So the kid wanted them to play detective for her? Not surprising really, it did explain why she bothered to have an almost irrelevant family pay back their favor, he was suited for things like this. If the killer was clumsy enough he could get some clue on his identity with his magic trait, well that or getting to experience the feeling of having all your internal organs removed, though even that may be considered a plus on Arianne’s eyes.

Still, the good thing about being divided into three groups was that he could put minimal effort into it, given that one of the teams is bound to find less stuff than the others. And being completely honest Jun's wasn't looking like the most competent out of the three, having someone that didn't know who the subject of the meeting was until five minutes ago and the other one most likely having "fishing" as his affinity. So there was a possibility he could take it easy without any of the two bossing him around.

Deciding to ignore Mr. Kissinger's ominous-sounding advice to avoid jinxing himself Jun stood up and joined Leonardo, who still was thinking about fishing at this point. "Dunno never had much interest in fishing" he shrugged his shoulders "But if we finish quickly and you're still in the mood for fishing after looking at a crime scene I'll help you out" Jun figured that giving Leonardo a reason to work hard won't hurt him.

@Rabidporcupine

Paul straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall. He ignored his masters good natured teasing of Saturday and looked around the room, picking out the Avemaria girl and her maid who were among the last to arrive. He nodded to Arinne and Lillia in turn,.

“My lady, we can be going now. I will assume that we shall take the same vehicle?”

He juggled the seating in his head. He was uneasy with the armed maid sitting near to Arinne but the girl was too small yet to sit in the front. Maria would have to be seated in the front with the two girls in the back. Saturday would be seated in the middle to act as a buffer between the two.

@Rin@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

He... how dare that man call Arinne a child! She was small, yes, but it was an adorable trait and not like she was all that young... and it was so rude to jump ton conclusions based on someone's height like that! The surprising biscuit did take the edge off her pouting, and the group delegation pleased her. Spending the day with Arinne and Saturday was much better than an afternoon of how-do-you-do's trying to get to know people in the middle of a crime scene. The only new person was the body.

The seeting arrangements were... acceptable. Maria seemed quite annoyed about how they were arranged in the car--most likely she wanted to be with Lillia--but the girl herself was mostly pleased with them. She would have liked to swap Saturday with herself, but then that would have made for an unhappy Saturday, so maybe a tiny ring-shaped bench seat would have been best...

Effie rose at once, the cloak wrapped around her shoulders swaying as she did so. She made her way over to the other two that she was to be with, the eccentric one who liked fishing and the one with the long black hair. It seemed like the latter was the only one who had any sort of idea what was going on, but she was sure they would manage. The most important parts were that there was a murderer and he was probably magical, and now they were investigating.

She didn't have much of a problem with those she was put with, but then again, she didn't know any of them well enough to have one to begin with. Effie made her way over to the rest of her group, keeping her head high.

"Oh, that's lovely of you," she said to Jun, and then addressed them both. "Fishing sounds like an awful lot of fun, though I've never gotten to try it. Ah, but where are my manners? Euphemia Dalraan, at your service."

She bobbed her head in some sort of bow, before looking back at her companions, bright smile that she'd had all day never faltering. She didn't really know what to expect from the crime scene, but it wouldn't be anything that she couldn't handle.

@Chi@Rabidporcupine

"Mm."

Selas wasted no time in getting to business. With a short nod, she acknowledged her assignment, before rising to her feet and striding straight across the room towards the door.

"No need for that." She swept between Grain and Arinne just as the former addressed the latter. "I'll meet you there, Dame Blackmore. See to it that Mr. Kissinger has a safe trip." And then, without even waiting for a reply, she left.

Were anyone to glance through the doorway immediately afterwards, they might see her slim figure receding into the distance down the hall. It could be assumed, seeing as she was bound by contract, that Selas would indeed be visiting the second crime scene with Grain and Samuel; she just had no intentions of traveling alongside them. Nor, apparently, any need for further specifics on location or timing.

@KoL@Bartimaeus

The moment Leonardo spoke to her, calling her 'kiddo' and drawing attention to her stature, Arinne narrowed her eyes. She didn't respond to him, however. No, her mind was deep in thought over the best way to pay him back for that little remark. There were a number of ways she could do it, but each one of them was something that would delay the trip to the crime scenes too much for her liking. Besides, the more time she planned, the more time Arinne could ensure her vengeance was appropriate. As long as it didn't cause permanent injury, virtually any possibility was open to her mind.

