“To summarise,” Rasa began. “You were adopted into Chimaera when you were young and worked under the three heads who were your foster parents. They were Leona, Scias, and Gilliam. Lion, snake, and goat.”

  Toolbox nodded her head right before she devoured another bowl of beef. Machua came by and laid yet another before her.

  “Chimaera was not as aggressive and violent as it was now. This changed because a man named Dwyn took over the organisation with force. This Dwyn kidnapped you and used you to force them to do his bidding, but now you’ve recently managed to escape.”

  “Mmhm!” Toolbox finished her last beef bowl. “And now I need to find them without getting caught by the big bad Dwyn. I know Dada-I mean Scias is here, so if I can find him, then he’ll see I’m safe and they’ll all run away with me.”

  “Awfully convenient…” Plue muttered.

  “It’s the truth! Everything I say lines up with all of you, right? It’s gotta! So, I’m begging you here, just help me meet my dada!” Toolbox laid her head onto the table again and begged.

  “I think it’s worth checking out. Plu, you’ve still got the bug on that henchman, we can follow up on that tomorrow.”

  “Fine. Any lead is worth investigating, as papa says.”

  “We’re not gonna check on them now?” Carmine asked. “Dirty folks do their work in the dark, don’t they?”

  Rasa answered, “But excavations don’t. If they are using that as cover, then they would need to work in the day. Not to mention we most likely put them on guard when we fought that Serration Hermit Mantis. Especially so as the Bureau is now investigating what caused that monster to appear in the City.”

  “Tch.”

  “I’d like to meet up with Machi and Kalina and tell them all our new info before we go too.”

  “Wait, wait!” Toolbox suddenly interjected. “Keep me a secret okay? I don’t wanna get caught up with anyone weird. No telling anyone.”

  “But Machi’s my brother, you can trust him. Kalina maybe not though.”

  “Nope!” Toolbox made a big cross with her arms. “I only trust people I see and talk to so please don’t tell him. I can’t risk anything getting out.”

  Machua made a troubled expression. She weighed the idea of lying to Toolbox and telling them anyways, but that didn’t quite sit right with her.

  “If you want to help her, we should respect the wants of the informant,” Plue said to her.

  “Alright, I get it. We won’t tell anyone. Meet up here tomorrow early in the morning okay? You can eat all you want before we meet up, just put it on our tab.”

  “Yes, yes, yes! Thank you! You guys are my saviours! I’ve never met kinder people!”

  Rasa spoke up, “I have to ask, Toolbox. Is Toolbox a name given to you by your parents? You’ve clearly had that bracelet for a very long time.”

  “A codename, but yeah! This bracelet here was given to me almost a year after they adopted me. At the time, it fit around my neck, but now… it only fits around my hand,” Toolbox said a bit melancholically.

  “They bought you a collar? Or a bracelet?” Rasa questioned.

  “It’s a bracelet! They just bought one that was too big that’s all! I was dumb so I wore it around my neck!”

  Rasa nodded, seemingly satisfied with those answers. Machua nodded along, a bit less sure, but she wasn’t gonna question it. The info they got out of Toolbox was great, and she was going to cross reference it with Machi later. Though, he did say it wasn’t likely he was going to learn much. Either way, she wanted his input.

  Machua observed the white catkin in front of her. She was just getting ready to leave. She had been feeling this way for a while now, ever since they encountered her the night before. Toolbox was… eerily natural. She was a very instinctive person, that was true, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. But the way she acted, the way she pounced, the way she devoured her meal, the way she talked, all of that seemed so… ‘normal’ that they began to feel abnormal.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  It was a bit crazy to think this, but Machia taught her that her World Trait defined how she viewed and interacted with the world. It wasn’t just a gut feeling. If her Trait told her this, then she should believe it. And act on it, if needed to.

  As she watched Toolbox leave, all she could think of was that she was quite the peculiar person. She looked forward to meeting her again, and hopefully figuring her out. For now though, their investigation was over. It was time to rest.

  ———————————————————————

  “Wow, that didn’t work nearly as well as I thought it would,” the Phantom spoke.

  “You’re using it wrong.”

  Kalina huffed as she stood back up, the invisible force no longer pushing her down. She had a sharp look in her eyes, and her entire aura changed. What was once gratefulness was now utter determination and anger.

  “The Principle Gavel requires you to know of the crimes of those you target. Either witness them personally or have the evidence to prove it.”

  Kalina loaded an arrow into her crossbow and pointed it at the Phantom. “Which means if you’ve done nothing wrong, then the Principle Gavel will not judge you guilty.”

  “Oh?” The Phantom exclaimed in a singsong manner. “Then your cute little friend must have done loads of bad things, isn’t that right?”

  Kalina did not answer. Machia was still down on the ground next to her, but he was slowly rising up. The force clearly wasn’t that strong, and he would overcome it with time.

  “You don’t know anything, do you~” The Phantom mocked.

  It was at that moment Kalina rushed at them. The Phantom backpedalled out of the room and dashed away out of sight. Kalina chased them and shot her arrow. She briefly glanced back to Machia who was still in the room. He nodded at her and she dashed after the Phantom.

  ‘The Principle Gavel’s certainly effective…’ Machia thought as he was left behind.

