The sound of rubber falling echoes as it falls, through what is left of the room, that was once dark and filled with secrets, now lies exposed, yet nothing, but memories remain, burying everything under it.
The smell of Ashe fills the air; whoever destroyed this place should hope that they would not need anything intact.
As a commanding voice cut through the room
"clear the place for the investigator" .
multiple footsteps ring from the opening in the wall. the sound of stone being moved through the room echoing alongside the sound of their green metallic greaves,
as their green attire loses its luster ,as they get to work with stoic faces ,as if even a simple command like this must be carried unquestionably
Once the path is cleared, distinctive footsteps echo gently, yet commandingly, followed by a feminine cough, that rings through out the remains of what used to be a room.
"It caused too much damage."
her eyes narrowing as she studies her surroundings, trying to decipher something interesting
"Why wasn't there any magic defense up?"
another voice that felt like it came from a man who'd died, with how little life. it had in it
"This would not have happened if you had followed my advice." It felt less like an angry comment, and more like nagging from a guy who slept one hour and isn't paid enough to care ,like he had the obligation to say I told you so.
She paused and gave the man with a messy green uniform and black eyes a result from a body pleading and screaming for a reset. a disproving look
'Why is he in such an unacceptable state?' she whispered in her mind
David, as in state, that is no different from cropose, says in a dead voice as
"This wouldn't be an issue if you followed my advice, and didn't use such ,such crude method ,we shouldn't do our work like this. the nitpicking from everyone, oh god, I already see the fallout ,oh no, the headache is coming."
He moves his long hair back as if that will make him more awake
"Don't be dramatic, there is enough here to make them less talkative. Definitely, I am sure," she, in fact, wasn't sure
David managed to achieve the impossible and die even more inside
The rest of her men rolled their eyes ,then they went back to work to clear the place, after all, they don't get paid enough to care
"Stop whining and get to work; moreover, haven't you read their file? It is safer that way."
His eyes darkened, and his face looked like he was dreaming of resistance, and against all odds, he took a bottle from his coat ,then he mounted his resistance
"Try being one reporting to a magister ,before saying word safe," he says as he drinks from a metal bottle.
She ignores him ,as she wonders.
"This was too easy; there was particularly no resistance. "Her eyes scanned everything like a possessed hawk.
"Think it was intentional," a hint of sharp intelligence shines, behind the sleepiness of his eye.
"Maybe, considering their infamy ,it should have been brutal," she pauses and closes her eyes as she bites her lib
"but their was Nothing, have to wait for the report before any conclusion" she sighs, she looks at the rubble, her regret suffocating.
her eyes wonders to two of her men who were talking, they seemed close.
"No, I am not losing any more on those filth, "she assured herself
'They can call me incompetent for all care , blue-blooded, brat with silver spoon'; her resolve is shaken a bit.
She looks at David, her resolve and regret nearly devoured her
With silence, they are your responsibility, and responsibility is holy ,as she sheds a silent
David looks at her with a dark smile and amusement, as his dead face is finally alive, with a peaceful smile, on the inside he was laughing, he understood her well,
Before she can even say anything. he takes a flower from his coat, it gives out a green aura
"Take extra caution, it is not over" he says to a flower that grew from his hand.
"Order received, "the men in green replied as they explored in an extremely organized fashion.
"All clear."
A voice from the flower in David's hand was heard.
"Send in the investigator." His voice sounded like a rusted machine.
They looked around the green-strewn rubble; it was just as bad as they feared. Some valuable items might be protected from explosion damage, but such protection was costly, and they had no information about the operation—a crucial detail they desperately needed.
"She should be able to do her job, even if the conditions aren't optimal."
The confidence was gone; those words sucked them dry, leaving her like a husk.
"They whined over a broken vase." He was holding the bottle in one hand as he stared at her with a knowing eye.
"That was an extreme case, and it had magic remnants on it." You could particularly smell denial in that word.
He raised an eyebrow and gave her the same pitying look he would have given a drowning woman in a movie, enjoying it.
tck "If you keep at it, you will regret it. You are the last person to talk; we are in the same boat, we share our blunders." David backed off after all—the conversation had made him just a bit more alive.
"Okay, anyhow, do you know who the diviner is they put on the mission?" Now that their previous... he must work as well as he can, as he started wondering for a solution.
"You just mentioned her in your oh-great example. Thanks for making me remember that—I almost saw peace in my future."
David's eyes opened wide as a realization hit him.
