Chapter 44: The Trials (3)
The Trials (3)
After Lady Barthomeloi had informed him that Grover Meluastea's remains had gone missing from the mortuary by means unknown, Shirou had immediately decided to search as much of the Clocktower as he could to find those remains again.
A small part of him, the unreasonably positive part, still hoped that it had been nothing but an opportunistic thief who had made off with Grover's body when a golden opportunity presented itself. An unscrupulous Magus who'd seen a chance to obtain research material and hoped that nobody would care about a traitor's remains. If that were the case, Shirou would simply track the thief down, reprimand them, and burn Grover's corpse to ash.
The larger, more realistic part of him however feared that the situation was much worse than that. That in spite of being dead, Grover Meluastea had fled on his own accord, through foul Magecraft that transcended the limits of life and death, if he was even dead to begin with and hadn't somehow survived being beheaded.
He had no concrete proof for his fears. All he had were his observations during Grover's trial, when he'd seen that the man was basically nothing more than a solidified mass of evil and maliciousness. Something that could not be killed by mere decapitation.
A feeling was hardly a cause for investigation however. Yes, Lady Barthomeloi had listened to him and promised that she would do her best to track Grover down again, but she still thought the man was dead. Why wouldn't she? He had no evidence to the contrary.
As such, Shirou would have to take the initiative himself, and try to track Grover down before he could do any harm. As he was already fully booked during the day however, with the trials that were still going on and his temporary job at the cafeteria, the search had to take place at night.
That was why he was currently wandering all over the Clocktower at two o'clock in the morning, using both his eyes and his nose to search for Grover, looking in every nook and cranny to find a usable trace to track.
He'd already searched the places he was familiar with, that being the Department of Modern Magecraft Theory, Mineralogy, and Policies, and he was now entering the Department of Lore. There was no particular order to his search, just what was most convenient at a given time.
Just about anyone could have taken the body after all.
As he wandered around however, making sure to keep himself invisible to the many Bounded Fields that were supposed to block his way, Shirou once more affirmed something he'd already noticed at the beginning of his search.
There was a massive contrast between the Clocktower during the day and the Clocktower at night.
During the day, the Clocktower truly was the bustling conglomeration it was always described to be. People were walking everywhere, the countless decorations sparkled in the light of the sun or the lamps, the many shops and stores were doing excellent business, and there was always noise, sometimes loud, sometimes muted.
At night however, the Clocktower went completely still.
Shirou had been walking around for several hours now, and in all that time, he'd only encountered six other stragglers, who had run away from him the instant they noticed him, often without even bothering to see who he was. The lights were shut off, making the decorations and artworks look incredibly creepy instead of impressive, and all the shops, stores, and cafeterias were closed, without a single person inside them.
Most of all though, it was quiet. So incredibly quiet that Shirou could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. There were no bugs around, no mice, nothing at all. Just him and the shadows.
The redhead wasn't easily scared by silence, and he certainly wasn't afraid of the dark, but nevertheless, seeing the Clocktower in such a state still gave him goosebumps all over.
When Shirou had started his nightly search, he certainly hadn't expected something like this, that the place would be so abandoned at night. He'd figured it would be like Fuyuki, where the bustling nightlife ensured there were always people about and that it never became fully dark.
Apparently though, most Magi chose to lock themselves up after sunset and hide away in their homes, taking shelter under their Bounded Fields and other defences, not coming out until morning, unless they had a very pressing matter to attend to during the night.
Which was probably the wise thing to do, considering what most Magi were like. You never knew after all whether the person you met at night was someone who'd cut your throat without blinking an eye to steal your organs for their research.
Still, the fact that the halls were so empty did provide Shirou with ample opportunity to go wherever he pleased in his search for Grover Meluastea. With his technique for disrupting Bounded Fields and the lack of people, he could visit any Department he wanted, and no one was going to get in his way. He was practically unstoppable now and could go wherever he pleased.
When seen like that, the current situation was almost exhilarating.
Until he bumped into someone he hadn't expected to find out and about so late at night.
"Miss Ortensia?" He spluttered when he spotted the small, white-haired nun while crossing through the Clocktower's main indoor garden on his way to the Department of Botany. "What are you doing here?!"
The diminutive girl, who was a few years older than him but certainly didn't act the part, was standing in the middle of the garden, looking intently at the flowers before her, as if they were about to whisper secrets into her ear.
The moonlight shining down on her through the glass roof made her white hair glow in the dark, her nun's habit was anything but inconspicuous, and she put in not even a token effort to hide or otherwise conceal herself despite the scary atmosphere hanging around the place.
She was like a sitting duck, and Shirou was incredibly grateful he was the first person to have stumbled upon her. Who knew what could have happened if some unscrupulous type had found her first?
"Oh, Shirou." Upon hearing his shocked question, the nun looked up from the red flower she had been studying to give him a bright smile. "What am I doing here? I am looking at the flowers of course."
"At two o'clock at night?" Shirou asked incredulously.
"I don't have any time during the day." Ortensia cocked her head to the side. "Which you of all people should understand, no?"
"Yes, well, maybe." Shirou admitted, before aiming a light glare at the nun. "But it is dangerous to be out in the Clocktower alone, especially after sunset."
"There is no need to worry, I have God to protect me." Ortensia provided her standard answer, and Shirou let out a deep sigh, knowing that in the eyes of the nun, that answer finished the matter. There was no way now that he could convince her to leave, hide, or otherwise protect herself.
So he decided to do the next best thing.
"How long are you going to stay here?"
"Not very long. I have seen most of the flowers by now, and I'll have to get up early tomorrow again."
