Fable - Ask A Murder Most Foul

[Khari]

Donarch - Docks

"YOU THINK I DID WHAT?!" The shouting was followed by the sound of a plate shattering against the wall.

To say she had been indignant was something of an understatement. The retainers had walked into her Manor, accused her of murder, and then proceeded to say they had a writ of investigations with her name on it. Who the hell did they think they were? Did they not know who she was? What she did? They were bordering on treason!

Of course the Writ had the Dynast's own personal signature on it, but that hardly mattered. She was likely lied to by some noble somewhere and didn't have the complete picture.

The Writ of investigation had been signed, and she had been ordered to either prove her innocents or accept the charge of murder.

That was the only reason that Khari had complied with it all. Why she now found herself standing in a small warehouse on the docks surrounded by Royal Retainers, two of them with their Katanas drawn. They hovered near the Daemonette as though she were about to explode in a whirlwind of action and slaughter them all.

She gave them a scornful glance, looking at one of them expectantly. "Well?"

Khari asked.

"Where is this body that I supposedly left on the ground?" She made absolutely no effort to keep the annoyance and anger out of her voice, brow furrowing as her horn pulsed with that odd red glow that only appeared when she was angry. The Retainer's shifted uncomfortably, glancing over to one another before one answered.

"We are waiting for someone, M-My Lady."​

Khari stared at him indignantly. Lips thinning for a few moments. "Who?"

She demanded.

 

[Ichika]

Waves crashed against the pier as Ichika followed swiftly behind her mother. Matriarch Yuna had insisted that her eldest daughter accompany her on this errand though the reasoning was unknown to her. Four guards flanked the mother-daughter duo as they arrived at the small redwood warehouse.

The doors parted and to Ichika’s surprise retainers of the Dynast herself stood around a woman who appeared to be roughly the same age as she. Though this was difficult to ascertain for certain due to the horns she wore atop her head.

Horns? This had to be the fabled Khari, adopted by the Dynast and cursed by daemonic corruption.

“A body, mutilated and left for the birds, strewn across the street in broad daylight,” Yuna Tsuri stated coldly.

One of the guards accompanying the Tsuri women dropped a large object wrapped in cloth and soaked in blood at the assassin’s feet. The other three guards stepped forward in front of Matriarch Yuna, hands on the hilts of their swords.

Ichika’s mother glared at the horned woman before saying, “and now you have the audacity to stand there, dumbstruck.” Yuna took a single step forward, her eyes narrowing. “Ichika. Tell her what happened.”

The heir of Tsuri’s short black hair fluttered as her face twisted towards her mother’s. Then she looked at the accused murderer and swallowed hard. ”We found him in the early morning. Not long after sunset. Only after the screams of a few merchants alerted us.” She looked down at her feet before retrieving an object from her pouch and holding it up.

”He was carrying this.”

It was a royal seal of the Dynast. When Ichika had informed the city guard they mused about knowing who must be responsible but Ichika herself was ignorant to what any of it meant. Now the pieces were starting to come together in her head.

“We are a proud people, a people of laws,” Yuna said, “do you maintain your innocence? If so, how do you intend to solve this grizzly crime?”

 

[Khari]

Khari looked down at the bundle of cloth at her feet, frowning for a moment as she noticed the blood pooling within the sack. Lips thinned, and she slowly squatted down to pull back some of the burlap. What was revealed to her was a corpse lashed into pieces.

Both of the arms had been severed, one leg, and the mans throat had been cut so deep that it appeared as though someone had been trying to decapitate him. A frown pulled across Khari's lips for a brief moment as she considered the grizzly sight.

Whoever had committed this crime had certainly done their research.

Her fingers twitched slightly as the Matriarch of Yuna spoke to her with a cold directness that made her want to cringe. For a few seconds she considered mouthing off to the woman, but memories of her tutors flickered through her mind.

Save it. She thought to herself.