He winced as he dragged his hand; his reflection in the glass gave him a dark look, knowing that his future would force him to sober up from sheer headache.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
Suddenly, a shout broke the hush coming through David's flowers. The voice cut through the desperation like an inferno, making both of them flinch.
"Miss investigator, show some restraint. We did—" She was cut off before finishing.
"Yes, an investigator, and for that I need intact evidence. So take a look—where is the intact evidence? My eyes can't see any. It's not like a janitor would have done a better job preserving evidence."
The surrounding silence and the inquestor's stares made it feel like the rubble itself was saying, "It's above his pay grade."
The investigator let insults fly. "I hate you, I hate you, #$#$#$##."
Athean tried to regain some control.
"The men are just about finished. I know you're annoyed that we wasted your time, so maybe just complain once to make the wasted time less—"
"You're unapologetic."
"Less time wasted," Athean repeated.
The investigator gives in.
Athean sighs in real life as she signals for a woman with short purple hair and golden eyes to step forward. Faint dark circles surrounded her eyes—clearly, David wasn't the only one struggling to get sleep. Despite the terrible work conditions, her uniform was well-maintained, and aside from her tired eyes, she radiated a serious, composed atmosphere.
She stood before the investigator, David, and Athean, then began summarizing what they had found.
"The evidence we recovered includes:
A magical safe located in what appeared to be a bedroom in the basement. Inside, we found the remains of a powerful ritual—most likely a resurrection spell. It's extremely rare; I doubt anyone here has seen one like it before. Moreover, it can only be used a few times, given the massive amount of magical energy required.
The walls and floor were painted with gold, the same paint used across most of the hideout. It has no detectable magical properties as far as we can tell. We also found a few surprisingly durable but ultimately useless trinkets. For example, several dresses—mostly gold-colored with a metallic sheen—were partially burned, yet still intact enough to note. Nothing else was worth mentioning, except a password apparently meant for an Irise tablet, which is… unfortunate. Considering the circumstances, the odds of that tablet surviving intact are extremely low."
"For a base practically made of paper, it had an absurd number of things with ridiculous durability," she thought, the weight of those words showing on her face.
The investigator sighed, running a hand through her hair. Her eyes were sharp but unfocused, lost somewhere between thought and disbelief.
She opened her mouth.
"Let's start with the most important point. You said you might have found the remains of a resurrection spell—but due to the damage, you can't confirm its completion?"
She examined the basement, where the remnants of once-brilliant magical circles and murals of a blue rose with a black core—the mark of Rose Magic—were scattered. She took out a device made of glass and blue crystal, with golden energy pulsing through its veins, humming softly as it glowed.
Hours passed. Frowning, muttering, moving from corner to corner, inspecting every nook and cranny, shouting in frustration and inventing new curses along the way. Finally, after hours of exhaustion in the barely standing basement, she turned to Athean, her expression a mixture of confusion and despair.
"What was the plan here, exactly?" she whispered hoarsely, her voice thin and drained.
"Destroy the magical barrier, not the structure, and force them out. It was the devil's plan—Sophia's idea—for Vivia's sake. That much should have been expected from him!" Athean shouted defensively.
"So you chose the worst possible option. I appreciate that you have an excuse—but my question wasn't directed only at you."
The investigator's grin twisted as if she could tear her own face apart. Whether she was amused by Athean's outburst or just losing patience, it was hard to tell—but either way, she hadn't enjoyed anything since stepping into the wreck that was this hideout.
"Well, there's barely anything left to investigate, so bet your career on that safe we found. Hope it was worth it."
"Actually the base has a surprisingly large amount of tough items. Besides, at least share your findings — yeah, they are mostly useless. However, no one died, and what you wanted was never going to happen no matter how we did it. Our job isn't to give answers — it is yours, so do your job." Athean, as it turned out, didn't like how she was being treated, so the angry outbursts continued.
"Again, pray that we find something useful in that safe, because the answers found aren't — let's just say the magister may start a post-Iris network looking for skills similar to ours."
"Why are we going to the safe first?"
"It was very high quality; it must be hiding something. Its owner would be a monster otherwise. After that would be bodies, if you found them."
"No, there's no trace of them."
"That is bad, but honestly, expect it to be one of the few complete parts of the spell."
"What?"
"The part of the spell that affected the bodies is intact enough to study. How you got this job is probably today's actual biggest mystery."
"Caring about others' well-being and being understanding—"
"They knew what they signed up for, and they have some backbone."
