The group of ten people consisting of Elana, the Mountain Squad, three soldiers, and three surveyors were standing outside the iron mine located in the territory overseen by Viscountess Mirabelle Lunavond. What was supposed to be a mere inspection quest had become an encounter with a species of Calamity Beast, from which they had narrowly escaped. Right now, the soldiers and surveyors were ecstatic about having survived the deadly encounter, but Elana and the Mountain Squad still assumed that they weren’t out of the woods yet.

“We can’t just sit here.” Elana spoke out while keeping her eyes on the collapsed mine entrance. “Those monsters may find their way out anytime soon.”

“You’re right!” Jerome said, snapping out of his excitement. “Let’s run back to the carriages!”

“Hey!” Robin called out to Jerome. “You can’t expect an injured girl to run here!”

Before the tension between Jerome and Robin could heat up any further, Ulysses stepped in between them and spoke. “Alright, alright. Let’s not fight among ourselves. If you don’t mind, I will carry her.”

Without waiting for Robin’s answer to the offer, Claune approached Ulysses and bowed a little before speaking. “I will be in your care.”

Ulysses then carried Claune in the same princess-carry way like Robin had done before. Claune’s face became flushed red a bit, while Robin gritted his teeth and audibly clicked his tongue.

“Let’s go!” Jerome commanded, and the whole group dashed towards where the carriages were parked, except the three members of Mountain Squad who made consecutive big leaps with the help of their jet thrusters instead of dashing like everyone else.

Due to damaged terrain, the carriages were unable to traverse all the way to the mine entrance, and therefore they had been parked some distance away. The group covered the distance within a little over one minute, but the moment they arrived, all of them instantly froze up in disbelief.

“No way...” Robin said, falling limp on his knees.

Ulysses turned around and spoke to Claune whom he was still carrying. “You better don’t see it.” But perhaps she had already seen it, because she had a horrified look on her face and she was shivering uncontrollably.

The ground was stained red everywhere. Reeks of fresh blood permeated the air, prompting some people of the group to gag their own noses. All the carriages had been smashed to pieces, along with the horses and the soldiers who were supposed to be guarding them. A complete massacre had just happened and the sight of the aftermath was, to put into one word, revolting.

“B-Bleeeerghh!” One of Jerome’s subordinates threw up on the spot. The same also applied to Neil.

“W-We have to- urk!” Jerome spoke while struggling to hold his own nausea. “-get away from here!”

“He’s right.” Elana said while covering her mouth and nose with her left hand. “Whatever did this horrible thing might be still around.”

“Get away to where!?” Robin shouted with his eyes going as wide as humanly possible. “There are those centipedes behind and now we have an unknown killer that can attack us from anywhere at any second! What chances do we have!?”

Before Elana could respond to Robin’s lashing out, suddenly the spot the group was standing on was covered in a shadow which grew big quickly. Within a tiny fraction of a second, Elana realized the implication and her legs moved by themselves on survival instinct.

“Get out!” She shouted while pushing the person closest to her out of the shadow’s range.

CRASH!

A massive object impacted the ground with tremendous force, making a shockwave which blew everyone away. Elana was no exception, and she fell down rolling on the ground before regaining her balance and putting herself into a kneeling combat-ready posture. Her surroundings were still covered by all the dust produced from the sudden attack, limiting her vision greatly.

“Brainwave mode!” Elana spoke a command to her wristwatch, which immediately activated a mode where the nanomachines would take commands directly from her mind instead of her voice through the wristwatch.

Thermal vision!

Elana’s vision was immediately changed into what people would see through thermal goggles. She could see bright silhouettes of other people around her, and after a quick count she breathed a sigh of relief because everyone was alive. However, she didn’t celebrate for long because among the human silhouettes there was one which was towering over everyone else. Its color was of a lower body temperature than what even a cold-blooded living creature could possibly have, which implied that it was definitely not a normal creature.

Whoosh!!

