Elydes

Chapter 294 - Hands in the Shadow

Dammit! Why now?

Kai extended Mana Observer over Belice’s body, hoping for a miracle. A stream of glowing motes flowed out of her limp figure, her veins turning dim and stagnant. The sight was miserably familiar, though he usually observed it in beasts.

Hallowed Intuition’s silence brought him little relief.

“She’s dead,” he murmured. The statement sank into the silent Hall like a condemnation, their breaths were the loudest sound. If there were spells to revive people, he had never heard of them.

Rain stood frozen half a step behind him, pale bloodless lips parted. “I just talked to her yesterday…”

“Who… She can’t… Cursed Moons!” Kea gritted her teeth, her aura flared before she pulled it under control.

Without giving him a chance to intervene, she leaped over the counter. The hardwood floor creaked where she landed beside Belice's corpse, touching her neck with surprising gentleness. The hopeful glimmer in her eyes dulled.

Don’t stand there like a fool. Focus!

Kai went closer to peer over the polished desk. “I’d say about three minutes from the mana still in her body. Maybe less.” The loss of attuned essence varied with the density of the deceased and the environment; he had gained enough experience in the Sanctuary for a rough estimate.

“It’s better if we don’t move anything.”

His analysis skills swept the crime scene. Aside from his expertise in mana and runes, the last month made clear he was no detective. There were no signs of struggle or traces of the culprit. Whoever assassinated Belice took her by surprise and finished her with a swift stab in the heart.

Why her?

Climbing over the counter to crouch beside his sister, Kai used a handkerchief to pull out the black dagger. The feeling of the blade grinding against bones and flesh as it slipped out of her chest made him sick. He had seen and caused far more gruesome scenes, but it was different when the victim had been a breathing, living person he knew.

The metallic stench of blood choked his lungs, almost strong enough to taste. This wasn’t right, this—

Kai pushed the gurgling knot of emotions out of his thoughts.

Keep focused on what you can do. Proof. Clues. The murder weapon in your hands.

The black leather hilt sported parallel grooves for grip, continuing into a slick blade forged from an equally dark alloy. It was long enough to pierce through a human body, expertly crafted if simple in design. The strangest aspect was the lack of enchantments. The intrinsic flow of the mana alloy could sustain runes to rival his sea serpent fang. To use it as a plain pointy stick was an extravagant waste.

But it makes it hard to track…

Enchantments told a story, from the schematic composition to the subtle differences in how a runesmith carved each line. The runic alphabet itself could be a clue—considering who was involved.

Hmm, why leave a weapon behind at all?

Was it some sort of veiled threat? Or did the assassin get startled by their arrival…? Could they have saved her if they had walked a little faster?

Belice’s listless eyes appeared to fill with reproach. Her gold-rimmed glasses lay in the tangle of her hair. Her self-assuredness was gone in death, leaving a scared girl a couple years older than him.

This wasn’t supposed to happen…

Regardless of his irritation toward her actions, she didn’t deserve to die like this. Belice had been trying to help them in her own overreaching way and paid with her life.

Why was there no one else in the Hall? Why was she killed now, just as they prepared to look for the missing people? How was the cult involved?

“Always such cursed Luck.” Kai abruptly stood, careful not to touch the papers as he maneuvered back on the other side of the desk. None of this made sense, but it wasn’t the time to look for answers. “We need to get out of here.”

Kea turned toward him, blinking as she registered his words. “What? We can’t leave her—”

“We can’t stay.” He gestured toward the vast empty building and the corpse. “You told me adventurers are scared to insult a clerk in the Hall of the Seekers. She was murdered in cold blood. Something’s deeply wrong. If half of the officials we suspect are corrupt, do you want to stay and explain what happened?”

Kai held her gaze, trying to suppress his own fury and urgency. The words finally seeped through, and she gave a curt nod.

“They're going to pay,” Kea stated as she crouched beside Belice to close her glazed eyes.

“We shouldn’t touch her—” He bit his tongue realizing he was still holding onto the black dagger. The shock of finding the body pushed him to act without considering all the consequences.

What’s done is done.

The murder weapon disappeared into his ring still coated in fresh blood. Since there were skills to track the last person to touch an object, he had avoided direct contact with a handkerchief, but he wouldn’t bet that was foolproof.

With the standards of investigations here, they wouldn’t use it for anything useful anyway.

Kea gracefully joined him on the public side of the counter. Her glistening eyes brimmed with anger and sadness. “Where do we go? We need to warn the others. Spirits, what do we do about the plan?”

Kai held her arm until her expression steadied. “Let’s focus on getting somewhere safe. Then we’ll think about the next steps.”

Suddenly, a seething whisper rose in his mind as if to confirm his worst fears, growing louder each second. He turned toward the door and gave one last look at Belice.

I know we didn’t like each other much, but I’ll find out who did this.

Rain stood stiff, still in the same spot. He cocked his head with an expression of focus as if listening to a distant sound. “Let’s go this way.” He strode toward the opposite end of the Hall.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Kai hissed without any effect.

Dammit!

With time ticking away, he hurried after him with Kea in tow.

