“An assignment.” Dia eyed Schwarz, and then rolled her eyes. “Barely two days into our new position as problem-solvers for Count Nightfall, and we’re already given work to do? I thought we were supposed to, you know, take care of the city after he departed for the war, not before?”

“You’ll like this next bit, then.”

Risti, who was enjoying a bowl of mushroom soup, tilted her head. “What’s this next bit you’re talking about?”

“This assignment takes place outside of Licencia,” the bartender replied. “Hooray.”

That last bit was said in such a dead voice that a corpse couldn’t have done it better, but after Dia was done badmouthing Schwarz in her mind, she did a double-take.

“Outside Licencia?” Dia asked. “Are you serious?”

“Regretfully, I am very serious. It’s on a peripheral territory, some small town called Nachtville. According to the count, more than fifteen people have been murdered there,” Schwarz replied. “Petitions for aid have been apparently pouring in for the past few days, especially after the group dispatched by the Folders’ Association was rendered useless.”

“And pray tell,” said Farah, who had just walked into the room, “what kind of folders are we talking about here? If it’s an investigative group dispatched, I’m fairly certain that they’re of a rather high calibre.”

“They’re…” Schwarz hesitated. “Bi-folders. From what I know, the dispatched team’s leader did something he shouldn’t — that last bit’s literally stolen from the count’s words. He exhibited incredible levels of terror, before passing out on the spot in broad daylight.”

“What in the name of the Moons was he doing?” Farah asked.

The bartender shrugged. “Investigating how a Tri-head Snake died. From what happened to him, the count says that it’s probably a Blessed of the Coloured Gods, but there’s no concrete proof. Anyway, since the rest of his team is keeping guard over his unconscious form, they are in no shape to actually do any investigation of their own.”

“And the count’s personal guards?”

“Preoccupied with the upcoming war,” the bartender replied. “Didn’t you hear? More than ten thousand young men and women joined the Nightfall Army over the past three days, and his personal guards are overwhelmed by the prospect of training alone.”

“What a mess,” Dia muttered. “Trust a murderer to strike at the best possible timing.”

Risti grunted. “And you’re sending some of us there. Can we refuse?”

“In a sense, yes. I’ll just go over by myself,” the bartender replied. “I was intending on getting you and Dia to go along, since you two would make a good pair for investigating and apprehending criminals. However, if you two are willing to take over my jobs while I’m off, I don’t mind taking a break.”

A mountain of papers flashed through Dia’s mind, an image that was swiftly replaced by a bar full of unruly people, and she held her palms. “Now hold on. I didn’t say we weren’t going to do it, right?”

She nudged Risti, who glanced at her in surprise. The latter edged over and said, “Have you already forgotten what happened a week ago?”

“Well, it would be a problem if we mess up his work,” Dia replied. “Besides, didn’t you guys get me a Bangle of Duplicity just a few days ago? I can use that, and no one’s going to know.”

Risti tapped her feet. “Are you sure?”

“There’s no getting out of this one. Just look at his face, and you’ll understand.”

“Oh, that bitter, middle-aged man look…true.” Risti shook her head.

“Hey! I find that offensive!”

The two giggled and then turned to Farah. “Well, we’ll head out this evening. Make sure to not let him lay his grubby paws on you, okay?”

“He can try,” Farah replied. “I’ll smack him around with a sword.”

“You three are going to make me spew blood one day,” the bartender replied, a helpless look on his face. “That said, thank you for stepping up to the plate. I’ll make sure you two get the lion’s share of the rewards after this. The count promised quite a bit of gold and even some lifestones for this.”

Dia had a feeling that Schwarz took up this assignment for that last bit, though. From how Risti was looking at her, it was clear that she was thinking the same. Everyone was quite aware of just how much Farah had left, and pure-ranked lifestones were quite hard to get given their current status.

She could sense an odd gaze from Schwarz, and she immediately played along. “I don’t really need pure-ranked lifestones now, though. It’ll be better if I got money at hand.”