A gust of wind suddenly occurred, blowing all the dust away. The sudden strong gust of wind somewhat felt unnatural, so Elana guessed that someone must have cast a wind magic spell or such.

Normal vision!

Elana reverted her vision. Now that there was nothing obscuring it, Elana could see clearly that the thing which had attacked the group just now was not even a living creature. It was what people would probably call a golem. Its bulky humanoid body was about five meters tall, and parts of it were stained with fresh blood. The implication was clear as day that this golem was the culprit of the massacre, and it was a serious threat not to be taken lightly by any means.

“I-Is that what I think it is?” Robin frantically asked while backing away with his bottom on the ground.

“It’s a rock golem!” Jerome shouted. “A dangerous Calamity Beast!”

Right after hearing the ‘Calamity Beast’ words, Elana immediately pulled her rifle out and opened fire.

Enhanced Combat Mode!

“Open fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rifle was still in armor-piercing mode after the last fight against the centipedes, which was probably a good thing since regular bullets would mean nothing against the literally rock-solid body of the golem.

Blam! Blam! Blam!

Lillie, Gregory, and Ulysses also opened fire with their armor-piercing heavy guns. The bullets pierced the surface of the golem’s body and made holes, and it reacted by covering its head with its left hand. However, the golem suddenly leapt forward with its right hand raised and curled into a fist.

CRASH!

The golem struck right at the spot Lillie stood on, but thankfully she managed to evade by jumping away with the help of her jet thrusters. Meanwhile, Gregory and Ulysses kept shooting bullets at the golem while slowly walking backwards. Their attack seemed to be working, but it was difficult to tell whether the damage they dealt was significant enough to subjugate the massive automaton.

Deactivate Enhanced Combat Mode and Brainwave Mode.

Elana stopped firing and tried to dash towards the soldiers and surveyors as covertly as possible while the golem was being led away by the Mountain Squad. Thankfully the golem didn’t seem to pay any attention to her and the six people who clearly feared for their lives.

“Everybody alright?” Elana asked while enduring the mild headache she now had.

“Y-Yes.” Jerome replied. “We’re all fine, somehow.”

“Anybody can tell me any information about that thing while Lillie’s squad is keeping it occupied?”

“It’s an automaton-type Calamity Beast.” Jerome said. “Rock golem is highly resistant to physical attacks.”

“Unfortunately none of us can use magic. Is there a weakness we can exploit?”

“Automaton type is all the same!” Robin chimed in with blood flowing down through his face from the head. “They have a core somewhere in their body. Destroy it and it’s done for!”

Upon hearing Robin’s words, Elana remembered something about the golem’s behavior. She then immediately called all three members of the Mountain Squad through the nanomachine link.

“It has a core in its head! Concentrate fire there!”

The battle between the golem and Mountain Squad then continued while Elana kept standing guard near the six people. However, despite the Mountain Squad having been told about the golem’s weakness, the battle was stagnating. The golem kept covering its head with one hand while striking with the other, and somehow it could mend any chip damage they had managed to deal.

“It’s not looking good.” Elana remarked. “At this rate, their suits would eventually run out of energy. Prepare to run for your lives again if we can’t kill it in time.”

“U-Umm...” Claune chimed in. “I think I remember something about golems. But I’m not sure...”

“Any information is better than having none.” Elana replied. “What do you know?”

“Umm, I heard that Fire Weave magic sometimes can stun golems for a few seconds. Perhaps they are sensitive to extreme heat?”

“Fire, eh?” Elana said. “Worth a try.” She then called the Mountain Squad again. “New information. Extreme heat may stun it momentarily. Try using Blaze Guns”

“Roger that, Captain!” Lillie replied right before jumping away from the golem and switching her weapon into two massive guns, each connected to her back with a thick tube. The tubes soon began glowing, visually transmitting energy into the guns. Meanwhile, Gregory and Ulysses stood their ground against the golem, defending and parrying against its punches and strikes using a massive shield on their left hand.

“Get clear!” Lillie shouted.