Violet eyes flickered up towards the seal, her lips turning even more as she realized why the Dynast herself had signed that letter. It seemed her Matron had not been lied to at all.

"I will solve it." She growled. "Since apparently no one else can be fucked to do their job."

The latter part was said in a whisper.

With a ballerina like Grace the Daemonette stepped over the corpse and approached Ichika, the three guards immediately standing forward to stop her as one of them half drew his sword. Khari stopped, frowning deeply at them.

 

[Ichika]

“Good.”

Was the only response Yuna Tsuri offered as the royal assassin confirmed she would solve the case. As the horned demoness approached and the guards stood their ground the woman in charge of Dornoch’s port let a laugh escape her lips.

She waved off the overzealous guards and spoke, “Ichika will accompany you.”

For the second time today Ichika’s head swiveled and sent her hair into a sputter.

”What? Mother you can’t be serious I have to-“

As her mother raised a single finger the daughter’s lips shut. Yuna didn’t bother to stare at her heiress, keeping her attention fully trained on Khari. “Ichika, you do not question my orders. You will assist in solving this murder. We cannot leave Miss Khari unsupervised in her endeavor.”

A crude smile formed on the matriarch’s porcelain features, “besides, I’m sure the Dynast will be overjoyed if a member of the Tsuri clan aided in clearing her little pet’s name.”

With a snap of her fingers the four guards turned and began to leave. But not before Yuna offered some final words for the pair.

“Do settle this affair quickly,” her voice deathly serious, “the Dynast is not always so patient.”

Ichika cast a look of disbelief at her mother before staring at the woman whose face was a mess of red lines. Her violet eyes unsettled her own eyes of brown. She tried to crack an awkward smile but even that gesture fell apart.

Aiding a demon touched murderer was the last thing Ichika had hoped to do today.

 

[Khari]

"Oh joy, I've always wanted a friend." Khari said blankly, her eyes rolling slightly as she was told of her new companion.

She usually worked alone, though at times her Matron commanded her to move alongside a Retainer or some sort of soldier. This would be the first time that a bureaucrat would be at her side. Though, generally she was also not really used to solving murders.

What a strange day.

Her eyes set on the Matron of Yuna for a moment, lips thinning as she considered just what the punishment would be for killing her.

When she walked away Khari let out a breath.

As Ichika stood giving her an awkward smile Khari only took her steps forward, snatching the seal out of the girls hand and inspecting it. A frown touched her lips for a few moments as she tried to tell it's origin, and then she looked towards one of the Royal Retainers. "Do any of you recognize him?"

The soldiers looked down for a moment, then shook their heads.

"Tā mā de." She cursed with a roll of her eyes. "What good are any of you."

Her eyes turned to Ichika. "What about you?"

 

[Ichika]

How did the Dynast put up with someone so crude? Granted, Ichika had been taught not to judge hastily and had only met the Dynast herself a handful of times.

The retainers not being able to identify the slain man wasn’t a surprise. The Dynast had enough faith in the Tsuri family that only a few couriers and shippers came down to the docks every now and again. No one else in her employ had a reason to venture to the port.

”Yes. His name is, or,” a slender finger fidgeted with her straw hat. She wasn’t used to death. ”His name was Punyaa. He was a courier.”

As a runner Punyaa has visited Ichika a few times to trade sealed documents intended for her mother or documents from her mother intended for the Dynast. The man was kind, gentle. But also a bit dimwitted and there was no telling what he may have gotten himself into.

”I do not know what he was carrying when he was slain. We found no packages or letters near his corpse.”

She frowned and broke eye contact. Glancing at the retainers before looking back at the infamous Khari. ”I must ask one thing if you though…”

Her voice was low as she questioned, ”y-you didn’t do this. Right?”

 

[Khari]

Khari looked at Ichika with the most annoyed expression that any being could offer any other. Her eyes half lidded and her lips completely thin. "No. No I did not."

