The Spriggan girl looked up quickly as the entry bell rang. "Oh, Argo-san, you're here! Wait, you're here!"
    Argo nodded slowly in confusion. "Where else would I be sa? I said I'd be back once I'd found my partner." She pushed Kirito forward. "By the way, this is Kirito-san."
    "Kirito?" Abigail stood up a little straighter. "The Black Swordsman, right?"
    Kii-bou looked nonplussed at the casual use of his old epithet. "Un, that's me." He admitted reluctantly.
    "Just let me say, I'm honored to meet you." Abigail bowed. "I've heard about everything you did at Newcastle, some of my friends were in the Raid and…"
    "Abigail-san." Argo butted in, snapping her fingers in front of the latest addition to the Kirito fan club. "Tis not the time for that. You were saying something about us being here?"
    "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! I meant you're here… but you're here too early." Abigail spoke quickly spoke in quick stops and starts before realizing that she hadn't actually answered the question. "I mean, I'm done, but I was hoping I'd have a second opinion by the time you got back." She waved her arms about before snatching a large mug from the table and taking a long sip through a thin bamboo straw.
    "A second opinion?" Argo reached out and plucked the mug from the girl's hand, putting it back down on the table. "So you found something?"
    "Well, yes, maybe… I think so." The slight Spriggan tugged at a dark pigtail. "But I wanted someone else to look it over too, I've only seen this stuff in books before." She looked between Argo and Kirito. "I think it'll be faster if I show you."
    The amateur forensics specialist led them to the back her lab to where the door to the stock room had been heavily covered over in quilts, cut up, and nailed to the door's surface as hasty insulation. Stepping inside, they were met by chill air and wet stone flooring, courtesy of a half dozen man sized slabs of ice that filled the room along with a solitary table atop which rested the remains of the deceased.
    Argo felt her tail twisting about involuntarily beneath her cloak, and not just because of the cold. Novair had been one of her contacts with Sakuya's staff, so she'd talked to him from time to time. In fact, she'd known him casually even before the Transition. It wasn't a serious personal investment, but it was enough to make her remember that she had spoken to and known the person who had once inhabited this lifeless shell.
    Novair, the remains, Argo corrected herself clinically, were laid out flat on the table, a thin sheet offering a modicum of dignity. The eyes had been closed out of respect, but otherwise, the body looked to have been left as it had been the night before, the brutally torn open throat leaving the head attach only by a shred of skin and muscle around the vertebrate.
    Abigail was hardly disturbed by the gore as she circled around the body and adjusted an ore lamp and some mirrors to illuminate the area around the neck.
    "So anyways. Once we finished up at the crime scene and moved the body here, I was able to do a much closer examination, and I found a couple of interesting things that could be important. First off, the cause of death was a slit throat… "
    Argo felt the urge to face palm slowly rising. "No, I would never have guessed."
    "Ah, no." Abigail elaborated. "The cause was a slit throat, I mean his throat was slashed, all of this," She framed Novair's neck with her hands, "Was done after death judging by the looks of things, at least, his heart had definitely stopped beating by then."
    The information broker paled as this new detail began to sink in. "Wait, you're saying the killer disfigured the body after killing him?" She heard Kii-bou suck in a breath beside her. This wasn't a good sign. A brutal murder was one thing, but this reeked of someone leaving a calling card.
    "It looks that way." Abigail answered. "And that's not all that I found. Once I got the body back here I was able to examine it much more closely under the light. There's bruising over Novair's left side, which means his heart must have still been beating when he received the injuries.
    "So he tried to fight back?" Kirito concluded.
    "Maybe." Abigail raised a cautioning hand. "I didn't find anything that could conclusively be called a fight wound. No clean cuts, just some scratches and abrasions, and Novair's dagger was still in its scabbard. At a guess, it's probably a sign that his attacker ambushed him, some of these look a lot like fall injuries, so maybe they got the drop on him while he was in flight and then cut his throat on the ground."
    "Argo, do you know Novair's build?" Kii-bou asked. "By the way, I'm not paying to find out."
    Ears twitching as she thought, Argo nodded slowly. "He was a Skirmisher for the Sylph army, one of their scouts. Speed type build with an emphasis on perception and battle awareness. He wasn't a lousy fighter either."