BWOOOSH!

Right after Ulysses and Gregory jumped away from the golem, both of Lillie’s massive guns spewed out a huge torrent of flames akin to the breath of a dragon. The flames wholly engulfed the golem which immediately charged straight at Lillie, who didn’t stop firing despite the oncoming danger.

The golem closed in on Lillie, braving through the torrent of flames which Elana could feel the heat of despite standing at quite a distance. The situation looked very dangerous for Lillie. However, the golem slowed down and came into a complete stop just a couple meters in front of her. The golem fell on its knees and its smoldering red body remained motionless afterwards.

“Uly! Greg! Now!” Lillie shouted as she stopped firing her Blaze Guns.

“Hah!” Gregory and Ulysses shouted, jumping up high while unfolding a new weapon on their right hands. The weapon coming into action this time was, to put it simply, a pile bunker. As the duo fell back down, they aimed their weapons’ respective metal spikes at the head of the motionless golem and...

Boom! Crash! Crack!

The two pile bunkers shot their spikes forward and hit the golem square in the head from above, completely impaling it through. While still in falling motion, Gregory and Ulysses detached the spikes from their guns and landed on the ground.

Drrrddd!

The golem then crumbled, its body becoming nothing more than a pile of red hot pebbles without any collective form. The Mountain Squad Trio stood in alerted silence as they put their exhausted weapons away.

“Is it dead?” Gregory asked without taking his eyes off from the remains of the golem.

“Maybe? No idea.” Ulysses replied.

“Let’s go to Captain, but keep your eyes open.” Lillie said. “And don’t forget to watch for centipedes.”

The trio then used their jet thrusters to get to Elana and the others within a single leap. Their landing together made a minor tremor on the ground which everyone else could feel, but nobody spoke out about it.

“Enemy down, Captain.” Lillie said while giving a salute, which Gregory and Ulysses did as well.

“Good work, but don’t let your guard down.” Elana said. “Let’s leave this place before any more of them show up.”

Nobody among the soldiers and surveyors voiced any disagreement, and so the group quickly left the twin mountain with haste. All the carriages were irreparable and the horses were dead, so there was no choice but to walk all the way back to the capital city. Because the terrain was mildly sloping down, the group could walk at a faster pace than normal for the time being, which was fortunate since Elana and definitely everyone else didn’t want to stay at the area for any longer.

After half an hour of walking, the group arrived back at the abandoned village where they had spent the night before. The village still remained visually unchanged from the time they had left it this morning, but now that the group had much less people it somewhat felt bigger.

“Let’s take a short break here.” Elana said. She also silently consulted the live map from the Probe Drone projected at the corner of her vision and concluded that they were safe for the time being.

“Alright, I’m gonna put you down.” Ulysses said as she gently put Claune down.

“T-Thank you.” Claune said.

Robin then held Claune’s hand, assisting her to a nearby rock where she could sit down. Once she was seated, he opened his bag and pulled out more first aid bandages.

“You got more wounds, no thanks to that damned golem.” Robin said while beginning to apply the bandages to Claune’s new wounds.

Claune laughed a bit with a pained expression. “You don’t look that much better either.”

“Yeah, my head hurt like hell back then.” Robin replied without stopping his work. A long bandage was wrapped around the upper part of his head and some parts of it were visibly stained red. “But after a while I’m already numbed to the pain.”

Meanwhile, the Mountain Squad trio unequipped their suits and audibly breathed a sigh of relief. It was visible from afar that they all were sweaty and pretty exhausted after equipping the suits for an extended period of time. At a stone’s throw distance from them, Elana and Jerome were sitting on a slightly elevated pavement near a house.

“They look pretty tired.” Jerome said to Elana. “Is it because of the armor?”

“Yes, indeed.” Elana said. “The suits give them strength above normal humans, but those same suits themselves are heavy.”

“Huh? But now they’re carrying it on their backs. Isn’t it the same?” Jerome asked while scratching his head looking at the trio who now were carrying their folded exoskeleton suits on their backs.