"Would an hour be enough?"
"That would be more than enough."
"Then I'll stay with you until you are done and then bring you back to your room." Shirou said in a tone that brokered no argument. "There is no way I can continue my own search in peace if I leave you here."
"Oh, thank you!" Ortensia looked enthused at his words, her serene smile turning into a more genuine grin. "It would be great to have someone to talk to. The quiet was getting to me."
She didn't say a single word about protection, but then again, Shirou hadn't expected her to. In her mind, she already had the greatest protector there was, so Shirou didn't add much.
"Not to mention having my valiant protector with me does set me at ease a bit, here in the dark." Ortensia playfully stuck out her tongue when Shirou gave her a surprised look, before turning around and trotting off towards another flower, this one a beautiful teal colour that was so pure that it couldn't possibly have come about normally.
After another moment of surprise, Shirou followed her, and came to a halt in front of the flower, studying it closely.
"It really pleases me that even a place as vile as the Clocktower can hold such beauty inside." Ortensia whispered after a few moments, her yellow eyes shining in amazement as she looked at the flower. "I know this flower is probably meaningless, and that its creator does not care about its beauty, but I still find hope in it."
"Hm." Shirou made a noise of agreement, deciding not to mention that this flower had been grown on a human corpse that had been stolen from a mundane mortuary, and that it produced a poison that ate away a human's nerves at an excruciatingly slow pace.
There was no need to ruin the nun's mood.
"What about you, Shirou?" Ortensia then addressed him, looking up at him with curious eyes. "Do you think this flower is beautiful?"
"It is." Shirou told her honestly, for it was a beautiful flower.
"The most beautiful thing you have ever seen?"
"No." Shirou did not have to think about that for even a mere moment. "The most beautiful things I have seen are my girlfriends. Nothing can compare."
"Oooh." The white-haired girl made a cooing sound, and she reached up to pat his head. "That is such a cute thing to say."
"It is what I think." Shirou shrugged.
"What about me then?" Ortensia asked eagerly, stepping forward and turning around, placing herself next to the flower. "Am I more beautiful than the flower?"
"Yes." Shirou nodded, again being honest, as the nun was indeed far more beautiful than the teal-coloured flower, at least in his eyes. He tended to find humans more beautiful than other things anyway, such as flowers, landscapes, paintings, and all that stuff, but even among humans, Caren Ortensia was very pretty.
"You didn't even hesitate!" Ortensia pressed her hands over her mouth, giving him a comically wide-eyed look. It seemed like she was just playing around, acting shocked, but Shirou could see she was trying to hide the fact she was actually surprised and flustered by his answer. "Do you really think so?"
"Yes." Shirou confirmed again.
"Even despite my personality?"
"Your personality isn't that disagreeable." Shirou shook his head slowly, wondering where all these questions were coming from. "I've met far worse people than you."
"That does not mean much." She deadpanned at him. "Compared to a person like Stanley Meluastea, or my father, anyone's personality is 'not that disagreeable'."
"Your father?" Shirou asked, before holding up a hand. "No, pardon me, I shouldn't pry-"
"My father is the cruellest, meanest, most messed-up man in existence." She revealed bluntly, cutting him off. "He is the scourge put on Earth to test mankind. He is an evil man, through and through. The fact that he is a priest is a blemish on the Church."
"Ah." Shirou made an understanding noise, but he didn't say anything. He wouldn't know what to say anyway, and frankly, he was surprised she was sharing all this with him.
It was unusual for the nun to be this open, and Shirou got the idea that she was somehow challenging him. He had no idea how or why though.
"Kotomine Kirei." She suddenly said.
"…Ha?" Shirou froze in place for the shortest of moments at the mention of his father's nemesis, before he shook his head violently, reasoning that he must have misheard. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say-?"
"Kotomine Kirei." She repeated, removing all doubt.
Shirou didn't freeze this time, but rather stood up straight, wordlessly compelling Ortensia to explain herself, to explain why she suddenly mentioned that man out of the blue. Hadn't they been talking about her father?
"You are from Japan, aren't you?" Ortensia started with a question, before continuing after he nodded. "If you ever meet a man by that name, run. I don't care how powerful you are, you must flee as quickly as you can. I realise that this might sound insane, considering your true nature, but Kotomine Kirei… He is like the devil."
"I know of him." Shirou admitted, which got him a surprised look from Ortensia. "I know what he is capable of. I know it very well."
"I… I see." The white-haired nun muttered, looking at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. "You know his evil."
"Yes." Shirou nodded, having his father's tales in the back of his mind. "I don't know how you know him, but-"
"He is my father." Ortensia interrupted him, her expression not changing in the slightest, as if she'd locked it in place.
"Your father?!" Shirou almost reared back in shock, his mouth falling open as he stared at the nun, whose expression still hadn't changed.
At some level, he should have seen this coming. They had been talking about Ortensia's father after all, before the nun had suddenly said Kotomine's name. It shouldn't have been so hard to add two and two together.
Only, Shirou hadn't added it together. His mind had refused to entertain the possibility that Kotomine might have children, let alone a daughter like Ortensia, so he'd seen the nun's story about her father and her mentioning Kotomine's name as separate events that had been in no way linked to each other.
Except maybe in the sense of Kotomine having killed her father.
Now though, the connection was shoved in his face, and he learned that not only did Kotomine in fact have a daughter, but that said daughter had also become a sort-of friend of his.
The universe truly had a strange sense of humour.
The mood was heavy between them, as Shirou gaped at the nun and she looked back with a neutral expression, before she suddenly smiled.
