A few hours later, late at night, in the marshal's bedroom…

「…One of the three, you say?」

Ursa asks while casually sitting sideways at his desk, leaning onto it with his elbow, and holding a half-full drinking glass in his hand.

「Yes. One of them has spent a large amount of money lately. Far more than anyone from the Ministry could make. I'll get the witnesses to point the suspect out tomorrow-」

Niklaus nods and replies. Ursa takes a sip while he listens.

Knock knock knock…

「Hm? A visitor at this hour?… Who is it? Come on in.」

Ursa and Niklaus turn their heads to the door. It opens, and Will enters.

「Will… I was about to head to bed. What brings you here? Any breakthroughs?-」

The marshal furrows his brows in surprise at Will's appearance. Niklaus and Ursa glance at each other, and Will moves out of the way of the door. Two Ministry of Security agents drag in the third, who's wearing only partial uniform in form of his pants, and the fourth enters right after them. Will adjusts his glasses with a serious expression on his face.

「This is the armorer responsible for the theft of the Flashlight.」

Will announces as he glances at the disheveled man wearing only a shirt, boots, and uniform pants.

「What? Really?… You're certain he's the one?」

Surprised, Ursa again glances at Niklaus in disbelief, then sets his glass down and stands up.

「He had 60 drakes in his pocket, and the Flashlight went missing during his shift.」

The fourth Ministry agent chimes in, showing Ursa and Niklaus the fistful of drakes.

「I'll take them. This is the evidence I was looking for.」

Niklaus declares and steps up to the man. He nods in reply, and holds his palm out for Niklaus to scoop the money off of.

「…I believe I can leave the rest to you, marshal? I'll file his charges at the court… Then hit the hay myself. Long day.」

Niklaus asks while looking at Ursa, before turning his dark eyebags to Will.

「Of course. What a high note to end the day on…」

The marshal nods, and Niklaus squeezes himself past the group of men to exit the room.

「…Niklaus was hard at work trying to figure it out. He caught wind of an armorer from the Ministry conspicuously spending large amounts of money, but he didn't know which one…」

Ursa looks at the arrested armorer with scorn in his eyes, then returns his attention to Will, who adjusts his glasses. The armorer winces.

「…Looks like you beat him to it. I knew you had it in you, but how'd you do it? I was suspecting the armorers, but there were three of them. Who's guilty, then?」

The marshal adds with a smug, approving smirk, then shrugs his shoulders.

「Once I narrowed it down to the armorers, it was pretty simple. I'm lucky the other armorer was cooperative, otherwise I'd be stuck, but…」

Will explains while adjusting his glasses again, then glances at the arrested man.

「…Well, Niklaus started at the thread, I started at the ball. We'd reach the same conclusion sooner or later. The would-be assassin is dead, so we can't really do justice here.」

He adds, then shrugs his shoulders in resignation.

「Nonsense. If not for him, this whole mess could have been avoided. Why'd he do it? Money? Or was it a conspiracy?」

Ursa lets out an amused huff, then nods up at the man in the agents' grasp.

「I can explain…」

The armorer replies while grimacing heavily.

「I'm sure you can. Take him to the dungeon, and arrange a meeting with the interrogator. Let's see what he-」

The marshal scoffs at the armorer's claim, then commands the men holding him. They begin to back out of the room.

「Ah, that won't be necessary, marshal…」

Will cuts him off, raising his palm. The men stop and turn their eyes to him, furrowing their brows a little.

「How so? We still need his guilt admission, even if we have the evidence. I'd rather spare us a lengthy trial when we practically caught him red-handed. Rope and done.」

Ursa tilts his head in confusion, grimacing a little as he turns his eyes back to the accused man, before shrugging nonchalantly.

「He practically confessed everything when I pushed him. The assassin approached him at the inn, one thing lead to another, and he was offered 60 drakes to sneak out the Flashlight…」

Will adjusts his glasses as he begins explaining.

「…He ended up getting a lot more, and he sympathized with the assassin somewhat, but it was no organized conspiracy. If you have questions, I can answer them.」

He adds, shrugging his hand.

