“Idris, I want to take a nap…” Saya mumbled, supporting her head with her hands, her blank eyes slowly gliding over the crowded pages of a book.

“Fine.”

Without another word she slumped sideways onto his shoulder, and began gently snoring almost right away.

They’ve spent the entire day searching the libraries of Bluewater, going through every book of interest and noting down every detail which might be helpful to their search.

Now, well past dusk, the master apprentices, somewhat used to the many hours of reading and studying, were still working away at their own books, breezing through them like scholars at some prestigious institute. Nina and Andrei were sitting side by side, mulling over the pages of a massive encyclopedia. Otto had parted ways with them for the day to call upon some of his distant associates for help.

“Thomas, I think we should rest for the day,” said Bruno, looking around at the tired students. “Everyone is at their limit.”

“I’m doing just fine,” Kana grumbled, not lifting her eyes from the book she was rapidly flipping through.

“Yeah, Kana, not everyone’s like you.”

Thomas looked around at everyone and rubbed his eyes, he too was getting to the limit of his abilities. “Sure…” he mumbled. “Everyone, let’s leave it there for today, we’ve gathered enough info. We’ll have dinner at the inn, then talk about our next steps.”

They all let out a deep breath before shutting their books, and as the sun set over the water they returned the books to their rightful shelves, before leaving the library for good.

Over the course of the day they had visited three different libraries scattered throughout Bluewater. The first, a small private library, provided no real insight. The second, the Royal Library of Eidolon, the largest of the kind in the kingdom, held so many books it took them an hour just to find the ones they wanted.

In the end however, the books turned out to be somewhat useless. Though there were wealths of knowledge on telepathy and mind control, there was little on the topic they needed.

Finally, they visited the Library of Mages, a massive library containing only books relevant to magic and its applications. There, they managed to find a few books dedicated to telepathy, and even one documenting the history of persistent control. Though no specific names were given, several interesting people were mentioned as possibly having this ability.

The first, Howard Halsgard, a resident of Bluewater and the proud owner of a popular magic academy, is reportedly a master at telepathy who has often demonstrated his impressive abilities in front of classes and at lectures. Though unlikely to be skilled enough and without any motives, it is still a place to start.

The second is Gracie Letterman, a skilled negotiator working for the Royal Family. She is an extremely skilled telepath, enough to easily manipulate almost anyone into cooperation during interrogations. If the Royal Family, or anyone with power for that matter, had a grudge against Rose, Gracie would be an obvious choice.

The third is the headmaster of the Royal House of Magic, the most prestigious magic academy of the kingdom. Though old, he is still recognized as an extremely distinguished mage, with impressive telepathy and telekinesis abilities. Though, like their first suspect, he has no motives to go off of.

But conjecture aside, they’d have to first go and talk with their suspects first.

“Three suspects, huh…” Thomas mumbled, looking at the abbreviated profile sheets which Kana had produced earlier. “That’s not a lot.”

“It’s all we can do for now,” answered Kana. “There’s so little knowledge on this specific part of magic that it really is difficult to find much without looking for it ourselves.”

Thomas thought for a moment. “If I heard that from anyone else I would have told them they weren’t looking hard enough,” he paused for a moment, nodded, then continued. “Fine. That’s good for now. Tomorrow morning we head to mister Halsgard’s residence to interrogate him first. Then we set off for Kingston in the afternoon, stopping at the Rose manor along the way. Otto, are the preparations done?”

“Yes,” Otto replied, wearing his now much cleaner cloak. “I’ve equipped both of our carriages with better lanterns and repellent gems, they should let us travel a little easier when it gets dark.”

Otto had brought along much of the goods he had been buying and selling, gemstones and artifacts which usually cost a fortune to acquire, and offered it all up for them to use. Otto’s carriage, a large merchant carriage with a dedicated cabin for travelers to rest in, and spring steel on the wheels to smoothen the ride even more than the gemstones already do, means road trips are faster and much more comfortable. The two horses, a bonded pair, are bred from the most sought-after line of endurance horses, capable of pulling for days without stop.

As such, they’ve opted to move most of their cargo supplies to their original wagon, and having the people stay on Otto’s much nicer carriage. Earlier they had a somewhat heated discussion on who will be driving their original wagon, and finally settled on an hourly rotation schedule.

“Good,” said Thomas with a nod. “For tomorrow, I want Saya, Idris, and Bruno to be interrogating him while the others search the rest of the residence for additional clues.”

