Doppo gave her a ticket but as soon as he was dragged from her office, a crowd of Rune Knight officer swarmed around her like papparazzi and whisked her away. As she was dragged away, he could hear litanies of questions or requests, the whole "General Onida, would you please" this and "General Onida, what should I do about" that! Doppo was getting tired of it all. The rush—but he knew and understood just exactly why it was there. So much had happened in the last few months it was almost unreasonable to ask or even think to take it slow and easy. With dark mages colluding silently and everyday incidents happening, well, everyday, there was always a sense of urgency and panic among the Knights. It was common to see everyone competing for priority but we all understood everyone's urgency. It was because of this understanding that Doppo only sighed instead of releasing a fuming diatribe on their rudeness, and went to his cubicle to gather his things. If she wanted to, she'd come. She had the ticket. So, she could come along whenever she wanted.
Morning came and Doppo had left for Neutral Grounds as quickly as the weight of his small duffle bag would let him. He was wearing his uniform, black, crisp, and without a single wrinkle in its fabric. It was the only thing well-kept about him. If one had removed their gaze from his uniform, they would've only seen the unfixable bedhead or the bags underneath his cloudy blue eyes or maybe even his unimpressive height for a man his age. He didn't wear the uniform just because it was code to do so, but he enjoyed the tightness against his chest when he wore it. It was different from the one-size-too-large clothing he usually wore and made him feel bolder than usual.
Neutral Grounds came quickly and greeted him with its ancient but well polished sign saying Welcome to Neutral Grounds! Enjoy your stay! and he could only imagine the farewell sign in contrast to this being equally default and plain. But he wouldn't be seeing it until later tomorrow since this investigation shouldn't take more than a day to do.
Doppo checked into his motel before he was to conduct his investigation, and since no one had managed to accompany him during the trip, he had the whole bedroom and its two queen-sized mattresses to himself. There was a television and a rather advanced fridge for their time. It was a cozy and spacious room for a motel and all of its costs and bills were completely on the Rune Knights. Anything extra like breakfast or personal services was for him to pay for, however. But with a gift from Hilda Sinclair herself, he shouldn't have to worry about that at all. He spent his morning lounging around the room drinking coffee and watching the local news. He didn't even unpack what few items were in his duffle bag. After his coffee breath settled in and the news channel became like background noise, Doppo finally left for his investigation.
The train ride to Neutral Grounds was as simple as ever, but taking the taxis and the buses inside the city was nearly insufferable. Everything felt busier and the amount of young men and women suffocated him. He held the railing of the buses as if he were about to faint right there and then. It was also equally irritating that this Adam Goldstein didn't live somewhere directly en route for practically any bus and taxis couldn't both to take him there through all the traffic, so the redhead ended up hopping from one bus to the next taxi to finally arrive at the pristine estate, or so he was told, and pristine it was! When he arrived there, he could see many foreign men tending to the well-kept, colorful gardens or trimming the hedge. The water in the fountains were clear and glistening even with the overcast of clouds swarming in the atmosphere. There was one large metal gate keeping him from entering and no one dared approach it despite how many people were there to peek. They stood a comfortable distance away from the very edge of the property. Doppo, however, didn't. In fact, he didn't hesitate to approach the estate with only a slip of paper in hand.
As he neared the gate, a long white security camera fixed its gaze to him. It was only a camera but it was eeriely similar to the malicious, prying gaze of rich politicians. A disembodied, static-like voice suddenly cracked from a small radio fixed into the wall next to him.
"Name." it commanded. Doppo unfolded his slip of paper which turned out to be a search warrant and held out an authentic, official pendant signifying his legitimacy as a Rune Knight officer. It was small and took the form of a bracelet, but its glimmering metal couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
". . .Private Chiyuki Suzuki from the Rune Knights. Adam Goldstein is under suspicion for funding the illegal guild Crimson Fang and I'll be searching this estate as a result. . ." Doppo explained as energetically as he could muster. There was silence for a small moment.
"Mister Goldstein doesn't want to see anyone right now, so please le—"
"I have a search warrant." There was soon another pause and then the creaking of the gates opening. Doppo went inside.
As soon as the redhead stepped through the gates and onto the property, he was quick to garner looks from the gardeners and a burly escort who had the same voice as the man on the radio. It might've been natural for his presence to be so strange and worthy of caution for the people on the estate, but Doppo was thoroughly weary of it. This and, of course, his single-man search of a humongous estate. It might've taken not two, but three or four Knights to thoroughly search the estate, and Doppo was beginning to regret not pushing for a partner after General Onida's flaking commitment and Private Hoggins' unknown whereabouts.
If the size of the exterior wasn't daunting enough, the inside felt ten times larger than the outside. His only grace was perhaps its wasteful spaciousness. There were several rooms but many of them weren't close to being full. He could run clearly and without obstacles in many of them. Despite this, it was all a bit much for any normal man, but nothing Doppo couldn't handle.
Many of Adam Goldstein's servants came to greet Doppo and inspect his warrant's authenticity before Adam Goldstein himself decided to show up. He was a middle-aged man, maybe his late thirties, blonde, blue-eyed, pretty-faced, and dressed supremely well. His was perhaps the golden standard of what men of his stature show look like and appear to be, and he was overly humble about it too. He shook Doppo's hand and even attempted to tour him around the place, inviting him for golf and dinner, but he wasn't interested in any of those things at all. His persistance was somewhat obnoxious, but instead of taking it out on the man he instead hastened his search.
Several hours passed and Doppo had checked what he believed to be every drawer, every cabinent, every nook and cranny of the estate that he could see and think of. He even groped about the flooring and cielings for any hidden rooms he might've overlooked, and while there were some of those indeed, they were surprisingly emptier than the rooms that were accessible. Doppo even inspected the bushes and trees and fountains in the gardens, but nothing of suspicion could be found. So, after spending his entire day relentlessly searching for proof, he left as lackadaisically as he came and deemed Goldstein innocent.
He went back to the motel, got what few things he left behind and made way for Era again with only good news. It was strange, however. How could so many veterans of Crimson Fang make the same claim about the same man? It couldn't have been coincidence! Adam Goldstein may have not of funded Crimson Fang from what he could find, but he definitely had some sort of relationship with him. A relationship intimate enough for so many of the Crimson Fangs to throw him under the bus. Whatever it was that he was hiding, he wasn't hiding at his estate. He'd report his suspicions but wouldn't stay in Neutral Grounds any longer than he was ordered. So, wearily, he slept on the way home.
STATISTICS
HP: x/y
MP: x/y
Spells Used: xxx
Abilities Active: xxx
Weapons Equipped: xxx
Monsters Killed: xxx
Other Notes: xxx