News of the fall of Cecil von Schild sent shockwaves across Kriemreich's chain of command. The one whom the kingdom counted on to destroy the rising influence of the crime groups became its greatest victim yet. What was initially thought to be an exaggerated move against a mere brigand group became a crippling blow to the efficiency of the Imperial Armed Forces in containing the Gray Fox's threat.

  The Army and the Public Information Ministry worked together to keep the news of the Imperial commander's disappearance a secret. Soldiers who participated in the operation and spoke of its fate to their peers were strictly warned; those who talked too much received the dubious honor of being put behind bars. Records of the attack were kept in heavily guarded facilities, and planning for future operations to track down the Gray Fox was done by the highest of Kriemreich's commanders and advisors. The defeat of one of the kingdom's greatest commanders at the hands of the notorious syndicate leader called for better preparations and covert operations.

  ????

  Rinvar de Melvich rubbed the dirt off his right eye as he entered the Investigative Bureau's office. Jolly greetings from some of his colleagues came to his ears as garbled voices that sounded all the same. Worsening his heavy feeling was the scent of bread and freshly ground coffee - his stomach began to complain as well. Taking a flight of stairs to his office became a challenge, and he only managed to keep straight by palming the polished wooden walls (he forgot the existence of the stairway railings). He fumbled for his keys, almost letting them slip from his grip, but still opened the door with the grace of a toddler.

  The officer got his first few steps into the office, slanting, barely avoiding slamming face-first to the floor. His rifle was thrown into the coat hanger and crashed, nearly toppling his coats and hats onto the nearby sofa. He reached for his seat, dragging his entire body weight to the chair, and watched the sun fill the sky with its light.

  Three knocks were heard on the open door. A uniformed woman with maize-colored hair wrapped tightly in a bun pulled out the keys, closed the door, and tossed them to Rinvar, who had just found a comfortable spot on the office sofa.

  "Looks like you had one blast of a night," the visitor said. "I'm not too sure if your wife is going to approve of you looking like this. Lucky you that none of the advisors are here."

  "Hey! If it isn't Inspector Farin Arinas, or should I say..." Officer de Melvich sealed his lips to stop an untimely belch from escaping his mouth - its failure resulted in an explosive outburst. "Director Farin Arinas. Sorry about that... too much of the wine and song."

  Director Arinas sniffed twice, crossed her arms, and shook her head after letting a heavy, yeasty smell skim her nose. "Another one of those Grossjager Brews... you guys sure know what to drink. Good for you, though that you're still able to walk your way here from the tavern."

  "Don't blame me. I didn't know that it would be such a knockout."

  Rinvar came out of a celebration for capturing one of the Gray Fox's large weapons stashes. It was the result of a sleepless three-day campaign to locate and destroy the arms cache located on Blaurosen's southeast block. What was supposed to be a simple operation turned into a twenty-minute gunfight when those in charge of the cache opened fire on the approaching constables. The felons who sported military-grade weapons were subjugated when the Field Police reinforced their comrades under fire. Four were killed on the spot, with three of them adding to the list of casualties after succumbing to mortal wounds; the rest of the gunfighters were taken into custody.

  "The one chosen to be 'the fool of the night' ended up being the last man standing..." Farin closed her eyes with her palm and again shook her head thrice. "But thanks for picking up on my promotion. Still keen on the news, even if you were not invited to the ceremony."

  "That's too much." Rinvar's slur was being overcome. "We're a small department. Of course, I'll find out sooner or later."

  "Then you should know why I'm here." Farin pushed the envelope she held at Rinvar's desk. It was no regular case file but one that bore the seal of the golden sun and crossed halberds.

  "This is no party invitation." Rinvar's attempt at a quip earned no laughter from Farin.

  "Surprise, surprise, Captain." Farin smiled at the still-startled subordinate. "Don't fret. I felt the same way you did when the Imperial War Council handed this over to me. The Army needed somebody 'special' for the job, and I'm looking at the right man for it."

  "I don't like how you're staring at me, Farin."

  "Better not keep the contents waiting, Captain de Melvich. Go take a look at it."

  Rinvar held the envelope and chugged it twice. Out came sets of Imperial documents that men of his rank had never touched in their entire service careers. Sketches and pictures told the tale of an unfamiliar and probably wild location. The captain scratched his head at first, thinking of what kind of investigation Farin recommended him to do. He gave up thinking; the ether that remained from last night's beer and ale gave one final push to be noticed. Its success would be short-lived, though, when the captain's system expelled it in one rough and pungent belch.

  He came across the portrait of an aged, yet strongly built, gentleman in formal wear and a cravat. There was no mistake to it. It was the face of a man everybody in the Imperial Armed Forces knew too well to be forgotten. Beneath the picture was a document whose sentence was highlighted in the officer's mind:

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Cecil von Schild, the Duke of Alberta, was missing in action.

  "The Empire surely went for the neck to send one of our finest swordsmen to deal with the Gray Fox. Color me impressed." Rinvar flipped through the pages of the document detailing the general's disappearance. "The Fox's rogues somehow stopped the old general. Some minus points for losing an entire fortress in their attempt."

  "I'd be more impressed if any of them fought Lord Cecil during the operation." Farin grimaced with a slow shaking of her head. "I didn't fare too well when I sparred with him last year."