"... If a certain someone is done being rude, we may depart," she said, rising from her seat with a nod towards Paul. Those seating arrangements did not dismay her in the slightest.

With that, she lead the way out of the room. Transport had already been prepared, the Ar-Rynesarte influence was still enough to swiftly garner such service, after all.

But there was another delay.

It was an older man, one whose hair had begun to grey, but still held some signs of youth, clad in dark clothing.

"Ah, Lady Ar-Rynesarte. What are you doing this fine day?" he asked, with a smile.

"I'm not interested in becoming wrapped in conversation with you, Lord Vallius," Arinne responded, shortly, narrowing her eyes. The long-winded lecturer had seemed to take an interest in attempting to hold conversations with her as of late. She supposed there was nothing wrong with that, especially given the man had not-so-long ago lost his daughter, but she had no interest in serving as a surrogate, especially when she had business to attend to. "I have important business I must attend to, as you may be able to discern."

"... Is it about that murderer?" he asked, with a frown, "You really shouldn't worry yourself over such things. The Citadel Six will certainly handle it."

"If I had the faith in the Unlucky Six to do their job flawlessly, I would not have activated my remaining contracts. Good day, Lord Vallius," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she did. The man let out a sigh as she departed, leading her servants to the vehicles they would be taking.

Once everyone had been sorted into the appropriate cars, they were off.

---

The moment Arinne's group, and by extension the others, arrived at their respective crime scenes, the first obstacle was immediately apparent.

They weren't abandoned.

"Hey, hey, you can't come in here!" warned a police officer, a young woman, accompanied by a man. Arinne sighed. She had expected this, but it didn't make the process any less annoying. She could just barely see into the alleyway beyond. There was no way they could conduct an investigation like this.

And so...

Mana flowed through Arinne's limbs. She was, perhaps, well-equipped to deal with such a scenario.

"Don't worry, officers, we won't be taking any of your time," she stated, smirking as she glanced up at the both of them.

"O waters, still and freeze, flow no more."

The magical energy in her body flowed down to her fingertips, as she calmly raised her right hand and waved it.

"Let stillness take you."

Suddenly, the officers were... not frozen, no. But they may as well have been. Their movements(and even their perception of reality) had suddenly slowed to a crawl, to the point where it almost seemed as if they were frozen solid. It was a simple spell, a sort of stasis. Completely useless against anyone with any magical capabilities, but against people like these police officers...

They would have all the time in the world to perform their investigation.

"Come along, then," Arinne said, simply, glancing back towards the others, "Let's see what this blood-soaked killer left behind!"

There was perhaps a hint of too much excitement in her voice.

The crime scene was of course no longer home to the body, but the chalk outline remained. Not only that, but the rather expansive spray of dried blood lingered, as well. Notably, the largest marks were near the victim's head and roughly a meter in front of them.

At this moment, the other groups were being encountered with similar roadblocks, police officers blocking their way. Each crime scene was in a back-alley, just outside of the normal routes most people took, and would hold a similar sight... at least at first glance. But nothing could be done without circumventing local law enforcement, now, could it?

But if they couldn't deal with that, they were hardly worthy Servants, now, were they?

@KoL@Rabidporcupine@Rin@Chi@TheFake@Aviaire@Anza@Raineh Daze@Bartimaeus

Grain stared at the scene that unrolled in front of her. Despite no appreciable change in her expression, she was astonished at how someone could be so rude. It wasn't even a matter of his birth either, that blue-haired man was boorish by any standards imaginable.

Nevertheless, she picked the biscuit he threw towards her instead of letting it crash against the wall.

"Thanks for your words, but I do not deserve to be compared with a hero such as Sir Gawain. However, I'll consider your advice if Lady Ar-Rynesarte wills so," she said looking at Arinne, then at the biscuit in her hand, and back again unsure about what to do with the pastry.

In the end, Grain decided to return it—unless told the contrary—as soon as they got they began to move out.

Grain nodded to Miss Selas. Nevertheless, she wondered why the other woman could be taking action on her own in a time like this, before moving forward with Samuel.

