If a person only had a short time to live, how many hours would they give to save someone?”

The answer varies to person to person, from various level of selfless and selfish. Going over all the possible responses may take months, or even years.

Martial Kim would instantly answer – 99 percent of his time. He needed that 1 precept left for after care.

He was that kind of person who would dive into fire and brimstone to try and help others. Even now, he not only used an advanced spiritual healing art to keep Fae Fae from cutting ties with the mortal realm, he was conducting back to back surgery on her body to save her entirely.

The amount of stamina used in such short notice equaled to a soldier having fought one battle after another for three days without rest or food.

Martial Kim may have been a martial artist, with enhanced endurance and strength, but in the end of the day he was human. It didn’t matter however, he wanted to do what he could within the short amount of time to make sure Fae Fae had a second chance.

Fortunately, he was not alone.

Martial Yellow Sister may have zero medical knowledge, she still had a lot of practical uses. While Martial Kim used his snow powers to lower Fae Fae’s body temperature and slow her blood loss, Martial Yellow Sister used her cloth powers to play the role of multiple assistants, carrying and passing various surgical tools and towels for him to use.

The operation was the Imperial Constabulary in one of the districts of the Capital City, the safest of places.

The size and space of the station rivalled that of a small mansion. It had many buildings and garrisons to divide the work of city administration, city archives, militia garrison, prison house, to even the court of law.

It also had many on-site residency such as the barracks for Constables who don’t have much of a home to return to, as well as private quarters for the local Judge and his family to reside. So it was obvious they have enough spare rooms for witness protections programs or temporary lodgings for important guests.

They loaned one of those rooms for Moon Tavern to help Fae Fae’s surgery, which would later double as their temporary headquarters for the ongoing investigation.

Inspector Lee was right outside of those doors, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.

When was the last time he had been this nervous? Ah yes, whenever his wife was giving birth to his children. He would think after the first born he would have a better patience for this sort of waiting, but even after child number two and three he still had the jitters.

Waiting to hear if Fae Fae was truly dead or not after all this work, was no different.

Fortunately he was not alone in his worries.

He was kept company with the chief constable of the Imperial Constabulary – the local Judge.

An important man with a long and wrinkled beard. Every five paces the Judge would give a worried tug on his beard, adding another wrinkle on it, trying to stay calm – as if he too was experiencing flashbacks to his own child being born behind those doors.

“Heavens have mercy, heavens please have mercy!” The Judge mumbled. “A disaster! This is simply a huge disaster! To think she was alive this whole time, right outside of the Capital door steps!? If word gets out, the whole station would be in trouble! They’ll all flag me as negligent and I’ll lose my position! Aaaah, I only have a few more years before my retirement, please dear gods don’t pull the rug from under my feet of all times!”

“W-worry not, your honour!” Inspector Lee barked – only to cover his mouth when he didn’t want to interrupt the sensitive operation in the room. “I have faith in Martial Kim’s skill. Why, he’s one of the few men we can rely on who can pull off such a rare talent like open body surgery! It’s not like we could up and summon the Imperial Surgeon straight from the Emperor’s palace to help us right?”

“That’s not what I am worried about! Don’t you understand!? Gods!” The Judge threw his hands up in the air in instant defeat as he kept tugging on his long beard, wrinkling it even more, “Wait until you sit in my chair and realize, just how much responsibility and expectations ride on my shoulders! I am a government official – it is my sworn duty to carry out my job to near perfection. But this...Oh heavens have mercy.”

The Judge couldn’t help with his emotions and just buried his face into his palms. Inspector Lee didn’t get it, not one bit, but he tried to console his superior officer with a pat on the back. It was what his friends did when he was waiting for the birth of his son in anticipation, so he HOPED it helped.

Suddenly the doors open.

Martial Kim and Martial Yellow Sister stumbled out, covered in various density of blood and viscera. The young master of Moon Tavern wiped his hand on a towel stained with pink and red blood as he tried to clean his hands of any internal residue.

