Eva sighed as the last one came in, her hands crossed over her chest in impatience. She wanted this to end already so that Eva could go out and actually look for the child. It was bogus to say she was truly kidnapped at this point. In fact, she had a fairly good idea of how the child had moved with the report she had in her hands. It was something like a pattern. From the original place where she had met the first suspect to the point she had met the last one, the child seemed to have walked straight before taking a right turn to the markets area from the streets. If she wasn’t wrong, the child could be roaming around the streets next to them as they went on with this charade.
She made a point to listen to the last man, however, immediately losing interest once the man started feigning ignorance. He answered but never completed the idea, making him probably the most suspicious among the group of five if there truly was a kidnapping. But if psychology was right, the man was probably scared and was having trouble aligning his words with his memories as well. Either way, Eva was glad that Alice reproached him. That man had to get his act together if he wanted to live in Era and not get himself in jail under suspicion. She looked at Awadin. A long term lieutenant as he was, the old man appeared very much foolish to Eva now.
Once they finished it all up, Eva watched Alice talk to the old man as she handed in the report she had made along with their own to his unit. She sustained a light conversation with them, learning that even they found Awadin’s suspicion to be pretty baseless. For the most part, it was true that the child had came in contact with the suspects but that by itself was no solid evidence for a kidnapping. They had only picked the five up after a long time of searching and interrogating but not even the witnesses or anyone in general confirmed a suspected kidnapping.
As they concluded their conversation, Eva told the suspects that they could leave, letting each of them out one by one, completely ignoring the glares and suspicious glances. She didn’t care for what they thought but she knew she had to step out soon. “I’m sure we will find the child soon,” she had told Awadin with a surety before heading out the door that Alice held open for her. “Trust me, Alice. We are most likely going to find that child soon. Just wait for me a little,” she told the orange haired neko before walking out, turning her attention left and right. She seemed to be looking for something with her eyes moving from one direction to the other until she had her surroundings covered. Eva was partially sure that a confused child roaming around the streets would eventually turn to this area after going through the market. But of course, this was half her assumption and half her judgement so it was still subjective as opposed to being a solid idea.
However, just as she took a turn to the right, Eva was surprised to hear the sound of a child sobbing. She instantly turned and ran after the sound, going down the dark alleyway behind the inn they had their interrogation. She walked around for a bit, narrowing her eyes to get it adjusted to the darkness. She found a small shivering ball of tears sandwiched between two trash cans in fetus position.
“Jezebel?” she asked, standing one feet away from the crying child that looked up at the sound of her name. Eva wasn’t sure what made the girl fling herself towards Eva but she was soon in her arms, crying into her chest. She tried to pat the back of the child comfortingly, sighing in relief as the girl’s crying came down to what seemed like soft whimpers and sniffles.
“You are Jezebel, are you not?” Eva asked to confirm the suspicion. The girl nodded, tears still flowing down the girl’s eyes. She had been terribly frightened. “I was out shopping with mommy but couldn’t find her anymore. I…I tried to look for her but she was gone and then I had to walk around and and I met a bunch of people. They gave me directions but I still couldn’t find mommy and it was dark and cold and I…I want my mommmy!” the child’s voice cracked into a loud sob at the end. Eva chuckled, placing a warm hand on top of the girl’s head before picking her up again.
“We found our missing child, Alice,” Eva informed her as she walked back into the inn where Awadin was looking at the reports with high concentration. “Awadin sir,” she called out to him only to get ignored the first turn until she grew impatient and raised her voice authoritatively. Surprised at Eva’s commanding voice, she saw the man jump up in shock, looking over to her, to the child in her arms, and then back at her.
Her eyes narrowed. “The child had gone missing, after all. No one had kidnapped her, sir,” Eva’s voice grew an edge with every bit of professional titles she used. “The child had merely gotten lost during the day and was trying to find her parents. I believe our suspects had come in contact with her during that period and they are all very much innocent,” she stressed on the word all, hearing an audible gulp from the older lieutenant.
He looked flushed as he rubbed the back of his head. “Oh man, I didn’t think that. I was so sure that one of those five had kidnapped her. None of them seemed like the good sort, don’t you think? Haha,” he tried to laugh it off only to stop at the blank expression Eva threw at him. “It’s a good thing that you two found her though,” He told them, taking the child back. Eva wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave the kid with him but she did anyway. As foolish as this man could be, his heart was still in the right place.
He took out the rewards once he handed the child over to the other Rune Knights, giving Alice and Eva an equal share. “I hope we can work together again,” the man seemed highly impressed with the way Eva handled things but he was also very much happy with their new lieutenant. “I’m expecting great things from you two”.
2708/2700 [10% off for Team Elite]
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