”J-Just what kind of job is this..?” the coal-haired fire mage stammered as his eyes were set at the request in his hand. It was even shaking a little; he was going to do the objective of following a detective and support mentioned in his cases. The truth, though, was that no cases were for real and that the detective was merely an unstable man who suffered from a long-term damage which had settled since the day where the incident found place. To Hyōen, it sounded rather unsettling yet responsible to follow this man whose picture was on the request. “Coda,” he spoke rather quietly, which was strange for the bird which was addressed, “… I guess that we’ll be detectives for a day. Hihihi..!” His eyes suddenly turned scary of excitement, because being a detective was like the best thing that he dreamt of his future job to be. Other than being a strong mage, that was, but being a detective sounded like such a fascinating and dramatic experience. No way that he would miss out the chance.

The job stated that he was going to meet the client in a coffee shop. Hyōen found his feet approaching the place, but people’s whispers began sounding like that they were talking about that ‘weird guy who drank all the coffee’. It sounded like Hyōen’s doing, but he just arrived. It couldn’t be that the client was the case, was it? “Uhm…” he began mumbling in anxiety, before entering the coffee shop, “Just stay calm, Coda… *cough* so where’s this detective?” His deep eyes scanned the room, settling onto every customer’s eyes as they looked away in either awkwardness or offended. He would spot a tall, English-like jacket-suited male with a fedora, sipping off a cup of coffee and complaining about something. Convinced, Hyōen approached the man, until they suddenly found each other under four eyes. “. . .” The mage sweated a little in surprise, while the male inspected his very appearance, look and expression, “…Ehm, hello? Anyone home?” He consciously moved a hand across the very thinking person, until last-mentioned nodded while holding his chin with his thumb and index. “Hmh, hmh… I say that you must be the mage whom I’ve requested, no?” he asked with a very British accent. It was as if he gave it a little too much British to it, though, given by Hyōen’s expression. “Ehh, yeah, hehe. What’s up!” he quickly replied to ease the atmosphere again, “I’m Hyōen, and yes, the mage himself. So what’s the case today, sir..?” His eyes almost lit up in flames like his hair already did, but the detective suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “Come with me if you want to contribute with anything… in solving this murder investigation,” the male spoke. Hyōen found it too rushing, because he barely got his own cup of coffee or cake, in which he flailed an arm towards the coffee shop as they went out. The flocks around them looked with wide-open eyes as the team, Hyōen and the one and only detective of this mysterious town, strolled across. The fire mage was still pulled across the floor as he clearly found it ridiculous to go for the case so soon; his tummy wanted something else. While moaning over the loss of food, the genius investigator focused his eyes on a specific couple; quite cute together, they sought to move towards an alley, in which he was triggered with suspicion. “This way!” he suggested… or rather commanded, in which they both were moving towards the suspicious partners. H-He’s going to ruin their time…, the coal-haired Lamia mage thought in worry, I should stop him before-. As he looked up from the ground, the two lovey-dovey birds were cornered by the alley and those two, prevented from having a good time alone. The girl screamed out loud, in which the detective laughed in return and lifted up his- wait, where and how did he get that POLE? “It seems that I’ve exposed you, sneaky criminals..!” he proclaimed in pride as the pole was pointed at their heads, “-but your deeds are going to be accounted!” Hyōen was about to ascent and grab the pole, before the maniac could hurt anyone. However, as the detective was fast enough, he simply mistook it for a gun and moved it up and down as if he was firing off bullets. “Pew, pew pew…” he mumbled quietly, causing both the couple and Hyōen to look at him with a totally surprised face. Angered of the ridiculousness, the fire mage stood up. “OI! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?! STOP SCARING THE COUPLE!!!” he shouted with a largened, comical face of rage against the detective who just gazed back with silent eyes. “. . .” After a moment of silence, the detective replied: “Oi… I’m in the middle of an arrest, rookie.” Feeling belittled, Hyōen stepped back with a saddened face, before suddenly getting an idea. “H-Hey, master detective..!” the boy spoke out to him, preventing the crazy-ass from hurting the couple, “You got the wrong target! It’s a trap, but I saw the real criminals run that way..!” A moment of silence passed again, while Hyōen wished for the plan to work. Luckily, the detective leapt in with both his legs and laughed. “A trap, huh?! We would’ve surely been on our butts if I didn’t find out!” he declared, giving himself all the credits. He quickly turned away from the ‘wrong targets’ and passed Hyōen, before turning back to him in remembrance of something. “By the way, I must thank you for your company. Despite how little that you did, you’re not too bad..!” he complimented, handing the fire mage a pocket, “Use them wisely! And excuse me for being busy, but I got to catch up on them!” And poof, he was gone with the wind.

The plan worked, and what other way to use the money was better than getting what he yearned for since the very beginning; visiting the coffee shop once again, he filled his belly with happiness. Coda landed on his shoulder, surprising some of the customers around, while Hyōen smiled. “*munch*… I hope that he succeeded with his case,” he mumbled…