NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 19: Investigations and murmurs
“These damn orderss don’t make any sense!” Linora shouted with annoyance as she tossed away another folder filled with documents filled with financial reports of the various adventurer guilds across the empire.
Looking over at the large stack of documents inside darkened folders on the couch in her office, Linora felt an uncomfortable irritation knowing she had to look through all of those files. Leaning back into her chair and rubbing her tired eyes, she could feel a feeling of annoyance pulling at her from the inside.
“I gave them my bloody report already and yet they want me to keep investigating all because the fucking Crown Prince “FEELS” that there is something here?!” she continued as she rose up and slithered over to the pile.
Picking apart the pile she glazed over the folders, seeing names of guild personnel, transaction records for their finances, and traded materials for the last ten to twenty years. None of these were eye-catching or had any discrepancies with the taxes that were soon paid afterward, so why was she forced to go so far back for something she didn't even understand?
“I swear I’m going to strangle that pompous brat Malfas for putting me up to this. Were it not for his insistence and connections with the Crown Prince, I wouldn’t even be stuck in my office the entire week!” she shouted as she slammed down a few documents on the pile, causing some of them to fall off and spread across the floor, further fueling Linora’s rage.
“Goddess help me” Linora sighed as she bent down to pick, her eyes still glancing over the papers she picked up,
“Haahh…let’s see, financial reports, taxes paid…a request to the builders guild for more materials after a monster attack…hmm? What’s this?”
{!}
Looking down at the last document, she noticed the folder for this one had a red ribbon wrapped around it and it was stamped with the seal of the imperial family.
“How did I miss you?” Linora muttered as she slithered back to her desk and placed the folder on it.
Untying the ribbon, and opening up the folder. Linora’s eyes were met with an information sheet regarding a certain adventurer named Starlight
Name: Ophelia Erstad
Race: Human
Age: 13
Gender: Female
Alias: Starlight
Power Rank: SSS-Rank
Date Joined: Sanschim 11th 1010
Current Whereabouts: ERSTAD DUCHY
Achievements:
Took down the Leviathan Calypso
Annihilated the Goron Barbarians
Smashed the Pillar of Light slave trade union
Bested the feral dragon “Chamber the Firecracker”
(A/N: Imagine the ones with the streak through as blacked out)
“Hmm. it seems that everything except the name, date they joined, and power rank is blacked out” Linora continued to mutter as she looked through the several documents
“What the?”
As she flipped through the numerous pages, she could not see anything as every single achievement, contact information, and people who are associated with them are blacked out with ink. All except this note at the bottom of the final page
Note: Anyone who is not a guild board member or a member of the imperial family is not allowed to read this document
She focused on the one piece of information that she could work with, the year 1010, Linora quickly slithered back and forth between the desk and the pile of documents on her couch, scouring through the documents and searching for the year 1010 and the year before 1009. As she scoured the relevant documents, she began pinning them up on the pinup board on the wall opposite the couch and began stringing information relevant to the years. Noticing a pattern in them as the years continued to climb and climb. Her eyes were widening as she stared upon it and the gears in her head turning fast.
“How did the adventurers guild go from a small foreign upstart to where it is now…” she asked herself as she continued to string along more information until 1016 when the climbing had stopped.
Getting some distance from the pinup board she glanced at the document sitting on her desk, picking it up and then scanning it and the board to try and find something. It did not take the gears working in her mind long to think of the answer to her question.
“Starlight…Starlight was the one who brought the guild much success…but how? And who was Starlight? Who in this empire is strong enough to become an SSS-Rank and grant them so much good fortune…”
“Could they be a noble? No, they would have made a name for themselves and tried to raise the status of their house…”
“Could they be a commoner? Possibly, but a commoner trying to hide that much power would be found out eventually…”
“Could they be a foreigner? No, no. would have heard stories already from overseas…”
Linora racked her brain over the questions she muttered as she stared at the document and her pinup board. But inside her, she felt alive and very much happy as she felt that this mystery reminded her as to why she had joined the Investigation Bureau, the thrill of solving mysteries and bringing everything to light filled her with drive and a reason to keep at it.
“Interesting…but I need to see the other blacked-out portions if I am going to find what I need” she told herself as she looked down at the documents
“Hmm. what if I?” She then tried to use the magic spell <Reveal> which was designed by the Imperial Investigation Bureau to reveal all blacked-out and hidden information on a document.
{!}
ZAP!
“Gah!”
