"Where... where am I?" I frantically looked around the room, my eyes fixating on the kid's bed, only to find a pile of dust on the pillow.
"Ice-cream, do you know what happened?" I called out, but there was no response. Panic started to well up within me. "Ice-cream?" I searched the room, but the cat was nowhere to be found. "Ice-cream!" I shouted, passing through the wall near the window. "Where are you!?"
For the next hour, I ran through town, desperately yelling, "Ice-cream!!! Where are you?!" Until a thought struck me, "Have I checked that alley? Better safe than sorry." I sprinted toward the alley, colliding with something along the way, and reached the entrance. However, before I could step inside, a hand firmly gripped my wrist.
Startled and a bit frightened, I turned around to face a blue-faced individual. "Can you see me?" the preteen, or perhaps a young child, with a cute and smooth face asked.
"Who are you?" I inquired. The child's eyes lit up, and he stumbled over his words, "I'm... Wait, no, it doesn't matter. You need to meet the others." Before I could protest or ask for clarification, he forcefully pulled me along by the wrist.
---
Captain Cate, the formidable second-in-command of the royal guard and a staunch upholder of law in the underground, was growing increasingly agitated. "Explain it to me once more. I sent you away, and then what happened?" she questioned the officer standing in front of her desk.
The soldier, known as Josh, let out a sigh. "I walked my usual patrol until I encountered a weeping woman who led me to the scene of the murder," he explained. Cate sighed deeply. "Anything else? Did anything stand out?" she pressed. Josh avoided her gaze and mumbled, "N-no." Cate's frustration grew. "Officer Josh, are you withholding information?" Josh stared at the floor for a moment before reluctantly speaking up. "Alright... the kids were playing football at the entrance."
Captain Cate nearly let out a scream. Normally, murders were discovered and solved swiftly, often due to accidents in bar fights. But this time, it was different. It couldn't be accidental since it took place in someone's home, and there were no clues to be found. The killer, whoever they were, seemed like a ghost.
The realization struck Captain Cate like a bolt of lightning. The person she encountered in the hallway, the one whose magic signature she detected but couldn't see. Cate paused, questioning why they hadn't concealed their signature. A slip-up? Recklessness? Whatever the reason, it had provided her with a lead.
Captain Cate took up her pen to write a report but halted midway. A report to whom? She was in charge. "I'm in charge," she muttered, a wild cackle escaping her lips. This was her chance to prove herself to the king and show that Undying, that insufferable person, her rightful place. "Yes, I'm in charge," she declared with newfound determination as Josh eyed her with concern.