"Well then, Shirou." She said, before drawing herself up to her full height and spreading her arms, as if presenting herself to him. "Now that you know who my father is, what kind of seed spawned me into this world, do you still think I am beautiful?"
She clearly expected a negative response, for him to distance himself from her, but Shirou honestly thought it a rather silly question.
"Of course you are still beautiful."
"Eh?" This time, it was Ortensia's turn to freeze in place, as she looked at him with wide eyes.
"You are not your father." Shirou was really stating the obvious there. "Nor do you possess his evil. When I look at you, I don't see Kotomine Kirei's daughter. I see Caren Ortensia, our mischievous, troublemaking, teasing, irresponsible, beautiful nun. Nothing else."
"B-But…" She stuttered out, her eyes having gone even wider than before. "S-Sins of the f-father?"
"What about forgiveness? Mercy? The good inside the heart of mankind?" Shirou countered. He didn't know much about Christianity, but if that religion stated that Ortensia was evil merely because of who her father was, then he would reject it without hesitation, for it would be wrong. "You are you, miss Ortensia, and that is all there is to it."
She gaped at him, her mouth having gone as wide as her eyes, and Shirou looked away slightly as he realised she was about to cry.
"Ah, good gracious." Ortensia mumbled after a few moments, her voice surprisingly steady. "You shouldn't say such things to a girl if you don't mean them."
"I know." Shirou huffed. "But I did mean them."
"You..." His words left her speechless yet again. "…You horrible, no good man."
Once more, there were a few seconds of silence between them, and then Ortensia let out a soft giggle.
"Saying such nice things about a girl like me, how is my poor heart supposed to bear it?" She muttered, and when Shirou looked back at her, he saw that her eyes, previously misty with unshed tears, were now shining playfully. "I do hope you'll take responsibility for it."
"Responsibility?" Shirou was almost afraid to ask.
"Take care of me for the rest of my life." Ortensia revealed her outrageous demand without blinking an eye, and Shirou choked on air.
"I-I thought n-nuns couldn't marry!" He spluttered, completely thrown by her sudden request that had come out of absolutely nowhere.
"Then make me your pet." Ortensia's demand became even more outrageous, and Shirou really didn't know where to look once she went down on her knees and raised her hands in such a way that they resembled a cat's paws. "Nya."
"D-Don't mimic a cat!"
The nun was taking her teasing further than ever before, save for perhaps her cheerleading routine in Germany, and Shirou could feel how his cheeks became bright red at the sight of the very pretty girl kneeling before him and looking up at him with wide, trusting eyes.
Of course, Shirou knew that Ortensia was trying to cover for her earlier slip-up. Her embarrassing antics were nothing more than an attempt to make him forget about her tearful expression after he'd told her that she was nothing like her father. Nevertheless, even though he knew her motive, seeing her behave like that was still incredibly embarrassing, and Shirou found himself really grateful suddenly that it was the middle of the night and that no one else was around.
If other people had been around, he might have had to physically remove them from the scene after all, and impress upon them the need to keep their mouths shut.
"E-Enough!" He hissed when Ortensia slowly and sensually licked the back of her hand, grabbing her by the back of her collar and lifting her onto her feet again. "Miss Ortensia, t-that is enough."
"Caren." She suddenly said.
"Hm?"
"If you're not going to make me your pet, at least call me Caren." She clarified, giving him a lopsided smile.
"Caren." He said, to her obvious satisfaction.
"Say it again." She then ordered him.
"Huh, why?"
"Just do it."
"…Caren?" Shirou repeated, somewhat unsure.
"No, you have to say it like you did before. With a strong voice."
"Caren." Shirou repeated again, this time without hesitation.
"Yes, like that." She grinned, before spinning around in a flourish. "I really like the sound of that."
"…" Shirou had no idea how to react, so he didn't say anything.
"I'm done with the flowers." Caren then stated out of the blue. "Please bring me back to my room."
"Ah, sure." Shirou nodded, before obediently leading her to her room in the Department of Modern Magical Theories. On the way there, neither of them spoke a word, but it wasn't an unpleasant silence. Not at all.
Once they were there and Caren had opened her door, she turned around one last time.
"Say hello to your girlfriends for me." She requested with a sincere smile. "Tell them that they are lucky girls."
"I will do that." Shirou promised, a bit of heat rising in his cheeks again.
"Then I wish you a good night, Shirou, for all that's left of it."
"Good night, Caren."
Then the nun closed her door, and Shirou turned around to head back to the Department of Botany to continue his search for Grover Meluastea.
His mind was no longer focused however, and it strayed, from Caren, to Kirei Kotomine, to his father, and lastly, to his girlfriends. He wondered what they would think if they could have seen what had happened just now.
But where the thought of them would have filled him with happiness before, it now made him feel unsure, as he had noticed something off over the past week.
Sakura, Ayako, and Rin were hiding something from him.
Shirou had sensed that during their daily calls. They weren't lying to him directly, but they weren't telling him everything either. There was something they were doing, something big, and they didn't tell him what. Even when he tried to gently press them into telling him the truth, they deftly avoided his questions.
Just thinking about those conversations made Shirou grimace, and he placed a hand on his stomach, where an unpleasant sensation was steadily developing itself.
From the very beginning, he'd had a bad feeling about the whole matter, but today, it was more intense than ever before.
He really hoped nothing too bad would happen.
'Hey babe, doctor's appointment is going to take a bit longer than expected. There's nothing wrong with me or the family, the doc is just being slow today. You and Rin can go visit Maita Rei ahead of me, I'll join you when I'm done here. Love you.'
