When the morning light filters through the window and before I can even properly open my eyes, Manami Suda, my current acting secretary, shakes me up from my dream as she gives me the news of three elders, who Naobita yesterday told me were seen hanging from the ceiling this morning, and Ogi was murdered by an unidentified assailant.
What are the chances of that happening? To think, three elders would commit suicide; I didn't even know the reason. Maybe guilty consciences? I didn't know. They did have the hand in killing two children, just like me. Since I am a coward, I didn't end my life, but those three elders—their bravery is something else.
To think just after they heard the news of two kids dying, they unanimously decided they had to go from the face of the earth. It seems like I was wrong. I always thought they were an annoying bunch, but now...you can never judge a book by its cover.
But when I heard news about Ogi, I was fuming. "Who the hell has the guts to kill my uncle?" My uncle, my innocent, who didn't even hurt a fly, was killed by someone.
Hearing the news, I quickly came to Zenin's main estate, as the traditional burying rituals have already started. Maki and Mai were also present; since it was their father that died, they had to come, but they don't look sad at all.
Understanding Ogi's behavior toward them, I can understand their cold approach.
"Did you kill him?" Mai asked as she looked at the people attending the funeral with an indifferent gaze.
"What? Me? Do you think I am capable of this?" I asked her in return, to which Maki and Mai just stared at me in a way that suggested that I was capable.
I sighed at that, then I broke the eye contact and looked straight. "Hey, if the one who killed your father was caught, what would you both do? Do you hate him? Do you want to kill him?" My voice was calm as I asked that.
I am curious. After all, Ogi was murdered and Ogi being one of the pillars of the Zenin clan, the clan head will issue an investigating order and the killer will get captured.
Maki and Mai looked at each other for a moment, then a smile formed on their faces unanimously. "I think I would hug him and give him a kiss." Mai said, "I have no doubt that the killer would be a cute one."
Maki also smiled at Mai's reply, and then both of them came to either one of me, and without waiting, they both hugged both of me and gave kisses on each of my cheeks. "What are you two doing?" I asked if I could break free from their hug.
"I did tell you I would give a hug and kiss to the killer." Mai said in a tone that suggested she was stating the obvious.
"But I am not the killer."
---
Naobita looked at the body of his brother as well as three elders. Unlike what he expected, he wasn't that sad. Yes, he was sad but not to a level he thought he would be.
"Sleep well, Ogi." That was the only phrase that came to Naobita's tongue.
It didn't take a genius to figure out who was the perpetrator behind all of this, but Naobita or other elders didn't have any evidence to point toward the obvious name that came to mind.
Naobita, after coming from the funeral house, sat at the head seat as all other elders were seated at the oval table; they all had grim expressions.
"We can't leave Naoya like that; we need to teach him a lesson. He killed four of our own and hasn't faced any reprisal," one of the elders said.
"Yes, I also agree." It was Jinichi Zenin that said it. He was also the older brother of the now deceased Toji Zenin.
"What do you plan to do? Wasn't the investigation done by the HEI unit? Even with that, you all couldn't find the evidence. You all couldn't even find how Naoya killed Ogi; the only reason why we even determined his death as murder is because of how his head was deformed, and for the three 'suicides,' you couldn't even prove it otherwise." Naobita said as he poured himself Sake.
The Hei is a unit composed of the strongest group of jujutsu sorcerers within the Zenin Clan, ranked semi-grade 1 and above; the murder investigation of 4 clan members is done by Hei, with Jinichi Zenin acting as the head of the investigation, but they couldn't find any evidence that points Naoya to the murder.
All elders were silent at that; they couldn't come up with a counter.
"Haaa," Naobita let out a deep sigh, "Just leave it. Even if you find any proof, the best we can do is make him step down as the heir; that too will only happen if Naoya also decides. We didn't know his full strength; I even heard a rumor that he has a second technique. Maybe his RCT came from that technique, as it clearly is not an RCT of Projection Sorcery." Naoya once again sighed as he stood up and walked toward the door. "We all are growing old, and the young generation is growing ferocious; we can only watch from the sidelines. If we step up, it will be our corpse that will lie in the mud next time, with our head deformed by a cause unknown to anyone."
Once again, nobody said anything, as they also knew the current them couldn't even touch Naoya. They didn't know his full strength, but the instinct they had honed throughout their lives told them they would die without resistance if they touched Naoya. Ogi and others are examples of that. Ogi was special grade 1, and there was no sigh of resistance near him or any other injury to his body other than the deformed head, which was enough to give an outline of what could be Naoya's strength.
"You give birth to a demon spawn, Naobita. One capable of destroying the very foundation of us." Chojuro Zenin said, Chojuro is an old, short man. He has his hair done in a mohawk.
Hearing Chojuro, Naobita stood at the doorframe. "Yes, I did. But if his mother were present, then perhaps he would have grown a little more kindly." Naobita sighed and then let out a hollow laugh. "Who are we kidding? Maybe the only thing that is stopping him now is Maki and Mai." Naobita said as he exited the room; as he once again sighed, he was feeling very tired as he dragged his old body to his room.
~~~
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