In hindsight, lowering security around a single school was a stupid suggestion. Not that I'll be the one who needs to deal with it. That's the grumpy bodyguard lady's problem.

If something is too convenient, then it's suspicious, and if something is suspicious, then I'd be avoiding it like the plague. Maybe that's just me, but let's assume professional burglars follow a similar mindset.

So, first thing in the morning, we began spreading fake news. With the money Alvaro gave us for bribes, we did exactly that and went around paying people to begin lying in public en masse.

A new shipment is supposed to arrive early next morning, before daybreak, from the Elder Line. Its cargo is, of course, the usual, meaning trophies, meat, fur, scales, fangs… Anything made of beasts and anything worth a few golds. We set a bait too good to resist without anything to actually steal.

And considering how low effort it all was, I even rewarded myself by visiting half the bakeries and food stalls across Katona while word spread from mouth to mouth. They had some cake around these parts, some even with chocolate, which made me almost forget about people going missing and stuff.

Strawberries and fruits I've never heard of made my pay from the last job seep out of my pocket like there's no tomorrow. Money is great, I love it, I could live like this forever… Saving people, not so much. There's no question about it, I've already been converted to the way of the Fist.

This is the way.

Since we're short on time, this is the best we can get. And if some random place across the thousands of buildings gets targeted in the meantime… It sucks, I guess. Onto the next job it is.

"Say, what is it really that made you pick this one job? I heard the Fist rarely accepts detective work." While sitting on the balcony of a restaurant along the main road, I ask the old man.

The place is already closed, since we're maybe an hour or two after midnight. The wait wasn't long enough to my liking – I would've preferred another day of sleeping in a soft bed and eating fine – but alas, it's back to work again.

"Haven't I already told you? It's for the mystery and to force you to think." He answers, sipping on some wine he stole from the cellar. Although it isn't stealing if its price was left on the counter. "And also because it was nearby. That's also important."

"True." Mom adds and also pours herself a glass.

They didn't let me have one today… Not even a sip.

"Is it not about building connections, earning favors, or some extra gain?" I keep pressing. "There was no way you could've figured all that stuff out before we got here."

There simply is no way.

"Trust me when I say, I chose this one because it piqued my interest, was low risk, and fairly close to our next assignment." The man seems amused at my questions. "Why, do you think I have an ulterior motive?" His grin widens, then he adds. "Good."

Kayla and Victor are on the lookout. Rangers have quite the sharp perceptions to wield their bow at great ranges, while the whacky green-haired elf of ours has an army of owls prowling the night sky.

"Another carriage coming." Victor whispers from the roof.

To see it for myself, I use some light magic, not to illuminate anything but form lenses and adjust them until the image is sharp. In principle, it's the same technique I used to scramble the light blast during the tournament, although a bit more precise and modest.

Yeah, I could've helped with the whole keeping an eye out thing, but I decided not to. In order to save my mana, of course.

Peering through my mana, I spot two carriages, not one, and get off my butt to act in case things finally swing into motion. This isn't the first situation we've had, but despite our hopes, the night has been quiet.

As the carriages pass the city gates, tension soars. I have no clue what they're transporting under the tarp, but they look packed and ripe for the taking. They roll down the streets, passing alley after alley, moving undisturbed for minute after minute.

The wait is almost torturous.

Patrols across the streets are scarce despite the series of events, due to the civil war ramping up in Barlek. We heard news here and there about the first minor skirmishes and failed attempt at diplomacy. It seems peace truly is no longer an option, and this summer will be busy.

"C'mon, do something already!" I mutter, watching with bated breath. "It won't get any darker tonight."

But nothing. Not a single soul tries to commit any crime on this particular night, and the pair of carriages begins unloading carpets at a fairly busy square, preparing for the morning market. This one is also a dud, like the six before, and like the rest to come for the whole night.

"Alright, I give up, we've lost this one." I cross my arms and plop back down in my chair. Frustration is without a doubt written across my face, but I'm too bored to stay adamant about winning this one. "Show me the next job, I wanna know what we'll be dealing with."

Alvaro doesn't mock or offer any consolation. The Fist is famous for accomplishing its tasks, but the odds are sometimes impossible to beat. And I guess today's lesson is that we can't win each time.

