While the authorities were extinguishing the fire, we headed to the record center. Amelia made me find strange cases from 20 to 25 years ago. Even if it didn’t involve the 4 victims, I still had to check it as long as it was out-of-the-ordinary. There would be bonus points if it was investigated by Arthur.

For starters, what was “out-of-the-ordinary” for this world? Weren’t all cases out-of-the-ordinary? Could she mean something different from a murder or robbery?

I skimmed through the files and tried to find anything strange. Hours passed as we searched around and I could only find one strange case: a series of disappearances that happened 20 years ago. There were no witnesses and no connection between the victims. However, they all disappeared during weekend nights.

It was strange enough since around 35 people disappeared and it was investigated by Arthur himself. However, after the 35th victim, it stopped. I gave the file to Amelia.

“I see... This is indeed a strange case”, Amelia said.

“Amelia, I compiled what I found out about Arthur”, Temma handed her a piece of paper.

I looked at it and saw many words scribbled. Arthur graduated from the knight’s academy as the top student. He was excellent in swordsmanship and was pretty decent in Dark Magic.

“Also, the fire has been put out and it’s safe to investigate the building.”

“Then let’s go back. I’ve seen enough.”

We returned to the remains of the burnt house. I could still feel the lingering heat seething from the burnt walls. Everything was burned down. There was nothing left.

“What could we find here? Everything’s gone already”, I asked.

Amelia entered a room and we followed her. Her eyes darted around the room.

“Don’t you think that bookshelf is suspicious?” she pointed at a metal bookshelf that was bolted to the ground.

“Why? It’s common to see bookshelves in a house”, Temma said.

“For one, it’s made out of metal unlike the remains of the other wooden bookshelves. And why is it bolted to the ground?” Amelia approached the bookshelf and began investigating it.

She then took out a screwdriver from her pocket and removed a false bottom.

“What? How’d you know that there was something there?” Temma asked.

“Arthur’s dying message. Most of the screws on the bottom were “*”-shaped except for one “-”-shaped screw right at the center. So I removed that screw and the surrounding 8 other screws and found the fake bottom”, Amelia explained.

She pulled out a black box. It was locked by magic.

“What do you think, Temma?” Amelia asked him.

“I don’t know... I’ve never seen this kind of magic before.”

“Is that a safe? Why don’t I take it to the Mage Guild? Arthur must have placed a powerful lock in it” a knight said.

“Good idea. Here”, Temma gave him the box and the knight jogged off.

When he was out of our sight, Amelia spoke up, “Who was that guy? Is he from your unit?” Amelia asked.

“There’s no one in our unit who looks like that. He’s probably from 12th, 14th, 15th, or 16th unit”, Temma answered.

“Then how did he know that this house belonged to Arthur? I’m pretty sure you asked your own unit for that information and I don’t think there is a reason for the others to know that quickly.”

“Ah crap!”

“Don’t worry. I placed a tracker on that box. We can follow him discreetly.”

###

The tracker’s signals stopped at a warehouse. We peeked from the entrance and saw the knight approaching a robed man. It was a dark and cloudy night so I couldn’t see his face... Until I felt an eerie feeling... No way...

“What a creepy man. Wrapping bandages all over his face. He’s probably the mastermind”, Amelia muttered.

The two spoke for a while and then the man pointed at us, “I know you three are over there. Get over here.”

“He found out already? Impressive”, Amelia walked forward and Temma followed.

This was bad, I haven’t told them how dangerous that man was. However, I followed the two as they walked towards him. Temma already unsheathed his sword and I did the same.

Anya, if you sense anything odd, tell me immediately, I told her using my mind.

Hmmm? Who are we facing? Ah... I see... Geez. And here I was having a good nap, Anya replied.

“You have failed me. Because of you, the Unkindness runs the risk of being exposed”, he told the knight as he was frozen in fear.

“The Unkindness? I see... I now get everything”, Amelia said.

“What do you mean by that, Amelia? Do you know what the Unkindness is?” I asked.

“Nope. First time I heard of it”, she said.

And I actually got my hopes up.

“But the four victims were all members of this “Unkindness”, weren’t they? Borres Kae, Muriem Ast, Niel Serra, and even the investigator Arthur Karalis. That’s why Arthur let the case go cold. That’s because his organization would be exposed”, Amelia deduced.

“But why would Arthur let that case go cold? He must want to find out the identity of his friends’ killer”, Temma asked.

“Not if he’s the killer, himself.”

I was surprised by what she said.

“All other victims have “1”, “2”, and “3” on their backs. However, he was the only one who had an “X”. I wondered why the murderer didn’t place “4”. Remember: He was wounded by a Westa Knight according to the interview with Arthur, right?”

“I see. If they see that wound, there’s a chance they’ll find out that he was the murderer”, Temma said.

“And by camouflaging it as an “X”, the new killer could pin the blame on the already dead one and the knights would be chasing a dead killer. But why would he kill the three?”, I added.

“It has something to do with the case that involved the disappearance of 35 people. They were probably behind it since the victims disappeared on weekend nights, the same time the four would leave everyone they knew and secretly meet each other. So... Am I right, Bandages?” Amelia pointed at the bandaged man.

The man clapped his hands, “You are correct, young lady. Those four kidnapped all of the victims during the weekends. Until the three no longer wished to continue... They planned to turn themselves over to the knights. We could not have the organization exposed so we had Arthur dispose of them.”

“But after 20 years, Arthur felt guilty and planned to confess. So you disposed of him too. And you had someone witness the murderer walking and humming the same song so that the knights would chase after a dead killer”, Amelia said.

“That is correct”, the bandaged man replied.

“I’ll take it as a confession. You’re under arrest under the authority of the Westa Knight Order”, Temma stepped forward.

The bandaged man grabbed the knight who was still frozen in fear. An eerie feeling washed over me as darkness came out of the knight’s body and transferred to the bandaged man. The knight turned into ashes.

“What did you do?!” Temma asked.

“I was merely disposing of the useless pawn. You say you will arrest me?” the man spread his arms.

A stronger eerie feeling overcame my body.

Mikage! This is bad! Anya shouted in my mind.

Many human-shaped shadows emerged from the ground. They were black and had sharp claws for fingers. There were more than 20 of them while there were just 3 of us.

“None shall live after knowing the Unkindness!” the bandaged man snapped his fingers and the shadows charged at us.