    An ambush made sense the more she thought about it, inside of the walls of Arrun, Novair would have almost certainly have been able to hold his own long enough to call for help.
    "Those skills transferred over during the Transition." Kii-bou said thoughtfully, and then grimaced. "If he was ambushed, it would have had to have been someone with high stealth or illusion abilities or else…"
    "Or else?" Argo prompted.
    Her partner looked uncomfortable. "Or else it was someone he knew."
    She winced, that was a very real possibility, and it was tempting to think that way since it would give them a ready made list of suspects, but somehow it didn't smell right to Argo. Not enough to rule it out, but not enough to make her believe it either.
    "Is that what you think?" Argo asked.
    "It's possible, maybe, but I don't think so." Kii-bou held up two fingers. "For one, if the person knew Novair well enough, they could have caught him completely by surprise or else used some indirect method like poison."
    "Yeah, but people aren't always very rational, Kii-bou." Argo pointed out. "Especially not people who commit murder." Something had to be very wrong with a person to do something like this in the first place. "What's the other reason?"
    Kii-bou frowned as he turned back to the body. "I was thinking that if this was a crime committed for personal reasons, I don't see why they would would have disfigured the body before trying to get rid of it."
    "I wouldn't call that conclusive either." Argo countered.
    If it had been a personal matter, a crime of passion, or some sort of revenge, the killer might have done it out of anger. Except now she was creating a narrative. She wanted to kick herself. At this rate she was just yanking her own tail.
    "Look, what we do know is that whoever did this probably got the drop on Novair and deliberately disfigured the body. They probably did it inside of Arrun so it would have had to have been done fast and clean. That means  either an ambush  or  someone who knew him." She ticked off each point on her hand. "Is that all, Abby?"
    "Almost." Abigail said. "There's one more thing. We were guessing earlier that Novair's body was moved before rigor mortis had set in. I think I can confirm that now." Reaching down, the Spriggan Lolita pulled the sheet down to just below Novair's navel and began to point at places along the un-bruised side of the corpse. "Like I said, there was faint bruising on the left. But while I was performing my examination I found fractures and dislocations on the right side with no corresponding inflammation. I think this was caused when the body was moved. It's like they just tossed him down from midair."
    "They probably didn't want to get caught carrying the body." Argo concluded. "That would have made our job a lot easier. Okay, thanks for all of this. Get back to us once you've had it double checked. Have the Dynamic Duo been down to see you yet?"
    "Dynamic Duo?" Kii-bou parroted.
    "Our competition. I'll tell you about them later." She sighed.
    "You mean Jensen and his partner?" Abbigail asked. "No, not yet. I wasn't done with my examination so they decided to start with Novairs office. I think they're still up there."
    'Probably leaving everything out of place'. Argo grew alarmed. Well, that was why Suisen was keeping an eye on them, without their permission. She was just spying a little after all. "Please tell me they have someone with them."
    "Oh, I think Recon-san is keeping an eye on them." Abby said.
    Argo turned on her heel to leave, grabbing hold hod Kii-bou by the wrist. "Come on."
    "What next?" Her partner asked quietly.
    She snorted as if it was the stupidest question in the world. When the blood trail ran cold, switch to the paper trail. "Adventures in filing."

"I just don't get it!" Louise proclaimed as she flopped back down on the heavily stuffed sofa that took up most of one wall of KoKo's residence.
    The apartment, barely more than a bedroom, closet, and narrow kitchen located at the corner of one of Arrun's many multi-story buildings, was smaller than her room at the Academy, much less the apartments she had all to herself at the Royal Palace. But after finishing their interrupted meeting with the Lady of the Sylph and parting ways with Henrietta, Louise had felt like it hadn't been right pass up KoKo's kind offer while she was in Arrun.
    Besides, it had given her an opportunity to voice her questions in private, hopefully to someone who could give her an explanation.
    "What don't you get?" The question came from the Cait Syth woman busying herself over the stove in the narrow galley kitchen.
