Lucrin may have been a big bustling city that was famous and a hot spot for tourism, but it paled in comparison to the city of Saphia. Named for the beautiful sapphire blue lake that was located only a few miles away, Saphia was the capitol of Baska and the home of the emperor. Beautiful pearl white stone was laid out as the streets of Saphia, with blue roses lining the streets – a homage to its namesake.
Buildings that matched the flooring color towered over the streets. Some of them had iron fences around balconies which resided multiple feet in the air, others had awnings of all different colors with their store names on them, and some were simple homes with mini front yards. Separating the streets were alternating raised flowerbeds and fountains, each with the emperor's crest decorating their sides.
Saphia's population was much higher than that of Lucrin and its streets showed it. There were countless people on the streets shouting about sales and marked down prices, handing out fliers and screaming information about upcoming events. Some people took the fliers excitedly, others not so much while many chose to ignore them all together.
Despite a large amount of flyers being handed out, there was little to no liter clogging up the streets and destroying the view or atmosphere.
The air smelled strongly of perfumes and baked goods as Atlier walked along, carefully minding his surroundings. It wasn't his first time in Lucrin, but now that he had a lead on the killing spree, he wanted to be extra mindful and take note of as many things as he could.
As he walked, many people held out fliers to him. He took each one, not knowing if any of them would come in hand, as he made his way to his hotel. It was called the Saphia La Blanc Chevalier. He walked in with his two bags and handful of fliers and requested their finest room. Normally, he would travel with much more, but for this occasion he decided to bring only a bag filled with clothes and a bag filled with the information he had been gathering on this case.
He was escorted to his room and upon entering it he immediately tossed his bags onto the bed and set to work. While extremely large, the bed which had gold plated woodwork and deep blue bedding hardly took up any room at all. There was a set of two couches with detailing matching the bed facing an extravagant coffee table with the emperor's crest on its center, painted in gold. There was a desk propped against the window so that the guest could work while enjoying a beautiful view of the city. Perfect for Atlier who intended to people watch.
The flooring was made of a marble-like tile that was such a light color of pink that it almost looked white. Beautiful golden lamps lined the white walls and illuminated the room perfectly.
Atlier pulled out his documents and spread them on the coffee table, much like he liked to have them at home in his study. He looked over the documents, refreshing his memory, and began to look over the stack of fliers in his hand. Most of them were for sales that local businesses were holding in celebration for upcoming events. After determining that these had no valuable information, he tossed them in the garbage.
As for the events, however, he looked through them carefully. He scoured each piece of information, as focused as ever, when he came across a certain flier that shattered his concentration.
It was a flower festival. He read over the information just as carefully as he had the others, although his mind was not in the same mode as it was just a moment ago.
"Come one, come all! Full of historical significance the annual Saphia Flower Festival is here again! Give a flower bouquet to the woman of your dreams and make her yours, just like the original emperor did to woo and win the love of his first wife! Celebrate with your loved ones with the Petal Ceremony, fireworks, specialty foods and drinks exclusive to the festival and more!
Date: XX
Begin Time: 2:00pm
Place: Saphia Grand Square "
Atlier found himself smiling. 'I wonder if Mia would have liked to go to this?' His smile slowly faded into an annoyed frown. If only Telna had not interfered, then Mia would be here with him right now. He tapped his foot in frustration before shaking the thoughts of Mia from his head. "Come now Atlier, concentrate on this right now, not Mia." It took him a good while to regain his concentration but once he did, there was no distracting him now.
The Saphia Flower Festival was a major event in Lucrin and as such, it was guaranteed that a large crowd would be there. He placed the flier off to the side; it was definitely an event worth his attention for this case.
He continued to filter through the rest of the fliers, most ending up in the discard pile, although a select few landed themselves along with the Saphia Flower Festival. After taking a few notes and going over the flies once more, he headed to bed. It hadn't seemed like it, but he had been working for hours by the time he completed. His eyelids were heavy, and yawns of exhaustion were beginning to set in at quick intervals, thus he came to the decision to start his field investigation in the morning.
The following morning, he ate a small breakfast and got ready to head out into the streets of Lucrin. It felt almost as if he was reliving the day prior; multiple people in the streets shouting about sales and handing out fliers, some civilians took the fliers while others didn't, mouth watering scents filled the air and so on and so on.
Where to begin was the difficult part, it was like a needle in a haystack, this suspicious person could be anywhere, and anyone could have information on them. He stopped by one of the fountains and leaned against it, surveying the people passing by as he thought about the best approach. After a few moments he decided to target an area with high traffic – the town square.
At this time the town square was being prepped for the upcoming Saphia Flower Festival and many people were stopping by to get a sneak peek at this year's decorations.
He arrived at the square to see men on ladders putting up banners and wrapping bright blue ribbons with the emperor's crest (which was a staple for events) around signposts and light posts. Atlier stayed back in a corner where he could see the entirety of the square. He positioned himself so that it looked as if he was examining the decorations like everyone else, but in actuality it was them that he was examining. Most people came and oohed and awed at the décor, pointing out the increase in quality of materials and theorizing over what the main flower would be this year. There were a few that came to take a rest from their daily activities, taking rests on the benches with their numerous shopping bags, but it was the third category of people that caught his interest.
He noticed a group of three women coming to the square looking quite nervous. They huddled together in a far corner, their eyes darting around as they leaned in to whisper to one another. 'Now that's peculiar' Atlier thought as his eyebrows perked up with interest.
Atlier sauntered over as casually as he could and approached them with a smile on his face, "Good evening ladies, might I ask if there is anything I may assist you with?" The women quickly backed away from him and formed a horizontal line. Noticing his clothes and realizing he must be of noble status, the bowed their heads, "Oh no your grace, you don't need to worry about us! We're just commoners!"
He chuckled and bowed back to them, "My dears it must be your lucky day, for today I am also a commoner." The women giggled and fangirled to one another for a moment before one of them shyly stepped forward and curtsied, "Your grace, there was a man who kept following us. We thought at first that he was trying to hand us a flier so we told him that we weren't interested, but he continued to pester us and made us very uncomfortable. We came here where there were more people in case he tried anything but we don't see him now."
'Perfect' Atlier thought. "How terrified you ladies must have been. Can you describe him to me?" The women nodded and began describing him all at the same time. After calming them down and getting the information from them one by one, he bid farewell to them and they parted ways.
Tall, lanky man with black hair and pale pink suit, deep voice, piercing blue eyes, slight accent. Atlier made note of this information in his head. 'Pink suit huh? That's not entirely discreet now is it.' He thought to himself as he made his way through the crowds, searching for such a character.