But to her surprise, the spell had failed and instead of revealing information, a painful jolt of electricity shot through her arm, making it numb and unresponsive.
{!}
“What the fuck?!” Linora cried out as she brought up her stats and saw a notification
ALERT: The user has attempted to access a restricted document. Document safety protocols have been activated. The following effects are in play
Paralysis Shock: The limb of the user that has been shocked will be paralyzed and will be unable to be used for the next [30 minutes]
{!}
“Shit. what the fuck did I just stumble upon” She remarked as she looked down at the blacked-out documents on her desk,
Slithering over to the door, she opened it up slightly and saw her lamia secretary, Geneva, she had white scales and looked like a precious beautiful young flower, dressed in a regal officer uniform that was black with blue accents while what Linora was wearing was black with red accents since she was a higher up. She was diligently filing papers and slightly turned her head as she sensed Linora looking at her, before completely turning her head and looking straight at her, but unlike normal lamia, she was wearing a blindfold.
“Yes ma’am?” The lamia spoke
“Gen. I need you to lock down my office for the next couple of hours. I am going to be talking to someone related to my investigation” she told her with a smile
“Of course ma’am. I will do as instructed” Geneva replied with a gentle nod and voice before rising up from the seat and slithering off to the door leading inside, turning the lock and locking the door shut.
“Thank you Gen, You can take a break yourself. You look tired” Linora continued
“I will ma’am thank you for your concern” Geneva replied as Linora closed the door.
“Right. Time to ask him” Linora muttered to herself as she slithered back to her desk and pulled out a communication crystal from one of the drawers on her desk.
“Call Killian” she called out to it, with the crystal glowing several colors for a few moments.
“This is some next-level stuff” She said aloud with an impressed smirk
The communication crystals are a new but rather untested piece of work that was developed by the Wizard Tower in the last year. “Trial crystals” were given out to only a few important individuals, each member of the guild board has one of these, and Linora was able to get her hands on one through several favors to the tower.
{!}
CRACKLE CRACKLE
As the crystal began to make a crackling noise, the colors shifted wildly before settling on a very accurate colored display of a man in a suit sitting around a very spacious office.
“Guild Master Killian? Can you hear me?” Linora called out to him
“Yes yes I can” Killian quickly answered, his figure in the display showing his smile
“How can I be of service Master Linora?” he graciously asked
“There is a certain document I wish to discuss with you it involves you” Linora told him
“Oh? How so?” Killian asked as he raised his eyebrow
“I cannot discuss it over the crystal, I will need you here in my office. And I already read your file, so I know you can manifest into this place just by seeing my surroundings”
“Well…when you say it like that I don’t really have a reason to do I?” he answered with a surprised expression.
As the crystal’s display disappeared, Linora looked down from the display and saw Killian materialize in front of her, suit and all. He had a smile on his face as he slicked back his jet-black hair and extended his hand
“Guild Master Killian Aldrich. At your service Master Linora, or should I say, Chief Investigator Linora” he greeted her as she shook his hand.
“Thank you for coming in, I hope I was not interrupting something?” the lamia asked
“Oh no you were not Master Linora. But I do distinctly remember that the last time we had a chat, I was given the impression that I no longer had to speak with anyone from the Investigation Bureau as I had proven the guild’s innocence and that Malfas was being a whiny bitch” he told her with a smile and suave tone
“Ah. I suppose you would have believed that. And I did too, but something has come to light very recently and I need answers” Linora told him as she slithered closer to her desk and held up the folder.
“Do you recall this?”
{!}
“Ho…how did you obtain that?” Killian’s charm and suave nature from earlier had disappeared into worry and fright as he looked upon the document.
“So you do know what this is?”
“I…yes. I do, I was with the board as they signed it…but how did you obtain it?” he asked again as he took a step forward
“Well, it was given to me when I had asked for the archives of the adventurers guild dating back the last ten, twenty years…why, is there something of significance hidden in this document?” the lamia asked as she raised an eyebrow and could feel her inner self get more and more curious.
“Yes. very much so yes. Inside that folder is information someone like you should never have had access to, I am ashamed that it got into your hands…” the guild master answered her
“Oh? And why is that? Are you telling me that the adventurers guild is actually hiding something important? Something that could unravel your entire organization if it were to get out?” Linora continued with a curious expression
“Yes. that is exactly the point. But, that is not the only reason I am concerned here…did you do anything to the document…like try and read the parts that were purposefully blacked out?” he continued as he took another step, his eyes darting around and cautious as if he is scared
“No…no I have not, and are you ok? You don’t seem in the right mind” she lied through her teeth as she looked him in the eye. Before asking him with a concerned look
“Don’t lie to me…I can’t tell you how muc-You even made a pinup board of it” Killian's words were cut short as he looked at the pinup board and looked at all the documents stringed along to make a cohesive set of events and an easy-to-follow timeline, alongside lists of the finances and transactions of the guild.
