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"Of course it had to be raining now." Schera mumbled in annoyance, watching her entire outfit get drenched by the water like she just fell into Valleria Lake. Last night she finished all her Jr Bracer work in Bose, and was prepping for her trip to Rolent. It was pouring that night and she prayed it wouldn't last until the next day. Alas, her prayers were left unanswered by the goddess, and if anything it was worse then before. Not only was the rain pouring as hard as it possibly could, she could see the occasional flashes of thunder in the sky. It was a full on storm.
If only she could take an airship, but part of the journey to become a full fledged Bracer was that she needed to travel across the entire country, on foot. Thankfully the highway to Rolent was pretty flat with no major hurdles like a mountain to traverse around or a dimly lit cavern. If she had to travel to Bose in this weather from Ruan she would've been in a way worse situation. Traveling up and around a mountain while everything was slippery was a recipe for disaster. Thankfully that wasn't what was happening here because the highway to Rolent was a lot simpler to travel through.
"Well…. no point in complaining." She reminded herself, as she traveled through the highway. She was paying extra attention to the monsters who were prowling outside the path in case they suddenly decide to be a problem. Normally the lamps on the highway kept them away from the main road, but there was nothing wrong with being extra careful.
As she walked something caught her eye. A small figure was rushing towards her, wearing a cloak covering their body. It was odd to see anyone else traveling through here on foot, especially with the harsh weather. And then the figure got closer and Schera noticed something stranger. They were really short, almost like a child. The figure suddenly stopped in front of Schera and froze. She couldn't see the the child's face because of the cloak she was wearing.
"Are you alright? What are doing out here in the middle of the rain?" Schera asked the small figure. The child flinched at her voice, Schera heard a soft gasp, it sounded like a girl, and they started moving past her. "Woah, wait a sec!"
The child didn't turn back, ignoring her calls and ran as fast as they could towards Bose. It was a bit impressive how fast they were running. Schera let out a deep sigh seeing a sudden new potential responsibility she had to fulfill. Logically as a Bracer it would be best to follow them and make sure they were okay, and get home safely. The kid was was likely having fun in the rain, messing around irresponsibility.
The highway is full of monsters, yet kids never learn how dangerous it could it be if they aren't careful. Her intuition was telling her to trail the kid and make sure nothing happened to them, but, her eyes returned to the path she was already following. Bose wasn't too far. If they got all the way here without getting hurt, they can get home safely. Plus the Bracers there could always help them out. So Schera, slightly selfishly and naively chose to focus on her own journey to Rolent.
She needed to become a senior Bracer as soon as possible, and the kid would be fine. Someone will find them and bring them back to their family, assuming they aren't just messing around for fun. She shook off that worry and continued walking. One detail remained in her head though, which stuck to her mind as she grew closer to gate. Well not a detail but a possibility that flung to her mind. What if the kid wasn't from Bose? She assumed so quickly they were, but they were coming all the way down from the end of the highway closer to Rolent. They could have easily have left Rolent, and come by here. That thought raised a few alarm bells in Schera. If the guards spotted a little kid running through the gate, on her own why didn't they stop her? Maybe she got permission, but without her parents? And she was so short, she couldn't have been old enough to be responsible for herself.
Noticing her mind was beginning to overthink things, she reminded herself this was only a hypothetical. For all she knew the kid was just from Bose playing around, having a good time. But that possibly still existed in her mind, and while she didn't feel like rushing after the kid, she wanted to have some words with the guards just in case this was something more then a child playing in the rain irresponsibly.
Schera grimaced at the thought of talking to the military though. With her time at Bose she had the displeasure of meeting some of the military, and it was honestly baffling how much they disliked Bracers. It was completely counter intuitive and just made things messier for both parties. It was frustrating but as a Bracer she just had to bare with it.
"Still…. letting a kid sneak by a gate is pretty careless even for them." Schera mumbled to herself. The military shouldn't be that incompetent. They weren't bad at their jobs, just a nightmare to work with if you happened to be a Bracer. Still, the possibility of the kid being from Rolent existing was enough for Schera to speak with them once she arrived.
"Sorry miss, we never saw a kid past by here."