"It's less than a day's walk, just a town in the vicinity." He hands me the paper. "A simple extermination mission, with a few odd details. If we finish early, we can rest here for a day."

Under the light of the three dames of the sky, I read through the words with a scrutinizing gaze.

Wolf-like creatures, abnormal, powerful bodies, high aggression, periodic appearance, and increasing effect on local wildlife and travelers. It's indeed nearby, and the reward is also relatively modest, maybe a mission we picked up just to rest up between odd and mind-bending cases. Decent enough to earn an honest pay.

"Maybe a pack of wolves that fled from the hedgehogs, or from the same thing those bemeoths were trying to avoid." I voice my thoughts out loud. "It should be decent as long as we don't run into another case of…"

The words get stuck in my throat. Subconsciously, the description has reminded me of a similar job we've taken on before. Back then, instead of wolves, we were dealing with rabbits. Reading odd appearance means little, because to the common folk, almost everything can come across as odd.

Even back then, it made me wonder just the slightest bit… Just how exactly were chimeras made? Were the parts sewn together, morphed by life magic focused on the blood and flesh? Or perhaps… Could the parts be dissolved by mana and reforged?

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"The hunter!" I recall the tip I've got suggestion I've received yesterday.

It was a hunter's plea spread by word of mouth and nothing else. I completely disregarded it. Beast carcasses, flesh, fur, and bones were what they took in the first place, leaving other valuables behind. Not top-notch quality, but a decent substitute.

Too shocked to share my line of thought despite the abrupt silence, I jump up and infinite my limbs. Nighttime or regulations be damned, I take to the sky and fly east with flames blazing at maximum in my wake.

Tools and materials… They gathered them all, and if not for us side-tracking the hedgehogs, nobody would ever ask any questions. But that begs the question… Why kidnap people when they have beasts in droves? If not for people going missing, this case would've been only about catching a few common burglars and no political fuss.

Well, magically speaking, it's simple.

Children… Their bodies and mana vessels are not fully developed, and not as strongly saturated by mana due to lower attributes. They– We are much more malleable. There were others as well, but we can't know everything about everyone who goes missing.

Chimeras are banned, and human chimeras are blasphemy, shunned, and an affront against all that's good. And the Arcane Prohibition has an entire section for them. They eat, grow, learn, and multiply… Fast. Or at least that's all that book told me, besides the name of the mountain range that no longer exists today after the crusade to eliminate them.

If I'm right, this is gonna be the most miserable summer of my life. And maybe, just maybe, this fuckers are the same fuckers whose work we've stumbled across a year ago, only this time their methods have been refined.

My flight catches many eyes. Lights ignite on the streets and along the walls, and pursuers take to the skies in my wake to investigate and eliminate. They can chew off my ears all they want, but first, I need to make sure.

I need to make sure this entire line of thought was only my budding paranoia playing with me.

Sure, the city is fairly big, but I'm flying, and fast. From one end to the other, I'd take about a minute, and the most difficult part of landing near the hunter's hut is locating it on the outskirts, way past the wall, closer to the sparsely wooded area. Dad is a hunter, and I'm not mentally deficient, so it's a simple matter.

It isn't even necessary to enter, to sniff around the modest wooden hut with tanning racks and all the hunter stuff around. The door is wide open, and the corpse at the doorstep is already colorless. There are no pelts, flesh and bones, no antlers and trophies around the house, nothing.

"Fuck… Fuck, fuck FUCK!" I yell in frustration. I was late, I was stupid, and I fucking lost. "How did they even get outside the city? The walls were manned and enhanced, and guards were prowling the place… This is-"

"Stay where you are!" A distant yell breaks my chaotic line of thought.

Those very same guards are finally present to do their duty. At least a dozen of them are swarming my way up in arms and faces grim, clad in fury. I broke a few laws, perhaps, did something stupid and thoughtless, and did something way too flashy when tensions are high.

Now the consequences are closing in.

"You are under arrest for breaking the flight ban over-"

"Shut the fuck up!" I raise my voice and subconsciously release some mana. "Why can't you only do your damn job when it's already too late? When the first chimeras could already be in the making!?"

"What did you just say?" A woman I'm already acquainted with steps forth from the forest of armor and bodies. "You're just speculating." She keeps approaching and draws her sword.