The Daemonette was starting to get annoyed at people assuming.

Sure she was usually the one who killed people, but that didn't mean that every idiot who showed up dead was someone she had killed. Her eyes rolled and she inspected the seal a moment more before she tossed it back over towards Ichika.

Alright.

So the man had been killed, but she had not done it. So the first question was easy.

"Who benefits from this?" She asked. "We can assume he was carrying something important, and it was taken when they killed him. That or he was a convenient target to frame me."

Kahri stopped, then looked at Ichika accusingly for a moment. "Just to be clear, there is nothing I would want from a courier and I did not kill him."

 

[Ichika]

Khari's answer and look of annoyance made the truth obvious.

"Any number of people could benefit from this death, depending upon what sort of parcel he was ferrying."

Though Ichika liked to believe the people of Dornoch were mostly honorable and well intentioned she had seen enough to know that ambitions caused people to do despicable actions. The lust for power gave rise to moral gray-space and an opportunity to increase one's influence with the Dynast, or prevent a loss of influence, were also strong motivators.

She mused for a second, swirling her tongue against her left cheek, before asking the daemon-cursed woman, "would someone want to frame you?"

Though before Khari had any opportunity to answer Ichika clarified her point, "I believe you. I do not think you killed this man. Your reputation precedes you and I don't think you'd be sloppy enough to allow this body to be found if you had chosen to kill him."

It was a simple enough deduction, so far as the Tsuri woman was concerned. She moved one hand away from her katana and crossed her arms while her brow creased.

"As I see it we have two paths. We go question the only other dock official that would've given or received a parcel from Punyaa. Or," she swallowed and pressed her lips together before continuing, "we pursue the one you believe had the most to gain by framing you."

And if there was no one who gained from framing the daemoness, then, they only really had one way to go with this case.

 

[Khari]

"Hrm." Khari said more to herself than the other woman. Considering for a few seconds who would actually want to see her framed. It was a list that had a large amount of overlap with the people who wanted her dead, and as they stood there Khari began to recount the names.

"Well, there's the Lord General Commander. The Matron of House Jefou, the Matron of House Verla, the Matron of House Cu." Khari kept listing names. "The second husband of the Matron of House Guoton…"

The list went on and on. Khari stood there for ten minutes, finger on her chin as she added name after name. Many of them were the heads of powerful Households, Influencers in the Courts, rich merchant's, and even a few outlanders who had made their home in Donarch.

It seemed that Khari had a great many enemies, most of whom would gladly have her removed in one way or another given the chance.

Finally after giving nearly a hundred names she looked at her new best friend and frowned slightly.

"Oh, and of course your mother." That was not a joke. More than once she had been sent to kill a noble or some merchant who had offended the Dynast in some way, and inevitably their death had cost a great deal of money when their assets were seized and enterprises taken away by the Royal House.

No one liked losing money.

A shrug rolled over the Daemonette's shoulders. Her eyes still gauging Ichika. "Perhaps finding out what the parcel was is a more...narrowed beginning."

Khari was about to move when she stopped and looked around. Her eyes narrowed at the Retainers still remaining around her.

"You can go now. I have a new babysitter." The Retainers did not leave, but instead slowly looked over to Ichika, clearly seeking her word. Khari huffed.

 

[Ichika]

As Khari cataloged half of the empire the stalwart babysitter began to tap her left foot in impatience. Then as the seconds turned to minutes her index finger joined in the rhythmic tapping. A few times she even parted her mouth to interrupt but the royal assassin just kept going.

And going...

When it had finally ended with Ichika's own mother she frowned. It was certainly true that the matriarch of the Tsuri family could be a bit, well, malicious. Although their family's initial success in Erdeniin society was due to their magical ability to encourage crop growth and illiuminate the ports they had maintained this success as all wealthy families do.

Securing finances, eliminating threats, and picking the 'correct' friends.

