Xiao walked all night and reached Castle Fei as the castle gates opened. He wasn't as lively as yesterday and his walk lacked the usual springing in the steps. To others, he looked even more crazy, especially as he deliriously started whistling folk songs off tune. (Bradley had been the singer of the two.)

The first guest house he saw he entered. The servant had just gotten up and cleaned the front yard when he entered, bleary-eyed. "Could I get a room, ge?" he asked.

The servant looked him up and down. "Alright," he finally said, though with trepidation.

Xiao wondered whether he would get reported as a suspicious person, but then realised that he was in George's land. So as soon as he was shown to the room, he fell asleep without any worry. When he woke up, it was already one in the afternoon. He cleaned and dressed, brushing his hair neatly so it flowed down his shoulders and putting on his best robes. Then he strolled down to the town hall.

When he arrived, he saw a bunch of people gathered at the front. He stood on his tiptoes and looked over everyone's heads. There was a public hearing going on. George was holding court at the end of the room with all his subordinates standing along the side of the room. They included some strong police officers and some advisors. Kneeling in front of him was a middle aged man, who was half crying while talking.

Xiao observed George from the back of the crowd. George had a tall nose, big eyes, and a wide mouth that usually smiled. He hadn't changed the past fifteen months. He still had his luxurious dark hair, upright posture, and his pale face.

He looked to his side to see an old professor. He was holding a book and fanning himself. "Professor," Xiao greeted.

The professor looked at him. "Hello young master."

Xiao smiled. "What's going on?"

"It's a hearing, obviously," another man cut in. gruffly. 

Xiao turned to look at him with a side eye but then smiled. "I was asking this professor what the hearing was about."

The professor told him. There was a new case of kidnapping. A young girl had been taken from a farming household. Xiao hissed in disgust. For the last two years, he hadn't had many encounters with this type of thing but it seemed that this part of Xenon was prune to it. 

"When did you realise that she was taken away?" George was asking.

"This morning," the man said. "She went out to take down the laundry and didn't come back for a while. So about half an hour after, I went out and found the laundry basket but not her."

"Did you see anyone suspicious during the period she was outside?" George asked.

The man shook his head.

"Did you see any tracks or anything that was left by the kidnapper?"

The man paused a moment. "I don't think so."

"Was there any signs of a struggle?"

"We lost a bedsheet," the man said after a while, not really answering the question. "That was all we found."

George nodded. "I will check it out right now." He waved his wide sleeves to show that the hearing was over and everyone left. Except Xiao. He waited until most people left then headed up the stairs to the still open town hall doors. Ning Qing, one of the head officers under George was giving orders to other officers that would be going with George to the man's house in the outskirts of Castle Fei.

Xiao grinned and walked up to him. "Yo, Qing!"

Ning Qing whipped around at him, anger clearly displayed on his face and his hand on the hilt of his knife. But when he saw who it was, he laughed, his head thrown back. "Xiao!"

"Hello Ning Ge," Xiao said, still grinning. "Ordering people around again?"

Ning sighed. "There's this new case."

"I heard," Xiao said. "I was going to ask Mayor Michaels whether I could come along."

Ning tsked. "Who are you? Why are you being so formal? We'd all love it if you came along as another pair of eyes."

Xiao grinned. "I'll go in then."

"I've got a bottle of TianMu in my room for a feast tonight," Ning called after him.

Xiao waved to indicate that he heard then ran up into the courtroom where George was talking to his top advisor Antoine Guillot. They both looked up as he neared and Xiao grinned at George's surprised expression.

"Xiao! My dear brother!"

"Mayor Michaels," Xiao said in a deep voice and saluted him with a slight bow, his hands clasped in front of himself.

George rolled his eyes. "Xiao, we are all friends here. What are you doing that for?"

Xiao laughed and George and Antoine joined in. "Advisor Guillot," Xiao greeted.

"Xiao," Antoine said, smiling ever so gracefully.

"I heard of the case," Xiao said. "Mind if I tag along?"

George beamed. "Of course not. And after that, we can all feast together."

Xiao grinned. "I heard you have some good wine."

