The hours of investigation drained the two men. After a while of no answers, they settled for leaving the thugs chained up till the morning and inquiring if any of them had a change of heart. They rented out a room for themselves, retiring for the night. Wight had taken off his jacket. He stared off into the night, wondering about the day he had.

Not even a full day in and I’m already unpopular. No wonder they rejected me in Iohana, he thought to himself. Why would they oppose him when he was firmly on the path of justice? All he did was improve peoples’ lives by bringing order and equality. Lately, he felt unappreciated for his efforts.

No, that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not Iohana anymore. I’m just a jobless lawman, bringing my services to those I deem need it, with those thoughts, he fell asleep. It was a comfortable sleep, much better than the days he spent out in the wild, fearful of wild ganvers and other such horrors that made the night their domain.

****

Kames had forgotten to put his knuckledusters back into his pockets. It wouldn’t do well to walk around with weapons like those on his arms. He slid them back into said pockets, hopefully a kid wouldn’t blindside him and steal those. They could be dangerous in the hands of children. Stretching a bit, he found himself in a strangely pious mood. Seeing as Wight wasn’t awake yet, he decided to wash himself off and then give some morning prayers.

Hopefully, today would be more productive than the last. Wight had awoken by the time that he finished his prayers. Excellent timing, he thought. “What great adventure will we get into today, partner?” he asked the man. “Oh, so you weren’t a figment of my imagination? That’s a welcome surprise. It would do well for my image to have a partner,” Wight said.

“Such cruel words, I wonder how our partnership would ever survive a true ordeal?”

“With liquor and japes.” Wight looked at the mirror, inspecting his antlers for any sort of damage. After preparing, they headed out of the room. What they found outside was the rope that held the attackers and nothing else. Wight looked around and found no trace of the suspects. He started grinding his teeth in anger, unnerving the bystanders around him.

In his rage, he walked up to the middle of the shouted, “One of you freed them, didn’t you?! I work hard and bleed for your sakes, and you repay me by stabbing me in the back? Do you hate me so much you’d stand against justice itself?” He started darting his eyes around the crowd, trying to pick out one of the thugs from the group. Everyone cringed when he laid eyes on them, taking a few steps away from him. A small crowd was forming around him, as if he were some monster to be chained.

Kames walked up next to him and muttered to him, “Wight, this won’t help your reputation in this place. Why don’t we stop antagonizing the townspeople and move on instead? Those thugs weren’t any use anyway.” Wight seemed to calm down a bit, but kept glaring at the crowd. Kames matched his direction and looked towards an old man who seemed to be walking towards them. He was a homlin man with grey hair, the sole exception being the top of his head and his eyebrows. The man didn’t look like he needed the stick to walk, so it was more likely just something he liked carrying around.

“Young Antles, please calm down. I can explain,” he said and Wight did as the elder instructed. “Are you the mayor of Whistone?” Wight asked in a rigid tone. “That would be me, yes. I apologize on behalf of my fellow men. I hope you can forgive them for their prejudices,” the mayor replied.

“There wouldn’t be any problem if they didn’t halt me in my investigation. I’m going to need a list of names for the men I’m about to describe.” The elder raised one hand for Wight to stop. “That I cannot do. I can only advise the people, but they won’t be willing to hand over their sons and husbands that easily.”

“Then tell them that if I ever see their sons and husbands ever again, I’ll give them scars to remember me more fondly. The ones I gave before weren’t deep enough,” said Wight.

“You not only threatened my townspeople, but wounded them? You expect me to just forgive that?”

“It was in self-defense. I’ve done no wrong,” Wight replied. “I don’t wish any bad relations between us, lawman. It’s just these people are set in their ways, after what Traks did to them.”

“Someone like you shouldn’t be a leader, then,” Wight sneered. “The townsmen decided that I should be the one to lead, unfortunately,” he said with a resigned tone. The elder motioned for them to take a walk with him, as the crowd had grown too big and might lead to some rumours spreading. Wight accepted the offer and Kames tagged along, to get a more up to date and accurate version of what happened to trustman Traks.

****

“And yet you still haven’t established a working police force? What if something serious happens, who’ll be there to detain the criminal?” Wight asked incredulously. “We are a tight knit community, lawman. None of us would dare do that. I hope I never even have to think of that possibility in my lifetime,” he answered, rubbing his temples.

Kames walked behind them by a couple paces. He spoke up to fill the gap, “So did Traks get worse before his death?” he asked curiously. “That he did priest. You weren’t there for it but he did,” the elder said.

“So you were his advisor, Kames?” asked Wight.

“Yeah. Each trustman has to have one. I just can’t believe things would go this wrong without me being there.”

“It wasn’t your fault, young Kames. He was always like that,” the mayor muttered the last part. Wight stops in the middle of the road and addresses the mayor. “We’ve had a nice conversation, Sir. But I must ask you to hand over the key to the castle now.” The mayor stared at the man, appalled at what he had just asked for.

“Why would you need that, young Antles?” the mayor asked. “I want to put this mystery to rest before my police force can be established. Maybe it’ll put the minds of the people at ease to learn what actually happened,” he reasoned. Kames agreed with him. “Even if you did want it, the blasted thing is cursed. I sent it off to a shaman who lives near the village. Said she could keep it safe so I let her have it.” The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, giving Wight the entire day to do what he needed to. Just a simple investigation of the castle would help them solve what happened to the man. Wight also felt a need to help give Kames closure. Maybe he could recruit the man as a newly minted officer.

They had inadvertently walked to the house of the mayor himself. The man had one last item for them however. He walked out with a book in hand, its surface and spine degraded through use. “This belonged to the trustman himself. The townspeople don’t like me showing this to anyone, but if there’s a chance it could help with your investigations, lawman, then take it.” Wight accepted the book and flipped through to find it was a journal. One filled with weird images of a girl and 3 figures, along with erratic writing. What could they have meant? A sense of tension rose up in his stomach as he kept flipping through the pages, ending up on the last entry. The details of it seemed normal. Like a chapter in the middle of a novel. Not magnificent, but a part of the greater whole.