V2Ch131 New Adjutant

Ruby flew over the top of the wall made of fairies and waved at the ones closest to her. Her descent was fast and fierce. She came to the wall climb finish line but, she wasn't alone.

Ruby was neck and neck with a beast-man and the treant wasn't far behind. Pain filled her lower lip as she bit it in frustration.

A splash of water could be heard from behind. A quick glance let ruby know that the flying lizard man was still in it to win it.

As it stood, Durt was the pair's best chance at pulling off a win. Ruby changed her goal. She would keep up with the frontline group and try to sabotage them as best she could without getting disqualified.

—————-

I felt a familiar presence get close. I held out an arm and a tiny all-black bird landed on me. Some children nearby seemed amused at the creature.

I reached out with my free hand to grab hold of the needles. The bird hopped over to my shoulder at my mental command.

'Lake.'

Rage spoke to get my attention.

'Taste one of them.'

I swiped one of the needles across my tongue. I instantly felt a numbing sensation in my mouth.

'A paralyzing agent. This could arguably be considered a weapon and thus, a cheating element.'

I agreed with his words. The poison quickly fled my system. I'm assuming because of the poison concoction I bought in Fricity.

I went over to the registration booth which wasn't far.

"We're closed."

The large angry woman called out as I came close.

"I know, I was just won…"

"If we are closed then you have no business here. Go away."

I'm sure she was seeing how annoyed I looked.

"I mean no…"

"Go."

"Listen, I want…"

"Aaaay."

"Can you stop int…"

Waayy."

I crossed my arms. I wanted to smack her. The receptionist that I had met with the first time was behind the large beast-woman doing some kind of paperwork. It seemed like she had just finished some work and began to tidy up.

"I'm gonna go on break now."

She said as she patted her co-worker on the shoulder.

"Okay, Denifa. Have fun. Stay away from idiots like this…"

She nearly sprinted up to me.

"Maybe I can help you out."

She took my hand and led me away from the stall. I could hear a voice behind us

"No! That's the idiot you should stay away from! Denifa!"

I wanted to show her a devious smile and flip her off but, I didn't want her to chase me down and tackle me or something.

"Soo. Denifa, is it? That's a nice name."

"Oh, thank you. My parents gave it to me. Where did you find yours, Lake?"

Wait… is she serious?

"Haha. I'm kidding. The look on your face…"

She continued to smirk and chuckle.

"So, Lake. Did you come back just to see me?"

"Well, not exactly but maybe you can help. I think one of the contestants is cheating. A little birdie found these in a tree along the course. They have a paralyzing agent on them."

I held out the needles. She had a worried look and picked one up with a cloth that she removed from a pocket.

"Who do you think these came from?"

"The flying lizard-man that's been close to the lead. It was faint, but I saw a shimmer on the screen when he and my new friend were trying to take the lead."

"And, how did you retrieve these?"

I held out a hand and a small shadow-covered bird landed in my palm. It wasn't the same bird but she doesn't need to know that.

"A friend of mine."

Her brows furrowed.

"A… little birdie. You were being literal. Come with me. We need to show this to some higher officials."

I stayed behind her as she made her way through the crowds. Only a short distance away from where we were, we entered a short but wide tree that's been hollowed out. It was maybe two stories tall before leaf-filled branches started sprouting. The base itself was maybe a good city block around.

Treant guards were placed at either side of the entrance. We took a few hallways until we got to an important-looking double door. It had Eysian writing above. "Office of the …" I couldn't read the last word. It was one that I hadn't learned.

We entered without trouble from a single guard patrolling outside. A single fey in a snazzy green business suit was working behind a desk.

"Denifa…"

He said. He jotted down a few more things before saying anything else.

"What brings you to the office of the adjutant?"

Adjutant. That must have been the word I didn't recognize outside of the office.

Denifa stepped forward and placed the needle in the cloth upon his desk within his reach.

"This was found on the course. I think someone was using it to get an unfair advantage over their competition."

He reached forward and picked it up with the cloth. He stood and moved it into the sunlight that came through his office window. When he stood, I was surprised at his height. He was taller than the treant guards.

He asked for my name and details about the discovery. I filled him in as best I could with a bit of help from Denifa.

"So you think the lizard-man is responsible. What if it was the fae using the needles?"

"Well, no. Durt was between the lizard-man and the tree. What would be the point in throwing the needles at the tree?"

"What if he was planting evidence and tried to blame the other contestant later? What if he threw the needles off visual and they were deflected? You seem to know the fae, but can you honestly say you know him well enough to say with certainty that he did not do it?"

"I…"

"Even if you did know him well, I don't know you. Is there anyone nearby that knows you or the fae?"

I was annoyed. As frustrated as I was, I hid any of those emotions from him. My efforts to bring this to someone's attention seems to have backfired.

"I will notify the fairies in charge of the course boundaries. They will in turn notify those on the boundaries to keep an eye out for foul play. Specifically on your fae and the lizard-man. If anything is observed, we will act on it."

Denifa tugged on my shirt sleeve.

"We should go."

She whispered.

"He's made up his mind. At this point, we are just intruding."

I quietly followed her out of the office tree. I wanted to make a stink but, I would only make Denifa look bad for bringing me here. I didn't want to cause her trouble. She's been nothing but kind to me.

We walked back toward the screen to get an update on the race. It should be close to finished by now. Anything that adjutant said he would do is probably too little too late.

"What are you going to… oh. Your birdie is flying away. I didn't even see him come back."

She saw the one. She failed to notice the dozen other birds in the area also flying in the same direction.

"Not much I can do here. Just have to wait."