KS: Hey, folks. I'm back. Got more of this for you, and I was inspired by playing some Judgment. Speaking of, there's gonna be a sequel coming in September, and I could not be any more excited than I already am. Anyway, enjoy.

Bell and Ash walked down the street as they conversed with each other regarding the case they've been given.

"We should start with what we already know," Bell said. "Litchi's clinic was broken into, ransacked and left a cryptic message on the wall."

"I'll admit, that message has been bothering me for a while," Ash replied. "'Ailsun het nix'? What is that, some kind of a curse?"

"We're going to have to do some leg work," Bell said. "You back to the scene and ask anyone in the area if they were around at the time of the break in. I'll go through some books and see if what we read is a known spell or curse."

"Cool," Ash said with a thumbs up. "We meet at the usual spot at 3 PM?"

Bell nodded. "Yep."

The two separated, unaware that they were being watched.

"I see the young sleuths are at it again. I hope they can entertain me."

Bell walked up a few flights of stairs to a large building. At the door way were two men in armor standing guard. Upon seeing the young detective, they saluted by putting on arm over their chest and the other behind their backs.

"Good day, Mr. Cranel," one of them said. "Will you be going to the library?"

"Pretty much," Bell said, walking past them and opening the door. He walked into a hallway with diamond tiles, wooden supports. He walked towards one of the doors and opened it, walking into a large library with shelves filled with books.

"Welp," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Time to go to work."

Ash was back at the scene of the crime, asking everyone who lived in the area what happened the night before. He was currently talking to a pair of adventurers at the moment.

"And both of you are certain that neither of you weren't around when the crime happened?" he asked.

"Yeah," one of them answered. "We were drinking heavily at the bar 'till we passed out and got thrown out. We would've heard something if we were still around."

Ash sighed. "Fine then. Thank you for your time."

The two adventurers walked off and Ash scratched his head in frustration.

"I'm not getting anywhere here," he muttered. "Someone had to have seen or heard what went on last night."

"Excuse me," a meek voice said.

Ash turned towards the source of the voice, which belong to a small prum with black, messy hair that covered his eyes and wore basic equipment.

"What's up?"

"I saw what happened last night," he said.

Ash looked at him in surprise. "Really? Could you tell me what happened?"

The prum looked around nervously. "Any chance we can talk at a place where I'm least likely to be killed? What I have to say could be the difference between life and death."

Ash sweatdropped. "I doubt it's that bad, but I know a place where nobody would even entertain the thought of harming you."

The prum perked up. "Really? Where is it?"

"Follow me, I'll take you to it," Ash said.

Bell sat at the table with many books in front of him. He had poured every inch of his time and energy into looking them over, but couldn't find what he was looking for. Ironically, this is how he came to another conclusion.

"The writing on the wall at Litchi's clinic wasn't the name for a curse," he said. "It's something else. But what?"

Letting out a sigh, Bell put the books back on the shelves, left the library and the large building. He waved goodbye to the guards as he walked off.

"I'm going to have to find some other way to figure this out."

He walked down the street, then ran into a familiar face.

"Oh, Bell!"

Standing in front of him was a young girl with dark skin, long, navy-blue hair tied into a bun, and navy-blue eyes. She wore a white Chinese outfit with a black sash tied into a butterfly, short black tights, sandals, matching bracelets, and an anklet.

Linhua

Miach Familia, Level 1

"Linhua," Bell greeted with a smile. "Nice to see you again. How have you been?"

Linhua sighed. "It's rough. The break in was bad enough, but then there's some weird threat written on the wall. It's gotten the Doctor all stressed out."

"I can see that," Bell replied. "Why don't we talk for a bit? I'd like to get your input on the event."

"I can't promise anything ground-breaking, but I'll do what I can," Linhua said.

Bell grinned. "Don't worry about it. Sometimes even the smallest details are important."

Linhua smiled, but it quickly went away when she saw three adventurers walking towards them.

"Well, well," their leader said, dressed in a jacket with spiked pauldrons, ripped pants and sandals, armed with a mace. "The little nurse is skulking about. Why don't we talk for a bit?"

"Not on your life," Linhua snapped. "I told you I want nothing to do with you."

"Come on," the leader said in a sleazy tone. "We just want to give you some protection. After that break in, you need some bodyguards to keep you safe. All we require is a little… entertainment."

His minions laughed in response, only for one of them to get hit in the face with a rock.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

The one who threw the rock was Bell.

"Why don't you lot beat it?" he said in an even tone. "The way I see it, you're as dangerous as whoever broke into the clinic."

"Oh yeah?!" the leader snapped. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Hey boss," one of the underlings said. "I think it's that detective kid everyone's gabbing about."

"Huh?" The leader looked at Bell, then scoffed. "What, this scrawny piece of shit is supposed to be a detective?" He turned back to his minion. "Work on your jokes."

"Takes one to know one," Bell snarked.

The leader was set off. "Oh, that does it! Boys, skin this rabbit and take the girl!"

Bell, cracked his knuckles. "Linhua, you might want to stand back. This will get ugly."

Linhua nodded and got out of the way. Bell stared at his opponents.

"Let's rock."

Rowdy Adventurers

One of the adventurers charged at Bell with his fist raised in the air. He swung at the young man, but his wrist was caught before any impact was made.

"Predictable."

While still holding his wrist, Bell punched the man in his face, sending him back. Another adventurer approached him, but was much more cautious than his companion. He delivered a flurry of kicks, but Bell dodged them.