That was the message that Ayako had sent to Sakura when the time scheduled for the doctor's appointment was almost over and the woman was still questioning her mother, meaning that Midori and Ayako herself hadn't even begun yet.
Knowing that it would likely take at least another thirty minutes before she was done, Ayako had texted Sakura and given her and Rin the go-ahead to just get started on the investigation again. No sense in wasting time when they didn't have to.
It had turned out to be a wise decision, for it ultimately took another forty minutes before Ayako had gotten a clean bill of health. The appointment had taken way longer than expected, and frankly, the brunette wouldn't be surprised if Rin and Sakura had not only already arrived at the Maita-estate but were already done with the interview altogether.
Nevertheless, the brunette still took a bus to Maita Rei's clinic. She hadn't yet received a message from Sakura that they were finished, so she would assume the interview was still ongoing.
The closest bus stop was about fifteen minutes of walking away from the clinic, but Ayako could cut that time in half by taking a few back alleys, which she promptly did, figuring it couldn't do much harm in the middle of the day.
As she walked, her mind began to stray, and before long, she found herself contemplating how the case of Carlton Paris' murder was going so far.
Frankly, it was going terrible.
They had no suspects, no concrete leads, and aside from her own theory about Paris being a Magus or at least a Magecraft-user, they had no motives for the murder either. Practically, the only thing they knew was that he had been murdered, that his body had been buried near the Ryuudou-temple, and that he was a very successful gigolo who seemed to have no enemies whatsoever, nor did he have the kind of lifestyle that would see him getting murdered.
Sakura, Rin, and she had been going around in circles since the investigation had started, and they hadn't made one bit of progress.
Really, if Shirou could have seen them, he would have laughed himself silly.
Well, no, actually, he wouldn't, he would have praised them for their hard work and then helped them solve the case, but Ayako's point still stood! They weren't really getting anywhere with what they were doing.
The temptation to call Shirou and ask for his help was growing bigger by the day, and frankly, Ayako was seriously considering doing exactly that.
So far, they hadn't told him anything about their investigation. Of course, Shirou had noticed they were hiding something –with his Divine senses or whatever– but after they had told him it was a surprise, he'd backed off easily enough.
It would be annoying to have to go back on their word, to ask him for help after all, but right now, it was about time they admitted they were stuck. Solving the murder was more important than preserving their pride.
Yes, Ayako decided as she walked into the last alley she'd have to cross before arriving at the Maita-estate. They shouldn't put the cart in front of the horse, that wouldn't help anyone-
"URK!?"
Suddenly, a piece of rope was thrown around Ayako's throat from behind and pulled tight in an instant, cutting off her breath.
"Hk, kch!" The brunette wheezed, reflexively gasping for air but unable to get any, after which the rope was pulled even tighter, and Ayako felt how someone pressed themselves against her from behind, cutting off any possible means of escape. "Kuh."
It seemed like the perfect ambush. Ayako had been walking through a deserted back alley that connected two fairly empty streets together, alone, at a time when everyone was either at their work or inside their house. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings at all, and as such, had been crept upon from behind.
Really, she had been the perfect victim, giving the would-be killer or kidnapper every chance they needed to murder her or knock her out.
But although the circumstances were perfect, there was one thing the assailant had overlooked.
Ayako herself.
The very moment she realised what was going on, her instincts took over, and the brunette pushed her body backwards, surprising her attacker and forcing them to take a step back, which loosened the rope slightly. Then, Ayako rammed her elbow into their midriff in an effort to destabilise them even more.
Normally, having an elbow rammed into your midriff by a teenage girl would hurt quite a bit. Not enough to unbalance a professional killer, but plenty to make an amateur lose their grip on their garrotte, if the victim was lucky.
Ayako however was not a normal teenage girl anymore. After having spent a lot of time with Emiya Shirou, the successor of the God of Thunder, in a very intimate fashion, she had been granted several boons that had long since elevated her beyond the limits of normal humans. She wasn't aware of those boons, nor were Sakura or even Shirou himself, but her assailant now learned of them the hard way.
The attacker was outright launched away from Ayako by the elbow strike, and they landed hard on the ground a few metres away, now wheezing for breath themselves.
The brunette couldn't capitalise on this however, as she was greedily gasping for air after having just been released from the garrotte. She did manage to turn around to look at the attacker, but they were disguised by a hood and a scarf. Ayako could see that they were slightly taller than she was, but nothing else.
"You…!" Ayako hissed, the shock at being attacked so suddenly rapidly changing into a furious rage. "You bastard!"
She took a shaky step forward, fully intent on beating the living daylights out of the masked figure, but they quickly got back to their feet and fled, recognising they were no match for the enraged girl.
Within a few seconds, they had disappeared out of sight, and Ayako, who realised how close she'd come to being murdered, let out a strangled sob, falling against the nearest wall, where she remained for several minutes.
As she laid there, panting and gasping, happy to be able to draw breath again, Ayako's mind worked at top speed, her thoughts rushing in all directions at once as they tried to make sense of what had happened.
She didn't believe for a moment that this was a random attack. There was no way some random person decided to target her in this neighbourhood at this time of day, and certainly not by using a garrotte to strangle her. This was premeditated in every sense of the word.
Which meant that Ayako had deliberately been targeted, and the only reason she could think of right now was her investigation into Carlton Paris' death.
Clearly, someone was out to stop them, permanently, and they were willing to go to any lengths to make that happen.
Ayako no longer held any doubts whatsoever that they needed to talk to Shirou about their investigation. Things had really become very dangerous now, and they couldn't afford to mess around anymore.