“It’s our home country’s technology. Don’t think too hard about it.” Elana replied. “Anyway, what should we do from here?”

“No choice but to keep walking.” Jerome folded his arms and lowered his head. “There is a village by a lake north of here. If we’re lucky they might have a carriage we can borrow.”

“I see.” Elana said as she once again glanced at the map projected in her vision. There was indeed a lake north from the current position, about a quarter of the way to the capital city. Still, the distance wasn’t exactly close and walking there would take at least three hours, probably more if the fact that some people were injured was taken into account.

“In any case, get some well-deserved rest. My guy there won’t be moving again anytime soon, after all.” Jerome said, glancing at his two remaining subordinates. One of them was throwing up again while the other was supporting him. “Poor newbie. He totally didn’t sign up for the hell we just witnessed.”

“Neither did we.” Elana said. “To begin with, our scope of work in this quest was just to do heavy liftings, but we ended up risking our lives fighting monsters.”

“Yeah, I get you.” Jerome said with a wry smile. “But seriously, your guys are incredible! I really thought that I’d die the moment I saw the centipedes! And that rock golem too!”

“Are those monsters strong?”

“I’m no adventurer myself, but I heard that taking down even a single rock golem gives a Platinum Rank team a pretty hard time. The centipedes are always in a swarm, so it would take a coordinated assault of multiple teams to exterminate them.”

Hearing Jerome’s explanation, Elana lowered her head and put one hand under her chin. “So that golem was something Kurt’s team could defeat handily.”

“Kurt?” Jerome tilted his head with his eyes slightly squinted. “Are you talking about Kurt Warden, the leader of Fledglings team?”

“Yes. From your reaction I’m guessing that they’re famous?”

“I’m fond of adventurer tales, so when I’m off-duty I like to mingle around in taverns where adventurers gather. Stories of Kurt Warden and his team of three come up quite often, so yeah. They’re pretty famous.”

“So that’s why you’re knowledgeable. I see.”

“But that doesn’t discredit the fact that your trio is incredible for having slain a rock golem! Their coordination was so perfect, I bet they have been working together for a long time!”

Elana froze up for a second, then she let out a sigh. She knew that Jerome didn’t mean ill, but she couldn’t really help it. “Trio, eh...?”

“Did I... just say something bad?”

“To be honest, yes. A little.” Elana replied. “But you had no idea, so I don’t blame you.”

“Ah, sorry then.”

“Let’s put that aside. Do we at least have enough water? It will be quite a long walk.”

“We still have some, but probably not enough. This village should have a well somewhere. I’ll go look for it, but let me rest for a few more minutes.”

“I will look for it, then.” Elana said as she stood up. “Go support your man there. He probably needs it.”

“Ah, right. Will do.”

Elana then walked away from the spot and began looking around in search of a well. She had the option to find it faster by utilizing Probe Drone’s map, but she chose not to do that now. The recent battle had been quite tough and she could use the brief moment of respite.

***

Somewhere not far from the fortified outer walls of Arxhige capital city, a few people were standing on an open plain of grass. The city walls were visible at a distance behind them, while in front of them was nothing but grassland and a fair number of trees as far as eyes could see. Among those people, there was Sedhoust standing upright with his arms folded and eyes looking forward.

“Here it is, Lord Grasmord.” The adult man next to Sedhoust said. His suit was comparably presentable like Sedhoust’s, and his similarly dressed young male aide was behind him standing by. “Should you decide to purchase this land, we shall promptly take the measurements according to the area you wish to purchase and place the landmarks.”

“How large is it again?” Sedhoust asked. “The land area available for purchase.”

“The total area of purchasable land in front of us is...” The man quickly took the notebook which his aide had been holding and browsed through the pages. “...ten hectares.”

“Hmm...” Sedhoust lowered his head and put one hand over his mouth. His silence kept going for half a minute until he spoke up. “I will take all of them.”

