At Smith's command, both Samuel and Cecil took a seat. With Cecil resting his cane against his leg.
"Inquisitor, you said?" Captain Smith leaned forward, elbows on the desk, steepling his scarred fingers. "Why is one of the hounds of the church acting without authorization?"
"Father Gideon is not my boss," Samuel offered a faint smile. "I was assigned to these murders as a special assignment by Central, while I have been placed under him for this duration, he does not give me authorization to act on my assignment, Captain."
"Fair." Smith scoffed, before turning to Cecil. "And you? What's your role in this little venture? Another priest's shadow?"
Cecil adjusted his monocle, meeting Smith's gaze evenly. "Hardly. I am an independent party. Consider me… invested in solving this mystery… for my own curiosity."
"Curiosity, eh?' Smith let out a dry chuckle, though there was no humor in it. "Even if I wanted to work with Mr. Inquisitor over there, there is no reason for me to deal with a civilian sticking their nose in an ongoing case, merely for their own curiosity."
"Ongoing case? If I recall correctly, currently you have no jurisdiction on this case." Cecil's fingers lingered on his monocle as he smiled, his voice edged with quiet steel. "And besides… from what I have been gathering, your independent investigation has found precious little. Am I wrong?"
Smith's eyes narrowed, as he gripped the side of his desk. "Careful, lad. You're dancing on the line of being insufferable."
Cecil shook his head. "I apologize if I came across as rude, I was merely stating that outside help might be useful for you."
The room stilled for a moment, as Smith leaned back in his chair.
Samuel cleared his throat gently, breaking the silence. "Captain, you and I both know you're understaffed. If Mister Hollows wishes to assist, then let him."
"Still not giving me a reason as to why I should work with you, Mr. Inquisitor." Smith began to tap his fingers on the desk.
"What better way to show up Father Gideon than by utilizing the help of the very Inquisitor that he refused to allow to solve the case?"
Smith's jaw worked, but finally he let out a long sigh through his nose.
"Fine, we can work together." His voice dropped low. "My men are already stretched thin, with the Charterlight. If you're going to play this game, then you play it my way, ok?"
"And what way is that?" Cecil asked, voice cool.
Smith's scarred hand pressed flat against the desk. His voice came gravelly, heavy with both authority and fatigue.
"My way is simple. You answer to me while you're are working with me. No wandering off into alleys with secrets. No chasing shadows without me hearing about it. If you find something, it crosses my desk before you chase it. Is that clear?"
Cecil raised a brow, lips curling faintly into a sneer "You want obedience from someone who is not sworn to you?"
"I want order," Smith growled, slamming his hand onto the desk,"This city is already one step from panic. The last thing I need is an Inquisitor and a…" He gestured to all of Cecil as if contemplating what to call him. "monocle enthusiast turning it into a circus."
Samuel stifled a laugh, earning a sharp glance from Smith. He quickly smoothed his face back to seriousness. "You'll find, Captain, that both of us have no interest in theatrics. We want results. And if that means answering to you while we're here, then so be it."
Cecil rubbed his fingers against the edge of his monocle, before finally sighing and giving a nod. "Very well."
Smith's eyes lingered on him for a second. "This actually works well for me. Because of both the festival and the fact that I don't have jurisdiction I had hired a bounty hunter to work where I could not."
Samuel raised an eyebrow. "A bounty hunter?"
"That is what I said, is it not?"
Samuel rubbed his chin in thought. "Because they would have more freedom to move without having to care about jurisdiction?"
Smith whistled impressed. "Impressive deduction, Inquistor. You may be more useful than I thought. But yes, while I am not happy that the church was given jurisdiction I do not disagree with the fact that the murders are supernatural in nature, but the church doesn't have a monopoly on Sorcerers even if Gideon would love to think that."
"Since both of you and the bounty hunter are outsiders, I am assigning you three to the same team." He reached into a drawer, and pulled out a document and slid it across the desk toward the pair.
Samuel picked it up and began to read. Once he finished he handed it to Cecil who also began to read.
Cecil tilted his head. "A noble lady?"
Smith leaned back and nodded. "Ya, she, at least to our knowledge, has no connection to the Grand Republic of Acliyum so we are suspecting that this might be a copycat killer. The church has taken ownership over the corpse so we cannot get access to it."
