A Bright Spot of Bother

‘I’m writing this message from our archaeological outpost at Bright Spot. Something dangerous has been discovered and I have a bad feeling about it. My worries might turn out to be unfounded, but please send some help to make sure, as a personal favor. My thanks and sincere regards.’ Frustratingly enough, the message appeared to be unsigned. For once, I was thankful about having studied elven ideograms in the past, which allowed me to decipher the message. I put the letter back in its envelope and looked up at my division leader. Wearing her usual poker face, the Director was staring at me, awaiting my reaction. “Ohh, that sounds exciting!” I commented with a wide grin, before realizing it wasn’t the most appropriate response to the situation. I averted my gaze, blushing and rubbing my neck in slight embarrassment. After spending almost three years working as an esoteric detective for the Occult Division, my excessive enthusiasm for bizarre and mysterious cases was well known among my colleagues. In a half-hearted effort to salvage my reputation, I had been trying to exert more restraint lately… With mixed results. Ignoring my gaffe, the Director announced that I had been assigned to the case. What followed was a long and detailed explanation, during which I couldn't help tapping my feet on the floor in restless anticipation. My boss concluded her speech with a stern demand. “Listen, Kai. If there’s anything fishy going on at Bright Spot, I’m counting on you to figure it out before it’s too late. Your number one priority is to make sure neither the inhabitants nor the project are in danger. Failure might have disastrous consequences, so don’t mess up.” Well, that sounded a bit overdramatic... Talk about no pressure. I nodded solemnly and took my leave: I had preparations to make. It was only the beginning, and yet even then I couldn’t shake the feeling of something tugging at the back of my mind, ever so slightly.

--- On the following day, I was lounging on a surprisingly comfortable seat, lulled by the steady motion of the cargo train I was traveling with. From the panoramic window of my private cabin, I could see endless fields of bluecorn passing by. Truly inspiring stuff. We were probably deep into the Northern Province by now. Hopefully, my destination should be getting close: it was a remote border town called City of Bricks. Upon arrival, I was supposed to get in touch with the local constabulary. From there, some poor local officer would have to escort me all the way to Bright Spot, the archaeological outpost from which the mysterious letter supposedly came from. This was actually my first time travelling so far north. There were many legends and myths surrounding these beautiful but harsh lands: abandoned ghost towns, roaming shapeshifting tricksters, sinister ancient armaments and so on. Most of them likely originated from made-up stories, but as an esoteric detective, separating truth from fiction was an important part of my job. My thoughts wandered back to the case I had been assigned to. For lack of better alternatives, I decided to go over the facts once again. The outpost was located in the wilderness of the Northern Province, very close to the border between the Yuu-Men Kingdom and the Nation of Aelv. Even though it officially fell under human jurisdiction, it was still a geopolitical gray area, considering how contested that border had been until fairly recent times. To make matters more complicated, the establishment of the archaeological dig had only been possible thanks to a collaborative effort between humans and elves. Therefore, the success or failure of the project might strongly affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries. As a show of good faith, the Kingdom had sent a high-ranking ambassador as a representative; Aelv had apparently sent some sort of princess in response. Aaand, of course... This meant that if anything were to happen at the outpost, it would be a Big Deal. Which was why I had been sent to investigate, even though the location

was in the middle of nowhere and nothing of note had - as far as anyone could tell - even happened yet. That’s right, that was the most bizarre aspect of the entire situation. The envelope containing the request for help had been found three weeks ago by a City of Bricks trader as he was unloading his caravan, upon returning from the outpost after a regularly scheduled supply delivery. Since it took a week for the traders to make the return trip, the letter had most likely left Bright Spot four weeks ago. The message had then been brought to the attention of the local authorities, who had in turn dispatched a team of local constables to investigate. Two weeks later, the agents came back… Completely empty-handed. According to their reports, nothing unusual seemed to be going on at the outpost. Its five occupants appeared to be in good health, and were indeed quite perplexed upon the arrival of the constables. Even after being interrogated one by one, nobody admitted to writing the letter. Following this fruitless inspection, the caravan traders had also been thoroughly interrogated, but they all claimed to be ignorant on the matter. Perhaps the traders would have been suspected of fabricating the entire thing for some unfathomable reason, if not for the fact that the message was written in flawless elven ideograms. It was almost impossible for a human to convincingly replicate elven calligraphy. Under normal circumstances, the entire situation might have been written off as a prank and put aside, if not for three reasons. First were the potentially disastrous political repercussions in case the note did turn out to be sincere. If it ever came to light that the Kingdom had been given reason to believe something dangerous might happen at Bright Spot, without acting upon that information… I’ll let you imagine the consequences. Second, well... The reports were not entirely clear on this, but apparently, two of the constables who had been sent to investigate the outpost had mysteriously sustained some kind of injuries in the process.

Finally, the note was especially worrying for its mention of a dangerous discovery. As an archaeological dig, the main purpose of the Bright Spot project was to discover and unearth all sorts of things from the ruins of an ancient civilization, commonly known as ‘The Forgotten’. Due to the government-enforced secrecy around it, it was rumored that the ruins might hide ancient relics of unknown properties and power. As a result of these unusual circumstances, the local authorities pretty much went “nope” and proclaimed the entire situation to be out of their league. Following the hierarchical ladder, the case had reached all the way up to, you guessed it, our very own Occult Division, which specializes in handling high-profile cases potentially involving supernatural elements. Apparently, this issue had been deemed important enough by the higher-ups to warrant a Royal Seal of Authority, which basically allowed me to investigate at my discretion and leisure. Of course, I had been strongly advised not to cause any trouble and that I should handle the case ‘with tact and finesse’ to avoid unduly offending any of the residents, especially the important ones. I smiled, thinking of my approaching destination. It was time to show everyone that detective Kai’s diplomatic prowess was nothing to be scoffed at.

--- One day later, I was on my way to Bright Spot along with a local officer. We were riding a pair of giant snowcats: they were beautiful and graceful beasts, that were considered to be the best mounts the Northern Province had to offer. Royal Authority can be pretty convenient after all, I chuckled to myself. No way we would have been offered such a precious resource, if not for the seal I was bearing coupled with my renown among the constables. Over the course of the past three years, I had become a minor celebrity within the Kingdom. This was largely due to my involvement in a string of high-profile cases, that determined my rise within the ranks of the Occult Division.

You’ve probably heard of my most famous case to date: the so-called Riddle of the Alleys. When the King’s own personal plague doctor vanished from a dead-end alleyway in the capital, investigators and detectives from all over the Kingdom were baffled by this inexplicable mystery. Doctor Crow’s sudden disappearance dominated the newspapers for months, until the entire ordeal came to an abrupt end when a certain junior detective happened to stumble onto the solution. What was this solution, you ask? Great question, but... Unfortunately, information pertaining to Crow’s disappearance turned out to be highly classified. Once the case was wrapped up, the higher-ups insisted that my memories should be sealed, in order to protect Crow’s identity; nobody knew what lurked behind that plague doctor mask. Following a short session with the King’s secret services, I was left with only vague recollections of my involvement in the case. Naturally, this also left me with no sense of accomplishment whatsoever towards what was supposed to be my greatest achievement, along with a lingering curiosity as to how Crow had disappeared from the damn alley. Hopefully the truth would be revealed someday, but until then, Crow could still be out there somewhere for all I knew. At least, bringing the Riddle of the Alleys to a close earned me some recognition from the King himself, who had been befuddled by it more than anybody else. While I did not particularly care about the notoriety that I had gained, there was something I was after: the coveted title of Ace Detective! Perhaps by solving the mystery of Bright Spot’s bizarre letter, I would finally gain enough credit to attain that rank. I smiled at the prospect and stroked the soft fur of my temporary snowcat ride, who was named Zep. He loudly meowed in response without slowing down, drawing the attention of my escort, a constable who was desperately trying to keep up the pace on top of his own snowcat. “Everything going well, agent Tenjack?” I asked him with some concern. He grunted in response, holding on to his mount for dear life. His face seemed a bit green. “Perhaps we could take a break? I wouldn’t mind something to eat,” I suggested.

He blurted out something which I interpreted as an affirmative, so I pulled on the reins of my surprisingly well-tamed giant cat. Zep gracefully slowed down and stopped, allowing me to step down in the middle of the forest trail that we were riding along. “Good boy” I praised the giant cat, offering him a treat to his delight. A few minutes later, once my escort had regained a better complexion, I approached him with a glint in my eye. Tenjack had been part of the squad who conducted the first search of the outpost two weeks ago. Finally, my chance to get some first-hand information about the case had come! “Is this pace faster compared to your last trip to Bright Spot?” I asked him. Subtle, I thought to myself. “Yeah… We certainly didn’t have snowcats that time around,” he laughed ruefully. “Took us five days to ride there on horseback and one more week to get back.” “As much as I’d like to take it easy and enjoy these beautiful northern landscapes, I’ve been instructed to make haste. Sorry you had to be caught up in it.” I replied with an apologetic smile. “It’s my job, detective. No need to apologize.” I decided to get straight to the point. “What happened during your previous search, anyways? I’ve learned from the reports that you ran into some kind of trouble over the course of the inspection, but the details were not included.” He glanced away with an embarrassed expression. “That’s because we were instructed by our superiors to omit the details from the reports. They were afraid it would paint us as bumbling and incompetent in the eyes of the Central authorities…” I smiled at him in a reassuring way. “I promise I won’t judge you. After all, one time I was so captivated by a shiny butterfly during an investigation that I ended up falling into a well full of apple cider. I ended up smelling of apples for a week! Could it really be any worse than that?”

Agent Tenjack stared at me. Was he surprised at my candid admission? “Actually, we had a similar experience, sort of,” he admitted. “After fruitlessly interrogating the five residents, we split up into pairs to conduct a full search of the premises, hoping to find any clues. Not only did this search get us nowhere, but the weirdest accident happened to one of the investigating pairs. First, one of the agents stumbled down into the floor and sprained her ankle. While trying to help her up, her partner also fell down on top of her, breaking his wrist in the process. Yet both constables swore they couldn’t tell why they lost their balance.” “That sounds indeed quite puzzling...” I commented. “What happened then?” “Nothing of interest. Bright Spot’s medic fixed the two up and we all left on the fourth day since our arrival, having combed through the whole damn place with no results. Our return took a bit longer because of their injuries. Then we were scolded by our superiors for our lack of success.” “Thank you for your honesty, agent Tenjack. Sorry to hear about your colleagues, I’m sure things will be better this time around.” He shuddered. “That place is bad news, detective. Those grounds must be cursed, there’s no other explanation. I’m glad I only have to escort you there and wait for you to finish your inspection, because I won’t set a single foot inside the outpost unless it’s strictly necessary.” I simply nodded at Tenjack, deciding I wouldn’t force him to enter Bright Spot with me given his reluctance. After all, I was also feeling a bit uneasy about my upcoming investigation. We climbed back on our mounts and rode on in silence.

--- In the late afternoon of the third day since our departure from City of Bricks, we finally arrived at our destination.

Bright Spot’s entire territory was enclosed within a blacksteel fence, which I could see stretching on to encompass a wide area. The main gate was right in front of us, mere minutes away. I turned towards Tenjack, who was fidgeting next to me. He had already dismounted from his snowcat, so I followed his example, climbing off Zep’s back. “It might be a while until I finish conducting my investigation. Are you sure you’d rather wait outside?” I asked him. The constable nodded vigorously, adding that he had enough supplies on him to last for a few days if needed. Together, we decided on a nearby location for Tenjack to set camp outside, some distance away from the outpost’s main gate. That way, he’d be close enough to come help if needed, but also far enough to feel safe from the supposedly cursed grounds. After leaving Zep in his care, I turned back towards the outpost. I briskly walked along the simple dirt road leading up to the entrance, focusing my gaze on the building that was already visible beyond the gate, not too far from it. Calling Bright Spot an ‘outpost’ was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration: seen from a distance, the living quarters appeared to consist entirely of a relatively small mansion. It reminded me of the countryside estate of a minor but eccentric noble I was once invited to, where I had to deal with a case involving a haunted suit of armor. Once I reached the main gate, I stopped to take a better look at my surroundings. The fence and gate barely reached twice my height, but they still seemed foreboding and intimidating. Given that I wasn’t the tallest human around, the enclosure was probably intended to rely on its sophisticated arcane defenses to keep intruders out. Now that I was standing closer, I could clearly see that an array of protective wards was engraved into the blacksteel. As an esoteric detective, I was equipped with two main tools to investigate supernatural phenomena, in addition to my esoteric knowledge.

