Victorique was surprised to find Kujo next to her when she awoke. Generally, Kujo got up early, so this was a really nice surprise.
Kujo was next to her, fast asleep and holding Victorique in a tight embrace. Looking at the clock on the wall, it was nearly 9. Kujo had overslept.
Victorique freed herself from Kujo's grip and turned to face him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. She didn't want to disturb him, but Victorique knew that Kujo would want to be woken up. He was sure to be alarmed when he found out he had slept past 8!
"Kujo," she said as she gently shook him.
Kujo stirred and slowly forced open his eyes.
"Victorique?" he said groggily, "How early is it? Why are you already up?"
Victorique let out a short noise of amusement.
"It's almost 9. You overslept."
"No way," said Kujo as he sat up.
He then saw the clock. His arms went limp as his eyes widened in surprise.
Victorique couldn't help laughing.
"I slept till 9?!" he shouted, "Think of all the stuff I could have gotten done!"
Victorique fell back on the bed, laughing uncontrollably.
A time passed as Victorique finished laughing and Kujo recovered from his confusion.
Victorique got a hold of herself and draped her arms over Kujo's shoulders.
"You should sleep in more often; it was really nice waking up with you at my side," she said, "Maybe I ought to drug your dinner with sleeping pills!"
Kujo sighed. He then suddenly looked at Victorique as if he had realized something.
"Victorique! Did you put sleeping pills in my food last night?!"
Victorique giggled.
"No, but perhaps I should from now on."
Kujo sighed in defeat.
Victorique suddenly jumped at Kujo, taking him by surprise. Kujo found that their lips were pressed together. He was initially surprised but quickly accepted it and pulled Victorique closer to him.
Victorique had changed a bit since their marriage, Kujo realized. While she was often her collected and reserved self around others, there were times when Victorique seemed to have no filter on her emotions like she usually did. She would get excited and spontaneous like she had been for the past few days, and almost seemed like a different person. But Kujo wasn't complaining, he took this as a compliment. Victorique was happier and alive now that she and Kujo were married. He had fallen in love with the stoic and logical Victorique, but this new spontaneous and energetic Victorique was sure to win his heart every time. He supposed that this was the magic of being with a person who you truly love.
Victorique pulled away and Kujo spoke up, "You're quite energetic this morning."
Victorique thought for a moment, "Yes, I suppose I am. I guess I enjoyed our day yesterday so much that I'm just that excited to start today!"
"Speaking of which," said Kujo, "What should we do today?"
"Well, we took yesterday off, so how about we investigate more of Grevil's case?"
"That's fine by me, sounds fun."
Kujo and Victorique got dressed and ate breakfast. They went over the specifics of the case once more to refresh their memories before heading over to Grevil's office at the Saubreme Police Headquarters.
They arrived at Grevil's office to find the man pacing around the room with an unlit pipe in his hand. Victorique and Kujo didn't think they needed to knock, so they barged right in.
Grevil jumped in astonishment, sending the pipe tumbling to the ground. It hit the ground with a thud, followed by a long silence.
Victorique finally spoke, "Grevil, why are you walking around the room brandishing a pipe? It seems somehow unlike you."
Grevil quickly picked up the pipe and cleared his throat.
"You see, I was about to… Well… Smoke it! Yes! I was about to have a smoke!"
"You were trying to imitate me weren't you?"
Grevil nearly dropped the pipe in surprise.
"Preposterous! Who would think that brandishing an unlit pipe would help one's thinking? The ridiculousness of the idea is astronomical!"
"It does indeed help my thinking. But I highly doubt it would help yours at all. We all know you're not a smoker, Grevil. Therefore you must have been trying to find out if using a pipe would make you a detective as great as your sister."
Grevil grumpily put the pipe on his desk and sat down, defeated.
"If you're so desperate as to try to imitate your little sister, then I presume you've reached some sort of wall in your investigation. Please, tell us what's troubling you." Victorique said with a triumphant smile.