As open-minded and welcoming as Dornoch was there were some things that were still viewed as taboo and spoken of in hushed tones. A girl marked by a demon that the Dynast raised for murder was one such thing that few in the nobility could accept, though they were far too loyal to the Dynast to publicly question it.

"Yes, I don't think it's prudent to interrogate half the city," Ichika finally said with a sneer. "We certainly shouldn't entertain the idea of discussing this any further with my mother either."

The retainers glanced at her, hands on the hilts of their blades awaiting the noble girl's word.

"It's fine. She isn't going to kill me," at least not yet, "and if she were to try I am more than capable of defending myself. You're dismissed."

With that the retainers departed and left the two women alone inside of the warehouse. It was only after she was certain they were out of earshot that Ichika turned her attention back to Khari. "Suyin is the only other official who could've seen Punyaa. She offices near the eastern wharf. If you have no objections, we should proceed there."

 

[Khari]

Khari clapped her hands. "Excellent!"

The young Daemonette smiled broadly as she looked at Ichika, some of the red lines fading slightly within her horns as she turned on her heel and headed directly towards the door. It was clear that she was well pleased with the situation, perhaps because she had at least one person who didn't think her guilty.

Though she was hardly treated a slave, Khari was still incredibly isolated in Dornoch society.

Most of the nobility were uncomfortable around her if not outright hostile, and she was forbidden from interacting with commoners unless she absolutely had to. In short, Khari maintained an odd limbo like place in society, trapped between people who despised her and those who did not understand.

Even the Estate which she lived in was more gilded prison than home, though that was something she would never admit. Or complain about.

"This Suyin." Khari asked as she and her best friend made their way out into the streets. "What does she do?"

The streets were not yet full as they would be in a few hours, but as they wandered the two girls received more than a few lingering looks.

All of them were ignored by Khari.

 

[Ichika]

Perhaps this cursed woman wasn't so bad after all. She seemed to be taking the solving of this murder seriously at least and was ignoring the multitude of individuals who gaped at the two women as they walked across the docks.

Ichika was used to the occasional glance but these were hard stares, some seemed to come from a place of concern. While Khari seemed to be used to it the onlookers were causing Ichika to feel visibly uncomfortable. It was impolite to stare like this.

"Suyin is my cousin," the daughter of Yuna Tsuri said, welcoming the distraction that conversation offered, "she is responsible for declaring goods, overseeing the docks, and is the only official other than my mother and I that is permitted to receive and send communications directly to and from the Dynast."

It wasn't uncommon for these sorts of arrangements. There weren't many you could trust closer than your own family. However, Ichika had always hated Suyin.

Suyin was three years her senior. Suyin had always been incredibly beautiful. And while Ichika had spent much of her free time in scholarly pursuits or learning Kenbu, the sword-dancing technique she was a master of, her cousin skirted by. Praised by both men and women for her extraordinary looks. It was the one thing that Ichika's hard work and fortuitous birthright couldn't match. It was the one thing she was, admittedly, jealous of.

As they walked further down the street and Ichika became better at dealing with the staring citizens she warned her new companion, "you should know that Suyin and I do not exactly get along. She may want a bit of a quid pro quo before she agrees to answer any of our questions."

Of course, it was entirely possible that the horned woman may just intimidate her cousin. But that would be inappropriate, no matter how much Ichika would love to see it.

 

[Khari]

Khari frowned slightly.

She had been hoping that Suyin would be a low level official or someone that she could string up by their ankles and question. Yet it sounded like if she did so with this woman Ichika's family would be utterly furious, which of course just meant the Dynast would be furious.

The Deamonette could hear it now; 'YOU WERE MEANT TO BE CLEARING YOUR NAME NOT SCUFFING IT FURTHER!'

She wanted to groan audibly, but decided not to do so as Suyin confided in her slightly. A frown touched Khari's face for a moment. Was this girl actively trying to engage with her own life or...was she just helping the investigation.

Lips thinned again, and she opened her mouth. "Not a problem."