The first was my Lens of Arcane Sight: while looking through it, I could check objects for their arcane signatures and reveal residual magical traces. The second was the enchanted butterfly tattoo on my neck: as a passive magic-detecting source, it would start itching whenever I was close to or under some sort of magical effect. It wasn’t as precise as the Lens, but served as a reliable ‘magic alarm’. In fact, the tattoo was acting up right now, which probably meant that I was being affected by the fence’s protective wards in some way. After checking the wards with my Lens, I was able to confirm their effectiveness. There was no getting around this fancy security system, which made sense given the importance of the dig. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about mysterious intruders getting in, I thought with a smile. So-called ‘closed circle’ mysteries had always been my favorites to investigate. Right in front of the gate was a simple stone pedestal, engraved with a faintly glowing symbol. Without even needing my arcane sight, I recognized it as a fairly simple transmission rune. I took a deep breath and firmly covered the pedestal with the palm of my hand. Nothing seemed to happen for a short while, until I saw the front door of the mansion open. A figure stepped out, approaching the gate. They walked with a graceful ease, their flowing stride almost reminding me of a snowcat. If that weren’t enough, their big, pointy ears and brightly coloured hair definitely marked them as an elf. I had never seen such a striking azure shade: it reminded me of a cloudless summer sky. To a human eye, elves had no distinct somatic features that clearly distinguished them between sexes. As a way to assert their gender when in contact with humans, they generally wore a traditional silver earring: right ear meant female, left ear indicated male and wearing both or neither carried other connotations.

Blue-hair’s left earring marked him as male, but that was all I could infer from his appearance; his simple but elegant robes and ageless features gave nothing else away. Upon reaching the entrance, the elf greeted me with exaggerated, almost histrionic gestures. “Welcome to Bright Spot, marvelous stranger! We are, of course, blessed by this unexpected visit of yours. To what do we owe this pleasure?” A flamboyant type, huh? I decided to match his energy, brandishing my Royal Seal of Authority and intoning with a solemn voice: “My most sincere greetings! As an esoteric detective and soon-to-be Ace Detective, I have come all the way from the heart of Yuu-Men in order to provide my assistance to the fine dwellers of this outpost.” The elf laughed cheerfully, then pressed his hand on a pedestal on the other side of the entrance. I heard a clicking noise coming from the gate. “I assure you that we are not in any dire need of saving, as we’ve already told your predecessors. But please, come in and be our guest! Investigate away to your heart’s content!” I pushed the now-unlocked gate open and stepped into Bright Spot. As I did so, the elf offered me a small bow, along with a flirtatious wink. Still grinning at me, he said: “By the way, you can call me Rule.” I smiled back and replied: “Detective Kai, at your service.”

--- The mansion consisted of four main areas, distributed over two floors: the human living quarters, the elven living quarters, a storage area and a large common area. The latter included a kitchen, a dining hall, a rec room, a parlor, a washroom and a few smaller rooms that served as offices and working spaces. Upon entering from the front door, one would be facing a central staircase that led to the elven quarters on the first floor. There was nothing else on this floor, which was in fact significantly smaller than the ground floor.

Behind this staircase was the door to the storage area, which was located at the back of the mansion. This area had nothing notable about it, apart from the presence of a secondary back entrance. To the left of the main entrance were the human quarters. They consisted mostly of guest rooms, since there was only a single human being living in Bright Spot. Over the course of my stay, I would be occupying one of these guest rooms. Each room came equipped with its own personal bathroom, which was only one of the mansion’s many luxuries. Finally, to the right of the main entrance was a hallway that led to the common area, whose wing occupied most of the ground floor. After following Rule inside, I was immediately struck by the surprisingly welcoming atmosphere. Even though the mansion seemed fairly unimpressive from the outside, the interior was way more comfortable than a remote outpost had any right to be. The thick limestone walls were adorned by paintings and tapestries, the floor was covered by a soft carpet and several large windows allowed the light of the setting sun to tinge the main hall in a warm glow. After leading me in front of the door to one of the studies in the common area, Rule took his leave, blowing me a kiss as he turned the corner. How endearing. Shortly after knocking on the door, I heard a deep voice coming from the office, inviting me in.

--- The man sitting behind the mahogany desk was staring at me, a surprised expression on his face. He looked to be in his late thirties, or early forties. His shoulder-length brown hair was tied in a bun, and his chestnut eyes were partly hidden behind a pair of thick spectacles, lending him a scholarly impression. I introduced myself with an easy-going smile and offered him the Royal Seal I was carrying. After quickly perusing through its contents, he returned the scroll and beckoned me to sit on a chair in front of his desk.

“I’m glad to have you here, detective,” he said. “As Senior Ambassador to the Nation of Aelv and as the King’s sole representative here at Bright Spot, I find myself to be in a delicate position. This mysterious message can only mean bad news for us. Even if it turns out to be a harmless prank, who better than the renowned detective Kai to make sure of it?” “I am honored by the faith you put in me,” I humbly replied. “I’ve been instructed to report to you as soon as I got here, Ambassador.” “Oh, there’s no need to stand on formalities here. Just call me Brown, like everyone else does.” I looked at him with a quizzical expression. “That’s an interesting choice for a nickname.” He chuckled at me with an almost goofy smile. “Not very flattering, is it? But you see, it’s actually kind of an in-joke around here. How much do you know about elven culture?” I had encountered a few elves before and had done my research before coming here, so I had a good idea of where he was going with this. Still, I decided to indulge him. “I assume you’re referring to the secrecy behind elven names?” He smiled excitedly and exclaimed: “yes, exactly! For elves, a true name is a secret that is only revealed to their closest peers. That’s why they choose pseudonyms for themselves to use in different situations. When we first inaugurated this outpost four years ago, the elves decided on a common naming theme to adopt when interacting with me and the other humans that occasionally visit Bright Spot. Care to guess as to what this theme is?” “Hmm,” I reflected, “the only elf I’ve met so far has introduced himself as Rule. However, you’re Brown. If this has to do with colours... Does his full alias happen be ‘Cerulean’, to match the shade of his hair and eyes?” He clapped his hands. “You got it! As expected of a detective of your caliber. Hoh hoh, now I’m certain that we’re all in good hands!”

I repressed a sigh. How patronizing. However, instead of letting out a scathing reply I instead decided to mirror the compliment. “Even though your real name’s no secret, adopting their same naming scheme sounds like a good way to bond with the elves, which benefits both the team as a whole and the diplomatic spirit of this enterprise. As expected of an ambassador of your caliber, Mr. Brown!” He chuckled embarrassedly. “As much as I’d like to take credit for the initiative, I wasn’t the one who came up with it. But even though my nickname makes fun of me for being so ordinary, I was glad to accept it. You see, I’ve always been extremely fascinated by elven culture, which is why I have dedicated such a large portion of my studies to it, and also why I volunteered for this post as soon as I got word of it.” He glanced out of the window and sighed, a wistful expression on his face. “All I’ve ever wanted since then is to be fully accepted as one of them. And yet...” For a moment, an awkward silence filled the room. Then, Brown cleared his throat and quickly diverted the conversation in a less personal direction. “Anyways,” he said, “you probably have questions for me. What can I do to assist with your investigation?” “How about you give me a brief overview of Bright Spot?” I suggested. “What do I need to know about the outpost, the dig and your unusual team of four elves and a human?” Brown remained deep in thought for a few moments, tapping his right index finger on his left shoulder. Then he started summarizing information for me. “As you already know, this archaeological dig is a joint enterprise between the Kingdom and Aelv. It all started with the discovery of the underground Forgotten ruins. A caravan of elven traders with a human escort accidentally found their entrance while setting camp in this area. Naturally, word got back to the two governments…” I cleared my throat. I didn’t want the whole political picture, else we’d be staying here all evening. Brown caught my drift and cut to the chase. “Right, right. Well… To make a long story short, a diplomatic crisis was averted by setting up this collaborative project instead. The Forgotten have left other ruins

scattered around the continent, but these are among the largest and most intact known to us. Bright Spot’s historical value is simply priceless! Still, unearthing and exploring these ruins can be incredibly dangerous and time-consuming. Insidious traps and protective wards abound: every step requires caution. Therefore, the best and most efficient approach is to hire a minimal and highly specialized crew to do so. Quality over quantity, in other words. Of course, this process might require many years, often decades of hard work. There are not many humans willing to undergo such a commitment, which means that elves, with their vastly superior lifespan, are naturally better suited for the job. Yet even for them this is not too far from a form of exile. That’s part of the reason why no expenses were spared in making this place as comfortable, secure and appealing as possible. A golden exile, if you will, and a chance to make history by discovering ancient artifacts and secrets. Our findings are stored in a secure vault, whose contents are periodically transferred to another secure location, where they are auctioned between our two nations. This avoids political repercussions, by...” Once again, I let out a small cough as a signal that he was getting off-track. I honestly didn’t care about all the political and economic details of the dig, since I doubted that whatever was going on at Bright Spot had anything to do with espionage. What sort of self-respecting spy would ever send such a letter? Brown hesitated for a moment, then collected his thoughts and resumed his exposition. “Right. This brings us to our, as you called it, ‘unusual team’. In order to make this outpost function smoothly, all of us have been carefully selected for our particular expertise and outstanding skills. Although,” he chuckled, “I’m by far the least outstanding of us all. Still, I bear a heavy responsibility, having to represent the interests of the Kingdom of Yuu-Men. Especially when I’m dealing with such a high-ranking Aelven representative… Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself.” The bespectacled man briefly stopped, pointing at the impressively tall pile of paperwork lying on his desk. “As you can see, my main role is that of Bright Spot’s chief administrator. Although the outpost is financed in equal parts by the Yuu-Men and Aelv,

our supplies come mainly from the Kingdom, since it’s both closer and cheaper. As such, I am tasked with keeping stock of our inventory, scheduling regular supply deliveries and interacting with the human traders. Basically, I serve as treasurer and make sure everything’s in order and everyone’s needs are provided for. Additionally, I pay regular visits to the dig, in order to send progress reports to the Central Province. As for our elven inhabitants... Well, to simplify matters, they could be divided into two distinct pairs based on their background. The first pair consists of a married couple of exceptionally skilled independent contractors.” He sighed and added, “with extraordinarily expensive salaries to match their level of expertise, of course. They used to serve in the Aelven military, where they met and got engaged. After their term ended, they became mercenaries of sorts. You’ve already met one of them, I believe?” I raised an eyebrow. “Really… Rule?” Brown smiled. “Appearances can be deceiving. Rule used to be a field medic, but he’s also a skilled marksman, which makes him an ideal security guard. He serves as our doctor, while keeping an eye on the outpost and screening all visitors. He’s also in charge of cleaning and tending to the animals. And of course, while not part of his official duties, he keeps everybody entertained with his antics. Truly a jack-of-all-trades, don’t you think?” I nodded, fairly impressed despite myself. “What about his spouse?” I asked. “Her name is Crimson and she’s a tough one. Unlike her husband, she’s not very talkative, but she’s our main combat specialist and she takes care of most of the physical labour at the dig. Crimson is also our engineer and mechanic: when something breaks, she’s the one who fixes it.” “Truly impressive. What can you tell me about the other couple?” I asked. Brown shook his head. “Ah, the other elven pair is not a couple...although,” he added with a sardonic smile, “perhaps one of the two wishes they were. Still, they knew each other before coming here. Childhood friends, I believe.”

“I see,” I commented, stroking my chin. “Is one of them this ‘elven princess’ I’ve been told about?” Brown hesitated for a moment. “I suppose that yes, she could be considered to be the equivalent of a princess from our perspective. The Aelven Court is very competitive when it comes to selecting new rulers, but she used to be among the first in line to the throne. But then, she had some sort of falling out with the High Council and now she’s here, either in voluntary exile or to prove herself, depending on your perspective. She serves as the main Aelven representative at Bright Spot and is the leader of our team. We call her Midnight.” “Black hair, huh?” I commented, “that’s surprisingly mundane for a princess.” Brown chuckled. “But you see, it’s actually a remarkably rare colour for an elf to possess! It’s one of the reasons why she was considered to be special from birth. Uniqueness is a relative concept.” “Fascinating. Anyways, she’s the one calling the shots around here, then?” I asked. “Yes, but she insists on keeping a so-called ‘horizontal leadership’ style. So for the most part, we are all equals within the team and we’re left to our own devices when it comes to our respective domains of expertise. Midnight only steps in when necessary, such as when there are far-reaching decisions to make. She is in charge of the dig however, which means all of our archaeological operations take place under her direct supervision. That’s not just a matter of status: she’s an excellent archaeologist and a veteran of many such expeditions.” “It’s not too rare for bored nobles in search of adventure to turn into dilettante archaeologists and explorers” I commented, “but usually none quite as high-born as our princess is”. Brown shrugged. “Elves lead long lives, which leaves them with more room to explore unusual paths over the course of their existence. I can’t claim to know Midnight too intimately, but I believe archaeology to be more of a hobby for her rather than an ambition. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her delving back into politics once this is over.”

