As accusations continued to fly, the crowd devolved into a mass of mounting hysteria. The efforts of the Knights to quell the fighting were a failure. Shouts and blood flew in earnest. At some point, it was obvious that a more forceful method would have to be used, but they seemed to hesitate. A gap in the scuffle appeared, revealing the prone, sobbing form of Muweh Sawah, and Grehn saw Greyan’s face harden. Then, to his amazement, Greyan punched himself in the chest and stomach.
A gentle wave of Mind passed over the area as Greyan’s clothes expanded, and the other Knights dropped their satchels and unbuttoned their uniforms. Beneath the cloth sat delicate silver weavings, which upon closer inspection turned out to be exceptionally fine chain-mail. The only remaining cloth, the scarves, wrapped around each Knight in a unique way. As they revealed their combat uniforms, they reached into their satchels to retrieve bundles of interlocked bits of metal, which they undid and clasped to their vital areas. They completed the look with gloves of mail and thin helmets that expanded outwards to fit their heads, each with similar designs that covered everything but their eyes.
Greyan’s ‘transformation’ was just that. Rather than retrieving any extra pieces, his armor seemed to grow under his officer uniform like a shifting mass of metal. His clothes eventually fell off as the armor beneath revealed itself, eliciting gasps from nearby Lemonholmians, who immediately stopped fighting. Somehow, a full suit of solid plate had crept around and encased him, entirely hidden until that moment. The metal seemed to move like it had a mind of its own, slotting and shifting in sections, growing to cover everything from his fingers to his toes. The pressure of his Mind ebbed and flowed with each movement of the metal, and when it finally only had the helmet left to form, the metal sheets stopped around his neck. He was exposing his face to the crowd to leave an impression.
And whether from the fancy display of magical knight transformation, the overt display of Mind, or the dangerous feeling that emerged whenever the Knight Commander’s armor was in sight, the fighting slowed to a crawl. But it didn’t end yet.
“STOP. Everyone except those who have been authorized to continue the investigation will wait within the town hall, effective immediately. Once proper preparations have been taken, you will soon be directed towards your homes. You will all be confined to your residences while the investigation is under way.”
After that, nobody moved. Some, like Muweh Sawah, looked around in relief and confusion.
“NOW.” Greyan’s Mind leaked into his voice, and the effect was immediate. People began to mill towards the town hall, many still confused. A select few, including Muweh Sawah, the two burly Lemonholm men from before, and an official-looking man and woman stayed in place, staring at the Knight Commander, resplendent in his suit of shiny armor.
The trio sat still, unsure of what to do. Elofan in particular still held her arms at the ready, her Mind primed to act. This much conflict was putting her on edge. They weren’t going to try to escape during the chaos. That would be dangerous. They also tried to ignore the squeal of delight coming from a faraway Ben, who was enjoying the Knight’s display a lot more than worrying about its implications. Grehn’s eyes met with Greyan’s. Something passed between the two men, a sort of unspoken understanding. With a wave of his arm, Greyan began to move towards a nearby alley, and both eventually followed. The three outsiders found themselves confronted with Greyan’s intimidating form.
“I still don’t trust you mercenaries.”
“Is that all you brought us here to say?” Grehn asked.
“But, and I do not say this lightly, things seem more complicated here than I first anticipated. I’m willing to set in place a truce between us while we investigate the murder, in a fair way. In a show of good faith…”
Greyan rooted around his satchel, ignoring the slack jaws and wide eyes of his teammates. It was a scene Grehn never thought he’d see, such official and grandiose-looking Knights standing flabbergasted in an alley. If the situation weren’t this serious, Grehn might’ve laughed. Finally, Greyan held out a small leather pouch. He tossed the bag over to Grehn, but Vlugh snatched it out of his hands and peeked inside. Without saying a word, he passed the bag back to Grehn. Elofan, meanwhile, acted with complete disinterest.
Inside were coins. Ordinary, everyday coins. Except these were shiny, unblemished, imprinted coins so silvery they may as well have been white. And the pouch only contained these types of coins; at least a dozen. With that much money, the entirety of Yelah’s team could buy a whole apartment complex in Yiwi. In the nicer parts of the city. Each.
Rette would have fainted. But Grehn was forced to look past the shine.
“This is… a lot. Like, an insane amount. You realize this makes you look more suspicious, right? Almost like you’re paying us to look the other way.”
“As long as we don’t get blamed, I’d be fine with that,” Vlugh said. Grehn elbowed him in the side.
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“I understand that. This doesn’t come without provisions, of course. It’s a hiring fee. Not so official, perhaps, but I’m sure you can look past that. My terms are these: you help us find the murderer. If that murderer just so happens to be yourselves, well, consider that as compensation for the time you’ll spend locked away. If we arrest you and you are innocent, you may not be locked away for very long. If we are the ones to bring you in, whatever happens when you leave our clutches will be no business of mine.”
