Zetsurin Seiryoku, the ex-adventurer/business owner/harem Matron/possible murderer (definite murderer if you count her adventuring years, but those aren't relevant now) stood over the bloody body of Mr. Oliver Crumpet. He was prone, splayed out onto his stomach, with the golden handle of a knife protruding from his back, buried up to the hilt. The Merrow woman turned to face the door, then glanced back to the body, her face paling.

"It wasn't me," she said quietly.

She stood at the archway leading onto the balcony, a few feet from where Mr. Crumpet had collapsed. The VIP room in which Kate and the official had been seated was similar to the one from which Rathus had just arrived. He glanced at the wall and noticed that the painting in this room was different. it was still one of Zetsurin, but this one was obviously intended to be 'art' rather than a portrait. He could tell because Zetsurin was tastefully nude. Besides that obvious point, she was also standing in a giant, opening clam-shell, while a variety of figures adorned the edge of the painting. The painting, while interesting, was the only change in the room that he could see. Which meant that there was nowhere for somebody to hide. Zetsurin was the only one in the room.

The Gun Knight casually rested his hand on his revolver, but didn't draw it. There was no sense in escalating things, but Zetsurin was still an ex-adventurer, and was above 2000 ELO, a rating achieved by few adventurers. He wasn't about to let himself be caught off guard, but... best to keep things controlled for now.

"Let's all stay calm, now," he commanded, speaking in a low, steady voice. "I'm sure we can figu—"

Beside him, Musashi pulled out a rocket lance.

Rathus paused mid-sentence, slowly turning to stare at the single-use explosive in his comrade's hands. Musashi 'safely' pointed the rocket at the ground, holding the steel tube at the ready. The head of the rocket, a bright red cone of lead, poked out of the end of it. The Gun Knight was holding it by the handle, but thankfully had his other hand nowhere near the ripcord that would light the rocket fuse, and in fact hadn't yet removed the safety latch holding the cord in place.

"Musashi, that..."

"Don't worry, Rathus. I've yet to have any trouble with friendly fire. Just don't stand directly behind me."

Regis, who was directly behind the Gun Knight, took a step to the side. The princess scooted back, moving to the opposite wall of the hallway entirely. Rathus looked at his eager compatriot, and hesitated, thinking of the most delicate way to formulate his request.

"Couldn't ya maybe... not use a goddamn bomb in the middle of a crowded room?"

"Ah," the Legendary Gun Knight replied to him. "I'm two steps ahead of you, Rathus. You see, this is a rocket, not a bomb."

"I stand corrected," Rathus replied sarcastically. "You got dozens of other guns, couldn't ya pick something that fits the situation a little better?"

Musashi gave him a reproachful look, and Rathus felt his stomach sink a bit, in anticipation of what he'd already suspected he might hear.

"Of course I couldn't, Rathus. Do you want me to miss the opportunity to find my true love?"

"Excuse me?" Regis asked. The Dwarf looked from Rathus to Musashi in confusion, but his request went unexcused.

"I didn't expect you to even still be on the whole 'one weapon at a time' thing. How long are you planning on keeping that up?" Rathus asked, visibly irritated.

"For as long as it takes."

"Fine, sure, but..." Rathus sighed, gesturing to the rocket lance. "Do ya REALLY think your 'one true love' is a single-fire rocket?"

Musashi looked down at the disposable munition he held in his hand. He turned it over, as if scrutinizing it.

"Truthfully? No. But it's the principle of the matter, Rathus."

Ruth's eyes lit up, as if vindicated. She scooted forward again and leaned around Rathus's shoulder, to insert herself into the conversation. "I keep telling him that, but it seems he somehow never understands!"

Musashi laughed and winked back at her. "Right?"

Rathus was unimpressed. "It's not about not understa—"

"Um!" Kate interrupted. All heads involved turned to look at her as she piped up. "S-sorry to interrupt, but... isn't there something more important to focus on?"