"Are you sure? I saw someone pass by me on the highway." Schera responded. The gate's guards claimed no one walked through, which likely meant her whole hypothetical was false. Even with that becoming a bit more certain something still bugged her about the kid. She was so far away from Bose that it would be easier to believe she came through the gate from Rolent. Why play so far away? Kids aren't the brightest, but even they would know the further you go from the city, the more prevalent the monsters are. That would mean though that the kid somehow how sneaked past everyone here, which couldn't be possible. The guards seemed like they were attentive and not slacking off, noticing her arrival before she even got to the gate.
"I'm sure the kid you saw probably came from Bose and was wandering off in the highway when they weren't supposed to." The solider said, which was likely what happened. But at the same time, why would a kid chose to play in the highway full of monsters, while a storm was blanketing the sky? They were alone too, so it wasn't just a group of dumb kids playing around. Unless the kid was shy?
Maybe she should have listened to her intuition as soon as she saw the kid.
Well, it was too late now.
"Just let the guild branch at Bose know what I saw. Just in case the kid is lost." Schera suggested.
"You are absolutely sure you didn't just see something that wasn't there." The guardsmen questioned. His eyes peered down to her JR Bracer emblem. Schera rolled her eyes. Did they seriously not believe her because she was a rookie?! The sooner she gets that senior Bracer promotion the better….
"I am absolutely sure of what I saw. And this is a child's safety on the line. Do you want to be responsible if we discover that they were hurt on their return to Bose? Even if what I saw is incorrect, it's better to be safe." Schera explained, the man quickly nodded, noticing the implications behind her words.
"We'll send in a call." The guard responded before heading towards the Orbment phone hanging on the wall. Schera watching the guard speak on the phone, decided to head off past the gate towards Rolent. She didn't want to think about how hypocritical what she just said was, so she focused on getting to Rolent, not thinking too hard about it. The kid was going to be helped by people at Bose, even if she should have done something, they'll be okay still. She filed those worries away.
She walked through the Milch road, past the local farm, and then finally arrived in Rolent. The town was as peaceful as ever, even if the rain forced everyone inside. The first thing she wanted to do was to go straight to the Bracer guild to get registered for this guild branch so she could go do some good old Bracer requests. She walked through the town spotting some familiar faces she recognized from her previous visits here. The family who worked on the farm was eating breakfast at the town's restaurant. Maybe later she could go catch up with them when she is free.
She entered the Bracer guild, and noticed the receptionist wasn't there.
"Oh Scherazard is that you?" A voice echoed from upstairs. "Didn't expect you to get here so soon. I thought you would wait out the rain." Then the Bracer came down the staircase. It was Grant, giving her a small wave. He managed to get his senior Bracer emblem before her, something she was still jealous of.
"I'm a Bracer, I can handle a small trickle of water." Schera confidently said, the sound of thunder echoed outside. She then walked towards the front desk to get herself registered, grabbing a pen from the desk. "Anyway, I didn't know you were Rolent's guild receptionist. I thought you needed more experience before you can get in that kind of position."
"It's just temporary , the actual receptionist is pretty busy right now, they were sent off to do a big job at Grancel." Grant quickly went around the desk and looked through the shelves for the registration papers already knowing why she was here. "Here you go. I'm sure you know where to sign already."
"Yup." Schera answered, jotting down her name on the dotted line, before handing them back to Grant. After her time in Rolent, all that would be left would be registering in Grancel. That Senior Bracer emblem was so close! "Any requests available right now?"
"Unfortunately no. Cassius already signed up for all them, you might have to wait until tomorrow for them to open up again." Grant explained. Schera looked towards the wall of requests and every single one of them was taken by him. She looked down to the floor disappointed.
"So I just have to sit around for a day and do nothing? I traveled so early in the morning, just to not be able to do anything?!" Schera complained.
"I… well…. I guess you could always ask Cassius if he needs help with any of the jobs. There's a few monster extermination quests you can do alongside him. Maybe he could use some help?"
Cassius needing help? That's a joke. He could easily do all the tasks he signed up for in no time flat. If anything, her presence would be more of a hindrance to his job since he'll have to make sure she doesn't mess up.
"I'll just train, and do some general patrolling. He doesn't need my help." Schera remarked, however Grant seemed to not agree with her idea.
"I don't think so actually. Cassius. He's been, taking a lot of jobs lately, drowning himself in work. And it's getting to a point where a lot of the guild is getting worried about his health." Grant stated, much to Schera's shock.