The siren relieved his panic, taking out an iron key to open the staff door. Crossing an empty corridor. they exited on the backstreet behind the massive building.

Welcomed in the anonymity of the fog, Rain led them across another street and into an alleyway between two shops with empty shelves before stopping. Any sense of frustration Kai had evaporated when the whispers quieted.

We’re safe.

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“Sorry.” The siren’s face was still a distant mask. “I heard someone coming toward the main entrance.”

“It’s fine.” Kai raked a hand through his hair, trying to put order among his racing thoughts. “Next time, just tell me what’s going on.”

“I will.” His perfect smile carried no warmth. “We should warn a patrol of Bel. I won’t mention you. I often come to talk to her alone, so it won’t be strange if they look into it. When I found her dead, I ran out in panic and got lost in the mist to account for the delay.”

“I… If you think that’s best.” Kai rubbed his neck. The idea looked solid from the angles he could see and would save them a lot of trouble down the road. “What if they hold you with some bullshit excuse?”

“I can handle some… officers,” Rain said. “I saw a group two streets over. It’ll just take a moment.”

Again, the siren gave him no chance to argue and ran into the fog.

This better not become a habit.

“And he’s gone.” Kea squinted at the disappearing figure. “You never told me where you picked that one up.”

“It’s complicated…” That didn’t begin to describe it. Kai spread Mana Observer before Rain walked out of his range. “We should follow him just in case.”

“In case he gets arrested and we have to attack the guards and commit a capital crime?” Kea snorted, though she moved to follow. “I hope his confidence isn’t just posturing.”

“He knows what he’s doing. He got shaken by Belice’s death.”

They stood fifty meters back, hidden in the fog. Rain adjusted his pace to theirs. Then ran ahead toward three weaker mana signatures.

“Watch where you’re going, kid.” A gruff voice grunted in the distance.

“I— she—” Rain panted. “You have to help her! She— she got stabbed. There was so much blood…”

His voice alternated between incoherent and frantic as he delivered the planned speech with pinpoint accuracy. From his tone alone, Kai could picture the scared face of a panicked teenager witnessing a death for the first time.

While Rain had made no mystery of his social skills, he had never shown them off. It was remarkable how he diverted probing questions without lying outright and set up the officers to reach the conclusion he needed.

Less than a minute later, the patrol ran in the direction of the Hall of Seeker and Rain strolled toward them. The wispy mist parted around him, his face free from any hint of emotion.

“One of them acted strange, but I think they believed me. We should move if you want to go ahead with the plan.”

“Yeah…” Kai wrapped his coat tighter around him. Kea bit her lower lip, also looking at him for a decision.

Okay…

“We need to find Flynn and the others. This doesn’t only affect us.” He took his pocket watch, checking the silver needles twice—it had been less than half an hour since they left the house. “We’ll stop by Aldred and head for the lake.”

“Do you think they’re in danger too?” Kea stayed within arm’s length of him. “Bel was helping us gather intel. But the cult never killed anyone before…”

Guess you weren’t on the Intrepid. One guy was particularly keen on finishing me off.

Kai didn’t voice his theories about the fate of the missing. Despite her misconceptions, she wasn’t entirely wrong. The lack of visible deaths in Limgrell had lulled everyone into a false security. Now the illusion was shattered.

“They’re together. They’ll protect each other,” he said with a forced smile.

Belice’s assassination threw a dozen of his assumptions into question. Killing a clerk of the Hall at work couldn’t be brushed off, especially if guards got involved.

There must still be honest people among them.

Was her death a brush exception, or a sign the cult was changing tactics? Had they stopped caring about secrecy? How far were they willing to push? It couldn’t be a coincidence Belice got killed as they were about to hunt their hideout.

I also returned to Limgrell last night. Had she found out something too dangerous to share?

There was never a lack of unresolved questions, while answers were far rarer goods.

A knock on Aldred’s door bore no response. Kai drummed his knuckles on the rough wood. The man was usually in his house at this hour, chatting with some new group of adventurers. Despite the lack of progress, he never seemed to lose the hope of finding his missing daughter.

“Hey, it’s me. Matthew—” The door swung open under his weight, almost tripping him. Kai glanced at his companions with a shrug. Limgrell wasn’t a place where people left their houses unlocked, but Aldred could be a little airheaded. “Do you mind if we come in?”

“I’m sure he won’t.” Kea pushed past him to enter. “Since we got here, we might as well check. Caeli? Are you here?”

The living space was how Kai remembered, homely if a little messy. Four mismatched mugs lay on the table and leftovers of fish soup were in a pot on the stove. He swept his senses across the few rooms and basement—all empty.

“Flynn and the girls stopped by here.” Rain wrinkled his nose. “They weren’t hurt. I can’t smell any blood at least.”

Kea gave him a puzzled look but didn’t comment. “We should get to the docks then.”

“One moment.” Rain walked up to a cabinet filled with old hooks and lures shaped like colorful fishes. Scrunching his pale brows, he looked at the picture of a young woman with golden hair and orange eyes nailed above; Aldred had at least a dozen throughout the house.