Musashi and Rathus exchanged a look, then turned back to the corpse of Mr. Crumpet, splayed out on the balcony.

"Ah." Musashi replied.

"Right..." Rathus noted, standing up straight. He spared one last look at the rocket, but carefully stepped around it, and into the room. He nodded to the ex-adventurer.

"Madame Seiryoku," he said, politely but firmly, "do ya mind explaining what's goin' on here?"

Zetsurin turned to the Gun Knight and gestured down to the corpse. She seemed to have recovered quickly from the initial shock, and her expression was now the pre-emptively put-out expression of one who anticipates a whole lot of trouble coming their way in the near future, like somebody about to watch a trailer for a live-action Hollywood adaptation of their favorite anime.

"Well, it looks like I'm not about to get the Mana I need any time soon."

Hell of a thing to say, Rathus thought. He looked down at the ex-official. Mr. Crumpet's face was turned away from him, and he was flopped onto the ground, his arms laying limply at his side. He was unquestionably dead. The Imperial Knight shook his head at Zetsurin.

"I think you've got a few bigger things to worry about."

There was a sudden commotion from outside the room, drawing their attention. Somebody was shouting, but it wasn't visible through the doorway, especially with the group of people crowding around and peering in. Rathus noticed that Musashi was waiting outside the door, but was helpfully aiming the rocket into the room. He gave Rathus a little wave as his eyes passed over him.

Rathus focused back on Zetsurin, who was standing with her arms crossed impatiently, like she was waiting in a particularly long queue. She realized he was waiting for her response, and shrugged, unfolding her arms and reaching into a sleeve. Rathus dropped into a battle trance, activating his eidetic memory in full.

Immediately, The colors in the room brightened, every detail intensifying and standing out to his mind. He could make out the wood grain of the table, every brush stroke on the painting of and behind the ex-adventurer. His mind raced, and time seemed to slow, things around him moving as if in slow motion. It was a strange effect, and a completely mental one. He knew from experience that time wasn't actually slowed; the only thing that had sped up was his perception. If he moved, he would be moving at the same slow pace as everything else.

Well, not exactly the same pace, of course. As a Gun Knight, he was (un)naturally super-humanly fast. Which was good, because the ex-Adventurer in front of him was a Merrow, and he knew that she could use her Gift of Serenity to enter a battle trance almost identical to his own. If the Deadly Siren wanted to start a fight, well...

In slow motion, Zetsurin's hand drew out of her sleeve, holding a cigarillo and her lighter. Rathus relaxed, but kept his battle trance at the ready just in case. The Matron gave him an ocular pat-down and raised an eyebrow, as if she was amused that he was readying himself for a fight. She gave a grim chuckle, and raised her cigarillo directly to her lips. She fumbled with the lighter, hands shaking, and managed to light the tiny cigar. The lighter disappeared back into her sleeve, and she stared the Gun Knight down.

" 'Bigger Problems?' If you knew how many years of my life, how much Dosh I've invested into this place, you wouldn't be saying that."

A voice shouted from the door, and the commotion outside resolved itself into a tall man wearing a dress uniform. Rathus looked him over, and consulted his memory, Recalling a visual guide of uniforms he'd read once. After an imperceptible amount of time had passed, he had it. 'Dennis royally-appointed Shire Reeve Dress Uniform, Style B'. He nodded to the man.

"Sheriff," he greeted him. "Seems there's been a murder."

The Sheriff came to a stop just inside the room, looking over the scene with steely eyes and steely hair. He was a Stentorian man on the older side, probably in his fifties, the age known to most police as 'Two days from Retirement'. His hair was a smooth gunmetal gray, the kind given with age and (hopefully) dignity, rather than the more exotic silver hair color that some of those with Dessite blood tended to have from birth. It was kept in a tight, rounded trim about his head, similar to a crew cut. He had a neat, tidy beard, kept in a dutiful buzz about his chin, although his mustache was left full and bushy.

