-~*~-
Yanyi was carried into the manor and straight to her guest bedroom. Luyao places her down on the bed while Irene is carrying the previously crying child. He has now calmed down but in exchange he has now gone to slumber.
Placing down the child right beside Yanyi, Irene tucked both of them in before going outside with the lads. Immediately, Kazuto goes straight to the elephant in the room. "What the fuck did we just saw out there?!"
Same reaction from the other two.
Luyao then turn to Irene hoping to get some answer as she is the one with the most experiences with Yanyi. "Don't look at me. Even I have no idea she could do that. As far as I know, one person is only able to wield at most 2 cryst."
Figure that she wouldn't know much from her reaction outside. Technically speaking one person is indeed only allowed to wield 2 cryst or signia. And that is a generous amount as most of the time people are only able to wield one even if they did a second round of elotion.
Kazuto — "I mean as far as the history book told us, those who tried to wield a third cryst either died painfully from rin malfunction or died during the elotion ceremony."
Luyao — "I don't think it's another cryst. There's only four that we learn of. Azure Aqua, Scarlet Amber, Sage Emerald and Ivory Howlite. There won't be a fifth cryst."
Irene — "Let's just wait for her to wake up and explain herself. On the other hand, what did you guys find?"
Kazuto and Luyao relay everything they had discovered throughout the investigation. Turns out their suspicion about the case being a murder case was spot on. However, instead of a murder by a partner it a murder by the competitor.
So here's the full timeline and I will explain it to you.
Keith, the young butler and Jinoo, the victim, knew each other for a long time. Long enough for both to develop genuine feelings for each other. That is judging by how easily Keith accepted Jinoo's proposal.
Keith had once been rejected when proposing to a girl he'd liked. To comfort him, Jinoo had been by his side during all the time he had no shift. However, by following the diary that Keith had given to Jinoo, there is a person who had just been recruited to work in the manor and was stalking Keith almost every single day.
Jinoo noticed such an incident and protected Keith from this stalker. Not much is known about the stalker for now.
Last night, way past midnight, Keith and Jinoo met inside the reading room directly beneath the attic window. Jinoo is waiting in front of the window in drenched clothes as he had open the window previously.
Keith came over and Jinoo proposed to him, to which he said yes. He wrote the final entry of the diary and gave it to Jinoo for him to keep as a memory. They both then went to sleep.
Around 2-3 am in the middle of the night, someone had somehow entered Jinoo's bedroom and smacked him with a bypass pruner. The bypass pruner is supposed to be kept in the shed meaning that whoever this person is either had a shift near the shed or had managed to enter the shed.
Judging by how heavy Jinoo's body is, the killing wouldn't be possible for a one man army. Thus they conclude that it is a work of at least two people.
They at first wanted to hang Jinoo in his room, with how the chair is suddenly placed in the middle of the room. However, they thought that it would be easier for people to realize the smell and start to inspect it. So, moving to the attic is the best option.
One person prepared the hang while the other hid the bypass pruner. Then, they both lifted Jinoo's body to the rope. They wouldn't expect that Jinoo would regain consciousness and start to struggle to get down.
Fear that he might escape, the two men went over to the window to make a quick escape albeit not a safe one. Fortunately for them, they didn't need to jump down as Jinoo's body started to limp down again. Proving that he is dead.
They figure these out by seeing how the attic window has a mark of a person preaching to go out but no sign of escape. The murder may seem like a close door murder but it's not. They just have no need to escape in the first place.
The first person they caught is the stalker who had tried to harm Keith back at the servant quarters. The other person, they didn't manage to find a clear clue of who he is. But they had seen him a couple of times around the manor and Luyao realised that this person was close to the stalker.
Not only that he had encountered him during the time Yanyi was over and saw the slight bloodlust in his pupils. Like he is about to kill someone.
He had relayed the message to Luyao a long time ago and when reading back the diary and reading the stalker part they had their suspicions. That is when after reading the final journal they'd realise it is an act of revenge which is not finished.
