The Magician of Miracles

In the cemetery of the Fifth District, the remains of the short man were buried in one of the graves, and beside him the tall man's corpse was laid to rest next to the graves of other Claw men who had died over the past years. The place was crowded with attendees, most of them men who had witnessed the fight between the masked man and Corvin.

But all eyes were fixed on one person on Morc. He stood alone while everyone else kept their distance from him. His small smile did not leave his face even at this funeral, and whispers quickly spread around him:

"He's the reason he died, and here he is smiling at his funeral."

"What a heartless monster."

"How does he dare to show up after what he did?"

Morc heard everything they said, but he showed no reaction. He remained standing with his hands behind his back, staring at the two headstones.

Time passed and everyone gradually left until only Morc and Nila remained. Morc stood before the two graves for hours, while the sky began to rain over him. Nila approached him she wasn't carrying an umbrella either, her hair plastered to her face from the rainl and said, trying to lighten the mood with a playful tone, but her voice came out extremely bleak:

"We should go… if you stay here longer you'll catch a cold. I remember I caught one once and almost died. The doctor refused to treat me except for a silver piece, and said that if I didn't get treatment immediately I would die. But I didn't listen to him; I settled for rest and soup, and here I am now in perfect health."

Morc slowly lifted his head toward her, his hair completely soaked and his eyes as well but not because of the rain:

"If there were someone controlling you and all your decisions and movements, to the point of making you do what you don't want to do, what would you do?"

She rubbed her chin with her hand before answering:

"I'd try to escape."

He drew closer to her, his eyes half closed beneath the black hat:

"And what if that person were so strong you couldn't escape even if you wanted to?"

She looked at the ground for a moment before saying:

"I'd look for someone capable of helping me escape."

Morc turned his body and put his back to her, then pulled his black hat down over his eyes as he muttered:

"Perhaps you're right."

Then he moved toward the cemetery gate, the rain falling on the muddy ground beneath his feet, while his eyes watched faint golden lines rising from him, from Nila, from the graves, and from many people in the distance.

***

At the Public Investigations Bureau

In the basement, Inspector Cornelius Wright stood before a wide wooden desk. Behind the desk sat an old lady, the Information Archive Keeper, wearing simple clothes like those of librarians; her hair was pinned up with a silver pin and her glasses trembled on the bridge of her nose as she flipped through the pages of a thick book in boredom.

She lifted her eyes from the book, stared at Cornelius, and said in a weary voice:

"What brings you here?"

He answered curtly:

"I came to check the case records."

She went back to reading the book before saying in a dry tone:

"I'm sorry, but the archive is under maintenance."

A contrived side smile formed on Cornelius's lips:

"The Information Archive was serviced yesterday. Confirm it."

She put the book down on the table, slid her glasses down a little and looked at him, saying:

"And why do you want access to the case archive?"

Cornelius tried to maintain his smile:

"Is the Archive Keeper entitled to ask inspectors that?"

She raised her hand, and the book flew off the table to a high shelf and another book took its place, then she said:

"Yes."

His friendly smile vanished, and his voice grew more brittle:

"I want to use my lawful right as a Second Inspector to access the Information Archive."

An entirely white key with small engravings flew from the table into Cornelius's hand. He took it, then went to the opposite wall, where he inserted the key into a small recess in the wall, and a gate opened before him.

He passed through it to find himself in a vast library like a maze rows of tall shelves packed with books and records stretching endlessly. There were inspectors and trainees from different regions gathered here, searching through the records under the glow of oil lamps.

Cornelius began to wander through the enormous library, moving among the rows of high shelves stacked with case records. The place smelled of old paper and ink. He kept walking until he reached the section for the Empire of Madgar.

He moved from shelf to shelf and passed by the names of cities and provinces until he reached the section for the capital's branch of the Bureau in the Imperial Capital, Medelia. He took a deep breath and pulled out the records one after another, but even after searching for hours he still hadn't found the record he had come for.

Meanwhile, at the Bureau branch in the capital Medelia, Lionel Gray stood before the old Information Archive Keeper. As soon as she lifted her head and saw the young man, the book flew from her hand to the long shelf behind her and returned to its place. She straightened up in her seat and a wide smile appeared on her face before she said:

"Are you the trainee working under Edward?"

Lionel replied with a smile:

"Yes."

"How can I help you, young man?"

"If you'd allow me, may I access the Information Archive?"

"Yes, of course. Which branch do you want to access?"

"Branch?"

"The Information Archive is like a vast library that collects the Bureau's case records across the three continents. A branch is the place where the Bureau's cases for a specific region are gathered."

"I want to access the case records for this branch."

She raised her hand, and then a drawer of her desk opened and a black key came out, flying through the air before landing in Lionel's hand. It had a set of small numbers on it in addition to tiny engravings.

He turned it between his fingers and said:

"Thank you."

She smiled and said:

"No need to thank me. Edward asked me to help you if you needed anything."

Upon hearing what she said, Lionel couldn't maintain his smile; he drifted for a moment before heading straight to the wall in front of him. When he stood before it, he inserted the key into a small recess in it, and a white gate opened before him. He passed through it to find himself directly in the records section of the Bureau's branch in the Imperial Capital, Medelia.

In the middle of the corridor stood Cornelius Wright, holding a stack of records in his hands. His eyes were tired from so much searching. He lifted his head to find Lionel before him, and they exchanged brief looks filled with surprise.