Somewhere along the way, she took a moment to change into an outfit more appropriated to walking the city streets.


They found their first obstacle as soon as they arrived at the crime scene. A pair of policemen guarding the location to prevent access from unrelated parties.

Grain had no doubt that one of her mage companions could deal with this on their own terms. That said, the idea of allowing common people to be afflicted by magic didn't sit well with her.

She approached them until she was told to stop.

"We apologize for coming in unannounced, officers. However, we are on official service on behalf of an ally of Her Majesty. We would appreciate if you allowed us to investigate the crime scene you are guarding," Grain said as she pulled a badge from her pocket and presented it to the guards.

After the two policemen verified that Grain's ID was valid—which it indeed was—they quickly stepped away giving passage to the group.

Somewhere along the way, Effie had unwrapped her cloak from her shoulders, revealing an expensive dress so white in colour that any stain in it would show clear as day. She left the cloak carefully folded in her handbag, which she had, for some reason, brought to a murder scene. Well, there wasn't much of a murder scene for it to be brought to, as they weren't even allowed to go in.

"Hmm... well, that is a shame, isn't it?" Effie said as the policemen asked them to leave. She couldn't help be disappointed that they would be met with an obstacle so soon into their investigation. But there were ways to get around it, weren't there?

She turned and leaned a little closer to her companions, grinning widely. Perhaps her methods would not be conventional, but they would certainly work. To begin, she moved her left hand in front of herself, where the policemen could not see them. Then, after a second, it disappeared completely, even as she twisted her wrist. Only the paved ground below where it was supposed to be showed.

"I can get us through like this," Effie said. "But you'll have to be quiet, ok? Don't talk until you get through. Also, we should... probably move away from the police before we vanish. And another thing! Don't go too far away from me. But that shouldn't be a problem for now." With that, her hand appeared once more, exactly as it had been before.

If either of them were to comply, and move somewhere more out of sight, Effie would use her magic to do exactly as she said: make them vanish to all others. Whether they would actually be able to stay silent or in line with her other rules was an entirely different matter, but at least she could help with this.

@Rabidporcupine@Chi

[S]: Hey
[S]: You were right
[S]: It /was/ about the Ripper

[N]: When am I ever wrong?

[S]: Rarely, I'll grant
[S]: So. Our boys in blue find anything?

[N]: There's coroner's reports, photos, some trace evidence
[N]: It's unsolved, obviously, but they've been able to identify the bodies

[S]: Good
[S]: Send me the files


Selas rejoined Grain and Samuel at the scene, arriving just in time to slip through the police cordon with Dame Blackmore. Once they were past, she strode ahead of the other two, stepping carefully around the chalk outline and frowning down at the bloodstains.

"Sloppy." Her nose wrinkled; there was still a lingering smell in the air. "Medical knowledge or no, this looks more like a butcher's work than a surgeon's."

@KoL@Bartimaeus

The other heiress walked forwards after the obstacle was removed, crouching to look at the chalk outline. That was... oh, interesting. It wasn't a perfect removal from this little bloodstain, they were probably coughing up blood before they died... which would mean that the large stain was where the organs had wound up, if anything. But that was a simple trick, if Arinne wanted to know that then she could just ask Saturday, not gather a bunch of investigators...

Time to show what she could do: Lillia produced a small ceramic box from one pocket... full of dirt. Another pocket evidenced a knife, which carefully scraped off some of the larger bloodstain to be sprinkled over the dirt. And finally--a third pocket evidenced nothing other than a handful of cut daisies, whose stems were pushed gently into the dirt.

"Like to Like... even in death, a body is one," she mutters, the magical energy pushing down and into the strange arrangement, "Find yourself."

On cue, the daisies revolved, turning to point in different directions--with one bending almost in half to point. That one lead to the body, then. "If the organs are not protected, we can find them."

---

It seemed to Samuel that one of his intended companions was more of the loner type. Which, normally he wouldn't mind - he enjoys his alone time himself - but who knows if helpless civilians are the only people their unnamed culprit is capable of taking out of the picture. And he was still not entirely sure of Ms. Selas' ability to defend herself. She couldn't be completely hopeless if she was sent here, though...right?

But in any case, she had made it to their rendezvous in one piece.