But as Ayako picked herself up again and made for the Maita-estate, there was one thing that kept playing on her mind. One thing that didn't add up.
Even after she'd reached her destination, and Sakura and Rin had practically thrown themselves on top of her out of concern over the massive bruise running along her throat, it kept playing on her mind.
The only thing that her assailant had said, or rather mumbled, during the murder-attempt.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please forgive me!"
If there was anyone in the Clocktower who understood how much Waver Velvet's life had changed over the past weeks, it had to be Grey.
She was his loyal shadow after all, the one who'd followed him around ever since he'd saved her from her village, and the one he entrusted with all of his secrets, new and old.
Even now, when he had become so much more important, when people were lining up to get in his good graces, Grey was secure of her place by his side. The only times when she was absent was when lady Reines needed her for something, or when they were both sleeping. Other than that, she was always present.
Which was why she knew like no one else how much he disliked his newfound power.
"I am telling you, Grey, this really sucks."
The lord made that comment as he signed yet another form concerning his take-over of the Department of Mineralogy. He had been working on that for most of the previous evening, and now he was doing so again in the early hours of the morning.
During those hours, he'd done nothing but complain. He complained as he signed forms, he complained as he wrote reports, he complained before and after meetings with relevant people, and he even complained in his sleep, after he'd passed out on the couch.
Paradoxically, it were those complaints that set Grey at ease. As long as Sir loudly complained and moaned about everything in his view and beyond, Grey could rest easy, knowing it was business as usual.
It was when he went quiet and mellow that Grey needed to be concerned, for it meant that things had turned ugly. It had happened only three times before, and all those times…
Well, they were better not talked about.
But he complained without end today, and that meant that despite the aforementioned dislike for his newfound power, he was holding on strong anyway.
Sir was not so easily brought low after all.
"Why am I doing all of this anyway?" Sir continued his petulant complaining, holding up a form for the order of several platypus-eyes. "This is basic logistics and stocking-protocol. Is that really something the boss should be doing?"
"The administration needed some time to get settled, so they asked you to take over these matters for a few days." Grey replied, unable to suppress a soft smile, which she attempted to hide in the shadows of her hood. "They asked very nicely, so you agreed."
"I can hear your smile, you know?" Sir grumbled, before placing the form down again and continuing to fill it out. "But I suppose you are correct. I will just try to do this quickly."
"Sir, if you really feel overwhelmed, I can try to help you." Grey offered again, but just like every time before so far, the lord shook his head.
"That is very kind of you, Grey, but not necessary." He said soothingly, looking at her even as his pen raced over the forms. "If things remain like they are now, without any further distractions, I should be able to handle-"
"Waver!"
With his usual dramatic flair and utter discard for privacy and personal space, Melvin entered Lord El-Melloi's office, unannounced and without as much as a 'by your leave'. He threw the door open with such force it slammed against the wall, and as he walked in, his coat billowed in the draft he himself had created, making him look much cooler than he actually was.
"Would it really kill you to make an appointment for once, Melvin?" Sir bristled, placing his pen down, recognising that he wouldn't be getting any work done as long as the human-shaped plague was present. "It may have escaped your notice, but I am frightfully busy these days."
"Sorry, Waver, but this can't wait." Melvin looked uncharacteristically serious, his expression startlingly neutral and composed. "There are things we need to discuss right away."
"…Alright?" Lord El-Melloi gestured at a chair, inviting Melvin to sit down, but the white-haired man refused with a shake of his head. "What is it?"
"All these Magical items that have suddenly been brought on the market, are those really yours?"
"They are Fujimaru's, though I am selling them on his behalf." Lord El-Melloi replied easily enough, happy people were noticing them. "Why? Are you interested in buying?"
"Not in the slightest." Melvin shook his head again. "All I want to know is whether the offer is genuine. Are you actually selling these things, Waver? You aren't trying to scam people with fakes?"
"Certainly not." Lord El-Melloi stated with absolute certainty, sitting up straight in his chair as he frowned at Melvin. "Everything we are selling is the real deal."
"Good." Melvin nodded sharply. "Mother has been flooded with requests to verify your offers, so once she found out they came from you, she sent me here."
"Without an appointment." Grey found herself saying, annoyance bubbling up in her at how much the white-haired man took her teacher's time for granted.
"I'll repay you with some information of my own." Melvin didn't bat an eye at Grey's remark, stepping closer to the desk and holding out a piece of paper. "A list of names of everyone who has expressed even a remote interest in buying your stuff. Maybe you'd like to run a background check on them, or contact them in private."
"Thank you, Melvin." Lord El-Melloi said, his tone much less frigid now that the man had shown himself useful for once. "This will certainly help us a lot."
"I also have some other news for you, though I am actually unsure how new it would be for you." Melvin slowly rubbed his chin, before he grinned for the first time since he'd entered. "Nah, you know what, I'm just going to tell you."
"What is it?" Sir asked, and Grey could see how he braced himself for whatever his 'friend' was about to tell him.
"Mother has managed to identify the most likely candidate to become Marianne Archelot's husband, and thus the one most likely to take over the Department of Botany." Melvin paused a second for dramatic effect, and then pointed right at Sir. "It's you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
Sir's mouth fell open, his hands went slack, and his cigar tumbled to the floor. It immediately became obvious that this was in fact news to him, and Melvin's grin became much wider in response.
Grey wasn't surprised though, at all. It had been crystal clear for weeks now that the Aristocratic Faction, up to and including Lady Montmorency, was more than content to push both lady Marianne and the Department of Botany onto Sir. They were only making it official now.
