{Side Case: Town Hall meeting}
{Case time limit: Until Town Meeting is adjourned}
{Case Description:
{You've entered the Town Meeting Hall! Listen to the meeting and gain information about people and events around the Town!}
{Reward:
__Gain the ability: Profile Index__
__Randomized reward wheel (Extra!)__
{Penalty: ???}
{Good Luck!}
[With love,]
[System :}]
---------------
'What's a Profile Index?' Chikao asked about the system window.
[...]
'Let me guess,' Chikao said to the system. 'You were going to say. "You're the detective. That's your job.", right?'
There was a moment of silence (AKA, a moment without screens) until the system finally replied.
[Maybe] The system replied slyly.
'Of course.' Chikao thought while rolling his eyes. By the time Chikao made a slight remark on the system, the room had already filled with plenty of people from the town. The room filled with parents with their children, telling them to be quiet, friends sitting together in a little group, trying to huddle together to gossip, and elders sitting with their grandchildren. Some people in a group of two were holding hands or sitting close to one another. Chikao even spotted one couple giving each other a couple of pecks on the lips as they both laughed and smiled.
[Jealous?] The system asked the male who was observing them from afar.
'Not really. I just wanted to observe what kind of behavior couples have in this place. Don't want to stick out too much.' Chikao thought, shrugging off the system.
[Whatever you say]
Ignoring the system, Chikao kept observing his surroundings to distract himself. The door seemed to be closing since not too many people had been entering. During that time, a group of people tried to get in.
[Hey aren't those the people talking about their missing friend or something]
The system window floated over to where Chikao was staring. [What was his name again?]
'I think it was Taijo, wasn't it?' Chikao thought while remembering the conversation that they were having before the little kid, Ishimaru came by.
[Yeah, that sounds about right] The system typed.
'One, two, three, four,...five?' Chikao counted mentally.
[What are you counting?] The system asked while floating around Chikao's vision.
'There are five people in that group.' Chikao stated, still staring at the group with his eyebrows furrowed.
[What about it?] The system asked the male.
'Wasn't there five people in that one group before? You know when they were talking,' Chikao put a finger up his lips into a thinking pose. 'If they had found Taijo, then wouldn't that mean there would be six people in total?'
[That's true]
[Are you trying to say that they haven't found their friend yet?] The system asked the thinking detective.
'Yeah,' Chikao thought while putting his hands down next to him. 'But doesn't everyone have to be here for the meeting? Shouldn't the dude named Taijo be here? Everyone was at the door in the line, right? Couldn't they find him then?'
[That's true]
[Maybe he's been kidnapped or something] The system typed, seemingly shrugging off the idea. On the other hand, Chikao still had something on his mind that was bothering him. Where could be possibly be? Getting in trouble with someone over-steriod dealing and then disappearing the next day? There's got to be something going on here.
"Oi. Chikao? Are you getting nervous for a town meeting?" Ayuka asked out loud, looking at him with some concern. After all, Chikao did look like he was having an existential crisis with the amount of questionable expressions and movements he was doing. "Don't take this meeting too hard. The higher-ups said it would just be a normal meeting."
"Oh Okay," Chikao responded, not really paying attention to Ayuka's calm, but condescending tone of voice. After giving Chikao one last concerned look, Ayuka went back to talking to Aoi who was literally begging for Ayuka's attention at this point. At the time, Taro was already half asleep, Ayuka and Aoi were talking, and the system was busy due to the lack of response which left Chikao to his own thoughts about the odd events occurring.
_________________
"DING! DING!" A similar sound rang from the top of the meeting hall as a familiar voice started to speak.
"The %^(#$^th meeting will now begin! Please remain seated during this meeting and give your full attention to the speakers. Questions will be answered at the end of the meeting." The announcer shouted into the cone-shaped device in his hand for everyone in the meeting to hear. This included Taro, who was asleep before, waking up abruptly, Ayuka and Aoi to stop talking and looking to the front of the room, and Chikao to be pushed out of his thoughts. In the front of the room, the seats that had once been empty the last time Chikao checked, were now full with an exception.
'Hey is someone supposed to be sitting there.' Chikao asked the system in his head.
[Which seat?]
'The seat at the end of the left side of the table next to that silver-haired person,' Chikao paused when looking over the tall silver head. 'Isn't that the person who bumped into me at Ayuka's cafe?'
[Oh yeah]
[And there was a really small male with him too]
'Oh yeah. Wonder where he went.' Chikao thought before being interrupted by another male who was standing at the talking podium. The male was about 5'5ish to 5'6ish and was wearing what appeared to be extremely expensive clothes. The clothes were pure white and had blue and gold highlights. The clothes were not only extremely clean but were also very formal. The male had a white colored dress shirt and a collared coat that had gold highlights coming down from the neck area in a flower-like manner. The coat reached down to the male's back of his calf. The male also wore a belt and tight male dress pants. For his shoes, he wore tight boots that were colored with both white, blue, and gold. He had a bright color of blond hair and royal blue eyes that looked like a royal blue color similar to what he was wearing.
'Damn, he must be rich.' Chikao thought and the system replied.
[You wanna bet that he's the prince of this place?] The system bet.
'I wouldn't doubt it.' Chikao thought while putting his attention back to the front of the room.
"Good afternoon everyone," The person announced to everyone. "I, Ichigo Hidetaka, first prince of the kingdom of Wortac, will be calling this meeting to order in place of the king of Wortac, for his majesty to observe." Prince Ichigo said loudly in a very presentation type of tone while talking to the rest of the crowd.
[Called it] The system said as it laughed.
'Fuck you.' Chikao responded, annoyed.
