The moon is high as Vice-Gauthier paces in his office as the stuffed duck quivers behind his desk. It would do Coco no good for him to make a comment on that women’s death. Even if he felt slightly victorious having outlived her.

Vice-Gauthier waits for his spirts to return as he sends messages out. How could the General have been murdered? It was impossible for the prison to be breached by magic or the dead. The only reason his spirits could enter was because the general had linked her body to a spell array as a beacon point. Otherwise, his spirits would have been exorcised by the defenses in place.

No fingerprints or footsteps were found. That did not mean a spirit had committed the crime, but rather the figure had used magic to clean their tracks. But magic could not be used in the dungeons without alerting the guards. Not to mention, every inch of the prison was engraved with magic nullification runes. To even draw out a fragment of mana, would have still triggered hundreds of contingencies set in place.

But even then, there were talented assassins that could leave no traces. But not a single guard was found dead nor the traps were triggered. The stone golems did not awaken to attack the intruders and they felt every footstep against stone. Unless a crafted item was used, but there were defenses in place to nullify such items powers.

The walls and bars were in tact in the cell and throughout the prison. Not a single stone was found out of place even when using trained beasts to sniff out magic and anything out of place. No scent was found, nothing not a single shred of evidence other than the blade.

But the blade was a mystery. Forged with the best of steel, but it had no trace of a man’s craftsmanship rather that of dwarves. But dwarves were notorious for leaving their trademark on blades that were sold to humans. Unless the blade had not been forged for a human being. And if that was the case a whole can of worms was being opened.

Suddenly a small spirit enters carrying a strip of paper with a sign. Vice-Gauthier feels the strength leave from his legs as he collapses onto the floor. The spirit anxiously hovers over the unconscious body as Coco reluctantly waddles over.

Coco pokes his master repeatedly and yells, “WAKE UP,” into his master’s ear. Nothing. Coco eagerly raises stuffed wing the air to perform a forbidden act, which would give him great pleasure. With all the strength, he could muster he slaps his master repeatedly in the face.

His master doesn’t even let out a groan of pain. Coco after some time realizes that as a stuffed animal, his slaps and punches felt like a stuffed pillow. Grumbling, but refusing to give up, Coco begins to jump up and down on his master’s chest.

Breathless several minutes later, Coco flops onto the floor giving up. Coco croaks to the spirit, “Wait, He’ll be up eventually.” With that in mind the small spirit sits down to wait as Coco decides to make a nest for himself on his master’s chest and sleep. No use in wasting a perfectly good nest.