"Those weird dreams are gone… why did I suddenly stop having them?"

Mary thought long and hard about the girl in white and the empty void they spent time in. She was always smiling but always had something vague and ominous to say. It was the one time Mary couldn’t force herself to smile back.

"You seem to be staring into the void."

An older male customer at the counter snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Had a rough day?" He asked.

It was starting to feel like it. Mary was stuck behind the counter to fill in for Levin while he and Midare were out on a job. Thankfully the hours she had to spend were quiet with few customers, but boring because Hyde wasn’t with her.

"I see. Still, that twisted look on your face seems like you remembered something. I wonder if It's about Morren."

Mary raised an eyebrow intrigued and curious. The older man looked at his coffee, slowly spinning the spoon to melt the cream on top. "I've been hearing a lot of controversies popping up around him. His magic shows are nice, but it encourages others to use dangerous magic."

Mary hadn't heard any cases regarding such. Unless Midare and Levin handled the tough work themselves. It was a likely thing for them to do after the last case. The older man talked about how people started to hunt for special weapons themselves to acquire the magic needed to become magicians like Morren. "It worries me. Everyone wants to be on the big stage."

Is this a choice between morals and ethics?

"It is worrying." Mary agreed, not knowing how to engage in the subject deeper. Besides, the Blue Corps were looking into it for the time being. They were more equipped to handle someone with magic for now. Mary rubbed her chin, believing they were doing something cool rather than sitting at the cafe.

"What is this..?" Julius stared down at the long rifle in his hands given to him by Lambda.

The girl gave a thumbs up as she explained, "A prototype rifle I put together. It looks like a kar98k but that long barrel is actually a blade."

The rifle's 'barrel' was almost taller than Julius. Holding the weapon felt like swinging a lance. It was too awkward for him to handle, so instead he gave it to Tangerine. The young musketeer felt as if he had bad luck having to use a prototype weapon.

"It's not all bad." Cran swung a red bladed sword over his shoulder. "Lambda made some cool weapons for us to test in battle. Morren won't be easy to defeat."

"We aren't fighting him now. Only delivering a message." Julius responded.

Cherri looked around the crowded train station looking for a man who wore a top hat with a yellow ribbon. Morren's signature hat he always wore so everyone could recognize him from a far distance.

"Uh… Do famous individuals use public transportation? Or did we receive the wrong information from Lambda?" Cherri questioned.

"You calling me a liar?!"

"Of course they use public transportation. Accompanied by security of course." Rine then rubbed his chin "Might be a problem if we have to deal with security guards. We'll be recognized by our uniforms."

Julius buttoned up his yellow raincoat "That's why we were given disguises." He caught a glimpse of a yellow ribbon and turned to see Morren peacefully making his way through a crowd of people by himself. No one was batting an eye towards him. Given his fame, he should be recognized by everyone but…

here he was passing through without a problem.

"W-what are we going to do?" Rine stuttered.

"We're going to cause a ruckus. Come with me Julius." Cherri grabbed his hand and dragged him along. She tossed him on the ground which he quickly recovered from.

"So we're going with that?" Julius cracked his knuckles "I really dislike getting rough with a lady."

"Mhm!" Cherri smiled "Hold nothing back Julius."

Thudd!!

"..!" Morren stopped hearing someone hitting the ground hard. His attention as well as many others was drawn to the brawl between Julius and Cherri. Morren gently pushed aside bystanders and approached the two, finally revealing himself.

"What's going on here?! That sounded like magic being cast." He exclaimed. Upon closer inspection of the two brawlers, they lacked any bruises which he found strange.

Julius(who won the 'brawl') pointed at Morren, speaking in a forced deep tone "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't! Either way I'm not in a good mood and this woman here wasn't making it any better!"

Morren sighed and muttered "Ugh… just another hoodlum. And a rushè at that too."

A random person ran towards the magician. "D-do something Morren! I know using magic to hurt others is banned but this is a dangerous situation we're in."

Morren nudged the male behind "Stand back. I'll alert the TGA and they'll be here swiftly."

A white light enveloped Julius' hand. "They'll be too late to save you from deeeeeaaath! Arcelle!" He fired a white triangle from his hand. Sharp and shaped like an arrow, it shot out like a bullet. Morren took off his brown coat and shielded himself from the attack with it. A gaping hole was left burnt onto the coat.

The crowd gasped in fear.

"Light magic?! That's impossible!"

"How long has he been studying for? Only to end up doing this…"

"There's only a one in a million chance for someone to learn light magic."

The chatters from the scared crowd angered Morren. Now he was forced to use his magic to hurt another… in public. His fingers twitched itching with thunder however, he took off his hat and dug inside, pulling out a long black cane with a white tip. He smirked "My my, that was quite the display. Light magic… I'm impressed by your feats. They might be even greater than mine."

