The Crime in Callahan's Morrow - being rewritten

Chapter 10: Half-truths, half-lies, and annoying vampires

"The truth has power. Lies can be easily seen through. But the truth... Use the truth and they won't even notice it's not related to the subject matter, the only thing they grasp is the honesty of your words even if you speak about something else entirely."

~Meredith Allesium, The High Commander of the Battle Witch Forces;

Undercover Operations Tactics lecture, Battle Witches' schooling system lessons

X.

Adrian watched the hologram stand cracking with magic as the Virtual Scanning Device fixed on his features and thinly hummed, scanning his whole being and turning it into a pixilated form the person on the other side would see once they answered the video-call. He didn't need to wait too long and soon hologram of a big, muscled man took the space on a stand.

Adrian hated calling in to the headquarters because, frankly, he considered his superior a bit of an idiot. The man might be of perilous lineage - bloodties wise - but his behavior and beliefs had much to desire.

"Inspector Zaxin," Adrian greeted politely. Even he understood that a little bit of courtesy tossed here and there couldn't hurt in the grander scheme of things.

A big, sincere, and almost stupid smile greeted him back. Zaxin really was an idiot. For crying out loud how someone so obviously trusting and sincere could get to be the top dog in a politically devious institution as SIB. If he disregarded the apparent political machinations and well-off connections it would be beyond Adrian's comprehension. And, well, the only logical explanation really was just that.

Zaxins were one of the most prominent merchant families selling the imported goods from the nearby located Monarchy of Ripharies where the family hailed from. Situated on the Northern border of Federative Union of Slipihira Astoria that was Adrian's birth land where he lived even now more than two hundred years after his birth, Monarchy of Ripharies was filled with quite a few natural goods. Zaxins, merchants by trade and greedy money-scavengers by choice, used the negative circumstances of Astoria, their connections back in the homeland and made a business deal of a lifetime, or even lifetime of several generations as the evidence of their wealth showed.

Hexil Zaxin was a charming man, but all the political scuffles and players' plotting didn't penetrate his head. Though, Adrian sometimes wondered if Zaxin could be just that good actor. It turned out that sparkling mischief sometimes found in his eyes, twitches in his good-natured expressions and power flares didn't hold any of the deviousness behind. At least, the evidence pointed to that conclusion.

In the end, Adrian was left with a superior who'd come to the position to be his boss by well-timed granting of favors and political influence. Zaxins were powerful enough to do that.

"Crawshaw, it's nice to see you again."

Zaxin didn't spare the words in showing genuine pleasure when dealing with his subordinates and Adrian knew he was one of the rare ones among his colleagues that didn't outright disregard Zaxin's kindness. The words were accompanied by an even bigger smile than before, making Adrian think he would go blind if the hologram projector glitched on the spot where pearly white teeth were positioned.

"Likewise," Adrian said, aware he didn't outright lie. He certainly preferred the man over some of the other higher-rank investigators dwelling in the headquarters. Those guys were shrewd old men only looking after their own asses and amassing pawns left and right, but Zaxin, while not useful for political maneuvers, was at least pleasant to deal with.