"Thank you," Richard murmured. "I'm in your debt, Inspector."
At the mention of needing to rest, Richard tensed.
"I'm...alright," he said. "I think I can manage at the meeting. Delilah's scared me awake."
Holding his coat over him like a blanket, he stood up, walking past Jinn towards the meeting room.
In the meeting room, Delilah and Heinlein were both standing over the table and glaring at each other.
"You want me to trust you? You hand your info first!" she barked. "Why should I have to give the intel on the operation to someone who literally compromised the Expiate's power in Stahlmin!?"
"Get over yourself, Veiller!" Heinlein frowned. "That was ten years ago and I've said time and time again that I've regretted it! Why else do you think I'm here? I want to HELP."
"There's a difference between 'help' and doing things in exchange for favors," she said.
Richard cleared his throat. The two straightened up, Delilah glaring at him.
"Oi. What are you doing back here?" she said. "You're supposed to be sleeping."
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"I'm fine now," he said. "Everyone, please excuse me for my behavior. I'm fully alert now. Where are you now?"
Delilah crossed her arms and huffed.
"The agreement on exchanging intel on the Leiger and Janwynne cases," she said. "Martel wants us to send our info first. I said I'm not sending anything until we get our hands on their files to make sure anything is of value."
Richard sighed.
"I see," he said. "Martel, care briefing me and the Inspector?"
"But of course," Martel said merrily. "The Expiate handled the cult activity that arose in Leiger, something the Stahl military wants more control over given that it directly has to do with civil uprisings and less of Cantic control. Meanwhile, a unit of Stahl officers dealt with a Moira case in Janwynne, something that was never reported in full detail to the Expiate."
"It's an isolated incident, however," Richard said. "I remember the report being filed. How does it relate to our current agreements?"
Heinlein cleared his throat.
"Moira are urgent business, Commander," Heinlein said. "That's all there is to it. I take it Special Operations were in charge of that, too?"
Delilah leered at Heinlein. Richard sighed as he sat down in his seat.
"It doesn't need to be confidential, we can give it," he said.
"Great~" Martel beamed. "We can discuss the info in detail at the next respective meeting and exchange files and reports there on the agreed specifics. Now, onto you, Inspector."
Martel looked at Jinn, pointing her walking cane towards him. She grinned.
"Aside from the detailed report of the Unanimity incident," she said. "What Heinlein and I would like is if, in cooperation with some of our units, you can conduct an investigation for us."
Richard arched his eyebrow.
"Investigation?" he asked.
"Richard highly commends you for your investigative skills," Martel said. "And a partnership between our organizations can prove useful in cracking down this whole mystery magic business, don't you think?"
Delilah straightened up.
"You want to assign one of our men to your investigations?" Delilah asked.
"It's not uncommon," Heinlein said. "Stahlmin and the Expiate has worked before on various operations such as defensive and Cantic-related issues. An investigation in that area wouldn't be hard, right?"
"We can agree on a list of objectives for the investigation," Martel said. "I'm sure it shouldn't be hard to find information on users of magic similar to what was witnessed, right? And I'm sure you have info on witnesses that can help you trace the target person?"
Richard cleared his throat.
"Is a single person really worth such trouble?" Richard asked.
"Yeah," Delilah, for once, agreed. "You're asking us to take our head investigator off of his regular tasks to basically do a headhunt for someone you 'speculate' is using 'suspicious' magic."
"Well, it's not just really that single person," Martel said. "I mean they're definitely part of it, but there's issues about similar cases as a whole--pieces lying all over the Esterelf continent and we'd like you, Inspector Jinn to piece them together."
"It's quite ambitious," Heinlein said. "But we're willing to aid you with any resources needed- manpower, finances, and even jurisdiction over certain actions that otherwise don't fall in the hands of the Expiate."
At the mention of needing to rest, Richard tensed.
"I'm...alright," he said. "I think I can manage at the meeting. Delilah's scared me awake."
Holding his coat over him like a blanket, he stood up, walking past Jinn towards the meeting room.
In the meeting room, Delilah and Heinlein were both standing over the table and glaring at each other.
"You want me to trust you? You hand your info first!" she barked. "Why should I have to give the intel on the operation to someone who literally compromised the Expiate's power in Stahlmin!?"
"Get over yourself, Veiller!" Heinlein frowned. "That was ten years ago and I've said time and time again that I've regretted it! Why else do you think I'm here? I want to HELP."
"There's a difference between 'help' and doing things in exchange for favors," she said.
Richard cleared his throat. The two straightened up, Delilah glaring at him.
"Oi. What are you doing back here?" she said. "You're supposed to be sleeping."
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"I'm fine now," he said. "Everyone, please excuse me for my behavior. I'm fully alert now. Where are you now?"
Delilah crossed her arms and huffed.
"The agreement on exchanging intel on the Leiger and Janwynne cases," she said. "Martel wants us to send our info first. I said I'm not sending anything until we get our hands on their files to make sure anything is of value."
Richard sighed.
"I see," he said. "Martel, care briefing me and the Inspector?"
"But of course," Martel said merrily. "The Expiate handled the cult activity that arose in Leiger, something the Stahl military wants more control over given that it directly has to do with civil uprisings and less of Cantic control. Meanwhile, a unit of Stahl officers dealt with a Moira case in Janwynne, something that was never reported in full detail to the Expiate."
"It's an isolated incident, however," Richard said. "I remember the report being filed. How does it relate to our current agreements?"
Heinlein cleared his throat.
"Moira are urgent business, Commander," Heinlein said. "That's all there is to it. I take it Special Operations were in charge of that, too?"
Delilah leered at Heinlein. Richard sighed as he sat down in his seat.
"It doesn't need to be confidential, we can give it," he said.
"Great~" Martel beamed. "We can discuss the info in detail at the next respective meeting and exchange files and reports there on the agreed specifics. Now, onto you, Inspector."
Martel looked at Jinn, pointing her walking cane towards him. She grinned.
"Aside from the detailed report of the Unanimity incident," she said. "What Heinlein and I would like is if, in cooperation with some of our units, you can conduct an investigation for us."
Richard arched his eyebrow.
"Investigation?" he asked.
"Richard highly commends you for your investigative skills," Martel said. "And a partnership between our organizations can prove useful in cracking down this whole mystery magic business, don't you think?"
Delilah straightened up.
"You want to assign one of our men to your investigations?" Delilah asked.
"It's not uncommon," Heinlein said. "Stahlmin and the Expiate has worked before on various operations such as defensive and Cantic-related issues. An investigation in that area wouldn't be hard, right?"
"We can agree on a list of objectives for the investigation," Martel said. "I'm sure it shouldn't be hard to find information on users of magic similar to what was witnessed, right? And I'm sure you have info on witnesses that can help you trace the target person?"
Richard cleared his throat.
"Is a single person really worth such trouble?" Richard asked.
"Yeah," Delilah, for once, agreed. "You're asking us to take our head investigator off of his regular tasks to basically do a headhunt for someone you 'speculate' is using 'suspicious' magic."
"Well, it's not just really that single person," Martel said. "I mean they're definitely part of it, but there's issues about similar cases as a whole--pieces lying all over the Esterelf continent and we'd like you, Inspector Jinn to piece them together."
"It's quite ambitious," Heinlein said. "But we're willing to aid you with any resources needed- manpower, finances, and even jurisdiction over certain actions that otherwise don't fall in the hands of the Expiate."