She said cooly, deciding not to jump to the conclusion that she might actually make a friend from all this mess.

"I can be very convincing." Khari flashed the girl a smile, turning a corner to where Ichika had directed her and motioning for the girl to go first. She would be able to lure her cousin out more easily at least.

 

[Ichika]

Ichika nodded back at Khari's brief smile. Up until that moment the assassin had looked dour the entire walk over here. She had begun to think that, perhaps, that was the side effect of whatever this daemonic entity had cursed her with but that slight shift in demeanor suggested otherwise.

No time to chat with the other girl, at least not yet. The charcoal-haired woman removed her hat as they stepped into Suyin's office and Ichika forced a glow against her cheeks. Unsurprisingly, Suyin was adorned in a charming pale purple kimono with a neatly tied bun to contrast against Ichika's loose short hair.

"Cousin Suyin! Good to see you," she said in words she had forced to sound kinder than she felt.

Suyin grinned at the sight of the two women before relaying back, "oh my little cousin Ichika! You're still wearing that unsightly little hat? I need to take you shopping for a cute beret or teach you to tie a proper bun! And who is your little friend here?" The immaculately dressed woman gestured towards Khari.

This was official business and although it were inappropriate there were things Ichika couldn't allow to slide.

"My hat is fine cousin. We are here because of Punyaa. I am sure you are aware."

"Punyaa?" her finger floated up towards her cheek and hovered there for a second before flying down towards her desk which was amess with papers. "Yes, I believe he came by last night. Late. Is something amiss with Punyaa?"

And this was the part that Ichika hated. The part she knew would come and the part she worried Khari may act... less than rationally. The part where Suyin didn't just hand over information without something in return.

 

[Khari]

Khari slipped out from behind Ichika with a wide smile on her face. Her lips were parted slightly, showing the vicious fang like canines that were another small affection of her condition.

An odd glow held to her violet eyes as he looked towards Suyin behind the desk, something she often found made regular folk rather uncomfortable. She stared at the woman, noting the displeasure in Ichika's voice when she defended herself. "I think it's a lovely hat."

Her gaze flickered for a moment before it drew back towards the other moment, the vicious smile on her face slipping to a more neutral expression.

"Punyaa was found dead this morning." Khari said the words as though she were saying the sun had just risen and it would be a cold day.

Murder for her was like taking a sip of tea. Unusual. Boring even.

In a strange way this investigation was more fun that she'd had all year. "The Dynast herself has tasked me with finding his killer."

The Words were not at all a lie. The suspicion that had been cast on her had likely not filtered out into the streets. Royal retainers did not gossip, and she assume it was the same with those of Ichika's clan. At least Khari hoped. She stepped over lithely towards the desk, leaning against it with a smile and looking down at Suyin.

"By all accounts you were the last to see him alive." With a quick hop the Daemonette perched herself on the desk, glancing at some of the papers. "Can you tell me where you were last night?"

Her strategy was different than what they had spoke of. Instead of trying to ask Suyin for a favor, she would paint it as though she were the one doing her a favor by clearing her name.

 

[Ichika]

Ichika’s cheeks went rosy at the compliment that Khari paid her hat.

Suyin, on the other hand, was clearly growing more uncomfortable despite her best attempts to hide it. She kept her smile going but her shoulders tensed and limbs went rigid at the mention of Punyaa’s death and the questioning of her whereabouts from the night before.

Seven seconds of silence permeated the air after Khari’s question before a slight giggle came from Suyin’s perfectly manicured face, “last night I was here. Punyaa came to pick up a parcel that was intended for the Dynast. After that Chuzen came by to declare goods bound for Alliria for a merchant vessel his family owns and Hsin-hung stopped by just as I was locking up to escort me home.”

”The parcel for the Dynast, what was in it? Who dropped it off?” Ichika’s words were firm and swift. Not wanting to allow her cousin to prattle on about her date with Hsin-hung or carry on to some other topic.

