Happy 101st all. Spooky day seemed more important than the 100th chapter, so yeah. Also, this is a *VERY* short side chapter to start the wrap-up before the climax of Olsvania. Enjoy.
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O’Malley held his head in his hands as he looked at the pitifully little evidence he and his team had accumulated. Even Branson had been transferred to the case, but nothing had come of the whole business and O’Malley was becoming sick of it all. The director of his department was breathing down his neck for results and he had nothing.
As he stewed in his trouble, his assistant, U’t, came over with two cups of coffee. The man placed the cups on his desk and leaned on the wall next to his desk, “Nothing yet?” he asked in his thick west Xumet accent. O’Malley looked up at the large man, his piercing black eyes striking in the well lit office of the enforcer headquarters.
O’Malley shook his head, “Nope. Nothing. We’ve been going at this for a week and we’ve found nothing and they’re expecting us to pull a rabbit out of a hat here. I think we’re going to have to consider this case cold,” he replied.
U’t shrugged, “So?” The man was an eloquent speaker when he saw it fit to speak in the first place but he seemed to find that moment better served by brevity.
“So? So, this is one of the most important cases we’ve ever investigated, and we’re about to call it quits in the first week. I just want to know if anything can be done to save it…” he muttered. By that point the other investigators on his team wore grim faces, painfully aware of the futility in their search.
“And? Bad? Or, is it Good?” he asked. An important aspect of western Xumet philosophy was the concept of a nebulous Good and a nebulous Bad, and while O’Malley was not as knowledgeable as he would like on the continent’s philosophy, he had some sort of basic knowledge. He understood what U’t was asking: was it an evil deed to let the extradimensionals go, or was it a good deed. It seemed simple on paper, but he knew that there were endless complexities to the question —ones that he had no luck in defining, much less understanding.
Failing to come up with a coherent answer, O’Malley sighed, “I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you whether or not it would be so bad to let them go, but they still murdered a man. They left a family without a member. It’s… I don’t know.” The other investigators hung their heads in shame as well. They knew, for a fact, that the murder was done in self defense. Yet, they still went after the killers —innocent of any crime apart from being born— and only felt frustration at the lack of evidence.
U’t nodded sagely at O’Malley’s words, he placed his coffee on the table and held up his hands, palms facing the ceiling, “It is for you to decide. Are their crimes bad enough to contribute to the Bad? Or are they simply using the Bad to fight the Bad? I can offer my opinions about it, but what truly matters to you is what you think about it. Think before you decide. All will be revealed by the end, after all.” With his piece said, U’t picked up his coffee and walked to his own desk, right next to O’Malley’s, and looked over some documents.
‘Yet another thing I don’t get about the Xumet philosophy. What I decide, huh?’ O’Malley thought. He sighed and looked over his papers once more; he wanted to look them over once more before he called it cold.
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Kain’s mana twisted around itself once, twice, thrice, and rolled over itself again. Held between his hands was a small orb smaller than even a quarter of a marble that swirled with mesmerizing colors. He pulled his hands away from the orb and let the magic take root in the air. A glassy blue mist began to coalesce around the orb, solidifying into a large spider on Kain’s arm. The spider was larger than his hand, and was entirely featureless, with only eight brighter dots for eyes that ran along its forehead.
Kain petted the spider’s head as it ran up and down his arm, waiting for orders. Kain smiled, “Stay,” he said. The spider stopped and looked up at him, “Stand on your back legs.” The spider reared upwards and stood on its four back legs, using the four to balance itself. Kain grinned when he saw the spider balancing itself, “Nice… you’re pretty smart, all things considered. Alright, now attack this little shield here with everything you’ve got.” As he gave his order he created a small shield in front of the spider, just up his arm. The spider gave a short hiss and attacked the shield. It slashed the shield with its legs and tried to poke holes in weak spots. The ferocity of the attacks did not let up a bit over the many minutes he ran the test. Eventually, Kain picked up the spider, still flailing in an effort to attack the shield, and placed it on a small table he had created, “Alright, stop it now. I think you’ll do great for this. I’m going to keep you for now,” he said, “I wonder what those two are doing. Ah, well. They’re clever enough to figure something out. Not to mention the centuries old dragon that’s with the centuries old bunny… Ugh… how’d I even get here in the first place?” he wondered aloud. “Eh. No point in complaining. Now, let’s see if I can make a few adjustments here…”