“Same here,” Risti added. “I heard that the Profiteers have some rather interesting artefacts for collecting information. Is it possible to get one or two for me?”

“Oh, you two aren’t interested in the pure-ranked lifestones either?” Schwarz asked. With a flash of inspiration that should have been faked, he turned to the countess and said, “Right, didn’t you need some pure-ranked lifestones? You could buy them off us, and we’ll place the money in our shared funds.”

“Eh?” The countess blinked. “I was under the impression that Claud would have first say on pure-ranked lifestones, though. In fact, I’m quite surer that it’s under his contract.”

“There’s a corollary attached,” the bartender replied. “But if you don’t need it immediately, we can wait for him to come back. That way, we can make it more official and stuff.”

“That’s fine with me,” Farah replied.

“What’s important is openness here,” the bartender replied. “And Claud doesn’t have a pressing need to extend his lifespan. In fact, I don’t even know what’s his lifespan like at all.”

“We’ll…go with that arrangement for now, then,” Farah replied.

“Great. Thank you so much.” Schwarz took a deep breath. “Risti, Dia, come here for a moment. I’ll brief you on the situation so far, and after that, you two should get ready.”

Dia and Risti nodded.

“Go ahead, then,” said Risti, taking out a small writing implement. It was called a pen, something that was very popular with the nobles. Apparently, the first pen was a relic from the previous era, dug out from some ruins, but she’d digressed.

“First, do you still remember those reports about a three-headed snake? Yeah, it was running around Nachtville,” said Schwarz. “There’s no need for alarm, though. Someone killed it two days ago, but the way it died was rather…problematic. We — that is, the count and his officials — believe that a tetra or penta-folder had struck…and that’s also why the folder I talked about earlier fainted. Don’t be like him; don’t investigate the snake’s death.”

Dia nodded. “Alright. We’ll refrain from doing that. And we’ll make sure to be extra polite to anyone we see.”

“Glad you got that point,” Schwarz replied. “More importantly, however, the very presence of this snake probably meant that Claud and Lily’s journey back had been delayed. It’s possible that they might arrive at Nachtville after you, but…I need Claud back here as soon as possible.”

“Why’s that the case?” Risti asked. “And what about Lily?”

The bartender paused for a moment, his eyes flickering over to Farah. “And her too, naturally. For good reasons.”

Dia placed a hand on Risti’s shoulder. “Got it. Don’t let them take part in this commission.”

“Yes. For one, they haven’t been briefed, and more importantly, the two of them might be fatigued,” Schwarz replied. “Getting them to help out in a murder investigation will place their lives in extreme danger. Get them back, and I’ll brief them on the ongoing situation.”

“Noted,” said Risti. “Anything else?”

“Yes. First, there’s already a team there, who has the backing of the Folders’ Association. For the duration of this assignment, the two of you should consider them as the leaders; report any information and let them handle things as much as possible,” Schwarz replied. “Furthermore, your presence there is simply to help Count Nightfall uphold his reputation and obligations — do not feel pressured to solve the mystery.”

Dia frowned. “But—”

“In the first place, none of this would have happened if nothing happened to the team sent by the Folders’ Association,” Schwarz replied. “The count expects us to simply support the Dusk Daggers. By no means is he expecting two people with no professional background in meting out justice to do anything of actual substance.”

Risti and Dia winced at those words. It was great that they weren’t expected to do much, but the fact that such an expectation even existed was also painful to think about, in a sense. For some reason, Dia had the impression that Count Nightfall wasn’t expecting anything when he made that request…so why did he even bother to do that in the first place?

Dia naturally knew the answer, but the heart and the brain were separate organs to begin with.

“Anyway, my main point is that you two just need to go there and show your face. Risti might be of greater use there, given her skills, so you just need to focus on protecting her, got it?” Schwarz tapped his chin. “Claud tells me that you have good foundations as a bounty hunter, so she should be safe in your hands.”

“Leave it to me,” Dia replied.

“Excellent. Go pack up, then. We don’t have that much time either,” said the bartender. “And remember to use your Band of Duplicity.”

The two nodded, and returned to their rooms.