Grey wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one hand, lady Marianne was a very nice person, who certainly didn't deserve to be punished for crimes that her husband committed without her consent or knowledge. Much the same went for her department, which had been hijacked against the wishes of the majority of its people.
In that sense, it would be for the best that Sir married lady Marianne and gained control of Botany, for Sir was a good and capable leader who was also kind to his subjects. Maybe Grey was a little biased, but in her opinion, there was no better lord to be found anywhere in the Moonlit World.
On the other hand, it would be even more work on Sir's plate, and this time, Grey feared he might very well collapse under the weight of it all. One small department was manageable, two departments could be managed if one had competent help, but three…
Three could very well prove too much, even for Sir.
Also, in a deep, dark corner of her mind, Grey might be a tiny bit jealous of lady Marianne as well.
She was just so beautiful, so charming and elegant. Her body was a work of art, and not only was her face the very picture of beauty, enough so to steal Grey's breath away every time she smiled, she also showed it to the world without compunction.
Grey just couldn't compare. A small, hooded, and insecure girl like her stood no chance against a mature, gorgeous, and confident woman like Marianne.
That was what she thought in that deep corner of her mind.
It was a corner she tried her hardest to suppress though, and as such, she chose to mainly focus on the issue of Sir being too overloaded with work rather than him being close to people other than her.
"Sir is too busy to take over the Department of Botany." She told Melvin in as loud a voice as she could manage. "They will have to find someone else to do it."
"You don't have to tell me that." Melvin held up his hands in surrender, giving her a playful look of fear. "I'm just the messenger! Don't shoot the messenger!"
"Melvin…" Lord El-Melloi began to speak up slowly, looking rather out of it. "How certain are you of this?"
"That you are Marianne Archelot's prospective husband? Very certain, I'm afraid." Far from looking afraid though, Melvin looked over the moon with the information. "Oh, how I love it when my friends reach such lofty heights. I'm deeply, deeply impressed by you right now, Waver. Back when we were both Kayneth's students, I never expected you'd make it this far in life, but I have no compunction about admitting that I was dead wrong. You're amazing, man!"
In the face of such genuine compliments, Sir had nothing to say, as his cheeks became red and he looked to the side, coughing awkwardly.
"Not to mention you've become such a lady's man. I mean, how many women have you got chasing you right now?" The white-haired pest continued his overjoyed tirade. "Marianne for one, but also Bazett, Adashino, Lehrman, Reines, and even little Gr-"
Grey realised what Melvin was going to say half-a-second before he actually said it.
Faced with the prospect of being embarrassed in front of her teacher, to have Melvin accredit feelings to her while she wasn't even sure of her feelings herself, just for a quick laugh, Grey moved.
Within one breath, she cast spells of physical enhancement on herself, jumped forward over Sir's desk, cocked her fist back…
…And punched Melvin right on the chin.
The frail man went down immediately, not even putting up a token resistance as he passed out the very second Grey's fist made contact. He fell to the ground in an almost comical way, and laid still there.
For a few seconds, everything was quiet.
Then…
"Nice punch, Grey!" Sir laughed out loud, slapping hand on his thigh. "Oh my god, that was beautiful!"
"S-Sir?" Grey stuttered, looking on as Lord El-Melloi roared in laughter, clearly having the time of his life.
"Serves him right." Sir grinned after getting his laughter under control, before walking around the desk and patting Grey on her head. "Well done, Grey. Very well done. Truly, you are the best apprentice I've ever had."
"S-Sir!" Grey didn't quite understand what was going on, why Sir was so happy with her punching someone, but she was always more than happy to be praised like this. She eagerly leaned into his hand, closing her eyes contently as he praised her some more.
The deep, dark part of her mind was entirely silent.
Osaki Koyo had to admit he was completely stuck with his current investigation.
Carlton Paris' murderer clearly was far more competent than Osaki had given him credit for, as he'd left not a single trace anywhere for the police to find.
So far, he and his partner Yomaura had visited every single one of Paris' clients, they'd searched high and low for places that sold Tenzine to private individuals, which was the drug that had been used to sedate Paris during the murder, and they had gone over every aspect of the man's history to find any possible link with the underworld, only to come up short on every front.
The fact that Rakurai's girlfriends had visited several of the clients before them wasn't even so annoying anymore in light of that, and Osaki almost hoped they'd had more success, just so that someone, didn't matter who, would bring the murderer to justice.
But the fact remained that Yomaura and he were stuck. Their initial investigation hadn't yielded any useful information, and as such, they didn't know where to go from there.
At such a point, there were two things that could be done.
One, close the case for now and leave it for someone else to solve somewhere in the future.
Two, begin at the beginning again and see if anything jumps out during the second round.
Naturally, he and his partner had selected the second option, and that was why they were currently back in Maita Rei's house. Rei had shown herself the most objective of all Paris' clients so far, and that was why they hoped to extract some more information from her.
When they had arrived at her house for a second interview however, having of course phoned well in advance, the detectives had been received by Hiroko and Aya instead of Rei. The girls had greeted them politely, before promptly inviting them for lunch with the family.
Currently, Osaki was sitting at the dining table, with Yomaura on his left, an empty spot on his right, and Rei's children on the other side of the table. The table had been set for six, and judging from the sounds coming from the kitchen, Rei was almost finished with cooking.
"You are going to love this." Kazuhiko grinned, his fork and knife already in his hands. "Mother made a European dish today, one of her specialities. It's really delicious."
"It certainly smells good." Yomaura nodded, sniffing the air a bit as a mouth-watering scent filled the house. "I look forward to it."