“You like it? It took me a while to make this”
“All…all of our efforts to hide it all these years and someone like you was at the cusp of blowing the whole thing wide open…” Killian uttered as he stared at the board
“Hide what? What are you hiding?” Linora pressed him as she held the document closer and tighter and slithered a few meters back.
“Tha-”
As Killian was about to utter something, there was a sudden knock on the door. Shattering the moment.
“What the?” the lamia let out a confused tone as she slithered past the still-shocked Killian and slightly opened the door to see Geneva filling up the entire sight
“Umm…Ma’am, there is someone here to see you” she uttered in a distressed tone
“Hmm? I remember telling you not to let anyone in. wait, wasn’t the door locked?” Linora asked with a confused expression
“About that” Geneva muttered before moving aside, allowing Linora to fully open the door and see a large figure standing in front of Geneva’s desk.
The figure was clad in crimson red plate armor that had gold trim and they were holding a large golden battleaxe that looked as if it could cut the wind with just a slight shift in balance. The helmet they were wearing prevented Linora or Geneva from seeing who was under the armor as it only provided a vision slit and the eyes seen in the slit were pulsating red.
“Are you busy, Chief Inspector Linora Ariete?” the figure called out to her, the voice deep and coarse.
“No, no. I am not…but may I ask, what is a Varangian Guard of the emperor doing in my office and why does he need to see me”
“For that, we would need to have a good long chat”
………………………………………………………………………………………………
In a swift series of motions, Linora and Geneva quickly tidied up the couch by placing the documents on her desk, before bringing out a coffee table for them to drink tea and coffee and other refreshments from. Also unpacking some chairs that were hidden inside a small compartment in the room and quickly dusting them off, Geneva arranged the entire thing for her. Killian, who had seen the varangian guard and was also understandably scared was helping her in her endeavor, helping arrange the furniture, while Geneva went to the side kitchen and began brewing some tea, coffee and preparing some snacks. All the while, said Varangian guard was outside patiently standing by the desk twiddling his thumbs.
“Right. You may enter now, Varangian guard…” Linora trailed off, not knowing the name of the Varangian
“Oh. Just Sir Antwerp will be just fine”
“Right. Sir Antwerp. Please, come in”
The lamia then led the large and hulking guard into the room, the sounds of the guard booming and slightly shaking the ground with every step of the way.
‘How has our floors not given out yet?’ Linora thought as she watched the guard pass her,
Closing and locking the door, she quickly made her way to the chair opposite the couch and sat down, with her sitting down, Sir Antwerp and Killian also took their seats, with the two non-armored people in the room surprised that the couch didn't immediately break upon the weight of the heavy armor.
“Ahem, now that we are here. May I ask why a Varangian guard, one of the emperor's closest bodyguards is here…in my office…wishing to speak with me…”
“Well. I will cut to the chase since I respect the work you have already done on this” Sir Antwerp told her as he gestured to the pinup board
“And that is?”
“I want that document with the imperial seal”
{!}
“How did you-”
“Well, when you tried to use <Reveal> on it, we were alerted to it and quickly tracked it down to here”
{!}
“I know what you are thinking, “What is hidden inside this document that the imperial family themselves want to hide?””
“Yes, that is the question in my mind”
“Well, I cannot answer that question. But this letter from the emperor might explain everything” Sir Antwerp told her as he pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment from a compartment in his left arm, handing it over to Linora.
She gently grasped the letter and it read
To: Linora Ariete, Chief Investigator of Department 5 of the Imperial Investigation Bureau
Good Tidings to you Miss Linora, I guess if you are reading this, then you have stumbled upon a document that has the ability to shatter not only the empire but also the adventurers guild and several institutions within them.
If you are wondering why this is of so much importance then I will briefly explain. The Builders Guild, the Adventurers Guild, and the Imperial Banking Firm are all the products of the success of the efforts of one Grand Duchess Ophelia Erstad. And as you may know, publicly she had been denounced as an “Evil” force that had been banished during a surprise trial in the imperial academy.