Grevil grumbled and sat up, embarrassed.
"That's just it. Ever since you helped us two days ago, we've come up with nothing. Nothing! The best police force in the country has come up with nothing!" Grevil complained.
Victorique raised her pipe to her mouth and was silent, waiting on Grevil to continue.
"We've searched the royal palace numerous times, explored the tunnels leading away from Celice's office, and we have the entire city searching for a man who fits the description of Celice's assassin. But we haven't learned anything new."
Victorique remained silent.
"That, my dear sister, is why I thought I would try the pipe thing. Desperate times call for desperate measures!"
"I presume the pipe thing has yielded no results," Victorique said with a smirk.
"Well," said Grevil, "I only just picked it up minutes before you walked in, so I guess I could still give it a try…"
"That's pointless."
"Well what do you suggest I do? Has my dear sister come to any conclusions of her own?"
"I have not; I have reconstructed all of the available chaos."
"See? We aren't getting anywh-"
Victorique cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"However, that doesn't mean that we have no avenues of investigation."
"What do you mean?" asked a confused Grevil.
"As I said earlier, we know that the assassin has some link to the Science Academy, if he didn't, Celice would not have trusted him before he was murdered. We also know that the assassin is opposed to the Science Academy, and while I doubt the Ministry of the Occult is involved, it is still a possibility. And if the assassin is not affiliated with the Occult, there are plenty of other organizations around that are not exactly friendly towards the Science Academy."
Grevil sat in his office chair, scratching his head.
Victorique turned to him, "With this knowledge in mind, what are our possible plans of attack?"
She asked the question as if she were lecturing a schoolboy.
After a few moments of intense thinking, Grevil finally said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to investigate what's left of the Occult, ask them if they've seen the assassin."
He trailed off, trying to think of something else.
"And?" Victorique pressed.
"Maybe they know of some of these organizations who are against the Science Academy."
Victorique placed her hands on her hips and gave him a grin.
"Very good."
Kujo was astonished. The head of all of Sauville's police activities was being lectured like a child by his little sister. Kujo supposed that this was a fitting role for Victorique to take.
Victorique took Kujo's hand and led him towards the door.
"I'm sure you have plenty of work to do, with being the head of the Sauville Police and all, so Kujo and I will go and investigate the Occult. See you later, inspector."
Victorique pulled Kujo out the door without further comment. Grevil sat at his desk, utterly defeated.
Victorique pulled Kujo along triumphantly. Kujo couldn't help but laugh a bit at the perverse pleasure she got out of besting Grevil.
While Victorique had changed a bit since their marriage, she was still Victorique from head to toe.
Kujo and Victorique walked from the police station to Saubreme's royal palace. At the entrance, Victorique flashed her Guest Detective's badge that Grevil had given her and they were in.
Kujo and Victorique walked the palace's extravagant halls as they made their way to the Ministry of the Occult's main offices.
"I'll bet you never thought you'd be walking the royal palace's halls someday when you came here as a transfer student, did you?" Victorique asked Kujo.
"That's true," replied Kujo.
"I suppose that's one of the perks of being married to not only a noble, but to such a gifted detective," said Victorique as she stretched her free arm in self-praise.
"I suppose so, but that's not why I married you."
"Oh? So why did you then?"
"Hmm. Lots of reasons I suppose. Your laugh, your personality, your eyes. Do I need a reason really?"
Victorique smiled and tightened her grip on his hand, "No, those reasons will do just fine."
Soon they arrived at the Occult offices.
The Occult offices were eerily empty. It was obvious that this had once been an organization of great power, now reduced to a fraction of its former size and influence. It seems that the Occult's attempted takeover of the country really hit them hard.
Sitting at the front desk was a lone woman. She was studiously writing in a book, supposedly taking care of Occult business.
She looked up and noticed Kujo and Victorique, and addressed them with a bored, "Hello."