    KoKo hummed to herself as she worked over the stove, scandalously dressed by Tristanian standards in a pair of black shorts and a loose, midriff baring, cotton shirt that would barely have qualified as undergarments but which KoKo insisted were her 'around the house' clothes.
    A faint sizzling rose from a pan as she swiftly mixed the contents about with a metal spatula, adding a dollop of oil that struck the black metal with a -hiss-.
    What didn't she get?! Louise waved her arms. "That banner! They insulted Lady Sakuya in front of the whole city!"
    "Shh!"
    Sitting on the arm of the sofa, Botan raised a finger to her lips. Curled up at her sister's side, Shion's diminutive form stirred before snuggling closer to her beloved elder sibling, sinking back into a deep sleep. Shion might have been a pixie, but Louise thought that she'd been as devious as any human child when she'd pleaded and prodded at her guardians until they let her spend the night with Botan.
    "S-sorry." Louise whispered with a blush before turning back to KoKo. "But how could she just let them get away with that?"
    Louise could tell from the way her tail continued to twist and curl that KoKo's silence was one of contemplation rather than dismissal. "Well first, the watch doesn't know who did it. The Vandals ran as soon as they unfurled their banner."
    She removed the pan from the stove, allowing the contents to continue sizzling, steam and grease floating up through an overhead vent. Whatever she was cooking, it smelled strange, and wonderful.
    By the time the guards had flow up to the top of Arrun tower, all that had been left was an empty roof top. The vandals had managed a clean escape. Wings certainly made fleeing the scene of a crime much easier. Louise idly contemplated what this might mean if more Fae Criminals and Brigands began to crop up.
    "And what's the second?" Louise rested her elbow against the free arm of the sofa.
    "Well," KoKo said thoughtfully, "Secondly, even if the vandals are found, Lady Sakuya won't punish them."
    Louise was left speechless, had she just heard that correctly? "Won't punish them?" She parroted to buy time for her mind to try to make sense of what had been said. Her mental flexibility had by leaps and boundsin the mere month's time that she had known the Faeries, but still she couldn't fathom what had just been said.
    "Un." KoKo began to elaborate while she transferred the contents of the large black pan onto two plates and a small custard cup. "Oh, when they're found, they'll definitely be in trouble for vandalism and for causing a public nuisance. I think that means either a fine or mandatory service with the City Sanitation crews… " She trailed off before shaking her head. "But, that's beside the point, Lady Sakuya can't and won't punish them for what they said."
    "B-but, an insult like that…" Louise trailed off. Didn't KoKo understand?
    Louise had gathered that KoKo and most of the other Fae were reasonably well educated, at least in the terms of their own lands. In Tristain's terms, almost all of the Fae would have been members of the Petty Nobility possessing varying degrees of status, albeit, receiving a formal education would have normally been a distinction reserved only for the most affluent. Surely KoKo could grasp why an insult to one of her Lords had to be dealt with harshly! And if not, it was up to Louise to educate her.
    "If Lady Sakuya and the other Leaders allow themselves to be openly insulted, they won't be taken seriously!" The youngest Valliere daughter explained, assuming a scholarly posture. "And of course, there's how it will hurt her standing with the rest of her Peers in the High Nobility, and also how it might become a problem in her family affairs if her honor is called into question without defense. How can she expect to marry if her reputation is tarnished by miscreants?"
    "Marry?" KoKo tilted her head, bemusedly. "I think Sakuya-san has bigger things to worry about than her love life right now. Louise-chan, everything you're saying is true" KoKo admitted as she removed her apron. "But there are other things that Sakuya-san has to worry about as well. Remember, she's not really a Countess, she's the First Lord of Sylvain and serves by appointment."
    Louise scowled. Again with the idea of that idiot system the Fae were so fond of. Of course Qualified people should naturally be allowed to voice their concerns and have a say in the running of things, but the idea of tallying the vote of  every commoner, or even just every Petty Mage was ludicrous! That wasn't any sort of rule except by means of the mob! A Commoner or Petty Mage wouldn't even know where to begin running a country.
    No, there was a natural order to things. Those who displayed leadership and ability, those of good breeding, and those who were invested in the Kingdom through the ownership of land, should act on behalf of those beneath them. That way, the knowledge and wisdom possessed by the right people could benefit both Nobles and the Commoners.
