Wolfe Bite Chapter 3
By Captain Gaul
Nocius Borscht, the current head of Guardia Patrol, was extremely relieved when the intern brought the famed captain to him. In the aftermath of Guardia Castle’s destruction, the remaining administrators were stuck to find someone to take charge of the government—technically, Princess Nadia should have been crowned as queen, but as she was linked to King Guardia’s death the council was reluctant to host the coronation anytime soon. There were no chancellors to be had, as Chancellor Randini had been killed some months ago and no one was particularly anxious to fill the post. Thus, the mayor of Truce had taken it upon himself to govern the continent until the monarchy could be restored.
Unfortunately, this also meant that the mayor’s manor served as an office for the government officials. And, like most dwellings in the town, it was none too large and served a very specific purpose: in this case, housing the mayor and his small staff. Now, dozens of administrators busily tried to keep Guardia going in what had been, just weeks before, the mayor’s living room. The mayor’s children insisted on trying to keep the couch and television where it had been, and so did their part to disrupt the flow of things by throwing paper airplanes, running around and shrieking, and just generally being eight-year-olds.
Through the chaos, the intern had scarcely been able to find a clear path for both him and the captain. “Sir, he’s here.”.
“Thank you, James. Dismissed.”
The intern nodded quickly and rushed back off into the chaos to run some other errand.
Nocius looked up to see the captain better. “Gaul. How nice it is to see you again.”
“And yourself, Borscht. Glad to see you finally got yourself a position.”
“Ah, well.” Nocius rubbed his badge uncomfortably. “Brevet command. Not hard to get promoted when the top half of the chain of command dies in combat, you know.”
“Even so…so what’s the deal with calling me up out of—retirement’s the wrong word—unemployment?”
“Ah, well.” Nocius was obviously uncomfortable in a desk job, as displayed through the constant hemming and hawing. “I understand you’ve done some investigative work.”
“A couple of times. Not assault, though—smuggling, espionage, stuff like that.”
“Well, even then…Gaul, the Patrol was seriously wrecked by this recent unpleasantness. The only agents we have left aren’t experienced in any sort of investigation at all. And as Crono IS a national hero, we can’t just let this one sit…I’d like to put you in charge of this case.”
“Borscht, I don’t work for the Patrol. I was dismissed from the ranks the moment the arresting officer put the handcuffs on me. Besides, I killed Randini. Do you really want me back on the force?”
“Yes!” Nocius shouted, in frustration. He calmed himself down a little before continuing. “The chancellor was a jerk—everyone knows that. You were falsely accused—most everybody knows that. Randini seriously screwed up your life and career just to increase his own power—enough people know that. It’ll be no shame to welcome you back—” Nocius reached out his hand towards Gaul. “—quite the contrary, it’ll be a privilege.”
Gaul hesitated for a moment, then reached out his own hand to shake Nocius’s.
.