Bailey Residence- the only low-rise building in the surroundings. Ground floor.
"I'm done." A grim looking middle aged man stood up from the breakfast.
"Me too." A mid teen boy stood up as well and walked to his room.
The other occupant of the room, the middle aged woman sighed. "He changed since that day." She turned to her husband. "You should take him to a doctor."
"Hmph!" The man snorted with a glare. "The son of Louis Bailey going to an alienist? You want the whole Chamber of Barristers to laugh at me- the father of a madman?"
The woman heaved out another sigh, expecting the same reply again.
The man, without bothering to hide his anger, picked up the briefcase from the tea-table and was ready to depart. But an untimely jingle of the calling-bell halted everything.
"Who's here at this ungodly hour?" He scowled and turned to his wife. "Check it. I am running late."
She nodded and walked to the door, opening it. Barrister Bailey planned to ignore the newcomer and bypass him. But the 'guest's' appearance was too high of a class to ignore.
Outside, stood a tall seemingly young man, wearing a coat only the upper echelons could afford. His black glittery hair was fairly long, tucked behind his ears. But the most notable of his traits were his silver eyes, which were behind an extravagant pair of glasses. The very presence of the man oozed intelligence.
"Greetings, Mrs. Bailey." The newcomer took out a card from his inner coat pocket and handed it to the lady. "I am George Evergreen. Supervisor, department of Admissions, Kingsfield Academy."
The moment she heard Kingsfield Academy, her hand began to tremble, unable to inspect the card. Barrister Bailey snatched it from her and invigilated everything- especially the seal of the Academy which was unforgeable. The special patented ink that was supposed to glow multiple colours in contact of light did its job, verifying the card's authenticity.
"Welcome!" He wholeheartedly bowed. The lady subconsciously followed as well.
"Please come in." Mrs. Bailey gestured.
Supervisor George Evergreen took off his shoes and stepped in, fetching the card back from the man. "I heard you are running late Mr. Bailey."
The man's cheek twitched as he forced a smile. "I am sure the chamber can wait for its 'vice head'. After all, we have an important guest today who came all the way from the capital."
George ignored the duo and walked to the sofa set, taking the largest one all to himself. The couple did not dare to show any form of dissatisfaction as the husband sat on a couch close to him while the wife rushed to the kitchen.
Noticing the esteemed guest's silence, the man maintained his as well. As much as he wanted to form a connection, the guest was the higher being here.
A couple of minutes later, the housewife returned with a tray carrying a costly tea set, with the teapot letting out steam. She poured tea into the cups and sat down on her spot.
The moment she did, the young supervisor opened his mouth. "Fred Bailey. First of his class in the most prestigious school in Derbury. Excels in study, as well as the art of mechanics- even placing 6th in the national junior's tournament. In normal circumstances, he would be the most ideal candidate to get into our institution. But-"
The couple's chests were filled with pride as they listened to the supervisor's words, even fantasising their child graduating from the most prestigious institute in the nation. However, one word shattered it all and clenched their hearts- the word 'but'.
"But what?" Both of the Bailey's asked in unison.
"As much as our institution adores talents," the supervisor arched forward, "we regard one thing above all- 'conduct'; so much that the admission department takes it upon them to investigate the background of all capable candidates. And your son, I am afraid to say, has a black mark."
"What?!" The couple sprang up from their sofas, but noticing the nonchalance on the supervisor's glassed silver eyes, they sat back down.
"I am sure there's a mistake somewhere." The barrister contemplated for a few seconds, hesitating. "If you want, we can donate-"
"You are eager to add another black mark to your son's name I see." The supervisor raised a brow.
"Nononono…" Mr. Bailey aggressively shook his, vehemently gesturing with his hands as well. "I was just…"
The young man rested back. "I was appointed as the investigator for Fred Bailey's case. Though the level has not reached that of Aramon yet, delinquency and drugs remain a major issue here in Derbury. Reportedly, your son went 'missing'," Supervisor George Evergreen looked into the eyes of the couple, "six months ago- only to be found in a couple of hours. It's not something a child of an educated family would do, is it?"
The grim man forced a smile yet again. "No matter how strict we have been with him, he's still a child at heart. At this budding age, it's customary that one would want to spend some alone time outside without notifying the family."
