Children laughed as parents walked them along—some playing with friends around the park. The fountain glistened under the sunlight.
Charcoal-black hair and blue eyes, a woman in a yellow sundress sat at the bench; she watched the people going by till her gaze went to the man approaching.
He sat beside her, trench coat and a tie, "Lovely morning," he spoke. Tall and tan, with short brown hair and two silver eyes.
"I'm glad you work with such haste Jack. Morning to you too; I assume you got my letter," Jotou's voice was the same despite her disguise.
Jack smiled, "I tend to take my business seriously. I personally collected it after you sent it in last evening. Much of my letters get to me immediately.
Although, I expected news of the whale from yesterday and the thunder that echoed through the city. Your topic did catch me by surprise."
"Is that so?"
Jack turned to look at her inquisitively, "My, my Ms Howllett, you seem cheery and confident this morning. Might I say, it's quite the look on you. If only I could see that golden glow right now," he chuckled.
A soft giggle escaped her lips, "Let's just say I have some motivation and some plans. Enough with the flirting, shall we?"
"Who ever said I was flirting?" he said with a smile. Jack sat up straight, "But business is business and I offered help."
"What can you tell me?" Jotou's brows knitted.
"The people you're searching for are much like you right now. They're beacons that attract moths to a flame and wear disguises so that they don't get mobbed.
Except, to my knowledge, the Lexokodac has no illusionist so they're disguises I can only assume are much more elaborate, especially since seeing them in public is a rarity.
And to your request, I did some digging into records and unfortunately, not much was found. They did after all receive boons of their own.
I can't speak of every boon; some are private and I would break contract. One in particular might interest you however; the three members each have a house of their own.
I don't know these exact houses as their names and records are different for each of their documents. This is yet another boon. Most of their records are scattered within Kria; shuffled to avoid massive public attention.
Their true documents are well kept is all I can say. The Lexokodac does also have guild records to search through, but I can only garner so much with my personal authority before I'm required to stop.
Of course, if you are to take up the mayor's offer, I think a lot more assistance can be provided on my part, from a higher position of authority.
The mayor has asked to back the Lexokodac before and they declined; a rather sour end much like the discussion he had with your party. So, it would be easy to convince him for details of them," Jack evoked the idea.
"Pass," Jotou frowned. "Is there anymore that you did get?" she faced him, keeping an eye on her surroundings.
"I thought you would decline," he inhaled, "In any case, out of known Velatos Case reports from the Krialin, many are filed under the Lexokodac.
The locations are accurate, but the dates aren't. A little truth makes the lie better I suppose. But the witnesses all seem to have had different observations.
They saw different people, assumed it was some other party. Luckily, there're ways of defeating velatos that don't involve sending a loud recognizable thunder; so that people don't associate any two cases," Jack remarked as Jotou rolled her eyes.
"Nevertheless, these locations all seem to circle around Kria Estate—High-Town, Bargain District and Haven-Port. The Magistrate District has never experienced a velatos attack so no known presence there.
Based on this and that the Lexokodac have not been spotted or reported to be outside of central areas of Kria, it can be theorized that they have houses that triangulate the area.
I don't know their addresses, but I know of methods to track them down; with the information I've given it wouldn't be too difficult, but there are easier ways…"
"And that would be?"
"The information could be more detailed instead of assumptions, however accurate they may be. With more authority, I can search through documents of the Lexokodac without risks.
The current methods of acquiring such information are out of my reach even if I were to, 'hypothetically', use non-legal means. The mayor has been riding off of your successes.
His approval rating has gone up by five percent through the public, which may not sound like much, but they're not stagnant anymore.
Regardless of your relationship with him, not having even a single handshake, the public is under the impression that he's backing you. Even if you never accept his offer…"
"He's already getting everything he needs," Jotou finished his sentence. "So, you're suggesting that I might as well take his offer and reap some benefits since he's already using me."
"You have nothing to lose if you do. I'm not saying what the mayor is doing is acceptable nor am I advocating on his behalf, but rather, looking out for your sake."
"I understand," Jotou looked up, her eyes calculated for not very long, "I'll still have to decline."
"This is an issue of pride then?" he raised a brow.
Jotou pouted facing down, "Not pride really; I'm not above asking for help when I need to. I'm just not very fond of the idea of pleasing him when I come running back.
It's alright though. I really appreciate all the help, thank you. I think I can put some effort myself and find the Lexokodac, wherever they're hiding," Jotou stood up.
Jack got up with her, "What is your plan with them? If I may ask?"
"Simple; cooperation. Both our strengths combined can solve this issue a lot sooner. Not to mention, they may have information that my party doesn't."
Jack could not help but smirk, "Not too bad of a plan. I do wonder what you were like in your other world. Maybe some time you can tell me," he reached into his coat.
Jotou scoffed, "I wasn't that impressive."
He brought out a folded piece of paper, "This has all the information I already told you, in case you forget.
The morning grows late, I need to head to office," he surveyed around the park, to the adults smiling, elderly enjoying the fresh morning and to the children exclaiming as they played; his smile turned sorrow.
