CHAPTER 409: Investigations
Hatsumi was about to pick up both of our captives when I noticed there was a bolt stuck in her left shoulder. "Hatsumi, you've been hit!"
She nodded. "I apologise for getting your clothes damaged, I will have them fixed and cleaned."
"That's not the point! Are you alright?" I asked.
Hatsumi smiled. "It takes far more than that to really hurt me, although I am uncertain if it was poisoned. I have debated keeping it in my shoulder until I can hand it over to Cassie."
"Hey, there is something I don't think I have ever asked, how do undead experience pain? Like does this hurt?" Helena wondered.
I blinked, somehow I had just assumed they would hurt a lot like we do.
Hatsumi pondered that. "I have no idea how mortals feel pain but we certainly experience an uncomfortable feeling when wounded, however this bolt isn't that serious."
"Speaking of poison, we need to check the captives to see if they have any of those poison pills. Maybe we can also drain some blood and see if there is something already inside them?" Rose wondered.
"I am not sure if one drop of blood would be enough to trigger any reaction and I can't raise dead on that anyway. We would need Cassie's help to figure that out. Also, the poison sort of killed them and they seem to be alive." I noticed.
"Alive but paralysed and unable to talk." Hatsumi confirmed. "Which means they shouldn't be able to swallow any hidden pills right now."
"I still think you should remove that bolt, surely that assassin had more poison, or bolts, on him. It's not like having that in your shoulder will really preserve anything." I stated.
Hatsumi shrugged but she finally removed the bolt and I immediately cast an undead heal on her, before she could protest. Not that she would have needed it, vampires were rather good at regenerating. Then again, she didn't drink from our captives but she had some blood potions from Cassie on her.
Rose searched the mouths of our captives and didn't find anything hidden, then she and Hatsumi picked them up. The corpse was still on Nyx' back, who stayed in her big form to carry them.
When we reported the incident at the nearest guard station the sergeant in charge decided that he needed to inform his superior, so we had to wait. Eventually a lieutenant showed up and took the captives into custody while we filed our report. That the incident included sabotage complicated the matter since there was a chance that more infrastructure had been damaged. At least he assured me that I would be informed about any new findings when it came to the plot against me. We also got directions to Brian's office, so that was our next stop.
The building was two stories tall, made from stone and located not too far from the river. The area wasn't especially busy but something stood out.
"Why is Garm sitting outside of the building?" I asked, as we reached our destination. While I spotted the orthos, he saw me as well.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"Koyuki!" He shouted, and charged towards me with a wagging tail. Soon I experienced having my face licked by two heads simultaneously.
"Garm! What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Oh, we realised something was wrong through the bond but we couldn't really tell what had happened. I think Nyx might have sent us a warning or something, so Kaito decided we had to investigate." Garm explained.
"Nyx, what did you send them?" I looked at the feline, who tried very hard to look innocent.
"Meow." Nyx said.
"Meow." Yoru agreed.
"Where is Kaito?" Helena asked.
"He is inside talking to Brian while I ensure nobody sneaks out of the building. Oh, I really should keep an eye on the entrance." His left head said while his right head turned around to watch the building. "So, what happened and why are you a maid now?" Garm asked.
"There was a trap but Kyan saved me, then we ambushed some assassins, which is why I am wearing Hatsumi's clothes." I explained. "It worked to confuse the attackers and now we are here to report to Brian."
"Ah. It seems our pack is fine so I will guard the door again." Garm declared and we entered the building.
"Those are your goblins, right?" Helena asked.
It seemed that the building had been taken over by my undead as assassin goblins seemed to be guarding the hallway. The building itself didn't have a reception area, it wasn't meant for visitors and only held a few offices for some city workers.
"Those are my new assassins, yes." I said.
We found Brian's office on the first floor and when I opened the door I found Kaito standing in front of an uncomfortable-looking Brian, who sat at his desk. The room was not too big and had several cabinets to store files. Kaito's head turned 180 degrees to face us as we entered.
"Koyuki! I am relieved that you seem to be unharmed, Mistress. While I was aware that nothing too troublesome had happened, since the link remained strong, Nyx had sent a distress signal of sorts. As your loyal servant I considered it my duty to respond and investigate the matter." Kaito replied.
"Koyuki… wait, didn't you have different eyes?" Brian said, as he looked at Hatsumi.
"We switched clothes to fool the assassins." I explained.
"Assassins? What is going on?!? Your undead has been…" Brian swallowed.
"I can assure you I have been very professional and have ensured that no harm comes to anyone employed here. However, I was forced to make it clear that the wellbeing of my Mistress was important enough that the staff had to suffer minor inconveniences." Kaito responded.
"Um, ok. So the runes in the sewers were sabotaged to shock me and they are no longer working. When we left the sewers we were ambushed but we expected it and took precautions. We have one corpse and two captives at the guard station. So those runes need to be repaired and hopefully we can find who is behind the sabotage. Also, we weren't able to complete our assigned patrol because of it…" I said.
Brian blinked, then he closed his eyes and just sat there in silence for a bit.
"Ok, tell me again what happened."
We explained the entire day in a bit more detail while Brian listened. He didn't seem very happy about any of it.
"I think I need to express my concern about accepting any academy 'volunteers' in the future." Brian muttered. "Go home, leave my office, I need to deal with this!"
"Whoever sabotaged those runes might be here. Or whoever has leaked Koyuki's schedule, perhaps we should question some people." Kaito suggested. "My own investigation had only just started as I was asking Brian to share any details about your route, how it was chosen and who had access to it."
"Information that you are not allowed to have, as I tried to point out!" Brian protested.
"Maybe we should let the guards do their job, however I would suggest that Hatsumi and Rose take a sniff of any mages who work on the sewer runes. Maybe one of them smells like the blood we found in the sewers." I suggested.
"They are not here! We don't employ a mage full time for such things, those are independent contractors! You know what? If I get the guards' approval, I will gladly show you any files about those mages but I can't just hand them over to a volunteer!" Brian said.
"I see, perhaps in that case we should leave and find those adventurers you mentioned, Mistress." Kaito suggested.
"Do you think they are involved?" I asked.
"Perhaps not but they might have seen someone enter the sewers, if they were in the area. It wouldn't hurt to ask." Kaito suggested.
I nodded. "To the guild then."
Before we left I looked at Brian. "I am sorry for the trouble I have caused."
"Yeah, yeah. It's good that you didn't die." He replied.
Then we left for the adventurers guild.