09/20/3122 YDB – September 20th, 3122
Rosaline early in the morning, nervously stood there in front of the tall tower 22D dubbed, 'The Tower of Beginnings.' The story behind the name was that this tower was the first one that was controlled and used as a farming resource instead of being destroyed. It was deemed safe enough that it had been maintained as a resource tower for decades now.
Though no longer the only tower in the city, it was still popular enough and big enough where valuable monster gems could be retrieved. With how towers function, a lucky person could even find additional loot. The top floors of the towers haven't been conquered yet, meaning that a particularly bold adventurer or explorer could make quite a fortune if they were to climb them.
Looking around, Rosaline could see a small queue of adventurers all ready to climb the tower. She couldn't help but feel intimidated looking at them. They were all adults and much older than her, and she felt extremely out of place. As she wondered what she was even doing here, she heard a voice behind him.
"Oh wow, you are here early. I thought I would have time to prepare for your arrival." Archer said casually. He was still in his school uniform and backpack. Though in his left hand he held a poleaxe and in the other hand he held a paper bag.
"Archer!" Rosaline said surprised, "Uh, yeah. I thought I should look around the place first. I wasn't sure if you would actually be here."
"Well it's good to be suspicious of things." Archer said as he handed her the paper bag.
"What's this?"
"A breakfast sandwich and hashbrown. You don't have any diet restrictions do you?"
"Uh, no." Rosaline said taking the bag and opening it. The smell of hot food made her stomach rumble. She had skipped breakfast altogether, and the food looked very good.
"I don't have anything that you can drink, but they have vending machines in the tower." Archer said as he saw that Rosaline had all her gear on her.
Which wasn't much. She only had a large backpack used to store loot, very simple padded armour, and a knife fastened onto her belt. If I was leading her to a trap she would be in serious trouble. Archer noted just how desperate she was.
"Come on." Archer said as he began to walk past the line of explorers.
"Uh, wait!" Rosaline said as she tried to catch up.
"Oh, do you want to find a place to sit down and eat first?"
"Uh, no, no! I can walk and eat." Rosaline said and as to prove her point took a bite out of the breakfast sandwich, "Woah…" Rosaline pausing as she was bombarded with a wave of flavour, "What is this?"
"Popular breakfast place on the way here. I picked it up in case you missed breakfast. The breakfast platter was very good." Archer said as he began to walk again.
Rosaline took another large bite as she followed him. Though as they passed the adventurers waiting in line, she looked at them confused.
"Why aren't we going to the line?" Rosaline said between mouthfuls.
"Oh we don't need to." Archer assured, "We can skip the line, but let's wait for you to finish your meal first before we start climbing. We were meant to meet at twelve and it's only ten right now. Let me just register us since we have time."
"Uh, how?" Rosaline said as she swallowed some more of her sandwich.
"I'm licensed remember?" Archer said as they stopped at a vending machine, "What do you want?"
"Uh, orange juice." Rosaline said and Archer quickly purchased an orange juice and handed it to her.
"Thank you." Rosaline said taking a drink as she continued to follow Archer towards the tower, "Wait how does having a license help? Don't they all have licenses?"
"Yeah, but mine is a bit more special." Archer said as they approached the tower's front door, "The first floor of this place was converted into a safe floor where you can prepare a bit before climbing up. It's also where they have commissions and check your credentials."
"Hey kid, you two can't get here." The security guard said as he blocked the way.
"Oh, hello sir. Here." Archer said pulling out his wallet and opening it to show him something. The security guard squinted at it for a moment before his eyes widened in slight surprise.
"Oh, welcome in sir. We didn't think you would be arriving so soon. I hope you're enjoying the city."
"Oh, thank you kindly. This place has been entertaining." Archer said with a smile as he beckoned Rosaline to follow. Confused she did so and as they entered the tower, she could hear a few complaints from those waiting in line.
"How did you get permission to cut in line?" Rosaline asked.
"I told you, the license is special." Archer said, before pausing and looking back to see her unsatisfied expression, "Let's find a place to sit down and have you finish your breakfast and I'll explain."