“Oh my little cousin, that is very much not something I am permitted to share,” the sleeve of her kimono dipped downwards as her lips puckered. “You know that we do not ask what is being hauled for the Dynast. Loose lips sink ships after all, little cousin, or is that not how you conduct business?”

Short dark hair ruffled as the daughter of Yuna Tsuri gyrated in anger. ”Of course privacy is of the utmost importance for anyone conducting business with us. How dare you insist,” her voice was filled with rage but the Tsuri woman stopped herself and allowed a deep rush of air to enter her lungs. She exhaled and stated, more calmly this time, ”Suyin. We are conducting an official investigation. Can you at least just let us know who dropped the parcel off?”

Another laugh came from Suyin’s lips as she moved one of her delicate hands towards her chest in an effort to appear as though she was trying to stifle her laughter. “Heavens no. We were just discussing the importance of privacy. But I tell you what, you and your friend with the horns can go down to the Office of the Royal Retainers, request a warrant, and then come back and see me.”

 

[Khari]

The animosity between these two relatives was, in a way, absolutely fascinating to Khari.

She had no siblings, no friends, and thus had never actually observed something like this. Most of her life had been spent around her tutors, Retainers, and of course members of the Royal Court who would simply never do such a thing.

It was absolutely amazing, and Khari was practically kicking her legs like a child as Ichika and Suyin bantered back and forth with small cutting words intermixed in their business. She almost entirely lost track of the point of being here before Suyin spoke of the law.

A huffing breath escaped her. "I suppose we could."

Khari said as she reached up and played with the end of her hair, looking rather disinterested in this whole affair.

"But we have another new lead to follow up on." Her eyes cast to Suyin for a brief moment. "This...Hsin-hung had the means, clearly he's been hear often, yes?"

Her eyes turned to the papers scattered on Suyin's desk, and she made a 'tsk' sound. "Motive. Not to mention opportunity."

She tapped her nose and hopped off Suyin's desk.

Khari was of course making wild leaps in logic, but that was sort of the point. Her reputation, what she was, meant that even being seen with her could cause trouble for some. That plus rumors of an investigation and her well known methods would all be tossed into the scramble going into Suyin's head.

"Perhaps it's time to pay him a visit and ask some questions." She began to walk passed Ichika and towards the door. "I find men just sort of have a habit of opening up for me."

 

[Ichika]

You could’ve heard a pin drop in that room.

Kahri, whether she knew it or not, had a certain reputation. Not just as a murderer but as a foul being who engaged in all manner of lewd acts. The very notion that she would go see Hsin-hung was disturbing to the good, honest, folk of Dornoch.

“Wait,” Suyin shouted while displaying a grim frown for the first time today. “Do not go see Hsin-hung.”

Ichika allowed herself to revel in Suyin’s discomfort, even if it were just for a few seconds. She was beginning to like this ‘Khari’ person and if she could humiliate all of Ichika’s personal rivals in this manner then maybe she’d need to form a friendship with this girl after all.

Suyin opened a small box on her desk and began to flip through a simple rolodex she kept. Her index finger stopped once it got to the appropriate name.

“Here,” she said, “this is the person who dropped off the package for the Dynast that Punyaa picked up. He was bizarre but he had the proper clearances and he paid well. I don’t know anything else.”

”You’re sure?” Ichika questioned almost immediately. Not content to let her cousin off the hook that easy.

“Yes, I am,” Suyin protested, “and you’d do well to be on your way now.”

Ichika looked down at the card that was handed to her. It simply stated an address, just outside the docks, and a name. ”Ceryl?” the straw-hat woman questioned as she read the name aloud. She was unfamiliar with whomever this Ceryl person might be.

 

[Khari]

Khari stopped, looked back and then shrugged her shoulders as though it might not have been enough. Only when Ichika said the name did the Daemonette suddenly stop.

