Investigation: Adam Goldstein [S-rank Exam]

A few weeks had passed since the prison break in the Rune Knight Headquarters, and the only place you'd ever hear about the incident would be in local newspapers. Aside from that, everything within the Rune Knights had returned to normal, and the building was quickly fixed and reinforced within a matter of days of the break. Many things had changed within the group, too! The previous Field Marshall was replaced with the familiar Hilda Sinclair, which he had few details of how that ended up the way it did, and new generals appointed to the position. He didn't get very many opportunities to speak with Hilda, and he expected as much from a Field Marshall, being so busy and all, he figured. The redhead was determined to give her a proper thanks for all she had done for him, but simply could not find an opening, and so sulked about it for a long time.

Despite all the changes and the chaos that ensued recently, the entire Rune Knight body was in high spirits and even higher alert. With the wave of new leaders in their corps, so came a gigantic influx and newly enlisted officers—and Doppo was one of them.

He was planning to enlist before the incident occurred, but when he came that day to garner information and plan the entire thing out, the thunderous ba-booming began and the rest was history. But after the incident, Doppo resumed his plans on enlisting and quickly became a private. He was now living in some decent apartment in Era and became a familiar face in headquarters. His life was far more thrilling and diligent than his last at Sabertooth.

Today would be an optimal example of just why his life was far more exciting than his last. Recent allegations from Crimson Fang mages talked of a man who played a "major role" in the recent attempt for the prison outbreak. The information he had been given were bits and pieces of a potentially larger picture, but also not enough to make accusations. So, an official warrant had been sent out for a man named Adam Goldstein, a wealthy nobleman who was hosting some sort of event in Neutral Grounds, to determine his guilt or innocence. Because of the uncertainty, it would be a petite investigation, allowing no more than two or three personnel on the quest.

Doppo had received the case details some days ago and had been reviewing it in preparation for his departure tomorrow. He had everything he needed, which happened to be only the plate Field Marshall Sinclair had given him some time ago as a gift. He also acquired some cameras and a recorder as he assumed they'd be needed at some point during the investigation. Everything was in order and he could depart today if he chose to, but one last thing was on his mind, and before he knew it he was standing in front of the office of General Onida who was liable and responsible for the Combat Corps.

Doppo had been wearing his uniform, simple and contemporary in style but somehow brought out the plainest of features in just about anyone. In other words, men and women who were okay at best in other garments looked absolutely stunning in uniform, regardless of their features. Tap! Tap! Tap! His pale knuckles bumped against the heavy wooden door, awaiting an invitation inside. The well-dressed redhead lackadaisically droned loud enough for the petite blonde on the other side to hear with one hand on the knob, ". . .General Onida? It's Suzuki." he said half-heartedly. He was naturally a quiet man, and not because he was shy or softly-spoken, but simply due to his lack of energy. But lately, ever since the Field Marshall's gift, he's been in higher spirits and seemed to give bigger of a damn than most times.

The tapping of heels progressively became louder and louder as General Onida marched closer to the door and opened it. When she did, Chiyuki only stared at her with his drooping eyes. He had only been some inches taller than her and even with her heels their small difference in height was noticeable. General Onida was petite, powerful, and most notably of all, looked as stunning as ever in her uniform no matter when people saw her. Loose lips around the office titled her the "Golden General" or maybe the "Marvelous Mistress" depending on who you talked to. Chiyuki, however, did not talk to anyone and only heard of this through overhearing others saying it. And, well, she was pretty marvelous, or at least moreso compared to him. Despite his seemingly permnanent case of bedhead, he was very well groomed, and even so he still felt aesthetically small compared to her.

"Ahh. . . yes, actually. Pardon the intrusion. . ." he mumbled as he slipped past her and into her office. It was pristine and the air seemed far less stuffy than it was inside headquarters, or maybe it was his nose playing games on him. He had peeked inside this office a couple of times, and it was supremely better kept than anything else he had seen. Chiyuki felt as if he would've run his fingers over every surface to see if dust even existed in this room if his sense hadn't been present. He tried not to look around too much and took the nearest seat.

Chiyuki reclined back into his seat, his legs sprawled out as appropriately as possible and his fingers locked together, resting on his lap. "Ah, right, so. . . General, are you aware of my investigation of—er—Adam Goldstein? From Neutral Grounds?" he questioned halfheartedly. His voice was soft and rumbly, like each tone was barely vibrating. He thought of commenting on her office first, but the actual matter at hand ended up exhuming from his lips first. It didn't really matter anyway, since if everything went as anticipated, he'd get to ask her about it sometime sooner.

General Onida began shuffling through a cluster of papers once the mention of Adam Goldstein came about. It was an epic mess as far as he could tell, but he was never one to judge as he too found a method to his own organization mess. The redhead would watched her with a lazy gaze as she shuffled through them until the strangest thing happened.

A creeking, groaning sound crowed from beneath something—he couldn't tell what it was because it was quickly outdone by the even louder, more thunderous, rupturing noise which was Onida's wheeze. She apologized immediately afterward, and Chiyuki only nodded with a lick of surprise still in the whites of his eyes, "Yes ma'am. . . but you see, since this investigation is s'posed to be done covertly, Private Hoggins offered to come. And, well—" a large, heaving sigh fell from his mouth and his expression suddenly became wearier than before and sympathetically ran his hand through his cherry-red locks, "he up and disappeared since last night. . . haven't seen him since. . ."

Hoggins said he'd meet with him this morning for breakfast to go over the final details of the investigation last night, but also said that he had to take "care of something" before he did. He had this wild look in his eyes look like some beast. And now, he's been missing and not even the other Privates had seen him. Chiyuki was beginning to think something may of happened to him. But, of course, he didn't care enough to bring it up. So instead, he focused on what he came here for in the first place. "I'd like to request a new partner—someone to officially join me, ma'am. . ."

Private Hoggins was an oddity, that boy! He was eight years younger than Doppo, just eighteen, and had moved away from Beanstalk Village to enlist. Doppo didn't even start conversation with him, be he'd always end up talking to him anyway—about girls and the like, things Doppo wasn't particularly interested in but wasn't so mean that he'd dismiss him so bluntly. He'd ignore him instead, which is probably ruder than telling him to go away, but he'd persist until someone or something else enticed his attention more than himself. Which a man so perverted and horny, Chiyuki wouldn't be surprised if he was off sleeping with the receptionist, who was also out today. But it was neither here nor there as far as Doppo was concerned.

General Onida began to ramble again, much less composed than before but Chiyuki didn't notice. He'd nod as she spoke and wouldn't have a lick of time to respond before she heaved another cough from her lungs and briskly dragged him out of the office like a limp ragdoll. He let himself be whisked away by the blonde in a wave of confusion to her boldness and her words too. "General—" he sputtered quietly, but still he was being dragged. He tried again, and they continued until finally, he had raised his voice to the loudest he had spoken in days, ""—General Onida, the event isn't until tomorrow. . .! Ma'am, are you listening?" he queried, finally resisting her movements and bringing them both to a stop as they approached the exit. Even when he raised his voice, he was still incredibly soft-spoken and quiet as a field mouse.

Doppo looked down at General Onida with relieved expression, a face that had an "oh, brother" look painted all across it. He rubbed the nape of his neck and removed his hand from her grip to retrieve two train tickets and a coupon for a motel in Neutral Grounds. He handed it over to her for her to look at, "It's an overnight investigation. Are you okay just going like that?" He asked this more out of obligation than his own concern, for it would almost be unseemingly to keep this information to himself. But General Onida should've been aware of these details from the beginning. Perhaps it slipped her mind?

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.