Detective Zadi! Episode 3 [Job/Solo]

After the little tussle with the stranger who was also investigating the events surrounding the Demon-Man, Zadi headed off towards the supposed former place of residence of the man that turned into a demon in hopes of finding some clues as to who or what caused the man to transform in the first place. It could also have been a certain lifestyle that caused the man to transform. However, Zadi could only figure such information out through detailed investigation and puzzle solving. Clues needed to be put together, riddles needed to be answered, and on top of everything else, Zadi needed to stay as discrete as possible so as to not draw any unwanted attention towards his person. A man turning into a demon in the middle of a fighting tournament screamed suspicion to Zadi, not to mention that a man transforming out of the blue was suspicious enough. Those mysterious people that Yakuroro was talking about that sucked up all the black rukh after the event puzzled Zadi, to say the least.

After reaching the location that the stranger described, Zadi entered and asked if he could book a room for the night. There wasn't much to be paid, thankfully, and Zadi was escorted to his room without being asked any questions. The only full statement made by the caretaker was "have a night day". Zadi smiled and entered his room, now just waiting for the caretaker to make an exit. After a minute or so, Zadi could no longer hear the caretaker's faded footsteps and assumed that he was clear to make his way towards the specific room described by the stranger.

"Alright, I'm in the clear. Time to go look for that room."

Zadi exited his own room, quietly closing the door behind him to ensure his sneakiness. Zadi made sure to stay close to the walls when walked towards his target room in order to keep the board squeaking to a minimum. He kept light on his feet and even in his breathing.

"Finally reached the room that the guy talked about."

Zadi reached the room and looked around and listened to make sure that he was neither heard nor seen. Breaking and entering is a felony after all. After everything cleared, Zadi gently touched the door handle and turned it ever so slowly. His right hand turned the handle while the left held the door in place. If Zadi didn't hold the door in place while turning the door handle, he would risk bumping the door against the frame.

"Huh? The door's unlocked? Strange. Well, that makes things easier all the same. Just get in, look around, and get out. Simple enough."

It was rather strange that the door was already unlocked, but such a thing made entering the room all the easier for Zadi. He wouldn't even have to worry about re-locking the door later since it wasn't locked to begin with. Zadi entered the room and gently closed the door, again keeping some resistance using his left hand against the door. Not a sound was made, but now that Zadi was in the room, he didn't have to be ask quiet anymore.

"Hmmm. Looks like someone is still living here."

Upon initial inspection of the room, it looked to be a little messy. The specific kind of messiness that one would expect of a room that was being lived within. In this case, there were some robes on the bed, the sheets of that bed were wrinkled, the pillows on that bed looked imprinted with a head shape, and the curtains were drawn only slightly shut. If everything that Zadi knew about the time of the events of the Demon-Man were true, then this room should have been at least made to look orderly. Unlike with the door being unlocked, Zadi would have an a tougher time deciphering things about the Demon-Man as this room was now occupied by someone else. That is the only logical explanation that Zaid could come up with for as to why the room looked disorderly.

After only a few minutes of investigation, Zadi could hear rather rushed footsteps in the hallway. The footsteps weren't all that loud, but due to Zadi's special eavesdropping skills, he could hear them ever so clearly. The footsteps didn't sound like those of the caretaker, so it must be the person that lives in the room that Zadi is currently trying to investigate. Thankfully, the room was messy enough that Zadi could hide. Specifically hide within the closet that looked to be both slightly used and slightly open. Zadi wouldn't need to worry about being quiet when closing the closet door as nothing would need to be closed in order to keep his presence unknown and rather nonexistent.

Zadi made it inside the closet just in time! The person who's footsteps Zadi heard opened the door violently, flinging it open with a slam against the wall. It was probably an attempt to scare an intruders which was strange because Zadi made sure that nobody knew he was here.

"Wait a minute! It's him! He followed me here!"

As it turned out, the stranger that Zadi got the room information from was the person that lived within this very room! It was all a lie in order to corner Zadi within this room. Rather clever, but Zadi was lucky enough that his quick wit hide him in the closet. Zadi didn't have much room in the closet to unsheathe his sword from his side, so he would have to make quick movements right after jumping out at the stranger. Zadi just needed to wait for the perfect moment when the stranger turned his back to the closet.

"Come on...just a few more degrees..."