Irene listens tentatively. She then inquired "So the case is not technically solved yet?" They both shook their heads. Unfortunately they still had to go through everything again and clean up all the small bits and pieces. The clue to indicate who that person is was also not present.
Irene — "Well if that's the case then go on ahead and speak to Yanyi about everything. It does involve her in some way so she has the right to at least know."
Kazuto — "Sure do."
Stretching his arms and back, Kazuto complained about the early work and bounced back to the kitchen to grab something. Irene was about to go back to the living room to clear the mess they had made while waiting. Briefly, she spoke to Luyao hoping that he would listen but not question.
"Lead Yanyi to those suspects. I'm sure she can help you guys in some way."
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A couple of hours later,
Yanyi woke up from the little push she got beside her. Her eyes flutter open before laying eye to eye with bright sunshine eyes. The little boy she had saved a few hours ago is laying on top of her and waiting for her to wake up. "Jie? Are you up?" He said with a bit of unsureness.
Yanyi smiles faintly before reaching to pat his soft light gray locks. "Jie is up now. Is Eker okay? No hurt, no anything?" He shook his head with a bright smile. He explained how Irene had treated his wound the moment they entered the manor.
Releasing a sigh of relief, Yanyi turned to the bedroom door that had just opened up. In came three individuals. The young lady is bringing in five servings of porridge. The other two are bringing both utensils and beverages.
"You're up now. Here's lunch. A late one at that." She placed the servings on the center table. Yanyi wanted to get out of the bed before being pushed back down by Eker. "No. Jie needs to rest. Eker can go and grab yours."
The little boy perches down slowly and grabs a serving from Luyao's hand and hands it over to Yanyi. He then proceeded to grab his portion before being lifted up to sit on the bed beside his sister.
Yanyi — "Smells amazing."
Kazuto — "Rosalyn made it. Said that the ingredients is good for rin recuperation."
Yanyi — "Tell her I said thank you."
Yanyi didn't bother much and continued to eat her porridge. The other three are looking at each other before one clears their throat. The girl in question stops eating and looks over at the three people. They are all looking over at her in expectant gaze.
"What? Did I do something?"
"Not really, but are you not going to talk about the huge elephant in the room?" Irene said but Yanyi is too dense to catch her drift. That is when the most straight forward man starts to speak.
"What's up with that ice road?"
She sat silent for 5 seconds trying to recall what they were referring to before clicking her spoon by the edge of the bowl. "Oh that. Yeah, a new technique I found before coming here. Coming to Kinsel."
Irene — "New technique? You never told me before."
Yanyi — "That's because I'm not the one who discovered it. Leon did. I just happened to be in the area when he found it."
"How? All the records of people who tried to wield a third cryst lead up to death. How come, Dev, let alone you manage to pull it off." Kazuto starts to question his studies. He is also really into the warrior of rin stories and had his fair of studies.
"It's because it's not a third cryst. It's a combination."
All Three — "Huh!?"
Yanyi — "Leon had the signia of Scar and Sage. One day while he was training he accidentaly collided the two lock signia on the cryst together. What came out is a brand new weapon with new properties. A whole sand storm."
Luyao — "Have you tried it before?"
Yanyi shakes her head. She had never tried it before and this is the first time she had. "I was there to discuss something urgent with him before going with Irene. Although, I did have some speculation on what mine would be."
"So you're saying that a person with two different cryst is able to generate new properties?" To Kazuto's speculation, Yanyi shrugged. She herself didn't think such stuff is as powerful as giving those who had been blessed twice the chance of creating new properties.
If such a thing is allowed then it wouldn't be so hidden up until today. People ought to have done it out of an accidental occurrence but nothing new has ever been recorded. "Perhaps it has something to do with Leon and my relationship with the Aurilians."
"What are your relationships?"
"My family had been the wielder of Azure for so long that I'm the first one to actually wield another cryst aside from Azure. Heck, there's even the heirloom signia which had been blessed by the Azure Aurilia."
Yanyi took a handkerchief from Luyao and wiped away the mess from Eker's lips. The young boy continued to listen while eating the porridge. Sometimes urging Yanyi to take a sip of hers too.