“C-Certainly, Lord Grasmord. I shall make the arrangements as soon as possible!” The man spoke in a professional tone of speech, although he had clearly failed to fully contain his initial surprise.

“How soon until this land is officially mine?” Sedhoust asked. “Oh, just to make sure, I’m not asking you to hurry it up. How soon, at your usual, normal working pace?”

“That would be tomorrow in the afternoon. Please visit our office by then to make the purchase and sign the necessary documents.”

“Tomorrow afternoon...” Sedhoust said, pulling out his own notebook from his suit pocket and then browsing through its pages. “My own schedule is a little packed at that time. Could you make time for me at about dusk?”

“Certainly.” The man replied with a smile. “For such a generous purchase we don’t mind keeping our office open for a bit longer.”

“I apologize for that.”

“Oh, no need to apologize, Lord Grasmord. We understand that someone as important as you has a lot of things on hand. On the contrary, we feel honored to be of service to the greatest archmage of the kingdom.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Sedhoust said with an indifferent face.

Before the conversation between them could continue, Sedhoust noticed someone running towards them at a speed which clearly implied that they had an Enhancement Weave spell augmenting their legs. It was a man who wore the staff uniform of Adventurer’s Guild, so Sedhoust didn’t become wary seeing him coming.

“There’s someone coming.” Sedhoust said. The man in suit and his aide looked at the incoming person, and like Sedhoust they weren’t fazed.

“It seems the guild has an urgent message for you, Lord Grasmord. Looking that they sent an express messenger.” The man in suit said.

Sedhoust didn’t reply because the messenger arrived, stopping just a single meter away from where Sedhoust was standing.

“Lord Grasmord, the guildmaster has a message for you.” The runner said, to whom Sedhoust responded with a single nod. “He requests you to come see him as soon as possible.”

“I see. I better get going soon, then.” Sedhoust said. He then looked at the man in suit before speaking again. “I will come to your office tomorrow at dusk.”

“We shall be eagerly waiting, Lord Grasmord.” The man in suit bowed.

Sedhoust then activated his flight spell and flew up several tens of meters before going straight towards the Adventurer’s Guild building. With moderate speed, he arrived at the front entrance within a few minutes. As usual, several people around stared at him the moment he landed but they quickly went back to their own business.

Sedhoust walked through the guild’s main hall straight to the stairs which lead to Keith’s office. While walking, he noticed a number of those airship survivors walking around frantically with their faces filled with worry and frustration. He wanted to know what was happening to them, but for the time being he decided to prioritize Keith’s message. Therefore he ignored them and continued walking.

Click!

Sedhoust opened the door of Keith’s office without knocking and stepped in with haste. Keith was inside, leaning back on his seat and staring off into space. He noticed Sedhoust coming in and immediately leaned forward with his arms folded resting on the desk in front of him.

“You’re here, Sedhoust.” Keith said with a smile, but having known him for decades, Sedhoust knew that behind the smile Keith was troubled.

And thus, Sedhoust took his seat and asked the simple question. “What happened?”

“...One of those survivors has been arrested for murder.” Keith replied

Sedhoust didn’t immediately respond to Keith’s answer. His schedule had been pretty packed throughout the morning and the afternoon, and the mental fatigue had built up to the point it was no longer ignorable. Everything for today had been done without a hitch, and normally this was the time for him to go home and rest. But now with the accumulated fatigue within his mind, the only response which finally came out from his mouth was nothing more than a single word, spoken in a plain and flat tone of speech. “...What?”

“I didn’t see the scene myself, so I only gathered testimonies of witnesses.” Keith said, taking a piece of paper from a thin stack nearby. “Multiple witnesses said that they saw one man wrestling with another for several minutes, and then the fighting ended with one putting down and slitting the throat of the other with a knife.”

“And that was one of the survivors?”

“Yeah. You probably saw some of them downstairs, didn’t you? They are as shocked as I am.”

“How did their captain, Elana, take the news?”