Jotou took the paper and kept it hidden in her hands, "Thank you again. I don't like being a burden, but I'll let you know if I need any more help; and anything you need from me, just let me know."
"I see no burden; I do prefer more personal dates Ms Howllett. I quite look forward to them," he laughed subtly.
Jotou's face began reddening, "Uh, it's not… uhm, like that… I mean, it wasn't a date, right?" 'Why am I like this? It obviously wasn't you idiot.'
Jack snickered, averting his gaze, "I wouldn't mind if it was one, but I was indeed joking," he looked to her. That same gaze grew serious, "I expect you to bring peace to this place.
As do many others hope you will. Keep that in mind and I'll take it as your payback. We all have different sides but nobody likes pointless wars and deaths," he turned, "Good day Ms."
_
Jotou knocked on the door of Hotaru's room. Fumeko sat on a chair whilst Hotaru woke up upon her entrance. The blonde was dispelled of the illusion on her.
"Jotou?" Hotaru opened her eyes, her ears pricked as she sat up. Jotou got closer to the bed, "It's so nice to see you," Hotaru folded her arms over her covers.
"Oh goodie! You're both here now!" Fumeko stated. Jotou felt a shock going down her hair but- "SLAP!" "SLAP!" She was a bit too late as Fumeko slapped both her and Hotaru quickly.
"YOU BETTER NOT GET INTO A SITUATION LIKE THAT AGAIN WOLFY!" Fumeko shouted to Hotaru.
"AND YOU! PLAN ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, EVEN GETTING YOURSELF IN DANGER, I'M PUNCHING YOU TILL YOU SLEEP!" she yelled at Jotou before sitting back down with her arms crossed.
"Hmph. This adventuring thing is WAY too stressful," the brunette grumbled.
Hotaru held her cheek as her ears fell, "I missed you too, but no need for that; I was the one who almost died."
"I could use a little bit more time away from her…"
"What did you say Jotou Howllett…?" Fumeko glared.
"You don't scare me detective," Jotou eyed her back.
"Not now please, my head still hurts. Fumeko shouted at me every time I tried to heal myself," Hotaru's arms went under the covers, her eyes half-closed.
Jotou sighed, "Father Keel said no healing magic, just natural. I get that you're fatigued."
"I know; Meko and Asobi told me everything. Guess I need to get my healing to a master level," guilt-ridden, her voice was.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it."
"Yeah, at least now, we have a weakness to exploit and the healer to do it. The weakness won't matter if the healer isn't healed," Fumeko added.
"Where've you been anyway?" Hotaru peered to Jotou.
"Doing work. I've been looking into our schedule and I counted the funds we had from your purse. We should be smooth sailing for a few more months before we go flat broke.
Plan is, we don't need to fight velatos while you rest. We can do it later to keep distance between us and going broke, so, I've been gathering information for now."
"On what?" Fumeko furrowed her brows.
"Things, that I don't wanna stress Hotaru about. Mainly, things to solve the case quicker and get us answers. Going down the list of all the things in our path before the main quest so that we're not scattered."
Hotaru eyed the blonde, "You did all of that?" she blinked. Impressed not by her deeds, but how Jotou stood; her voice was confident, like she knew exactly what she was doing and could explain it well.
"Huh?" Jotou had not realized she stared at the floor as she spoke, "I took care of myself for years, I'm used to not getting support. And I can't be more thankful that I have it now.
You get some rest, I'll handle it. Meko, do you mind talking outside," Jotou tilted her head out the door.
"Oh, sure," Fumeko got up, "Is this about you calling Hotaru heavy when we brought her home?" a little grin on her smug face.
"What?" red ears spiked like horns.
"I-I didn't, well, I did, I'm not that strong, I, nothing—just nothing. To answer your question, nothing."
Asobi entered the room, dressed in full doctor's attire, "I come in now?"
Jotou stared at the elf… "I said take care of her, that's it…"
"Yeah! And?" Asobi tilted her head, the doctor costume clearly being an illusion, even her nurse's hat.
Jotou shrugged, "Whatever," she whispered in a sigh. "I'll see you later Aru; get well," Jotou left with Fumeko following behind. Hotaru waved on their way out.
_
"What is it?"
"Other than me needing to cut your tongue out?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry," Fumeko rolled her eyes, but grinned nevertheless.
Jotou revealed the paper to her. Fumeko grabbed it and unfolded quickly. "I asked Jack Tenner for some help. This is the information he told me. I need you to track down the Lexokodac and once you find where they live, get back home."
Fumeko's forehead wrinkled, "Why do you wanna find them? …To work together?"
"Kinda. I'll explain in more detail IF you find them. I fully believe that you can. So, you feeling up to it?"
Fumeko looked up to her, "Give me the day."
"Great," she sighed, "I have to go deal with one other thing for today. Can't use Asobi's illusions, only she can remove it. No need for a proper disguise I guess."
"I thought for sure you'd come with me," Fumeko side-eyed the wall. She looked back, "Where are you going?"
Jotou took a breath, "To see my father."