"Maybe I shouldn't have used my light magic. Now everyone's looking at me. Shit…." Julius felt like his soul was being sucked out of his body. Cherri, on the other hand, pretended to be fainted. She opened one eye and quietly said "Don't hold back Julius~ hehehe."

"Why you…"

"Attention!" Morren shouted at Julius. "I'll warn you only this once. You're fighting a skilled magician of expertise. A magician with incredibly wicked spells and tricks. Surrender at once or face wicked darkness."

"I-I'll have to refuse." Julius unsheathed a longsword "En garde!"

They dashed towards each other and clashed weapons. Morren foolishly aimed to strike again while Julius hopped back to avoid the attack. To make up for his lack of combat skill, Morren shot out a thin thunderbolt from his cane.

The spell was easily deflected by Julius' sword and he closed the distance once more. He intentionally clashed weapons with Morren multiple times making the fight look more impressive than it actually was. Once Julius had his small bit of fun, he jabbed the hilt of his sword in Morren's chest making the magician fall on his back.

He tossed the detective agency's badge on his chest before running off in a hurry.

"Damnnit he's strong." Morren sat up and grabbed the badge left for him. "What is this..?"

"Morren are you alright?!" A male helped him get back up.

"I'm okay and don't touch me." Morren stared down at the badge in thought then groaned angrily. He ran off pushing people out of his way. "That was close. I almost used my real magic. Damnnit! I need to hurry back. Those bastards. I will not forget this!"

────── 〔✿〕──────

Midare slowly walked around in the cafe on call with Lambda. The young wannabe maid informed her of their successful task and questioned what was the next step of the plan. Step two was to await for a response. They needed to see if Morren caught on to their calling and if they'll be sent a body part from the anonymous person. Afterwards she entrusted Lambda to return to the cafe with the musketeers in one piece and hung up.

"Well what's next?" Mary eagerly asked.

"Keep sweeping." Midare responded.

"Aww come on…"

"We wait."

Mary dropped a sweat "Ah well…" It was the most logical action after what the Blue Corps did.

Ruudachi returned from Midare's office holding a folder that she placed on the table. "There! Our little list of investigation requests has been updated."

Mary, Hyde, Levin and Mikael stopped cleaning the cafe to gather around the table. The folder was barely full. A display of their remaining reputation as a detective agency, gone. They needed a resurgence in the public eye.

"I thought the news articles the Blue Corps published were helping us." Mary said.

"Seems like they're shitty journalists." Levin frowned. He opened his lighter then closed it. "We'll have to step up our game."

Mikael picked up the first request. An intriguing one as it involved a special weapon that was accidentally lost in an abandoned warehouse. The client wanted someone with a great sense of justice to retrieve the weapon before it falls into evil hands.

Mikael placed aside that request "You have to be kidding me…"

"It's perfect for you!" Midare proudly exclaimed. "No doubt that Soap has already located the weapon."

Mary tilted her head slightly. "Then what's the point of us going? He probably already has the weapon."

"Keyword 'probably'. " Levin said. "There's a chance we can run into him in the warehouse. Infact, there's a chance he may be hiding in the warehouse. Whatever it is, it's our job to investigate."

Hyde nodded, agreeing with Levin's sentiment. Now they needed a plan in case they ran into some of Soap's lackeys.

Levin opened his lighter then closed it. "Hyde, Mary. You'll be coming with me on this sneaking operation. I would bring a fourth but I can't risk too many of you getting hurt."

"Aw gee. That's fine by me." Mikael awkwardly laughed.

Midare rubbed her chin. She decided to take Mikael and Ibuki with her to assist with the Morren case. She clasped her hands together "I'll be counting on you."

Today? Right now? Mary wasn't completely opposed to the thought but they didn't have much of a plan. Levin grabbed the paper of the request and motioned for Mary and Hyde to follow him. The request had instructions of how to enter the warehouse outside of the city.

A trip that wouldn't take long with their motorbikes. The warehouse was surrounded by few trees, run down and dirty yet hidden in plain sight. The metal doors were rusted and locked shut, but Mary caught a glimpse of someone going behind the large building, presumably to enter from a back door. They parked by thick bushes and walked up to the building. The warehouse was almost covered by overgrowth but was obviously disturbed recently. This was definitely the place.

Hyde leaned his elbow on the metal door. "Is this the fabled sex dungeon?"

The door then suddenly rose slowly. The three quickly ran to the side behind a corner to avoid being spotted by two men acting as scouts for whoever was inside. They wielded pistols and wore baggy clothing. A direct hit from that weapon would be the end of the novice detectives.

"Be more careful Hyde." Levin hissed at the boy. It seems that 'phrase' is a cursed one.

They continued moving around the building, eventually stopping by a hole in the side. Burn marks were on the edges of the hole yet when looking inside, there was nothing in the room but a stylized sword stuck in stone. The color of the longsword was a dull metallic grey and the guard curved around the handle with elegance. This European style sword was fit for a prince but why it was here was a mystery.