「No, that won't be necessary. Two people couldn't have come to the same conclusion from two different starting points by accident… But he still has to be taken to the dungeon.」

The marshal nonchalantly replies with a shake of his head, then waves the Ministry agents away with his hand. They nod, and drag the restrained armorer out.

「…Even if he's obviously guilty, I still think he deserves a fair trial and the right to defend himself, marshal. It's the law.」

Briefly looking over his shoulder as they carry the man out, Will adjusts his glasses and addresses the marshal with a serious tone.

「Can you blame me, Will? I'm a military man. If it were up to me, as soon as I'd have solid evidence that he's guilty, he'd be getting dragged to the nearest tree and dangled…」

With a very short chuckle and a light grin, Ursa shrugs with his hands behind his back.

「…But I know it's her majesty's law. Nothing makes useless busybodies happier than taking something you can solve in five minutes, and stretching it to two months. Pft.」

The marshal admits with another shrug and a frustrated sigh, then lets out a disdainful scoff while shaking his head in ridicule.

「It's not a right we keep for the guilty, marshal. It's for those who are innocent.」

「Maybe so… Maybe so, Will…」

Will replies. Ursa nods along as he returns to his seat, and his glass of golden alcohol.

「…Ahh, I have a little favor, if it's not too much to ask.」

The marshal briefly raises his index finger before taking a sip from his glass.

「What is it, marshal?」

Will adjusts his glasses and furrows his brows a little.

「Could I ask you to explain the whole situation to her majesty?… Tomorrow!… I'm sure she's asleep by now, anyway.」

Ursa requests, then quickly raises his palm to correct himself, before taking another sip and nearing to the bottom of the glass.

「I was planning to anyway, if no one else was going to do that.」

The young man nods, and shrugs his robed shoulders.

「Thank you, Will. I will speak to her majesty and see if we can't get you a nice reward for getting to him first… And get some rest. You've earned it.」

The marshal returns an approving nod, and finishes his glass with one last mighty gulp.

「I'm not doing it for the money, marshal… Goodnight.」

Will calmly declares, and shuts the door behind himself as he leaves.

In the hallway, Will lets out a long, fatigued sigh, then heads in the direction of the palace doors.

「Good grief… It's so late. I bet they all went back to their rooms already… I'm too tired to even eat anything…」

He grumbles to himself, adjusting his glasses with his shoulders slouched, and heavily relying on his staff to walk.

「…Whatever. I'll just quickly check the inn and get a room there if they left.」

Will shrugs, and lets out another sigh as he takes a turn in the halls…

…

The next day, in the early morning, outside the inn…

Greaves and his party exit the inn. Will splits off towards the palace.

「Are you going to see Cycelia, Will?」

Holding her silver wand low in her hands, Alicia asks with her head tilted.

「Yeah… Don't wait for me. If I don't catch up, let's meet at the village.」

Will returns a nod over his shoulder and adjusts his glasses.

「Tsk… Whatever. Let's go, Alicia.」

Greaves shrugs, then moves on towards the city gate. Alicia nods back to Will, then hurries to follow Greaves with Lian. After a moment, only her spear can be seen sticking out from above the crowd. Will turns his gaze forward to avoid bumping into someone, and gives the ads littering the streets a few dismissive glances each. He shakes his head in disapproval as he lets out a tiny sigh, while unable to ignore the sense of awe.

Vrooooommmmm!…

People on the streets move aside to clear the way for one of the autowagons noisily heading for the gate. Everyone, Will included, stares at the strange metal beast roaring in the streets as it rolls away. After a moment, he continues onward after adjusting his glasses, scrunching his mouth to the side.

Fffffffwwwwwwwooooopffffffff… Ffwwopmffffffmmmmm…

「Hm?…」

Will furrows his brows at what initially sounds like an odd wind. After a moment, he realizes that the sound isn't abating in the slightest, and seems to be coming from the sky itself. He turns his eyes upward and searches for its source. It doesn't take long for him to trace an odd, perfectly straight line of clouds in the otherwise relatively clear sky. At the end of the cloud, a black dot continues stretching the line longer and longer. Will adjusts his glasses and squints.

「…Huh. First time I see it fly. Bizarre.」

Will mumbles to himself while watching the dot. Though he can't visually see what it is, it's not difficult at all to deduce that it's the black aircraft had Straf left outside the city. The entire city appears to have frozen in time as every single pedestrian is staring up at the sky, and wondering what the noisy flying object might be. Will lets out another sigh, this time more frustrated, and continues onward towards the palace.