“What if he isn’t at his house?” Saya asked with a raised hand.

“Saya, I’ve done my homework, unlike you sometimes.”

“Hey! What do you mean! I do…”

“What about me?” Otto asked, cutting off Saya’s angry moaning. “What should I do?”

“Holding perimeter and preparing for extraction, of course,” Thomas answered. “You used to handle logistics a long time back, often as my senior. I''m sure you haven't forgotten?”

Otto smiled. “Of course I haven’t, Thomas.”

“We won’t have any maps and detailed planning,” Thomas continued. “If we, of all people, can’t pull off such a small operation successfully, then, well, we don’t deserve to be assassins of Rose. Understood?”

“Understood!” They replied in unison.

*****

Thomas thumped the heavy wooden door thrice with his knuckles.

There was no response.

The owner is shrewd, he knows that he’s not expecting anyone.

He knocked once more, and again, there was no response.

“Saya, force the lock,” Thomas whispered, stepping aside.

Saya held up her hand to the brass lock, using her powers to manipulate the components inside.

“This lock has magic-proofing, this may take a while…” She whispered. “Won’t be too long though.”

Bruno scrunched his nose slightly. The man knows they’re here for no good. The longer they take to get in, the more likely it is he will slip away.

“Step back,” Bruno whispered, gently moving Thomas and Saya aside while drawing his great sword.

After a deep breath, Bruno swung the massive sword over his head in a sweeping arc, crunching into the door, sending splinters of wood flying. Though the wood is thick, the weighty blade cleaved through it with little trouble, leaving a jagged gash in its path.

Bruno brought his sword up again, and in a few more swings, opened up a sizable hole in the wood.

As Bruno stepped back and sheathed his sword, Saya kicked in the weakened section of the door, then dove through it head first, deftly rolling to her feet inside. Idris and Bruno followed suit, breaking into a run after Saya, headed straight for the master bedroom. The others entered after them, spreading out through the house to look for clues.

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They caught the man still asleep in his bed, completely unaware of their arrival. It seems that he isn’t so smart after all, just lazy.

“Huh…? Who…” he whispered, sitting up from his bed.

“Don’t move,” Bruno ordered, leveling his sword with the man’s throat.

Terror at once filled the man’s eyes as his scream caught in his throat. Idris knew then that this isn’t their guy. This is no calculating murderer, merely a coward.

“Relax, we won’t hurt you if you behave,” Bruno smiled, slowly lowering his sword. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name.”

“Wha… what?”

“Your name. What is it?”

The man’s eyes darted between the three of them and their brandished weapons. “How… Howard D. Hal…”

“Not your full name,” interrupted Bruno. “Howard… I see… Howard,” He spoke slowly as he wandered over to a comfortable couch in the corner of the room, carefully leaning his sword against it before sitting down.

Idris and Saya stood guard at the door as Bruno went about his interrogation. Though not a specialized interrogator, he is still the most experienced of the group and has the most controlling presence.

“So, Howard, do you know why we’re here?” Bruno asked.

“N… no?” Howard stuttered.

“Well, Howard, you’re a telepath, aren’t you?”

“Well… yes…”

Saya perked up a little at the man’s answer. “He’s lying.”

Aside from telekinesis, Saya also has some telepathy, but as secondary abilities often are, it is flawed. While not quite capable of mind reading or control, she is able to tell the legitimacy of a statement with almost perfect accuracy.

Bruno looked at Saya, then back at Howard. “You heard her.”

“I’m… I’m not lying!” The man yelped, still stuttering from fright.

“Yes you are!” Bruno boomed, causing the man to flinch backwards. “Yes you are! Now, again, are you a telepath?”

“I…” Howard paused. “I’m not…”

“What are you then?”

“I’m… nothing… I don’t know magic.”

Bruno looked over at Saya with questioning eyes, but Saya simply nodded.

“He’s telling the truth.”

Bruno sighed. “Very well… that answers a lot of questions…” He gestured to Saya. “Saya, anything else you want to ask?”

“Yes,” Saya walked to the front of the bed, her spear hovering besides her. “Good morning.”

“Good…”

“We know you own an academy here, and as such, you probably have an ample knowledge on magic in general,” Saya paused for a moment. “Have you ever heard of persistent control?”

“No…”

Saya nodded. “Then, suppose I wanted to find the most powerful telepath in this kingdom, where would I go?”

“I… I don’t…”

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t…”

“You’re lying.”

