I slowly crawled myself up from the sofa. What was I doing in Victoria's office?
This old guy with his perfect blond hair and beard got a bit on my nerves. Why didnt I dream of punching him instead of the maid?
I wouldn't have a chance against this guy; he is big and broad. He would probably crush me quite easily, like some guy hanging around the gym for fun.
“Waz ics tis?” I tried to ask, but the words did not come out of my mouth correctly.
The older man opened his eyes, rose from his chair, took a couple of steps towards me, and then touched the left side of my face with a quick move. It made me wonder if he was a pervert with the touchy move. I felt my left side of the face with the swollen area gone and noticed a needle between his index finger and thumb. He must have done something to my face; what if he made me ugly suddenly?
“What did you do?” I asked, noticing my slurry voice was gone. It did make me a little bit surprised that my voice was proper again.
“Ah! Your face looks normal now, Berk! Seems like you recovered well after that injection.” Veronica uttered.
I just looked at her disappointed, mostly because she hit me and remodeled my left side, and after passing out, I had to sit with some guy on steroids at her office. I turned my attention to the big guy, who simultaneously had quite a deadly stare and a friendly smile. It was uncomfortable seeing someone who makes the sunshine with a smile. At the same time, you think maybe a psychopath is in front of you and going to kill you because his eyes show a stare that makes you think of death.
“Sit down, Berk!” Veronica raised her voice, but I was already sitting on the sofa. She must have meant the empty chair in front of the desk.
I slowly walked to the chair on the left side, with the big man occupying the right chair as if he owned it. Something I found disturbing is that he looked delighted all the fucking time with his fucking smiling face. Veronica rose from her chair and started writing on the room's whiteboard.
“Turn your chairs to the whiteboard, please!” she said while still facing the whiteboard and drawing something.
We moved our chairs toward the whiteboard when she suddenly stopped and turned around.
“This is the situation! For the last six months, we have been hunting for a man with a right green hand, as described as the leader who has murdered three civilians and nine soldiers of Valiant. In the end, this resulted in more of the troublesome creatures of Paladin Woods joining forces with him. Hence, we face creatures who think they can do whatever they want in Paladin. There has only been one sighting of him, while his followers have been on other crime scenes as the last one that Berk faced killed himself out of fear of their leader. You two are here today to start a joint investigation and follow up on the latest report we have received regarding the man with the green hand. The king of Valiant Valdor Van Volden family, who is the last king of Valiant between the realm between Earth and Valiant and protector of the first world and Berk Van Polan from the Van Polan family.” Veronica said, stopping for a moment to look through her papers.
“Eh…Why did the king guy get an awesome introduction, and I only got Van Polan? It should have been the awesome protector of the Paladin woods and the handsome 21-year-old prick, the best investigator the Van Polan organization has had like...ever!” I commented.
Veronica and Valdor stared at me, not happy about my comment.
“Can I continue Berk?” She asked calmly, and I just nodded because this was not the moment to make jokes risking to piss her off.
“While the murders have kept going, we managed to take one criminal in for their actions, but the Mahmon creature died while we were interrogating it. In a report that we received from an insider source, the man with the green hand will make a run for it. He will try to take a secret train to Valiant. Your job is to go to the closed train station between Kista and Hallonbergen, which is called the Kymlinge station. There, Berk can go through the portal to the station together with Valdor. There is a kiosk where an old lady works for the Van Polan organization. She can give you instructions on the situation in the train station and which orders have come in for the trains for traveling.”. Veronica explained.
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I raised my hand, confused because Valiant mentioned in the conversation with the train station Kymlinge, which had been closed for several years and is a ghost station today.
“Eh, Veronica! What is Valiant, and why are we going to a train station that is completely abandoned here in Stockholm? It was closed because of ghost stories about Kymlinge station and two bodies found there with the rumor of murder.” I asked.
Valldor mumbled to himself and couldn’t keep himself relaxed anymore with the smiling face.