"Hello," said Kujo in reply, "We were wondering if we might talk to someone about something."
The woman returned to her work, seemingly uninterested.
"Who exactly would you like to talk to? It's not like the Occult gets many visitors these days."
"Perhaps, someone in charge?"
The woman looked up again, "I suppose the person in charge now would have to be Jean Luc Moitessier. But he's nothing more than an office worker really. The truth is, the Occult doesn't really have anyone in charge anymore, the government simply keeps us around as a formality ever since the Duke de Blois tried to take over the country," she paused and looked at Victorique, "You bear a strange resemblance to him."
"I'm his daughter, actually," said Victorique.
"Is that so? Sorry about his passing."
The woman returned to her work, uninterested in the conversation.
"And this Montessier is where exactly?" asked Kujo.
"In the back." The woman pointed behind her.
They thanked the bored woman and continued through a door leading deeper into the offices.
They were greeted by a dark, open space. It was filled with empty desks and littered with stacks of paper. The only hint of life was the lit window of an office near the back of the room.
"The Occult's really gone downhill, it seems," said Kujo.
"It would appear that this Jean Luc Moitessier and the bored woman at the desk are the only workers," replied Victorique.
"She wasn't lying when she said the government only keeps them around as a formality."
They approached the office with the lit window. The sign on the door read, "Jean Luc Moitessier: Ministry of the Occult Head of Operations."
Victorique knocked and they heard a tired, "Enter."
They opened the door and were greeted by an elderly man.
"Hello, please sit. We don't get many visitors anymore," he said.
Victorique and Kujo sat on the two available armchairs.
"I've almost forgotten to introduce myself, I'm Jean Luc Moitessier, head of the Ministry of the Occult. How can I help?"
"I'm Victorique Kujo and this is my husband Kujo Kazuya. I'm formerly from the de Blois family," said Victorique.
"de Blois?" said Moitessier in surprise, "You're not the daughter of the late Albert de Blois are you?"
"I am, in fact. Although I can't say I'm terribly saddened by my father's passing."
"I suppose that makes sense, considering what he tried to do. I didn't really know the man myself, but there's no denying the evil that dwelled in his heart."
"Didn't know him?" Victorique echoed in questioning, "How could you not have known him when you are now the head of the Occult?"
Moitessier sighed, "Well, the truth is I only worked for the Occult in my younger days. I was retired when your father tried to take over the country. He rose to power long after I was gone. After the war, the government dissolved the Occult to its bones and only left it barely alive for the sake of its cultural and historical significance. I know the king, his majesty Rupert de Gilet personally and he asked me to step in as the Occult's figurehead, given my prior experience with the organization. But that's all I am really, a figurehead. It's just me and Nina now, making sure what little Occult business exists is taken care of for the sake of Sauville's history."
"Nina?" asked Victorique.
"The woman at the front desk."
"I see. I knew that the Occult was a shadow of its former self, but I did not anticipate the government to strip it down to this, this may prove problematic in our investigation..."
Victorique placed her hand on her chin and looked to the side in thought.
"Investigation?" asked Moitessier, "Is there something regarding this investigation that we can help you with?"
Victorique turned back towards Moitessier, "It's why we're here. Surely you've heard of the recent assassination of Alban Celice?"
"Why yes. Such a shame. We talked on occasion before his death," replied Moitessier in dismay.
"That's what we're investigating. We concluded that Celice's assassin had some link to the Science Academy, and is probably in league with an organization that has something against the Academy-."
"You don't think we're involved do you?" Moitessier interrupted.
"It's a possibility, but based on the state of this office I highly doubt it," said Victorique, "We are simply here because we thought that perhaps the Ministry of the Occult knew something of anti-Science Academy organizations."
"I see," said Moitessier with a sigh of relief, "You have no idea how many people have accused us of wrongdoing since the war."
"I suppose that's only natural."
