“But Chakra is under the rule of Mandala, right?” Yuri asked in my place. Taken aback, I could move nothing but my mouth. But words wouldn’t come out. Yuri, I’m counting on you.
“—makes sense. But how did you come to be the owner of everything?”
“I was commissioned to do so by the government,” said Telestofarnus. “After making the investments and developing the holding company, I brought over mining engineers and equipment. In a nutshell, my company built Aslaville from scratch. And so, no, Landis is not my ‘customer.’ He is a peon of mine. You should know who you are talking to. If you think I am simply the owner of some rundown nightclub, you are sorely mistaken.”
What was I supposed to think? He was here, wasn’t he?
“As his employer, allow me to ask about the incident my employee has gotten himself involved in. It’s really a simple matter,” Telestofarnus continued.
Well, it seemed all right. But thinking about it, this wasn’t the ideal way of doing things. He managed the mines, paid his employees, then took it all back through alcohol sales and gambling. All the money ends up in one place.
“My deepest apologies, sir,” said Landis, out of the blue. “But I didn’t tell anyone about my injury. I had it treated at the mine’s medical office. I have no idea how the mayor caught wind of it.”
“The how doesn’t concern me,” Telestofarnus spat out. “The problem is that now I have to deal with it.”
“That’s not Landis’ fault,” I said.
“Hmph,” Telestofarnus snorted. “I wonder.”
After a few moments he returned his gaze toward me.
“For a certain amount of money, I am thinking you might pack up and go home.”
“Who? Us? No way!” I said, immediately rejecting the very idea. “I am not sure what you are so worried about, but we don’t negotiate like this. We will leave when we solve the case. Did you really think we could be bribed?”
“I am not afraid of you solving the case and finding the truth— I am afraid of the damage incurred in getting there,” Telestofarnus said frankly. “We have just gotten Chakra on track. And then you two arrive. I would like to chalk up my losses at one wrestling ring and stop it there.”
Uggh. I was struck mute. What a powerfully persuasive speech. There was nothing I could say to retort.
“If you want us to return home, then cooperate with our investigation,” Yuri said. Nice. Great comeback.
“You can just give us some helpful hints. We don’t expect you to completely expose yourself to us. If we could get just a fragment of a clue, we could start to solve the case, and help you out at the same time. That’s why they call us trouble consultants, and not investigators. Anything you have is fine. Tell us whatever comes to mind. The sooner you help us, the sooner we are on our way back to Headquarters.”
“A hint, huh…”
Telestofarnus stroked his three chins and leaned his head back.
“This is a peaceful planet”
“Umm…”
Landis fearfully bit his lip.
“Would it be… May I say something?”
“Go right ahead,” said Telestofarnus arrogantly. “You are the one who got us here. Let’s hear your contribution to the conversation.”
“What about the leader—”
“Chk!” Telestofarnus clicked his tongue. “He’s nothing but a lunatic. He’s not the problem.”
“Leader?” I asked.
“A crazy man who appeared recently from the mountains,” explained Telestofarnus.
“He used to be one of my miners, but one day he started screaming that the hour of judgment was near and he starting getting into all this religious mumbo-jumbo. Now he’s the leader of the Absolute Children of Heaven and has a group of followers, but any person who would listen to that phony is a moron.”
“What do you make of him?” I asked, looking at Landis.
“It’s not so much what I think of him, but just that his sudden strange appearance recently, I thought it might be a hint for your investigation, so…”
Landis’ voice got progressively quieter, finally falling into complete silence.
“Even for a hint, that’s a lousy one,” stated Telestofarnus, drooping his shoulders.
We continued talking for about twenty minutes.
No other real progress was made, and the meeting ended ambiguously.
Telestofarnus wasn’t able to buy us off of Chakra, and we didn’t get any really useful information, or even hints, to help our investigation.
In the end, the meeting had been a mutual waste of time.
Leaving Telestofarnus at his office in Salvatore, we made our way back. Well, we didn’t exactly have a “back” to make our way to, yet we needed to decide to go to Lovely Angel, or find a hotel, or return to Jeff’s explosion-damaged office. I wondered how Jeff’s injuries were. I hoped he didn’t have any permanent scars on his face.
My thoughts were fractured in a thousand pieces as the manager hustled us out of the club.
It was bright out, so at first I thought it was around noon, but there were no people walking the main street in front of Salvatore. It must have been the middle of the night. No cars drove by, either.
“Man, it’s bright out.”
I stretched my arms high above my head. Looking tired, Mugi rolled onto his side like he was about to fall asleep.
“Aah, maybe some nice man will come up in his fancy car and invite us to go someplace,” said Yuri, almost sounding as if she was talking in her sleep.
“What are you talking about?” I said, snorting a laugh out my nose.
An air car slid around the corner toward us. It was a large-class limousine. It wasn’t the kind of car you’d expect to see in Aslaville.
It stopped in front of us. The heavy door opened. Expecting someone to get out, we got out of the way, but our assumption wasn’t correct. The passenger window opened. A middle-aged gentleman examined our faces.
“Are you not the two ladies of Lovely Angel?” he said, using our codename correctly. Intelligent. I didn’t know who this man was, but I could already tell he was a refined gentleman.
“Yes, that is correct. And you are…?” I asked, giving my cutest grin. Oh, the details weren’t exactly the same, but didn’t Yuri just say something about this very event?
“I have come to give you a ride,” said the gentleman politely. “I was sent here by request of the mayor.”
That made sense. We nodded in agreement. First the owner, and now the mayor.