“I see. What about her friend?” I asked. “Are they a personal attendant of sorts?” “Not at all, although he serves as her main advisor at the dig. Magenta is our resident archivist: he’s an expert on Forgotten lore and history, as well as a certified arcane practitioner. In addition to his role at the dig, he’s usually the one to appraise and figure out any new findings. He’s also in charge of maintaining our security wards, although that’s hardly a taxing job.” This last introduction sounded a bit less enthusiastic than the others. Might there be some animosity between them? I opted to let the matter go for now. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Brown. I will continue my investigation and talk to you at a later time. Where can I find the other residents?” Brown glanced out of the window. The sun had been mostly swallowed up by the distant mountains in the horizon, casting a suggestive twilight over the northern landscape. “The archaeological team is usually back by dusk, at the latest. It should be any moment now.” As if on cue, I heard voices coming from the hallway. “It seems like everyone else has arrived,” I told Brown with a smirk. “Let’s go meet the rest of the elven crew, shall we?”

--- When I followed Brown into the parlor, I was immediately met by three pairs of curious eyes. Sprawled on a comfortable couch on my left was a strikingly fiery looking elf. Her deeply scarlet hair resembled a wild flame in both shade and shape. Her blood-red eyes were likewise burning with intensity, contrasting with the muted colours of the simple leather uniform she was wearing. A rather dashing scar ran through the right side of her face.

So this was Crimson: unlike Rule, I found it easy to believe she was a seasoned mercenary soldier. In front of me, two more elves were seated on a pair of soft armchairs, next to an elegant looking tea table. The one on the left had an air of refinement about him, his soft features and robes in stark contrast with Crimson's rugged exterior. His short bowl-cropped hair was a delicate shade of pink, as were his half-lidded eyes. Yup, he definitely looked like a ‘Magenta’. Which meant..the person seated next to him must have been princess Midnight herself. Perhaps it was a biased impression after hearing Brown’s introduction of her, but she appeared to exude leadership: her posture was straight yet relaxed and her attire was a perfect blend of practical and elegant. Her long, silky jet-black hair was tied back in an elaborate braid and a beautiful flower-shaped ivory brooch was tied around her neck with a silver chain. “Good evening!” I intoned, breaking the surprised silence. “Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Kai, esoteric detective, at your service. I am here to investigate the mysterious letter on behalf of the King, and to make sure that none of you is incurring any risk or danger.” “This, again?” said Magenta with a sigh, apparently not too happy at the prospect of undergoing another investigation. “Mage, be nice to our guest!” Midnight reprimanded him, although her words were softened by a smile. She turned back towards me, her expression growing more solemn. “Welcome to Bright Spot and thank you, detective Kai. I will make sure that everyone collaborates with your investigation to the fullest. Even so, I’ll be honest with you: I don’t think there’s any mystery to be found here. I find it unthinkable that any of us would send such a letter in such a roundabout way.” I couldn’t help but smirk. “Well, who knows. It wouldn’t be much of a mystery, if the circumstances surrounding the message weren’t so bizarre.”

Our exchange was interrupted by a sixth person entering the parlor: it was Rule, dexterously carrying a tea tray on one hand. He gracefully placed it on the table and with practiced motions, poured the still steaming brew into six beautiful floral-themed tea cups. “Welcome back, my dearest Mage and Night! And of course, my beloved Cri-Cri” he announced, displaying his typical overdramatic inflection and mannerisms. “I see you’ve just met our wonderful detective guest! To celebrate the occasion, I’ve prepared my exclusive ‘Cerulean style’ blend of tea and served it in our very best tea set. Please, enjoy!” “That’s the usual blend you serve us everyday, dear” remarked Crimson, in a deadpan tone. “It’s not like we have other tea sets either.” “How could you say something so cynical, Cri-Cri! Where’s your sense of storytelling? Where’s your romanticism?” exclaimed Rule, waving his arms around. “Shut up, or I’ll ask the newcomer to arrest you.” I couldn’t help but smile at this scene. They were an interesting couple: Crimson seemed to be the perfect ‘straight elf’ to her husband’s antics. Midnight and Magenta were staring at the scene with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, while Brown was openly chuckling. I grabbed a cup from the tray, careful not to scald my fingers, and took a sip of the delicious beverage. Naturally, I had already made sure that it was just regular tea. One could never be too paranoid under these circumstances, after all. I turned to face the room’s other five occupants. Here we were, two humans and four elves, drinking tea in a cozy parlor in the middle of nowhere. And yet despite their welcoming attitude, Bright Spot’s five residents were undoubtedly all suspects in this bizarre mystery. Which one had asked for help? What danger did they believe to be in? Even though I still had a bad feeling, I had no intention of letting anything nefarious happen under my watch.

---

During the tea break, I discussed my plans with the assembled crew. Before reaching the outpost, I had been worried about potential obstacles to my investigation: simply flaunting my detective’s authority and waving my royal seal around sounded like a recipe for a diplomatic disaster. Luckily, Midnight had turned out to be a reasonable leader and had given me her blessing to perform a full search of the premises, including everyone’s private chambers, the dig and the vault. Since it was getting late and I was feeling pretty tired after my journey, I decided to conduct the bulk of my investigation on the next day. Still, I wanted to at least examine the mansion’s common area while waiting for dinner to be ready, so I started going through the various rooms one by one. Despite my protests that I didn’t need an assistant, Magenta had been instructed by Midnight to follow me around in case I needed any help. While he didn’t seem particularly enthused at the prospect, he wasn’t quite hostile either. Perhaps he was just a bit awkward or shy? The way he averted his eyes whenever I looked at him certainly seemed to suggest so. First, I decided to take a better look at the now empty parlor. Other than the large couch and the tea table surrounded by a dozen chairs and armchairs, the only other notable piece of furniture was an impressively large bookshelf, brimming with books of all kinds. Many of these were novels, about half of which were written in elven characters, but there were also non-fiction titles related to history, archaeology, psychology, medicine, economics, engineering and gardening. Partially hidden at the top, I also found a few dusty cookbooks. Finding nothing else of note, I moved to inspect the washroom. It turned out to be... Well, just a regular washroom, although one better-equipped than most. It even had a top-of-the-line steam-powered washing machine. The only curious thing I noticed was a lone sock, hanging on an otherwise empty clothesline. Feeling a bit silly, I grabbed the indument to better examine it: it looked like a regular white sock, with a pattern depicting stylized black birds on it. Wait a second… Could it be crows? I shook my head, chasing that traitorous thought away. “So, what’s up with this sock? Who does it belong to?” I asked my ‘assistant’.

Magenta shrugged, averting his gaze. “Uhh… I do not know? It looks like it belongs to an elf, judging by its shape...” “Are you sure? This sock might be the key to everything.” I told him in a serious tone. “Umm… For real? It’s not my sock at least, I’m sure of it.” “Of course I’m not being serious, it’s just a sock.” I replied with a smirk. “But who knows, it might end up being a clue. Rule is the one in charge of the washroom, right?” Mage gave me a hesitant smile. Hopefully he was warming up to me. “Yes, he is,” he replied. “But once the laundry is done, we are all expected to collect our own garments from the clothesline.” “Hmm, I see. In other words, it could be a simple oversight. How long has this sock been hanging there?” Magenta shrugged once again. “Sorry, but I do not remember” he replied apologetically. “A few weeks, maybe? Rule might know better.” “Thanks, I will ask him later. Let’s move on now.” Next, we visited the rec room. It was fairly spacious and well-lit by crystal lights, with a soft red carpet to set an almost casino-like vibe. The four corners of the room were dotted by four different gaming tables, complemented by twelve expensive-looking ergonomic leather chairs. To be specific, the rec room offered: an elaborately carved chess table with sleek glass pieces, a round card-playing table covered by a green mat, an elongated professional-looking billiards table and a square mahjong table with a set of elegant jade tiles. “Not bad at all when it comes to recreational options. This set-up must have cost a fortune,” I commented with a smirk. Mage just shrugged in response, apparently used to this kind of lifestyle.

Our next stop was the kitchen, where Crimson was busy preparing dinner. Rule was there too, leaning against a wall with a cheeky smile. Supposedly, he was there to help his wife with the cooking, but he didn’t seem to be assisting much. As if reading my thoughts, Rule exclaimed: “Trust me, detective, I am helping! By making sure my dear Cri-Cri doesn’t poison us all, hah!” I was taken aback by that statement. “What do you mean?” “Around three weeks ago, she managed to give everybody food poisoning by botching a simple omelette! Truly an impressive feat, don’t you think?” Crimson turned around from the stove, shooting Rule a death glare. “Shut up, idiot. If you wanted a chef, you should have married someone else.” “Don’t worry, my love! Your spectacular lack of culinary prowess is part of your charm.” “Go die in a fire.” “No fire would ever be as hot as you are!” I cleared my throat and tried to put an end to their banter. “Sorry for the interruption! I’m sure Crimson’s cooking will turn out perfectly fine, but...” “I don’t want nor need your polite validation” she coldly interjected, glaring at me. “Get to the point, I’m busy.” Apparently, she was the type of person who preferred more direct interactions. Still, I was impressed: as short as Crimson’s temper appeared to run, what made her truly intimidating was how cold and controlled she remained despite her fiery nature. “My apologies. I’d just like to take a look around” I said. “Knock yourself out” she replied, turning back to the stove. “Dinner will be ready soon, so don’t take too long.”

While doing my best to avoid bothering the angry cook, I performed a quick search of the room. As expected, it was really just a regular if unusually well-furnished kitchen. The cooking equipment was top-of-the-line, there was a frankly ridiculous amount of variety in the spice cabinet (no hidden poisons though, as far as I could tell) and the kitchen knives were dangerously sharp, although to my relief, they all seemed to be accounted for. “What is that for?” I asked, pointing at what looked like a calendar on the wall. It had scribbles on it that ran about a month back. “That is our rotating cooking schedule,” explained Mage, “Brown came up with it after, uhh… Someone,” he furtively glanced towards Crimson, “forgot about their turn to prepare dinner once.” I nodded and finished my inspection of the kitchen, with no further observations. Once we stepped into the adjoining dining hall, Magenta let out a small laugh he had been repressing. “Rule and Crimson make such a great couple, don’t you think?” I nodded. “They have an interesting dynamic, for sure.” “They really love each other, in their own way” said Mage with a wistful smile. “Although they do bicker a lot. Their spats seem to have grown more frequent lately.” “Oh? I wonder why,” I murmured, as I looked around the dining hall. My attention was immediately drawn to an object I didn’t recognize. I should probably describe the room first: it was spacious and elegant, with a variety of paintings, windows and tapestries embellishing the walls. A sturdy oaken table occupied the center of the room. It wasn’t too big, but could be expanded to accommodate more people if needed - presumably in the rare event that multiple guests visited the outpost. An additional chair had already been prepared for me at the table; other spare chairs were stored in a corner and they looked as elegant and expensive as seemed to be the norm here. However, the most striking feature of the room was without a doubt the musical instrument that was standing by the far wall. It looked like an ethereal mix between a

harp and a pipe organ, beautifully engraved with an arboreal motif. I had never witnessed such exquisite craftsmanship before. On a hunch, I observed it through my Lens: sure enough, it appeared to be enchanted. “What is that?” I asked Magenta, who seemed to be rather proud of my enraptured contemplation of the mysterious instrument. He quickly looked away before answering my question: “You are looking at a soulstring. Beautiful, right?” “Oh, I’ve heard of it before. It’s some kind of traditional elven instrument, right? If I’m not mistaken, it produces such a moving music that it directly affects the emotional state of the listener.” “That is a bit of a crude way to put it, but yes, you are correct,” said Mage. “Although as you can imagine, only the most skilled performers are able to achieve such an effect. It is a rare, delicate and extremely valuable instrument, that requires countless years of practice to learn and many decades to master.” “I’m impressed that you have something like this here at Bright Spot,” I remarked, thinking back on what Brown had told me about the outpost. A golden exile, indeed. “I would be interested in hearing it in action during my stay. I assume one of you can play it, right?” “You can ask Midnight, I am sure she would be willing to give you a demonstration after dinner,” he replied. He smiled affectionately. “She has got no passion for music, but through sheer grit and determination, she was able to learn to play the soulstring as part of her strict Aelven Court traditional education.” “Grit and determination? More like stubbornness and desperation, Mage” said an amused voice from behind us. We turned around and, sure enough, the princess-leader herself stepped into the dining hall. “Dinner should be ready at any moment now, but if you insist, I will play you a song later. Just don’t expect too much, or you might be disappointed” she added with a wry smile. I smiled in return and nodded. “I would like that very much, Midnight.”

