The Magician of Miracles

Lionel continued his way between the archive shelves, while Cornelius tried to ignore him but couldn't. Cornelius sat at the wide wooden table in front of him, leaned back, then began reading the files in his hands. Lionel climbed the tall ladder, took a group of files, then came down quietly and sat directly opposite him, opened one of the records and began reading.

Silence filled the place; there was nothing but the sound of turning pages and the squeak of Lionel's chair. Cornelius would raise his head from time to time, looking at the young man in front of him sharply before returning to his papers, but the silence lasted longer than he could bear. He slammed one of the files onto the table and looked directly at Lionel, speaking in a low sharp voice:

"What are you doing here?"

Lionel didn't lower the file from his face; he turned a new page and said simply without lifting his eyes:

"I'm reading case records, Inspector Cornelius."

Cornelius pressed his lips together:

"I know you're reading case records, but what exactly are you doing here? And how did you suddenly appear here?"

"Through the archive keeper."

Cornelius shook his head, muttering:

"So she can send people directly here…"

Lionel didn't comment and just continued reading. Cornelius stood up and climbed to the upper shelves, searching through file after file for hours. But he couldn't find the file he was looking for.

Lionel got up from his seat, then gathered all the records he had and returned them to their places except for one file he deliberately left on the table. Then he went straight to the wall, took the black key from his pocket, inserted it into the wall and passed through it, a portal appeared, and he crossed it.

Cornelius stood up, then reached for the only file left on the table, titled The Mina Village Case. He opened it, and as soon as he read the first line a wide smile spread across his face.

At the same time Lionel came out of the portal and handed the key back to the archive keeper.

He said as he handed it to her with a tired smile:

"Thank you, madam."

The old woman gave a sideways smile and said:

"No need to thank me, young man, I was just doing my job."

He exchanged a few short words with her, then left the archive area and went up the stone stairs to the upper floor. His mind was full of many conflicting thoughts; he could barely focus on his path, and because of this he soon collided with one of the guards who was about to take his night shift.

Lionel stepped back and straightened up, then extended his hand to help the guard up. The guard took his hand and stood. Lionel brushed the dust off his jacket and tried to continue on his way, but the guard stopped him:

"You're the trainee working under Inspector Edward Graves?"

Lionel turned to him and replied:

"Yes."

The guard said with a small smile:

"Can you thank him on my behalf?"

"Yes, but why?"

The guard sighed:

"Last night I couldn't arrive on time; I would have been fired if Inspector Edward hadn't intervened."

Lionel answered briefly:

"I'll deliver your thanks."

The guard smiled gratefully:

"Thank you. If you ever need help, let me know."

Lionel nodded:

"I will."

Then he turned and continued on his way, the smile he had tried to maintain gradually disappearing, replaced by a deep frown. He soon left the almost empty Investigation Office building, hired a small carriage, and headed to a residential complex in one of the best neighborhoods in the central district. The street was empty of passersby, with tall steam lamps lined up on both sides, while the carriage moved smoothly throughout the journey. Vensen was looking out the window at the street, lost in thought. When Lionel reached his destination, he got out of the carriage, paid the fare to the driver, and entered the large residential building.

…

Lionel opened the door to his apartment and closed it behind him. The place was a bit dark, but he didn't bother lighting the lamps. He walked until he reached his room, then threw himself on the bed, his face sinking into the pillow without changing his clothes. He stayed like that for a moment, then sat up and looked at the golden threads rising from his body, threads that never appeared when he was inside the Investigation Office.

When he saw the golden threads shining before his eyes he felt intense anger; he grabbed an empty bottle lying next to the bed and hurled it with all his strength at the wall. The bottle hit and shattered into shards that slid onto the floor.

Lionel threw himself back on the bed, took a deep breath while staring at the ceiling. He tried to close his eyes but sleep refused to visit him.

…

Meanwhile, in the Investigation Office archive, Inspector Cornelius Wright sat at the massive wooden table reading the Mina Village Case file.

The file told of an incident that had occurred eleven years ago. The case had been assigned to Inspector Edward Graves alongside Inspector Griffin and Inspector Martha. The case revolved around the appearance of traces linked to the Madness Authority and some strange phenomena in the village. The mission ended with Inspector Griffin dying during the investigation, while Inspector Martha died several months later from her wounds. Only Inspector Edward Graves survived this mission.

The records revealed that the cause of those phenomena had been a former researcher in the Imperial Forces, Valentine Crow. At that point the Imperial Forces had intervened and taken over the investigation completely. The Office didn't like that and tried to intervene by force, but after a series of agreements between the Office and the Imperial Forces, the Office gave up the case in exchange for being allowed to establish a new branch in the city of Bleevia. The case file and most of its details were handed over to the Imperial Forces.

Cornelius didn't find much detail in the file, but he felt satisfied with what he'd obtained. This file gave him the motive he'd been looking for to understand why a senior inspector like Edward insisted on pursuing the researcher Valentine Crow. Now he had a clear motive; all that remained was to find material evidence or witnesses to prove Edward's cooperation with the Bloody Fang to reach Valentine.

However, as he read the case details, he felt a strange prick in his chest. He closed the file and covered his face with his hand, then muttered to himself:

"You must enforce the law no matter the motives… this is a clear violation of the Office's laws… you must enforce the law… you must enforce the law…"

He put his hand back on the table and continued reading. But there was no more important information, except for one thing that caught his attention: in one of the witness reports there was a mysterious mention of a masked man who had appeared during the incident.