"Come at me!" Oga shouted.
"Synchronicity Release!", my clothes changed as I entered Synchronicity.
I could feel Yoclesh's soul in Anya and I resonated with her. Using Oni Rush, I attacked Oga. Darkness wrapped around his arms and we sparred for a while.
My body became heavy as a strong headache entered my mind. I got out of sync again.
"Hmm... 2 minutes and 28 seconds. You're improving", Oga said.
"Thanks... I'm getting a hang of using Oni Rush", I replied.
Every morning, I would go out and train with Oga because Temma was far away. I was actually surprised that Oga's house was nearby and he agreed to train me.
My Synchronicity training was going well. I could last for more than 2 minutes. It was not long but it's good enough to be a trump card for a battle. If I could last 2 minutes against a guy like Oga, I wouldn't have any trouble against anyone.
"The sun's rising. You should go home and rest. You used Synchronicity so your body must be really tired", Oga said.
"Yeah... Thanks for today, Oga", I thanked him.
"No problem. This is good exercise for me."
I returned to Amelia's house... That's right. I was living with Amelia.
When I went to the kitchen, I saw Amelia in an apron and was cooking.
"Good morning. Breakfast's almost ready", she greeted.
I probably couldn't get used to this. While waiting for breakfast to be ready, I went to the bathroom to take a shower.
The 13th unit's dormitories were being renovated and every resident was forced to relocate. I had trouble finding a place to stay when Amelia offered her house.
It was actually weird that a girl and boy would live together under one roof. I mean, it was justifiable since I was her friend and she was just helping but I wondered how the others would think about us. But it's pointless to think about it. Amelia and I already shared a bed. Living in the same house was not that bad compared to that.
Breakfast was ready after I showered. I put on casual clothes like a blue hooded coat, gray shirt, and black pants. When I lost my memories and went on a trip to find the Hall of Memories, the clothes that I wore were my knight uniform. It was weird to parade around as a knight even when I wasn't on duty so I decided to shop for more casual clothes.
I was actually surprised that Amelia was a good cook. I thought she would be too busy in detective work to actually have time to practice cooking.
We began eating breakfast.
"What are your plans for today?" Amelia asked.
"I have no idea", I answered.
It was the weekend and I had no idea what to do. When I was still in the dormitories, I would go to the Captain's Office and do paperwork. It was not like I was a workaholic or anything. I just had nothing to do.
But now that the barracks was far away, I couldn't just enter and do work.
"Maybe I should just hang out in your office", I said.
"Are you interested in detective work?" she asked.
"Yeah. And I could probably help out in more ways than one. I'm a knight and I can access the records center or allow you to enter restricted areas."
"That's a great idea. You could come with me today."
"Really? Where are we going?"
"To a famous author's house."
After washing the dishes, we walked towards the eastern district of Westa.
"Why are you going to a famous author's house? Is it a case?" I asked.
"Have you heard of Chrissy Agasa?" she asked back.
"I think she's a mystery author, right?"
"That's right. I read a few of her books and she's really good. She asked me if she could interview me."
"Why would she want to interview you?"
"She's a mystery writer. She's curious about the cases solved by the great Amelia Watson."
"So she just invited you to her house?"
"Yep. She heard about me and she wanted me to talk about how I solved difficult cases. She would even pay for my time."
We arrived at a huge house. Chrissy was definitely a famous author since she could afford a huge house as a home. Amelia knocked on the door and a blonde maid with yellow eyes opened it.
"Do you need something?" she asked.
"My name is Amelia Watson. Chrissy said she wanted to talk to me", Amelia said.
"Ah. You must be one of her guests. Please follow me", the maid then led us to a room.
There were three people in the room. A brown-haired girl in a dress, a fat man in a suit, and an old man in white robes.
"Please be mindful of the anti-magic barrier", the maid said.
"Anti-magic barrier? Why is there an active anti-magic barrier?" I asked.