"We're waiting with much anticipation." Osaki smiled.
"Wait no longer!" Rei cried as she emerged from the kitchen, holding a massive oven tray from which the aforementioned mouth-watering scent was emanating. "I am finished!"
Rei was wearing a pink blouse, a pencil-skirt that was even shorter than the one she'd worn during the first interview, and an apron adorned with hearts and flowers. Her face was red from exertion, and sweaty from the heat in the kitchen, yet there was a blinding smile on her face as she walked towards the table.
"I made lasagne." She beamed as she placed the tray on the table. "Fill up your plates! There's plenty for everyone!"
Her children cheered in exhilaration, and immediately began filling up their plates, like their mother said.
"Lasagne? For lunch?" Yomaura appeared fascinated by the idea. "It looks great, Rei."
"Ufufufu." Rei giggled demurely, before serving Yomaura and Osaki some lasagne as well once her children were finished. Lastly, she filled her own plate, and then sat down on Osaki's right.
"Man, it's really lucky that mom accidently made too much food for lunch today. Now you can eat with us, Osaki-san, Yomaura-san." Aya beamed at them from her own place at the table.
"Lucky?" Yomaura lifted an eyebrow at the young woman. "I called ahead this morning. You all knew we were coming."
"Like I said, very lucky." Aya pretended not to have heard the redhead, her beaming smile unmarred.
"Thank you for the meal." Rei then stated, happily pressing her hands together.
""Thank you for the meal."" Everyone repeated after her, before they all dug in.
"Garfield's favourite food." Kazuhiko hummed in approval, taking large bites of the lasagne until his cheeks were stuffed. "Delicious."
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Kazu." Rei lightly admonished him.
"But mom…"
"Listen to your mother, boy." Osaki said, and Kazuhiko lowered his head in apology, before holding a hand in front of his mouth as he chewed quickly.
"This is delicious!" Yomaura chirped too after a few moments of careful chewing. "Way better than the storebought lasagne."
"That's hardly a compliment." Osaki huffed, before he smiled at their hostess. "Thank you for the excellent meal, madam."
"It was no problem at all." Rei preened, proudly sitting up in her chair, obviously greatly enjoying the compliments.
For some time after that, the only sounds around the table were either the sound of eating, or periodic exclamations of praise. There was some small talk here and there as well, but ultimately, everyone was too focused on the meal to really talk much with the others.
"So, Rei." Yomaura eventually said after they'd polished away all the food. "We would like to ask you a few more questions about Carlton Paris."
"I'm at your disposal, detective-chan." Rei smiled, and neither Osaki nor Yomaura failed to notice the affectionate suffix having replaced the more neutral '-san'. "Just let me clean up a bit."
"Allow us to help." Osaki said, already rising from his chair to collect the plates.
"Oh, there is no need-"
"It is only proper." Yomaura interrupted Rei, gently pushing the woman back into her chair. "You cooked, so we clean up."
Rei's children also pitched in to help, and with the five of them, it didn't take long to finish the clean-up. Within several minutes, the detectives were seated in the living room again, with Rei sitting opposite of them.
"Did Paris-san ever mention, at any point during your relationship, that he'd had an argument with someone?" Yomaura began. They had already asked that question during the first interview with Rei, but they asked again, just to be sure. "Or did he ever mention being threatened? Or feeling unsafe?"
"No, none of that." Rei shook her head. "He was always in a good mood, confident and self-assured. I don't think he even knew what it was like to be nervous or afraid. One might even call him arrogant at times."
"I see. However, Rei, several of the other women mentioned that he did seem afraid sometimes." Osaki countered, looking closely at her face.
"They did?" Rei blinked once. "Then they saw more than I did."
"They said he seemed afraid of you."
"Me?" Rei gaped at him, and Osaki nodded solemnly. "R-Really? Me?"
"That is what they said." Yomaura fell in. "They said that Paris-san spoke of you in a nervous tone, that he 'dreaded' going to your house again, and that he seemed fearful of what you would do to him."
"Huh?" Rei's eyes were wide open as she looked from Osaki to Yomaura and back. "I-I know nothing about this."
"There were several women who had even seen you themselves, and they all described you as an ominous figure, someone who seemed like 'bad news'." Yomaura continued mercilessly, even as Rei flailed under the accusations.
"To make a long story short, they all suspect that you murdered him." Osaki dealt the deathblow, and Rei froze in place. "Do you have anything to say in response?"
Of course, neither Osaki nor Yomaura enjoyed doing this to her. So far, Rei had been nothing but perfectly kind to them, and frankly, the detectives couldn't imagine her killing anyone.
Nevertheless, they had to follow up on all their leads, no matter their own opinions, and that involved confronting a suspect with all the evidence they'd collected against them so far.
Granted, the 'evidence' was nothing but the feelings of other clients who barely knew Rei, but considering the fact that it had been an unusual number of them who had pointed the finger at her, they had to pursue the possibility that Rei was guilty.
"I-I… I didn't…" Rei stuttered helplessly, and if this were an anime, there would have been swirls in her eyes as she fruitlessly tried to recover from the barrage. "I never hurt Carlton, I swear."
"Do you know why his other clients accused you?"
"N-No, I never even met them." Rei shook her head rapidly, looking utterly confused, and perhaps even a little betrayed by those women whom she'd never even met but who had been more than content to throw her under the bus. "I have no idea why they would say such an awful thing."
"Hm." Osaki made a non-committal noise, and Rei wilted slightly at his lack of response. Undoubtedly, she wanted him to say he believed her, but that was not something he could do. During an investigation, he had to remain strictly neutral.