"You... I guess. While today we'll have a lot of mysteries, one of them is solved: how you got buried in the investigation department."
"Sad that all that comes back to you is disappointment. Well — another disappointment, I guess."
Athean, veins popping, was about to burst.
David took a sip from his bottle and decided to intervene.
"Lady, calm down — unless either of us can turn back the clock. I would tell you that we are already—" He trailed off, then went to the investigator and handed her a piece of paper.
"What is that?"
"Her address. The price I am willing to pay for you to… pay for now."
"You backstabbing creep — how dare you?"
"The least you can do is take it home."
As the investigator left the room, Athean muttered, "She definitely knew it was fake; there's no way she would believe that. How would I even get my address? But it still went better than expected. Whose address is it?"
"No idea, and who cares. But you owe," he said in a quiet tone, taking another sip.
"You shouldn't drink on the job, you know," she said, emotionless.
"You're really slow today, huh," Athean thought. She imagined it, but behind his dry voice was a hint of concern as she looked at his face reflected in the crystal — as if the basement had just witnessed a miracle. As an inquester brings the safe in to be investigated, the man watches it with bated breath while David gathers dried rubble; the air current increases, as if the room itself wants to shed the tense atmosphere. As the investigator begins chanting, trying to break the blue-and-black magical lock on the safe, she stares at it for a while and keeps chanting. The air is hot with tension and dry.
"This will take. I'm going to check on the boys," David says.
Wait — what? He's going to work? No — he's up to something, I'm telling you.
Meanwhile, inquisitive people studied the golden paint, checking whether it was made with actual gold.
You could practically see a money sign in their eyes, shining gold.
And it wasn't even high purity, and it was everywhere — but to be fair, we don't know their salary.
An investigator said, "He seems to really like golden paint — there's enough to turn Green to Gold back at HQ."
"Everyone has their taste," a cold, tired voice interrupted.
David walked to the side, sat on a stone, and enjoyed the tension in the air as he drank.
"Get back to work."
One of the few reasons he still works this fucking job — it's just so satisfying.
It took hours of work, but she finally managed.
As a gust of air rushed through the room, everyone relaxed as if the rubble were sighing in relief.
The safe slowly opened.
The investigator went to work.
Athean, in an exhausted voice, "What's in it? Give us something already."
"Something's wrong," the investigator said, running a hand through her hair as she thought.
"You said nothing protected the base."
"Safe protection was impressive," David said, frowning.
An investigator with blond hair added, "Yet nothing protects the base."
When she finally looked inside the safe, they found photos, an Iris tablet, more golden dresses, and some gold bars with a note reading "secret funds" tucked above them.
They began examining the items quietly. First came the photos.
"It's photos of a demi-human girl dressed in gold."
David spoke, surprisingly calm. "She's familiar — same distinctive ears and demi-human traits, same lineage. Are they related?"
Athean: "Aren't those the dresses from the safe?" everyone murmured as they tried to make sense of it all.
"Who is this girl? She's wearing those golden dresses."
"Could they be related?"
"The similarity is there, and it would explain the safe and the dresses, but —"
"How did she slip through the ministry?"
"They know practically every demi-human born in this city. Weird."
"Not really — it's just hearsay. What's interesting, though, is that the witness only mentioned two individuals and possibly a link to other humans, so they're definitely different."
"Could it be he was playing some game with her — she enjoyed his company?"
"Biases aside, that wouldn't explain why they look similar even beyond the demi-human traits."
"I don't know magic," Athean said, waving a hand.
"Regardless, at least we have a person to look for, so this won't be a closed case."
"No concrete evidence of his revival magic, which means we can't know for sure if he's alive, dead, or just sitting in a trap."
He put the bottle back in his jacket and looked at her with surprising clarity.
"Your call, lieutenant: missing or dead — failure or success."
"There is—" she started, then stopped.
"There's nothing more to find. Make a call, boss. How competent were they?" he said, speaking the way Gene would after the third wish was gone — indifferent to unfulfilled promises.
"They had time to protect the safe and its secrets," she said, staring at the contents.
"They're missing. David called the magister." He took a flower and shoved it into her mouth. "Your mess, you clear it."
Her eyes widened; she looked at him, shocked. "It's your job."
"It isn't. I'm your right hand, not your secret keeper. Oh—where did the bravery go? But seriously, you should be the one to do it."
She took the paper from him with a bit more force than necessary.