Chicago seemed like a city out of place among all the towns and villages Felix has seen since coming to this world. Unlike the other cities and villages where the tallest housing were two floors, or a rare three floor house. Here, they had apartments twelve or even thirty floors high.
Standing on the sidewalk as carriages and magic cars filled the streets. Felix felt his mission to find a cursed doll seemed a bit more tricky then he thought it would be. Even within the few minutes of being here, he saw at least a dozen children carrying dolls fitting the description given.
"Is this type of doll popular here?" Felix muttered.
It didn't take long for him to confirm his guess since every step he took, he saw advertisements for Good Guy Dolls. It is a recently launched toy line by Play Pals toy factory.
When Felix saw more and more dolls on the streets as parents prepared to surprise their children to children showing off to their friends. He wonders how many of these things are currently in the city and how he is supposed to track down the one that is cursed.
"Let's go to the guards. Since this curse doll has been killing recently, they surely have some ways to narrow down the search."
Thus, Felix after walking and getting lost twice within this concrete jungle managed to find the guards. Well, police as they are called in this city of Chicago and met with a few detectives.
--
Within the station while huddled around a desk. Felix looked at the tall and thin man with a stern face as they explained the origin of the cursed doll. While listening, Felix felt a bit baffled as he looked at the man twirling his short black hair.
"So you are unsure where this doll could be?" Felix said.
"It can't be helped. When he kills, it is usually what is around at the moment and it takes time to figure out if they were connected. Hence, most often by then he dealt with before we realize he resurfaced again somehow." Mike shrugged.
"Unlike books and movies, it takes days and a bit of luck for us to map out the victim network of friends if we are lucky. Chucky's spree tends to only last a few days each time though." Jack sighed tugging his large mustache.
Jack is younger than Mike with a beefier build. His eyes seemed to take interest in Felix which made the mage a bit strange. It wasn't so much of an interest in seeing such a young mage being sent, but more like an interest in wanting to ask out on a date. So Felix wondered if it was just his imagination and just focused on the mission.
"Don't you guys use tracking magic or searching magic?" Felix asked. "Even someone who knows a bit of clairvoyance would be helpful."
Tracking magic could be enhanced senses allowing them to find items or track where the might be culprit went afterwards. Searching magic functions similarly as it can display something one might miss if they are decently skilled at using this magic and know what they are looking for.
Clairvoyance similar to tracking and search magic could be useful as they could discover the past of an area or roughly determine where the culprit is if they left behind an item of theirs. If one is skilled they could even predict the future with a fair bit of accuracy. Hence, these are three of many supporting magic available that semi-specialize in tracking others.
Sadly since these types of magic often are not useful in direct combat, not many specialize in them. Some may dabble in them a bit, but many of the higher paying jobs require fighting. So finding those with moderate to high proficiency are rare.
'Should have brought Natsu. Even if his heightened senses are a by-product of his Dragon Slayer Magic. They are still much sharper than most.' Felix thought.
"Neither of us are mages and the one in the station. The only tracks he can discover is how to get to the closest bar." Mike sighed.
Felix could only shrug as he didn't specialize in these magic either. He could enhance his sense, but clairvoyance. It is not a branch of magic he tends to focus much time on learning. At most he could use tarot cards to do minor predictions or use a piece to get a rough location of the previous owner.
"Since this mission was issued. It means he has been active recently. What usually happens to the doll he possesses after each surface?" Felix asked.
"Burned or dismantled." Mike shrugged. "It is usually what happens to him when his soon to be victim gets an upper hand."
"So where is the doll from last time?" Felix asked.
"Don't know." Mike shrugged.
"Same." Jack gave an awkward smile.
Felix tossed the idea of using a bit of scrying to attempt and get a rough location of the new doll Chucky possesses. Due to his lack of proficiency and knowledge of this magic, he needs something that either belongs to someone for a long period or a part of them to get a rough location. Since this station held neither, he decided not to use this type of magic.
"Can I look at the series of bodies that turned up the last few days." Felix asked.
"Within the last week, we had about 15 bodies that we know of. If you're not afraid, let's go." Mike stood up.
--
Standing within the morgue, Felix looked at the line of bodies. Some appeared to be strangled, slashed, stabbed or fried. Once he was given permission, he began to examine the bodies hoping to find a detail to help him find this curse doll.
"You wouldn't happen to know where the child of the first time this cursed doll currently is would you?" Felix asked.
"Andy? Yeah, if I recall, he should be in a foster home nearby." Mike answered. "His mother is in the mental hospital."
After spending some time investigating the bodies, he found a teacher who was beaten by a yardstick. When he looked at the picture of the scene, he shifted his attention to Mike and Jack behind him.
"Is Andy in her class?" Felix asked.
"Hmm. I don't know." Mike shrugged.
Felix didn't even bother looking at the rest of the bodies, but instead headed to the school she worked at. He said goodbye to the detectives and rushed across the city where the school was letting out upon his arrival.
--
Standing in the principal office of this school. Felix after asking a few questions received the list and acknowledgement of Andy indeed being in her class. It seems that he is considered a troublesome boy always talking about a cursed doll named Chucky.
Despite this world having magic and mages, those who aren't tend to rarely run into such cursed objects. Even a majority of mages rarely if ever run into such cursed objects unless the request they took involves them.
Not really caring if the principal believed the boy or not, Felix after finding Andy's address left once more. The foster couple that took him currently lived fairly close, but didn't actually live within the city itself. Instead it was more of an area that was recently chosen for city expansion.
--
Arriving at a neat and tidy house as the sky began to darken. Felix looked in through the window and sighs as he approached the door. On the other side of the door, a woman was bound to the chair and her neck slit.
'Hopefully the doll is still here.' Felix thought.
Then he knocked on the door. When no answer came, he simply kicked open the door and walked inside. Where he found who he guessed to be Andy coming downstairs and looked startled at the door being kicked open.
"Where is the doll?" Felix asked.