He looked about the room, carefully adjusting the silver star on his black coat, where it sat above the Seal of Dennis. The seal indicated that he operated with the approval of King Greer, while the star itself marked him as an audited law officer for the Empire of the Eternal Star. In short: he was kind of a big deal. He turned to the Imperial Knight and looked him over.

"You're that Gun Knight that called in earlier. Rathus, right?"

Rathus nodded. "Nice t'meet you in person. I hope those mushrooms made it in time."

"Mushrooms?" The Sheriff paused for a moment, caught off guard. He recovered quickly, shifting through his mental folders until he realized what he was talking about. "Ah, those. Yes, those went straight to an alchemist. You were a big help. And now you're out here... solving murders?"

"I dunno if I'd call it solved," Rathus admitted. Behind the Sheriff, Rathus saw Musashi and the princess exchange a glance, and immediately both seemed to arrive at the same conclusion. Ruth quickly excused herself and disappeared from view. After a moment, Musashi vanished as well. Rathus stared after them, feeling a sense of foreboding creep up his back like a metaphysical tree sloth.

"Me and uh," he looked to the door, and the Sheriff turned to see Regis and Kate alone, waiting outside. "Well, some of them left. But a few of us came when we heard Kate there scream. We came running, and found Madame Seiryoku here, standing over the body."

He gestured to Zetsurin, who was now standing with a resigned, but annoyed look on her face. She started to move to one of the chairs, and reached out for it. The Sheriff shouted at her.

"Oi! Don't touch that!"

Madame Seiryoku looked at him as if he had grown a second mouth, which had then proceeded to say something stupid as fuck. "It's a chair."

"You're an ex-adventurer," Rathus pointed out. "You could probably kill him with a chair no problem."

"Sure, and I could also kill him with my bare hands, but he doesn't know that," she snapped back.

The Sheriff subconsciously backed up a step or two, but gave her an expression no less stern than the one that preceded it. "I'm well aware of your capabilities, Siren," he replied, "but that's not why I'm telling you to leave it. This is the middle of a crime scene. Don't touch anything."

He turned to Kate. "Did you see her kill him?"

The courtesan shook her head emphatically. "No. When I came back, she was just standing over the body."

"Right," the Sheriff replied. He walked carefully past Zetsurin, giving her a wide berth. He stepped with care, doing his best to ensure he wasn't trodding on anything that might be important. He made it near the corpse and crouched down, looking at the victim's body.

"Damn..." he swore, "That's Mr. Crumpet, isn't it?" He stood up, looking around the room. "What the hell was he doing here?"

"He was supposed to be discussing my contract with the Astral Well," Zetsurin explained, "but that looks to be out the window now."

The Sheriff stood and turned to face her in full. "You don't seem particularly torn up by his passing."

She shrugged. "I was an Adventurer. Death is a part of the job."

"So is killing," the Sheriff noted. "It looks to me that you're the prime suspect. Found at the scene, you've got motive. And a background that would support violence as a solution to most problems."

He reached behind his back and pulled out a restraint. It was a paper tube, made of various multicolored strips of heavy paper, woven together into an open cylinder. Rathus recognized it at once, he'd used one on that assassin. The Finger Trap: the most powerful restraint known to the Empire of the Eternal Star. Zetsurin's expression darkened, and her hand clenched into a fist.

"As the Sheriff of Pheasantgrove and the surrounding villages, I hereby order you arrested on suspicion of the murder of one Mr. Oliver Crumpet. Zetsurin Seiryoku, you are under arrest."

Zetsurin shook slightly as the Sheriff invoked her True Name. Her muscles tightened and her body went rigid... for a moment. And then it passed, just as quickly as it came. By speaking her True Name, the Sheriff had asserted power over her. However, he wasn't particularly strong at Naming, and more importantly, had only a passing familiarity with her, knowing only the most superficial level of her True Name. It didn't do much to disable the ex-adventurer. But that's not to say it had no effect: it served perfectly well to piss her the F off. She stepped towards the Sheriff, eyes wide in fury.

