Ironwood, Middle Street, 24th Benzo Street

The wind howled and made the midnight feel surreal. Along its way, the wind picked up leaves and other materials on the ground as it passed through the empty, usually lively, street. A blue moon cast its blue humid light on to the wet ground which had been poured on due to the storm that had managed to calm down.

As the empty streets were filled with nature's wrath the rain continued lightly as the raindrops fell on the rocky road leading to 2nd Benzo Street. The trees hiding inside an empty park were swirling their leaves around and it felt truly surreal. Indeed, this would happen occasionally due to the geographical structure of the Eastern Continent.

A pair of eyes were glaring outside with a hint of irritation. An old man was standing near his window wearing a loose white shirt and a pair of dark trousers. His bronze glasses were sitting restlessly on top of his face as he knitted his eyebrows before letting out a deep sigh. His room was dimly lit by an orange-yellowish gas lamp and the man glanced outside for a few more minutes.

Indeed, he enjoyed the rain. What irritated him was the sound of footsteps which he had heard for minutes now. Glancing to his right he saw the man he had glared at for a while. He wore a halved hat and had a long black trench coat alongside dark trousers. And a poetic vibe to him. Of course, this was the usual look on a detective or an investigator. This made the man slightly irritated.

Why would an investigator be here? He silently pondered as the rain continued to drop on the ground. The grey skies covered the horizon, but the moon's light managed to pass through leaving the streets dimly lit and seeable.

The man's wife entered the room behind him and stood beside him. She had long grey hair and a youthful face despite her old age. She wore a dark blue dress and a small hat on her hair. She glanced at her husband smiling softly. The man smiled back in a hurry before looking out the window. The wife glanced outside for a moment too.

"Dear. These past few days you've been watching outside the window, especially at midnight. Is there something troubling you?"

The man frowned as he massaged his forehead before letting out a chuckle. He turned to look at his wife's dark blue eyes as he shook his head in delight. Before speaking up silently,

"It troubles me that there is a detective out on our streets. He has been roaming here for a few days now. Usually during these hours. It was my first time seeing him a week ago and from there on he wouldn't stop appearing."

His wife walked closer to the window and glanced to her right and indeed a man was seen pacing back and forth lost in thought. His wife chuckled and smiled. She took her head away from the window.

"A detective is nothing problematic. They exist to solve cases. Do not worry, Russel. It should be no problem since we have nothing to hide." His wife Sylvia said with a soothing voice. He had grown to love his wife ever since he married her in his mid-twenties. They were now around the late 70s.

The husband, Russel, smiled as he shook his head. "Indeed, there is nothing to worry about. I wonder what he is thinking about?" Russel said as he peeked at the window.

"Nothing major, perhaps. This is a matter of the detective. This has nothing to do with us." His wife said as she headed towards the kitchen. Russel sighed deeply before pulling the curtains and heading, to the kitchen.

"Indeed…"

…

A tycoon was walking on the empty dark streets as he was reading a newspaper. Its headline was quite chilling today as he shook his head. He had blonde long hair and blue deep eyes. A bulky build and he was wearing the usual businessman clothing. Dark vest, white linen shirt, and dark trousers. One couldn't forget the pocket watch and cane.

As the man continued to stroll past the road towards his house, he began pondering feeling quite scared. "The headline today is horrifying. Imagine how people will react when they wake up…"

On the neatly folded newspaper, a sentence written in a black font was seen taking up the majority of the front page. It had a weird sense of mystery and darkness to it for some reason.

-Serial Killer on Loose! -

Murders were not that uncommon in the lower classes, however, in the middle classes a murderer would pass every decade or so. Of course, police agencies and other security corporations have ambitions to eliminate these problems. Their biggest obstacle is the lower classes. Where one would kill for even bread.

They couldn't eliminate of the poor by donating large sums of money or offering good jobs. As the population is rising more and more. Some influential people were thinking about demolishing the lower classes by enforcing slavery or some sort of punishment towards them. That law was never passed due to other influential people. Some were moral, others not.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

A serial killer on the loose in the middle classes was a problem for the police agency. If it was by normal means they could start an investigation but sometimes supernatural forces play a role so they would assign the job to stronger agencies that specialize in supernatural forces.

In the city of Mindale- the biggest city inside the kingdom of Mercure- agencies like the Order of Mighty Court would fix these supernatural cases within a week or two. Which gained a lot of trust from the people.

The man let out a sigh as he continued walking. His footsteps were echoing and the rain mixed with the sounds of footsteps. As the man walked, he could see another man walking back and forth continuously for a few minutes. He glanced upwards a few more meters away where a curtain was dragged forth and the light turned off. The man scratched his head in confusion as he passed the man walking back and forth.