It was a good deal. A great one, in fact. Typically, Grehn, or rather, Yelah, would have no issue with taking the ‘hiring fee’ and playing along with the Knights’ game. Even if they were arrested, bribery or paying a hefty fine would be meaningless in the face of the massive sum they just received. There was exactly one problem: the bees. The Linkers, specifically. If they were searched by security officers or even these very Knights, things could become awkward quickly. However, it did seem like the best option. Hopefully, it would help convince the Knights not to arrest them. However, if the Knights were responsible… they could simply try to arrest them then and there.
“Okay, we’ll do it. But I’ll tell you this right now: we didn’t murder that man. If you decide to arrest us, we won’t go peacefully.”
Greyan nodded. His companions were still looking between their commanding officer and the three extremely suspicious characters, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Greyan simply turned and began walking back towards the fountain.
“First things first, we need to ensure nobody leaves the town. Unfortunately, if someone is extremely adept at hiding themselves, they might have been able to leave already, but it would require skills so far above ours that it wouldn’t matter,” he said as he walked away.
“Commander,” Jey said, easily keeping pace with Greyan, “what exactly are you planning? Aren’t those most of the funds for our mission? If those mercenaries really are the murderers, wouldn’t you just be rewarding them?”
“Jey, money isn’t a concern of ours. It is one for mercenaries. I was hoping that would be enough to make them give themselves up if it really was them. Either they were paid an exorbitant amount for their mission, they fear prison more than expected, or… they simply didn’t do it. Either way, we’ll eventually find the truth about these mercenaries.”
Vlugh cleared his throat. “…You know we can hear you guys, right?” Greyan only grinned in response.
As they approached the fountain, Grehn and Vlugh were having a heated conversation in their heads. Vlugh wanted to take the deal and get out of dodge as quickly as possible, while Grehn wanted to take the deal and delay. Neither saw the payment as the issue; it was what came after. Vlugh was vehemently against getting arrested, considering the possible issues that could arise from an inspection. Grehn, of course, didn’t really care about that. If the bees were found, he wouldn’t complain.
They came upon the remaining Lemonholmians who would be involved in the investigation, who were whispering amongst themselves. After a brief exchange with Greyan, the two officials in marginally neater clothing than the typical resident of the town followed him and the mercenaries.
As they walked, Grehn observed the knights. Their armor clinked with every step in a grim rhythm, but it was Greyan’s that was the most unsettling. Because it made no sound whatsoever. Somehow, his footsteps were even more quiet than before he had been encased in metal. Grehn had never seen armor like that before, and for his first time to be in a situation where it might bear down on him at any moment was somewhat unsettling.
“You humans have devised some scary things with metal. It’s just like those horrific monsters from the Burning,” Elofan said quietly, not that anyone could understand her.
“You mean the Royal Guard? I thought they were strong already, but if they have bizarre technology like those suits of armor, then it doesn’t really seem fair. Although, I wonder if fire would cook them in there…” Vlugh whispered.
“Anyway, what exactly is that knight’s plan? What are we doing? I don’t care about your human money; what I want are results, of any sort. And so far, this entire trip has been one big disaster.”
“To the entrance gates, it seems,” Grehn replied. “It’s technically the only way in and out of town, unless you want to climb the walls. Which is an unpleasant idea, apparently.”
He frowned. “How do you plan to keep people inside the town, Commander Greyan?”
Said Commander waved towards the approaching wall. “When we arrived in town, we set up some standard detection measures. All standard procedure, nothing fancy. But simple detection isn’t sufficient. We need to make sure nobody, not even an insect, can leave these walls. Without many powerful Mind users, physically preventing people from going beyond the walls isn’t possible, not if we’re going to be conducting an investigation and keeping each other in check. But we can still create a more powerful Lock than the one we are currently using, especially with you helping.”
The events of the past hour continued replaying in Grehn’s head as his mind continued to reel. The sudden discovery of Lord Sawah’s body, the confrontations, accusations, and the Knight’s sudden desire for cooperation. Or, at least, Greyan’s desire for cooperation. He didn’t miss the frequent looks thrown their way by the other three Knights. However, the two weights pressing on him pulled him in different directions. The new weight of the coin purse showed him a way out - not through the money itself, but the lengths Greyan was willing to go. And the other, a familiar weight on his neck.
Finally, Greyan came to a stop before the entrance gates of Lemonholm. He turned, gazing at each person before him. They really were a motley group.
“Okay. We will be re-purposing our Lock to be more secure and work at a larger scale. I’ll devise new specifications. It’ll probably be similar to the old version of the containment barrier, the one from two years ago, with some modern touches. I’ll finish the redesign and draw up a plan so I can convey the specifications to the rest.”
He nodded to his squad. “You three, inspect the wall. The rest of you can join them in some way, split yourselves up however you please. If someone wants to stay with me, I’ll be at the entrance gates.”
Nodding again, Greyan turned and sat on the dusty ground, ignoring the effect of the grime on his spotless suit of armor. He closed his eyes, almost seeming to meditate. The Knights immediately got to work, leaving the mercenaries and the Lemonholmians to scramble after them. Only Elofan stayed behind, keeping a wary eye on the Knight Commander.