"You DARE—?"

Rathus took a step forward as she tensed up, dropping into her battle trance. She rolled her head to look at him, her every movement fluid and exact. She measured twice and stepped once, moving with the fine-tuned precision of a watchmaker on Adderall. The ex-adventurer backed up two-thirds of a step, so that she could watch the Sheriff out of the corner of her eye as she scrutinized the Gun Knight.

"Don't," Rathus warned. "It ain't gonna go the way you want."

She growled. "I don't have TIME to be arrested right now! Obviously, I'm being framed for murder. This isn't even the first time I've dealt with something like this."

Rathus nodded in understanding. False accusations were pretty common for Adventurers. Of course, completely legitimate accusations were perhaps even more common, which further muddied the waters.

"I know it's inconvenient, but we can't rule ya out. And trust me," he said, drawing his revolver half an inch from its Holdster. "Resisting arrest will be a hell of a lot more inconvenient."

The two locked eyes, both sizing each other up in a moment that seemed to last forever. Rathus watched her movements in anticipation, waiting to see how she'd choose to act. Zetsurin sized up the Gun Knight, trying to weigh the consequences of being arrested versus the risk of fighting back.

"Madame..." Regis cautioned. "If you are arrested, we might lose the Ocean's Motion, but if you go fugitive, we're sure to lose it."

She hesitated, looking between Rathus and the Sheriff, weighing the Harem Master's words. And then Ruth and Musashi arrived again, and the presence of a second Gun Knight dramatically changed her mental calculus. She sighed and relaxed, turning back to the Sheriff and holding her hands out. The Sheriff spun his finger in the air, and the Matron stared loathsomely at him before turning and putting her hands behind her back.

He reached out, slipping the Finger Trap over one index finger, than the other, absolutely binding her. She pulled experimentally against the binding, and found it tense against her finger, growing tighter the more she pulled. She sighed in resignation.

"Look," she said to Rathus, as he walked with the Sheriff to escort her out of the room. "This is obviously a setup. I'm not sure why, but I can only imagine it's sabotage. I'll play nice, but you're going to have to help clear my name."

"Look, I'm more of a peacekeeper," Rathus replied, "Not an investig—"

"WE'LL DO IT!" Ruth shouted, vibrating with joy.

Rathus looked over to her, where she was posing triumphantly, fist in the air. She had somehow changed outfits, and was now wearing a strange hat and a cape. Her outfit was one that I could go on to explain at length, or I can save time and just tell you that it's a Sherlock Holmes outfit, adapted into a stylish dress. You know the one, deerstalker hat, Inverness coat, that weird tweed plaid-like pattern that probably has a specific name. If you somehow don't know, look it up, because all detectives legally must wear this outfit at some point in their career. That's what she was wearing.

Musashi had also changed his outfit, into the exact same outfit he was wearing before, with the addition of a spare deerstalker hat.

"..." Rathus didn't say, and then, "Where'd you find that getup?"

The princess touched a gem at the center of her neck. "I was already wearing it when we arrived. This is a Shiftweave, one of the more useful Star Magic Artifacts. It can take the form of multiple outfits, and shift back and forth at a moment's notice."

"Huh," Rathus mused, pointedly not asking why she had such an outfit stored on it. He glanced over at Musashi, who was also wearing a deerstalker. "How'd you get that one? Can you split parts off of it?"

Musashi beamed, adjusting the hat on his head. "I stole it from the coat room." The Gun Knight sashayed up to the Merrow murder suspect, and nodded to the Sheriff, who was giving him the stinkeye. When the Sheriff opened his mouth to speak, the Errant Imperial Knight stuck his hand out instead, interrupting him with a handshake.