"Like I said, predictable."

EX Nut Crusher

When the adventurer kicked once more, Bell ducked and delivered a kick of his own… directly at the man's privates. Letting out an uncharacteristic squeal, he grasped his sore privates, leaving him exposed as Bell delivered another kick to his head, sending him on the ground.

"You little… you're dead!"

The first adventurer charged towards Bell at full speed, where the latter simply yawned in response.

"I'm not even going to comment on this."

EX Speed Bump

When the man got close, Bell, immediately ducked down and curled up in a ball. He felt the adventurer trip over him and fall down. Bell got up and kicked him in his side, knocking the wind out of him.

"You're gonna get it now, you little punk," the leader seethed as he approached Bell.

"We'll see about that," Bell replied.

The leader delivered a punch, but Bell blocked it. Bell responded kind, but the leader blocked his punch, unaware that said punch was just a distraction for what followed next.

EX Leg Sweep Takedown

Bell delivered a leg sweep, knocking the leader down, then delivered a devastating punch to his face, incapacitating him.

"And it's over."

Linhua walked up to Bell. "Thanks, Bell. I really appreciate it."

"Think nothing of it," Bell said. "In fact, this worked out in my favor."

"How so?" Linhua asked.

Bell pointed to the boots of the leader. "At the clinic, I noticed a bunch of wet footprints on the floor. While that itself was strange, what stood out to me the most was that there were also holes located at the top of the footprints. And the thug before us is wearing shoes with spikes at the top of the soles."

Linhua looked closer and saw that there were spikes on the top of the soles. "I don't believe it. That would mean…?"

"Yes," Bell said in a blunt tone. "These men were involved in the break in last night."

Linhua looked very worried. "But why?"

"Hopefully Ash can shed some light," Bell replied. "Let's go to the Hostess of Fertility. He's sure to be there."

Linhua nodded. "Okay."

Bell and Linhua arrived at the Hostess of Fertility. True to word, Ash was there, and he had a guest.

"Hey Bell, Linhua," he greeted.

"Ash," Bell greeted in return, looking at the prum. "I take it he knows something."

"I-I do," the prum said.

"He told me everything," Ash said. "What happened last night and what they were doing."

"How does he know all this?" Linhua asked.

"Because," the prum said, looking down. "I'm the one who tried to stop them."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Last night, I saw three adventurers break into the local clinic. At first, I didn't pay any mind to it, but then I heard one of them say 'the girl is the important'. I rushed in, worried for Ms. Linhua's safety. I used some water spells to disorient them, but one of them struck me from behind. As I began to lose consciousness, I saw them write a message on the wall.

"Was this it?" Bell asked, showing the prum the message in question.

The prum perked up. "Yeah! That's it!"

"It's not a spell or anything, is it?" Bell asked again.

"No, it's an anagram," the prum said.

"What's that?" Ash asked.

"An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once," Bell explained. "And the thugs in question clearly used to to intimidate Ms. Litchi."

Ash nodded. "Okay then. What does 'ailsun het nix' really mean?"

Bell took out a notebook and pencil. He looked at it closely.

AILSUN HET NIX

His eyes widened as he began writing the first word using six letters from the anagram.

AILSUN HET NIX

LINHUA

Everyone else gasped.

"They were after Linhua!" Ash exclaimed. "That's was the message they left!"

"Exactly," Bell said, writing the rest. "The break in was simply to intimidate Litchi, as well as an obscure threat."

He presented the translated anagram towards the three.

AILSUN HET NIX

LINHUA IS NEXT

"Man, the nerve of some people," Ash seethed. "Targeting someone just to freak another person out. I hate it."

"Well, rest assured, those responsible will get theirs," Bell said, turning towards the prum. "Could you provide your testimony for law enforcement?"

"Of course!" the prum said cheerfully.

Linhua let out a sigh of relief. "Glad that's over."

Back at the church, Bell and Ash sat across Kokonoe. Hestia, as usual, observed from the side.

"I knew you would have it solved," Kokonoe said. "A 10-year old could have done it."

"Well, everything has been settled," Bell said. "Ash personally escorted the perpetrators to a station allied with the Themis Familia. Rest assured, this will be the last time they try anything like that."

"It won't stop others, though," Kokonoe replied under her breath. "I just hope that fool will take this as a hint to not let her guard down." She narrowed her eyes at Bell. "Everyone in this damn city thinks the dungeon is dangerous, but this place can be just as, if not even more dangerous."

"True enough," Bell admitted. "Regardless, Ms. Litchi and Linhua can breathe easy for the time being."

"For the time being, he says," Kokonoe muttered, taking out a valis pouch and placed it on the table. "Here's your payment. Hope we can meet under better circumstances."

She left without another word, causing Hestia to sigh.

"I swear, she can't say what she's really feeling," the goddess said.

"It's no problem," Bell said. "Some people prefer to keep their true feelings hidden from strangers." He picked up the pouch. "I'm sure Kokonoe will open up for real in the future."

Hestia couldn't help but smile. Even though Bell had a side gig that let him see the worst of mankind, he manages to remain optimistic.

"Me too, Bell. Me too."

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Ash asked.

Everyone shared a laugh.

KS: I'll admit, this case was simple, but I wanted to start of slow. Can't have something too big at the beginning. Anyway, if you liked it, be sure to fave, follow and review. Oh, and I'm looking for any willing beta readers, so if you're interested, let me know. Until then, I'll see you 'till I see you. Peace.