4:30 pm, 15th of Kingmoon – Bervenia Detention Center
Ritz has requested that I, Shara, take up the pen instead of the sword for this day, as she is currently being held in the detention center of Bervenia. I have no idea how or why, but she is suspected of stealing a rare item from the Cadoan museum. The item was a rare spherical crystal made of the different colors of the rainbow. It was made by one of the top alchemists in the West Alchemy Division just a few days ago. Several years of research went into this crystal.

“Don’t worry, Ritz. You’re in really good hands. She managed to find Marche innocent, so I’m confident she’ll do the same for you.”

“Not likely. This one is much more difficult.… I didn’t have an alibi, so I’m charged with stealing the gem. I don’t know what she can do to prove me innocent.”

Ritz clenched her fists and let out a frustrated sigh.

I pounded my fist onto the counter, “Don’t worry, Ritz. I’ll be sure to find the truth. It always reveals itself sooner or later.”

“My trial is tomorrow. You’d better hurry, Shara.” Ritz folded her arms and bit her lip.

I left the detention center and made my way to the museum, where the crystal was stolen. Crime Scene tape had still been left in the area, but no one was around currently.


Cadoan Museum – 6:00pm 15th of Kingmoon
I went under the tape and peered through the floor of the scene, the displays, and the walls, in search of anything that can be a clue for Ritz’s innocence.

I scoured my pack for a powder that I received from Francine’s friend Alice Skaye. Alice was a girl who aspired to be a crime scene investigator, and tackled the scenes with something she called “science.” I suppose it has to do with alchemy of some sort.

This powder is supposed to reveal fingerprints that are invisible to the naked eye. I looked around the display case where the crystal was held, and the glass is shattered around the floor. I squinted toward the broken case and found a few strands of fabric from what looked like a glove of some sort. I used the powder and found a fingerprint from a glove to confirm my suspicions.

An epiphany struck my mind as I pulled out a pair of tweezers and plucked the strands of fabric and put them into a bag. I put the bag in my pack and pulled out a bottle of solvent that I got from Alice yet again.

Alice says this solvent is used to reveal hidden stains of blood. My epiphany led me to spray this solvent where I found the fabric. I put on the glasses that go with the solvent, and sprayed it over the broken edges of the glass and I saw a small neon droplet that streamed down the side of the glass.

All that was left to do was find out who this blood belonged to. I took a photo of the stream of blood with a special camera lens that is the same as the glasses. I sprayed the liquid and followed the trail toward the floor.

I saw a black drop on the floor and took off my glasses. I squatted and peered down closer to the drop. That was definitely dried blood. The culprit must have been in a hurry and didn’t clean up this from the floor. They also may have missed it during the time they nursed their wound.

I took out my satchel of water and dripped a small amount onto the dried blood. I took out a swab of cotton and picked up a bit of the newly revived blood and took out the DNA record book and took a miniscule sample of the blood and placed it upon the reader.

It calculated data and bars moved around the screen as it showed a match to a Viera woman known as Ritsuko Leenza. Something about that name triggered something in my mind, but I didn’t know where I heard her name before.

I printed out the results of the DNA scan and slipped it into my pack. Now I just have to prove that Ritz wasn’t an accomplice.

I heard footsteps coming closer to my direction, so I had no choice but to duck away from the museum. As I covertly made my way past the scene and hid from view of whoever came this way, I noticed something: the person that was coming this way was none other than the real culprit, Ritsuko. I knew this because with the DNA profiles were small pictures of the person along with their name.

Instead of shouting at her, I took out the same camera and replaced the lens with a regular one and used the recording feature. I took a good shot of Ritsuko’s face as she walked closer to the broken display case and took out a cloth and was about to clean up the blood, when she realized it hadn’t been dry. It was still wet. She stood up hastily and jerked her head about to see who was around.

I stayed hidden in the shadows as I saw her sweat bullets. She cleaned up the stain and made a dash out of the museum. I caught every moment of it and took out the tape from the camera and stashed it inside a secret compartment inside of my pack.

I dashed to catch up with her, and as I turned the corner, I felt an aura of malice as I rolled out of the way of her axe kick. Luckily inside of my pack I also had an audio recorder that Ritz gave me that she normally uses for interviews. I switched it on, as its microphone can pick up at a good distance even from within my pack.

“So why’d you do it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you trying to clean up your leftover bloodstain.”

She winced and gave me a scowl. She threw me a right hook and I stepped back and held her fist in my hand.

“You wouldn’t understand…”

“So you’re saying you did it, then?”

“Yes… because it was rightfully mine.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because the research was my father’s idea in the first place, he was the originator of carrying out the research for creating crystals. It took him several years to find out a few of the key ingredients of making them, and one day he just vanished and left behind his notebook with a letter.”

I raised a brow and didn’t know whether to believe this story. Although the passive spell that Ms. Weiss taught me, that reveal people’s secrets, wasn’t going off. So I chose to believe her for now.

“The letter said for me to carry on his research for him, that I would be able to figure out the rest of it. So I read his notebook and studied the map and found out the secret to making them after a few more years of traveling to the area he designated.”

“So what happened after that?”

“The owner of the museum caught wind of the research a while ago, and had means to buy the jewel from me initially, but I wouldn’t sell it because it was the very first one that was made with the fruition of my father and I’s research. It wouldn’t be right to sell something that had such sentimental value to it. It’s not like I wouldn’t make a second one to sell, but he didn’t want me to make a second one, he wanted the first one, as it would be more rare and one of a kind and would make for a lot more attraction and revenue.”

I let out a sigh and crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

“And the next day after I declined his offer, some goons came and attacked me and stole the crystal. Before I knew it, it was displayed at the museum, and that vile director took credit for “discovering” it.”

I stopped the tape, as I had enough evidence to free Ritz of all charges, but the final nail in the coffin would be Ritsuko’s testimony and confession.
“Listen. You know, my friend was suspected of stealing your crystal, when it was really you. Why did you stash it in her bag?”

“I didn’t plan on anyone finding it there so soon. I was panicked because the goons chased after me after I stole it and followed me onto the trolley. I just stashed it in a random person’s bag. I planned to get it back from that person later; I didn’t think that person would report it to the authorities.”

“So you’re saying it’s Ritz’s fault?”

“No, not at all. I should have had better judgment and hid it somewhere else.”

“All right. But you do know that in light of all of this information, you’re going to have to testify and come clean about what really happened, don’t you? It would really help reveal the truth of the matter.”

“…The truth?”

“The truth is important in a court of law, and in life. Remember that.”

“…Yes. I will. I’ll testify.”

The trial was tomorrow, and I gave Ritsuko the name of Ritz’s defense attorney. I clenched my fist at how deep this case really was. After Ritz gets proven innocent, her and I would have to work together to bring down the real culprit of this bigger case.

It wouldn’t surprise me that her father’s vanishing had to do with murder, either.