The party rode down to the outskirts of Castle Fei. Xiao took turns to converse with all the officers while George and Antoine discussed the case at hand. Xiao didn't want to disturb George doing his work so this was his way of distracting himself.

When they arrived at the scene, there wasn't much to see. To Xiao, it was just an ordinary farm house. The owner was there to show George and the gang around and as they went around the place, Xiao heard the crying and whimpering of two women. Probably the mother and grandmother.

He went along with George and Antoine and saw the laundry lines and the basket. It was left untouched since the kidnapping, grace to the owner of the house, William Sparrow. From his point of view beside the basket, he could not see a single window due to the columns and bedsheets obscuring the view. Xiao bent down to look at the grass around the basket then he straightened up.

"George!"

George was looking at the yard walls. He turned when Xiao called and walked over with two advisors. "Xiao, what's up?"

"The thief wasn't seen by anyone because he was blocked from the house's view by columns and sheets. He was really smart, and there was no sign of struggle so he must have enveloped the maiden with the blanket she was holding and carried her off as there is no track on the grass and no sound heard from the house."

George nodded. "That's what I was thinking. 

"We could try to track it on the other side of the wall where they landed," Xiao suggested. "He will probably leave an indent of some sort carrying a maiden."

George thought about it. "Go and have a look."

Xiao furrowed his brows. He knew that meant "I'm not too optimistic about that". He left, pouting, and went to the other side of the wall. Indeed, there was no sign of anything.

He sighed and walked around and around the farm house but ended up with no clues. He went back to see how the people in the yard are doing but they haven't found anything either. Xiao walked from the basket to the wall several times to no avail and they ended up back in the town hall after one hour. The kidnapper really left nothing.

The whole way back, the mood was somber. Xiao felt disappointed because he had thought he would be of help to George but ended up achieving nothing. As soon as they went back, Xiao told George that he would go around the city at night and see if the kidnapper would be active again or attempt to find the maiden.

"There's no need for that," George said. "You just got here, we'll eat and then you should rest."

"George, I already rested," Xiao protested. "I'll find him."

"He might have already left," George said.

"Let me try, alright?" 

George held both his arms to restrict him from leaving. "Let's eat first."

Xiao pouted and narrowed his eyes. "I know what you're doing George, you're gonna get me drunk."

George laughed. "And you will fall for it."

Xiao rolled his eyes. "I'm going out tonight no matter what."

Xiao and George ate in George's study. A four course meal was prepared for them, which they both knew Xiao will consume the majority of. A bottle of TianMu was also on the table, but neither touched it. Xiao was determined to be sober and George was determined to be sober to keep his good friend inside. Xiao was sure he would outlast George, though, because he had napped the whole afternoon while George was discussing the case with Antoine.

"So how's the case so far?" Xiao asked.

George shook his head. "All we know is that the convict was smart about it."

Xiao sighed. "I thought that I could help..."

George smiled. "I thought that I would solve it in a day."

Xiao grinned. "You do have a reputation for it."

George shook his head. "We were both too confident."

Xiao waved it away. "Tell me George, how have you been? You didn't tell me everything in your letter. What rank did you get promoted to? When do you leave? And any marriage proposals coming your way?"

George laughed. "King Joseph will give me a rank when I go to Sunfall in a month. And no, there's no marriage proposals. But - " he looked at Xiao mischievously, "I know you've got a few."

Xiao grinned at this, throwing his hair over his shoulders. "I don't know how I got them with my reputation."

"They don't know you when they proposed, did they?"

"They can see my hair, can't they?"

George sighed loudly. "When will you put it into a bun?"

"Never. I'm an unrestrained knight and that's all I will ever be."

"Until you're too old to jump over walls?" George's eyebrows raised so high that wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

"Precisely," Xiao replied, determined. Then he reached over and smoothed down George's forehead. "This is when your grandmother would tell you that if you keep on making that expression you will stay that way."

George smiled at him. "Seriously Xiao, you're almost twenty. It's time to get a wife and settle down."

Xiao slumped onto his chair. "And do what? Farm? Get my daughter stolen by some douchebag?"

