This was my fault. What kind of idiot makes things worse when he's supposed to make them better? I was too arrogant to believe that provoking the creation of such a dangerous weapon didn't entail any danger.
"Damn, now I understand Oppenheimer."
Now, what the hell had happened? How did the revolver, which was just a promising project yesterday, kill Russell Fellow less than 24 hours later? Did Nadir manage to make a successful prototype in just a few hours?
Did that mean Nadir was the killer? Since I didn't know anything about him, I wasn't sure what to think. It would be too easy to assume it was him, but the naive obviousness of such a crime indicated otherwise. Still, I couldn't rule him out as a prime suspect.
Felix was very worried about my reaction when he showed me the evidence. My whole body had started to shake and break out in a cold sweat.
"Are you okay? If you're so sensitive, you should have said so..."
"It's not that."
I focused and steadied my breathing, relaxing my frayed nerves a bit. The shock this news had left me with had been overwhelming, but I wouldn't let it overwhelm me.
"I'm the one most responsible for this death. I'll have to do something about it."
I walked slowly over to Russell's body and pulled back the blanket covering him, drawing stern looks from all the gentlemen.
"Leandro!? You can't do that!" Felix became nervous.
"Come on, try thinking like a CSI character..."
Some of the wounds were small on the front of the body and had a larger counterpart on the other side, meaning the killer was facing Russell when he shot him.
There were five wounds in total, all of which matched the five bullets Félix recovered. Apparently, the killer used almost all of the cartridges. Why five and not six? What happened to the missing bullet? Did he pocket it, or had he already fired the revolver before?
"Felix, how old is this corpse?"
"If you're referring to how long he's been dead, I think a few hours. He was probably killed this morning."
"That makes sense." I placed the blanket back over the body and stood up. "What did the witnesses say?"
Felix stared at me in disbelief at my abrupt transformation into a police detective. His ears perked up as he let out an admiring "ohhh." He nodded enthusiastically, caught by my initiative.
"There were few people in the building at the time! Those who were present described a noise resembling very brief, consecutive explosions."
"Didn't they see anyone running away from the office?"
"Nope."
"And before that? Who was Russell last seen with?"
"That's a little hard to pinpoint right now."
"Did he say if he was meeting anyone?"
The cat boy frowned, trying to remember if he had gotten that information. But before he could answer, someone else intervened.
"With all due respect, and while I appreciate the good intentions, you're not the person to be asking those questions, butler. In fact, you'll have to step aside to let us do our work."
Marcus, captain of the royal guard knights, appeared and completely overruled me. His stern look made it clear I had no choice; arguing would only get me kicked out of this place.
"I understand. I wish you luck solving this case, assuming you can." I added the last part caustically.
I left the guild with a sour feeling. Emilia was outside, chatting with Kadomon and glancing back at the building every few seconds to see if I'd appeared.
She came to me as soon as she saw me.
"Is everything okay? I was worried when you barged in without explaining anything to me."
"Sorry about that. Something just came up, we'd better split up here."
"Eh?"
"I'll explain it to you later."
I ran off, leaving Emilia with an uneasy expression. Kadomon yelled something at me about staying out of trouble, which greatly increased my chances of getting into trouble. It was like being in a war and showing your squadmate a picture of a loved one while telling them everything you plan to do when you get back.
After a few minutes, I arrived at a familiar building with an emblem of two crossed weapons. The door was locked this time, but that didn't stop me.
BLAAM!
I burst through the door. There was no one in the shop, so I went to the next room: this one was set up for blacksmithing, as it had an anvil, some molds, a hammer and a forge oven, among other elements. There I found Nadir, sleeping on an old, rotten mattress.
The air reeked of alcohol and dampness. Nadir's clothes were stained with blood, and his face showed a few wounds. I searched everywhere for the revolver, but I couldn't find it, even when I checked on Nadir himself, who was fast asleep.
"No matter how suspicious this looks. He can't be the killer, right?"
There was no scent of gunpowder on his body, and I doubted he'd have been able to enter the merchant guild in that state, much less reach its leader, kill him, and escape unnoticed. But just in case, I had to make sure.
"Wake up, idiot!"
I grabbed his braid and tugged on it to wake him up, which worked really well because he started screaming and babbling incoherently as he tried to process the situation.
"What!? What's going on!?"
"It turns out Russell Fellow is dead! Do you have something to tell me?!"
Nadir's eyes were red-rimmed and his gaze was lost. His head hung from my hand, which was still holding his braided hair.
"Rousseau Fella? What's that?"
"Damn drunk shit!"
I slapped him a few times to force him to focus.
"The gun! What did you do with the damn gun!?"
"Ugh... I..."
The man tried to get his sleep- and alcohol-addled brain working. Miraculously, his neurons bridged the gap, and his mind began to function, albeit very slowly.
Nadir's hands searched for something on his waist, but there was nothing there. A few seconds passed, then he slowly raised his head and looked at me with the expression of a bewildered child.
"I don't have it..."
"... What do you mean you don't have it?"
"I think I lost it."
"..."
I punched his face repeatedly, until his nose bled. At this point, the physical torture was more about me letting off steam than getting information out of him.
"Shit, I can't believe you're so stupid!"
"Pfft, ha ha ha."
Despite everything, Nadir seemed cheerful for some reason. I restrained myself from attacking him again as he chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"This situation brings back some memories. How nostalgic..."
Decided: I'd had enough of his evasive play. I picked up the hammer Nadir used to shape the metals and prepared to use it.
"No more games. Tell me what the fuck you did, or I'll break all your fucking bones with this thing."
The blacksmith raised his hands in surrender, but even in a precarious situation, with his physical integrity being threatened, the amusement had not left his face.
