The three of us exchanged glances before returning our gaze on the forlorn Kureha Franklin.
"Um…shouldn't you be contacting the police over this sort of thing instead of approaching us?" Harvey asked. I nodded in agreement. My junior had raised a very good point. Kidnapping, abduction – such matters were way over our heads. We just weren't equipped to deal with these sort of things. Maybe the police wasn't either, but at least call in the military.
Kureha's face darkened. "That's the first thing I did, after I got home and found my sister missing. But they told me that unless she has been confirmed missing for twenty-four hours, they cannot send a search party. Some bullshit about protocols and standard operating procedures." She raised her smartphone. "Even after I showed them this message."
A holographic email from an unknown sender was projected above the table. The words were written very clearly and simply.
If you want your sister back safely, kill yourself.
"What the fuck?" Troy muttered. I was about to say the same thing, but he beat me to it.
"That's ridiculous." I frowned. "And the police didn't say anything?"
"They claimed that it was most likely a prank call, and there was no proof it had anything to do with my sister. Something about a lack of ransom, or stalkers or something." Kureha folded her arms in irritation. "The police can't be trusted. I won't be surprised if my relatives already bought them out, having predicted that I would approach them first."
"That sucks."
"Then what do we do now?" Harvey asked, turning to me and Troy. "If Senior Kureha can't trust the police, then we're the only ones she can turn to?"
"Not necessarily." I shook my head and turned to Kureha. "That's what I want to know. Why are you approaching us of all people?"
"Didn't you say yesterday you will help me if it's within your ability?" Kureha countered.
"I did, and I will. This is a form of help." I leaned closer. "If you want your sister back, shouldn't you be approaching professionals? A private investigator to find out where your sister is? Professional mages to rescue her? What do you think a bunch of students can do against adult mages? If we're not careful, we'll end up getting ourselves killed without saving your sister."
Kureha looked glum. "I did consider hiring professional mages…but…with my pocket money, I simply can't afford them. I can only afford to hire students from mage academies."
"Fair enough." I leaned back in my chair and nodded, conceding the point. It was true that we students received a much smaller payout from completing our missions when compared to professional mercenaries and mages. That was why we were issued all those missions to kill low rank monsters. The missions involving high rank monsters, with the appropriately massive amount of rewards, were accordingly issued to professional mages and mercenaries like my dad. They could receive anything from a hundred to a thousand times the amount we received from slaying low ranking monsters. Sometimes the mission fees would reach into the millions, especially if it involved assassinations or hunting down rogue mages.
I wasn't interested in the money, though.
"If that's the case, then we should help you!" Troy declared firmly, banging his fist on the table. "We'll rescue your sister!"
"Yeah!" Harvey agreed with a cheer. I threw him a withering stare.
"You're a first year student. I don't think you're allowed to take part in missions, unfortunately. Sorry, Harvey…but I think we'll still need your help in other non-combat matters."
"Aw…" Harrvey looked a little disappointed, but he straightened when he heard my last sentence. "Please leave it to me!"
Yeah, I had learned to be tactful. I didn't want poor Harvey to be left out, so I made it feel like he could still contribute, but currently I had no idea how he could. I was sure we would figure something out later.
For now, we should focus on the matter on hand.
"Do you know who kidnapped your sister, or where she is being held?" I asked. Kureha shook head bitterly.
"I wish I did. That's actually the main reason why I approached you guys for help, and contacted the police earlier. I have no idea where they are or who they are."
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly. I saw one of her hands go to the sword that was scabbarded at her side, curling around the hilt.
"Otherwise I would have gone straight to wherever they are and kill every last one of them."
"By yourself?" I snorted, remembering the events of last night. "I don't mean to be rude, but you couldn't even kill the group of mages pursuing you last night. What makes you think you can storm a kidnapper's base by yourself?"
"Last night?" Troy and Harvey stared at me. I sighed, and briefly recounted what had happened last night.
"Oh. That sucks." Troy made a face and turned toward Kureha. "So you've been targeted by assassins…"
"Wannabe assassins," I corrected, and he rolled his eyes at me.
"…and now they've targeted your sister because they failed to kill you…thanks to Richie over here."
"I'd say that pretty much sums it up, yeah." Kureha nodded.
"But you have no idea who they are except that they are most likely hired by your relatives. And you don't know where they are now."
"That is correct."
Troy paused and leaned back in his chair to consider. Drumming his fingers on the table, he sipped his coffee before sighing.
"We'll take the request. I'm assuming you're in too, right, Richie?"
"Yeah." I glanced at Harvey. "You'll be in a non-combat role."
"Understood." Harvey sounded disappointed, but he knew the rationale behind the decision and didn't argue. The rules were rules, and we risked punishment if we chose to break them. I then turned to Troy.
"Do we need more members? Alicia, maybe?"
"Hmm…I honestly think we can do it with the three of us." Troy glanced around, and shook his head. "The less of us there are, the easier we can find them and sneak into their hideout. Too large a group and we'll draw too much attention. The main priority is to rescue this lady's sister, not to exterminate the kidnappers, correct?"