---

A few minutes later, all six of us were seated around the dining table, in front of an abundant meal. Everyone respectfully waited for Midnight to start eating before diving into the food. Horizontal leadership or not, her unquestioned authority showed itself even in these little things. Then again, perhaps it was just an example of elven cultural attachment to tradition and routines. Even though there was no lack of food, it frankly looked a bit plain. The taste wasn’t too good either: the soup was bland and the bluebread a bit burnt, among other issues. Still, I could sympathise with Crimson, for I wasn’t much of a cook either. Our dinner conversation was stilted, except for Rule’s usual boisterousness. “I am so proud of you for your progress, Cri-Cri! The food is not too terrible this time around. You see? I just had to watch over you and give you a few pointers!” She looked annoyed, but ignored her husband and kept eating. Undeterred, he continued with his attempts to elicit a reaction from her. “You act all tough, but you’re so thoughtful and kind-hearted inside! You even prepared some extra food to make our wonderful detective feel warm and welcome.” “Don’t flatter our guest. I only cooked so much because we had a batch of vegetables in stock that looked like they might go bad soon,” she stated dryly. “Oooh, you’re so callous! Such beauty and cruelty! You could have supported my brilliant narrative, but instead decided to crush it with the cold, harsh truth…” “Tomorrow will be your turn to cook, so our ‘wonderful detective’ might be able to experience some decent food. Now stop talking. Or breathing, if you prefer.” I couldn’t help but smile at their banter.

Once dinner was over, we all thanked Crimson. Magenta then announced that Midnight would be playing the soulstring to entertain me. Upon hearing that, Brown clapped his hands with a delighted expression, Rule loudly intoned his thanks and even Crimson seemed to perk up at the news. We all sat waiting and sure enough, the princess started playing a captivating melody on the delicate instrument. It came out a bit haltingly at first, but gradually set into a steady rhythm. I closed my eyes and let the magic wash over me. It was very faint, but I could distinctly perceive Midnight’s emotions affecting me for a moment. It was a mixture of emptiness and longing, of ambition and determination. Sure enough, I felt my butterfly tattoo itching slightly. After a while, the music stopped. I opened my eyes and applauded along with the others. After giving my thanks for the performance and bidding my farewell, I walked towards my guest room to retire for the night.

--- As I was lying in the comfortable but unfamiliar bed, I went over the day’s events in my mind. I was feeling quite frustrated. I had no leads and absolutely no idea about what was going on at Bright Spot. Was something bad really about to happen? Or was this all just an elaborate prank, or test, or conspiracy of some sort? I was clearly missing something… But what? It all came back to the initial mystery that led me here. Who was the author of the mysterious message, and what was their purpose? What about the dangerous discovery it mentioned? According to my estimates, it had already been a month since the supply caravan left Bright Spot with the letter. Had the trail gone cold already? I took a deep breath, trying to calm my thoughts. I needed to approach this situation from a logical standpoint.

Tenjack and his squad had already questioned everyone and searched everywhere without getting any results whatsoever, so the answer wasn’t going to be something obvious. Why had nobody admitted to writing the letter? When I found out about the soulstring, I was initially very excited: this could be the key to everything, I thought! But once I experienced Midnight’s music, I realized that it was just a fairly weak emotional projection effect. Perhaps a masterful virtuoso performance might be enough to strongly affect the listener’s emotional state, but it would still be a far-cry from the full-blown mind control that I had imagined. Not to mention that, unless a first-rate soulstring player was hiding among the five of them, even such a strong projection would be impossible. There was only one way to proceed: continue my investigation, keep an open mind and don’t give up. This wasn’t the first baffling case I ever had to deal with, after all. Even if all else failed, perhaps I would at least find the other bird-patterned sock!

--- I woke up shortly after dawn; after freshening up a bit, I had some breakfast, thinking about my plans for the day. I had three main objectives to accomplish. First, to perform a blanket search of the premises, including the dig, the vault and around the fence’s perimeter. I wasn’t too optimistic given the previous failure of the search squad, but I still had to try. Next, I wanted to conduct a more thorough inspection of everyone’s private rooms and studies. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I planned to interrogate the five suspects one by one, in a private setting. As I had previously agreed upon with Midnight, I would be meeting with Crimson at the entrance. The grumpy mercenary would be my escort during the initial search. Since I had some time left before I was supposed to meet her, I decided to examine the storage area at the back of the mansion. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be an utterly uninteresting search: all I could find was a bunch of supplies that you’d expect to find in such a luxurious outpost in the northern wilderness. The storage was of course very

well-furnished, almost excessively so, but that seemed to be the trend at Bright Spot. Brown truly wasn’t joking around when he told me about his efforts to make sure everyone’s needs were provided for. What a meticulous administrator! Hopefully my presence wouldn’t mess up his calculations too much. Satisfied with my inspection, I exited the mansion from the storage area’s back entrance. A pleasant chilly breeze caressed my face as I made my way to the front entrance, where Crimson would be waiting for me. “Good morning” I offered upon nearing her. She nodded curtly in response and thus, my full tour of Bright Spot began. If viewed from above, the outpost as a whole was roughly shaped as a triangle whose sides consisted of the protective blacksteel fence. Each side was about a kilometer long, or two thirds of a mile. The mansion stood near one of the three vertices, while the dig and a garbage disposal area occupied the other two. Three smaller structures were located at the halfway points along the triangle’s sides: there was a barn between the mansion and the dig, a tool shed between the dig and the dump and a small greenhouse between the dump and the mansion. Right at the center of the triangle was the secure vault, where all the loot and findings from the ruins were stored, waiting to be delivered to the joint human-elven auction. The plan was for Crimson to escort me for a full tour along the fence’s perimeter, then back to the dig. There, Magenta would show me around the ruins. Finally, Midnight would lead me to the vault and graciously allow me to conduct a brief inspection there. As expected, we found no holes or signs of tampering of any kind along the fence. As far as I could tell, the protective wards were also flawless. It truly was an impressive security system. “This is not surprising” coldly explained Crimson. “I regularly patrol around the fence to verify its structural integrity and Magenta does the same to check on the wards.” The greenhouse had nothing noteworthy to it: as Crimson explained, it basically just served as an emergency reservoir of food and herbal medicine. Brown was the one who tended to it, as he enjoyed gardening.

Next, I waded through the trash in the garbage disposal area, which was really just a dumping stockpile covered by a simple roof. What I observed there was, of course, just a bunch of trash, more or less corresponding to what I expected based on the supplies I had previously found in the storage area. It was a thankless endeavour and I almost retched several times from the disgusting smell of rotten food. Blergh. Once I was satisfied with my fruitless search, I threw my now-compromised trench coat and gloves into the pile and rubbed my boots on a small patch of snow left under a bush nearby. What a waste… At least I didn’t find any traces of discarded weapons, mysterious body parts or even worse, of plague doctor costumes. But even though my garbage dive ended up being a disgusting, skin-crawling and useless stunt, at least I gained some respect from Crimson, after she witnessed how willing I was to get down and dirty when the situation called for it. She even offered me some deodorant powder from one of her many pouches. “Thought you might need it” she simply said in response to my surprised stare. Next was the tool shed. Again, I only found what I had been told to expect: various tools and gear, all related to the digging operations and to exploring the ruins. Some of these things could be used for nefarious purposes, I thought, but why bother? That was assuming a crime would occur under my watch, which would be rather reckless for any potential culprit. And yet, my constant sense of unease persisted. We continued on, bypassing the dig for the moment, and kept walking along the fence, turning back towards the mansion. Before reaching it, we briefly stopped to inspect the barn. Again, nothing suspicious there: just a dozen chickens in a pen and a stable inhabited by five healthy-looking horses. One of them looked at me with an almost sad expression. Could it be a clue? I was getting a bit desperate, so I was willing to cling to anything at this point. “Rule is the one in charge of the barn, right?” I asked Crimson. “The horses are in good shape, but this one seems a bit depressed.” She nodded. “My husband tends to the animals and is a good handler. However, Brown doesn’t know how to ride, so the fifth horse is a spare. We often go for rides in the wilderness around the outpost. He’s probably just sad to be left out.” She didn’t seem to

particularly care either way, but I felt a bit bad for the poor horse. Perhaps noticing my expression, she gave me a small smirk. “Feel free to take him out for a ride if you’re so inclined.” “I’ll pass, thanks” I replied, rather surprised at her brief display of an emotion that differed from her usual indifference or scorn. Perhaps she was starting to warm up to me, in her own way. After finishing our perimeter-tour, we walked back to the dig area, where Magenta and Midnight were waiting for us.

--- Up until now, I had been picturing the ruins as some sort of large crater, where the archaeology team would dig out Forgotten buildings and objects. Instead, I was presented with an unassuming hatch in a grassy field. As Mage explained, it was the entrance to a tunnel that led to an ancient underground complex, only a limited part of which had been excavated and explored so far. The lack of structural integrity in the half-collapsed hallways and the presence of still working traps and other security measures made for a slow and halting progress. Luckily for my investigation, all of the unexplored parts of the ruins were sealed off by rubble or by massive steel slabs. It was unthinkable that anybody could be hiding deeper into the facility, or that these unexplored tunnels could be part of some kind of scheme. As we made our way through the explored parts of the ruins, Magenta passionately blabbed on about their findings so far and how they related to Forgotten lore, with occasional interjections by Midnight. According to their theory, the ancient facility had originally been some sort of military storage unit, which explained the unusually high concentration of traps and security wards even for a Forgotten ruin. They also mentioned having discovered a couple of still functioning ancient weapon-like relics among the other findings, which immediately caught my interest given the content of the note. I resolved to ask more about them later.

As expected, I ended up finding nothing suspicious during our tour of the dig. The traps had all been disarmed by now and while the place was rather unsettling, with some truly screwy geometry and crooked hallways, I was careful enough not to bump into any wall. After thanking Crimson and Magenta for their assistance, I followed Midnight out and we headed towards the central vault. On our way there, I asked her more questions about the dig. According to the princess, nobody was allowed to enter the tunnels unattended, herself included. Thanks to this policy, only a few minor accidents had occurred over the course of the past four years of excavation and exploration of the ruins, and thanks to Rule’s medical expertise, nobody on the archaeological team had ever incurred any lasting harm from any of these accidents. “What about the dangerous relics that Magenta mentioned?” I asked next. “Are they still kept in the vault?” Midnight shook her head. “The yearly high-security transport convoy emptied the vault just two months ago. It was the most valuable cargo since the start of this project. Everything has most likely been auctioned off by now.” Two months ago, huh? The mysterious letter had left Bright Spot a month ago along with the supply caravan. Unless the message had been written a full month prior to it being entrusted to the traders, it couldn’t have been referring to those relics. Of course, there was another possibility. “Has any other mysterious relic been uncovered since then?” I asked my guide. She considered the question and shook her head again. “None. Our progress has been slow as of late, but that’s not unusual in this line of work. You never know what you will find, or if you’ll even find anything.” I sighed. “Right, that’s a sentiment I can relate to. So, the vault is empty right now?” “Mostly empty” she replied, “except for some pottery that we recently unearthed. Not the most significant finding, but it might be valuable for a collectionist.”

Soon after, we arrived at our destination. The vault was perfectly cube-shaped and not too imposing: it was about as big as the mansion’s parlor, I estimated. Like the outer fence, it was made of blacksteel, a sturdy material that allowed for reliable protective wards. With a cursory glance, I could already detect an impressive array of magical security measures engraved on the cube’s faces. Subverting them would require a huge amount of time, skill and effort. I circled around the cube and found no apparent entries, except for a small pedestal in front of one of its faces. Midnight approached the pedestal and took out her necklace. Attached to its silver chain was the flower-shaped brooch, whose ivory petals made for a striking contrast with her dark hair. She pulled on the side of the brooch to reveal a hollow interior, which contained a small key. After gently sliding the key into a tiny hole on the pedestal, she turned it twice. With a smooth rumble, a door-sized section of the wall in front of us slid into the ground, revealing an opening. I stepped inside, followed by Midnight. “I’ll keep an eye on the entrance while you take a look around,” she told me. The vault’s interior was illuminated by a crystal on the ceiling. When I entered, my attention was caught by some large vases placed in a corner. As I slowly got closer to examine them, I almost stumbled on an empty sheath. I let out a sigh, rubbing my neck in frustration. I needed to stay concentrated… The investigation was already going badly enough without me tripping and potentially breaking some ancient pottery in the process. The vases looked pretty enough, but they were empty and didn’t seem to have any special properties, as Midnight had told me. I looked around through my Lens, but I couldn’t find any opening in the room or any suspicious clue. “I think I’m done here” I announced dejectedly. Midnight nodded and we both exited the vault. Following this inspection, my search of the premises was all but over. I hadn’t quite checked over the entire area enclosed within the fence, as it would have taken me far too long to do so on my own, but I knew Tenjack’s squad had already combed over it without finding anything.