At that moment, a short arrow shot into the room right at Xiao. He started and fell back onto the ground to avoid it. "Stay down!" he yelled at George and grabbed his chair and his sword. He ran to the door and flung the chair out first before jumping out himself. He swung his head around for the intruder and saw a retreating figure on the roof.

"Coward!" he yelled and jumped up the roof as well. "Using hidden weapons on unsuspecting innocent men! You think that shows your skills?"

He ran after the figure. The person was fast, but not fast enough for Xiao. As the figure reached the front of the town hall, Xiao caught up. Xiao slashed at the man and blood poured out from his back. It wasn't a deep cut as Xiao wanted him alive, but it hurt enough for Xiao to kick him onto the ground and step on top of him.

Ning Qing and his fellow fighters rushed towards him and tied him up. "Come!" they yelled at the intruder.

Xiao followed them into George's study and stood behind George. Ning threw the man to the ground. "What's your name?"

The man remained silent. Ning kicked him but the man still didn't make a sound. Xiao tsked. "You want to die then?"

George threw him a warning look. Don't kill him. Xiao smirked and rolled his eyes. He wasn't that impulsive. "Tell us where you kept Sparrow's daughter and we will let you live."

"Bullshit," the man spat. "You'll kill me anyway."

Xiao bursted out laughing. "You brought that onto yourself by being a kidnapper." The man lapsed into silence again so Xiao kept talking. "There are so many professions you can pursue, yet you decide to be a kidnapper. Why?"

Ning huffed. "Let's just beat him up until he talks."

George held up a hand. "Can you stand up?"

The man got up and faced George. "Mayor, just kill me. You won't get any information out of me."

"Why can't we? Who's your boss?" Xiao cut in. He saw George glance at him in warning and instantly lowered his head and focused on George's writing desk. George was the mayor after all.

The man smirked. "What do you do around here, loafer?"

George slammed his hand on his desk and brought the man's attention back to himself. "Answer the question."

"Why can't I work for myself?"

"Then what information about yourself do you want to hold back?" George questioned.

The man's smirk grew bigger. "That's for you to decide."

Ning kicked him to the ground. "How dare you talk like that to the mayor!"

"I'll talk like that to the King!" the man shot back and got on his feet. Despite being tied up and in the presence of multiple blades, he didn't look scared at all.

Xiao clenched his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You know, there are a lot of kidnapping happening in this area. Do you know anything about that?"

The man's eyes widened a tiny bit. "No."

Xiao grinned at George who seemed surprised but impressed. "Do you know a Lord Johnstone?"

"No."

"Tell me where you guys kept the maiden."

"Speak!" Ning ordered.

The man looked around the room. When his eyes met Xiao's, Xiao stared him down. He sighed. "In Lord Johnstone's place."

"Then why are you back here?"

"I had one more maiden to get."

"Why are you stealing maidens?" George asked.

Just then a sack was flung into the room and white dust rose everywhere. Xiao instantly covered his face with his sleeves. "It's lime dust!" He felt his way to the window and jumped out. His eyes hurt like hell and tears gushed out of his eyes but he forced himself to open his eyes. He jumped up to the roof for the second time that night. Far away, two figures were retreating. He pursued them.

Then, another person shot towards the two figures and Xiao saw, through his tears, two arrows hitting the two figures in the back. Then the person was onto the two at once and tied them up. Xiao ran towards him.

"Bradley!"

Bradley lifted the two as if they were two sacks of potatoes and came up to him. Bradley was a well built man with big eyes and dark eyebrows, the ends of which shot upwards, making him look angry and threatening even when he was not and at the same time righteous and heroic. He looked like a hero from every angle. "I was going to come in but then I saw the second one so I waited outside."

"Why are you here?"

"Let's go back first. You're eyes must be washed out. I have a bottle of water by my belt."

Xiao smiled gratefully and grabbed the bottle. The two outlaws were begging for forgiveness but neither paid them any attention. After he roughly cleaned up himself, he grinned at Bradley. "Only you would have water and not wine in bottles."

Bradley huffed. "Let's go."