Samuel tried to look his most professional as he and his companions waltzed past the officers like some kind of special investigations squad - which they really were. He made a slight bow to them as they passed. "Thank you for your cooperation, officers."

Once they were closer to the innards of the scene he began to look at the alley more closely. "I doubt they were worrying much about the mess...their victim would be coughing up blood regardless - for a few moments, anyway."

He knelt down, examining the ground more closely. "I also doubt we will find much that the previous investigators did not - unless we use more imaginative means." he continued, standing up after some time of combing the area with his eyes, as he brushed the dirt off his white canvas gloves.

"Would either of you ladies like to...work some of your magic?" he inquiried. He would do it himself just out of courtesy, but complicated manners like an investigations scene were potentially too delicate for him to release so much mana. He fretted he might disturb something that was left behind by their perpetrator. He was sure at least one of the two he was with would be able to do it themselves.

Given the nature of the killings, and the fact that there were no external injuries at all, the source of the bloodstains seemed obvious. The smaller one was likely bleeding from the victim's mouth, and the large one was likely where the extracted organs had landed in a gruesome pile. Beyond that, there was little that could be identified. The crime itself was butchery, but the murderer seemed as if they were aware enough not to leave any conventional evidence behind. There were reasons beyond the nature of the murders that the crime was baffling to the local law enforcement, after all.

But that didn't mean no supernatural evidence was left behind.

Examination of the walls would indicate something somewhat unusual. There were faint black streaks, something that perhaps would go unnoticed by law enforcement as it wasn't any clear indication of any sort of evidence. However...

Any examination would indicate that it was actually quite pertinent to the investigation itself.

@KoL@Anza@Bartimaeus

"What's that, Saturday? You think it's a bit cramped back here? Maybe... Maybe I should just sit on your lap then, hmmm~? Then there'd be more room for everyone else~"

Ah... Why had Mistress Arinne had to say something like that? Saturday's had to hold her head down for the entire car ride, since... She wasn't sure why, but what Arinne had said made her feel strange and... Not exactly uncomfortable but...

Her cheeks felt rather warm as she stepped out of the car, sticking close to Arinne as her mistress obfuscated the minds of the police. She wasn't especially skilled at forensics (really, she was more skilled at what came before such investigations) so she really couldn't offer much help aside from her usual duties... Although thankfully others wer already taking care of the work for her. Saturday's head tilted as she watched Lillia work with her flowers, watching them as the stems twirled to point in different directions. Hmmm, why would they be pointing so close though? Was the killer really that sloppy?

@VitaVitaAR
@Raineh Daze
@TheFake

Arinne didn't need to be a medical expert to figure out the nature of the bloodstains. Some where from the victim's mouth, the rest were from the extracted organs. Even if the killer took plenty of precautions, it was difficult to avoid leaving behind that much. But without supernatural abilities, well, it was hard to say that it would actually be of any use. Thankfully...

Lillia's specializations made this a great deal simpler. Indeed, the flowers were adeptly tracing the location of the pilfered organs. But it was strange. Rather then most of them pointing in the same direction... they had clustered in sets. Three sets were pointing to the same places, and one set was pointing slightly upwards, all around them. As if the organs were far closer by then anyone had expected.

"... What's this?" Arinne frowned, "I understand one of the flowers is indicating towards the corpse itself, but the others..."

She paused for a moment. Perhaps the three clusters were indicating where large amounts of organs had been dumped? But no, what sense did that make? What was the purpose of taking the organs if...

Arinne's eyes widened.

There was a sudden surge of magical energy. With it, the alleyway suddenly lengthened, stretching both ways, darkness flooding to fill the new space around them.

This was some sort of closed space! A sort of domain created by a mage, within which they can set certain rules or parameters! But how!? There couldn't have been another mage nearby... unless it had already been in place. Was this how the victims were isolated?

But what was the point of activating it now?!

"Tch. Whatever their aim is, they have no idea who they're dealing with," Arinne commented, the initial surprise wearing off as she folded her arms, "I'll simply dispel it. If they're not actively maintaining this field, then there's no way it'll withstand a direct assault."

But that wasn't it.

From the darkness, a figure almost immediately emerged. Arinne caught sight of a metallic flash to her left. Magical energy flared through her very being, flowing down through her arms to her fingertips as she spun in response.