What is not known is that Ophelia is my legally adopted daughter, who spent a good amount of her life as the adventurer Starlight who you might have seen inside the document. She is the reason why the adventurers guild has gotten to the point where it is now, it has built itself on the great achievements and ideas that Ophelia presented to them in order for the nation to become stronger and greater, and that has led to not only our citizens getting protection in places we are struggling to establish a presence in, it allowed the adventurers guild to flourish and prove itself. The Builders Guild owes her a lot as it was the guild that she had founded as an entity under our government to ensure that the construction of infrastructure and other public commodities are met and are not hamstrung by petty nobles. Lastly, she was the one who helped me finalize my plan for the Imperial Banking Firm as she helped me smooth out certain rules and regulations I had in mind.
Now you may know what this implies, but if you do not which I doubt you don’t, you realize as much as I do, that if the public were to find out that the certain “Evil” force that had been banished was responsible for three of the empires most widely praised and used institutions and organizations…wouldn’t it lead to more conflict and unrest than there normally is?
I am no idiot Miss Linora, My body may be frail and I am aged but my mind is still sharp, I know that my idiot sons are currently trying to push for a system that benefits humans and only humans and would cast out all non-humans, but fortunately they have met a lot of resistance from non-humans that have been using the institutions that Ophelia had created as an example of how and why their system won’t work. I do not need to write about how the exposure of these institutions' true origins would impact the empire no? Death and Fire is all I can see.
So I implore you Miss Linora to help us and ensure that the secrets within that document never see the light of day. And to stop your investigation, despite my son's orders. Oh, and you can tell your sweetheart of a secretary everything that is to be discussed as I see it as a great way to ensure two more people see the folly of my son's actions.
From: Your Benevolent Ruler, Gaius I, Emperor
Dropping the letter onto the floor, Linora sighed as she silently handed over the document to Sir Antwerp who accepted it with a smile hidden under the helmet.
‘Fuck…to think it would run this deep’ she thought as all the information sank in
‘If I expose this, every single non-human, me, mother, sister, and Geneva…would all be in danger…I have a choice to make’ she continued to think as she saw Geneva come in and place down the tray filled with sweetheart pastries, cups, and a teapot.
“Geneva sit here” she commanded as she patted the chair. Smiling at her sweet beloved whom she had yet to confess to. Geneva returning the smile
Looking at Killian, she saw his worry and fear and now understood why he was acting in such a way, she knew she would do the same in his situation.
She then breathed a sigh as she looked over at Sir Antwerp, she clenched her fists and looked them both dead in the eyes
“How can I help?”
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Deep in the underbelly of the city of Scaneth, the capital of the Hillsbrooke Empire, there was a large gathering of non-humans and humans alike. Most of them were dressed in hooded rags or were in ragged clothes that looked as if they had come from the many slums of the city.
“Did you hear? That Crown Prince is currently trying to find a way to get rid of us!” one of them shouted
“Yeah! He calls us all undesirables! Whether you be human or non-human, if you are poor then he sees you as nothing!” another cried out in anger, the crowd getting more and more restless
“Are we just going to let him and the rest of those bastard human nobles get the better of us? I say nay!” another one shouted with the voices of the crowd agreeing with him,
“I say nay! I say nay!” they chanted as loud as they could, stomping their feet and rattling the pipes in their surroundings.
It looked as if the crowd was about to go wild but then the sounds of a group coming through one of the large tunnel entrances were heard.
“Enough. Any more ruckus and the guards and workers up above will hear us” a deep voice sounded from the large tunnel.
Stepping into the main chamber, it was a wolf beastkin with gray fur and a scarred face with a body clad in a golden suit of plate armor with the crest of the imperial army spread across his chest.
“General Fang?! Of the Imperial Army?!” one of the voices in the crowd shouted out
“Yes. I am, and I think I should tell everyone here what the goal of this meeting is” he said with a booming voice as he gestured for the people behind him to step out into the light themselves.
The crowd was murmuring as they saw nobles who were mostly non-human, with some that were human beings treated the same as they saw them on their side. The nobles were all dressed in their usual attire except for the fact that they were all wearing hooded robes to cover themselves.
“Now. the goal of this meeting is simple, To organize a revolution”
A/N: Hello! it seems I was able to finish this one earlier than expected so I decided that posting it now would be the best. I put a good amount of thought into it and I tried not to put as many effects in it as the previous ones, so please, let me know what you think about it and what you think about the chapter. I am always happy reading comments and trying to answer them. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I had fun writing it and as always, Stay Safe and enjoy your day!