“Valiant is a world like here on Earth and Paladin Woods, but it’s much bigger than you can imagine. You have the same environment here, but it is a gateway between Earth and Hell. It’s divided into several different worlds, making it impossible for any prisoners from Hell to escape to Earth. Hence, it's divided into four worlds with smaller areas in each world that can look completely different, everything to hinder someone from reaching the next world. To be able to pass, you either need to be a king or have passage stones to go to the next world. Each world you pass becomes more and more challenging and dangerous as you get closer to the center of Valiant. Nobody has been able even to come close to the center of Valiant since the old war because it's to be protected. Still, the prisoners there are also the worst of the worst. You would probably die in the first world if you even tried.” Valldor told me with excitement in his eyes as I leaned backward so he didnt lean too close to my face.
Okay, another world divided into several worlds and not here. That explanation would have been easier to say than telling a fairy tale.
“Eh…So, have any humans have been there?” I asked because it made me curious.
Valldor nodded and continued.
“If I remember right! Around ten years ago, a white-haired witch and a young man crashed into Valiant; the rumors said the man had the powers of the strongest Krat. Soon after, Samantha, the witch, caught the young man. The man was released from prison and escaped to Earth with a baby girl in his arms; nobody knows why he kidnapped the girl, but the rumor goes that Samantha was going to kill the baby. The man gets stuck in the void when he returns to Earth and loses the baby girl who disappeared in the void. Nobody has heard anything from the white-haired witch and the young man.” Valldor explained with energy and dedication as if he were telling a fantasy story.
Hmm…It does sound intriguing: an innocent child wanted by a witch who is like Veronica and tries to kill the child. It makes me slightly suspicious of Veronica because she has white hair, and only a couple of witches within the organization have that color.
“How come this Samantha wanted to kill the child?” I asked.
Valldor's eyes lit up even more, and he leaned closer to my face while I tried to look away.
“Well, she has a fortune teller by her side who told her about this child who would be the one that would crash the whole kingdom she had built, a kingdom that was mine before. However, her Krat soldiers and army brought my family and everyone in Von Volden's kingdom into exile toward Earth. Not all kingdoms did fall, though; my dead brother's wife's kingdom, Queen Stella Von Volden, managed to push back Samantha's army. All the kingdoms after the Stella Kingdom made her the Queen of Valiant for saving a couple of kingdoms. Our kingdom didnt have any chance, and Samantha took most of our soldiers, forcing them to work for her. Many humans live in Valiant, which stayed there after the big war, strengthening Samantha's army. All the corruption in Valiant has to come to an end. Still, several kingdoms are under Samantha's rule today, and every outsider calls them The Fallen Kingdoms. Still, Stella came as the savior and blocked Samantha's kingdoms from accessing her kingdom, sealing the one door that led to Earth on Samantha's side. There is a rumor that a human was by Queen Stella's side because she had a child one year after that, who inherited her name, Princess Stella Von Volden, who is the heir to the throne.” Valldor explained.
I yawned because it became pretty dull when his eyes widened, and he closed into me, making it look like a romantic weekend for a couple.
“ENOUGH! Focus on the mission you two have in front of you now.” Veronica uttered with a focused facial expression.
Valldor stopped smiling for the first time and relaxed on his chair again. I could sit up properly on the chair after almost having a steroid head too close to my face.
“The report says the man with the green hand will come to Kymlinge train station in around two hours; I need you both to go there and try to find and arrest him so we can interrogate him. We still haven’t found the cause of why the murders have been going on with the soldiers, but also the three civilians and what connections they even have to this dangerous man.” Veronica explained.
The so-called King and I got up from the chair at the same time as we walked to the door when suddenly Veronica said:
“Berk! Be careful; this can get dangerous; try to be careful. Let Valldor go in front if any trouble comes, and do not try to be a hero.”
Well, from one perspective, it was nice words from Veronica with a facial expression of worries I have not seen on her face before. If I look at it from another perspective, I don’t get why she would even worry; I am fine by myself and wouldn’t need Steroid King here to be on my side like a protector. I could have done this myself.