Unlike Dex, Inspector Nilan was a real detective. One with actual training and the brains to detect real rumours from false ones and connect the dots. A rune knight that had experience and had been building a very good reputation for himself amongst the general populace of Orchidia.
Everything Ashley wanted to be in the future, well besides a rune knight. They didn't care about the whole lawful part of things. Being able to solve people's problems with sound logic, that's what they dreamt of, as well as being paid for it of course.
He'd brought Ash and their sister to the site of the beanstalk. A mysterious plant, one seemingly responsible for making the locals ill whenever they came into contact with it.
Taking precautions, Ash was sure to wear gloves and a mask to protect themselves from any physical contagions as well as possible airborne ones. Lotus was keen to burn it, and while that *might* have helped, there was no guarantee that doing so wouldn't leave the town in even worse condition.
First things first though, they needed to collect some samples before they dealt with it outright. They gave Lotus a small smile, and pet her on the head.
"Hold back for now, it might be better to freeze and shatter it that way, rather than risk exploding the place with toxins." Ashley suggested, "Let me just gather the samples first."
If they could have scientists properly analyze the plant, perhaps they could find a cure to the sickness at the very least, if not find the root cause, allowing them to prevent further stalks from potentially popping up.
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