Seeker of Truth
Heinwald: ...Bored. Bored, bored, BORED! ...Curran! Bring me an interesting case at once!
Curran: Just tucker down there, tiger. Cases don't grow on trees, you know.
Inquisitor—and Heinwald's Assistant—Curran
Heinwald: ...I just had a thought. What if you became a criminal and CREATED a case for me?
Curran: That is a terrible idea. Maybe you need a new hobby that doesn't require someone to break the law. ...Huh? Well, well. It looks like you might get your wish granted after all.
Heinwald: How fine to see such an unusual face in our midst. After all, rare guests often bring fascinating mysteries with them!
Cleo: Well, you haven't changed one bit. And though it pains me to say this, we...need your help. You have to save Euden.
Heinwald: Oh my. This DOES sound interesting.
Elisanne: Interesting for you, perhaps! For us, it is terribly serious.
Curran: You'll have to excuse Heinwald— pretend he has some sort of illness. Now, please tell us what's going on.
Cleo: It all started a few days ago when the prince was invited to a nobleman's manor. Some of us went with him, but we left early and he ended up heading back alone. Apparently, he noticed a ring with a red jewel lying near the nobleman's gate as he was about to leave. He then went back to the manor to see if anyone had lost it.
Curran: I see. Go on.
Elisanne: The daughter of the nobleman claimed to know nothing of the ring, and told His Highness to keep it.
Curran: That's...weird.
Elisanne: I thought so as well.
Heinwald: Fascinating. What did he do next?
Elisanne: Seeing no other option, he returned to the Halidom with the ring. But the next day, the nobleman came to the castle and demanded the ring's return.
Curran: These guys can't make up their minds. I assume he returned it, right?
Elisanne: Not exactly. You see, the nobleman demanded the return of his heirloom, which is a ring with a BLUE stone.
Heinwald: Ah. And the one he picked up held a red stone, correct?
Cleo: Right. The prince told the nobleman he didn't know anything about a blue ring, but...
Elisanne: It seems they are laboring under the impression that Euden stole the blue ring.
Cleo: "How dare you give something so cheap! Are you mocking us?" he shouted threateningly. After a bit, the prince agreed to accompany him back to the manor to try and work the entire situation out—but once they arrived, he found himself under house arrest.
Elisanne: Please, Heinwald. You must help us clear His Highness's name!
Heinwald: You have nothing to worry about; I have already solved the problem.
Elisanne: Just from what we said?!
Heinwald: I have but a single question: Where is the red-jeweled ring the prince brought back with him?
Cleo: We have it here.
Heinwald: If my suspicion is correct, there should be some words engraved on it. ...Words of love, to be exact.
Cleo: Oh, look! There IS text there! It says, "I grant you my love eternal."
Heinwald: Quite so! Then the matter is solved. I will bring the culprit to heel, so please wait here.
Curran: Get in here, you!
Man: Grk... Dammit!
Cleo: Er, who exactly is this person?
Heinwald: The rapscallion who absconded the noble's manor with the blue-gemmed ring.
Curran: Glad we pulled it off him before he could hawk it on the black market.
Elisanne: How in the world did you find this man so quickly?!
Heinwald: The nobleman's daughter told the prince to keep the ring, yes? And yet, she ALSO told him she knew nothing about it. If that was the case, how could she have been so certain it didn't belong to someone there? She made a decision to let the prince take the ring, which means she knew of its origins.
Cleo: So the ring belongs to...the daughter?
Elisanne: But that makes no sense. Why would she allow him to walk away with her own ring?
Heinwald: That forms the crux of this entire matter. Why would this girl have told a stranger to take her own ring away? There can only be one answer: The ring was cast away intentionally. She did not wish to lay eyes upon it again. This is a rather typical state of affairs, to be honest—and it makes this something of a typical case.
Curran: Sounds like love trouble to me!
Heinwald: Indeed. Mostlike the ring holds memories of a person that the woman does not wish to remember.
Cleo: So she threw away her memories...
Elisanne: That explains the red-jeweled ring, but then what about the blue one?
Heinwald: The ring was full of memories of another. Yet it belonged not to another, but to her. From that, we can assume where the red ring came from.
Curran: A present from a lover, right?
Heinwald: Exactly. Knowing that much, we can now ascertain the whereabouts of the blue one.
Cleo: The daughter gave it to someone in exchange for the red one?
Heinwald: Just so. And with her having cast it aside, it seems safe to say that relationship was not successful. Furthermore, I would venture to guess that the red ring is a cheap article, while the blue one is the noble's family heirloom. Which would mean...?
Curran: Some bag of sleaze wanted that ring and tricked the daughter to get it! Of all the lowdown...
Man: Urgh...
Heinwald: Exactly! So if we go looking for people who have been cozy of late with the daughter before mysteriously vanishing, we should find our culprit.
Cleo: *sigh* So the prince was just a bystander who got caught up in this ruse.
Heinwald: Indubitably. Incidentally, I believe the lord of the manor mistook the prince for his daughter's one-time paramour.
Elisanne & Cleo: Whaaat?!
Heinwald: His anger over the prince trying to give her "something cheap" is likely due to the fact that he thought the ring was intended as a gift for his daughter.
Elisanne: We need to sort THAT out right now!
Cleo: Agreed!
Curran: Well, if we don't bring this guy and the ring, it'll all be pointless. C'mon, you!
Heinwald: And with that, another case is closed. However, it seems this castle has no shortage of mysteries that need solved.
Some days later...
Notte: This is bad! Bad, bad, baaaad! ...Hey, wait. Where is everybody?
Heinwald: It seems they are all rather busy. However, do you have a case that needs solving, Notte?
Notte: Yes, and it's TERRIBLE!
Heinwald: Ha ha! Fortune smiles on me this day! I KNEW this castle was chock full of pleasant cases. Permit me then, if you will, to impose here for a little while.
Notte: This is NOT something to be happy about!
Heinwald: Yes, yes. Now please explain the situation to me in detail...
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