"I will now call this meeting to order and start with the attendance of the meeting council," The prince said as he grabbed a paper and a feather pen from the podium desk. "King of Wortac, King Hidetaka."
"Present." A tall older man said from the grandest seat that was behind the table.
"Queen of Wortac, Queen Hidetaka."
"Present." The female next to the King said quietly while raising her hand slightly.
"Headmaster of the Academy of Mages and Knights, Professor Yukihara." At the male's words, Chikao's attention was placed on the person in the middle of the table. The same person that Chikao had talked to earlier at the academy was sitting with their legs crossed.
"Present." Professor Yukihara said in the same academic tone that they used while referring to Chikao at the gate.
'I didn't know she was going to be at the meeting.' Chikao thought but was rudely shut down by the system.
[Everyone's supposed to be at this meeting, idiot] The system said, this time being the one to roll their eyes.
'No, I know that already. I meant like I didn't expect her to be at the table with all those royalty people.' Chikao said trying to defend himself once again against the system.
[Fine] The system typed as they stopped teasing the poor little detective.
"Fire Master, Asuna Pyro."
A slightly tall female responded, "Present." In a very spunky tone looking over to the other female next to her left.
"Water and Ice master, Shizu Cryo."
The female that was called upon, which was also the same female that the fire master was looking at for some reason responded. "Present." In a very calm and controlled tone.
"Wind Master, Shinsaku Raiden."
"Present." The tall silver male man said with a sour facial expression. The same one when he looked at Chikao when they collided. Somehow though, it seemed to be even worse now.
"Nature master, Akinobu Makoto."
Instead of getting a response, the prince was met with silence. Looking over his shoulder to the empty seat, the crowd murmured a bit. Little whispers were heard.
"How could he miss one of the town hall meetings?"
"What could he be thinking?"
Interrupting the crowd of whispered, Shinsaku Raiden spoke up.
"Prince Hidetaka. Akinobu Makoto is absent for this meeting. He caught quite the cold yesterday and was feeling extremely under the weather, so he stayed home instead of attending this meeting." The silver head shut the crowd up as he returned to his normal sour expression.
"I apprienciate you telling the council what occurred. Thank you." Continuing on with the attendance, the prince than started with the representatives. Unfortunately for the council, only one representative showed.
"Due to the late calling of this meeting, most representatives from other areas have not been summoned. Although we do have," The prince paused as if forcing himself to introduce the other representative. "one, representative. From Town Gomi, Representative Leon Hagakure." The prince finished, hesitating on the name as if there was something wrong with that name.
"Present Princy." Leon responded to the blond haired prince.
"Mr. Hagakure, please refrain from the nickname during the meeting and, please, do come to the meeting with more coverage." The prince huffed out to the male who had the brain of a child.
"Hey! There ain't no dress code for males ya know princy!" Leon said to the prince who had his back to him. Visually taking a deep breath, the prince chose to ignore him and continue the meeting.
"Is something going on between those two?" Chikao asked Ayuka by nudging her shoulder.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ayuka asked, not truly understanding his question.
"I mean. It looks to me like they are really close, but like it looked like Leon was kinda. I don't know. Flirting with the prince?" Chikao tried to say, but it came out as a bunch of gibberish.
"Oooh. I get what you mean," Ayuka realized what Chikao meant and added. "They have a history of doing these kind of stuff at meetings like this one. This is probably the only reason why the prince hasn't become the king for some reason."
"Is it because he can't keep up the formalities with Leon?" Chikao asked Ayuka again.
"That and also because the prince can't find another female partner to become queen. It's tradition to have a male and female ruler. Since the representative keeps flirting with the prince, the prince can't seem to find a date, like ever." Ayuka recalled the amount of times that the prince had many fails.
"Oh really? That's kinda sad." Chikao shrugged. Ayuka only nodded in agreement before paying attention to the rest of the meeting.
[He isn't the only one who is single] The system typed as it popped in front of Chikao's face.
'At least I can actually get a partner. What are you going to do? The only person you could talk to is just me.' Chikao thought, feeling a grin form on his face.
[Well I'll just have to make it work]
Looking at the system panel is confusion, Chikao asked, "What's that supposed to mean."
[Nevermind]
'Okay?' Chikao thought, unsure of what the system meant.
_______________________
Character Q&A:
Question: Is Taro Yamada asleep currently during the meeting?
Answer: Yes. Taro literally never pays attention to these meeting. He thinks they are boring and worthless. He justs lets Ayuka and Aoi tell them what happens. Since he doesn't pay attention, he just sleeps against the wall.
Question: Why does Ayuka have such a soft spot for Aoi?
Answer: They are childhood friends. They've known each other since they were 8 years old. There is some more lore behind what happened in order for them to meet, but this lore is kinda like trauma that they bond over. The lore may be revealed in a future case or not. Novelwise, the lore hasn't been considered as a plot part as of now, but they do have lore. Also, Ayuka has a huge burn on her body that is slightly visible around her neck. Aoi has an extremely burnt part of her body that will be revealed later on in the story.
Question: Can System actually talk to anyone besides Chikao?
Answer: No. The only messages he receives are ones that he reminds himself of or the higher-up system messages. Kinda like orders to do. He can only communicate with Chikao as of now. Certain parts about this are not completely made or created so it may sound unclear at first.
----------------
{Side Case: Town Hall meeting}
{Case time limit: Until Town Meeting is adjourned}
{Case Description:
{You've entered the Town Meeting Hall! Listen to the meeting and gain information about people and events around the Town!}
{Reward:
__Gain the ability: Profile Index__
__Randomized reward wheel (Extra!)__
{Penalty: ???}
{Good Luck!}
[With love,]
[System :}]