"Okay, you win. Just let me gather my thoughts a bit, and I also need something to combat this hangover..."
He calmly stood up and stumbled over to a shelf of bottles. He took one, uncorked it, and drank a quarter of the liquid inside.
"What's that?"
"Wine." He replied matter-of-factly. "Do you want some?"
"Are you kidding me?"
He shrugged and took another long swig from the bottle. I squeezed the hammer handle, but didn't move a finger. I needed information, and going crazy wouldn't help.
Nadir finished his anti-hangover ritual and exhaled with satisfaction.
"I feel better now. Are you sure you don't want some?"
"..."
I didn't respond because I was still fighting an internal battle with my own emotions. Since Russell died, my fate in this loop was sealed.
I simply couldn't go through with letting him die. It could have catastrophic effects on the story.
So my only real option was to investigate the murder and return to undo it.
"Nadir, just tell me what the hell you did with the revolver before I lose my patience."
"Let's see, the last time I had the revolver... Ah, I remembered!" His expression brightened and he snapped his fingers. "After I finished it, I went to a brothel and lost it there."
"..."
"..."
We remained silent for a few seconds. However, my patience had already run out.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING RETARD!"
"Wait, not with the hammer!"
I lunged at Nadir, but before I could reach him, a shield of ice came between us: it was shaped like an all-too-familiar snowflake.
I sighed as I forced the eruption of anger to cease. I didn't want Emilia to see this side of me.
"Leandro? Who is this man? Why were you trying to hurt him?" She didn't reprimand me. Her question contained only concern, as she had never seen me act this way.
The girl's clear, bell-like voice that made my heart race helped me regain my composure.
"This guy... His name is Nadir Ashveil." I pointed at him. "As you may have noticed, he's a blacksmith."
"Nice to meet you, miss." He said, looking at Emilia with a twinkle in his amber eyes.
"Same here, and sorry for intruding." She bowed.
Nadir waved his hands in denial. The gesture intrigued the half-elf.
"I don't care, since it was my fault."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ahem."
I cleared my throat, considering it was my turn to speak.
"Why did you follow me?"
"I had a feeling you might need my help. You see, if I hadn't shown up, you might have done something you'd regret later."
"Not entirely, because I don't plan on staying in this loop for long. I suppose you're right."
I thought a little about my next words to avoid unnecessary details that might cause annoying questions.
"I recently gave Nadir a job. It's something very important, and what happened is... it got lost."
"Too bad... Well, then I'll help you look for it."
"No, no, it's something I have to do alone. No way am I taking her to a brothel. Even if she doesn't understand what goes on there, she'll ask me a million questions about it, and Puck will freeze my balls off if I open my mouth."
"You're very clever, Leandro! I didn't even have to warn you."
A voice spoke in my head, responding to my thoughts. I frowned.
"What do you think you're doing?! Get out of my head, you nosy cat!"
"Okay, you don't have to be so rude. By the way, what is porn-?"
"I said out! And stop looking at my thoughts!"
Emilia grabbed my hand, bringing me back to reality.
"No way. The way you are now, I can't leave you alone."
"He's fine, Lia."
Puck quickly came out to help me persuade her.
"Puck? Why are you taking his side?"
"Trust me, Leandro can do it on his own." The cat turned in my direction. "Right?"
I nodded fervently, giving both thumbs up to reinforce my statement.
However, Emilia's expression darkened.
"...Do you two think I'm dumb?"
"Lia?" Puck was genuinely surprised by the half-elf's response.
"I'm not a child anymore! I'm perfectly capable of understanding and helping."
The fact that she said it while being so cute didn't help anyone take her seriously.
"It's not that, Emi..." I replied in a low voice.
"So what is it? Am I a nuisance to you?" Her eyes were filled with tears. I cursed Puck and I cursed the hour I had the stupid idea of creating a revolver in this world.
"Tell her."
Puck's voice in my mind wasn't as outrageous as the suggestion he made to me.
"That?"
"Tell her she's a nuisance. She'll leave you alone if you do."
"Do you think I'm going to lie to her and hurt her just because you feel like it? Fuck off, I'd rather you freeze me again than break Emilia's heart with bullshit."
"See? That's the difference between us. I'm willing to do anything to protect Lia. That's why I hate all-"
"Manipulating her in every way possible to never expose her to danger and let her grow up with an innocent mindset isn't protecting her. You're just making her fragile and dependent. And what's the point of all that, if at the end of the day you're not there for her when she needs you most? You let her di-"
Time stopped around me. A dark hand appeared out of nowhere and entered my chest, pressing against my heart in a painful manner. I had gotten carried away and ended up receiving a penalty for talking too much, even though it was through telepathy.
The feeling of imminent danger made me panic for a moment, but Satella wouldn't hurt me, I told myself as I tried to talk to Emilia without betraying my inner turmoil.
"You're so much more than a nuisance to me. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how much I care about you."
"You're right... I don't believe you, because you don't prove it to me. If you care so much about me, you won't push me away."
Here we go again. I looked at Puck and shrugged as if to say, 'I did what I could.'
He didn't give up.
"Please, Lia. You have to understand..."
"Puck." She interrupted him, gently holding him in her hands, her expression gentle but unyielding, implying that she wasn't about to back down. "Thank you for caring from the bottom of your heart. I promise I'll be fine: I'm very strong and I won't lose easily to anyone. Besides, you'll be supporting me, right? If so, there's nothing to fear."
"That's not what worries me... Ahh, gosh, I guess there's no help for it."
And with that, it was confirmed that a beautiful half-elf and her magic cat would be accompanying me to a brothel to investigate a murder case. Despite all this, it wasn't the weirdest Thursday of my life.