"What? Is he okay?!" Schera asked in panic, slamming her hands onto the receptionist table. Cassius was the one who inspired her to become a Bracer. She deeply cared for him, so hearing that he wasn't doing great was shocking…. although, she had a feeling she already knew why.
"It's been happening for years now apparently, but I heard it's only gotten worse recently. According to the other senior Bracers, he's been overworking himself. Since the war ended, all he's been doing is Bracer work. He only returns home at the dead of night, sometimes he doesn't. I saw him yesterday, and he's just…. he doesn't look great." Grant explained with a worried look on his face. "I heard Kurt is going to talk to him soon about his workload, because it's getting concerning now."
"Dammit….." Schera mumbled. It was what happened during the war. She heard it in the news, his wife and…. Estelle died during the war. It was horrible to read about on the news, and she couldn't imagine how he was handling it. He lost his entire family in a day, and she lost the sweetest friend she ever met. Estelle immediately grabbed her attention the moment she visited Rolent when she was still in the circus troupe. She was super sweet and easily impressed by their circus acts. She loved Luciola's card tricks, getting her tarot card read out. She was filled with so much joy and wonder. A positive light so strong it was blinding. And from then on, Schera looked at her as a little sister. She visited her all the time, and her regret is that she was only her older sister for such a little amount of time.
"You think it's because of what happened." Schera asked, not wanting to say what happened out loud, like it was some forbidden statement neither of them could mutter.
"Probably." Grant mumbled, turning away slightly. He took a deep breath before turning to look at Schera closer. "Well, enough heavy topics, for now Schera if you are looking for something to do you can go check on Cassius to see if he needs any help with any of his requests. I think he'll be happy to see you again, he knows you were coming to Rolent. Told him yesterday after Lugran gave us call. I'm surprised he wasn't here waiting for you."
"Alright. See you Grant. Good luck on the receptionist job." Schera waved before heading outside through the highway. She headed straight towards the Bright residence. The rain was getting worse oddly enough, but she barely paid any mind to it. She wanted to see Cassius as soon as possible. She was already looking forward to seeing him again, and hearing what's been going on with him only made her want to check up on him even more.
She soon arrived at the turn to Cassius's home. And as soon as she walked towards the house. She stopped walking, and stood still. The color drained from her face as she saw what laid before her. It took seconds for it to click in her mind, she couldn't even comprehend what she was seeing. It was simply impossible. What she was seeing couldn't be real. Laying on the ground, right in front of the gravestones for his wife and Estelle, was Cassius Bright, his clothes stained with blood.
Thunder echoed above. For a moment she forgot to breathe. Until she let out a horrified scream.
It didn't take long for the entire town to be in a panic.
The moment Schera burst through the guild door with tears in her eyes, Grant knew something was wrong and it was far worst then he could imagine. Bracers from nearby guilds were called and even members of the royal guard arrived to investigate the scene. The thought of Cassius Bright being attacked, let alone successfully assassinated was simply laughable. No one could be strong enough to kill him in battle. He single handily saved Liberl in the Hundred Days war. Yet, he ironically was laid, right in front of his family's graves, completely dead.
Schera was shaken, but tried her absolute hardest to remain calm. She was standing outside the bright residence, with Grant standing beside her who also trying his best to mask his own panic. He may be a senior bracer, but he didn't have that much more experience then her. There was a crowd of terrified people standing around the area, trying to understand what was happening. Schera wasn't very quiet when she ran through town to the Bracer guild, something that made the preserving the scene even more difficult.
"I'm sorry. I panicked-I didn't mean too make the investigation harder." Schera apologized to Grant who was waiting beside her. "I should've known better, I'm a Bracer, I should've handled myself."
"It's alright. No one can blame you. I probably would have done the same thing. We're both rookies here. I'm just glad we were able to find his body before any civilians found it. Aidios, why did we have to be only Bracers in town when this started." Grant complained, before looking towards the guardsmen blocking the way. "Can we investigate as well?"
"Well… General Morgan is-"
"A Bracer was murdered, we have every right to investigate as well." Schera responded harshly, and Grant nodded in agreement. The solider, understanding, nodded letting them through. The two of them stepped into the crime scene, and Schera took a deep breath as she saw the state of Cassius's body again. There were soldiers using Orbment cameras to take photos of the scene. One of them walked up to Schera, startling her slightly.
"You are the Bracer who discovered the scene correct, did you touch anything?"
