https://youtu.be/byTldJdeg3M

"You called, Mikado?"

As night fell, the door to Kotoba's grey office opened, and in came Scarlett, quickly scanning the place as she shut the door behind her. The place looked as orderly and controlled as usual - not a book was out of place, and the lightbulb was off, the only light coming from the silver lamp on the Mikado's desk. Kotoba herself was, naturally, sitting by it, with her desktop on, though as Scarlett came in, she looked up from the screen to meet her.

"Welcome, Mata Hari." she greeted, her voice chillingly calm. "Let's cut to the chase; I have a task for you."

"Oh, is that all? I was worried I might be in trouble..." Scarlett murmured, and at once Kotoba's face lost all emotion, piercing Scarlett's very soul with her eagle-like orange eyes.

"Have you done something I need to worry about?"

"N-No, of course not!" Scarlett stammered slightly, terror gently gripping her. "I like having ears too much to do anything like that!"

"...very well." Kotoba said, her tone making it difficult for Scarlett to tell if she actually believed her - which naturally scared her more. "You'll have to understand, just yesterday I had to punish someone in that very manner you described. I'd hate to have to resort to such methods two nights in a row."

"Y-You had a mission to give me, right?"

"I did, indeed." Kotoba nodded slowly, looking down at Scarlett. "Surely you remember the Red Joker? I believe he's been ingrained quite intimately into the memory of your father."

"What makes you say that?"

"I did a little digging around, and I believe Galileo is planning to take action independently." Kotoba explained calmly. "It would appear he has been in contact with a Han'eian mafia, and has made quite the expenditure in the process. Knowing him, it's likely that he plans to clean up the mess he made in Ruben."

Remembering the discussion she had with her father a few days ago, Scarlett shuddered a little as she slowly began to wise up to his scheme. "...he really plans to kill him, doesn't he?" she whispered.

"You catch on quickly." Kotoba nodded slowly, mixed emotions scribbled over her face. "While his initiative is admirable, I cannot condone his blatant disobedience."

"So...do you want me to get him to stop?" Scarlett questioned, her arms behind her back. "Because I don't think he'd listen if I was the one who did it..."

"I'm well aware of the futility of stopping Galileo directly when he's set on something." Kotoba commented, looking down at her screen and seeming to read something on it. "Which is why I propose a more indirect method."

Scarlett nodded slowly and silently, giving Kotoba her undivided attention. "My spies tell me the Red Joker has just entered Aurum. So I want you to go there and make sure nothing happens to him. If anything does and it becomes clear that he can't handle things on his own, you will step in to help. And once the situation is clear, return to base and report back to me."

Scarlett sighed at that, having expected something a little worse than that. This was totally doable, she thought. She looked up at Kotoba with a nod, smiling slightly. "I'll do my best!"

"There's just one more thing before you go." Kotoba said, looking at her. "My spies have spotted a large number of corpses in the streets of Aurum. I'm unsure if this is related to Galileo's plans, but take caution nonetheless."

"...do you think it could be the Red Joker's doing?"

"The possibility is there, of course, but given his behaviour in the present, that doesn't seem very likely." Kotoba replied, noticing the relaxing of Scarlett's stance and demeanour but choosing not to comment on it.

"Right, of course, I get it!" Scarlett nodded quickly, beaming brightly as she dug into her pockets, pulling out her silver crystal. "I'll be on my way, then!"

"...although, if you do lose any body parts to this mysterious slasher, perhaps I won't have to punish you..." Kotoba murmured just loudly enough for Scarlett to hear, unsettling her enough that she whispered the destination to the stone and stood trembling as she vanished in a flash of silver light. Kotoba sighed, looking back to her computer. Surely, this would go well.

.........

Having spent the day fighting crime with Iago, discussing the situation in Ruben with Jude, and generally enjoying his newfound feelings of emancipation, Inigo sat up in the middle of his inn room. It was only about eleven in the night, after all, but in the bed next to him, Iago was already sound asleep. Made sense; if he wanted to inconvenience him tomorrow, he'd have to have gone to sleep early.

Inigo mused on this as he stood up straight, stretching his arms and legs as he headed to the middle of the room, observing the surroundings. The room as a whole was very lavish, with a velvet carpet, fancy curtains and two single beds with the fluffiest white blankets almost concealing the fact that they were single beds. It was a waste of varia, Inigo thought, and he'd made sure to let Iago know that at the time, too - but when the black mage insisted on footing the whole cost, Inigo didn't think it was worth objecting.