Rosaline nodded in agreement and they found an empty table where Rosaline sat down and ate. Archer then sat on the other side of the table, poleaxe leaning on the table, and pulled out his license and a small metal badge.
"What is this?" Rosaline asked, squinting as she studied both items.
"Well the license is a regular license giving permission for everything, but this badge is my identification as an AGDF agent. Well, one in training that is."
"AGDF?"
"Arcadian grand defence force. You might have seen some depictions of us in bright red uniforms and a large circular hat?" Archer said, miming the shape of a hat.
"Oh, yeah vaguely." Rosaline said nodding her head, "Wait, so are you a cop?"
"Sort of." Archer said with a shrug.
"So is that why you know about my arrest?"
"Yeah. Also about the current state of you two Bents."
"Then why did you bring me here?" Rosaline said eyeing the badge suspiciously looking for any sign of a fake.
"Two things, one, it seemed like you need money, desperately enough to commit some illegal acts like entering a restricted area." Archer pointed out.
"You told the police?" Rosaline said eyes widening.
"Just gave them a tip."
"What do you want? To arrest me and my brother?" Rosaline said, beginning to back away.
"You really think they would send me all across the planet to arrest a single teenage girl? Me? A teenager who's still a trainee?"
"Then why?"
"For both experience and to help with an investigation."
"Investigation of?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"…No." Rosaline said as she took a sip of her juice, "But, again why me?"
"Like I said, you need money it seems and two, I need an excuse to come here."
"An excuse?"
"There's a case I've been asked to solve regarding this tower. A minor one, but I needed some help to hide that's the reason why I'm here. It's easier to have you with me as an excuse."
"But students aren't allowed licenses."
"But the school will give permission and that's what the people running the place will say when asked. There's no classmates to ask us either, so we're good there."
"Why would the owners help you lie?"
"Because it's for the investigation." Archer said as he looked across the room to see two people approach them, "Speaking of which, here they come."
Rosaline turned to look and saw two people in business clothing approach. The leader of the duo an older man with a clean-shaven face and greying hairs greeted the two amicably.
"Hello there, Mister Archer, is it?" The man greeted.
"Yes Mister Ming. This is Rosaline, my cover." Archer said with a smile.
"I see, good to meet you both. I thank you for coming to help." He said, "I take it that she's in the loop?"
"Oh yes." Archer lied quickly, "A bit green, but she knows."
"Oh, uh, it's nothing." Rosaline said looking a bit confused.
"So the issues of the first twelve floors not generating as much treasure as before." Archer said. It was an issue that Archer heard from the news, it was also what gave Archer the idea of using this tower specifically. Get into the good graces of the tower managers so that Rosaline and her brother can get some help.
Besides, Archer had an inkling that something along the lines of divine intervention may be in play. Still, that was only a hunch for now. He'll confirm it when he actually gets up there.
"Yes, would you like to come with us?" Manager Ming said as he beckoned them into a private room.
The four of them entered an office room and as the woman closed the door behind them, Manager Ming handed Archer a folder. Archer took it and quickly scanned through the contents while leaving his poleaxe on the table.
"Any ongoing theories?" Archer asked.
"I thought you read the report?" Manager Ming said.
"I'm referring to the ones that you likely kept from the local authority? The one that would give you a bad name?" Archer said casually.
"What are you implying?" Manager Ming said sounding offended.
"Do you piss off everyone you meet?" Rosaline quietly whispered. This was the first time that she had ever been in one of these towers.
Archer simply gave her a reassuring smile and addressed Manager Ming, "It seems from the reports everything is linked to an inside job."
"Sir, you were invited to this country, I don't appreciate the accusations." Manager Ming said seriously.
"Someone is siphoning the power from the tower and pulling it elsewhere. Three weeks ago was when the drops began, three weeks ago was when explorers' monthly revenue began to drop. At the same time when casualties are dropping at a similar percentage. Weaker monsters, less loot. But where does the power go?" Archer said as he pulled out certain files from the folder to express his point.