「Tsk…」

He clicks his tongue as he begins to idly think. He nominally avoids the people ahead, but Will's gaze is directed to the side at nothing in particular, and deep in thought.

《「…It's one o' those speedy things!」》

Past Greaves's voice heard some time ago replays in Will's mind while he furrows his brows, and turns his gaze downward.

《「…They were in my dream! They were a little different, but it's the same thing!…」》

Will recalls another excited exclamation from Greaves, stepping aside and past a random man, turning a little to avoid collision.

「Tsk…」

《…What are you, Straf? Fair enough if you're from some distant, foreign kingdom… But nobody in the world has seen things like these. Not one mention in any book.》

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Frustrated, Will clicks his tongue again and briefly glances at the aircraft overhead, scrunching his mouth to the side as he passes another lifelike ad.

In a poor mood despite the successful investigation, Will continues onward towards the palace with a sour face.

「…Something happen?」

One of the plumed guards at the gate asks when he notices Will's expression.

「Hm?.. Ah, no. I'm quite alright, actually. Thanks.」

His head perks up when he realizes how he might look like to others. He then quickly erases his grimace back to a more neutral look on his face.

The guards nod along, and simply shrug as Will walks past them. The doors to the palace open.

「Ah.」「Ah.」

Stripe and Will both utter out when they see each other. She walks up to him in a hurried step as he stops and adjusts his glasses.

「You… How's Straf?…」

She asks with her arms crossed, and her golden eyes turned aside towards the garden.

「I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you… I mean…」

Will replies in a troubled tone with a shrug of his shoulders.

「Just tell me. You know I have this damn thing on. I can't run, or harm him.」

Tink… Tink… Tink…

Stripe insists with her mouth scrunched to the side in frustration, noisily scratching at her collar's edge with her index finger's claw. After a moment of thought, Will lets out a sigh.

「…Fine. But don't tell anyone I told you… He's still unconscious, and he might be for a long time.」

With a tight-lipped grimace on his face, he adjusts his glasses as he raises his head out of a slouch.

「Huh? A long time?… How long?」

Stripe's eye narrows a little in a mix of surprise and concern, blinking at Will with her arms still warily crossed.

「Wish I knew.」

He bluntly replies with a shrug.

「…How long do you think? An estimate.」

She asks, and Will turns his bespectacled eyes away as he gives the question some serious consideration. He thinks, and thinks.

「…I genuinely don't know. It depends on how much mana he has, in general, but also his mana regeneration… Next week, next year, next ten years… All are as likely in my view.」

Still a little troubled, Will scratches the back of his head as he replies, and shrugs once more with a hint of helplessness.

「Wha-?…」

Stripe's head perks up, then retracts away from Will with her mouth agape in surprise. Her golden eyes blink at him in shocked disbelief.

「…Ten years?」

She asks in a tone of utter disbelief.

「Maybe more, really… I seriously don't know. I want to say soon, but I also know he's a monster with more mana than what's reasonable… So I just don't know. Don't ask me.」

He adds, and shrugs his arms with a little tilt of his head, then adjusts his glasses while looking up at Stripe's shocked face.

Her shock slowly fades into an expression that's difficult to decipher, but it certainly is not a positive one. Her golden eyes return to his after a moment, and she stares at him with her mouth scrunched to the side for a prolonged moment of silence. As he adjusts his glasses, Will notices the two bumps beneath her cloth hat appear to have disappeared.

「…Well, whatever.」

Stripe utters out in an almost angered tone, and storms away in the direction of the gate with her fists clenched. Will shrugs, and carries on.

He enters the palace, and approaches the first turn in the hallway.

「Ah!」「Oh.」

Will exclaims and jumps back as Nona steps out from the corner, almost walking into him. She tilts her fluffy brown head at him.

「The interrogator… What's with me running into people all of a sudden?…」

He utters out as he adjusts his misaligned glasses.

「Yup. You're that small guy from the new year's party!」

Nona declares with a smile.