Fingers twitched at her side.

For a moment her face shifted, contorting in a complexity of emotions that she herself could not have actually explained. It remained there for only a second, and then reverted back to the cool confidence that had been there before. "I supposed I'll postpone by visit."

Khari said as she took a breath and shrugged her shoulders, not looking at the card that Ichika had been given but already knowing exactly where they were going. Once her companion had made her goodbyes to her cousin and joined her outside she would find the Daemonette pacing slightly.

Her fingers flittered against her thighs, almost as if aching to dig into something and scratch it raw.

"Ceryl is a foreigner." She told Ichika. "A polymath, and one of the Dynast's favored scholars."

Also, one of her tutors.

Rather, he had been some years ago. One of her favorites in fact. The man had been one of the few to never care much about her...ailment, only finding fascination in what she was. Khari had always liked Ceryl, and the idea that he was somehow involved in this made her extremely uneasy.

 

[Ichika]

Khari left the office and Ichika felt forced to issue a smile of courtesy at her cousin. After all, she might need a favor from the woman down the road.

"Thanks," she said timidly as the door shut behind her.

Suyin looked at her younger cousin with a solemn gaze. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then opened it again to speak, "Ichi, be careful. What will people think when they see you with that... that... thing?"

The would-be investigator grimaced. Thus far Khari had seemed mostly professional. At least, as professional as one could be considering they were suspected of a crime as foul as murder. Still, it was a tender moment to realize that, for at least a second, her elder cousin showed a modicum of sympathy. Ichika nodded, pulled her hat back onto her head, and stepped outside.

She was met with a pacing horned woman. It was shocking just how disturbed the name Ceryl seemed to make the infamous assassin feel.

Eyes twisted as she questioned, "you know this Ceryl, then?" She didn't need to ask. The woman's fingers on her thigh, her body language, her facial expressions, they all confirmed they were acquainted with this Ceryl figure.

 

[Khari]

Khari grumbled quietly. "He was my tutor."

A good man, at least that was how she had read him. Some doubt crept into her as they began to wander down the street, her hands straight down at her sides as she tried not to fiddle with her clothes or hair. Some nerves were showing, an oddity from the Daemonette.

She tried to take a breath, to calm herself. Fingers scrunching into fists as they continued their slow walk.

"I do not think he would." Khari looked concerned for a moment, worried. She didn't know how to quite say what she felt. "I do not think he would set me up."

At least, that was what she hoped.

There were so few people in this world whom she liked. Whom had taken a liking to her. The fact that one of them could betray her like this? It made her heart drop into her stomach. Even as they reached his building she could feel nausea creep into her chest.

Her throat cleared, and she pounded hard on the front door. There was an echo that thundered through the house behind. "Ceryl!"

She called out, waiting a second before knocking again.

"Ceryl! It's Khari are you home?" A minute passed, then more, and Khari looked over towards Ichika. She frowned for a second, reaching for the door handle and finding it unlocked. Her lips thinned, and she slowly pushed it open.

As the door fell wide with a creak, a massive bloodstain streaked upon the floor ahead of them.

 

[Ichika]

A face of precision and poise found itself beginning to crack as Khari mentioned that their new 'person of interest' was a former tutor. Worst still, she was already verbalizing her doubt that this person was responsible for framing her for such a crime. Emotions were inevitable but Ichika knew all too well how they could cloud perception.

Influence decision making.

"We won't rush to any hasty decisions," the Kenbu practitioner assured her accomplice.

If it came to it, Ichika would be the one to handle any difficult questions. It was the least she could do for the poor daemonette.

Ceryl's building was modest but for the floor space elegantly designed. The home itself suggested that he did, in fact, have money. But he wasn't going to flaunt it by building some elaborate mansion. Instead he would have a humbly sized home which was fashioned to look as extravagant as possible given the floor space.

The sight of pooling blood on the floor caused the woman's eyes to widen, her hand rushed to the hilt of her katana, and with a strained voice she declared, "be careful."