"Good evening. I'm Musashi, and you legally have no power to arrest me."

The Sheriff stared at him in stunned silence, which Musashi mentally added to his long-running mental tally. He released the lawman's hand and looked to Zetsurin, rubbing his chin.

"So," he began, "you say that you were framed. What makes you suspect that, rather than you simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Madame Seiryoku shifted, subconsciously trying to move her hand before remembering she was bound. She pointed with her head instead, nodding towards the room.

"Killing somebody I invited here specifically, who had so far given me answers I didn't want to hear, with one of my own knives? And I'm the first one to find it? Definitely a set-up."

Rathus looked through the door, but the body was too far to clearly make out details, and the obscuring shadow of the balcony made it difficult to see it at all. He closed his eyes and Recalled instead. The knife had been buried hilt-deep, so he had no idea about the blade, but the handle was a rounded, golden handle, which was replete with intricate carvings, of what looked like either a very interesting banquet, or a very boring orgy.

"Your own knife? You recognized it?"

"Of course," Zetsurin replied. "It's from one of my knife sets. Cooking knives, not combat ones. That set was a gift from a Dwarven harem back in Sparda, as a congratulations for our Grand Opening."

Musashi nodded. "And where is the rest of the set? Who has access to it?"

Zetsurin nodded down the hallway, to the eastern tower. "It's in my penthouse, at the top of the tower. You need a master key to open it, so only Regis and I have access. But I know from experience that the lock isn't unpickable. Anybody with some experience with magical locks could probably pop it."

"May we have your permission to search your room for clues?" Ruth asked. Madame Seiryoku nodded, authorizing her to snoop.

"If you want to look into it, you can let me know what you find," the Sheriff replied, "but do you have a good reason to suspect it wasn't her to begin with?"

"Well," Zetsurin replied, "For one, I found him dead just as soon as I walked over. You can ask any of them how much time elapsed between me leaving the room and Kate screaming."

Rathus nodded. "It was pretty quick," he admitted, thinking about it. "But for a Merrow, I wouldn't say it completely rules it out."

Zetsurin shot him an incredulous look, and he shrugged, giving her the iconic 'call it like I see it' face of anybody who casually offends somebody else with the disgusting truth, like somebody saying that pineapple on pizza is just a matter of personal taste.

"It does completely rule it out," she retorted. "I was going there to discuss my contract, as you recall. Why would I stab him in a split second, without even bothering to discuss it with him at all?"

Regis nodded, running his fingers through his beard. "That is a very good point. I would say it definitely bears investigation."

"And investigate I will!" Ruth announced, marching towards the door.

"Hey, no going in there!" The Sheriff barked, moving to cut the princess off. She jerked back, staring at him in shock as he held his arm out, barring her passage.

"The impunity!" she gasped, "Do you know who I AM?" She drew herself up, standing tall in her detective outfit to stare imperiously down at him over her nose.

"Are you someone who's trained in forensics?" the Sheriff asked, meeting her gaze head-on.

"No, but—"

"Then letting you go in there risks ruining important evidence."

Ruth stammered a bit, staring into the room. The Sheriff turned to the two Gun Knights. "Are either of you two forensic-accredited?"

Musashi grinned as he replied. "Possibly the furthest thing, my friend."

Rathus too, shook his head. "I was planning on takin' the course, before I was de... before things got busy."

The Sheriff nodded. "In that case, nobody is entering the room until forensics checks it."

He reached out and swiped his hand across the door at a few odd angles, then blushed slightly.

"This isn't my work uniform, so I don't have police ribbon," he explained. "Just pretend I marked it as 'Do Not Enter'"

The plucky investigators backed up, stymied in their progress, as the Sheriff went back to handle Zetsurin. Musashi shrugged, but Ruth was not to be outdone. She quickly rounded to point accusingly at Kate, who jumped in surprise.

"I have a few questions for you, young lady," Ruth said ominously.