"Leon on the other hand had been blessed by the Amber for a long generation. He is also the only other individual who had wielded another signia beside Amber. Same story, heirloom signia is inside the family."
Kazuto — "So you are saying that families who had been blessed by the Aurilians have the potential to make new properties?"
Yanyi — "As far as my deduction goes, yeah. But still, I need to study them."
Yanyi grip her hand countless times. "I don't think I'll be able to use it anytime in the near future. It took a lot of rin and I fainted after using it for a couple of seconds." She then look over at the two male as something had just crossed her mind.
"How's the investigation?" Luyao and Kazuto relay everything they had told Irene just a few hours ago. When talking about the man who had tried to kill her, Yanyi didn't have much reaction aside from simple words filled with nonchalant. "He's an assassin to kill me."
"HAH?!" To which Irene bolted in shock.
Yanyi — "Yeah. I have had them a lot from when we were in Ashrin. I figure that some would try to kill me when the news about me spreads."
Irene — "AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME!?"
Yanyi — "If I told you, you'd just be more panicked. Look at you now. Is it different from what I predicted."
Kazuto — "Why would there be someone to kill you though. You're the Holy Maiden. Killing you is like destroying the entire rin system in our empire."
"Because they wanted to have their desired person occupy my position." All faces are now towards her. Right, they didn't know the full extent to the Holy Maiden and Holy Guardian system. This prompts Yanyi to explain everything.
Apparently, Holy Maiden and Holy Guardian positions can be filled in by other Rin-Lumi. If one dies, that position will remain vacant until a person has come forth to claim it. The rin system would be lower than before but it wouldn't collapse at least.
The interesting part is, the position is gender neutral, meaning that anyone male or female can take the position. Although, the Holy Guardian position is meant for the stronger Rin-Lumi while the Holy Maiden is meant for the intelligent one. Thus for easier control, they would take the Holy Maiden position then the Holy Guardian position.
"Also, Leon holds that title. Killing him literally means waging war on the empire. I on the other hand. Killing me would ensue a huge problem but not enough to declare war." Yanyi finished her porridge and handed it over to Eker who is going to put the empty bowls back on the table.
Yanyi stretches her arms before looking at Luyao. The three have the same disbelief expression. "Can I go over and look at the suspects? Maybe I'll be able to help with something." Luyao raised an eyebrow, questioning her request.
Who in their right mind would go and meet their assassin. Well, Yanyi is never in her right mind, so it makes sense. "We'll go tomorrow morning. For now, get some rest. You need to recover all the rin you've lost."
Yanyi nodded and was about to go back to sleep before a hand tugged at her sleeves. Eker tugged on her clothes before looking at her with eyes filled with expectation.
"Jie. Eker wants to learn to fight!"
The rest of the room grew silent. The first thing this kid did was this?! His sister is laying on the bed unable to even move out of the bed. Yanyi stayed still for 5 seconds before turning back to Luyao. "Can you be his teacher, Inspector Chen?"
Luyao — "You want me to teach him? Why not do it?"
Yanyi — "Well you would be away for a couple of weeks right. Instead of doing nothing, why not teach him how to fight. I mean you also have a hand in saving him. So why not work together to teach him.
Luyao didn't say anything and suppressed all the possible noise that was about to escape his mouth. The way Yanyi said it makes it seem like they are raising Eker together. The top of his ears turns a slightly red colour.
He hear the two people behind him giggle in amusement. He cleared his throat before saying. "We'll be starting in two days. You'll need to wake up at 5 to start the morning run."
Eker wanted to whine but decided to instead go down the bed and hug Luyao's leg. "Thank you gege! Eker will learn fast!" The Inspector said nothing and patted his head.
Before the other two could be smack, they both ran out of the room while shouting. "Have a good rest, Yiyi!" Soon enough, Luyao also went out of the room. Leaving Yanyi and Eker to sleep in peace.
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The heavy rain had stopped and the sound of birds chirping after the storm patter outside of the window. The bird nest was put back on the tree by a pair of hands. The figure, white cloak enveloping their stature, turns to the manor from a far.
