It was early in the morning. Kyon chuckled gleefully, pleased with himself. His eyes were red from exhaustion. The amount of information he had received was astounding. Millions of scents and their nuances, poisons, perfumes, and medicine... Now he could determine the ingredients, their type and age, how long they"d been stored, to what extent they"d worn off, the method of their refining, and much, much more. In just ten hours, he"d obtained such knowledge that no perfumer or herbalist would ever get in their whole life, no matter what weed they"d sniff. It"s all because the nose of an ordinary person has limited possibilities.Kyon dozed off in the mall and arrived at the a.n.a.lytics department at eight in the morning. As soon as he took his place, he heard the expected footsteps of his eight colleagues.
«Why are you here, deary?» - Grek Brown asked snidely. – «Can"t the Stones keep their words? Oh, they do not know how to do it. Or maybe you think that you make false promises, and everyone will just forget? Trash Stone, your place is in the garbage pit…»
Charge stepped forward, interrupting Grek. He appeared most displeased, disdain and annoyance left their dark mark on his face.
«You force me to take extreme measures, rookie. The whole ministry will have to hear your arrogant words. The Stones are going to be disappointed with you. Vladimir will fire you today, just as Grek said.»
Kyon carefully looked at each of the investigators. All of them cast contemptuous glances upon him. He coughed politely:
«Who said I lost the bet?» - Kyon threw four reports onto the table with a gesture of the magician.
The silence that fell was complete.
Charge picked up one of the reports with doubt on his face and leafed through them. A minute later, he sighed in dismay:
«Did you spend the whole yesterday writing fake reports on the capture of Sauron"s brothers? Don"t you have better things to do, son?»
The other seven investigators burst out laughing. They had never met such an idiot who would cling to a nonexistent hope of keeping his precious job.
Grek shook his head with mock pity:
«Poor thing. Nature deprived Stone of his mind, and his brains as well. It"s no news, though. He thinks that the investigator"s job consists of lies and empty boasting! It"s hilarious!»
Another wave of laughter filled the air. Kyon couldn"t help letting out a stifled chuckle.
«Why are you laughing, dumba.s.s?! It"s about you! You will be kicked out today!» - Grek barked.
Kyon ignored him and threw the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th brothers" rings on the table like dice.
«What"s really hilarious is to know that you are all mistaken.»
The smiles on the investigators" faces froze and faded away. They grabbed the rings to examine their authenticity. Then they looked at each other perplexed. The rings were real.
«It"s fake!» - Grek claimed confidently after he took a brief glance at the ring and tossed it on the table. – «You have handed in the fake reports and forged the rings as well. It"s a criminal offense punishable by appropriate penalties. You"re a stupid idiot, Stone.»
«Hold on.» - Charge stopped a new wave of laughter after he had read carefully one of the reports. – «It says that ten security officers destroyed all the gangs, and the brothers are now under arrest…»
The eight investigators looked at each other and rushed to the dungeon on the floor above them. The most dangerous criminals were kept there.
Kyon followed them. He had ordered his security forces officers to arrive at the bandits" cell and testify about yesterday"s operation.
When the eight investigators saw the brothers in shackles, they looked petrified. The ten security officers revealed the details of yesterday"s events with awe.
Charge"s eyelid twitched. Greek stared at the bandits with a hard, empty look. The rest of the investigators looked no better. Someone had brazenly invaded their ordinary quiet little world and tore it apart. And that someone was the rookie.
«He has really caught four brothers in one day.» - The boss finally said. His words sounded like a verdict.
The eight investigators stared at Kyon as if he were a mythical creature. They took a few steps backwards, away from him.
It was Kyon"s turn to laugh out loud.
«G.o.ds, what"s wrong with your faces? You are the best investigators in the kingdom, aren"t you? Behave accordingly!»
«It"s impossible!» – Grek barked. – «For many years, we…»
«Open up your eyes.» – Kyon interrupted him, still laughing.
Grek noticed that he was the only one to make waves. The rest had already believed in their hearts. They wouldn"t change their minds. If Grek insisted, he would make a fool of himself.
«Grek, I understand you. We all do. But the truth is staring you in the face. You"d better have a drink. Go, you have my permission.» – Charge said too calmly.
Grek growled something inaudible and quickly left. It had dawned on him who was blackmailing his family. He must have underestimated the Stone. He had to get this sc.u.m and deliver him to the patriarch. Grek wasn"t going to tolerate his company a second more.