Looking at the corner of his eyes he could see the man had no expression on his face and looked rather pale. Stopping in his tracks he quickly glanced back and noticed that the man was looking directly at him!

Instantly the bulky man looked away and pulled his hat further down as his pace quickened. Looking slightly back the man continued to look at his with dark eyes that seemed inhumane. The tycoon walked further and further away showing no sign of care for the detective. On the other end of the road the tycoon found an intersection and headed right towards the upper street where, of course, the upper class lived. Heading inside his house the tycoon heaved a sigh of relief as he placed his vest on the clothing rack.

"Who in the world was that? Should I call Mr. Nightmare Hive?" He muttered as he began pondering for a few minutes. The man shook his head. Grover Kerran, the tycoon, headed upstairs to write a letter to his private investigator. 'His' private investigator meant that the investigator would prioritize his request, this happens due to two things.

Firstly, a good relationship with the investigator would make him take your cases more seriously. If he was a good friend of yours or a person you donated a lot of money to is what the term relationship with a private investigator means. Secondly, sometimes it goes against his will. For example, if the government would want the private investigator to prioritize certain cases, he has no choice but to do so.

However, those who are professional and influential can reject forcing the government with a solution. Money.

Grover Kerran took a deep sigh as he began writing a letter to his private investigator who was his best friend. He scribbled and scribbled, not seeming to care about the time. The midnight rain continued to pour down onto the city leaving people restful.

…

In another part of the street, a man wearing a halved hat, a dark coat, and a black pair of trousers stood there twitching. His eyes appeared darker than they usually do, and his messy brunette hair swirled in the wind beneath his hat. The man was breathing heavily as he walked back and forth not caring about others around him.

His mind was full of thoughts and loud noises that gave him a headache. As he continued to walk back and forth thousands of times he stopped abruptly. He man wearing a top hat and a vest was walking beside him. He has a mustache and a bulky build. Deep blue eyes and blonde hair.

The man glared at this businessman for a while before shaking his head. In his eyes, the man had dark large wings and seemed to appear more dangerous than he actually looked. His face was smeared with dark paint, and it revealed his hideous smile. The man looked at this scene baffled it was inhumane and no logical explanation for it!

As the man's speed began to pace the young man touched his forehead, which was unusually warm before falling to the ground groaning in pain. His vision began getting blurry and his eyelids felt heavy. It was due to the lack of sleep that the man began hallucinating and feeling awful. He had been awake for three days now.

This was not that uncommon as investigators or detectives are so focused on their job and solving a mystery that they forget to sleep. The young man, Louis Wright, was one of them. As his eyelids continued to feel heavy, he chuckled before pulling out his hands towards the man who was hundreds of meters away from him. His blurry vision made it harder to look at his broad back.

"Please come back. Help me-I need he-" The man was cut short before he fell asleep on the road.

…

The next day, Russel put on his coat as he headed towards a building in a silent manner. Opening his large wooden door, he ascended downwards and was met with a beautiful sight. Blimps with a mechanical design were floating above, large facilities were producing white air that left big pipes. One could say that they were bad for the environment but thanks to a wonderful man named Theo the White Angel fixed this problem alongside other problems, and he was deemed the angel of the eastern continent.

Trains were moving on the road and Guardians were patrolling the streets. Children were running around smiling and laughing and men with their respective women were following shortly behind in a happy mood. Music filled the air as a large building hundreds of meters was seen. This was the place everyone was headed to.

Today was Heavenly Day, Celestial Day, Day of Grace, and so on. The most popular term, however, was the Light Festival or Day of Light. This symbolized the death of Theo the white angel tens of years back. So, the people came together towards the large building where the government and leaders controlled alongside where people worked. It was the biggest building on the continent of all, except the winter continent which had no information about. It was called the Angel Palace or White Palace. It was very popular, and people even had their prayers there!

…

Russel frowned for a moment as he massaged his temples in a light manner. He glanced at a picture hanging on the marching band's flag. It was King George Silver IX. IX was referred to how many kings were before him. He had a thick brown beard and a brown mustache. Deep red eyes and a masculine face. People cheered for him as he brought peace into the kingdom.

Feeling slightly puzzled, Russel pulled his hat further down as he glared at the sky's horizon. It was pretty beautiful. Walking along the road he began thinking for a moment as he smiled deeply.

Theo the white angel is one of the most influential people ever. In the eastern continent, he has brought along airships, automobiles, trains, and so on. I wonder how he came up with all those ideas, is he truly 'the' genius? As Russel found himself lost deep in thought he clenched his cane harder.

Stopping abruptly, he glanced to his right where a dark alleyway was seen. A man on the ground with no sign of life was situated there. Russel's eyes deepened as he recognized the hair. It was the detective from the night before!