Then showing a news report on his phone, he continued, "Coincidentally near here were a couple of anomalous rifts that appeared. More than usual with monsters of similar type from the first dozen towers. Around the same time, two new registered heroes, three new adventurers, and two hunters conveniently began to make more of a name for themselves dealing with the rift. From both witness testimonies and footage have caught them being around the same area right before the rifts open."
Manager Ming looked troubled but before he could say anything, Archer kept talking, "Now how could they know? Maybe some power that lets them predict rifts sure. Or the rifts could be artificially created. Lots of big companies, guilds, and governments have learned to siphon energy from these sorts of structures and use it for various purposes. Some to create a gateway into the place elsewhere or use it to train their members."
Archer paused to study the expression of the manager, who had a troubled look on his face, "So, none of those who are benefiting from the good news report have any real link that I can see with the tower. A few used the place, but would not have the ability to sneak in and out with armfuls of tower power." Archer said stopping and waiting for a response.
"You came up with that theory in just a day?" Manager Ming said.
"Day and a half." Archer corrected as he received peculiar looks from all three of them, "What? All I'm saying is that if I were part of the twelve-to-four cleanup crew for this tower and I was friends with a number of up-and-coming powered-up freaks and we all knew it was an easy enough method to make some cash." Archer paused as he seemed to look thoughtfully, "I'd probably try it. I mean, it's what I would do." He said with a small shrug.
"How do you know that?" Manager Ming asked.
"All signs point to someone who has access to the place without needing to break in. When the tower is closed, guards are stationed to make sure nothing breaks out of the first few floors. At around two is when the cleanup crew load up on discarded junk and places them in large unlabeled crates. Who then brings the stuff to the back where nobody is around to see?" Archer said as he neatly placed all the papers back into the folder and carefully placed it on the desk.
"There are three we believe, they might even be working together." The raven-haired woman with a silver bullet necklace said.
"Hye-sun." Manager Ming said.
"Sir, he's proven to be capable and we need to conclude this issue quickly." The lady Hye-sun said.
"Very well." Manager Ming said with a sigh, "You're right with your assessment, Jamie Yun, Alexander Kirslov, and Jill Scully are the three in charge of disposal."
"Any connections to the action heroes?"
"Alexander and Jamie both went to Trinity Academy a few years back, they didn't make it and took jobs elsewhere."
"And Jill?"
"She lives in the area where the rifts occur." Hye-sun said.
"Either she's an adrenaline junky, or she's likely not it. Probably Alexander or Jamie." Archer pondered, "Well, we'll know once we get there. It is Saturday and that is one of the days they siphon the power right?"
"It is." Hye-sun said nodding.
"Then we'll go at noon." Archer said getting comfortable in his seat.
"Why not right now?" Manager Ming said eyebrows raising.
"Because they'll be here at noon. Just act normally and we'll intercept them with evidence. They won't be scared and cause a massive scene." Archer explained.
"You seem to have thought this out."
"Of course, I wouldn't be a very good member of AGDF if I didn't do my job to the fullest. You know with the classic motto-"
"An Arcadian Grand will chase you even through hells itself." Hye-sun finished, "It's a very powerful motto."
"Oh, uh. No actually the saying is 'To protect the way'." Archer said, "The hells motto is a line uttered by a fictional character that became connected to the AGDF." Archer paused and realised this was pointless explaining it, "Never mind that." Archer then realized something, "Oh, wait. Uh, before I forget I have a small request."
"Oh, of course." Manager Ming said.
"Could we upon completion of this quest give her a monetary award? Also VIP passes for this tower?" Archer asked and Rosaline looked surprised.
"Why of course." Manager Ming said nodding his head, "I'll have Hye-sun lead you at noon. She'll be back to collect you. If you need me, head to my office outside the tower, I'll give you permission." He said as the two adults exited the room first.
"You're actually going to do that for me?" Rosaline said in disbelief.
"Why not? I need practice without having eyes on me from the school, I need someone to pick up the loot and you need some money right?" Archer said, "Besides we need to catch this person first before we can discuss further."
Rosaline followed behind him and, with a troubled look on her face, uttered one word, "Thanks." Before drinking from her juice.
"Thank me when I actually get the job done."