Imperial Inspector Mirabelle stood against the window frame of one of the imperial palaces' great glass in lead windows. Leaning on the windowsill itself was Rits Unipiller, the Emperor. They both looked out of the window overlooking the capital city of Mauverre

  ‘I don't like it one bit. Something is going on’, Rits said.

  ‘We have had conflicting reports, but crime in Hapern seems to go up’, Mirabelle said, ‘The east is threatening to withdraw their patrols of the Vestorl region.’

  ‘It is not a good thing if it stirs at the Hapern. The sooner we get Drapally under control the better. They could patrol Vestorl and pressure Hapern from the north.’

  ‘I agree’, Mirabelle added. ‘Though our last inspector who visited the countess of Drapally came back empty handed.’

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  ‘Countess Fichtwold can hide in her forest all she wants. We have an agreement and she will uphold it. We need her to uphold it’, Rits added and crossed his arms. ‘We will deal with the East later.’

For a moment the Emperor looked into the nothingness that was the sea of roofs. The inspector broke the silence:

  ‘It seems like our possible solution is riding right through our gates.’, Mirabelle said and pointed at the two riders coming over the bridge towards the palace gate. One was young, had a shaved head and wore a olive green tunic making him recognisable as one of the University clerks. The other was a lot older with long hair and a beard. He wore red researchers robes.

  ‘Lets hope this will further the situation.’, Rits said. ’What have we got?’

  ‘The clerk Jorik is a bit of a hothead but the fastest rider the University has. The one on the right is the newly appointed researcher of the agricultural department. The man is far from stupid, but very sly.

‘So the honest approach then?’, Rits said.

‘Not too honest I hope?’, Mirabelle added.

‘Exactly’, the Emperor answered.