Chương 26: Ch. 24 - Elementary My Dear

I didn't go back immediately. Instead I took a detour, heading towards the Magistrate's manor. Someone had died, that much was clear. But the question was whom? The Magistrate would know, or at least, should know. It wasn't hard to spot, it was the tallest building out in the town. Closer to a large home than a bureaucratic building, it had a large lawn that was being tended to by virtual constructs. Much the same as the one that was in front of the restaurant Luna and I frequented.

Caddie figuratively spat at each one we passed.

"What is your deal with them?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Nothing that is of direct concern."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Not while we're in the presence of inferior company." I didn't have the time or brainpower to pursue this further. I got to the magistrate's manor and knocked. Knock. It opened on the first to an empty hallway, stairs directly in front. I hadn't noticed that the door was slightly ajar when I walked to it.

"Hello?" I yelled out.

"Anyone in here?" There was no reponse.

"Caddie," I said.

"Can you amplify my voice?"

"I can," he said. I tried again. Caddie like a megaphone, echoed at the empty chamber. The red carpet that led to the stairs, flanked by simple furniture and decorations was clearly meant to show status. Yet, there wasn't a sign that anyone had been here. A gingerly step forward felt off. A gut feeling. It made me wish I had an equipable weapon of my own. They were sometimes found in caches, but were often sold immediately. Not a lot of fighting outside mechs.

But here, now, made me realize it was probably a good idea moving forward. I crept through each step, doing my best to stay as quiet as possible. I had already announced my presence, but keeping quiet would hopefully alert me to any sounds from the inside. Step. Step. I moved until I reached the stairs, with two opposing hallways on the sides. They were pitch black.

"Caddie, could use some light," I said.

"I can equip the head mount from the Aegis onto me," he said.

"Do that." A moment later, a bright beam of light shown from Caddie, illuminating the inky blackness. It was weird. There were no windows, but up until now, there were magic motes of light everywhere.

"I guess, this way?" I said, unsure. Still moving quietly, we pushed through. All the doors were open. Some more than others, it was like it was searched.

"There appears to be nothing of note on this side," said Caddie.

"Perhaps the other side."

"Do you detect anyone here? Since, you know, you're speaking so loudly?" I said.

"I see now why you were walking so funny. No I do not detect another sound source other than us. Also, you are the only live subject in the building." I relaxed and walked briskly to the other hallway.

"You could've said that from the beginning."

"You didn't ask. I was merely following commands." I rolled my eyes and reached the other side of the hallway. Caddie was illuminating the way but this time it wasn't completely clear. A trail of red led from one room to the other, from left to right. The room the trail came from was a mess. Papers were scattered everywhere. The desk was covered in blood. A safe behind a swung open painting was cleared of it's contents.

"What happened here?" I found myself asking.

"It appears, a struggle. Perhaps a robbery?" I followed the trail of blood. It lead me to the fully open middle door of the dark hallway. The mote of light was dimmed and I had to squint to see better. Slumped over on a large chair was an Elvian male. The pipe on the ground was still smoldering from recent use. It had an strong floral smell that wafted throughout the room. The wound was much similar to Jeromy's. A single penetrating injury to his chest.

"He is deceased. It appears it was a mix of blood loss and-" I put a hand up to stop Caddie.

"I got it," I said.

"He's dead." I closed the distance, disturbing as little as possible.

"But why?" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I am unsure," said Caddie.

"By all accounts, this is a safe zone. Violence is forbidden."

"What happens when someone violates that?"

"They are placed on a bounty. Both visible by participants and non-participants. They are also denied entry to safe zones." I thought for a moment and tossed out a possibility.

"Unless the reset changed something."

"That is conjecture and I am unsure how to respond. Are you suggesting that all safe zones are compromised?"

"I don't think that. I have a theory but I'm not sure just yet. But it pertains to why I think travel between floors became possible now." I checked the Magistrate and my HUD came up. [Elvian Male][Name: Eix][Magistrate of Et'ium] [Deceased] His final act was to smoke whatever was in his pipe. Whatever was in there, had to be good. I shook my head, returning to focus. Why would the Magistrate be alone? It had to mean it was someone he trusted. Or knew? [Quest Update] [A Murder Most Foul] [The Magistrate is dead. By whom? And why?]"Why is this happening?" I murmured.

"I thought ORZ's were supposed to be safe." Something was happening. Something larger than this. It was like I was handed a piece of the puzzle and expected to make a collage. Caddie looked at everything I wasn't or couldn't see. He didn't find anything. After a while, and about to give up, I did find something that caught my eye. A sealed envelope I couldn't read. I couldn't open it either. Caddie took a look and scanned it into his memory banks. What caught my eye about it was that the words on it were glowing.