“Fae Fae is stable, for now.” Martial Kim choked on the cold air. He forgot how long he was inside the hot room. He gambled everything on the operation and it paid off, removing the stones of burden off his shoulder. “However, her condition is still fragile. We were able to keep her on the surface of life, but the thin ice under her body could break and sink her back into death if we are not careful.”

“Oh thank the heavens she is alive!” The Judge openly prayed to the dark sky, just bowing to the heavens in gratitude. The last hing he wants was this mess on his conscious. “I can sleep well tonight...Oh, is it already morning?”

It was. They all lost track of time.

They recovered Fae Fae near early noon. Travelling back to the Capital took some time, even if they spurred the horses. Then after the series of surgeries, they all realized the ‘tomorrow’s’ sun was already waking up for the day.

“Worry not, Martial Kim,” the Judge snapped himself back into the conversation. “I will find a doctor to lend you help in taking care of Fae Fae, so you have free hands to carry on her investigation with Inspector Lee.

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“Actually, your honour,” Martial Kim held up a hand to stop the idea. “With all due respect, given Fae Fae’s critical condition I say we declare her dead, to the public. I believe it is best to avoid the murderer knowing their victim is still alive, or else they tie up loose ends. Also, I will take full responsibility for Fae Fae’s care. The smaller the circle of truth, the better.”

“Oh heavens, you’re absolutely right!” The Judge stuttered. “Now that I think about it, the doctor I had in mind is reliable but he spills the beans too much. Very well, I’ll leave Fae Fae’s healthcare in your hands, Moon Tavern!”

“Thank you, your honour,” Martial Kim bowed in gratitude.

The Judge then sighed as he stared into the room, hoping to see Fae Fae’s silhouette or so. “To think such a darling creature would end up like this. B-by the way, how bad are her injuries?”

“Fae Fae was stabbed six times.” Martial Kim answered with a sad frown. “The first five were shallow, but enough to cause internal bleeding. The sixth blow, however, pierced right through her sternum and into one of her heart chambers.”

The Judge and Inspector Lee covered their gaping mouths at this dreadful news. Six stabs? On such a sweet lady like Fae Fae? The cad!

“We’re looking for a monster, not at all a human being!” The Judge snapped with fury in his voice.

Inspector Lee asked, “Martial Kim. You think it’s the work of a serial killer. Six stabs in the heart? Feels like something a serial killer would do. Signature mark or something?”

“That could be one of the thousand possibilities.” answered Martial Kim and he held out his hand to his companion the blonde headed martial artist. “Still, I was able to remove the murder weapon......Martial Yellow Sister, are you alright?”

“H-huweha?” Martial Yellow Sister realized she snapped awake, while standing. Every now and then her body would feel this startling jolt when either her knees buckled or the cane slipped out of one of her hands. “P-perfectly fine. Of course! Hnn.”

Held aloft in one hand was a cloth, covering up an object. She peeled back the corner to show the hairpin. It was only then did everyone realized how LONG the hairpin was. The length of a short measuring stick, roughly 30 centimeters. Long, thing, made of sturdy gold. Half of it was, of course, stained in blood, but the ‘hilt’ end was a little different.

Martial Kim gestured a finger over that area. “I noticed some black substance on the murder weapon and collected some of it to do some research at a later time, once Fae Fae is more stable. Furthermore, the rear end is broken. See.”

He then plucked up the hairpin to hold it in front of his eye, to stare down the body like he was checking the straightness of an arrow.

Everyone would notice the hairpin had a bit of a warped angle near the end, with some broken pieces.

Inspector Lee said, “Could be a big man. Big strength. One hand and bent the hairpin in their grip.”

Martial Kim nodded, also thinking it to be a possible situation. Then turned the hairpin about to show the side, “The murder weapon also has some inscriptions. I believe it is a company logo. Alas, the warping obscured the engravings so it’s hard to read it full.”

Inspector Lee and Judge squinted hard to read the engravings that were precisely cut into the hairpin as thin as an ink brush.

