"Now, I need you to put evidence in front of us." Dawson gets up and gets closer to us.
She is an old woman, probably older than Russell. She has grey silver hair, green eyes that seem to have seen too much stuff in the world.
"What? Our word is not enough?" Aurelia asks, scoffing.
"Oswald is an important member of the militia and general. We cannot take no evidence for it."
Then the amount of unconscious soldiers and mages outside is going to cause them a heart attack.
"We can believe the tea... and the soldiers... but we need evidence that this is part of Oswald's plans."
"We can talk with one of the soldiers outside." I propose.
They will lie, I know, but I am sure they were not expecting us to be able to push through and that the mayor is alive.
"That reminds me, how did you manage to convince them to let you in?" Russell asks.
"Convince?"
We go outside, and we find the unconscious mages to the surprise of both politicians. Aurelia is smirking while Lisa is fidgeting out of anxiety.
Me? I am frantically trying to find a way to make sure we are not targeted as public enemies in this town!
"What is this... Amber, you better explain yourself!" Russell screams at me, checking on the mages.
"Didn't we just say we came in thinking someone is attempting against your lives?" I answer.
The soldiers are still banging the door out, and I can hear them yell orders to attempt to enter. Don't they have mages? They could have just thrown the door down with a single spell.
"Karina, let them in." I say.
Karina, invisible for everyone, moves the barricade from the furniture of the lobby to the side and the soldiers outside finally manage to enter, grunting.
They immediately check the surroundings and pull spears and move towards us.
"Halt! Get away from the mayor and the other candidate!" The one in the front yells.
Aurelia advances, but I stop her by waving my hand.
Russell makes his own signal, and the guards look at each other, before relaxing and dropping their combat positions.
"Explain, soldier! Who gave the order to hold people from coming in?" Russell asks.
"What order?" The guard asks, tilting his head in confusion. "We saw Vulpin and her group attacking a group of guards. We thought she was attempting to attack."
"Yet why were they here..." Russell asks.
"Are you okay, Mayor Russell?" The front one asks.
Russell nods.
"Yes. Inspect these mages this instant! Report anything out of order."
The last thing I remember of him is him crying. Now he is throwing orders like he is always this direct. Maybe he has an image to uphold or something. He was like that with his brat of a daughter also.
I let them search, but I don't thrust these soldiers.
The one in the front nods and says "Yes sir!" And gets on his knees with the rest of his group. They start to search for the mages that attacked us.
"Are these new recruits?" One of them asked. "I have never seen any of these guys before."
"Sir!" Another exclaims. "I found a bottle with a powder!"
Bingo.
I was hoping we found one of those. They had no time to get rid of it.
"Seems we found evidence that they were attempting something." I get close. The bottle is made of glass, small, and there is a bit of green powder inside of it. "Can someone check the cups of tea inside of the office?"
"T-they told me they were inspecting the tea... when did they have time to put that poison in?!" The secretary, who is still holding the tray, is looking at the soldiers in dismay.
"Probably they were attempting to put the blame on you." Aurelia comments. "If they say you were the one that killed the mayor and his rival, maybe they would be able to point fingers away from them."
The secretary's face went white at the realization that she was about to get accused of committing political assasination.
"Who is the Substitute in this case?" I ask Russell.
"Substitute?" Lisa asks.
"Yes... I was wondering, if it is true Oswald is the one behind this, maybe he is trying to act as a substitute." I answer.
"You know about our laws." Dawson comments, nodding. "It would most likely end up being him. He has been a help to the town lately, and most likely will be chosen."
"He has been a great asset for the people, why would he go far to start a conspiracy?"
"Excuse me... but what do all of you mean with substitute?" Lisa asks.
"Yeah, I was not sure what he would win, but this sounds like some important stuff." Aurelia joins in with the question.
"Martial law." I answer. "The Federation allows someone previously chosen by popular vote in case of political assassination or arrest. If they are not wrong, Oswald is the recipient in this case."
"Oooohhhh... yeah, I get it..." She stands up and makes a fist with her hand. Her tone of voice is more serious than usual. "Maybe we could go visit that asshole and punch his face, as any fucking stupid traitor should."
Once that was said, the soldiers start to arrest the guards that attacked us. The problem is, I am not sure if we should trust them, they could easily be on the side of Oswald and acting innocent right now.
"Mayor, I know this is not the best time, but it would help my investigation if you allowed me to link my base with the town as we agreed." I say to Russell.
"Uh... well, it was part of your rewards." he looks at the secretary, who is still shaken, but she is collected enough to nod and go look at the office for something.
After a couple of minutes, while the soldiers are arresting the unconscious guards, she returns with a stone.
"Here. Just crush it and it will let you choose the base." The secretary says, not looking at me.
I do as she says. The stone is green, semi-transparent. Soft to the touch, and cold. I can feel the energy coming from it. I wrap it in my hand and press, and it breaks, freeing the magic inside of it, wrapping around me, and then dissipating into the air.
[Link a base to Asting city?]
I choose yes.
[Base linked! Now you can teleport for free to this town!]
"Perfect." I say. "Now, I need to ask you two if you trust me with your security."
Dawnson looks at Russell, and he nods at her.
"She is safe to trust, believe me." Russell says.
"Okay, I do."
"Good, then hold my hand." I stretch both hands.
They hesitate for a second but they grab it.
"Aurelia, Lisa, I will make sure they are safe. We will meet at the inn." I say.
And I teleport myself with Dawnson and Russell to my base through the Link System.