"Really?" Too pissed to act rationally, I forget to fear. "People, beast parts, and a whole fucking essence forge? Connect the dots, the Abyss damn it! There's even a corpse right in front of your eyes!" I point towards the hut.

Her face grows more stormy by the second. "You could be wrong."

"I could be right." I correct her because that's the worst case by a mile. "I just don't understand how they left the city…"

"You do not have the authority to act on your own. The Fist is not above the law, and neither are you!" The lady of considerable strength now stands right in my face. Even if we were equals, at this point, I'd be at a disadvantage and feel genuinely threatened.

But my position isn't that of a prey.

"And you can't fix this." I stare right into her face and state the obvious. "So either you take me, or take the chance to fix this." Like equals, I stand there and offer her a hand. "Time is ticking…"

If they really want to slap me with a fine, or even a week in custody, for all I care, then I dare them to do it. This is the closest we've been to the culprits, and these people, all of them, are only swords and nothing more. Swords don't think, and don't find answers… they eliminate them.

Oh, and after this conversation, I really don't give a rat's ass about who lives or becomes a monstrocity. Scion, sword genius, the prettiest of them all… My job is to find clues and nothing more.

I know I'm pushing, but I still add. "And the contract only mentioned finding clues, which I did, so this will cost extra. But I'm sure the families are more than happy to pay that for their kids. If they're still alive, that is."

I'm not gonna lie… I'm enjoying this very much, even though I'm aware of the consequences.

"Can you find them?" The woman asks at last. She took about five seconds to decide, which is five seconds wasted.

"Can you?" I shrug. "I might not be your person, but I didn't come here alone."

Moving past her, I jog straight back to the wall and begin meticulously looking around the stone, brimming with mana, using Mana Perception. They had to leave the city somehow, and earth magic can't pick up any hallowed out segments below. What I do find is a slight disturbance, not within the stone or the soil beneath my feet, but space itself.

"Interesting… The inscriptions in the wall do block space magic, right?" I ask the local boss.

"It does." She nods and throws and glance towards her mages, who begin to visibly sweat under the moonlight.

"What's on the other side?" I ask with the information in mind. Nobody steps up to answer. "Argh, whatever… I'll be back."

With that said, take off with a violent burst and swiftly arc over the walls, lighting up the nightsky once again. The answer to my question is… a stable. Or at least I guess it is a stable, suffering from a lack of any sort of animals. It's just hay, animal pens, and a single piece of massive paper lying on the ground.

Upon closer inspection, I almost stash the piece of brilliance and take off without ever showing it to anyone. It's a formation with a handful of simple inscriptions, but it could change smuggling just how walls work as a whole.

"You know what? The Abyss take those kids. This is all I need." I mutter under my breath.

"Eli! What the bloody hell was that?" Something of minor importance has finally caught up to me. And Mom does not sound happy.

I raise my hands defensively and spill the beans. "I think they're making chimeras, and they escaped the city using this."

Stunned silence welcomes my revelation, which allows me to study the lines a moment longer. This is basically a portal array, but seriously dumbed down for stability, and meant to jump… About five paces at most. That's all it is.

The difference it makes, however, is the ease of use, and in our case, four syncron crystals in each corner. As my gnomish teacher explained, these simple and fairly useless things only hold a mystical connection to shards of the same source.

"And if these four are from the same gem… And they had another four." I gulp in amazement. "Then the defenses were meaningless. Resonance was established, and the positions anchored."

This one, they were forced to leave behind after crossing through. But since I haven't found its pair outside, it should mean they took the other half.

"Elyssia, answers, now!" I've only seen my father's face that troubled a handful of times, and the last occasion was… Just a few days ago, actually, when I thought Alvaro would kill me.

"In short, they've escaped. With materials, people, and a method to dissolve and fuse matter. And we have that job nearby, calling for the extermination of weird monsters." I say with certainty. "And we found the chimeras south of here about a year ago. No culprits were caught."

There is no complete certainty in my assessment.

"But I know how to catch them." I try to save some face before making it crumble. "First, we need to discuss pay, though." Because if I get paid for my work, then damn sure will ask for the money, and a lot of it.

"Kayla, we need some sniffers!" I start giving out orders. "Dad, you follow the trail! And I… I will hold on to this and have a chat with our friends outside."

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