I cast my worries away and tried to appear more confident than I felt. “I’ll go back to the mansion to finish my search” I told Midnight. “Thanks for assisting my investigation, I appreciate it.” “I’m glad to help, detective” she replied with a charming smile. “As I’ve told you, I have my doubts on this whole business, but I guarantee that everyone at Bright Spot will do their best to aid you.” Her gaze was penetrating and a bit disconcerting: it felt as if the twin pools of inky darkness of her eyes were staring straight into my soul. Her charisma was undeniable. And yet as a detective, it was my duty to remain unbiased by such declarations. After all, my job was to doubt the suspects, not to believe in them. “I will see you later for the interrogation, then” I told her. “Good luck at the dig.” “Thank you. Good luck with your search.” I smiled at her words. Yeah, I was definitely in need of some luck.

--- When I stepped back into the mansion, the first thing I did was to take a hot bath to wash the grime and sweat off my body. After putting a change of clothes on, I was feeling much better already. It was time to figure this mystery out, before things could get any more complicated. As instructed by Midnight, all the rooms in the mansion had been left unlocked to facilitate my search. I decided to start by inspecting Brown’s chambers, since they were right next to my guest room. For a noble and high ranking diplomat, his room was surprisingly bare of luxuries. It was spacious, cozy and comfortable, sure, but there were no gold-plated pieces of furniture or other such eccentricities that most high-born people of Yuu-Men tended to adopt to flaunt their status.

Other than an amusingly high amount of brown pieces of clothing in his closet, the room was fairly boring. Which to be honest, was in line with the fairly boring personality he had displayed during our prior conversation. Still, I noticed two interesting things. The first was a small framed portrait that was placed on top of his elegant wooden end table. It pictured a well-dressed woman and a smiling young girl. A wife and a daughter, perhaps? Or a mother and a sister? It was hard to tell; it depended on when the portrait had been commissioned. Still, it was interesting that a man would be willing to leave his loved ones behind to voluntarily exile himself among elves in the northern wilderness. Unless, of course, he was running away from something... The second thing was some sort of framed letter or message, hanging on the wall in plain sight from the entrance. It was written in elven ideograms and appeared to be some kind of congratulatory birthday note. I counted four signatures, which unlike the message were in the common alphabet: ‘Night’, ‘Rule’, ‘Mage’ and ‘Crimson’. Interesting. This note probably meant a lot to him, but sadly, its handwriting did not correspond to that of the mysterious letter I carried with me. I exited the room, clasping my hands behind my neck as I slowly walked towards the common area, deep in thought. I had a hunch that Brown’s complicated feelings of longing and desire weren’t going to be exclusive to him. I resolved to find out more about everyone’s reasons to subject themselves to Bright Spot’s golden exile over the course of my interviews. If I wanted to disentangle the web of relationships among the crew, I’d have to delve into each suspect’s inner psyche. Delicately prodding into people’s hearts wasn’t exactly my specialty, but a detective always has to adapt to the circumstances. I reached Brown’s office and knocked on his door. A few seconds later, I heard his deep voice beckoning me in. “I hope I’m not about to be arrested,” he joked as he noticed my thoughtful expression, letting out his usual chuckle. “Not yet!” I declared. “But I’d like to take a look at your study first.”

“Oh? Sure, why not. I’ll be waiting in the parlor, then.” After he left me alone in the office, I glanced at the pile of paperwork on the desk and sighed. This was going to take a while.

--- About an hour later, I called out to Brown, who was sipping tea while reading a novel in the parlor. After closing his book, he stood up and followed me into the hallway. Since I’d be interrogating five people today, I had decided to temporarily borrow one of the unclaimed offices in the common area as my base of operations. The room I had chosen had just a desk, a small couch and a couple of armchairs in it. The walls were adorned by a pretty tapestry depicting a field of daisies, which would hopefully contribute to setting a relaxing atmosphere. I had already placed the couch in front of the desk. Simple detective technique: make them relax, but keep them under your watchful gaze at all times! I invited Brown to sit on the couch and took my place behind the desk. “Thanks for joining me, Mr. Brown. Please relax and allow me to ask you a few questions. Let’s start with an easy one: is this your handwriting?“ I asked him, taking the mysterious letter out of my pocket with a flourish. He seemed rather taken aback, but didn’t give any signs of panic or guilt away. He took the note and examined it. “Hmm. These are flawless elven ideograms, indeed. Are you aware that I’m not an elf?” he said jokingly. “As a self-proclaimed foremost human expert on elven lore, I’m sure this level of writing proficiency is well within your grasp.” Brown sighed. “Well, I suppose it would be foolish to deny it. Yes, with some practice, I

would probably be able to forge a convincing imitation of an elven calligraphy. But why would I do it?” “That’s the big question, isn’t it?” I replied with a shrug. “But no worries, I’m not accusing anybody for now. By the way, what can you tell me about elven calligraphy in general?” Predictably, his face lit up at the chance to deliver some tidbits of elven culture. “As you know, Aelv shares our same language. However, they prefer an ideographic writing system to our own alphabetical system. This way, the act of writing itself becomes an art, that’s perfected over decades and through which they express their own individuality...” I cleared my throat. “Yeah, that’s very interesting, but what I need to know is: how hard would it be for an elf to change their own handwriting to a different one?” Brown looked at me with compassion. “It would be trivial for most elves, I’m sorry to inform you. Just a few touches would be enough to completely alter one’s writing style. Just as easily as they change pseudonyms, elves are in principle capable of adopting new handwritings. However, they are generally attached to their own calligraphy, which means they’d need a good reason to change it.” “Such as sending an anonymous note” I grumbled. He nodded solemnly. “Indeed. Now you see the problem.” “Well, still doesn’t hurt to check, I suppose. Anyways, let’s switch to a different topic. Is it true that you cannot ride a horse?” “That is correct. I’ve always been rather terrified of horses, I confess. I was escorted to Bright Spot on a carriage, so that I wouldn’t have to stay close to one.” I nodded. Irrational fears could be hard to deal with. “Alright, next question. How do you like to spend your free time here at the outpost?” “My free time, oh? Each moment that I’m away from paperwork feels like free time to me,” he chuckled. “But to answer your question, I enjoy reading elven novels and

working on my treatise on elven culture. Of course, interacting with the elven crew is always a pleasure. Playing cards with them is really fun and listening to the soulstring is truly inspiring. Hmm, I also do some gardening each morning.” “I see,” I replied noncommittally. He really was obsessed with elves. Perhaps it was a good time to follow up with a potentially important question. “How do you feel about each of your fellow Bright Spot dwellers?” Sensing his hesitation, I added “I won’t judge, no need to be shy.” After collecting his thoughts, Brown started sharing his opinions. “Rule is fun, I like him. He’s a bit loud and whimsical at times, but he brings some much needed levity to our otherwise rather dour group. He can be a bit over-flirty, but he respects boundaries.” He raised his left hand to display a ring on his finger. “Although me and my wife are separated, I am still married to her.” That probably explained the portrait I had found in his room. “Speaking of wives,” he continued, “Crimson is a bit scary, and seems to only really care about her husband. Still, I respect her. Her general indifference feels better than a lack of acceptance. And while it happens rarely, sometimes she shares stories about her experiences as a soldier and mercenary. They’re always riveting tales. Midnight is incredible. She’s the force that propels everything at Bright Spot forward. She is determined and authoritative without coming across as arrogant. I already told you about her horizontal leadership philosophy, which I admire. As an example of that, she insisted on being included in our scheduled cooking rotations despite her noble standing. Magenta… Well, he’s an elf, so of course I can’t hate him. Still, he can be quite an obsessive person, and he clearly doesn’t like me.” Brown sighed and after a moment of hesitation, continued talking. “I once overheard him complaining to Midnight about how pathetic I was in trying to act like an elf. ‘I don’t have anything against humans, but it creeps me out to see him trying so hard to blend in, when he knows perfectly well he’ll never be one of us,’ he said.

Midnight lightly chided him in response, but she didn’t deny his claims outright. I think Mage’s hostility is affecting the others and creating a barrier between us. Well, you know what? I think he’s the pathetic one here!” he suddenly exclaimed. “At least I’m not constantly pining over the unrequited love of my life!” Perhaps you two are more similar than you think, I would have liked to tell him, but I kept my silence and let him speak on. With Brown sitting on the couch in front of me while pouring his heart out, I was starting to feel more like a therapist than a detective. Well, I’d gladly take that role on if that was what it took to solve this case. “That’s right,” Brown animatedly continued to air his grievances, “he’s always looking like a lovestruck puppy and stealing glances at his dearest princess when he thinks no one’s looking. But everyone knows. And he has the gall to tell me I’m pathetic?” He suddenly seemed to realize what was going on and looked away with an embarrassed expression. “Sorry for my outburst, detective. That was unbecoming of me.” I smiled indulgently and waved my hand. “Don’t worry, I’m glad you’re being honest.” I callously decided that now was the best time to bring out the bombshell I held in reserve, to catch him off guard during this moment of emotional vulnerability. “By the way, as I was examining the records you keep in your study, I found some… Inconsistencies in your ledgers. Care to tell me what those are about?” I tossed him a leather-bound accounting book. For the first time, Brown looked extremely flustered and indignant. “Wha… What? That’s insane! A-are you seriously accusing me, of all people, of cooking the books?” I shrugged apologetically. “I’m no accountant, but even I was able to spot some missing entries in the expenditures sections. They’re quite glaring.” He started flipping through the pages and visibly paled. “What is going on here? Where the hell did these unnamed expenditures come from?”

“To be fair, it’s only for a small amount of entries, but they occur with a certain regularity in your ledgers. They all list an expense without a reason for it. Either it’s the most honest form of embezzlement I’ve ever seen, or something fishy is going on here.” “I… I’m honestly at a loss for words. I update these ledgers on a monthly basis and am very meticulous about it. There’s no way such a glaring mistake escaped me all along! And it would be even more ludicrous to suggest I’ve done this intentionally. Any review board would instantly catch this pathetic attempt at embezzling funds!” “Assuming they could decipher your shorthand in the first place,” I joked to lower the tension. “Anyways, if you’re telling the truth, it seems to me there’s only one possible explanation here.” His face darkened. “You’re right. Someone must have broken into my study and erased the subjects of some of the entries. But why? Who would benefit from messing up the ledgers? Could it be a prank? Surely even Magenta wouldn’t go so far as to actually sabotage me…” “Do you usually keep your study locked?” “No, not really,” he admitted. “I’ve never had reason to do so before.” “Do you remember what these entries could have been about?” Brown shook his head. “I have no idea, honestly. There’s just too many regular expenses to keep track of, between supplies of all kinds, salaries, permits and so on.” “Well then, be sure to let me know if you figure it out,” I said in a soothing tone. “Allow me to ask you a final question before I send you on your way. Mr. Brown, what does this project mean to you? What keeps you here at Bright Spot despite everything you’ve left behind?” He took a long pause to ponder the question. “Sometimes it’s easier to escape from your problems than to face them head on. I have always dreamed to live among elves and when the opportunity presented itself, I had no hesitation in leaving my failed

marriage and my boring post behind. Being part of this project has been inspiring and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. However...I won’t deny that in the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about going back. I miss home, and I feel lonely here. At times, I used to feel like I was really part of the crew, such as when Midnight wrote me a birthday message signed by everyone last year. I was so happy back then. But now, I mostly feel excluded…” He chuckled sadly. “Who knows, perhaps I’ve just stopped deluding myself.” Well, that ended on a downer. “Thank you for your honesty, Mr. Brown. No need to be so hard on yourself. I have to continue with my investigation now, but if you think of anything else or figure out the ledger mystery, please do not hesitate to share.” Brown awkwardly scratched his head and rose from the couch. “Thank you for listening to the ramblings of an old soul, detective Kai. I do feel better now and I will pray for your success.”