“Ah yeah, you don’t know yet. She and a few others have been out of town on a quest since yesterday morning. It will be a few more days before they return.”

“They better have a functioning long distance communication technology. Otherwise it will be too late.”

“Indeed. Murder case in public with multiple witnesses...” Keith sighed. “He won’t live long.”

“So I’m guessing that he’s now detained downstairs?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“In a way, It’s fortunate that he’s an officially registered adventurer. Though I never expected that it would have come to this.”

Sedhoust folded his arms and lowered his head with a sigh. The guild’s influence and reputation was high enough that it had a degree of authority in regards to law and order in the capital city. Adventurers of Gold Rank and above had the kingdom’s permission to function as law enforcers if needed, and the guild building itself had a prison facility underground. However, the facility was only used if the detained criminal was a registered adventurer.

The setup was meant to help in making investigations and relevant questioning easier to finish more quickly, but it also attracted pressure from public to sentence the defendant with the maximum possible punishment should they be found guilty. After all, the guild had to keep their image that they took the matter seriously when it came to adventurers going rogue.

“Yeah, what’s there to investigate if there were multiple witnesses on the crime scene, seeing it with their own eyes? And we both know that the maximum punishment for murder is death.” Keith said as he leaned further back.

“Who’s the victim?”

“A solo Iron Rank adventurer with the name... Keith Pilgrim. Yeah, first name’s the same as mine. Pugilist fighting style.”

“And the culprit? Which one of the survivors?”

“Their doctor. The name is... Terumoto Kai.”

“So even doctors are trained for combat in their home, huh?”

“Nope.” Keith shook his head. “I had a small talk with him once on the day of the carriage pileup accident. He’s just a doctor without any combat training, and I don’t think he lied about it.”

“Hmm...?” Sedhoust squinted his eyes and put his hand under his chin. “Then something doesn’t add up. How did a doctor manage to overpower and kill an adventurer capable of hand to hand combat?”

“That has been bugging me too, Sedhoust.”

“It seems there is more to this case than what we know so far.”

Knock! Knock!

The door of the office was knocked before the conversation between Keith and Sedhoust could continue. Sedhoust stood up and sat on the couch located at the side of the room, as a gesture to Keith that he didn’t mind him letting the person in.

Noticing Sedhoust’s gesture, Keith spoke out. “Come in!”

The door opened with a click, and two people entered in a hurry. Both of them were the soldiers among the survivors, one male and one female. Sedhoust still didn’t know the name of the female one yet, but the male one was one of the soldiers he had encountered first back then.

What was his name again... Theo?

“Guildmaster!” The female one called out. “There must have been a mistake!”

“Hey, calm down there and take a seat first.” Keith said. Both of them seemed to oblige, taking steps closer towards the seats in front of his desk. It was at this moment they noticed Sedhoust’s presence.

“Ah, Sir Sedhoust. Please excuse us.” Theo said while bowing a little.

“Hmm.” Sedhoust replied with a small nod and his arms folded.

“You’re Theo, right?” Keith asked Theo, then he looked at the female soldier. “But I think I don’t know your name yet.”

“I’m Valeria Percival. I and Theo are substitute leaders while Captain Mayer is away.” Valeria said. “Anyway! There must be a mistake! Doctor Kai is not someone who randomly goes out and murder a stranger! You must’ve got the wrong guy! A lookalike by chance, perhaps?”

“Now, now, hear me out for a second.” Keith said. “The perpetrator was immediately apprehended at the crime scene and brought here with several witnesses keeping an eye on, including fellow adventurers. It can’t be a lookalike.”

“Then it must be mind control magic or something!”

“As far as I know, there’s no such thing as mind control magic.” Keith said, then he looked at Sedhoust. “But you’re more knowledgeable than me, so maybe you have a different opinion?”