"I'm pretty sure I'm older than you, your highness," Kate replied innocently. Ruth flinched from the psychic damage, but continued on, undeterred.

"What were you doing out of the room? Weren't you supposed to be s-sed-seduci—"

"Fucking," Musashi suggested.

"Convincing." Rathus added, as an alternative.

"—convincing the official?" Ruth finished.

Kate nodded. "I... well, um..." She blushed, looking down at her feet as she fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

"The show was over, so I was going to get some drinks. When I came back..."

Musashi's eye glinted, and he pitched the courtesan a nefarious verbal trap, hoping to catch her in a web of lies.

"Was the official... alive when you left?"

"I-I didn't kill him!" Kate gasped, shocked. "He was alive the entire time we were together. Everything was going great, and I went to refill our drinks, and when I came back, he was dead."

"Why would you personally fetch the drinks?" Ruth asked, "That's suspicious, is it not? You have attendants for that sort of thing."

Kate shivered, looking between the princess and the two Gun Knights. She started to sweat.

"N-not at all. It's more special if I bring them personally. Y-you can ask Regis about it." She looked over at the Dwarf, who was busy in conversation with the Sheriff and Zetsurin. Her sweating intensified.

"Why don't you run me through everything that happened." Rathus asked. "You said it was goin' well, right?"

Kate looked away, her eyes spinning as her face colored.

"R-right. It was um, everything was g-great. We ate the um, food, and then watched the show. He seemed really interested, and I, uh, was d-drawing him in. But um, then he... then our drinks ran out at the end, so I had to get more."

Rathus nodded. "Sounds good, thank you for your time. Excuse me a minute." He stepped aside, and the trio drew close, into a huddle. They lowered their voices as they discussed.

"She's lying, correct?" Ruth asked.

"Absolutely," Musashi confirmed. "As an expert liar, I can say with certainty that she's terrible at it. Enough so that I suspect this might be a rare double-lie."

"Do those cancel out?" Rathus asked. Musashi shook his head grimly.

They broke the huddle, and moved back to Kate. "Why don't you tell us what really happened?" Musashi asked, putting on a domineering, yet gentle voice that probably got tons of mileage in other situations. Nevertheless, it had the desired effect here as well.

"I... I am telling the truth," she lied.

"Then what was the second course?" Rathus asked. Ruth looked at him questioningly, but he nodded to Kate, prodding her to answer. The courtesan shook, sweating profusely.

"Th-th-the food? It was... it was um... um..."

"How would she not know what she ate?" Ruth asked. The courtesan stared at her, then at the steely gazes of the two Imperial Knights, and her resolve broke.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! It's my fault!"

Rathus stared down at her, shaking his head. "How did ya 'not mean to' stab him in the back?"

The courtesan looked at him as if she had misheard, then shook her head, so violently and emphatically that her hair whipped around her.

"No! No, no, I didn't stab him! That's not what I meant." She flushed, clearly overwhelmed, and looked down at her feet.

"I, um... I failed in my duties, is what I did. I was ready to do my best work on him. I was going to make the Madame proud, but then..."

She looked out over the banister, to the stage below. It was currently empty, between acts. The orchestra was being corralled back into their pit in preparation for the next act. She gave a wistful smile, as if remembering something fondly.

"But then the Professor came on, and I just..." She brushed her hair behind her ear, blushing even more intensely. "I just sort of... got lost in the show. I only came to when I realized the show was about to end. And..." She shook her head, eyes dull and sorrowful.

"I had failed entirely. In the worst way possible. Not only had I lost his interest, but he had been so bored he fell asleep in his chair. The drinks needed to be refilled, and um." She took a deep breath, breathing in and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. "I thought that I could, um, maybe meet the Professor in person if I went down there when the show ended. He was asleep anyways, so I figured it wouldn't, um, hurt."