"Lady Chrissy doesn't like magic so she always had an anti-magic barrier on the property.
"Who are these people?" Amelia asked.
"They are Lady Chrissy's guests. Please wait until Lady Chrissy would call you", the maid said and left the room.
The fat man in the suit looked at Amelia and his eyes widened.
"Excuse me... But are you Amelia Watson?" he asked.
"Yes. That's me", she answered.
The fat man and the old man looked happy.
"My name is Rex Talyonis. I'm a huge mystery fan and I heard about you. You're the detective who almost caught Spade Echo, right?" the fat man asked.
"I'm Hash Braun. I'm also a mystery fan. I heard from my son who worked in the Knight Order that you would always help out in their cases", the old man said.
"Yes. That's me, the great detective Amelia Watson!" Amelia's smile was wide. She really liked being praised.
"And who are you?" I asked the brown-haired girl.
"I am Natasha Yizma, Chrissy's editor. I am waiting for my turn to speak with her since we have to discuss her new book", she introduced herself.
"I heard Chrissy would interview two detectives today. I didn't expect that the great Amelia Watson would grace us with her presence", Rex said.
"Two detectives? I'm pretty sure I'm the only detective in Westa", Amelia asked.
"I don't really know. Chrissy said that she met an interesting man who claimed to be a detective", Hash told us.
"A man, huh? If that detective would set up an office here, I would have a rival. But I don't think anyone could match up against me!" Amelia boasted.
The maid entered the room and served tea. We talked among ourselves as time went by. Almost two hours passed and it still wasn't our turn. Actually, the three guests also waited for a while and no one left the room.
"Why is Chrissy taking so long? Who is her guest?" he asked the maid.
"I don't know. She said she was just going to talk to someone so I shouldn't bother her", she answered.
"This is getting nowhere. I'm checking on her", Natasha said and walked towards Chrissy's room.
We followed her since we didn't have anything better to do.
"That's odd. It's locked", she said as she tried turning the knob.
"If you're feeling mischievous, I could unlock it", Amelia said as she showed us her lockpick.
"Maybe Chrissy would be surprised if a detective interrupts her. Let's do it!" Rex agreed.
Amelia worked on the lock and after a while, the sound of the door unlocking could be heard.
"Chrissy! We're here!" Hash opened the door.
A woman was lying on her desk. Blood was flowing out from her neck. The heater of the room was on and there was a puddle of water on the floor.
Natasha screamed at the sight.
"Don't move!" Amelia shouted.
"W-What's going on?" Rex asked.
Amelia walked to her and checked her pulse.
"It's no good. She's dead", Amelia said.
"Really? Why would she be-" Hash was about to step into the room but Amelia shouted, "Don't go in!"
"If you go inside this room, you'll be my main suspect. This is a crime scene and I'd prefer it if it's preserved. Mikage, call the Knight Order. This is a murder", she instructed.
A few moments later, a few knights entered the room.
They questioned us and we told them that we stayed in a room together. The other maids were on a vacation so Justin was the only maid in the mansion.
"Do you think that someone broke in and killed her?" the knight asked.
"No... It's highly unlikely. I checked all the windows of the house and they were all locked from the inside. Not to mention that the room we waited in had a view of the front door", Amelia said.
"In other words, the criminal is still here", a man's voice said.
We looked at the source and saw a man with long black hair. A monocle was on his left eye and he wore a black coat.
"The criminal is among the people who stayed in the mansion. Chrissy was killed without any resistance so she knew that person. And from what Amelia said, the chances of someone breaking in is low because of the locked windows. Not to mention that the windows of this room were also locked from the inside so the criminal could only escape from the door. There were no other people in the mansion except for the maid, Amelia, and these four people. Nobody else is here now that everyone has gathered. The culprit is among us!" he deduced.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Shellin Burgundy, a detective" he introduced himself.
###
A/N: I always wanted to write about detectives competing. So who do you think will win in this one?
