Once the announcement was over, the humans began separating into their appointed groups and heading out towards their scheduled areas. Hakuren was quite pleased when he was informed about being given the position of group leader. His team consisted of Leon, Leila and Mado.
[i]'The newbie, the snail and the unstable murderer-wanna-be..Well, it's not necessarily a loss.'[/i] he thought. 

The areas Group Two was meant to investigate were the south side of the town of Yonder and the caves, located within a close distance of the village. As the appointed head of their merry band, the young man in the midnight green coat quickly measured and weighed the possibilities.
Albeit there was no additional information given to them, other than their location, the caves sounded promising at first thought. If any indecent procedure had to be carried out at some point of time, a secluded space would be splendid. A place where no one could hear, where no one could thoroughly search. Perhaps they were frightening enough to repulse previous investigators, if such had ever existed in the first place. Yet the black hare did mention a local detective, thus leading to the conclusion that there must have been some research done before their arrival. Once more, a fact had been hidden from the humans and not a single person had questioned if work had ever been done on the case in the past. It was no surprise to Hakuren that something had been left unsaid, after all, they were all still very young chess pieces in the game. Skipping pages would never provide you with the full flavor of the book, in fact, it only dulls out its taste and dims the sense of the story told. Thus allow yourself to be tricked and deceived by the play of words. The ending is all the same, what differs is the experience. 
In any case, the caves had to be put on hold. If they resembled the geographical structures on Earth with the same name, the ground that would have to be covered inside them was far greater than the one in town. Not to mention there was a great risk of traps and accidents involving sound. Considering the magical activity in the area, a simple echo could likely bring them to their demise. Additionally, there was always something peculiar in "the south side". Regardless of the cluster, be it a bustling city or a small village, there was always something fishy stirring in the pot in the south side and it wasn't the mayor's family. 

Allowing his gaze to flow freely from one face to another, the green-blue-eyed lad examined his group with a light smile on his face.
The new arrival, Leon, was still a simple sketch. Whether he had the potential to bloom in the full glory of colour was yet uncertain. However, he appeared relatively sane and held a placid disposition, which mean he would likely take the role of the right-hand man.
Leila, on the other hand, was still as silent as ever, carrying her shell without the slightest thought of bothering to speak up or display her viewpoint. However, it was notable that she had, for the first time since their meeting, cracked a smile. It had been when the lass replied to the youngster's question and, although it had been a simple one syllable, still held some worth, for she had shown emotion. A cultivated flower, no, a cultivated snail. What kind of creature that could be and why on earth would someone shelter it from the world were irrelevant questions. The title simply fitted her well.
And, of course, the last, but not the least, was Mado. A troublesome girl, who knew Japanese, she had caused plenty of mayhem for both guides and ordinary residents of Nowhere. With a murderous killing intent, she dreamt of wiping the kaonashi from the face of every world or at least that was what could be deducted from her usual murmuring. This dotting child would most likely bring about most of the misfortune in their search for clues or simply be the irritating torn in their side. Still, she had her uses and even a torn could become a vital weapon in the long run. 
You would have to be both blind and deaf to not realize how disastrous this lovely compilation of individuals could be. Having the "stabby girl", as Cello had put it, as a member was a clear indicator of unfortunate events. Yet, towards whom that misfortune would be directed was another matter and the leader intended to have it work in his favor. 

[b]"Alright, we'll be heading for the south part of Yonder. Best take care of the small fries first."[/b] Hakuren sighed, once both Serenade and Jasper's group had departed. [b]"The plan is simple. We'll go through the streets by trying to keep a low profile. Not that humans can really lay low in Nowhere, but we can still sneak around the back alleys. What we have to do is check the houses. The empty ones we'll raid if we find needed. If there's no hint of them offering a clue, we'll just leave them be. When it comes to the inhabited ones, we'll knock on their doors and ask for clues. However, there's no point in doing that if we just freak the residents out. Once we notice someone is living inside a house, two of us will go and knock on the front door, seeing as more numbers is usually depicted as frightening. Don't tell them what we're really after. Just say we've been sent by the Queen to do a survey on the living conditions. They'll unconsciously drop something at some point."[/b] he told his team-mates his plan. Leon probably handled conversations well, whilst Leila could come in as back-up if necessary. Mado was the big question mark in the equation. [b]"Leon"[/b] he addressed the greenest of them, smiling as always. [b]"We'll be the sweet-talkers. Don't slip up or we might lose a vital piece."[/b] He then turned to the pale girl [b]"Leila, you'll be expected to keep track of all the information while the conversation's flowing. Look of any signs, verbal and movement-wise."[/b] It was always handy to have another pair of eyes on the look-out and with the lass having an existence almost as thin as air, she would attract less attention.[b] "Mado-chan, kiite."[/b] it was time for the final role to be set [b]"You'll be our hawk. While a pair is talking, you'll be scanning the next house. Don't break in until we're certain it's worth the bother."[/b] There was no way for him to be certain that they would listen, at least not for the unstable girl. Yet they all had one thing in common. They all wanted this nonsense of a case to be over for their own reasons. Getting the job done was the easiest route to the exit. [b]"If all goes well, we'll be done before lunch. I wonder if they serve sushi here...or vocal cords."[/b] he was referencing Mado's earlier suggestion, which he had heard, but pretended not to. [b]"So, any objections?"[/b] was his last question before giving the microphone to the rest of his group.