Hyde walked up to the sword with Levin and Mary close behind him. He grabbed the sword handle just as someone else did.

"Eh?"

"Huh?"

He stared blankly at a boy his height with sharp brown hair that was a shade darker than his. His white shirt was buttoned to the top and his black long coat was buttoned in the center. He wore slightly baggy dark red jeans and black boots. It was more eye-catching than Hyde's casual outfit, a sword like this would be perfect for this stranger. However, Hyde needed it more.

"I need this sword." Hyde said.

"I was here first." The boy replied.

A stalemate… this was bad. Until suddenly the sword started to glow and soon flashed the room with a bright light that blinded everyone. When their vision returned, Hyde and the boy were on opposite ends holding a pink haired girl's arm.

"What the?!" Hyde said loudly.

"What kind of special weapon is this?!" The boy exclaimed.

The girl grew annoyed at them still holding onto her. "It's a lot to explain but I won't tell you anything if you can't decide who gets to wield me." She looked at each boy one at a time. "Hyde, Lloyd…"

"How do you know our names?" Both boys exclaimed.

"Just by touching me I can read some of your memories." she smirked.

Hyde pulled his hand away. That ability creeped him out even though he wanted to know of his own past. Lloyd was the victor, holding up the girl by the arm. She was as light as a feather.

"Ha! Looks like I win!" Lloyd boosted as the girl changed back to her sword form. Hyde and Mary placed their hands on their katana handles prepared to draw their blades. What interrupted their soon to be battle were several men in baggy clothing and then..!

"S-Soap!?" Everyone shouted.

Soap laughed at their shock at his entrance. He was the man of the hour, the star of the show, he was going to hog the spotlight as much as he could. "I knew there was a special weapon here! You damn idiots. I told you to search the area thoroughly." He ranted to his small gang.

"T-that kid disguised himself as one of us and tricked us." One of the men said. Lloyd snickered "You act so predictable. Besides, my client wanted this sword to fall into good hands and you guys are definitely not good."

Hyde raised an eyebrow hearing that they had the same client. Wait..! "Client? Are you apart of Noble Third?"

Lloyd nodded "Yeah. And I can recognize greenie over there. You're the lazy detective agency dudes."

Levin opened his lighter then closed it. "It's Levin Kamakura, and we are far from lazy."

This wasn't time to have a feud with each other over work ethic. The main mischief maker was facing them now. This was their chance to stop the mass disorder of magic in Osaka and if they lost now, Midare would rant for hours. In fact, she'll be ranting even more if they got themselves killed. Hyde felt cornered, but Lloyd shook him out of it.

"Let's combine our powers Hyde. You can fight right?"

Hyde drew his katana "I got 2 bones to pick with Soap. Mary, Levin, keep the other guys off of us while we beat Soap."

"You're going to beat me?" Soap chuckled then stopped. "Oh… you're going to beat me!" He turned around and sprinted to the other room.

Hyde dashed forward but came to a skidding halt when the men blocked his path. That's when Lloyd used his sword to shoot out a fireball which scattered the men. It gave him and Hyde enough time to chase Soap in the other section of the warehouse.

Soap came to a skidding halt to quickly draw his magnum revolver with chamber holes so large that they fit shotgun rounds. One shot would blow his mind.

Soap evaded each swing Lloyd threw out with grace, twirling around and parrying a strike to throw him off balance. It showed their difference in skill and the gap was huge. Soap and Lloyd clashed weapons with sparks ignited blue. Lloyd pushed his sword against Soap's revolver and a loud BOOM! Echoed throughout the room.

Lloyd's entire body vibrated and he threw himself back, falling on the ground as well as the sword returning to her human form to hold her ringing ears.

"Damnnit-- Hyde!" Lloyd called out.

"Take this!" Hyde swung his sword which Soap dodged away from with a high jump. Hyde immediately shot out a thin thunderbolt in the air that Soap evaded by maneuvering his body midair and returning to the ground.

He smirked at Hyde approach "So you've learned some magic. Even if it's weak, I won't give you the advantage."

They clashed weapons with blue sparks flying off their steel. After seeing what happened to Lloyd, Hyde quickly pulled his sword back and swung it again as hard as he could at Soap.

"Nice try." Soap narrowly dodged the attack and kicked Hyde on the back of his head while he had his back turned. Afterwards he ran off, escaping.

Lloyd ran over to Hyde, fainted on the ground. He shook him lightly "Hey, don't tell me that killed you."

Hyde held his head while sitting up. Everything felt light to him. "He… got away…"

Another failure…

a headache came with Hyde's head pains. He was still so weak, his skill was too low to even touch Soap. Just like real soap, he kept slipping out of his grasp. Next time will be different.