"Winter comes for you!"

It was another simple single action-spell. But that was all she had time for. She had to delay. Immediately her attacker was slowed, and she had a chance to perceive what it was in full.

A doll.

Of a sort, at least. It was a simple shape, vaguely feminine, the face sculpted to match its figure. White and gold, it was clearly some sort of machine, an automaton, its oddly curved arms lined with razor-sharp blades...

"Saturday!"

No other words needed to be said to indicate what Arinne wanted the other girl to do.

But this wasn't the only one. Further attackers, identical to the first, emerged from the darkness. There were five of them in total, raising their curved, bladed limbs.

(Battle Theme time)

@Rin@Raineh Daze@TheFake

A moment after they'd arrived on the scene, Mr. Kissinger piped up with a suggestion. And in turn, Selas nodded. "It's not my specialty, but..."

She help up one hand, closing her eyes.

"If these walls be my Lady's demesne
And I her chambermaid,
Then no blemish,
blot,
nor faded tint
Is permitted to slip my gaze."

Something rippled through the air, a gentle wave of power echoing in the wake of her voice. It washed over her coat, and suddenly tiny pinpricks lit up with a faint glow across its fabric, specks of dust and dirt lit up by the spell's effect. As it reached the ground, it highlighted a mosaic of grime, revealing faint smudges where police officers' shoes had left their traces, and outlined the bloodstains in bright orange, down to the tiniest scattered fleck.

That had been Selas' primary goal: if the killer had collected the organs after the murder then they might have left some tiny drop or streak behind, indicating the direction in which they fled. Which could lead to further clues. However, the mage's attention was quickly caught by something else entirely.

There were marks on the walls. Faint enough to be nearly invisible at a glance, but her spell caught them nevertheless, lighting up their edges and clearly revealing their individual shapes.

@KoL@Bartimaeus@VitaVitaAR

Indeed, there were shapes on the walls. After a few moments, it was obvious what they were, as well. Marked in a faded black material that could have been ink or something else entirely was multiple sets of intricate sigils. They covered the walls, lining every surface. But without any magical interference, it would have been incredibly difficult to see them at all. What was immediately notable was the simple fact that manually drawing these sigils onto the walls of the alley would have been impossible. Not simply due to the fact that anyone doing such a thing would have to have been spotted at some point, but also because of the height of the walls and how far up they were. There was no way anyone could have painted them that high without equipment.

But, if the killer was skilled with displacement sorcery...

Suddenly, a faint glow travelled across the symbols. Immediately the alleyway seemed to stretch rapidly in both directions, flooding with darkness. Of course, any proper mage could discern just what had occurred. This was unquestionably a closed space, and the sigils were powering it.

How it had been activated and why would have to wait, for out of the shadows their leaped a set of five attackers. They were strange automatons, white and gold with a vaguely female shape. They attempted to encircle the group, spinning their razor-coated arms, their blank, feminine faces showing not the slightest hint of life.

@Anza@Bartimaeus@KoL

@Chi@Aviaire

Leo chuckled to himself as he saw the varied reactions of irritation from his 'Kiddo comment'. This kind of teasing was always fun. However, the glare from the homunculus did have a certain chilling feeling to it, one which seemed to spark some kind of primal nervousness deep within him. He was able to hide it, of course, but he couldn't quite help the feeling that it felt somewhat familiar...

However, he was knocked back out of his thoughts when the other guy on his team responded to his question, and he shot him a lazy looking smirk.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can finish this in about ten minutes if you want! Just depends on if you want it done well or not. That'll be a little longer..."

He laughed a little louder than he had with any of the others when the friendly girl introduced herself, mentioning how fun fishing sounded.

"Haha, nah... Not really... It gets pretty damn exciting right around the very end, but it's one of the most boring pastimes in the goddamn world all the way up until then. But, fish is delicious, and it lets me sleep three hours while I do it, which means its actually the best way to spend my time."

Now, he was a little taken back by the bow, because god, how long had it been since someone had bowed to him? But, it wouldn't do to leave her hanging. He might not have been the most polite person, but he was at least willing to answer someone who greeted him.

So, he mustered a wave that looked only slightly less lazy than it felt.

