Chapter Thirteen: Proof of Identity

…

When Link returned home that afternoon, he sat down with Mara to share his experience at the Brettson House. This included telling her the story of Durward's employment with the House, to which Mara commented that knowledge of what the nobility did in their businesses was what kept many people from flocking to Hyrulia in recent times. She agreed with Sir Brettson in that the nobility needed to be held accountable for their behavior, but her words were more cautious than Sir Brettson. Her main concern was that Link would prioritize harassing the nobles of Hyrulia right away. Link ribbed her until she made him promise not to start targeting the nobles of Hyrulia until he had given himself some time to learn the system. He knew he could swear on every book in the kingdom, but it would not alleviate her fear that he would do something rash. And he had to admit that, having returned with such good news, he was in the mood to do something rash.

So, later that night, he left his underwear in the mailbox. It was not entirely logical, but he wanted to see if the mailman would make any comments. Sadly, the best he got the next day was that they cannot take the underwear to the post office without an address or postage. And that the mailman had found worse in other people's mailboxes.

Link's trip to Hyrulia would not occur for another week. Until then, he had a few things to get in order. First, he let some of his friends know about his application to the City Watch. Not only was it a small bragging moment for him, it was an opportunity to help them do something he had only asked of them a few times in the past: help Joth. Although Joth was older, Link could not let the maladapted young man remain without someone to go to if he ran into trouble. He had to admit that Joth had actually toned down some of his eccentricities in the past week, and he encouraged Joth to find a way to channel his passion for pictography into something he could make a living off of. One of Link's other friends had the means to provide Joth some business necessities if he needed, and another was willing to assist Joth with the bookkeeping. Some mention of Joth attending the new college in Ordon was also made. It was not a perfect arrangement, as Joth easily caved to stress and pressure, but Link had faith in his other friends supporting him.

He spent some time re-reading the various histories of the City Watch as well as cases made available to the public. It helped paint the picture as Link had expected; arresting nobles was an occasion few and far between. Many of the offenses dealt with fighting between noble houses whom also happened to be competitors in manufacturing, textiles, and even spilling into what amounted to land-grabbing properties from small business owners (as in two or more houses attempted to take a commoner's place of business and started a dispute over who saw it first rather than acknowledge that they were claiming a property that belonged to neither). There were even a few cases in which one House went off the deep end and started murdering members of a rival House. Perhaps the only reason this did not turn Hyrulia into an outright warzone was the idea that the nobility did not want their ugly behavior to escalate to the point that it caught the attention of the Royal Family. Their image was their weakness, and Link would need a method of exploiting that if he was in the position to arrest a noble. So far, the only credit he had to his name was that he had assisted in catching the thief who had stolen Princess Zelda's jewelry, and it was a credit of mild appreciation at best. That was on top of the fact that nobles tended to settle disputes with the law using their money, expending their wealth to buy cooperation from another House so that a claim would be dropped. Criminal prosecution was almost non-existent, but then, that was a problem Link could not solve no matter how good an officer he was; the public prosecutors of Hyrulia were responsible for that. The best Link could find for the time being was that anyone arrested by the Watch became a record the nobility probably did not want to put their names on very often, which may mean that Link arresting nobles regularly might feel their reputations slide with each time he put the cuffs on them. It might make him a target, but if a noble could be dragged through the mud a little bit, they might at least be more inclined to check their behavior around the Watch. Of course, this was all just guesswork on Link's part; the real test would be after his probation was over.

That was another matter Link double-checked. He would have to do some impressing in order to fast-track his way into the Watch's homicide division. The public library in Ordon had records of detective qualification tests from the Ordon Sheriff's Office, and Link used them as a basis for what a similar test for the Watch might be like. Link could memorize the laws without a problem, having been through books of Ordon provincial statues over and over again and having even looked through statues in Hyrulia. He would have to figure out procedure once he was in the Watch since there was little reason to think that the two were the same.

The Subordo police had a case for Link to look at. Of course, it was a fairly mundane thing; the local police were told about someone smashing local mailboxes off people's houses. Link only had to ask to look at two of the houses to point out that the houses were old and that the mailboxes were falling off on their own simply because they had not been replaced in recent years. It was not a very good setup for what inevitably turned out to be an invitation to a farewell party, but they had at least kept Link guessing what their real motive was. It was a small group composed mostly of patrol officers and junior detectives whom Link had aided in the last couple of years. Officer March and two other local patrol officers of the Ordon's Sheriff Office had also shown up and shared a few of their stories with the Subordo police, some to Link's embarrassment. After all, not many would confess to sticking his hand into a cesspool to find evidence of wallet theft (and then spend days washing that whole arm trying to get rid of that nasty feeling).