The siren gently brushed the frame, then his hand ripped through the board off the wall with a dry crunch. Without pause or consideration, he cracked another board to enlarge the hole and let it clatter on the floor.

“What the fuck are—”

“Here.” Rain stuck inside a hand and pulled out a square casket shut with a lock. “I thought I saw something strange.”

“How…” Kai gaped, his brain trying to catch up. “How did I miss that?”

Even with a casual search of the building, he should have noticed such a conspicuous object. The casket wasn’t even cloaked with runes. The glossy, dark-gray wood was peculiar, but its mana flow was ordinary, almost…

What’s that?

“There is no enchantment. It’s the wood,” Rain answered his unsaid question. “I’ve seen similar materials in the sea. They blend the mana with their surroundings to pass unnoticed. It’s not as good as proper concealment, but they’re cheaper. And they can work just as well if you don’t know what to look for.”

He deposited the casket on the table and tapped on the steel lock. A filament of water slid inside the metal, and with a flick of his finger, it clicked open.

“Let’s see…” Rain lifted the lid. An excited glimmer pierced his stoic visage, reminiscent of his usual self. “Oh…” He sulked with disappointment.

What? Please, tell me we didn’t break his wall for nothing. The potential embarrassment made him want to bury himself. Kai peeked over his arm and gaped again.

“So, what is it…?” Kea squeezed beside him to see. “Oh, shit!”

Several rows of golden mesars were neatly piled inside—at least thirty of them. That was in addition to five crystal jewels that glowed with mana.

Kai had heard Aldred inherited some money when he raised the Hall bounty, but this went beyond that. Was his deceased uncle a patrician tycoon? The story already sounded far-fetched when the inheritance was a few golds. There was no way Aldred could have hidden such a rumor from Belice.

If it smells like rotten fish and looks like rotten fish, it’s probably not a flower. I fell for the mournful father ploy.

“Uhm… From your reactions, I gather this is a suspicious amount?” Rain watched them with a tilt of his head.

Kea stared back as if expecting the punchline of a joke. “Yes. All the mesars I’ve seen in my life don’t amount to this much. He must be involved in some very nasty stuff. Or someone bribed him. Or…”

Both?

Without a need for words, Rain dashed to the door with Kea on his heels.

Hesitating an instant, Kai stored the casket away and ran after them. Naturally, it wasn’t for the gold or precious materials. If Aldred came back to find his wall broken and the money still there, he would realize the culprits. What if the valuables were gone? Well, burglary was on the rise in Limgrell.

I’ll pay him back and apologize if I’m wrong.

The fog became denser as they descended the dirt streets toward the lake. Farmers had been hit the hardest by the abductions, many families left for other towns. Fishing was one of the few trades that still sustained Limgrell. Kai struggled to perceive anyone around.

We just needed another day.

As anxiety gripped his insides, rotten boards replaced the slimy mud under his boots and announced their destination. A gust revealed the dingy pier extending into the lake. The reflection on its icy surface could have looked picturesque in different circumstances.

Murky boats with frayed sails floated near shore, making dull thuds into a discordant melody. It was a relief when Kai spotted a scarred sailor mending a net.

“What ’ou lookin’ at?” The man scowled at them from the threshold of a shack. “Uhh?”

“Nothing, sir. We were looking for our friends—”

“Mat?” Flynn strolled out of the mist carrying a length of rope and a wooden oar. Caeli and Mari stood behind him—no visible wounds on them.

Thank Yatei.

“Great! Now there’s six of them.” The fisherman grimaced and spat in the lake. “I know ‘our type. The town’s swarmin’ with good-for-nothing adventurers. What do ‘ou bunch want? I got nothin’ worth stealing, eh? Not even fish.”

“Have a good day too, sir.” Kai ignored the sour sailor’s ramblings.

In common agreement, the group moved toward a smaller pier where a rowboat floated. It was hardly an impressive vessel, but the keel had no holes and was reinforced with a simple array.

Rain activated a privacy ward around them. “Are you okay?” He took the oar from Flynn, studying him with concern.

“Yeah… Y’all came fast.” Flynn smiled to reassure him, then shifted his gaze between them. “What’s with the morose looks? Did you miss me that much?” His chuckle crumbled halfway. “What is it?”

“Bel’s dead,” Kea said tersely. “A dagger in the heart. We got there too late to do anything.”

Mari paled and wrapped her arms around herself, looking ready to flop down.

“No…” Caeli stood rooted, hands raised to cover her mouth, trembling. “You can’t be serious. Why would they kill her…”

The sorrow in their voices summoned back the emotions Kai tried to suppress. Then a new seething whisper picked up.

Dammit.

“The why doesn’t matter.” Kea shook her head, blinking rapidly. “We must decide what to do. Aldred could also—”

“Someone’s coming.” Rain raised a hand to hush them. “Five people.” Seconds later, the shuffle of boots became audible to them all.

For once the fog might play to their advantage. As long as they remained—

“They’re over there!” The sour fisherman shouted, no doubt pointing at them.

Damn jerk!

“Get in the boat!”