"Hey, I'm Leonardo Vadris, but everyone just calls me Leo. Nice to meetcha." He said, before he let out a sigh. "And yes, I know they said we were all dead. Clearly that isn't true. No need to bring it up again."

And then he noticed that everyone was beginning to file out of the room.

"Anyway, I guess it's officially time for us to get moving, huh? I'll just follow you guys. I'll get lost otherwise."

---

Leo was almost beginning to rethink the hawaiian shirt he was wearing when they walked up to the police. Not that it wasn't the superior form of clothing no matter where you were in the world, because it clearly was, but it seemed a lot of people tended to disagree with that statement. He'd actually heard a few people saying something about how anyone who would wear a hawaiian shirt in the cold air of britain was clearly a madman. He hoped the police wouldn't think the same.

Thankfully, they didn't immediately try to take him in for questioning while Euphemia was talking to them, so he supposed that was an upside.

The downside, of course, being that they weren't allowed to check out the crime scene.

He had just been making a plan of action when she made her hand invisible, and informed them that she would be able to do that for all of them.

"Yeah, I guess that's probably a better idea..." He said, tucking a small piece of paper with runes that looked suspiciously similar to the norse word for 'Freeze' back into his bag. "Anyway, I have a few sticky notes in here. If you can get us past the police, I can write up some runes that should get them to just stop paying attention to anything in that area, at least while they're still active."

He was already pulling the pad of sticky notes out even as he finished, idly spinning a fineliner between the fingers of the other hand.

"And don't worry, I'm a little out of practice, but I'm like... oh, seventy-five per cent sure it'll work properly? Maybe seventy-four."

Before anyone could even react, there was a sudden flash, a rush of wind... And in the blink of an eye Saturday was on the other side of the now bisected doll, scythe in hand. With a heavy thunk, the two halves of the mannequin dropped lifelessly to the ground. Silently, she turned back to face her mistress with a blank expression as her weapon disappeared in another flash. Strangely, despite her target seeming to be made of metal, her clothes and face were dotted with splatters of its blood...

"Please be careful, Mistress."

Still... The strange metal doll had seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was her duty to protect Arinne, so if it happened again... Where had it even came from? Something like that was clearly not designed with stealth in mind, and yet...

@VitaVitaAR
@Raineh Daze
@TheFake

Saint had been leaning against the wall with his typical crossed arms posture. He was only a handful of paces from his master. He was in motion as soon as his senses picked up the movement of metal nearby that didn’t belong to any of the group. It only took a heartbeat to move the distance, placing himself between Arinne and the nearest assailant with his weapons drawn.

He almost laughed, but that would have been terribly unprofessional of him so he set his face in a calmly reserved expression instead. Metal weapons were once easily dealt with matter but these should pose little enough of a threat. Saint calmly slid his daggers back into their sheaths, rolled up his sleeves, and then went on the attack.

He took several strides forward and caught a blow with his bare hand. The blade struck sparks off of the suddenly metallic skin and grasped it, fingers sinking into the metal to hold it hirm. With his other hand he punched through torso of the doll, shattering the suddenly brittle material like glass. He struck something suddenly more yielding inside and his fist came out the other side covered in gore.

The rest of the automaton shattered as well into minuscule pieces.

@Rin@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

"I don't think it's so simple. It's impossible to inflict such extensive wounds without spilling any blood. If nothing else, the fact that there's so little of it indicates that this person—or being—is well-acquainted with their sinister craft," Grain said after listening to the comments of the mages. She may not be able to help too much with the magically related part of the investigation. Yet, such a level of physical evidence was well within her capacity of analysis, at least.

Even so, it wouldn't take long before things took a turn to an area that was more in tune with her field of expertise.

Grain's senses sparked as the clattering dolls came, clacking their clickety limbs in a calamitous cacophony.

"Don't do anything that'll place you into needless danger. If you need, stay behind me and I guarantee no harm shall befall you," Grain said to her partners as she summoned a spear to her hands. She immediately followed by taking a step forward and trusting the blade at one of the dolls' chests with enough strength that damage it caused would look more like it being shot with a rifle than pierced by a polearm.

"Wait, is this..." Grain commented in a confused voice as she drew her weapon back in a defensive stance, ready to fend off the next attacker.