Durik escorted Holden and Sable to the Mages Union office in East Chrimoria. Upon their arrival, they were met by even more guards in the lobby, who escorted them to the top floor of the building. The Mages Union office was around a dozen floors high with the directors office being at the very top. The duo had to climb several flights of stairs while at least a dozen guards kept a close eye on the two of them. To Holden and Sable, it felt like the guards were burning a hole through them with their intense stairs.


    It was uncomfortable, but how could the duo blame them. High-ranking officials were going missing, and Holden and Sable were essentially strangers with no reputation. It was like Holden’s cases made the news. Nor did his involvement in discovering the fairy trafficking ring. In fact, officially speaking, Holden was never involved.


    The director’s office was a large room with significant empty space between the door and the desk on the far side of the room. The director currently wasn’t visible, because her chair was turned toward the back window, which took up most of the wall. On the floor of this empty space was the outline of a magic circle used by the director for performing divination spells. Magic circles for every spell had one thing in common, and that was one smaller circle within one larger circle. The size of the gap between these two circles was dependent on the overall size of the circle itself. The one drawn on the florr of the director’s office had a gap of at least a foot, while the circles themselves were several feet in width, taking up a majority of the empty space.


    All of the guards, except for Durik, remained by the door as soon as the group entered. Durik gestured for Holden and Sable to follow him. They walked straight through the middle of the room. The magic circle outline remained uninterrupted, even when Durik walked right over it.


    Holden and Sable both were somewhat surprised, because it appeared the magic circle outline was part of the floor itself. The stood their looking at the circle for a brief moment, only o lift their heads at the sound of a woman’s voice coming from behind the desk at the far end of the room.


    “That magic circle is part of the floor. I had it made that way so I wouldn’t have to redrawn the entire circle every time I needed to use it.”


    When Holden and Sable lifted their heads, and saw the director turn toward them in her chair. She was one of the beastfolk with fox ears, and a fox tail. Her hair and eyes were an illustrious silver color, and she appeared to be in her mid-forties. Even though she was sitting down, they could tell that she was tall and slender.


    The director met Holden and Sable’s gaze with a friendly smile. There was also a hint of a tear that she quickly wiped away. “It is good to meet you two, Holden and Sable. You can just call me Naomi. Please no formalities. I’m asking you for quite the favor, so I’d rather you address me more casually.”


    Holden cleared his throat before talking. “It’s a pleasure to meet the director of the Mages Union. Naomi, I hear that several key figures from the Chrimorian government have gone missing. And you want me and y partner to find them.”


    “Yes, indeed,” Naomi said, folding her hands on the desk. “You’ll have every resources at my disposal available to you, even myself. So long as you can justify the expense, of course.”


    “Of course, divination magic isn’t cheap,” Holden replied. “Though I’m guessing you’ve already used the extend of your powers to find the missing people?”


    Naomi shook her head in defeat. “I have. And unfortunately, my divination hasn’t turned up any new information.”


    Holden furrowed his brows. He could tell that Naomi was being very careful with her words. It seemed like she was hiding something. Although, given Holden’s profession, he guessed the woman was just guarded around him, and wanted to be careful not to say anything unnecessary. A woman in her position had access to classified information someone like Holden should be privy to, so her guarded demeanor didn’t seem unusual given the current situation.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Still, Holden could help ut wonder why she would reach out to him and Sable. “Durik says that you have faith that I’ll be able to figure this out. Why?”


    Naomi calming stood to her feet, and turned to face the window. The cityscape of Chrimoria sat before her in all of its wonder. Buildings both big and small in eastern Chrimoria dotted the view. She kept her eyes onthose building when she responded to Holden.


    “I’ve been watching; researching you ever since your involvement in uncovering the fairy trafficking ring.” Naomi then turned back to face Holden and Sable. “You are both excellent detective. Though you both still have a ways to go before you meet your full potential, I believe you have the skills to solve this mystery.”