When the day finally came, Link had his clothing and a pair of notebooks waiting in his rucksack next to the front door, having packed them two days prior. He had just finished breakfast with Mara and was washing dishes while Mara went up the street for a few vegetables from their neighbors when someone knocked on the door.

"Coming!" he hollered, setting the dish in the wash basin. He dried his hands as he walked through the house.

When he opened the door, the first thing he perceived was bright red hair. Then he met the blank look on Detective Sergeant Navi's face. "Hello, Mister Fieldview," she told him in an even tone.

Link's lips puckered in an attempt to hold in his urge to laugh. "DS Navi," he greeted in turn.

"Your… sponsorship into the Watch has been approved by the Watch Administration," she replied. "Patrol Command has assigned me to retrieve you since you are living outside of the city."

"Aww, I was hoping you'd volunteered," Link replied.

Navi crossed her arms and allowed her irritation to show on her face, her hair shifting to bright blue. "If you show up in front of a firing squad, I'll give you the pleasure of seeing me volunteer then," she told him.

Link glanced at the carriage behind her, plain black with another uniformed officer sitting behind the reins of a pair of horses. "The Watch sent this?" he asked her.

"You're lucky," she replied. "The Watch is usually inclined to make outside recruits walk to Hyrulia. A perk of being paid into the service."

"Any other perks?" Link asked.

"A free bootprint if you fail your probation," she said. "Usually applied to your rear end."

"Tempting," Link told her with a grin.

"You want one now?"

Link glanced down on her shoes. "Can you guarantee those'll leave a bootprint?"

She stared at him for a moment. "You are insufferable, and I hate you."

"Wooow," Link said. "I already feel like an officer."

She heaved a sigh. "How long do you need to gather your belongings?" she asked.

Link tossed the towel into his right hand and leaned over to pick up his rucksack. "Ready," he told her.

She gave him a disappointed look, her hair darkening. "And your mother?"

"Feel like stopping by the graveyard on the way to the city?" Link asked.

Her hair shifted to red for a second. "I meant Miss Youngberry," she said.

"Miss Youngberry knows, Detective." Navi jolted (her hair flashing gray), and she turned to see Mara standing at the bottom of the stoop. "Although I don't doubt his sincerity on seeing his parents before he leaves."

Navi looked back to Link to find him staring stone-faced at her, the shift in mood catching her by surprise and coloring her hair gray again. "Will… will you two need a moment?" she asked.

"Yes," Link said. No joke, no smile. Navi did not believe he was suddenly not teasing her anymore. Navi nodded, her hair returning to its usual deep-blue color. She turned and walked down the steps.

Mara had stepped aside so that Navi could pass. However, she held up her free hand to stop Navi. "If Link picks on you too much," she said, "you are always welcome to write to me. I'll set him straight."

"You realize that we probably won't be assigned to the same duties, right?" Navi asked.

Mara smiled at her. "At least do me the favor of checking in on him every now and then?"

Navi sighed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Mara released her, and she walked to stand beside the carriage.

Link ditched the hand towel onto the table near the front door and stepped outside. He did not bother closing the door since Mara would be entering soon after, so he walked down the steps.

"I miss you already, Link," Mara said as he stopped on the last step. "You're gonna write, aren't you?"

"Of course," Link told her. "I may be a pain in the ass, but I can at least obey."

"You are a pain in the ass," Mara said as a sad smile came to her face. "That's why I worry about you."

"Oh, c'mon, Mara…" Link groaned, stepping off the stairs so that he could wrap Mara in a tight hug. "C'mon, don't cry."

"I can't help it. I'm so happy for you. This is what you dreamed. I wish your parents could have lived to see this; I know your mom would be proud."

Link heaved a sigh and hugged her tighter. "Mara," he said in a lower voice. "Those people who died years ago were my mother and father. I know that I don't say it often enough, but you are my mom."

"I love you, Link," she said. "Good luck."

"I love you, too." He planted a kiss on her cheek and pulled away. "Don't worry, I'll write."

"Don't cause…" Mara broke off and, after wiping a tear, gave Link a contemplative look. "Don't cause too much trouble."

"I just won't be the one who starts it," Link told her with a smirk.