--- Since Rule was also supposed to be in the mansion at this point in time, I decided to inspect his and Crimson’s room next after having some lunch. Rule had prepared some snacks for me since it was his turn to cook for the day; they tasted pretty good. For the first time, I stepped onto the first floor of the mansion. It consisted of a single hallway that led from the central staircase to a balcony. Apart from the large window that opened into the balcony, there were four doors along the hallway: two on the left side and two on the right. Crimson and Cerulean’s bedchamber was the first one on the right. The room was larger than Brown’s, but not excessively so. I was immediately shocked by the style of decoration: the walls were covered in weapons. Literally. Bows, crossbows, swords, axes, revolvers and rifles were fastened to the walls along with more exotic weaponry, instead of the usual paintings and tapestries. A mercenary’s dream, as well as a detective’s nightmare, I thought bitterly. Potential culprit, come and choose your dream weapon! However, this room would surely be kept locked at all

times… Except for today, to ease my investigation. I resolved to ask Rule to lock it up again as soon as I was done with my inspection. Nothing seemed to be missing, at least. Appropriately enough, the ceiling was adorned by a tapestry depicting a cerulean sky, with a crimson sun proudly shining in the middle of it. Other than a large and comfortable but slightly disheveled looking double bed, the only other pieces of furniture were a few closets and cupboards distributed along the walls. I started going through them. One closet was full of military grade leather uniforms, another of fancy robes such as the ones Rule favored. A cupboard was full of bullets, arrowheads and other ammo of various kinds. Another stored whips, manacles and… There was probably no need to examine that one too closely. Ultimately, I left the room with a sense of disappointment. While it was definitely as crazy and eclectic as the mercenary couple appeared to be, it seemed to be devoid of truly personal touches, such as Brown’s portrait and framed message. If the room’s occupants were hiding any secrets, I would have to find out by talking to them. Well, it was just about time to fetch Rule. I headed down towards his own study in the common area and knocked on the door. After a moment of pause, I heard a boisterous voice inviting me in. I stepped in and found Rule hanging upside down from a medical closet, his legs perched on the top of it. He was also shirtless, for some reason. “I was just exercising a bit, my dearest detective!” He boasted, pulling himself up and down and displaying a rather impressive set of defined muscles. “Hmm. As a detective, it is my duty to see through falsehoods. By the presence of that hastily discarded cloak in the corner and by the absence of sweat on your brow, I deduce that you just started exercising in order to show off… As soon as you heard my knock on the door! Hence the pause before your answer! What do you say to that, Rule?”

He let out a small shriek and pretended to fall to the ground in shock, although he landed as gracefully as a snowcat. “I am caught! I am exposed! Have mercy, great detective!” I laughed and told him to get up. “By the way, feel free to put your shirt back on. Detectives are immune to seduction techniques, don’t you know that?” He complied while playfully grumbling about my being ‘no fun’. In the meantime, I looked around in Rule’s medical study. It had a medical bed, a desk, a closet and a few cabinets, most likely containing medicines and supplies of various kinds. Since I wouldn’t know what half of them were for, I asked him to give me a brief tour and he happily complied. Again, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, other than it being an unusually well supplied top-of-the-line study. In addition to all kinds of medicine, it even had what appeared to be a valuable enchanted prosthetic finger. “Is anyone here missing a finger?” I asked Rule with a raised eyebrow. All of the elves wore gloves, but the prosthetic looked realistic enough I probably wouldn’t be able to tell either way. “Not as far as I know!” He replied with a grin. “...Why do you have it, then?” He laughed and lightly touched the prosthetic finger, which creepily wiggled around in response. “Cool, isn’t it? Besides, it’s always better to be prepared. You never know when you might need a replacement…” he added with a wink. I sighed. “I suppose I can’t really argue with that. Anyways, could anything here be used for sinister purposes?” I immediately realized that it had been a foolish question. Rule laughed cheerfully. “The real question is, could anything here not be used in such a way? Even the most innocuous of sleeping draughts has the potential to put you forever asleep! It’s all about the dosage, my dearest detective. However,” he added with a smug smile, “fear not, for I keep this room locked when I’m absent! I’d never forgive myself if I allowed my lovely companions to suffer the consequences of my own carelessness!”

“How responsible. This reminds me that we should head back to your room to lock it. It wouldn’t do to leave so many weapons at everyone’s disposal.” “Oh, but we like to keep it unlocked!” he replied nonchalantly. “...What?!” “Just kidding” he said, winking at me. “Let’s go! By the way, did you check inside our ‘forbidden cupboard’?” I covered my face with my hand and sighed. I had fallen right into that one, hadn’t I.

--- A few minutes later, we were in my temporary office. Rule was comfortably lounging on the couch, glancing around to look at the tapestry. I was sitting at the desk, thinking of a good way to start the questioning. I was struck by a flash of inspiration. I put my hand in my pocket… And dramatically pulled the mysterious bird-themed sock out, brandishing it like a declaration of war. “Cerulean! Do you know this sock?” “It’s that bird sock! Of course I know it. You stole it from the washroom!” “I’m just borrowing it.” “That’s what every thief says!” “What sort of detective would also be a thief?” “That’s a good point.” I sighed. As amusing as this kind of banter was, I really needed this conversation to be more serious. I told Rule as much and he laughed.

“Alright, alright. You want to know about the sock? I think it was a little over a month ago: after doing some laundry, I hung the clothes to dry and only found a single sock of that pair. At the time, I assumed someone had accidentally put a lone sock in the laundry bin. However, a few days later, I found its matching sock stuck in one of the washing machine’s nooks and crannies. Since the first sock had already been reclaimed, I hung the other in the same spot the first one had occupied, but it hasn’t been claimed since then for some reason.” “Truly mysterious. Why would anyone claim the first sock, but not the second?” I asked. “By the way, it’s not your sock, right?” He shook his head. “I’m sure it’s not mine nor Crimson’s. Since it looks like an elven sock, I suppose it must belong to Night or Mage. Unless it’s involved in some weird fetish of Brown’s.” I laughed at the thought. The other sock hadn’t yet turned up during my room inspections, so I was inclined to agree with him. “Alright Rule, next question. Did you write the mysterious message?” “No, it’s not my style.” I asked for a sample of his usual handwriting and confronted it with the note. It didn’t match. “How do you like to spend your free time here at Bright Spot?” I asked next, following a similar script to my previous interview. “Oh, there are many activities I’m fond of! It’s wonderful to go riding and hunting in the wilderness with my sweet Cri-Cri, on our off days. We also enjoy practicing shooting and wrestling in the field close by. I’m the better shot, but she’s by far deadlier in hand-to-hand combat! Hmm, what else. Sometimes I like cooking and making snacks. It’s not too different from preparing medicines, you know? Oh, and of course I love playing chess, but I also like to gamble and to play billiards with the others.”

I smiled. “Sounds like you’re enjoying your time here. What you think about the other Bright Spot residents?” “Let me think! First, we have my beloved Cri-Cri. You’ve met her: she’s marvelous and she kicks ass. What other words could do her justice? We also have our wonderful Night! She’s a beauty and a great leader, I’m happy to work for her. She’s very driven and determined to make this project a success. If this ends well, I think she has a good shot at being reinstated at court and perhaps even leading Aelv later down the road. I’ve been flirting with her lately, but she just smiles back with her enigmatic gaze...” He put his hand over his heart. “It’s so tragic! If she wants to pursue a political career, she’s not allowed to love! A life without love is not a life worth living, if you ask me. Then there’s Mage. I like Mage, he’s cute and smart. But I know his heart is taken, so I won’t tease him. Another tragic soul, trapped in a cage of love! Sometimes he’s the wisest of us, sometimes the most foolish. I’ve seen him one night, spying into Night’s chambers with a longing gaze. That’s not the best way to express your love, not at all! Oh, and there’s Brown I suppose,” he added as an afterthought. “A rather weird fellow, but he’s alright. A good administrator, too. Not much else to say about him.” I thought carefully about my next question. Rule was being rather open towards me, so perhaps I should ask him an open question. “Say, Rule… Did you happen to notice anything strange or suspicious at all lately? I’m talking specifically about the last month or so.” “Hmm,” he reflected, “nothing terribly suspicious, no! But there have been a few bizarre occurrences. You already know about the sock and you’ve probably heard about those serious looking constables that mysteriously injured themselves two weeks ago. Poor dears, I was the one to fix them up. Then of course, there’s the matter of the weather.” “What about it?” “I feel like it’s been a bit warmer than usual lately for this time of the year.”

“...” “What’s the matter, illustrious investigator?” “...” “I know my good looks and charm can be captivating, detective, but perhaps you might want to continue with your interrogation instead of just staring at me?” I sighed. “Never mind. Thank you for your ‘insight’, I’m sure it will end up being a valuable lead. Allow me to ask you one last question, of a more personal nature. How do you feel about your life here at Bright Spot?” Rule took some time to think, while performing a handstand on the couch. “I’ll be honest, things have been rather dull lately. Your arrival shook things up a bit, but you’ll probably be gone soon and I can’t help but feel restless at times. When my wife first dragged me here it seemed like a fantastic idea: the pay is great and the risk minimal compared to our usual missions! There’s also comfort, good food and wonderful companions, plus Brown. However, I feel like something has been missing lately. To be blunt, I’ve been feeling less inspired and more bored. Perhaps I’m just hearing the call to adventure again after four years of peace. Or perhaps, my overflowing love is in need of new targets!” Starting with a joke and ending with a joke, what a Rule-like interview.

--- I took a tea break, since the three from the archaeology squad were supposed to come back anytime now. It was still early in the afternoon, but Midnight had offered to return earlier so that I could proceed with my interviews. As soon as they arrived, I asked Crimson to follow me to my temporary office. Since I had already inspected her room, I figured I might as well get her interrogation done next.

After we entered the room, Crimson sat on the couch, her posture rigid and straight. As I sat down behind my desk, I realized there was no way I was going to get her to relax. I decided to adopt a different strategy instead. “Alright, I’m sure you want to make it quick. How about we treat this interview like a military debriefing of sorts?” She nodded, an impassive expression on her face. “Agreed. Ask me short and concise questions and you’ll get short and concise answers.” “Alright, let’s begin,” I declared. “Do you recognize this sock?” “No.” “Did you ever tamper with Brown’s ledgers, or know of anyone who might have done so?” “No.” “Can I have a sample of your handwriting to compare to this message? “Sure.” It didn’t match. “Favorite free time activities?” “Riding, hunting, shooting with my husband. Billiards. Mahjong and cards, sometimes. Reading, mostly engineering books and novels. Soulstring music.” “Can you or your husband play it?” “No.” “Who can?”

“Just Midnight, I think. Magenta might know some basics, but I’ve never heard him play.” “Your thoughts on Brown?” “Decent guy. Competent at his job.” “Your husband?” “I love him fiercely. I only wish he weren’t so flirtatious.” “Are you jealous of him?” “Yes, very.” “What about Magenta?” “Timid, but likeable. Except when he’s acting like a stalker.” “Towards Midnight?” “Of course.” “Opinion on Midnight?” “Professionally? I respect her. She’s a good leader. Personally? Nothing against her, but I wish she turned Rule’s flirting down for good to make him stop. And the way she leads Magenta on is cruel.” “What makes you think she’s leading him on?” “They spend a lot of time together. He’s clearly lovestruck. She doesn’t seem to mind.” “I see.” I stroked my chin, considering my next question. “Have you noticed anything unusual lately?”

“People have been acting off in the last few weeks. Rule is being particularly obnoxious. Brown looks lonely. Midnight is acting melancholic. Magenta seems to be distracted and pensive.” “And what about you?” “I have been feeling rather unhappy, and bit more irritable than usual,” she admitted. “Hmm. Has anything out of the ordinary happened in the last month?” “Yes, actually. A month ago, I was framed for somebody else’s mistake.” “What are you talking about?” I asked, a bit shocked by this new development. Crimson started explaining with a frown. “On that evening, we were relaxing together after coming back from the dig, as we waited for dinner to be ready. But dinner never came: someone either forgot or pretended to forget it was their turn to cook for the day. After some discussion, everyone else professed their innocence and I was accused for the lack of dinner.” “But why didn’t you defend yourself, if you were innocent?” “I hate arguments. I told Rule it wasn’t my fault, he said it was alright and prepared a quick snack for everyone to solve the issue. On the next day, Brown came up with a calendar with a rigorous rotating schedule to follow. We haven’t had any issues since then. “Except for the food poisoning incident a few days later.” She shot me a dirty glare. “Anyways,” I said, hastily changing subjects. “My next question concerns the dig. Did you uncover any new relics lately?” Crimson seemed to reflect on it for a moment. “No, I don’t think we did.”