"…yeah." Kureha sounded reluctant, but she didn't argue. She knew as well as we did that it would be extremely difficult for three students to exterminate an entire group of professional adult mages by themselves. Even if we could recruit a few members, it probably wouldn't make any difference. We were still completely outmatched. "Kurenai's safety must be our utmost priority?"
"Kurenai?" Harvey asked. "Is that your sister?"
"Ah, yes. My apologies." Kureha nodded. She faced the three of us. "Please, I ask that you help me save my sister!"
"On it!" Troy assured her. I nodded as well.
"Harvey, please return to school and inform President Alicia that Troy and I will be taking a mission for a couple of days."
"Understood!" Harvey snapped off a smart salute and rose to his feet. Then I turned back to Kureha.
"Now we'll have to look for clues. Where and when was the last time you saw Kurenai?"
"It would be best if you know exactly when and where she was kidnapped," Troy added, rubbing his chin.
"I might have an idea." Kureha frowned. "I believe they abducted her right from our home. There were some signs of intrusion and a struggle, but…" she scowled as she folded her arms. "The police refused to believe me. Said it could just be my sister throwing a tantrum."
"They really have been bought out by someone," Troy agreed with a snarl. "I've never heard so much bullshit before. Or maybe I have, but that's just…"
"Stupid?" I offered. Troy cocked his head for a moment, and nodded.
"Yeah. Stupid. If they were trying to cook up excuses to dismiss your report, then they need to try better than that. I'll report them to the authorities, and flush out the corruption." He smiled grimly. "It'll take some time, but we might get some clues from there."
"Won't it take too long?" I asked. "I don't know how long these kidnappers will wait before they start…uh, harming Kurenai."
"…no, we're not counting on that. I have another plan."
Troy rose to his feet and turned to Kureha, who also stood up. I hastily joined them, sensing that we were moving.
"Do you mind bringing us to your home? I want to examine the scene."
"Will you be able to tell who the culprit is from there?" I asked, astonished. Troy struck me as a warrior, the strongest mage in Jing Tian Academy, but now he was behaving like a detective. What was he, some sort of Mary Sue who could do anything?
"Probably." Troy grinned. "Don't forget. I've been trying to track down my brother all this time. Finding a bunch of amateurs will be a breeze."
Kureha nodded, looking as if she felt a ray of hope for the first time since today.
"I'll bring you there."
*
As Troy bent down and examined the room closely, I stood to a corner and watched, understanding why the police could so easily use an excuse to throw Kureha's case out of the damned window.
Even though there were, like Kureha mentioned, signs of a struggle, they weren't very visible. A fallen chair here, pillows and stuffed animals on the floor, and…a crumpled carpet. No other signs of violence or disturbance. If anything, it looked more like Kurenai left a mess in her room than someone kidnapping her.
"Was the window open after your sister was gone?" Troy asked as he followed an invisible trail toward the window. He stopped by the glass and glanced at our host. Kureha nodded.
"Yeah. But I closed it before I left the house." Kureha reached forward and pushed the window open. "It was open about this wide."
That was pretty wide. She practically opened the windows all the way. I could see why she would believe that someone kidnapped her sister. Most likely the dude escaped through the window after securing his or her hostage.
Troy scowled in annoyance, but didn't say anything. Being his friend, I could tell that he was pretty annoyed that Kureha touched and disturbed the evidence. As every good investigator would tell you, never touch anything in the scene. You might mess up the trail or accidentally destroy any traces of evidence or important clues.
To be fair, Kureha wasn't trained in investigation or police matters. She was a swordsman. Her only focus was to destroy the enemy with her sword, not to look for clues and sniff out the enemy. On the other hand, I always thought of Troy as someone similar, but it appeared that he had learned a trick or two about investigation.
He peered out of the window, staring at the wall outside. It wasn't that much of a drop, since the room was located on the third story, but it wouldn't have mattered to Troy anyhow. He raised a hand and turned back to us.
"Both of you, stay where you are and do not touch anything."
"Huh?"
"Roger that," I answered for the both of us. Jerking my head toward Kureha, I hissed, "Just listen to him. He's the expert."
"…right."
Before she could say anything more, Troy leaped out of the window. Kureha blinked and made to take a step forward, her mouth falling open in shock. Not out of concern, mind you. As a superlative swordswoman herself, she was aware that Troy wouldn't hurt himself from dropping down three stories. She was just surprised by his sudden actions.
"Oi. Remember what Troy told us?"
"Oh, right." Kureha stopped where she was, looking sheepish.
"Both of you, get down here!" Troy's voice hissed from outside the window. I exchanged a glance with Kureha, and the both of us obeyed. It took us less than a minute to gather in the garden where he was crouching to study the grass.
Troy was grinning as he stood up to face the both of us.
"I've got some good news, homies," he proudly declared. "I think I know where the kidnappers went."