  "That one..." Rinvar took his eyes off the scattered paperwork and stared at the ceiling. He then shifted focus to Farin with a grin. "...the one where he disarmed you in three moves? I sure had one good laugh with that back then. You're giving me that look again. It's not like I'm belittling your swordplay or anything like that."

  "You, sir, are not helping." The director's eyes shrank to sharp angles and glared at the partly laughing officer.

  "My apologies, Madam." A few seconds of snickering managed to escape Rinvar's lips. "In the end, the Gray Fox is turning out to be a bigger headache than any of us expected."

  Sifting through the various papers and their associated sketches allowed the bureau captain to imagine what kind of a fortress General Schild had attacked before he was defeated. It was no rundown structure with makeshift defenses, but a fully armed facility with enough technology to resist any attacking force. Such weaponry gave the Navy problems in its takeover, even with those manning the defenses far from well-versed in the art of gunnery.

  "Amazing. So the Gray Fox amassed these weapons right under our noses." The captain referred to a captured coastal gun kept intact by the Army.

  "He's dangerous: that I'm sure of. Who knows what other surprises the Gray Fox has in store?"

  "It is possible that this was everything he got. General Schild's force might have crippled him badly."

  "I would love to believe that, Captain, but I have a hunch that the Gray Fox has not shown his worst yet." Farin clasped her arms under her chest. "Your task is to find and capture him. The other part of this is to get us any clues on Lord Cecil's disappearance. I'll let you in on this, too: you might come across an investigator sent by the Schild Clan to locate the old duke. "

  "The more people to work with, the better. Who knows? I might even meet a direct descendant of the artifact-wielding clan. Any idea who in the family this investigator could be?"

  "It's not the Duchess Agnes. She's in charge of the city now that her husband is nowhere to be found. The couple has a daughter, though, but it's less likely that a nobleman's cherished girl is going to take over for them."

  "Wait... they do!?" Rinvar stared, baffled at his long-faced superior. "And here I am thinking that their branch of the Schild clan is going out without an heir."

  "Her name is Eurydice... or Euphemia." Farin's head tilted to the ceiling. "I've mixed up the names. Again. I need to read the file. She's not the typical Schild family member, though. The Lady is presently serving her novitiate at a convent..."

  "Hold it there, Farin. You mean... she's a clergy-woman...? What d'you call that? Woman, with a habit and veil?"

  "Canoness is the proper term." Farin eased her arms and held onto the edge of Rinvar's desk. "What? Did you draw a picture of her as some manly woman who can grip a greatsword in one hand? I was told she's different - much, much different from what you expected. That lady of Schild is a normal woman, unfortunately. Poor girl, though. She would have received word of Lord Cecil's predicament by now."

  "Couldn't agree with you any less, Director." Rinvar's eyes were fixed on one of the photographs taken from the captured facility. It was a dead creature with the height of three men. The black and white shades of the photograph could not hide the humanoid being's cracked and scaly exterior. "Looks like General von Schild's forces were given a hard time all right. Got an idea what this thing is?"

  "That one still muddies our scientific ministers." Farin now stood beside the captain. "They were speculating on it being a mutant or a smuggled creature of foreign origin. Those stationed at the Fox's former fortress could not find any lead that could prove either of the assumptions."

  "The old duke took it upon himself to deal with this freak, didn't he?"

  "Skin samples taken from it were hard enough to bounce bullets. Lord Cecil's artifact sword could slice through it with ease, however."

  "Hah, if the Fox has a small force of these in his employ, imagine the trouble it will make."

  "I wouldn't dream of having to deal with that abomination's kin." Farin distanced herself from the desk and stared outside through the open window behind them. "Let's hope that the dead giant was the last one the Fox had."

  The director looked away from the half-busy street and returned to the front of Captain de Melvich's desk. "You would have more than enough leads to figure out what to do next, Rinvar."

  She paused for a moment, hesitating whether this was the right time to tell something possibly sensitive to this drunken officer. She smiled and said it anyway:

  "Who knows? This could be the chance to make your father proud and prove him wrong."

  "Ah. The old man." Rinvar did not relish the idea. Erik de Melvich did not have high regard for one who signed up to become "a glorified police officer". The work of a mere law enforcer was nothing comparable to the task of an honorable soldier of the Empire. Lord Erik's convictions were both feared and respected throughout the nation, and Rinvar, in his eyes, was failing in the responsibility of following through on that legacy.

  Farin understood the silence - it was time for him to be left on his own. She started making her way to the door before turning around to look at the investigator one last time.

  "Look at it this way: we will all get something out of this mission. People's minds can change - especially when the one being doubted has proven their worth."

  The door clicked shut, and when the captain resumed his focus on the documents, only the droning of the ceiling-mounted fan kept him company. Nothing entered his mind as Rinvar sifted through the pages and pictures; what his mind allowed him to see was the figure of a man whose armor gleamed red and whose cape waved high and mightily.

  "Father..."

  What Farin said was transformed into a mantra that was silently chanted in his mind. His chance to prove himself was paved with a path of texts and photographs. All Rinvar had to do was take the first step and make the first move. Doubts still ran through his head; with nothing other than drawings and pictures of the captured island facility, how would Rinvar fare in the hunt for the Gray Fox when even one of Kriemreich's best warriors had failed to stop him?