“Final question. What made you decide to live here at Bright Spot?” “The money, the comfort and the hope that there’d be nobody else for Rule to flirt with.” Fair enough, I thought.

--- I was back on the first floor hallway. I would be examining Magenta’s room next, which was the second door on the right. But first, I decided to take a look at the second door on the left. It was a guest room for visiting elves, but it hadn’t been used in over a year according to Midnight. Apparently, Bright Spot wasn’t the most popular destination among elves. I had a look inside and sure enough, it looked empty and unused. It most likely hadn’t been touched in a very long time and nobody had thought to hide any clues in it, to my disappointment. I noted that it was smaller than Rule and Crimson’s room. “Well, that was completely useless” I muttered as I exited the guest room. “Good job, Kai.” Next, I stepped into Magenta’s room. It was about as spacious as the previous guest room, with a simple bed occupying one corner. A medium sized closet, a cupboard and a small desk with a chair were the only other pieces of furniture, with the exception of the room’s most striking feature: bookshelves. Just as Rule and Crimson’s room had been full of weapons displayed on the walls, Mage’s walls were covered in shelves, which in turn were filled with books. The room was rather messy, with some books strewn about on the floor and others piled up on the desk. Initially, I didn’t find anything of note during my inspection of the room, although I learned that Mage was very fond of poetry, history books and mystery novels. But when I examined the desk, I found a secret compartment underneath it by noticing a discontinuity in the wooden frame. After prodding it delicately, a hidden drawer came out. “I bet he was hoping that I wouldn't find it...” I murmured.

And of course, what else could I find in such a secret drawer if not a stash of love letters? Well, perhaps love poems was a better description: I had the impression they weren’t intended to be read by their subject. The letters spoke of a burning passion, of an eternal love, for somebody referred to as ‘queen of my heart’. She was described as being ‘insightful, gentle and dazzling’ and yet ‘unreachable and distant’. According to one of the poems, his love was ‘destined to never bear fruit. Like a white rose snatched away by a raven, I’m lost in a snowstorm, under a moonless night.’ And so on and so forth. While it wasn’t too hard to figure out who the ‘night’ represented, I was a bit puzzled by the others bits. Didn’t white roses usually represent innocence? I should probably ask the author himself. Before putting the poems back in their place and leaving the room, I confronted their handwriting with that of the mysterious note. No dice, of course.

--- Magenta followed me into the interrogation room and sat on the couch. He was visibly fidgeting and avoiding my gaze. I gave him a reassuring smile. “Relax, Mage. No need to be so tense.” “Interviews always made me nervous…” he muttered. For a moment, he raised his pink eyes to meet mine. “Did you...?” I nodded solemnly. “Yes, I found the poems. Don’t worry though, I won’t mention them to the others, unless it’s absolutely needed for my investigation.” He sighed. “Thank you. I wouldn’t want them to get the wrong idea…” “What’s the right idea, then?” I asked him, raising my eyebrows. He shrugged and fidgeted, searching for the right words. “I think… I think that some of the others have this idea about me, that I am some sort of crazy obsessed person and

that I am madly in love with Midnight. However... They are mistaken. I mean, I love Night, of course. She has always been my best friend, and it is true that I used to have the greatest crush on her, back when we were younger. But then we grew up, and…” he paused, seemingly at a loss for words. “What about the poems, then?” I prodded him gently. “Are you telling me you wrote them back when you were enamored with her?” Mage sighed. “No, I have written the poems over the course of these last four years, but… It is all rather confusing and complicated. I have never been good at talking about my feelings. Maybe I should tell you more about our relationship, to make you understand?” I nodded wordlessly. “You see, after Night and I grew up together, our social standing brought us two separate ways. I come from a fairly wealthy family, but she is royalty. I studied history and arcane arts at the Aelven College, while she underwent her grueling Aelven Court education. My crush for her waned over the years, leaving just boundless affection and friendship between us. After all, I knew there was no possibility of my love ever coming to fruition: in order to attain a position of power at the Court, candidates are forbidden to be involved in romantic relationships. ‘Your love has to be directed to the realm’ and so on.” The pink-haired elf shrugged. “We all thought Night would rise to a prominent position of power someday. But then, she had a falling out with the High Council: she wanted to reject the strict boundaries imposed upon her and live a life of freedom. She drifted away from politics, and her archaeological expeditions grew more frequent. Four years ago, she was offered this position and invited me to join her.” “Why did Midnight accept this position?” Mage thoughtfully tapped his nose with his index finger. “There’s more than one reason, I think. For Night, Bright Spot represents many things: an exile, a passion project, but also a chance to prove herself to the Council by displaying her leadership in a delicate operation.”

“Hmm, I see. So you accepted her invitation, and by living in close proximity, your old feelings got rekindled, leading to you writing those poems? And to peek into her room, perhaps?” Magenta blushed and sighed again, looking away. “That only happened once… I am not sure why I did it, and I am not proud of it. However, you have to believe me: those poems came from genuine passion, but things are different now. Perhaps by writing all those poems, I was finally able to cast my forbidden feelings out.” “Are you saying that your love for Midnight has expired once again?” He shook his head. “My feelings for her have not changed: I still love Midnight, but it is love for a best friend and respect for a charismatic leader.” “I see,” I commented neutrally. I was a bit skeptical, but he sounded sincere enough, if a bit self-contradictory. I was starting to think that a psychologist might be more suited than a detective to make sense of Magenta’s confusing testimony. I decided to steer the interview in a less intimate direction by asking him about his hobbies. Mage told me that he spent most of his free time reading and researching Forgotten lore, but he also enjoying gambling with the others; he was especially good at mahjong. Every once in a while, he accompanied Midnight on panoramic rides. He also loved to listen to the soulstring. “Can you play it?” I asked him. He shook his head. “I learned some of the basics to try and impress Midnight back in the day,” he said with an affectionate smile, “but I haven’t practiced nearly enough since then.” Next, I asked him about his feelings on the other residents. Magenta claimed to be on good terms with the mercenary couple. He didn’t try to hide his disdain for Brown, but he seemed to be more condescending than outrightly hateful towards the administrator.

When I asked him about the past month, he told me that he had been too lost in his own thoughts to notice anything suspicious. He also claimed to be ignorant about the mysteries of the note, sock, ledgers and Crimson’s forgotten dinner. Since the interview seemed to be getting nowhere, I decided to switch to a different topic. “You are in charge of maintaining the security wards, yes? Could you tell me more about them?” Mage nodded. “Of course. There are three layers of wards engraved in the protective fence. What do you think the main threats to an outpost such as ours are?” I thought about it for a moment. “How about bandits and thieves, or else dangerous wild animals?” “Precisely. Therefore, we had to come up with security measures against both types of threats. And yet since the perimeter is quite extensive, we had to be efficient about it. The first layer is to defend ourselves against any threat with beast-like intellect. Our wards simply deflect any approaching animal’s attention. This way, instead of setting up defenses against various individual threats such as feral snowcats or murderselkies, we can just divert them away by turning the outpost into a blind spot for them. Of course, this effect wouldn’t work against intelligent threats, since such a measure would also turn visitors and traders away. Therefore, we came up with a different method to deal with those. Any approaching visitor will feel intimidated by our security fence, to the point where they won’t even attempt to overcome it. Naturally, there are also alarms in place, in case they attempt to cross it regardless.” I nodded. “I felt that intimidation too when I arrived. Very impressive. What about the third layer?” “The third layer’s purpose is to cover the entire area within the fence with a blanket anti-spellcasting field. This way, even if an intruder manages to get in, they would be no

match for Crimson and Rule. Moreover, there’s no risk of any spells or magic rituals interfering with the delicate mechanisms and relics within the ruins.” “In other words, since any active form of spellcasting is negated, enchanted objects such as the soulstring, the protective wards or the relics from the ruins are the only type of magic that works within Bright Spot, right??” “Indeed,” confirmed Mage. I was lucky that my magic-detecting tattoo and lens also counted as working enchantments, I thought. “Speaking of ancient relics. Can you tell me more about those dangerous weapons that you previously found at the dig?” Magenta seemed to hesitate. “I am not sure whether I am allowed to tell you about them, since our findings are supposed to remain confidential. I would prefer if you asked Midnight about it: she knows just as much as I do.” I decided to follow his advice. “Fair enough. Thanks anyways, Mage. Before I let you go, is there anything else you would like to share with me? Any thoughts about the last few weeks?” “Well… Yes, actually. To tell you the truth, I am a bit worried about Night,” he confessed. “I know her better than anyone. She’s such a driven person, but also very passionate. But lately, she seems to have lost part of her spark. She almost seems like a different person at times. And yet she’s also more… Focused, somehow. I don’t know how to explain it. Like she figured something out.” “That doesn’t sound too dissimilar from your experience, right?” “Yes, that might be true,” he admitted. “Ever since I grew out of my hopeless love, I have been feeling a mix between relief and emptiness. It is very peculiar.” “I appreciate your forthrightness, Mage. I have one last question for you. Why did you compare yourself to a white rose in your poems?”

Mage shrugged. “I am not sure. It just seemed like the right thing to write at the time, I guess. The first thing that comes to mind is Night’s favorite brooch: she carries it around all the time and it makes me think of her.” Of course, the brooch! “Interesting. Does it have any special meaning, as far as you know?” “It’s just her brooch… Isn’t that enough?” I sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time. I suppose it was foolish of me to expect actual answers.

--- Some time later, I was finally standing at the entrance to Midnight’s room. This would be the last stop in my investigation of Bright Spot, I thought with some trepidation. Would I find the answers I sought? At the very least, I intended to find out more about the reserved leader of the outpost. Upon entering, the first impression I had was of lavishness: it was definitely the most luxurious chamber in the entire mansion. The room was as big as Rule and Crimson’s, but decorated with beautiful paintings and draperies instead of weapons and trinkets. The ceiling was adorned by an elegant monochrome tapestry: it depicted a dark night sky, constellated by shining stars. The most impressive piece of furniture was a large and magnificent canopy bed placed in the middle of the room, certainly fit for a princess. I could only imagine how difficult and expensive it must have been to disassemble and transport it all the way here. Across the room, one of the walls was almost entirely occupied by three large closets. I carefully started searching through them, for I was still hoping to find the missing sock. In the first closet, I combed through many elegant and practical outfits, such as the one I had seen Midnight wear over the course of the past two days.

While searching the second closet, I was surprised at how mundane the garments stored therein looked in comparison. They were simple, colorful and charming clothes. Apparently, even the princess didn’t keep the leader act up all the time. Finally, the third closet seemed to contain what I was looking for: shoes and undergarments of various kinds. I carefully perused its contents, until I found a section dedicated to socks. After going through countless pairs, I finally found it. It was the matching bird-patterned sock! I stared at it in amazement. It was probably an excessive reaction for a simple sock, but it was the first tangible result in almost two days of investigation. However, my enthusiasm quickly deflated when I reflected upon the implications of this finding. What did it mean? Had it been a simple oversight by the princess? That seemed implausible. Had the first sock been planted in her closet, then? But who would do something like this and why? Could it be a prank or taunt of some kind? I sighed. Why could things never be simple? Even now, upon finding the missing sock, I was left more confused than before. I decided to resume my search of the room, hoping to find some additional clues. Unfortunately, the rest of my inspection proved to be fairly inconclusive in that regard. It did, however, provide me with some additional hints on the room’s owner. The most notable aspect was the suite itself, clearly overshadowing everyone else's accommodations. Was Midnight’s belief in ‘horizontal leadership’ genuine, or was the opulence of her room proof that she cared more about her lineage than she let on? A framed portrait was hanging on a wall, depicting Midnight smiling as she extended her arm, seemingly grasping at the setting sun behind her. It was a beautiful picture, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a deeper meaning behind her gesture. She really was an enigmatic person. I caressed my neck in contemplation, as I contemplated Bright Spot’s resident princess. Was there more to her than meets the eye? Was her leader persona just a facade? Or else... There was only one way to find out: it was time to talk to the princess herself.

