Wow. You can tell exactly where I realized that if I wrote this out like I was planning to, I would end up with a whole book, because mystery novels are a thing. So sorry about cutting it kind of short, but the alternative would involve spending a lot of time without the main characters, which you guys seem to like less. :;^^:
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I walked away from Brie’s place.
Brie never failed to give me new leads, or at least new questions.
I owed Brie a lot. More than I would ever say.
More than Brie would ever know.
I’ve always thought that everyone has a line.
Well, a few lines, really.
A line they won’t cross.
But also a line they won’t let anyone else cross.
For some people, the second line is drawn when they get involved.
For me it’s Brie.
It always will be.
Another line was how far they would go to keep people from crossing that line.
I felt my dagger in my pocket.
In the old tradition, I had given my weapons names.
Breeze was my dagger, and my assurance that I would never put myself before Brie.
I kept it where I had planned to to keep my badge when I was a knight.
But I had lost that chance.
I wasn’t a knight.
But I was a detective.
I wouldn’t fight.
But I would know who needed to be fought.
And knowing was only half the battle.
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“East eh? Can you show me on a map?”
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“West?”
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“Where exactly?”
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“West? From this direction? You’ve been a great help.”
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“Southwest? Could you draw a line? Thank you.”
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“Brie? It’s that time again.”
Brie stood up eagerly.
“I’ll get my armor.”
“Wha- I- Brie! I mean it’s time for research.”
Brie’s face fell.
“Ah. Of course.”
“Don’t worry Brie.” his eyes narrowed, “I think you’ll get to fight soon enough. A battle fit for one of your skill.”
Brie snorted.
“Please don’t get my hopes up Seg. At my level only a small army would be fit.”
Seg hesitated slightly.
“That might not be a problem.”
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Seg double checked his math.
What was happening was simple.
A third nation, he hadn’t figured out which, wanted their nation and the one to the east to go to war.
To do this, they had arranged for an attack on Seg’s own country, and make it look like the fault of the east.
They had placed spies and saboteurs in the nobility, and even bought some off.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
They directed the blame at a the eastern nation by having their spies come from either said nation or the exact opposite direction.
It was a cunning plot, but Seg was fairly certain that he had figured it out.
The only problem was that he no proof.
In fact, he had no evidence of any kind really.
He wasn’t sure about Mania yet.
If they were from the country to the east they would have simply communicated through politics.
He then connected some of the things he had learned.
The plants, especially the five who had been killed, were involved in an anti-mob campaign.
The mobs had joined together and made a small army.
The assassins had probably come from the army.
It was probably an unforeseen consequence of their plan.
However, there would be a fight between the mobs and the army, and then it would be leaked that the other country had caused it.
After a major war, the third party would easily eliminate both nations.
He explained his theory to Brie.
“Yeah, that’s good, it all fits except for one thing.”
“What?”
“You have no idea what the third country is.”
“I’ll figure that out as I collect more data.”
“You also have nothing that indicates that they even exist.”
“Ahh, but I do!”
“What?”
“Nothing!”
Seeing the look on Brie’s face, he continued.
“There is nothing indicating the existence of a third party. In fact, all the evidence points to it being the fault of the second.”
“Then why don’t you think it’s their fault?”
“Because,” he said, waving his arms, “They didn’t do a good enough job covering their tracks.”
“That just means that they’re incompetent.”
“The entire force of a nation’s strength and intelligence is never incompetent.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a noise.
“A message!”
It turned out to be from one of the servants he had bribed at one of the nobles’ castle.
He listened for a moment before turning back to Brie.
“A group of mobs has been sighted, and the traitors are sending a small army after it! Grab your armor!”
He grabbed his weapons and fetched their horses.
He didn’t have to put on armor, as he wasn’t a front line combatant like her.
He thought again about how he had always wanted to be a knight.
He shook his head.
Now was not the time for that.
Now was the time for battle.
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