So even though Rei looked miserable, he remained stone-faced-
"We believe you." Yomaura suddenly said, and both Rei's and Osaki's gazes snapped towards her. "There is no concrete evidence whatsoever to suggest you had anything to do with the murder. Furthermore, the witness-statements were clearly subjective and unsubstantiated. We are only asking because we have to, but neither of us believes you did anything wrong."
Rei gaped at her for several seconds, before she turned towards Osaki, who, after a short moment of thought, nodded in agreement.
And as Rei's eyes filled with relieved tears, Osaki sighed inwardly.
Yomaura was not supposed to have told her that. It wasn't proper protocol, and it suggested that there was a personal connection between detective and suspect. In fact, he should have reprimanded her for this.
But as he looked at Rei, who had now clasped Yomaura's hand in her own, beaming at the redhead with a smile so bright it lit up the room, he decided it didn't matter. He had become a detective to improve people's lives, to make them happy and protect them, and that was basically what Yomaura just did.
There was no need to chide her for that. Not if it was up to him.
"On another note, we were wondering if you could help us with something else." Osaki eventually said after the atmosphere in the room had calmed down a bit.
"Of course." Rei professed, leaning forward from her place on the sofa. "Whatever you need."
"What do you know about Tenzine?" Osaki asked. "It was used to sedate Paris-san during the murder, and we were wondering if your clinic has it in stock."
Considering it was a fast-working, effective sedative, it wouldn't be weird for a mental health-clinic to have at least a bit of it, for rowdy or panicking patients if nothing else.
"Tenzine?" Rei's eyes widened momentarily, before she resolutely shook her head. "I do not have it. It's poison, plain and simple, with far better alternatives available, so I banned it from the premises."
It was an unexpectedly strong reaction, and the detectives made eye contact for a moment.
"I thought it was just a sedative?" Yomaura ventured carefully, looking back at Rei. "That's how it is advertised."
"In the United States." Rei scoffed, making a dismissive motion with her hand. "In civilised countries, it is well known that it is absolute trash."
"But it is still used?"
"It does have its uses." Rei admitted with a bit of a sour face. "Tenzine, when taken orally in low doses, is quite effective at numbing pain. In larger doses, it induces drowsiness and calm. It is also very predictable, meaning you can accurately set the time you want to have a patient sedated merely by adjusting the dose you give them."
"But you still don't use it?"
"Tenzine has far too many complications, which can persist for days, if not weeks, after it was ingested." Rei crossed her arms strongly. "I am talking about lethargy, nausea, disrupted concentration, failing short-term memory, immense abdominal pain, continuous nosebleeds, fever, and, if the dose taken was large enough, liver-and-kidney failure, leading to death."
"Oh…" Osaki mumbled. "That does sound bad."
"It's poison." Rei repeated. "I stopped using it for any purpose whatsoever years ago, and disposed of my entire supply. I believe the only one who sells it in Fuyuki is the Kobayashi-pharmacy."
"That place." Yomaura's upper lip curled up at the thought of that pharmacy, which played it fast and loose with proper drug-regulations, to say the least. "No surprises there then."
"We'll have to ask for their sale records to see who purchased Tenzine recently." Osaki said. "With some luck, it's someone we know."
"If they keep those records." Yomaura huffed. "It's just as likely they sold it under the table."
"They will have the records. The owners won't risk going to prison on a charge for improper medicine distribution." Osaki assured her, somewhat familiar with the owners in question. "They don't break any laws, that's something I have to give them. At least, not the letter of the laws."
"I'll get to work on a warrant then." Yomaura nodded.
"Would a warrant be enough to get that third-rate pharmacy closed forever?" Rei ventured hopefully, clasping her hands together as she leaned forward even more in anticipation.
"No."
"Aw." She pouted, falling against the backrest of her sofa again.
The trio then continued the interview, until Hiroko entered the living room a few minutes later.
"Would anyone care for a drink?" The young woman asked, holding her hands behind her back as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "We don't have any alcohol, but there's lots of tea, and coffee, or juice, if you'd like."
"Apple juice for me." Rei smiled at her daughter. "Thank you, dear."
"Do you have any green tea?" Yomaura asked, receiving a nod in return. "Then I would like a cup please."
"Black coffee would be lovely." Osaki finished the list, and after quickly repeating their orders, Hiroko rushed off to the kitchen.
"Alright, to get back at what we were talking about." Yomaura turned back to Rei. "Did Paris-san ever mention the Ryuudou-temple to you, in any capacity?"
"He certainly did." Rei nodded. "He often told me he disliked the place very much. I don't think he would ever have gone near it on his own volition."
"Interesting." Yomaura mumbled as she noted the answer down.
"No, wait." Rei suddenly held up a hand, her face scrunching up slightly as a thoughtful look entered her eyes. "I almost forgot, but he mentioned to me that he would be meeting someone there."
"When was this?"
"Only a very short while before he disappeared." Rei replied, the thoughtful look still present. "He was behaving weirdly when he told me that. He was smirking, and he looked like he really wanted to gloat, but couldn't for some reason. I assumed he had found a new client."
"Interesting." Yomaura repeated in a much more enthusiastic tone.
"Yomaura-san?" Hiroko chose that moment to return, holding a platter with a cup of tea on it. "I have your green tea here. Be careful, it's hot."
"Thank you, Hiroko-chan." Yomaura nodded at the young woman, giving her a smile.
"And your apple juice, mom."
"Love you, dear."
"I'll bring your coffee up in a minute, Osaki-san." Hiroko told him, before leaving the living room again.
"She works hard." Osaki said, turning to Rei.