"The other cases we have are mostly solved by now. They just need a final touch. We are obviously not here to plate the already made food." Alexa had gone through all the cases their team had and picked out the one that had almost nothing. Lucas also agreed with Alexa's reasoning.
"That sounds plausible, but what if it's not the right case?" Xerxes couldn't help himself from thinking about the worst outcomes. He should be prepared for anything.
"Let's split then," Lucas suggested. "We can divide the cases we have. Most of them are almost closed, so it won't take us long either."
"That's a waste of time. We should just work on this case to clear the dungeon quickly. We shouldn't dally around to see how dangerous it can get," Alexa said, exasperated and fretting.
"What are you going to do if solving this case doesn't clear the dungeon? I'm not saying that you're wrong, but we should still have a backup plan. Do you have a plan if we fail at clearing the dungeon by closing this case? We'd already be days into the dungeon, too, which is extremely dangerous for us considering we do not have any fighters on our team," Xerxes explained everything calmly. Alexa was confident in her decision, but she didn't argue with Xerxes's words—he was also right.
"Let's split like Lucas suggested, but we are going to clear out all of the cases in 24 hours. I'm also going to work on the main case in the meantime, but our goal for the next 24 hours is to close up everything here. If nothing happens after that, we will begin working on the case Alexa picked out with all our focus." Xerxes instantly made the final decision. "Our goal is to clear this dungeon in two days."
"Yes, Sergeant," Nova mimicked the tone of the previous man.
"What do I do?" asked Kai. He was the only one in normal plain clothes, and for his age, he was sure he couldn't be an official detective working with them.
"You might not have an official position in this world, but you are still part of the team, and we need you too. You'll work with Nova on cases. If there's an issue regarding you accompanying him, come and find me. Then, Lucas and Alexa, you both will be working separately on different cases, but take the constables we have in the station with you. Since I have authority over them, you can freely take anyone with you. So do not wander out alone and never let your guard down," he warned them in a serious tone.
"I'll also be working alone, but I'll be in my office if any of you want to talk to me about something," Xerxes stood up, ready to work. "Also, check your badges if you have them. I have mine with me." He pulled out a polished brass badge from his inner coat pocket. Its design was simple but official, engraved with the precinct's name. He showed the badge to them one by one.
After checking their own pockets and wallets, everyone except Kai found their own badges too. They weren't as high quality as Xerxes's, but they were still official badges with their own positions in the station.
"Intuition Specialist," Nova read aloud his title on the badge.
"Historian and Researcher," Alexa showed hers.
"Field Investigator..." Lucas spoke disapprovingly.
"Do not be tied down to these positions. Do whatever you want. I'll approve of it, and even if someone complains, they won't be able to do much with me here for the next two days." Xerxes tucked his badge back inside his pocket. "Alexa, divide the cases fairly, but don't let Kai do the extreme ones."
"I'm fine with anything. I can handle it, trust me, Xerxes," Kai stood up in protest.
"No, it's not about trust. You shouldn't have to do anything that extreme when you have us," Xerxes refused serenely.
Kai broke into a pout and sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest. Alexa was very efficient. She handed out the cases almost instantly. In the end, everyone had about ten cases assigned to them, while Xerxes had eleven, including the missing woman case.
"I'll start working on them in my office. Feel free to drop by," Xerxes said. He worked better alone without distractions. Otherwise, it was difficult for him to focus fully, and he needed his utmost attention right now. He carried all the case folders in his arms. "Also, forget about sleep for the next few days. Kai can take naps in between, and if you're done with your cases, you can do whatever you want during your free time." With that, he headed to his office at the back of the station, leaving everyone no chance to complain.
It's for their own good. The faster we get out of here, the better...
Everything about the station felt familiar to Xerxes. He knew where to walk to arrive at his private office, and he also knew about the badge beforehand for some reason. It was only his second dungeon, so he wasn't sure if this was normal or not.
Xerxes placed the burden in his arms onto the heavy wooden table. His office had a mix of personal and professional touches: a stack of neatly arranged case files, a decanter of brandy for late nights, and a framed photograph of a family member or a commendation.
The office smelled of leather, ink, and occasionally damp paper from the nearby compartments. The wooden desk was rough and looked a bit old, but it had working drawers with ink bottles, feather pens, and stacks of white-yellowish paper to write on. Xerxes cleared out the desk from the previous mess and sat down in the chair behind it. He went through the cleaned papers one by one to see if there was something important on them.
Most of the papers had nothing useful—just some speculations from the previously closed cases—but one of them had something interesting written on it in bold black ink. That one word took up the entire page.
MEOW.
Someone might think of it as rubbish or gibberish, but in his eyes, this was the most interesting one. He immediately pinned the paper on the corkboard with a red pin.