    There was an unusual amount of certainty in Naomi’s eyes when she praised Holden and Sable’s skill. It was as if she had witnessed them at work herself several times. She even said that they hadn’t reached their full potential with such certainty that Holden wondered just how this woman could’ve possibly known all this.


    Naomi continued. “Many high-ranking officials have disappeared. One of which is a friend of yours, I believe. I assume that’s more than enough to motivate you.”


    Holden nodded. “Yeah. I’d turn over all of Chrimoria to find a friend.”


    Naomi giggled with a smile that seemed unusually cheerful compared to her earlier demeanor. “Yes. That sounds like something you would do. Given what I’ve seen at least.”


    Holden raised an eyebrow at her unusual reaction, but decided not to pry. It was better to focus on the case instead. “What do we know already?”


    “Elliandra was the prosecutor assigned to the case against the Leudox who were trafficking a nox-dragon.” Naomi , then walked back to her desk, leaning forward against it with her hands sprayed out to keep her balance. “I assume the two of you are familiar with that particular case?”


    “You’re very well-informed. Yeah, we know the case. So, the Leudox are our primary suspects then?”


    “Well, yes, and no. The other officials who’ve disappeared have nothing to do with that particular case. In fact, the disappearances almost seem random. Ther isn’t even enough evidence to suggest they were kidnapped.”


    What do you mean? Couldn’t you watch the moment they all disappeared with your divination magic? I know the materials for such a spell must be expensive. But surely given the situation-.”


    Naomi held a hand in the air, cutting off Holden mid-sentence. “That’s one of the issues we’re having. Something is blocking my divination. Locator spells aren’t working, I can see anything out of the ordinary whenever I watch the events leading up to their disappearances. It’s like they just vanish all of a sudden.”


    “That would explain a lot,” Sable interjected. “I doubt a diviner of your skill would have problems finding these people if there wasn’t something blocking your divination.”


    Holden then snapped his fingers. “That means someone with powerful magic has to be taking them. Someone who can block divination. But who could do that?” There are any number of powerful mages in this city, and beyond who could pull this off. But who could have the motive?”


    “The red pixie,” Sable said half-heartedly.


    Holden slapped his forehead. “Again with the red pixie. We encounter her once, and your mind goes straight to her.”


    “Well, she does have the ability to teleport multiple people away, even when they’re restrained. She could get away with this, if she had a way to block divination.”


    “Fair point. But still. Not everything is the red pixie’s fault.”


    Naomi giggled at their bickering back and forth, then clapped her hands to get their attention. “Alright. There are a lot of potential suspects. The Leudox are a start. There’s also the Followers of Balmusk. We just found one of their agents dead in the middle of Saphirra Falls. Countless groups could be attacking Chrimoria.”


    “Yeah, that’s true,” Holden said. “We have to consider all possibilities. Even that there’s some unknown group working in the shadows. It’s not like the culprit will necessarily be among our list of suspects.”


    “That’s one of the fundamentals of detective work,” Naomi said with pride. “Always expect the unexpected. Never get too attached to your suspects, because the culprit you might be looking for might not even be among them.”


    Naomi’s unusually cheery disposition made all of her guards, including Durik, raise their eyebrows. Even Holden and Sable relized that her behavior seemed out of place given the demeanor she carried when they first entered the room.


    Naomi noticed this, and turned around to hide her embarrassment as she twirled her hair around her finger. “Excuse me for my lack of professionalism. I get a little overly enthusiastic whenever there’s a mystery.


    “Anyways. Holden, Sable, I am counting on the two of you. You’ll have every resource I can muster to help you with this case. So, please, if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.”


    “Thank you, Director,” Holden said before recalling she had asked him to use her first name. “Sorry, I mean, Naomi.”


    Hearing her name brought a yet another smile to Holden’s face. “Of course. Holden and Sable, good luck.”