She tip-toed inside of the home, following the blood trail until it ended with Ceryl's slain body. He had several gashes which had dried blood upon them by now. The carpeting was soaked in the man's blood as Ichika did her best to walk around it. His study had been overturned, with papers strewn across the floor and a desk flipped on its side. Clearly he had put up a fight. Or else this scene was staged to look like a robbery.

"What happened here...," the short-haired girl mused as she cast a glance from Khari back to the still-warm corpse of Ceryl.

With a look of concern she stared at her co-investigator and questioned, "do you need a moment? I'm sure this is disturbing for you."

 

[Khari]

Khari looked over to Ichika. Her teeth at sunk into her lower lip, and tears welled in her eyes. She squeezed them shut for a brief second, and then took in a deep breath as she pulled herself together and shook her head. "No."

She bit the word off so quickly that it was almost believable that she'd meant it.

"He was just another man." The fact that the Daemonette felt the need to say it indicated that it was very much not the case. The fact that her horns practically pulsed with that strange glowing light was another clue, but even she was not aware of it as she slowly moved around the room and looked at things.

Her head was pointedly turned away from Ichika as she investigated, her eyes flickering to look at some of the scraps of papers, picking some of them up and reading them before letting them fall back onto the floor. "I uhh."

Khari sniffled slightly.

"Check in his robe." She said softly. "There is a secret pocket under his left arm. Sown into the fabric."

A trick that Ceryl had showed him as a girl. When she'd been young he'd used it to sneak her banned materials. Books and scrolls she was usually not allowed. "There might be something there."

 

[Ichika]

Khari, despite her words, was clearly bothered by the murder of her old teacher. It was obvious in her body language and though Ichika couldn't get a glance at her face she assumed there were tears behind those eyes.

She nodded at the suggestion to check the man's robes but offered to the demoness, "Khari, if you need a moment take it. There is no weakness in having emotions."

Ichika didn't wait for a response, she rifled through the limp arm of the corpse and felt under his armpit. She could feel the obvious touch of parchment and as she parted his jacket she was able to run her fingers across the stitching until she found a secured opening.

Fingers dashed inside and retrieved a blood-soaked envelope. She flipped it over and saw that the front of it simply read, "Khari." Ichika wiped her own blood-stained hands on the deceased man's jacket before rising to her feet and stepping towards her co-investigator slowly.

"This is for you," she said while extending the letter and smiling as supportively as she could muster. Situations like this, although awkward, reminded her of the importance of being empathetic. She had no idea what the horned-woman was dealing with but if a little gesture here or there could ease her suffering then it was the least she could do.

She just hoped that the letter included some clue or hint otherwise this case might be hitting a brick wall.

 

[Khari]

A frown pulled on Khari's lips and she hid a sniffle under the sleeve of her coat as she took the letter and tried to shuffle in such a way that Ichika couldn't get a good luck at her face.

It was massively embarassing that she was having such a reaction, but the Daemonette had not had many people in her life who had shown her kindness. Ceryl had been one of the few to show her more than a stern hand or rigid formality. One of the few who had actually cared about her. She could count on one hand the people included in that list. "Thanks."

Khari said quietly as her finger extended and she cut open the top of the letter.

Plucking it free, she unfolded the parchment and quickly read through it's contents. Most of it was directly to her, speaking of pride, of the accomplishments she's had even given her status as little more than a state killer. It spoke of regret of what she was being forced to do, and a vague sense that Cheryl had perhaps only stayed in the city to look after her.

Towards the end of the letter the tone shifted, and there she found the information they needed. At least a clue.

"He says that there's a plot to overthrow the Dynast. That he was approached by some men from some sort of Syndicate…" Her lips thinned. "He says he sent warning to the Dynast…"

That must have been what the courier was carrying. "He says the man who approached him was from the Ito Clan."

Her frowned deepened.