Melissa tried her best to recount the exact words she had spoken. It had not been long since the lady divined the cause but due to stress and surprise, Melissa was beginning to mix up the words.
Nonetheless, she could piece them back together, and not lose the context.
Klein... I will help you, somehow. The words echoed in her heart.
Dunn Smith nodded and signaled for her to continue.
…
"She also said that the notebook ended up in the hands of someone named Ray Bieber but he either lost it or had it stolen by someone."
As she finished recounting the events, her breath came by in short and trembling segments. She was nervous.
The superintendent Dunn Smith nodded again, "Alright, thank you for your cooperation."
Before she could say anything more, the dream shattered and she was once again faced by the three other officers, who stared at her like she was part of a museum exposition.
They must be members of the Machinery Hivemind that the lady mentioned.
"An ancient notebook written in strange symbols brought madness to the three. Before his death, Klein Moretti handed it to Ray Bieber, who lost it or had it stolen later on." This was Dunn's briefing.
Once they heard that, the officers were a bit lost in thought, especially one with slightly curlier hair and a pair of mechanical goggles resting on his head, giving it a strange shape.
"Lost or stolen, hmm. Ray Bieber mentioned a few names in his madness, we thought of investigating them, but most just seemed like family members and close friends. After a few, we classified them as important people in his life."
The police are often clumsy and not thorough at all! Such mishaps can completely throw away many leads! Melissa yelled in her heart. She felt contempt for these men, although she understood that they're extremely busy, this directly concerned her brother's death!
How unprofessional! She lampooned inwardly.
Dunn Smith said nothing and just nodded with his indifferent expression, occasionally taking a sniff of his pipe.
After a few minutes of brainstorming, the strange hair one clapped his hands and signaled that that was all for today.
When the four policemen wandered out the door a shout stopped them in their tracks.
"Wait!" Melissa raised her voice and hands. "Can't I do anything else? My brother..." She put on the best act, but some might say it wasn't an act at all.
Melissa poured all of her dismay, hatred, sadness and helplessness that she felt due to her brother's passing. She wanted to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
The curly haired man turned his head and looked at her. "And what can you do?"
At that question, she froze.
The lady mentioned that her skills in the domain of Machinery should be enough to guarantee at least a position as a staff member, but this reaction wasn't expected.
What can I do?
She bit her lips tightly, looking deeply at the man. "I want to help. I want justice."
That was it. Melissa had no more words left in her heart.
Whatever they would say, would probably set her fate in stone.
The curly haired man looked at Dunn Smith as if asking for his opinion.
The man only nodded, and went on his way.
Sigh. Justice is what you want? There is no justice in this world...
Is what the Machinery Hivemind Captain wanted to say, yet—
"Alright."
He agreed.
What? Her eyes widened greatly. Is it that easy?
No—It was not easy at all.
"Follow us to the Church. We will consult the higher-ups."
Although I'm a Captain my credibility has decreased immensely after the last mission.
The curly haired captain of the Machinery Hivemind wanted to yell in his heart.
Who were those people? What have we encountered!
He wanted to shout loudly. He was completely wronged, and for what?
He might've opened Pandora's box for god's sake! There was nothing mortal about that man! His mind immediately shot through one of Roselle's famous quotes when he rarely admitted that he fucked up.
But soon, his shoulders dropped. I should be happy I'm still alive...
Melissa jumped to the door but then froze. "Let me leave a note quickly, in case my brother comes back."
"Make it quick, we will be waiting outside."
***
West Backlund, Philip's Department Store.
Audrey brought her maidservant, Annie, and her golden retriever, Susie. Under the ushering of an eagerly attentive attendant, she got off the carriage and walked through the entrance.
The attendant in the shop was a petite maiden. She wore a black and white dress and had shoulder-length blond hair. She was the Arbiter, Xio Derecha.
Audrey gave Susie a look without changing her facial expression. The dog understood what her owner meant immediately and ran to another counter.
Maidservant Annie went after Susie to try to drag her back.
Well done! Audrey complimented inwardly and walked next to Xio Derecha, pretending to look at the variety of dresses.
"… Why did you arrange to meet me here for?" Xio inquired with a whisper while she loudly introduced the dresses.
"Where's the original attendant?" Audrey asked in reply instead of answering her.
Xio looked around and said, "I convinced her. She was happy to rest for the morning."
"Rear Admiral Hurricane, Qilangos, has snuck into Backlund. This is his portrait. I hope you can find him for me. Oh, and don't alert him."