He got himself changed into a set of clothing - a black shirt with purple eye symbols on it, with matching black trousers, a vivid violet jacket, and of course, his usual purple scarf. Once he was dressed, he walked out, deciding he'd go on a little stroll in the streets before resigning himself to the usual nightmares. As he stepped through the corridors, he mused on his day - spent primarily fighting crime, but for the first time, he felt just as invested in actually helping people as he was in lining his own pockets. It was a strange feeling - a good one. One that he wanted to keep feeling.

As he made it to the palace of a ground floor and stepped out the front door, what he saw waiting for him was...less than pleasant; immediately after watching the wooden sliding door open for him, he looked ahead and felt his good feelings beginning to drain out.

https://youtu.be/unXCFcngY8g

Just a few feet ahead of him, there laid a quartet of dapperly-dressed corpses, with ghastly grimaces on their faces - as if the last thing they'd seen before dying was a nightmare. Their clothes were splattered with blood, with one guy having his eyes obviously stabbed out, and Inigo could make out a puncture on the back of another person's thigh. What was really disturbing was that the bodies were arranged in the shape of an arrow - two corpses for the main line, which was curved and pointing to the left, and two for the arrowhead. It was...some kind of sick joke, he thought. And the worst part was, in a sense, it was actually kind of darkly funny.

But of course, curious as he was, he felt like seeing the punchline. So he followed the arrow, wanting to see where it led, and found many similar 'masterpieces' pointing forward. Wondering what manner of psychopath would do such a thing and why, Inigo followed the literal trail of corpses, making sure to stay on guard. Did he know he was likely walking into potential trouble? Certainly. But did he give a shit?

While walking, he looked around, making sure he was safe before taking out his phone, snapping a photo of it before sending it to his group chat with Silas and Azurine, with a caption reading "Hey, I'm following a serial killer in Aurum. Want updates?"

Then he put his phone away, taking a deep breath and continuing to follow the arrows while trying to speculate on who the culprit could possibly be. His mind immediately went to Libera, but he felt they would try to be a little more discreet about this. It couldn't have been Iago - while he wouldn't put it past him to try and murder everyone he saw wearing a suit, Inigo had been keeping an eye on Iago the whole day, so he simply wouldn't have had a chance. Plus, he clearly didn't know Iago's character very well, given today's events. The few wounds he could make out at a glance told him that these corpses were fresh, after all. Mostly dressed in suits, but he could identify a few cops, too.

The arrows led him through alleys and streets, but eventually, it took him to one of the many tall houses bordering the city square - about three storeys tall and very sharp and angular, with polished white bricks making up its exterior. All the lights were on, yet the door was wide open. He briefly pondered on whether or not it would be legal to enter, before deciding he didn't care and stepping inside anyway. And as he came in, he entered the lounge and was greeted with what could charitably be described as a bloodbath.

With all the fancy furniture, marble floor tiles and paintings strewn about, it was clear that this was once a nice place. The gaudy chandelier on the ceiling illuminated the room, showing its white walls and the gold-trimmed rug in the centre. And yet, the white was dying out, and every aspect of the room was stained with red. Blood splattered against the walls, too, and it was clearly still fresh, judging from the smell. Inigo, not questioning why he knew so much about this topic, looked at the floor, and could see the rug was damp with blood. Fallen bodies, dressed like maids and butlers, were on the ground, completely lifeless, and they were arranged in a different pattern - rather than arrows, they were shaped like a crow's footprints.

"...you're shitting me." he mumbled, following the bodies while trying his hardest to avoid stepping in blood. He'd have to call the cops once he was done. These people deserved a proper burial. Their corpses led him to a staircase, barricaded with a white bannister and held against a wall with paintings going up it. At the foot of the stairs was an arrow pointing up it drawn in blood, with some words written in blood above it;

"AS THE CROW FLIES"

"This is beginning to feel like a haunted house." Inigo mused, sucking in a deep breath of bloodstained air before making his way upstairs. The second floor was less populated than the first, but in the middle of the grand hall before him, he saw six corpses arranged in a circle, dressed in high-end outfits and bearing a passing resemblance to one another in most cases.

In the centre of the circle, there stood a framed photo bearing the likenesses of the six dead people, and at once, it hit Inigo - this was a family portrait, and the slasher killed everyone in said family. He took in a deep breath and put his hands together, taking a few seconds to pay his respects before stepping past the circle, seeing some more blood-writing on the floorboards along with an arrow pointing forward:

"DONE GAWKING? I'M UPSTAIRS!"

Inigo narrowed his eyes and sighed. What comedic value this joke had was officially gone. He shook his head, striding past the doors on either side of the corridor as he found the staircase on the other end. It was time to find this punchline once and for all.