STAR...and FORT...something along those lines.

“Definitely not a human name,” Inspector Lee murmured. Then asked, “Ah. Any luck on finger marks?”

“Unfortunately, there is no finger marks on the hairpin. I checked as best as I could,” Martial Kim bowed his head in apologies. “We do know there hasn’t been any rain in the last few days, so until we are certain we should assume the killer did something to hide their finger marks. Perhaps with a sleeve or glove.”

“Damn.” The Judge cursed at this misfortune, “Still, Fae Fae is alive. We still have a case! All we have to do is wait for her to wake up and she’ll tell us who the real killer is! Hah! I guess they didn’t see that one coming!”

“...”

“...Oh. M-martial Kim, please don’t scare me with that sad look. I am an old man, m-my heart can’t handle bad news!”

“Fae Fae lost a lot of blood. Not to mention, she was virtually left in a near death state for who knows how long. Barely has enough strength to breath...let alone wake up after a full sleep. It is likely she will not be opening her eyes any time soon.”

“Oh heavens, cut me some slack!” The Judge moaned as he tapped his fists to his head. “First she was left dead at the Capital doorsteps, now she is in a coma!? Oh heavens. How do I answer to my superior officers in the Imperial Cabinet!?”

“We’ll catch the killer!” Inspector Lee cheered out loud – only to be shushed in front of Fae Fae’s room. “Whatever the cost.”

The Judge just face palmed at his Inspector. Why did he have a bull of a man under his employ!?

Martial Kim tried to dissolve the situation with a calming voice. “We will continue the investigation nonetheless. Martial Yellow Sister and I are willing to help.”

Inspector Lee then asked, “Ah, do you at least have a time of death?”

“As Miss Fae Fae isn’t dead, I cannot ascertain when. The answer of how long she had been like this before we found her, is also blank.”

The Judge shook his head at one bad news after another. Courtesan or not, someone like Fae Fae had celebrity status. Surely he would hear her name whispered from the lips of higher ranking Court Judges and Magistrate within his circle. Surely they would want justice for the poor girl, regardless if they were an ‘off the book patron’ of hers. And it had to be done right, or heads will roll.

Not knowing what else to say to make the situation feel better, he bestowed upon leadership and authority to Inspector Lee and Moon Tavern to handle the case. The investigators bowed to the Judge as the official head off to bed.

When they were alone, Martial Kim would wake up Martial Yellow Sister with a small poke to the cheek.

“SNRRK!” She snapped awake, instinctively wiping any drool off her face. “H-how long was I out?”

“Two seconds.” Martial Kim hummed. He then gestured at the golden hairpin, “Join Inspector Lee in gathering some information. At the same time, look into the origins of this hairpin. Find out what company has the name STAR and FORT and made this jeweler.”

“Wait now!? Martial Yellow Sister yelped, “I-I only slept for two seconds!”

“I understand you are tired,” Martial Kim gave a sheepish grin. “However time is of the essence and we need to take advantage of what little resources we have. I have faith in your ability. Now, tell me what are the common motivations of homicide.”

Martial Yellow Sister resisted a groan. After a few deep breaths she answered, “Revenge, money, and love. At least, the top three of them.”

“Exactly. As Fae Fae cannot give us any information, it is up to use to check these avenues of investigation to help her find the killer. So, Inspector Lee. Would you so kindly speak with the members of the Celestial Dreams brothel.”

“Oh god. This gonna be a sob fest.” Inspector Lee muttered. “Come on little disciple girl, we got work to do.”

Martial Yellow Sister sucked in the air, but ended up deflating in defeat. After adjusting her cloak, she tried to make herself feel better by tapping her cane and feel she was a rich woman...

That was when she noticed Martial Kim not following. In fact, he was heading back into Fae Fae’s room.

“Martial Kim? You’ve been on your feet all day, shouldn’t you rest by now?”

“The wicked never sleeps,” Martial Kim grinned as he closed the doors, “And neither shall Moon Tavern!”