Leo felt genuinely perplexed when he returned to his meditation chamber after training, only to find that his meditation manual was missing.
Leo knew he was an absent-minded person who occasionally put the kitchen cutlery in the wrong shelf, however, he knew that he did not misplace the meditation manual, as he never took it out of the meditation room in the first place.
The meditation manual was not a device for portable use like a smartphone, and hence Leo never took it out, making this situation feel extremely bizzare to him.
"What the hell? Where the fuck did my meditation manual go?" Leo wondered out loud, as although he was sure that he had not misplaced it, he still began to search for the manual all around the meditation room and then in his own bedroom.
However, after not finding the manual for half an hour, Leo finally got really frustrated, as he straight up suspected foul play.
"Somebody has got to be fucking with me. It can't be Amanda or Luke, those two will never play such a prank on me…." Leo muttered, as he began narrowing down the list of suspects.
"It can't be anyone from the lower sectors, for the VIP sector is an isolated space. Let alone stealing, they can't even enter this area"
"That leaves PinkLotus and the staff members, who have access to the area.
However, I don't think PinkLotus did it. She's just entered into a relationship with my brother and seems keen to form a good relationship with me.
Also, it goes against her personality to do something so underhanded, which means it's definitely one of the staff members" Leo concluded, as he grit his teeth hard, his bloodlust leaking.
"Elandor is my housekeeper and although he looks polite, I would not clear him of suspicion…."
"Then there's Raya and Raven. Those two talk too much… and although I seem to have a good relationship with them, I still wouldn't put it past them to do something so underhanded–"
"Captain Kid could have done it too, that guy behaves too sly for his own good, and I don't trust him one bit"
"Or it could be someone else entirely who I've never interacted with. Either way, I need this situation resolved as soon as possible.
I cannot meditate without my manual and I cannot risk staying idle" Leo complained, as he stormed out of his house in fury, picking up his training daggers as he marched straight towards the staff quarters.
***********
"ELANDOR! ELANDORRRR—" Leo screamed as soon as he walked out of his manor, as the poor housekeeper, hearing his shouts rushed towards Leo in haste.
"Yes, Sir Leo?" He asked in confusion, as he did not understand the reason behind Leo's apparent rage.
"I've been robbed… Elandor, someone has stolen my meditation manual, you wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you?" Leo asked, as Elandor trembled at the question.
Leo's murderous gaze made him flinch, as although he had nothing to do with the crime, he still felt frightened to face Leo when he was in this mood.
"I– I, I have no idea sir Leo, I don't know anything about it….. Are you sure it's not misplaced within your own manor?" Elandor asked, as Leo tightened his grip on his dagger, his knuckles turning white as he pointed the dagger towards Elandor.
"Do I look like I've not checked my house already, Elandor? DO I LOOK LIKE I AM NOT SURE OF WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT?" Leo asked, as Elandor began to tremble uncontrollably at his questions.
"I– I, I don't know anything about it, Sir Leo, please believe me…. Theft within the Arc Ship is unprecedented. Every corner of the ship is under surveillance, it would be dumb to even attempt a theft.
And even if theft is attempted, stealing a meditation manual is just plain stupid.
You cannot unbind a meditation manual from its host unless you kill the host, so stealing the manual alone is pointless.
Nobody but you can use that manual to meditate" Elandor explained, as his reasoning left Leo even more enraged.
The idiot who had stolen his manual could not even use it for anything productive, but had still committed the crime just to fuck with Leo, making Leo even more enraged than before.
"Don't you dare lie to me Elandor, because if you do…. It won't end well for you… if you've stolen my manual you can still give it back to me and I will just take it as a bad prank and forgive you.
I promise I won't hurt you, but if I find out later that you had it, I will show no mercy" Leo threatened, as Elandor broke into tears.
"I'm innocent, I have nothing more to say here… and I don't appreciate you suspecting me. I've done nothing but serve you to the best of my abilities Sir–" Elandor replied, as although he was now crying, he maintained a defiant eye contact against Leo.
For a moment, Leo looked into his eyes, trying to see if the housekeeper was lying to him or not, but it did not seem like he was.
There was nothing but honesty in his eyes, which seemed a little hurt that Leo would even suspect him of committing such a crime.
"I'm sorry Elandor, it's just… the manual is too important for me" Leo said, his voice softening just a little as he gave the housekeeper a small hug.
He did not mean to threaten the innocent, however, he did not wish to come off as weak, until he knew that the man was indeed innocent.
"It's okay Sir Leo, whoever did this crime would have entered the vicinity of your manor and would be caught by the security camera.
If you go to the Captain, he will immediately find the perpetrator for you.
In the end, the Arc Ship is but a giant metal tube, your manual has to be somewhere up here. The thief can't go far" Elandor said, as Leo nodded in agreement to his words.
"The thief can indeed not go too far" Leo repeated, as he continued to make his way to the staff quarters.