Xio received the piece of paper and unfolded it to take a quick glance. She saw that it was a lifelike portrait of a man in his thirties that had a unique broad chin.
I was once constantly praised by my art teacher… Audrey stole a glance at Xio and lifted her head.
She added, "The Kingdom offers a reward of ten thousand pounds for Qilangos. If he were to be arrested, even the person that only provided clues would definitely be awarded with a few hundred pounds."
Just as she finished her sentence, she saw Xio's eyes beam with joy, as she had expected.
***
Yawn!
What a busy day! Amanises felt quite tired, she was ready to leave the Spirit Domain for the day and head home to rest.
After a few rounds of classes with Old Neil, the woman felt her spirituality be narrowed down to almost nothing. Although she had Nocturnality at this time of the night, it wasn't as abundant as she thought it would be.
Perhaps I should have a full night's sleep today? It's not like I have anything else to do...
Amanises' mission given by Leonard was done, and she did exceptionally well.
Had it been for my office job, not even a thought would've gone through my head to do overtime. You're lucky I'm a kind soul!
She was prepared to enter the long and dark corridor, ready to pass through, when suddenly her name was called.
"Miss, Evelyn! Where are you heading so early?"
It was a man's voice, not too low but neither high either. It had that characteristic and poetic air a starved literature student had during the late hours of the night.
It was Nightmare, Leonard Mitchell.
"Hello, sir." She gave a small bow in greeting.
Leonard waved her off, plastering an easy smile on his face. "There's no need for such politeness, we're teammates here!"
I'm not doing this to be polite. I'm just mocking you, Mr. Protagonist. She lampooned inwardly at the delusional man. It was hard to hold as much respect as she did before.
"You did well for your first assignment, I'm quite proud!" He continued, oblivious to her inner thoughts.
"Thank you, I did my best."
She wondered why he held her back so late. Leonard had already congratulated her before, so why do it again now?
"I already see the question in your head, my lady. You really can't figure it out? This was quite hard of a mission, I admit."
She tilted her head in utmost confusion, still not getting the main reason.
"Sigh, my lady, you've already digested Sleepless haven't you?"
"Yes, that's correct." Her expression was like that of a sheep staring cluelessly at a German Shepherd.
"Then you're eligible to advance no?"
"Ah! Already?" She was surprised.
"Yes? Hasn't Daly told you that?" He questioned the forgetful woman. Lady, your memory might be worse than captain's...
Ah! She did!
"Yes! I remember! Daly told me that after I do this, I'll be able to request the potion and formula for the next Sequence. I just thought it would take longer..." Her voice died down.
Her digestion of Sleepless went smoothly. Assigning the acting principles and following them proved almost natural.
"Well, that's not going to happen right now. You have to send an application to the higher-ups first."
"Do I have to wait 2-3 business days too?" She deadpanned.
"No? Where'd you get that?" He stared at her in puzzlement.
"Never mind."
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat. "Come here and write the request, I'll mail it for you."
"Alright."
She walked along with Leonard to the Archive Room, where he placed a fountain pen and yellowish pages before her.
"I'll give you the template. You just have to fill in the necessary data and give a signature."
"Okay."
Amanises nodded and followed the steps thoroughly, her neat and classic handwriting completed the style pretty well.
It looks like I'm writing a letter to the king. She jested lightly.
Once the last stroke of ink touched the paper, she lifted the pen and fanned the application to have it dry faster.
Once she confirmed that the ink wouldn't smudge, the lady handed it to Leonard, who was engrossed in another paper on the desk.
The man picked it up and placed it in an envelope, then sealed it using red wax and the captain's seal which he had taken from the office earlier. "Alright, we're ready to go!" He smiled.
She simply nodded in acknowledgement, getting up from the seat and walking with him in complete darkness.
They spent a bit more time chatting, about the mission, about daily occurrences and even about the delicious food that is found here in Tingen.
Soon enough, both bid farewell to each other, with Leonard leaving for the Grand Castle of Elpahel and Amanises returning home.
She walked slowly down the streets, the lamps on the sides of the road already went out.
The streets were incredibly quiet, with only a few windows being lit up at this hour.
The ambient sound of howling and crickets gave the red moonlight a strange feeling.
Her pace slowed even more, as Amanises patted down the inner pocket of her camisole feeling the hexagonal shaped charm through the materials.
The ends of her lips curled up.
"It's back."