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The faint smile plastered on their face as they made their escape from the mountain.
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The weather is quite nice after a hectic morning.
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The next few days.
After recuperating for a few days, Luyao brings Yanyi over to the Ryuichi dungeon for imprisonment. Since this whole situation is not involving the whole public but just people in relation to the family, they ought to deal with it in private.
Luyao had just about finished training with Eker when Yanyi came over to the training field. The little boy who is still with a wooden stick fighting with a dummy saw her and cuddled up to her. "Hello there, little guy. Are you training well?"
Eker — "Yup! Luyao gege said that I'll be able to spar with him after 5 days of training with the dummy."
Yanyi — "Five days? That's really fast."
Luyao — "He made quick progress in his training. I don't even need a whole week to check his rin constitution."
The man she was about to find emerges from behind the tree and walks over to the siblings. He explains further about how he realized the kid he is training right now is really a good prodigy. "The fact that he is able to keep up with me during the first morning jog is enough to tell me everything."
A bit confused and curious, Yanyi turned to the little boy by her waist and asked. "Are you sure you didn't remember anything at all?" Eker is smart enough as a 10 year old and knows that Yanyi is referring to his old life. To which he shook his head.
She didn't pry much into it and instead told him to go back inside and get some rest. She has a certain thing that needs to be solved with Luyao. The little boy didn't waste much time and ran to the manor leaving Yanyi and Luyao alone at the training ground.
"You want to meet the suspects?" Yanyi didn't need to say anything and he knew from the start. She nodded and Luyao just strode over to the farthest building in the estate area. Usually the dungeon would be interconnected with the manor or any of the military buildings near the estate. Of course they are well hidden.
They both took the elevator down just like how it was in the garden house. During their descent, Luyao can't help but question why she wishes to see these people. "Why do you want to see them? Irene even told me that you'd be able to help."
Yanyi — "You don't trust her words?"
Luyao — "Not that I don't trust it. It's more like you have other motives. Not a bad one at least."
Yanyi — "All I can tell you right now is that they are not something evil. I'll tell you when everything is much more clear."
Luyao — "..."
The door opened and they stepped out into an entirely dark rock underground. The smell reeks of sewer water and the walls and floors are covered in moss, dirt and fungus. They walk for quite a while, passing by some empty cells and greeting some guards as well as some prisoners.
They didn't budge from their motive and continued to walk forward. Soon enough they reach the cell where the first suspect is placed. "The stalker." Luyao said casually before staying 5 feet away from Yanyi who is approaching the cell.
Yanyi squatted down and knocked on the heavy iron cage layered with Lumiere energy. The person inside who is named Wei saw the bright blue locks and immediately ran to her direction. Unfortunately for him his face smacked the first thing on the protective layer.
Neither Yanyi nor Luyao budge from their position. The lumiere energy is strong enough to power the whole empire. What makes it weak to power the cell system.
Yanyi didn't say much and just stared into the man who had attempted to lunge at her. 'The eyes… New info I see.' She commented to her mind before rising up from her position and walking over to Luyao. "Done?" She nodded.
He then walked away from the cell to yet another cell. A bit farther but enough distance to keep both of the accomplice from communicating. The next suspect is sitting on the bed with both arms strapped with straitjackets. The same process, one step up the other stay behind her.
Unlike the previous one,Yanyi's eyes start to furrow in disdain. This person does not 'like' the other. His eyes are not similar but something about the two of them are similar. She can't really put her finger on it but decided to ask a favour from Luyao and the Ryuichi family.
She didn't comment anything and went out with Luyao to the surface. In the elevator she decided to ask for this favour of her. "I have a favour to ask of you and the Ryuichi family."
"Speak."
"That assassin. Keep him alive until the day I return back to Ashrin."
Luyao didn't say anything before, "Sure."
They both went away from the building and part ways. One stayed on the training field waiting for his new disciple while the other went back to the manor, preparing to return back to their little apartment.
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-~*~-