“Actually, it does exist. A number of archmages had conducted studies on the matter.” Sedhoust said, which instantly filled Valeria’s and Theo’s expressions with hope. “However, all of them came to the same conclusion, stating that a mind control spell has to be weaved from scratch for each unique person, or it will simply not work. Weaving such a spell requires at least months of literally stalking the target person to study their behavior and personality. And then-”

“Sedhoust, sorry to intervene.” Keith said. “So in other words, it’s impossible with the current circumstances, right?”

Sedhoust responded with a nod before speaking. “Yes. All of you have been here for less than a week so it’s just impossible. Moreover, nobody would bother to weave a mind control spell just to have an Iron Rank adventurer murdered.”

Bam!

“You’re not helping at all!” Valeria slammed the desk in frustration. “Doctor Kai is innocent and I know it! There must be something foul at play!”

“Yes, I’m with you there.” Keith said firmly, which stunned both Theo and Valeria into silence. “At least, both I and Sedhoust know that some things don’t add up. I need to confirm one thing first. Is Doctor Kai capable of martial arts or such?”

“No way!” Theo replied. “All he does in his free time is studying on medical science.”

“See, it’s strange, isn’t it? The victim is a pugilist, a person skilled in hand to hand combat. There’s no way he could’ve been easily overwhelmed and killed by Doctor Kai if your statement is true.” Keith said.

“Can we ask him ourselves?” Valeria asked.

“Yes, but not today. It’s already past visiting time. I’ll arrange it so you can visit him tomorrow morning. Rest up and keep yourselves calm, alright?”

“One last question, please.” Theo asked.

Keith asked back in response. “What is it?”

“Will Doctor Kai be treated properly down there?”

“Yes. Regular meal and all. Despite his current status he’s still a human being.”

“That’s a relief. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Theo and Valeria then left the office, leaving Sedhoust and Keith alone once more.

“By the way, Keith.”

“Yeah?”

“Where is the victim’s body kept?”

“The city morgue, of course. Preserved as evidence until further notice.”

“I see. Anyway, I’m going home. Today has been a little tiring.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“I hope things will turn out alright. For you and for them.”

“Thanks.”

***

Later in the night, Sedhoust was sitting on his favorite couch at the balcony of his quarters. Once again, he gazed at the clear, starry sky while musing about various things including the strange murder case. He largely agreed with the points brought up during the discussion, and thus he wondered how and why the case could happen.

Normally he wouldn’t concern himself with such matters, but this time one of the people which had piqued his interest was involved. If things went wrong and Elana inevitably found out later, his plan of studying the otherworldly ship would be in jeopardy, and he would never want that to happen.

“Stargazing again today?” Suddenly a familiar voice asked from behind. Sedhoust knew that it was Vierra, so he wasn’t startled or such.

“Yeah. Come sit here.” Sedhoust gestured at the other couch next to him. Without saying a word, Vierra sat down there.

“Something on your mind?”

“Well... yes.”

“Mind sharing?”

“It might actually concern you too, so alright.”

Sedhoust then began telling Vierra all the story he knew so far about the strange murder case, including the fact that the perpetrator was one of the survivors. Vierra listened intently without intervening until Sedhoust finished telling the story.

“And that’s all I know about it. What do you think?”

“It’s strange as you said. If they really fought, it should have been Doctor Kai who gets beaten up. And I talked to him once, when Mira got into an accident. He didn’t strike me as a person who would randomly pick a fight and murder someone on the streets.”

“But according to Keith it was what happened.”

“The witnesses could have been confused due to the heat of the moment. Asking them again tomorrow calmly and carefully may get you a different result and new clues to follow.”

“You’re right. Although...” Sedhoust said. “Should I be the one to do that? It’s not my field of expertise and I have other things to do.”

“Maybe it’s better to answer with a question.” Vierra said with a smile. “How far are you willing to go to study that ship?”

Sedhoust’s response to Vierra’s question was nothing other than a mild laugh. Vierra laughed as well seeing that, and the two of them didn’t say any more words. One thing for sure, Sedhoust now knew what he would do tomorrow.

***