I pocketed the envelope and began towards Ilonar's abode.

"How come I couldn't read that?" I asked. The streets of Et'ium were loud with silence. A quiet before the coming storm.

"It's purposely incomplete. The translation subsystem works only on complete translations. It's how you're able to communicate with other species and in other languages. You're speaking your language but the signals are received into receivers synapses as something they can understand. Similar to how Elvian technology works."

"The magic thing? With the cells?"

"If it helps you understand, yes, I will call it magic. And yes, like that." At Ilonar's door, Luna was sitting on the chair I was before leaving. But unlike me, she was rapt with questions. It took a moment to interrupt what she was clearly very into learning.

"And this can be learned? How?" asked Luna, her eyes bright with fascination.

"You would need an inverter. A very rare item not found here. I am also unsure where it could be found, but yes, it would allow you to convert your cells into mana. However, it would require runes on your body and practice. Perhaps a teacher. It is a difficult path, but possible."

"And! You're saying that I could incorporate that mana into my mech?"

"Yes. What you call a mech is in parts an extension of your mind and spirit."

"How do you know all this?" Luna paused a moment and gasped.

"You were a Frame pilot?!"

"A long time ago, yes," said Ilonar, a forced smile curling on her lips.

"I do not remember much about my time before living here, but long ago, yes I was one."

"And what happened?" Ilonar looked up meeting my gaze. She cleared her throat and Luna turned with a look of wonderment and annoyance.

"Hey," I said.

"We need to talk."

"Can it wait?" said Luna.

"I'm about to get once in a lifetime answers here." Ilonar made note of the grim look on my face and interjected.

"Is something the matter? Your friend is healing well," she said. Yula turned her gaze towards me for a second and gave me a slight nod, returning to her bright light hands show. I took a deep breath.

"The Magistrate is dead," I said. Ilonar's gaze went grim and Yula's hands dimmed for a second before returning to their radiance.

"I went to his manor and he was slumped on his chair. He was stabbed like Jeromy." I pulled the sealed envelope and handed it to Ilonar. She turned it over in her hands and sighed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a letter of succession," she said.

"It's meant for the next Magistrate…me."

"So you're Magistrate?"

"It would appear so." She put the envelope on the ground, put a palm over it and held it for what felt like a full minute. She pulled her hand back and the envelope unfurled, words floating from the sheet and into the air. Ilonar, You, as the eldest, are the only person I could trust with this. With our home. Take warning. The new visitors have taken a quest that allows for conflict to reach our door. They have removed the protection our Lord had placed and will be leading an assault. I do not know the time.

I do not know with whom they conspire. But in their pursuit of traveling further down, I fear they will go through us. Prepare for them and enlist the aid of those that would help. Please. I know without Frames of our own, we are doomed. But I beg of you, do what you can. In my final moment. I remember. I'm sorry you were alone for so long. My hope lies with you, Eix, Former Magistrate Ilonar's face went grim. She looked at Yula, then her granddaughters before meeting mine.

"How did you find this?" she asked. There was an accusation in her tone.

"I went to his manor because my quest didn't update."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself."

"Hey," I said, raising my hands.

"I'm on your side. Like I said, the quest I got was that someone had died here. At first I thought it was Jeromy, but it wasn't him. So I went to the magistrate's thinking he could lead me as to who it was. I wasn't expecting it to be him."

"He's telling the truth," said Palina. Her eyes were glowing full red. Runes I hadn't noticed on her face had lit up on her cheeks. Her hands were raised at me and I finally noticed the metal tool on her wrist. Ilonar relaxed, slumping her shoulders.

"I apologize," she said.

"It has been a long time since we have prepared for battle. My suspicion is from necessity and not malice." She raised her head and turned to both Luna and I.

"With that said, I require your aid. We obviously cannot heal your friend under the threat of a looming attack. But if you were to find more pure mana, we could potentially add one more combatant to this upcoming scrimmage. So I leave the choice to you. Will you help us and in so, save your friend. Or will you leave, potentially dooming him. Please understand, we are in a difficult position."

"This doesn't feel like a threat," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Luna? I'm not making this choice alone."

"What choice do we have?" she said.

"She has answers to questions no one ever thought to ask. I'm starting to think the term NPC means something very different than whatever the Academy thinks it means. Plus, helping them is the right thing to do." A smirk formed on my face.

"Alright," I said.

"If we can trust you with Jeromy, we'll be back with that pure mana. I'm not sure if he'll help however, but at the very least, we will." Ilonar gave a weary smile.

"We will prepare as best we can," she said.

"But please, be as quick as you can. Yula is of more use to us in building defenses."

"I'm glad you were telling the truth," said Palina.

"I'd have hated to boil your blood."

"Oh," I said.

"I'm glad too."