The trio appeared inside an unassuming and dilapidated structure on the outskirts of Ironforge, a city under Duke Walker’s jurisdiction, famous for its blacksmiths. The dizziness quickly faded.

Flashing their identification to the waiting guards, they stepped out to find horse drawn carriages parked to the side, the drivers chatting among themselves as they waited for their next set of customers.

Max didn’t care much for the bumpy ride, using the rocking vehicle to aid his endeavours at getting sleep while the two girls talked, with Amy animatedly describing the must see places in the town.

Within Ironforge, the trio sauntered around, checking things off their to-do-list. The various blacksmiths had their products on display – armours, gauntlets, swords, vests, every tool required for offense or defence.

Max had often deliberated if armour would have helped during his match with August, but the idea of trading even a fraction of his speed and agility for greater defence didn’t sit well with him. So when the girls kept suggesting artefacts, his answer was obvious.

Honeycomb Inn was a four floor structure with a wooden door and its name plastered over what looked like a shield over its entrance. Contrary to its serene design, the inn was a host to a raucous group. Max’s eagerness to find a bed was blown away by the at least fifty people sitting around wooden tables, guffawing as they ate. Food and wine sprayed with every word spoken. Waitresses, adorned in cheap maid like uniforms, hurried from one table to another, struggling with the increasing string of orders. It truly was a form of chaos.

“Maybe we got the wrong inn? There might be another Honey Comb inn in town?” Amy wondered out loud, bewildered. Her prior visits to Ironforge had always been arranged for by her father. As someone who had only stayed in the best hotels, she knew very little of such inns in the town.

Liliana looked at the spectacle with a smile. “That’s unlikely.”

“How can someone stay in a place like this?” Amy argued, “There was definitely a mistake. This is definitely a bar of some sort!”

Attempts to calm the young girl were made as Max led the way to a counter manned by a tall and overly muscular fellow adorned in a white apron. With a cinnamon stick in his mouth, the man looked grumpier than a stormy sky as he watched his customers enjoying the food. Despite his hilariously domesticated appearance, however, Max could tell that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

The man’s lack of attention was a test for Amy’s patience, a test she failed miserably at. She impatiently rang the small bell on the table, causing the man’s brows to twitch. Annoyed, he gazed at her and asked, “What do you want? Can't you see we're full?”

His attitude alone got on Amy’s nerves. Clenching her fists, she barely managed to hold back a snarl. “We have a reservation.” She said with all the politeness she could muster.

Taking a cursory glance at the letters before him, the man nodded and handed over a set of keys. “We’ve arranged for two rooms on the first floor. Breakfast is included. Timings are six to nine in the morning.” After rushing through his perfunctory explanation, he hurriedly made his way towards a table. Two men were gesticulating wildly, frequently slamming the wooden surface while in a heated discussion. A waitress stood to the side, helpless and incapable of stopping the two on the verge of a brawl. The man’s arrival immediately seemed to calm the situation. He speedily placated the two who sat back down, disgruntled.

Amy secretly grumbled, stamping her way over to the stairs like a spoilt brat. Max and Liliana exchanged glances and stifled laughs as they were stopped by a girl offering to take their luggage. Unlike the other waitresses, her attire was more casual. If not for the inn’s name stitched to her breast pocket, she would have passed as another one of the inn’s many customers. “Let me help.” She said as she took the bags from Amy and Liliana, setting them down only after reaching their rooms. Considerably spacious and well ventilated, the two rooms had near identical interiors. The beds, draped in white cotton sheets, were soft and comfortable to lie on.

“Please don't mind my dad. He's just not in a good mood and being slightly understaffed today isn’t helping his temper.” Said the girl immediately after the trio settled in.

“No. It's – Wait! What?! Your dad?”

The girl responded to Liliana’s near stutter of surprise with an animated nod before leaving.

Max got a room to himself while the girls shared the other. On his bed, Max embraced its softness while welcoming the increasing feelings of lethargy and somnolence.

The past three months had been hard. The absurd physical training, the theoretical lectures, the whole process at the Academy had left him exhausted and constantly wishing for a long break. Now that he was away from the Academy, Max planned on completing the assignment with minimum effort. He wanted to take every possible opportunity he could find to rest his mind and body.

The next morning saw the trio gorge at breakfast. With Max almost having slept in, they had to hurry through the streets to report at the police station, a three storey building with a board that stated ‘POLICE’. If not for the sign and the two uniformed officers stationed at its entrance, it would have been impossible to identify the structure from the rest of the constructs in its vicinity.

Stepping inside, the trio approached a woman busy reading documents. With short, black hair and a strict aura, she seemed completely absorbed in her work, failing to notice the three even as they stood waiting in front of her desk. She was their officer in charge tasked with delegating their tasks and evaluating their performance during the course of their assignment.

Eventually, the lady met the trio’s gaze with a dead pan expression. “You’re late.” She said.

“Huh?” Liliana seemed confused. “Wasn't the reporting time 8.30?”

“You were supposed to report to me at 8.30. Not at the station. You're late by five minutes. If you're late again, you can find some other place to intern.”

Max, Liliana and Amy, all of them had bitter smiles. They weren’t particularly happy with having received the short end of the stick.

Handing out an envelope, the female officer said, “Your tasks for the next three days are written on that. Get to work. Everything you need to know is on that parchment.”

Annoyed by the indifferent treatment, Max held the duo back and convinced them against protesting. He calmly perused the envelope’s contents and led the two girls to the archive room. Liliana and Amy couldn’t help but grouch as they realized that their initial job at the station entailed sorting out case files.

Not only did they have to separate out and index them, but they also had to go through the contents of every file, understand how every case was solved and write report detailing exactly what they had learnt. Only after completing this could they join the officers during their city patrols.

Max had never voiced how he truly felt about the assignment, but the truth was that he had been beyond depressed after learning that he had to intern at a law enforcing agency. It reminded him of his nosy Godfather, making him slightly prejudiced against the men and women of the department. Max frankly saw their relegation to the archive room as the silver lining of his situation.

Transformed into bookworms, the trio spent the rest of the morning combing through the files, emerging only for lunch. A bald man with a moustache thick enough to hide his lips, a plump build and a stomach the size of two watermelons met them just outside. His shirt buttons threatened to break as he stroked his cheek, confounded by the trio’s presence. “Are you perhaps the interns sent by the Academy?”

“Yes.” Amy confirmed.

“Hmm?” The man stared at Amy, his curiosity piqued. “By any chance, are you Miss Amy Walker?”

Hesitation apparent on her face, Amy still responded with a discreet nod. Her affirmation immediately elicited a salute from the man. He seemed like he wanted to bow, but his protruding belly fat wouldn’t let him. “Miss Walker! It is an honour to meet you.”

Amy hastily signalled the man to keep his hand down. Embarrassed, she seemed to plead, “Please stop that.”

With the pleasantries out of the way, Harry spoke to them with great enthusiasm, their conversation revealing the identity of their callous supervisor. “I see!” Laughing, Harry exclaimed. “So you really were put under Laurel. The chief sure enjoys testing her patience.”

The station’s most recent joiner, Laurel had gotten off on the wrong foot with the station chief. As punishment, she had been burdened with paperwork for the past few weeks. It was only after the situation had defused that the chief agreed to let her back on cases on the condition that she first supervise the temporary interns from the Academy.

Harry offered another salute. “If you need anything, you can come to me any time. I'll be here to help.”