"No. I already said I left as soon as I saw his body."
"And nothing changed since." She said before turning to look at the body. "Everything looks the same?"
The body was to the side of his phone, near the gravestones for his wife and Estelle. Schera wondered why he would have the burial so close to his home. She thought being reminded of their deaths everyday would be horrible if she was in his position.
"Yes." Schera answered before the solider jotted everything down on notebook and walked back towards the body. "Wait… do they think I'm a suspect? Why are they asking me so many questions?"
"I don't think so. You're the first person who discovered the body. They're just making sure the scene hadn't been tampered with." Grant said. The two of them walked towards the body. Other soldiers were discussing things to each other next to it, others were closely examining the body. Schera took a deep breath and looked as well. He was wearing his normal outfit, and due to the weather they were drenched from the rain that was still pouring hard. Schera forced herself to look at the noticeable stab wound right on his stomach. It was clean and deep, straight through. She felt sick looking at it.
"Schera you don't need too." Grant responded, but she ignored him. She wasn't going to let some blood scare her away. She had to figure out who did this to him.
"It's weird. The wound being at the front." Schera thought aloud to herself. Aside from the impossibly of killing someone like him, the placement of the wound was strange. With the wound being at the front of his body, it meant that he was attacked from the front. He would have seen his assailant. It wasn't even a sneak attack. Someone locked eyes with the legend and slayed him, in a single blow. Someone like that existing, and being nearby was extremely worrying to think about.
"Scherazard." A voice echoed behind her. She turned to look and recognized him immediately. It was General Morgan, who she got frustratedly familiar with in Bose. "I didn't expect to be seeing you so soon."
"Neither did I. Although, the Divine Blade being murdered is even more surprising." Schera responded, trying to remain visibly calm. The last person she wanted show vulnerability to was him. At the mention of Cassius, he looked towards Cassius's corpse. A firm glare appeared on his face.
"The assassin will be caught, no matter what. Once this scene is properly recorded, we're going to transfer his body for testing. To see what the exact cause of death was, and the time it occurred. I take it the rest of the Bracer guild agrees with this decision." He asked. Schera and Grant who was standing nearby nodded in agreement, both relieved he was willing to put aside his hatred for Bracers.
"Of course, anything to catch whoever did this." Grant stated.
"Good. Because this is going to be difficult case. We're dealing with an assassin capable of killing Cassius Bright." General Morgan stated grimly. Hearing him say that fact out loud made it even more terrifying to think about. Someone like that was currently prowling around Liberl in hiding. Who could even be strong enough to do that?!
"Scherazard, quick question. You arrived this morning from Bose correct?"
Schera nodded, not knowing where he was going with this.
"While you were on your way to Rolent, did you happen to see anyone suspicious. The assassin could have easily could have escaped through the gates if they were capable of killing Cassius." General Morgan asked sternly. Schera thought back on her trek here. She didn't see anyone suspicious…
Her mind suddenly stopped.
The child wearing that cloak who rushed past her.
Surely, they aren't apart of this crime.
Right?
It was just a coincidence a kid would happen to be playing in the rain, heading away from a town where an assassination took place, while intentionally covering their body in a cloak.
"Are you going to answer Harvey?" General Morgan asked again more sternly, it quickly shook her out of her growing realization.
"No. I didn't see anyone aside from a child playing in the rain." Schera answered. General Morgan sighed before walking away, the answer clearly disappointing him. She wanted to believe the thought that went into her mind was wrong. A child killing the Divine Blade is a nonsensical idea. She was just letting the entire situation get to her.
But for the rest of the day, after the body was moved, the image of that child rushing past her stayed in her mind. It never left. The image appeared when she heard from the Bracers at Bose that they never found the child she mentioned, the girl popped back in her mind again. When she saw the story talking about the murder on the Liberl news once the incident was made public days later, she read the part mentioning that the culprit remained unknown, she saw the girl again.
It couldn't be.
It can't.
The kid had nothing to do with this.
But that doubt stayed there like a scar on her body.
Would things have been vastly different if she chased after the kid, if hadn't selfishly neglected her duties, passing what she should have done, making sure the kid was safe, to someone else. Maybe they would have gotten a lead on what happened to Cassius. Maybe, as impossible as it sounds, the kid was involved somehow. She would never know.
That unknown child would forever plague her mind, a curse looming over her shoulders that she could never get rid of.