  Kalina chased after the Phantom thief with all of her might. She shot arrow after arrow, each one filled with a barrier meant to block off their escape. If the Phantom allowed an arrow to pass by, a barrier would block the path right ahead of them.

  However, the Phantom was completely unbothered. They left the gavel hanging on their belt, took out two swords from dimensional storage, and parried the arrows that came after them. The ones that did go through, they always found another way out.

  This, alongside the constant crunching of bones did nothing to deter Kalina however.

  ‘Overclock is too obvious, but I can’t use Time Stop without channelling it through a containment barrier. What a mess.’ Kalina shook those irritating thoughts away and refocused on the chase.

  It wasn’t long until they reached the old prison block. With the light still shining on the old prison block, Kalina could see the Phantom clear as day, with the full length of the old prison block. With only one exit, this was absolutely the place to take them down.

  “Stop! I have full view of you! If you enter the corridors, I promise I will hunt you down! Give up!” Kalina shouted.

  The Phantom paused in their tracks and turned around, willing to entertain her. “I’ll just slam you with the gavel again. Nothing says I can’t do it twice.”

  “Double jeopardy,” Kalina answered without missing a beat. “You’d have to declare the first trial a mistrial and have the evidence to prove it.”

  ‘It’s not fully true, but it’s true enough. Another slam won’t hurt me.’

  “Lying doesn’t suit you, you know.”

  “You’re welcome to try it.“

  The Phantom tilted their head as if contemplating the idea. Their swords were held in front of them, still ready to parry another arrow. If Kalina shot, they would surely deflect it away from the exit. A barrier arrow wouldn’t do here. This would have to be an arrow shot to pierce.

  ‘I can’t risk this Phantom coming away with confidential information about my abilities. I have to handle this cleanly,’ Kalina thought.

  “Why don’t we cut a deal? I deliver this gavel to my client and then once they’re done using it, I’ll make sure they give it back,” the Phantom suggested.

  “Unless your client is an Hour, the answer is no. I won’t let the Principle Gavel fall into the hands of anyone else.”

  “You’re awfully stubborn. But that’s fine, I like people like you. Unfortunately, this is a super, super important job for me, so I’m going to have to go.”

  The Phantom dodged back. Kalina ran and shot at the same moment. Her arrow flew across the air straight at the Phantom. It was expected for it to be deflected, but that wasn’t what happened. The Phantom, instead of deflecting it with a sword, released their grip on it, and grabbed ahold of the Principle Gavel.

  The Phantom, however, was not quick enough. The arrow flew true and hit the gavel. It did not penetrate, but the force behind it caused the Phantom to release it. The gavel’s flight path was directly into the open exit.

  ‘No! If it goes in, it could tumble down a gap and be lost forever!’

  “Kalina, wait!”

  Kalina paid no attention to Machia and rushed directly at the exit. She swung her lance at them as she passed by, but just as she did, she found that the gavel was no longer flying through the air. It was suspended.

  A thin, almost invisible string formed out of mana was wrapped around the gavel. And to the Phantom’s hand. In an instant, the Phantom reeled the gavel back and swung. Kalina tried to reposition herself, but it was too late. The Principle Gavel smashed directly into her face and sent her flying back.

  “Woo~ I knew it had something more to it.”

  Machia rushed to Kalina’s side, almost on instinct, and caught her mid-air. The slam of the gavel didn’t cause much injury, she wasn’t even bleeding.

  “What the hell did you do that for!?” Machia almost screamed.

  “Sorry! I didn’t mean to! I really wasn’t trying to hit her pretty face! I’ll just be going now.”

  Hearing those words, Kalina almost shot up from her position. The Phantom was getting away. Even if they chased them down into the inner workings of the City, they would almost assuredly lose them. And if a scuffle did occur, the Principle Gavel might go flying as it did before. The Phantom had to be stopped. Now. No matter the repercussions.

  “Twelve o’Clock!” Kalina shouted.

  Kalina’s mana surged from around her. The mana shot out in all directions, encompassing the entire prison block.

  ‘I’ll use the old prison block as a makeshift barrier! It’s not perfect, but it should work long enough for me to snatch the Principle Gavel.’

  Now, Kalina was the only thing that could move in the prison block. She got up out of Machia’s arms and got into a dead sprint.

  ‘I can feel the stress already,’ Kalina thought. ‘But I have to do this, I can’t let the Principle Gavel fall into the wrong hands.’

  Kalina’s eyes were laser focused on that gavel. She just needed to catch up to the still-running Phantom and grab ahold of it.

  ‘Wait… running?’

  Kalina was suddenly aware of the hand placed in front of her chest. She looked to the side to see Machia, running by her side, trying to hold her back to keep her safe. She turned ahead and found the Phantom stepping through the exit.

  ‘They’re… moving in stopped time?’

  Just as soon as she realised it, time suddenly resumed again. Kalina could almost hear the stopped time shatter as her mana was forced back into her body, carrying with it the repercussion she would face. All at once, her entire body collapsed. She smelled the familiar scent of blood bubbling up her throat.

  “Kalina!”

  Kalina threw up blood and crashed onto the floor. Machia caught her just before she actually hit it and held her gently in his arms.

  Kalina’s blurry vision beheld a worried Machia, so worried it was almost as if he was watching her die. However, she only had one thought in her mind as she passed out.

  ‘How… can you move in stopped time…?’