Regis stared at her, looking for all the world like he'd been struck a mortal wound. She avoided his gaze, shaking her head.

"But the Professor had issues with his suit, so I just grabbed the drinks and came back. When I got back, he was dead. I... I don't think Madame Seiryoku did it, but... if she did do it, then it was my fault. I failed to convince my client when it mattered most."

Kate sniffled to herself, and Rathus and company reconvened. "What do you think?" he asked Musashi and Ruth.

"It sounded earnest to me," Ruth replied. She looked over at the courtesan. "To be honest, I feel a bit guilty for her. I know what it's like to be... obsessed with something." The princess pointedly didn't look at the Gun Knight next to her as she spoke.

"Mmm," Musashi hummed sagely, "It was very convincing, yes. Which makes me convinced it's a lie."

"Should we press her?" Rathus asked. "Do you think the guard house has an Inquisitor?"

Ruth shivered at the thought. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself. "I would truly prefer we do not get those... things involved. The way they read minds is... extremely unnerving."

Rathus shook his head. "Inquisitors don't read minds. They—"

"Rathus," Musashi interrupted. "Not the time."

"Right."

The Gun Knight stood up, and walked to Zetsurin and the Sheriff. "Pardon me, Madame," he asked. "That key you gave Kate was your master key, right?"

Zetsurin glanced over at Kate and raised an eyebrow, quickly picking up the implication of the question. She looked impressed with the courtesan, and nodded. "Yes. It was faster than having her fetch a spare copy of the VIP room key from the keymaster. You think she did it, huh?"

Rathus shrugged. "We aren't sure yet. But that does mean she'd have been able to get into your room."

The Sheriff stepped behind, nodding to the Gun Knight.

"I appreciate your help," he said, "But if you'll excuse me, I need to get her down to the jail for processing. Let me know what you find."

He started to move away, and was quickly intercepted by Regis. "If I may, sir, I feel confident that Madame Seiryoku is innocent. I know that if you were to book her tonight, it may be a few days before we'd be able to negotiate her release, isn't that the case?"

The Sheriff nodded an affirmative. "Adventurers are a flight risk. Can't risk her getting loose by releasing her before we have things sorted."

The Dwarf gave a sage nod, dipping into a bow. "Very understandable. In that case, if I could convince you to wait to bring her in?"

"I'm not going to release her," the Sheriff replied, placing his free hand on his hip, "Flight risk."

"Of course not," Regis said, rebuffing the idea. "I wouldn't suggest for you to uncuff her. But, you were here with your wife, were you not? Perhaps wait until the last show is over before taking her into custody?"

The Sheriff grimaced, temptation wrestling with his professional standards. "Well..."

Regis nodded to the Gun Knight. "Please leave this to me, ser. You should go conduct your investigations."

Rathus backed up, as the Dwarf began to unleash the full power of his negotiation ability. He stared in awe at the raw efficiency on display, but couldn't help wondering whether he should be putting a stop to this. Corruption and bribery was a big issue, and while the entire situation with Mr. Crumpet was on the borderline of bribery, Mr. Crumpet was also fucking dead. In this case at least, it seemed like the Sheriff had paid for his own meal, so...

Rathus shook his head, and determined to tell somebody to check back in a bit, to make sure the Ocean's Motion hadn't taken over the town with a network of bribes and corruption. Well, if the Ocean's Motion still existed.

Further down the hall, Musashi and Ruth were discussing questions to ask and potential methods of interrogation, in plain hearing of the sniffling courtesan. Rathus bypassed the pair of them, walking up to Kate and holding out his hand. He smiled down at her, tipping his hat.

"Would ya mind giving me the master key that Madame Seiryoku gave you?"

Kate nodded, wiping away her tears. She reached into the front of her dress, then pulled out the seal and handed it to Rathus. He pocketed the seal, and moved on. He gathered up Ruth and Musashi, and together they headed towards their next destination: Zetsurin's penthouse.