Chapter 126: To make a mistake
"Arnold does a good job, as always." Edward looked at the letter Arnold had sent him with his request.
It was a mission from Alric Dorne. He was asking for the assassination of a traitor who employed undead from the Cursed Lands. The traitor lived on the outskirts of Lor, in the nearby villages.
The information was quite accurate. If it weren’t for the fact that Edward now had Harry with him, he would surely have had some headaches trying to figure out what this guy was up to.
Thanks to the spying by Harry’s men and his own insight, they managed to figure out that Alric’s plan was to send them into a hostile area controlled by members of the Red Moon Cave.
’Luckily, we found a few things,’ Edward thought, looking at some scrolls he held in his hand.
’Let’s play a little game.’ Edward grabbed two blank sheets of paper and began writing something on both of them.
-The mission has been successfully completed, Instructor Alric. But it was difficult to obtain the heads of those involved as evidence, since there were powerful undead there. Even so, we were able to recover some clothing and classified information.
That’s what the first letter said. Edward folded it and placed it in a cloth bag containing several scrolls.
He then proceeded to write the other one.
-Elder Owen, we recently received a mission involving the killing of some traitors. Unfortunately, we were not informed that they belonged to a secret organization, and we ended up wounded and unable to complete it. I request your prompt investigation into the matter.
That’s what the other letter said, and when he wrapped it in a cloth bag, it contained only a scroll with the mission details, the exact location, and a short additional note.
Edward went into town to mail the letters, which were sent via the Academy’s Emergency Mail Service so they could arrive the same day.
--
Alric Dorne stared at the letter that had arrived minutes earlier. He read it several times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
’Were they able to complete that mission in a single day? It seems I’ve underestimated them,’ he thought.
He read the scrolls and examined the evidence as well.
’I haven’t received any further information from there. Should I go investigate?’ he wondered, and read the scrolls again.
’Although there are parts that have been erased, this is important information. I’m surprised they were able to not only complete the mission, but also steal so much information.’
For some reason, he felt a little strange. "I must go find out." Alric stood up suddenly.
But just then, there was a knock at his door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Sir, there’s something important I need to report to you."
Alric frowned at the sound of the voice and returned to his seat. "Come in."
A short, skinny man entered the room. "Excuse me," he said, before stepping closer to whisper a few things in Alric’s ear.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked.
"Pretty sure."
"Good. Wait for me outside so I can go check it out. I have something important to do," said Alric. After seeing the small man leave his room, he looked at the mission documents on his desk.
"Well, if it’s already completed, there isn’t much for me to review," he whispered. He stamped it and marked the mission as completed. Then he set it aside next to a stack of documents that were to be delivered to his direct superior.
Finally, he left the room.
--
"Well, what a minor discrepancy," Owen suddenly scoffed, looking at the letters and scrolls in his hand. "Don’t you think so, Instructor Alric? One tells me the mission has been completed and bears the academy’s seal. The other tells me that not only were they unable to complete it, but they’re injured as well and has the group’s seal. Should I send people to check it out, then?"
In one hand he held the letter Edward had sent him. In the other hand was the "completed" mission that Alric had handed in just an hour ago.
"Besides, when I noticed the discrepancy, I went to speak with the supervisor, and it turns out he wasn’t in his office for no reason. I hope you have a good excuse ready."
Despite saying that, Owen didn’t let him speak. After all, that wasn’t the crux of the current situation.
He picked up a scroll and a blank letter, which he read carefully.
The scroll was the proof Alric Dorne had submitted to confirm that the mission had been completed. It contained information with sections that had been erased or torn out, as if it had been handled roughly.
Meanwhile, the blank letter... said exactly the same thing, without the erased sections.
"May I ask why your name appears seven times on a letter from a rat’s nest, instructor?"
It wasn’t that anything else appeared. Everything matched perfectly, so the name hadn’t been put there on a whim; it had always been there.
"Why did you think this information was sufficient proof?" Owen smiled and leaned back in his chair to stare at him. "Did you... know who had the letter?"
Alric clenched his fists behind his back and lowered his head. "I’m sorry, sir. My mistake was marking the mission as completed without verifying it first. I didn’t think a group with a 100% mission completion rate would pull a dirty trick like that."
"I didn’t ask you that, Alric Dorne," Owen stated with some irritation.
Alric Dorne swallowed hard.
"I was aware of that letter. But I didn’t remember its contents." He admitted. "A year ago, I received part of its contents along with a threat. They wanted to kill me. But then they disappeared."
"So you wanted to destroy it, which is why you gave them that mission. But you didn’t even realize that what you actually received was the letter, so you decided to hand it over as evidence, right?" Owen asked.
"That was my plan. I never thought there would be any problems because it’s about them. And since I hadn’t read the letter all the way through either..." Alric tried to be honest, even though he was nervous.
"You’ve worked hard, Alric Dorne. I didn’t think you were on the Red Moon Cave’s wanted list. Thank you for your hard work." Owen replied sincerely.
Alric looked up. "Thank you, sir," he said sincerely.
"What do you plan to do with those boys? It seems they hold a grudge against you and have mocked you this time."
"They’re young students; they were bound to pull a prank like this at some point." Alric smiled. "I don’t hold a grudge against them, though if you give me permission, I’d like to teach them a lesson."
"You have my permission, Alric. We are their teachers, and you are one of our best instructors. Our academy teaches respect for authority. If they don’t respect you, you must teach them a lesson for the sake of their future."
"Thank you very much, Elder Owen. In that case, I’ll take my leave. I’ll investigate that place thoroughly again and issue a new mission." Alric replied, and with Owen’s permission, he left.
Owen stared at the door until it closed. In his hand behind the desk, a small piece of paper fluttered between his fingers...
--