"That was quick." Trojan commented.
Trojan shifted some of the stuff on his table while Domino started talking. "I was contacted by Klaus not too long ago. I had heard that my lord requires me to speed up the investigation?"
"That is correct," Trojan said. "Preferably anywhere in three day's time."
Domino nodded and shifted his staff. The mage rummaged through his robes, eventually pulling out a bunch of papers. The mage checked through them one last time before handing them to Trojan, who looked through them.
"I checked a few Middle Cities for clue, and these are some of the comments by the residence there." Domino explained. "What will be more to your interest might be the city where the Phoenix was summoned."
"What happened there?" Trojan asked, putting the papers down.
"Unfortunately, I have yet to conduct a thorough investigation of the land." Domino said. "But it appears that an entire city has been burnt to the ground. There is a high chance that that is where the Phoenix had been summoned."
"Burnt to the ground, you say?" Trojan asked, concerned.
"Indeed, my lord."
Trojan smacked his head. "No, no, no. This isn't good in the slightest."
"How so, my lord?" Domino asked.
Trojan sighed and shifted the papers aside. "With an entire city burnt to the ground, should the peasants find out, it is very likely that they blame the nobility. Just to make sure, what was the main population of the city?"
Domino paused to think.
"I do believe the population of that particular city was mostly middle and lower status families." Domino finally answered. "From the remains, I did not see any larger or wealthier houses belonging to nobles."
Trojan nodded, thoughts already running through his mind. The peasants were sure to take the event the wrong way unless they found the actual culprit as quickly as they could. However, if the culprit ended up being a noble, especially one of high status, things were sure to get messy.
"I'll need you to find out more about the Phoenix." Trojan told Domino. "As much as possible."
Domino nodded, but asked, "May I ask what for, my lord?"
"I need the information to make a deal with Duke Phoenix." Trojan said.
Domino stiffened up at the mention of Duke Phoenix. As a mage, it would be no surprise that Domino would have at least heard of Duke Phoenix. Perhaps, something like a fear or wariness against the Duke. Domino shook his head, his mage hat shaking along with him. "That will be impossible, my lord. Duke Phoenix knows everything there is to know about Phoenixes. Even the mages of the highest caliber cannot hope to compare their knowledge of the Phoenix against Duke Phoenix."
"I need you to find out about this particular event and just this event. Dig up anything you can and report back to me." Trojan ordered.
Domino nodded slowly before bowing, saying, "Well, I shall report back to you soon, my lord."
The mage disappeared with another gust of wind.
Trojan laid back on his seat, thinking hard. Things were getting much more complicated than he had initially thought. What seemed to just be a simple sighting could very well spark a rebellion amongst the common people. Should the peasants revolt, and should the monsters attack at the same time, it would only mean the destruction of Ether and the entirety of humanity as well.
Trojan needed to thread carefully. Any major actions by a noble family can always be seen as something dissatisfactory by the peasants, so he needed to make sure he made himself scarce.
Trojan looked at the papers Domino had handed him. Reports by witnesses who had seen the Phoenix. One of Trojan's most important tasks was to ensure the cooperation of Duke Phoenix, any information on the Phoenix is important.
He started reading through them.
'I saw it in the sky, really big, on fire. It seemed to be covering the entire sky as it hung in the air. Before I knew it, it flapped its wings and started flying, covering the entire sky!'
'I saw the Phoenix, indeed I did. I was working at the bakery, just an everyday thing. But when I saw a bunch of people gather outside, I had to see whatever was going on by myself. Then, in the distance, I saw a flaming figure flying towards the city. It disappeared not long later though, it just simply disappeared without another trace.'
'The Phoenix? The flaming bird? Yeah, I saw it. The city was pretty far away from it, and judging by its direction, I would say that it's going in the direction of Inner City.'
'The fire shocked me, mostly because I didn't expect it! I saw as the sky turned red, and let's not talk about the noise it made! A sharp, shrilling noise that rang throughout the lands.'
'I didn't see it, but I heard it. I was in the bathroom, actually. I heard the noise and assumed a monster had attacked us. I was ready to pray, but it simply stopped soon after.'
Trojan put the papers down. There were many more, but he had already gotten the rough idea of what had gone on. Domino had collected pieces of information that seemed to fit together, making Trojan's job much easier.
The Phoenix was important to Trojan. He needed to know who caused the uprising of the Phoenix before anything or everything could go south.
Trojan had never felt so reliant on someone, especially if that someone was Domino. He looked down at his desk, the cup of tea left untouched, and the biscuits left stale. There was simply too much on his plate, perhaps too much for him to handle. But he needed to do it. He had contributed so much to the country, constantly having his rank raised faster than any had seen before. Doing so much, he had his own reasons for it.
He needed the favour of the Royal Family.