---

A few minutes later, I was back in the interrogation room. Midnight was sitting comfortably on the couch, staring at me as she waited for my first question. Might as well begin from the most puzzling matter, I thought. I took the bird-patterned sock out of my pocket and wordlessly offered it to her. She briefly examined it and turned her gaze back to me, a perplexed expression on her face. “Why are you showing me this sock?” “I was hoping you might be able to tell me more about it.” “Hmm… I suppose it does look familiar. Wait, isn’t this the same sock that’s been hanging in the washroom for the past few weeks?” “Precisely. Does it belong to you, by any chance?” She shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face. “I admit that I own many socks and probably wouldn’t recognize all of them, but I think I’d remember wearing one with such a distinctive pattern.” “And yet, I found the matching sock of the pair in your very own closet. According to Rule, the other sock was claimed by somebody just a few days prior to this one being hung in the washroom.” Midnight stared at me with a blank expression. “Are you seriously claiming that somebody went to the trouble of sneaking one of these socks into my closet?” I shrugged. “It’s either that, or you took the other one by accident.” Or perhaps you’re lying about it for whatever reason, I thought to myself. Midnight stroked her chin in contemplation. “I don’t think anyone at the outpost would be immature enough to play such a prank on me... Although I suppose you can never tell with Rule. Still, does it have anything to do with the letter you’re investigating?”

“That’s what I intend to find out,” I declared, trying to appear confident. I was hoping she wouldn’t notice just how utterly baffled I felt. “Can’t you think of anyone who might have placed that sock in your closet?” “Hmm. Well, to be honest, I can only think of one person: Brown. You see, he has asked to borrow some of the elves’ clothes in the past. I was even persuaded to lend him one of my outfits two years ago.” “Oh?” I commented, raising my eyebrows and suppressing a grin. Midnight rolled her eyes. “Don’t get any ideas, he just needed to sketch it for his treatise on elven culture. Or so he claimed, at least. In retrospect, that probably ended up feeding his questionable fixation with elves even further.” “I’ve seen some of Brown’s sketches when I inspected his study, so that much is true if it makes you feel any better.” Midnight sighed. “I know, Brown can be a bit obsessive, but in a harmless manner. He’s never given me any reason to doubt his trustworthiness and competence.” “Actually, about that…” I told her about the matter of Brown’s unlabelled expenditures. The princess-leader seemed quite shocked at this latest news. “Could Brown seriously be putting the integrity of this entire project at risk just to embezzle some funds? That’s preposterous!” She exclaimed, apparently having lost part of her usual cool at the prospect. “It’s hard to tell at this point in time. For what it’s worth, I think Brown is way too competent to commit such an obvious mistake, unless he’s deliberately trying to exonerate himself by doing so. But even then, it would still be considered his responsibility in the end, since he’s the one in charge of the ledgers.”

Midnight nodded, a worried expression on her face. “I agree. But then, does this mean someone else has been secretly siphoning money away?” “That’s not a good explanation either. The missing entries only account for a small dent in the total budget. Moreover, Brown, Magenta and you all come from wealthy families, while Rule and Crimson are already benefiting from a very generous salary. My best guess is that the culprit wasn’t interested in the money itself, but wanted to erase the subjects of some expenditures.” “I see...” She murmured. “That’s still quite unsettling. Perhaps there is something dubious going on at the Bright Spot after all, as much as I’d like to believe otherwise.” “I’m glad we’re on the same page.” I said. Her investment in the project’s success was clearly genuine. Next, I asked her about the other oddities I had encountered over the course of my investigation, but she claimed to know nothing about them. I decided to switch to a different topic. “How do you like to spend your free time?” “I enjoy going on long rides to explore the beautiful surroundings of our outpost. I also like to read and to play billiards. I don’t enjoy gambling, but the others drag me to play cards or mahjong from time to time, when they need a player. As a good leader, I have to comply,” said Night with a smile. “You don’t really enjoy playing the soulstring, then?” “Not really,” she admitted. “It reminds me of when I was forced to learn it for the sake of tradition. Also, for all the praise the others throw at me, I can only be called a decent player at best.” She smirked. “I can already read the next question in your eyes, detective. ‘But then, why did you order one here?’ Well…” She sighed. “Thinking back on it now, it was a mistake. Even though it seemed like a good idea at the time, we could have invested those resources in a better way.”

Must have been a pretty expensive mistake, I thought. “At least the others seem to enjoy its presence. How do you feel about your fellow Bright Spot companions and subordinates, by the way?” After a brief contemplation, Midnight gave a pretty diplomatic answer. “They’re all great, in their own way. We’ve already discussed Brown: his fascination towards elves can be a bit unsettling, but he’s kind and reliable. Or so I thought. Crimson is competent, strong and dependable. I really appreciate her deadpan wit. Rule is also reliable, charming and fun to be around. I don’t mind his latest flirting, since we both know it cannot go anywhere. Mage is my best friend and I trust him implicitly. The others seem to think he’s hopelessly in love with me, but I never perceived his feelings as aiming at that kind of love. Except for back when he had a crush on me,” she added with an amused smile. “Speaking of Mage, he has been acting a bit off lately, but I’m not sure why. He can be very reserved,” she concluded. “I see. Alright, I have another question then. Does the flower brooch you’re wearing have any special significance for you?” Midnight stroked her chin, considering the question. “I am very attached to it, but not really. It’s just a nostalgic memento of sorts.” What an interestingly vague answer. Were Mage and Night hiding something about the brooch? “Of course, since it contains the key to the vault, you must pay special attention to the necklace, right?” “I keep the necklace on me at all times, even when I sleep. Since I am a light sleeper, there’s no way anyone would be able to take it from me under normal circumstances.” “Speaking of the vault, could you tell me more about those dangerous relics that were carried away in the last convoy two months ago? Mage told me to ask you about them.” “I don’t see the harm in telling you. It’s considered to be confidential military intel by now though, so I'm counting on your discretion.”

I bowed my head and grinned. “Naturally, I shall be the soul of discretion.” “Very well. As we suspected, the ruins turned out to be an ancient Forgotten military cache. After three years of painstaking digging and exploring, we were finally able to discover a remarkably well-preserved weapon, looking like a blade without a hilt. After a long and careful examination, Mage was finally able to determine its inner workings: the blade itself is sharp and potentially deadly, but its true power lies in its powerful blend of arcane enchantments. To be precise, the blade takes two psychological effects and combines them to achieve its purpose. For this reason, we decided to call the relic a ‘conceptual blade’.” I was very intrigued by this idea. “Oh? Does the conceptual blade inflict its effect on the target, or does it affect everyone else in relation to the target?” “The latter, although we never tested it, for obvious reasons. The first conceptual blade we discovered had a combined psychological effect of adoration and trust, which together give rise to worship. Of course, this effect extends to the relic itself: despite his precautions, Mage was almost tempted to build a shrine to the blade as soon as he took it out of its bulky protective bundle. I made sure it was kept in the vault at all times after that.” “That’s scary,” I murmured. “Sounds like the perfect weapon to create a martyr or a prophet, by killing or wounding someone with it.” Midnight nodded. “Indeed, although the blade’s effect fades away over time if you stop applying it to the target. The sheer power of the enchantment makes it fearsome: even though it has no direct physical effects, it’s very difficult to resist its mind-bending influence. The same goes with the second conceptual blade we found later, which combined fear and repulsion to create isolation.” “Both conceptual blades were surely carried away two months ago, right?” “They certainly weren’t in our vault anymore after the convoy left.” “Do the others know about these relics?”

“Yes. But as part of our contract, we are all sworn to secrecy on our most confidential findings.” “I’m not sure whether that’s reassuring or not…” I reflected. “Still, it sounds like an amazing finding. It’s the sort of result that reflects well on this project as a whole and on your leadership, right?” Midnight smiled. “That’s most likely correct. My prospects of getting back into a good position at the Aelven Court are definitely looking good after the latest discoveries.” “Would you like to tell me more about it?” I asked eagerly, leaning on my desk. Midnight smiled with an amused glint in her dark eyes. “Are you trying to psychoanalyze me?” I smiled back. “Hmm, perhaps.” After taking some time to think, she started explaining. “I’ve never perceived the expectations placed on me since birth as a burden. In fact, I’ve always relished the idea of leading Aelv someday. My falling out with the High Council put a hard stop to my political career, but it stemmed from an ideological conflict. At the time, the idea of embracing their silly prohibitions on love and freedom for the sake of tradition seemed intolerable. You see, I am not a person that can easily compromise when something really matters to me. Whether that makes for a good or a bad trait in a leader, it’s up to you to decide,” she said with a thoughtful smile. “Have your opinions changed, now?” I asked. “Yes. Perhaps it’s thanks to these four years of exile and contemplation, but lately I’ve realized how needlessly stubborn I have been all along. If accepting the traditions of the Council is what it takes to fulfill my ambitions, then I will not hesitate to do so. After all, if you climb high enough, you will be the one to set the rules,” she concluded, with a ruthless glint in her eyes. “So, your plan is to complete this project with a resounding success and then make a comeback at the Aelven Court, thanks to your newfound resolution?”

“Pretty much, yes,” she admitted with a charming laugh. “I am a pragmatic person at heart. Still, I have grown to care about Bright Spot and everyone here beyond my own personal gain. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been feeling a certain sadness and emptiness whenever I think of going back to the Court. However, I have no doubts that politics will be my future path. And let me confess something to you: it is a great feeling to be finally free of doubts, after suffering from indecision for so long.” If only I could be free of doubts too, I thought.

---

After bidding Night farewell, I was still sitting behind the desk and reflecting upon the meeting. I had no idea that the most shocking development yet was about to occur. As I let my gaze idly wander around, I noticed that the desk looked similar to the one in Magenta’s room. I idly tried to look for a secret compartment underneath it. To my surprise, I actually found one. I opened the secret drawer. It contained a single sheet of paper. On the sheet was a simple message, written in flawless elven ideograms. you're not supposed to be here. don't mess with things that are none of your business. not that I'd allow you to do that anyway :) With trembling hands, I took the mysterious letter out. Without a doubt, its handwriting matched that of the message I had just found.

--- Later that evening, I was contemplating the setting sun from the balcony on the first floor.

For all intents and purposes, my investigation was over. I had inspected everything and talked to everyone, and yet I was left with more questions than when I first arrived at the outpost. That final taunting message had really left me reeling. Finding another note with the same handwriting pretty much confirmed that the letter’s author was one of the inhabitants of the outpost. And yet it was so baffling. Not only had I claimed that particular room on a whim, but finding the secret compartment in it had also been a fluke! I only examined that desk because I had previously found Magenta’s secret drawer. Who else would know about it and why would they put it there, knowing it would only prolong my investigation if I found it? What did the culprit have to gain by taunting me in such a way? Were there other hidden messages I hadn’t found? I closed my eyes and let my thoughts wander. The mysterious letter. Tenjack’s testimony. The bird-patterned socks. Brown’s ledgers. Crimson’s dinner. Ancient relics. Mage’s poems. Midnight’s leadership. Rule’s boredom. Crimson’s jealousy. Brown’s obsession. And so much more. Was there a thread connecting all of these elements? What was I missing? What was the cause of this undercurrent of disquiet that I had been feeling all along? At times I felt like I could almost grasp it, but then it eluded me again. I took a deep breath and tried to empty my mind. As let my gaze wander around the landscape in front of me, my attention was suddenly grabbed by a glint in the distance. As if in a trance, I stared at the glint for a while. Then, following my intuition, I grasped the rail of the balcony and gently let myself down onto the grass below. That way, I didn’t lose track of the direction of the glint. With a feeling of trepidation, I walked towards it. A minute later, not too far away from the mansion, I finally found its source, half-buried in a patch of snow. I reached down to grasp the tiny, smooth object in my hand. I immediately checked through my Lens, but it seemed like a perfectly normal object. A simple embodiment of a promise. And yet… Sometimes, all it takes is a tiny missing piece to put the puzzle together.

I had found my missing piece and all of a sudden, a bright epiphany lit up the fog my thoughts had been lost in. I turned towards the entrance. I had to act fast, for I didn’t know how much time I had left.

FIN

Welcome to Bright Spot, esoteric detectives and theatergoers!  I hope you enjoyed your visit to this unusual fragment.  Now, let’s set some ground rules down, shall we?  I challenge you to uncover the mysteries of Bright Spot by wielding your blue                           truth.  Since I realize this task might prove to be disorienting, I have provided you                           with a possible starting point.  What are the circumstances behind the initial mysterious message?   Starting from this question, you may tackle the various oddities and clues                       presented on the game board.  In order to conquer this challenge, a complete blue truth requires a                       comprehensive theory regarding the mysteries presented.  Additional rules may be uncovered as the players delve deeper into the rabbit                         hole.  But please, keep one thing in mind: careless accusations might have disastrous                       consequences  Good luck and have fun!