"Don't worry about that part, I can get access to it." Samuel replied.
"Good." Smith nodded.
"Lady Marissa D'Amberlin," Cecil said as he set the paper back onto Smith's desk with deliberate care. "and are you sure that there is no connection to the prior victims?"
"None that we've found," Smith replied. "The other killings, dockworkers, street girls, and construction workers. All refugees from the Grand Republic. This one?" He tapped the document. "Arrived two nights ago from the Varethorne Kingdom. She was staying at a friend's manor on the edge of the city. But still found burnt to death all the same."
Leaning back, Cecil regarded them coolly. "A foreign noblewoman, killed like common refugees? Either the murderer has grown bolder or someone wants to use the murders as a cover."
"Or," Samuel interjected, looking lost in thought. "it could mean that the killings have nothing to do with refugee status at all. Perhaps that was only a coincidence."
"Coincidence doesn't burn a dozen people alive in alleys and warehouses, Inquisitor. Whoever this is, they've got a pattern, and Lady D'Amberlin's death is the first real deviation." Smith pushed himself to his feet, the chair creaking under the shift. "Her body was found just before dawn, in the garden of the manor. The groundskeeper spotted the smoke before anyone else."
Samuel folded his arms, brow furrowed. "And the friend she was staying with?"
"The Terenvale Family," Smith said. "Old money. Their family has been a part of Grandport since its early days."
Samuel tapped his finger on the edge of the desk. "You mentioned a bounty hunter. Where should we be meeting them?"
Smith leaned back, grabbing a half-burnt cigar from a tray. He rolled it between his teeth before speaking. "He is already there. He is new to the city. Goes by Bjorn. Trust me he is not hard to pick out from a crowd."
"Then here's your first task as my little patchwork team: Go to the Terenvale manor, speak with the servants, poke around the grounds, try to get an audience with the Lord Terenvale, but don't push it. I don't need an international incident on top of these murders." Smith said, standing fully now.
"Understood, Captain." Samuel said, rising smoothly.
Cecil followed, taking his cane in hand. "A pity really," he jested idly, "I rather enjoy international incidents."
Smith's scarred face pulled into something halfway between a glare and a smile. "Save the wit, monocle-man. If you solve this case, you can joke all you want."
As they stepped back into the station's corridor, the noise of harried constables. Samuel cleaned his glasses, glancing at Cecil as they walked.
"So other than your own curiosity, why are you helping in this case?"
"Because I can, hopefully, use this to lower the price of the Blinkwolf eyes, when I do buy them." Cecil replied smoothly.
Samuel gave him a sidelong glance. "I doubt you lack money."
"Oh, I don't," Cecil smirked faintly. "But wealth is no excuse for waste."
The pair stepped out of the constabulary and into the morning bustle. The sunlight outside was sharp and clear, the city was alive with festival preparations, somehow even busier than how it was yesterday when Cecil arrived.
They walked to a waiting carriage.
"We need to head to the Terenvale manor." Samuel said, reaching into his pocket grabbing a few paper notes. "Do you take Aegis?"
The driver shook his head. "Nah, only imperial coins. Ten Leptans each." Cecil handed over the coins.
Without hesitation, Cecil paid. Samuel climbed in first, Cecil following with languid grace.
The driver clicked his tongue, and the horses lurched forward, carrying them toward the manor.
"The West are still using coinage?" Samuel sighed. "I would have thought that the continent that is so hell bent on progress, especially the Empire, would have transitioned over to paper notes."
Cecil stared out the window of the carriage. "The growing Parliament in the Empire has been pushing for it but the Emperor Lucius clings onto tradition, ironically."
"Whatever, doesn't matter." Samuel waved it off. "What does matter is that we are working together on an assignment so I am allowed to share my Lineage now. I am a Stage 8 of the Scholar Lineage which originates from the Feathered Serpents, my stage is called Investigator."
Cecil arched his brow. "Investigator. Fitting, given your assignment."
"Exactly." Samuel leaned forward, curious. "Now your turn. What Lineage are you aiming for?"
Cecil sighed and adjusted his monocle. "It originates from the Celestial Dragons, the first stage is called Rogue."