"I see." The young man abruptly stood up. "It seems that you have found a better institute for your child."
But before he could take a single step, the matron shouted, "He was taken! My child was abducted!"
"Afrah!" The man rebuked, despite being afraid of the esteemed guest's decision. What was worse than his child not getting into the prestigious Kingsfield Academy? The fact that a high level barrister such as him could not protect his own family from criminals.
"Oh?" The supervisor sat back down.
The man sighed and rested back. The cat was already out of the bag.
Silence permeated through the room, until the young man decided to break it. "What happened?"
The lady opened his mouth, but the barrister beat her to it. "We couldn't find the culprits. After searching for two hours, a servant of mine found him next to a pond a kilometre South of here."
"Next to a pond…" the supervisor contemplated. "In the open?"
"Yes."
"Strange."
"I thought so too," the man said. "We couldn't find the motive behind the kidnapping."
"Was there anything else?" George asked.
The man shook his head. "No. It was raining heavily that night, washing all the evidence away."
"Mhmm… washing away." The supervisor mumbled. "Did the event affect your child in any way?"
"This…" the couple glanced at each other and sighed in unison.
"Yes." Mrs. Bailey said, "At first, he was scared- sensitive to even the slightest of irregular sounds and darkness. When we asked him if he remembers something from that time, he uttered only one word."
"And that would be?"
"Monster."
George knitted his brows.
"He became silent after that," the woman continued. "Now, his condition is much better- moving on from that incident. But he's not the same boy anymore. He barely talks or shows any kind of emotion."
"I see." Supervisor George nodded. "I'll remove the mark off his name."
"Thank you!" The couple bowed.
"But-"
The same word clenched their hearts again.
"If you want to have us accept him, you better have him checked by a certified psychiatrist. And the very notion of deceiving us is deceiving yourself."
The man bit his lips, contemplating. He decided to give up in the end. "I will take him to Aramon- to the best alie… psychiatrist out there."
George stood up, prompting the others to do so as well. He was about to leave, but he suddenly remembered something and turned back. "It would be best if you keep this meeting a secret, unless you want the other students to look down upon your son- someone who needed to be specially investigated."
"Of course!" The couple confirmed in chorus.
The guest finally left, with the cup filled tea still steaming on the table.
The young man hopped on the carriage outside, upon which awaited a young lady- Eulene.
"Done?" She asked.
Wilbur whipped the reigns, moving the carriage forward. When the apartment was finally out of sight, Eulene took out his hat from her storage ring and handed it to him. The moment he donned it on, the colour of his hair began to change, as if silver dye spilled from the hat. He opened his mouth and stretched his jaws. With a couple of moves, the structure of his face changed.
Xavier removed the pair of glasses and put it back into his coat. "Yes. Fred was lying unconscious in the open, near a pond- a water body. And rain washed the surroundings."
"It's the same culprit!" She exclaimed.
He nodded.
Xavier heard the voice of Eulene again; this time, her lips did not move.
[What are you going to do about Wilbur?]
He turned to the coachman and confirmed that only he could hear it. She transmitted her voice directly.
Xavier snapped his fingers.
[Don't worry. Through Lumomancy, I made it so that he could only see my original appearance, not my persona.]
[Are you one of those, Illu-Illusionists?]
[Was]
Xavier turned to Wilbur. "Take us to the next address."
The sun swam all the way from the East to the West- on the verge of setting down. They had been investigating all day.
First, they staked out from outside, listening to all of the inhabitants's conversations with their superhuman hearing. Once they found out valuable information, Xavier took the necessary disguise to interrogate the victim's family.
They visited a total of four homes, all the three from Wilbur's previously mentioned cases, and one of the new two uncovered by the efficient coachman cum informer.
And all four, including Fred, were intelligent children, had been lying unconscious in the open until their family or passer-by found them. Three of them were near large water bodies, two of them had ashes beside them as if something had been burning. Most importantly, all of them had some lingering traumas from that day.
The oldest of these cases were from four years ago.
They were just about to reach the last home when Xavier turned to the Western horizon. "Coachman, take us to where you picked us up this morning- fast."
"What happened?" Eulene scowled.
"Miss Maisel… it seems she has some unwelcome guests."