The Undead Behind Him

Captain Rades had come into the city today not on leave, but because he had been sent to find someone to repair a broken Steam Engine at Red Water Camp.

When Shade heard that Captain Rades was also from Red Water Camp, he asked about Lieutenant Shuton of the camp's First Company. Leisha had asked Shade to investigate him.

Captain Rades was not especially wary of Shade and directly told him that Lieutenant Shuton had recently won a large sum of Gold Pounds playing cards with others in the city. Some had even seen him smoking cigars outside the camp while resting during his night shifts.

"Expensive cigars?"

Shade asked.

"Are there cheap cigars?"

Captain Rades asked curiously in return.

And so, the matter Leisha had asked Shade to investigate was resolved just that simply.

Captain Rades was very familiar with the school established within the castle. Hearing that Shade was looking for someone, he volunteered to lead the way. The person he had been looking for had already been found, and he had merely intended to find a tavern in the city and sit for a while before returning to his unit in the evening.

Since he had run into Shade, there was no harm in lending a hand.

Though it was called the "Mechanical College," its folklore department was by no means small. With the uniformed Captain Rades leading the way, the two encountered no obstruction as they moved through the Academy.

They passed Scholars walking through the castle with books in their arms and brushed past young students discussing coursework and grades. Finally, in a somewhat cramped single-person office on the east side of the third floor, marked "Folklore—Room 11," they met Professor John Dunn.

Professor Dunn was a middle-aged man who had lost all his hair