Shadow Slave

Sunny took the soju bottle and poured Mordret a glass. Of course, he made sure to hold it with one hand while doing so, since holding it with both would have been too polite.

Pushing the glass toward the Prince of Nothing, he leaned back and pursed his lips. “There was no Nihilist originally. It was just Mirage City hunting down the reflections of your vessels to erase an anomaly. Things have changed after the rest of us arrived, and now, these murders have an actual explanation. Funnily enough... there is still no Nihilist anywhere out there. The terrifying serial killer terrorizing the entire city does not exist.”

Sunny shook his head with a resentful expression.

”He is just a cover story Madoc has concocted to direct everyone’s attention away from the truth. And the truth is that these people were killed by professionals he had hired to silence them — to tie up loose ends. Just like he hired enforcers to kill his nephew and us. The missing eyes are just a red herring... whatever the hell a herring is... meant to distract the public.”

He sighed.

”If you study the backgrounds of the victims, all of them have a connection to the Valor Group. The owner of a building company handling several contracts with Valor Construction, an archivist from an enterprise that provided outsourcing services to the Valor Group, a security guard who was recently reassigned from the renovation site... and so on. Each of them can be traced to Valor Construction and the Northern Dam contract it received from the city.”

Sunny smiled faintly.

”So is Mordret. So are two detectives who were sniffing around both him and the supposed serial killer victims. So is Morgan, who must have known something about her uncle’s shady dealings... and her psychiatrist. After all, who knows what Morgan let slip in her lengthy therapy sessions with Saint, confined in a mental asylum and pumped full of drugs?”

Mordret glanced at him with interest.

”That Saint... what an interesting person. I did not know that there was another human with the affinity to Nothing somewhere out there. Ah, I would not mind getting to know her better, if fortune allows.”

Sunny stared at his smile for a few seconds, then reached forward and pushed his glass over without changing expression. Not paying the spilled soju any attention, he said in an even tone:

”Anyway, all of the people Madoc killed or tried to kill can be traced to the Northern Dam renovation project. Of course, that alone does not mean anything — all of them can be traced to a great number of things. Chocolate milk, for example. Or the Police Department... or Mordret himself. Human lives are like that. All of us share countless connections, and anyone can be tied to anything in this enormous web.”

Unless some misguided fool went and met a nasty bird that severed all these connections. Then, a person would become untraceable... and easily lost.

Sunny smiled.

“Pinpointing a particular connection between all these threads as the reason for what is happening is nearly impossible in a short amount of time — let alone proving it. But I have the advantage of foreknowledge.” He moved his chair a little back to prevent the spilled soju from dripping on him. “Mirage City is not exactly Bastion, but it is clearly inspired by it. There is the Mirror Lake and the Castle... there is also Rivergate, even if it is situated a bit closer to the city. The northern dam does not exist in Bastion, though — in the false Bastion, at least. It does exist in True Bastion, turned to ruin. There is another difference between the two, as well: the drowned city at the bottom of the lake.”

He let out a wistful sigh.

”The northern dam was destroyed in True Bastion, and the resulting flood destroyed the city. Art imitates life... the story the Castellan seems to be telling draws inspiration from the ancient past, as well. After all, the Castellan is a reflection that has dwelled in the Great Mirror from before the moon above True Bastion was shattered. It witnessed the destruction of the dam and the fall of the city below personally.”

Sunny shrugged.

”So, that was how I was able to piece together the clues and realize what was going on. Madoc has embezzled the funds from the renovation project for whatever reason... possibly he needed to create a slush fund, bribe his way into a political career, or buy himself a new yacht. In any case, the work Valor Construction performed on the dam was shoddy at best, perhaps even harmful. Now, the entire city is in jeopardy, and he is silencing everyone who can expose his guilt.”

Mordret chuckled.

”Excellent detective work, Sunless... no, truly, 1 am impressed. You did not exactly have a lot of time to investigate the case, and half of it has been spent fighting hired killers and surviving lethal car crashes. How exciting! It is almost like the old detective stories I used to read as a kid.” 𝐑ἁɴоΒЁ𝓢

Sunny was a little disturbed by that statement, reminded that Mordret too had been a human once.

He grimaced.

”Thank you. Being a detective is quite a new experience for me, but I know a thing or two about crime. I have not always been a law-abiding citizen, after all... so, | know how criminals think.”

He took a deep breath, then glanced at Mordret.

”So, now we simply have to take Madoc off the board. Once he is gone, the Castellan will have to reveal itself — to make one last attempt to prevent its illusion from crumbling.”

Mordret smiled amicably.

“That won’t be easy. Uncle Madoc must have hidden himself in some impregnable fortress by now, surrounded by an army of hired thugs. Getting to him will be difficult, let alone arresting him... so, what is your plan?”

Sunny smiled, too.

”Why, it’s very simple.”

He pointed to Mordret.

”lam planning to use you as bait.”