    "You Faeries might be able to make a system like that work." Louise said, yes very diplomatic! "But most of the Nobility won't see it that way. And it's going to be especially bad right now. This could be very compromising with the war!" Why, it could even be called treason! Though something held her back from saying that. Somehow, she didn't think KoKo would like it.
    Her host set the plates aside, grinning painfully. "Yeah, that's definitely true. But that's exactly why Sakuya-san can't punish them." The Cait Syth Hunter removed her apron, stretching casually before she brought the plates over to a small table set on the balcony.
    KoKo's home might have been small, but the view more than made up for it. Her apartment was located in the Northern district of Arrun, atop an elevated extension of the district that had been built directly on one of World Tree's adjacent roots, dozens of narrow rope bridges and a single larger stone edifice connected this section to the city hub, offering a magnificent view of Arrun's center as afternoon moved towards evening.
    Not long ago, Louise had wondered how the Fae could be so unfazed by the grandeur of Tristania, now she knew. Arrun was incredible, beautiful, like something out of a dream. If was fitting really, given everything that KoKo had told her about ALfheim.
    "What do you mean?" Louise shook her head. "If they spread dissent…"
    "Yes, but silencing them will spread even  more dissent." KoKo explained gently. "Put yourself in our place Louise-chan. Do you think you would like it if your family wasn't allowed to voice its opinions at court?"
    Louise crossed her arms. "Of course not, the Vallieres have been loyal servants of the Crown of Tristain, mother and father have earned the right to speak in public matters on behalf of our family interests."
    "And that's exactly it." The Cait Syth held up a slim finger. "I think that for you Louise-chan, the right to speak is a privilege."
    "Of course it's a privilege, otherwise people would abuse it!" Today's vandalism just underlined that point. "There have to be limits on such things."
    "You're right that there need to be limits." KoKo agreed, finally growing a little testy. "What those vandals did was a completely inappropriate way to voice their opinions, and people will be giving them a lot of grief for it when they get caught. But," the Cait Syth plumped her chair cushion before sitting down, "They must feel strongly about it if they were willing to do something that risky."
    Louise took her seat while Botan roused her little sister and led the sleepy girl to the table, sitting atop a folded handkerchief in front of their shared custard cup.
    "We humbly thank Yggdrasil-sama and our gracious hosts for this feast." Shion said as she struggled to stay awake before commencing to nibble contentedly on a piece of Onion offered by her Sister.
    "That's my point." Louise insisted, taking her first bite a little too soon and having to juggle the morsel of hot pork and mushrooms with her tongue. She grabbed the bottle of sweet tea KoKo had provided her and took a long gulp.
    KoKo looked alarmed. "Are you okay Louise-chan?"
    "F-fine, I'm fine!" Louise coughed. "I should have given it time to cool." She sat back in her chair. "Like I was saying, people who feel that strongly will only grow more bold if they aren't dealt with. They need to be punished for their own good and to set an example for responsible behavior!"
    "I agree with Louise-chan, KoKo-san." Botan added in as she sat cross legged beside Shion. "In the Gardens, there is a time and a place to speak out. If everyone was arguing all the time, then nothing would ever get done." She paused before adding. "But that sort of thinking also caused us a lot of trouble, so maybe… I'm not so sure." She looked contemplatively at her sister.
    Shion, deciding that the conversation had nothing to do with sweets, had turned her attention entirely to her meal.
    KoKo nodded sympathetically as she carefully picked at her own plate. Unlike Louise, the Cait Syth made do with a pair of lacquered sticks to manipulate and pick up her food, delicately biting into a mushroom before answering.
    "The problem is that they're resentful fro a lot of reasons, some of them good, some of them bad, and if Sakuya-san tries to prevent them from speaking, they'll be even more resentful. They weren't right to do what they did, Louise-chan, but Sakuya-san and the other Leaders wouldn't be right to silence them either, especially if other people share those sorts of sentiments."
    "Do they?" Louise asked.
    "Do who?"
    "Other people." Louise clarified. "Do other people think like well… like that?" How horrid!
    The drooping of her hostess' ears was all Louise really needed to know.