Using his Flash Steps technique, Zadi burst out from within the closet at 20 m/s, taking 2 steps to do so. From what Zadi had guessed, the stranger started to turn around. Now here is where it got tricky. Zadi needed to make a quick decision on whether the stranger was turning left or right. The only thing that Zadi could do at this point was guess using some sort of logic. In this case, Zadi guessed that the stranger would turn towards the bed rather than the door because, well, that's what Zadi would do. No more logic than guessing what clothes to wear for the day. At this point, Zadi would just have to get lucky or use this skill to out maneuver the stranger.

Unfortunately, Zadi was wrong about the direction the stranger would turn towards. He turned towards his right which was the direction that the room's door was located; the opposite of the bed's direction. Using last minute thinking in order to correct his single step towards the right, Zadi made 4 small and quick 20 m/s steps towards the left around the stranger. However, the stranger continued to turn around, so Zadi made 3 more 20 m/s steps, and then 1 final step towards the back of the stranger at 20 m/s. This allowed Zadi to get a hold of the stranger's back neck and pin him against the wall face first. However, Zadi made sure that the stranger wouldn't be injured.

After pinning the stranger, Zadi unsheathed his sword, put the tip of the sword against the back of the stranger's head, and started to ask a volley of questions with a calm and soft voice;

"What are you doing here? Did you give me false information? Why shouldn't I kill you for lying to me?"

"Screw you! I lost my friend that day! I don't have to answer any of your questions! Kill me now and end my misery!"

Zadi felt bad for being so rude to the stranger and not knowing that he lost a friend on the day of the events of the Demon-Man. Zadi tugged the back of the stranger's neck while moving out of the way. After pulling away from the wall, Zadi stuck a foot out in order to trip the stranger. The stranger stumbled backwards and fall butt first onto the ground. Upon falling butt first, Zadi pointed his sword at the man's chest in order to keep the intimidation high.

"The reason for my investigation is in order to find the source of the black rukh and obliterate it. After all, the black rukh are what turned that man into a demon in the first place and I want to make sure that doesn't happen again." Zadi then sheathed his sword and crossed his arms, significantly lowering the intimidation that he had worked hard to create. "So, please tell me what you actually know about the events of the Demon-Man."

The stranger could feel the sincerity in Zadi's words and could tell that he, much like Zadi, was rather rude, "My friend was the one that turned into a demon, but it looked like his magic tool caused him to turn."

Zadi was surprised to hear about a magic tool being involved, "Magic tool? Was there another purpose to it other than turning your friend into a demon?"

"Why yes! It was to be used to help him take out his half of the bracket in the fighting tournament. I was also a participant and it was my duty to take care of the other half of the bracket. His magic tool turn one of his arms lifeless while granting it a mind of its own in exchange for strength and speed. I also had a magic tool that allowed me to manipulate an opponent's sight to some degree, but I threw it away after seeing Shinri, my friend, turn into a demon."

Hearing all this gave Zadi quite a bit of information, but it still wasn't quite enough to determine whether or not it was the magic tool that turned the man into a demon or if it was something else while the magic tool was just a catalyst, "My name is Zadi Medmar. Tell me a little about yourself and Shinri. It usually helps to talk about the deceased in order to truly honor and remember their legacy." Zadi stuck out his hand in order for the stranger to reach for it and pull himself up from the floor.

The stranger looked up at the stretched out hand and felt a warm sensation coming from Zadi. He felt obligated to take Zadi's hand and get help up from the floor while giving his name, "My name is Roa. Shinri and I were monks from an order in Heliohapt the believes that all sentient beings that aren't human are abominations that are to be wiped from this world. However, I had a change in heart after fighting this one Imuchakk that sparred my life. His name was Iliran. After failing to win my half of the bracket, I was kicked out of the order and now I wish to get revenge on those that turned Shinri into a demon."

Zadi was surprised by how much of an open book Roa ended up being, "Why are you telling me so much?"

Roa smiled and said, "Because I trust you. I can't very well get revenge on my own as you can tell, so I have decided to put my trust into you. If you will allow me the privilege; could I join you on your quest?"

Zadi was happy that he was able to acquire another person's trust. He felt so happy that he stuck out his hand again in hopes that Roa would get the message of acceptance and join Zadi on his quest to find and destroy the source of the black rukh.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much it means to me that someone like you is helping me. I'll make sure that our partnership is worthwhile."

Zadi was given a few Huang as a gesture of good faith. Zadi didn't like the idea that money was involved, but Roa might end up brokenhearted if Zadi didn't accept the gift, so Zadi smiled and received the Huang. Now the next chapter in Zadi's quest would involve the the Order of Monks in Heliohapt that Roa and Shinri were once a part of~

1,500+/1,500 words