「Geh!… I'm not small! Greaves is at least a head shorter than me! It's his hair causing an illusion that he's taller!」

「Really?」

Will shouts back, angrily shaking his fist. Nona tilts her head again, genuinely surprised to hear his claim. He lets out a frustrated huff.

「…Sorry, I forgot your name. I know you're usually at the bank.」

Adjusting his glasses once more, Will delivers an awkward apology, and helplessly shrugs his shoulders with his mouth aslant.

With one hand holding her hammer's grip and her other fumbling with her breast pocket on her uniform jacket, she pulls out a small leather rectangle, and unfolds it.

「…Nona Bounder…」

She proudly declares with a cheeky grin while showing Will her Ministry of Security identification. Her serious face on her photo almost makes her seem like a different person.

「…I kinda forgot your name too. Tehe.」

Tap.

Nona quickly folds and slides her identification back to her pocket, then pats her hat with her palm and sticks out her tongue in an innocent, silly gesture. Will lets out a sigh.

「Fair enough… It's Will. Will Steele, but it's not important. I don't really care if you remember my name or not… Just don't call me a twerp… Or that small guy.」

He adjusts his glasses and reintroduces himself, shrugging his shoulders with a lightly fatigued face while looking up into her large amber eyes.

「Okay…」

She nods, then tilts her head a little as she smiles at him, narrowing her eyes. The two blink at each other in a moment of awkward silence. An uneasy feeling fills Will.

「…How's the investigation?」

Nona suddenly asks, while lazily hanging her crossed wrists off the two-handed hammer's grip.

「Ah… Finished. It was a semi-random assassin and the night shift armorer. He was paid off to hand over the Flashlight. Your boss already had it figured out, pretty much.」

Will casually replies with a shrug of his arms, then nods a little in approval.

「Flashlight?…」

She tilts her head, furrowing her brows.

「Eh? You don't know?… I'll spare you the details. It's the stolen anti-vampire weapon.」

Will furrows his back as his head recoils a little in surprise. He adjusts his glasses, and replies with a quick and lukewarm explanation.

「Hmmm…」

Nona humms enigmatically as she tilts her head again.

「…You're pretty smart, ain'tcha?」

She casually says while blinking her amber eyes at him.

「Huh? Eh? Ahh… Not really… I try to be…」

Will breaks eye contact and bashfully adjusts his glasses.

「…How's Straf?」

After a short pause, Nona asks in a tone that's audibly more serious.

「He's…」

Trying to compose himself, Will continues adjusting his glasses.

「…Look. I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you this either. I don't really know who I'm allowed to talk with about this.」

He explains, shrugging his hand.

「Hmmm?… But he's my boss… And my boss's boss…」

Nona replies, pouting a little and turning her boot on her toes.

「Tsk… I guess I can tell you a little…」

Will relents with a sigh, and adjusts his glasses.

「…He's unconscious, and likely will be for a long time.」

「Hm? How long? Rest of the week?」

He replies with a troubled grimace. Nona quickly asks another question, tilting her head and blinking at him.

「No, that's…」

Will is about to reply with a ridiculing tone, but stops himself and lets out an exasperated sigh.

「…That's my shortest estimate. The longest one stretches as far as a few decades.」

Scrunching his mouth to the side, he adds with a helpless shrug of his arms.

「Decades?… A decade is like, ten years, right?…」

Nona furrows her brows, tilting her head the other way as she asks. A little baffled, Will can only nod in reply.

She visibly thinks for a moment as her amber gaze wanders aimlessly. Her brows suddenly rise, and her head perks up in shock as the sum of multiple decades dawns of her.

「…Wait! That's a really long time! Are you sure!?」

Nona leans forward, blinking at Will with her eyes wide open.

「No. It's my guess, and a very inaccurate one at that. Honestly, he could wake up either next week, or within the next ten years. I don't know. Everyone really needs to stop asking me this.」

He shakes his head, holding his glasses in place on top of his nose with his index finger. Will then helplessly shrugs his shoulders again with his brows furrowed, and face visibly fatigued.

「…That's not good.」

Nona quietly replies with her gaze lowered to the ground, then heads out of the palace without another word while Will watches her leave.

Taking a deep breath and letting out a large exhale, Will adjusts his glasses once again, and continues onward towards the stairs…