Viva stared at the letter with a weary gaze, and she asked.

"Can’t you just come with me or something?"

"No, I can’t. I have a lot of work to do, and Rita’s making my favourite for dinner, so I’m not missing that for anything."

Viva’s expression changed to one of disbelief as she stared at Percy, and Percy started walking out of the room while waving for her to follow him!

"Wait! Are you sure this is going to work!?"

Viva shouted as she ran after Percy, and Percy just waved away her concerns.

"Trust me. You’ll be fine."

....

[Two days later]

[Main Headquarters of the Full Moon Mercenaries]

Viva was not fine at all!

Viva was standing inside a large bar with another member of the Aquinas City Guard standing beside her, and both officers looked absolutely terrified as they faced the giant werewolf bartender behind the counter! All around them, more than fifty human-dog and human-wolf hybrid demihumans were staring at them with dangerous eyes, and Viva wondered why in the world she had allowed Percy to talk her into doing this!

After Viva left the library two days ago, she had still been very skeptical about coming to see the Full Moon Mercenaries. It was common knowledge around the city that the mercenaries and the city guards did not see eye to eye, and they were always at each other’s throats! The fact that Viva was a part of the city guard and also a feline meant that she had two reasons why she shouldn’t be anywhere near the Full Moon Mercenaries! But at the same time, Viva knew that this involved the future of a little girl. If Viva didn’t help Percy solve this case, then Dalia would be sent to prison for murder, and Viva couldn’t allow something like that to happen! Viva wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she sent an innocent child away like that!

And that was how Viva gathered her courage and went to ask the head of her department at the station if she could pay a visit to the slums and meet with the Full Moon Mercenaries. The head of the Aquinas City Guard was a tall human-lion hybrid with a full head of hair that fell down his shoulders like a lion’s mane. He had lion ears sticking out from his hair, and his nails and teeth were sharp enough to tear through almost anything! His name was Augustine, but everyone in the force called him Officer August, and he was a Master Mage of the Fourth Realm with a high affinity for fire-based magic.

Mages in this kingdom were graded from the First Realm to the Tenth Realm based on their power level. The mages in the First Realm were known as Initiates, while those in the Tenth Realm were known as the Sages. The grading system was developed after the demihuman war, and it had been created using the immense power of the Hero Verati as the benchmark! As of today, Hero Verati was the only Sage of the Tenth Realm in existence, and all other mages were graded based on how strong they were in comparison to Verati!

August was looking through a folder that Viva had submitted to him, and once he was done, he looked at Viva in disbelief.

"Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Viva?"

That was the first question August asked Viva, and Viva honestly couldn’t blame him. The story she had just told him about her adventures with Percy sounded like something straight out of a folklore! If anyone came up to Viva and told her that she had only been dreaming all of that, then Viva would’ve believed them! But Viva knew that it was real and she spoke up again.

"I couldn’t make something like this up even if I wanted to, sir. My report is a hundred percent real."

August looked Viva over just to make sure that she was actually okay before he looked down at her report again. He read all of it – from the story of Viva meeting an Eldritch monster, to when Viva’s soul was forcefully taken from her body – and he felt his disbelief growing. August had heard many outlandish stories about some of the stronger mages in the kingdom, and he knew that these things weren’t impossible, but what made it seem so outlandish was the fact that they had been done by an academy librarian.

’I heard he only got that job because he was friends with Headmaster Leonart, but if he is doing all this, then maybe I should pay more attention to him.’

August thought about this before he shook his head and looked at Viva again. August brought up the request that she had just made.

"Viva, do you know what you are asking me for right now?"

Viva nodded, and August sighed.

"I don’t think I need to remind you what we are, Viva. You and I are felines, and it is impossible for us to get along with the canines. And the fact that you’re a guard only makes it more difficult. Are you sure you want to follow this lead?"

Viva nodded again.

"Yes, sir. I trust in the librarian’s judgement. If he thinks this lead will help us find the real killer, then I want to follow it to the end."

August was surprised to see so much trust in Viva’s eyes. When Viva had been talking about Percival earlier, she made him sound like a madman who was trying to kill her. But for some reason, the amount of trust she had in him had never wavered at all! In fact, it had grown compared to the last time she spoke about him! August was obviously still skeptical about the whole thing, but if Officer Viva was so insistent, then he would allow her to go. But he had one condition...

"You’ll take a lieutenant with you as backup, just in case. Try not to cause any trouble in the slums."

Viva nodded happily to August’s words, and that was how she found herself travelling across the city with one of her superiors in the city guard. He was a human in his late twenties with a handsome face, and long red hair. He was an Expert Mage of the Third Realm, and he was a very talented swordsman. Viva had a lot of trust in him since he was the one who had trained Viva during her days as a rookie. The two of them rode on horseback through multiple city districts, and during the journey, Viva found herself relaxing as she enjoyed talking to her superior. Viva enjoyed the trip so much that she almost forgot that she was heading towards a wolf den!

It took them almost a full day before they reached the slums and another half a day to reach the headquarters of the Full Moon Mercenaries. It was a large two-story building shoved between two rundown apartments, and there were people drinking and swearing all around the building. The noise from inside was even worse, and Viva felt her nervousness from earlier returning with a vengeance.

"Relax, we’ll be fine. You have the letter, right?"

The lieutenant spoke up calmly, and Viva nodded as she reached into her pocket and touched the letter. The lieutenant stared at the bar again, and he noticed how many of the drunks were already giving them dirty looks. One of the coyote-human hybrids let out a mocking laugh as he looked at Viva’s cat ears, and a man at the side watched them for a few seconds before running into the bar. The lieutenant asked:

"You’re sure this is going to work, right?"

Viva simply swallowed, and she gathered up all the courage she could find, and she began moving into the bar.

And that was how we find Viva and the Lieutenant standing in front of the massive werewolf bartender behind the counter. The entire bar filled with more than fifty canine demihumans had gone quiet as they stared at Viva, and the werewolf leaned forward and spoke with a sneer.

"What did you say just now?"

Viva swallowed, and she repeated herself.

"I-I want to meet Big Mama."

There was another beat of silence that passed through the room, and in the next moment, the entire place erupted in laughter!

"Hahaha! She wants to meet Big Mama!"

"Should we bring the king of the kingdom as well!"

"Maybe I’ll also meet Big Mama if I ask nicely!"