"I'm not sure how much I can help," Moitessier continued, "Considering that I've been away from the occult for years until now, my knowledge of such organizations is limited. But I do know that the Occult has always had countless allies in its political battles against the Science Academy, it's possible that your assassin belongs to one of these organizations. When the Occult was effectively shut down, hatred for the Science Academy did not go away, and there are still many underground organizations that mean to do it harm."
"What relation did these underground organizations have to the Occult?" asked Kujo.
"Well, they often served the Occult in various ways. Some of them were even started by the Occult itself. They would carry out assassinations, handle certain economic interests, that sort of thing. A lot of them did the Occult's dirty work so the main Occult organization did not get caught trying to assassinate the competition. Both the Science Academy and the Occult have done this for centuries. Politics are a nasty business."
"We've seen examples of such organizations, Kujo," said Victorique.
"What do you mean?" asked Kujo.
"Do you remember when we were on the train returning from Phantasmagoria at Beelzebub's Skull? Do you remember the masquerade we found ourselves caught up in?"
Kujo thought for a moment.
"Ah yes! When we were playing that raisin game and people kept claiming to be knights and scarecrows or whatever."
"Yes. It was a deadly game that members of the Occult and Science Academy were playing in order to gain control of Jupiter Roget's box of bequest, and using the contents they would prove Roget a Gray Wolf and a traitor to the king. Although I do not think that the players in that game were necessarily members of the Occult and Science Academy themselves, but rather of these other organizations that Moitessier mentioned."
"I don't know what you're talking about exactly, but based on what I'm hearing your deductions are probably correct," interjected Moitessier, "Both organizations have often used their allied underground organizations to complete such tasks, for if members of the main organization were found out, it would be too controversial. If a member of this side organization was caught, the Science Academy or the Ministry of the Occult could simply write those caught off as extremists."
"And we have come to find a list of such organizations involved with the Occult. Have you such a list, Monsieur Moitessier?"
"I do not, but Nina might. She's been the Occult's secretary for going on ten years now, she would probably know where to find such a list. Tell her what you told me, and she will help you find it."
They thanked Moitessier and went back to the front desk. They explained to Nina what they were looking for and she motioned for them to follow.
They walked down a dark hallway, one that perhaps hadn't seen people walk through it in years.
"The information that you're looking for is old, and also top secret. The Occult has been effectively shut down since the Duke de Blois was killed, and even when it was active the Occult kept any information regarding its less than legal activities under lock and key. Normally, this kind of thing would be very hard to find. Luckily, you have a secretary with ten years of experience on your side, and I learned a thing or two about where they like to hide things during my time here," said Nina.
They walked in silence for a while until they reached a door with a sign that read, "Office of Albert de Blois."
"His office hasn't been touched since he was killed, nobody wanted to deal with his stuff."
She pushed open the door and they entered. The office was clean, and didn't seem like it stored anything of value.
Kujo looked around the surprisingly normal office. It occurred to him that it was from here the duke had planned everything that would lead to his near takeover of Sauville. It made Kujo angry knowing that the duke used Victorique to put many of those plans into action.
Victorique touched Kujo's arm and he returned to reality. Thinking of what the duke did to Victorique made Kujo so angry he almost forgot where he was.
"Kujo, look," said Victorique.
She pointed to a drawer with a keyhole on the duke's desk.
"I'll bet you anything that's where it is."
Nina produced a key from her pocket.
"I think you're right, no one would have dared to mess with the duke's desk while he was alive. The duke had too much power, getting on his bad side meant almost certain termination from one's position as a member of the Occult. That makes this office a perfect place to hide something like the list we're looking for."
Nina opened the drawer and inside was a stack of paper. She looked at the papers, some were seemingly unimportant documents, while others seemed to be of more value. Nina pocketed these for later investigation.
Nina continued to search until she found what seemed like any other piece of paper. On it was a list of names and addresses.