The other seven investigators were still looking at Kyon as if he were a unicorn. The belief in their superiority was so strong that they had no idea how low their professional level was. The rookie helped them see it. They were devastated, full of shame and guilt for their incompetence compared to him.
Five minutes later, Kyon walked into the a.n.a.lytics department surrounded by the investigators who admired him. Their att.i.tude towards him had drastically changed. In one single day, he had caught the robbers they had been after for several years. How could they not respect him for this momentous achievement?
The next hour, everyone carefully studied the four reports, trying to gain experience from the brilliant rookie.
In the end, Charge could not help it and asked Kyon directly:
«Do you want to say that you a.n.a.lyzed the disappearance of the caravans over the past three years, figured out the points where the robbers could be, found a sequence and calculated their location?!»
«Exactly.» - Kyon nodded with an air of importance. Of course, it was pure nonsense. But it sounded cool!
Charge struggled to catch his breath. He was speechless. The other investigators looked at each other gloomily.
«Alright! The robbers are in the dungeon. That"s all it takes. You"ve won the bet. You can ask me for any resources available to the department. Just mention why you need them and you have them. Well, getting back to the robbers... How are you going to catch the rest?»
«I"ll figure it out.»
«Well, you"d better. Vladimir mentioned that you intend to free the kingdom of two issues. You did a good job catching the four brothers, but until we have Sauron, your mission isn"t over. Moreover, there is also the guild of thieves that is much more difficult to catch. You might want to start working in a team.»
«We can"t understand the way he works, boss!» - A female investigator said carefully. – «We could not even make out the principle of determining the sequence that he had found in the brother"s location…»
Kyon backed her up. - «Rasya is right. I will carry out investigations on my own, using all the available department resources.»
«Ho-ho, then you"ll stay with us for ten years! These vile creatures are absolutely untraceable.» - The head of the a.n.a.lytical department said convincingly.
Kyon squinted playfully. It was an excellent chance to make some money. - «How about another bet? I bet a million that I"ll catch them within a month.»
Charge grunted thoughtfully.
«A million? I"m not that rich, rookie. And even if I had this money, I wouldn"t risk another bet with you. You are a dark horse. I don"t know if you"re so f.u.c.king smart or just a lucky idiot. I"ll think about it tonight.»
Kyon nodded to himself. Unlike Juno, Charge was a quick learner. However, it might be a matter of respect. Speaking of respect, Vladimir once mentioned if Charles started to use foul language, it was a good sign.
«You really intend to catch them within a month?» - Charge asked with an edge to his voice.
«I do. Is there any evidence, clues?»
«All we have is a hair.» – Charge sounded hopeless and even solemn. – «We haven"t caught anyone yet, not alive. A pill behind the tooth kills them all.»
«Let me take a look at this hair.»
«Well… It"s black, about 20 cm, most likely from a woman"s head.»
Kyon snorted with exasperation.
«Just bring it here, already.»
Charge was taken back at his persistence and looked inquiringly at his subordinates. They shrugged dumbfounded. A hair is a hair. What did he hope to find out? Charge pressed on his wrist and gave an order. Soon, the long black hair was in his office.
Six investigators and Charge surrounded Kyon, watching him closely as if he was a mysterious animal in the zoo.
«Surprise us, rookie.» - The boss challenged him, his arms crossed.
Kyon carefully took the hair, closed his eyes, and sniffed it.
The investigators looked at each other in amazement for the umpteenth time. What a freak! Did he ask for the hair to smell it? Seriously? The rookie seemed to be taking his revenge on them for giving him a hard time. However, as soon as he opened his eyes, everyone understood that he was not pretending or playing. Everyone fell silent.
«The hair belongs to a guy, perhaps twenty years old. Judging by the file that goes along with the evidence, he took part in major theft. Lanai, the leader of the thieves, should have trained him well, but this idiot was wearing cologne. Most likely, he has feelings for someone. That"s why he put on cologne. He did take a shower afterwards, though. Naive idiot.»
«H-how did you find out it"s a guy?!» – Charge asked with a slight stammer.
«Pheromones... Or rather, men"s cologne.» - Kyon wove his fingers together, putting on an air of a professional perfumer. – «This scent includes essential oils of the fragrant sunflower, Arnabi fruit after twenty years of the ripening period, felire petals, presumably of purple variety, and wild rose…» - He kept giving them the ingredients for another half a minute. – «…The leaves of gudgine underwent the process of enfleurage. The fruit of gudgine were squeezed mechanically and infused with sage fumes for three days, the sage that was pollinated by green bees, no less.»
Charge and the company dropped their jaws.