Howard sighed. “There has long been a legend of an old mage, a hermit, tucked away deep in the mountains. For a long time, he was by far the greatest telepath in the kingdom…”

“Where can I find this person?” Asked Saya, cutting off Howard.

Though usually an airhead, Saya almost becomes a different person during interrogations. Many master apprentices and even seniors have noted her strange affinity for this task, and as such, she started specializing in interrogations the year before.

“I don’t know… But Sir Allison Lapland, headmaster of the Royal House of Magic might.”

Saya nodded slowly. “Does the name Gracie Letterman seem familiar?”

“The negotiator for the Royal Family?”

“Do you have any connections with her?”

“Why would I?”

“Mages this powerful are usually a pretty close-knit group,” Saya replied. “So, do you have any connections?”

Howard slowly shook his head. No... really...”

Saya paused for a moment. “Do you have any connections with any of the powerful mages?”

“No...”

Saya paused for a moment longer. “You’re telling the truth… How come?”

“They know I’m a fraud,” Howard smiled wryly. “They don’t want their names tainted by any connections with me.”

“Who do you know then?”

Howard thought for a moment. “Sir Allison Lapland, I suppose…”

“Can you arrange us a meeting in five day’s time? We would like to talk to him, on more even ground than this.”

“I'd rather not...”

"Yes you will."

"Yes."

Seeing that Saya’s questioning has concluded, Bruno got to his feet, grabbing his sword and tucking it into the sheath on his belt.

“We’re done here, let’s go,” Bruno said as he headed for the door. “Howard, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Um… well… paperwork for my academy,” Howard answered, a little confused by the question.

“Good, then do exactly that,” Bruno said with a threatening smile as he left the room. “You were rudely woken up this morning by robbers, but they were chased away by your magic, understood?”

"Yes..."

"Good."

Saya and Idris turned to head for the door, but were stopped by a call from Howard.

“One last thing… who are you?” Howard asked.

“I’m afraid It’s not your turn for questions,” Saya replied.

Howard sighed. “And… the door…”

“I trust you have the money to pay for a simple door?”

“Well, a pound is a pound. I might look rich, but I’m barely getting by,” said Howard, his head hung low. “Times are changing, magic is changing, my academy is barely even breaking even.”

Idris pulled a gold coin out of his bag and tossed it towards Howard, who caught it with his hand.

“Thank you.”

They left through the hole in the door which they had entered through, finding the others already gathered just outside. Together they waited for Otto’s wagon, which was doing laps around the residence, and leapt aboard the next time it came around.

“All good?” Otto asked as they piled in one after another.

“Yep,” Thomas replied as he climbed up into the carriage. “If not a little underwhelming.”

“Why?”

“Turns out, the guy’s a fraud, he doesn’t even know magic.”

“I can’t believe it!” Kana exclaimed, scratching her hair with both of her hands. “The owner of the Bluewater Magic Academy is a fraud? I’m totally going to write a paper about this and publish it in the Magic journal, this is absolutely going to put the legitimacy of so many more mages into question. Ohhhh… I can’t wait for my name to be in the journal! Any of you want to co-author?” She asked the other excitedly.

“No,” Thomas and Bruno replied flatly as Otto averted his eyes

“Raina?”

“Um… well…”

“Idris? Saya? Nina? Andrei?”

“Well…” Saya muttered, trying to kindly decline her offer.

“Kana, you know you can’t publish that,” said Thomas.

“Oh… oh ok…” mumbled Kana dejectedly.

There was a moment of awkward silence, but Otto soon spoke up to fill it in.

“Where are we headed?” He asked.

“First back home, then to Kingston, the royal city,” Thomas answered.

Idris looked at Andrei and Nina, who were busy sorting through the stuff they found at Howard’s house, and then to Saya, who was just sitting there, looking out of the window idly as they clattered down the tiled streets of Bluewater.

“Saya, you’re like a different person during interrogations,” said Idris, thinking back to the commanding and professional way Saya had talked at Howard’s house.

“Thank you!" Saya replied cheerfully. “Why else would I be specializing in interrogations?”

“Yeah yeah, I didn’t mean it as a compliment.”

“You… what!?” Saya exclaimed. “Wait so… does that mean you prefer the normal me?”

“Maybe.”

Saya’s cheeks went a little pink as she began to giggle uncontrollably.

It would take them a day and a half to get home, then another four or five to get to Kingston. They’d be journeying through the night to save time, so that they can be a step ahead of their enemies.

But preying eyes watched from the shadows, and the answer which they sought is still far, far away.