"I believe this is what you were looking for," she said as she handed Victorique the paper.
Victorique read the names aloud.
"Sauville's Hand, The Wings of Righteousness, Incertitude. These are strange names."
"Well, the names had to be discreet," said Nina, "It's not like these organizations would name themselves 'Ministry of the Occult Puppet Organization #4' that'd be too obvious."
Victorique nodded in understanding and continued reading.
"The Runners, Perpetuation, Warriors of the Monstre Charmant."
Victorique stopped.
"Warriors of the Monstre Charmant? Who are they?"
"If I had to guess, probably Monstre Charmant worshippers. There were plenty of those around before the war, when your father tried to take power. He used their crazed obsession with the Monstre Charmant story and tried to get all of Sauville to follow him when they realized that he had you, the Monstre Charmant, on his side."
"Yes, I know what he tried to do," said Victorique, "Could any of these organizations still be around?"
"Oh yes. In fact many of them are," said Nina, "Even though the government shut down the Ministry of the Occult, it still lives on in these puppet organizations. Some of them are harmless and only try to preserve the Occult's cultural impact on Sauville, but others are quite militant and have been trying to reestablish the Occult's influence since the end of the war."
"May I take this list?"
"Yes, so long as you return it."
"Thank you, I believe we found a new lead in our investigation. We are grateful for your help."
"Anytime. Jean Luc and I will be here to help if you need anything."
They said goodbye to Nina and left the offices.
Victorique and Kujo sat near the Occult offices in a lounge, resting on some couches while Victorique studied the list.
Kujo waited while Victorique thought. He knew that at times like these it was best not to bother her so that she could think.
After a few minutes Victorique spoke, "I can't say for sure, but I think this 'Warriors of the Monstre Charmant' is the organization we're looking for."
"Why do you think so?" asked Kujo.
"Well, many of the names are quite mysterious. Names like 'The Wings of Righteousness' and 'Incertitude' don't tell you much about what the organization's purpose might be, but 'Warriors of the Monstre Charmant' is obvious. I can't shake the feeling that this is where we should look."
"Some of these organizations might not exist anymore," said Kujo, "Furthermore, visiting some could be dangerous, we don't know what they might do if we show up with the police!"
Victorique suddenly looked at Kujo as if he had given her an idea.
"That's exactly what we won't do, Kujo," she said.
"Huh?" he asked in confusion.
"I'll bet you anything that the Warriors of the Monstre Charmant are a cult that still worships the Monstre Charmant even after the war. Possibly a militant one, hence the word 'Warriors'. They certainly wouldn't take too kindly to the police showing up on their doorstep, so we go in pretending to be seeking membership in the cult, and they won't suspect a thing."
"Victorique. You are the Monstre Charmant that they worship. There's no telling what would happen if they found out!"
"We'll take every precaution. Plus, we'll talk to Grevil first. He can have the police waiting outside just in case."
Kujo crossed his arms and grumbled.
"I still don't like it, it's an unnecessary risk."
"I think it's the only way we'll solve this case. We owe it to Grevil to help him solve this. Without his kindness during the war, we never would have been reunited. It's the least we can do."
Kujo sat there pondering for a moment. It was obvious that he did not want to go through with it.
Victorique turned to Kujo and grabbed his hand.
"I know you're worried. But I need to do this. I can't leave a case unsolved, no matter how dangerous, and I want to help my brother. But I can't do it without you. You're my assistant, my partner in crime. You always have been since the day we met. Will you do this with me?"
Kujo turned to look at Victorique. She was holding his hand and looking deep into his eyes with an almost pleading expression. He couldn't turn her down.
"I'll do it."
Victorique hugged Kujo and whispered into his ear, "Thank you."
Kujo placed his arm on Victorique's back.
"If we're to do this, we need to talk to Grevil. Shall we go now, or later?"
"Now," Victorique said, "Might as well."