Chapter 4: The Reaper
"I need to know where you last saw Marcello," Charlotte vented thrusting a folded piece of paper into Giovanni's hands.
Giovanni gave a start, clearly surprised. He stammered, "Wh-What?" his eyes darting uneasily between Charlotte and the paper.
"Oh... umm... so..." Giovanni sounded uneasy, as evidenced by the perspiration that collected on his forehead and in his voice.
Giovanni grimaced and muttered, "It was upstream along the Red River, in some ordinary village."
After pausing to collect his thoughts, he went on. His eyes were frightened and apprehensive at the same time. "Look, Charlotte... " He said, "I know you're going through a lot, but I don't think you should get involved like this."
Under Charlotte's steady gaze, Giovanni began to twitch a little, but he did not give up. "Things could become complicated if anyone from the embassy were to find out..."
Charlotte ignored him and busied herself to organise the files Giovanni had brought.
"Charlotte!" Giovanni spoke out, a tinge of desperation in his voice.
Charlotte spoke first, her voice firm and commanding. "What was he working on at the time? Who was he speaking with? What had he discovered here? What did he wear, how did he appear, and how did he move around when the explosion happened?"
Her tone remained steady as she spoke. "Giovanni, you're going to tell me everything. If not, I'll demonstrate to you how intricate things can become."
When Charlotte was this determined, Giovanni realized there was no talking to her. He'd had similar experiences with Marcello before.
With a sardonic smile on his lips, Giovanni thought to himself, "These Ashford siblings are going to be the end of me."
With a sigh, he said, "Okay," in response.
He said sharply, "But this is the last time," giving no opportunity for discussion.
The rest of the ride was quiet as they reached the place where Marcello had been staying during his time in Castello d'Oro.
Charlotte walked into the room and started looking around for any evidence or hints.
Charlotte, her voice scarcely audible, said to herself, "Such a tidy room, everything arranged in neat rows... just like Marcello."
Charlotte thought back to the little talk she'd just had with Giovanni.
Giovanni began his explanation by saying, "Marcello and I were tracking a new kind of material, a stimulant that increases mana. The drug's negative effects resembled a slow, agonizing death brought on by heart disease."
He continued, "To be precise, we were trying to trace the distributor. This substance can easily pass as 'Stardust,' unlike most illegal substances. But then... I lost contact with Marcello right before we were supposed to meet at the rendezvous point for the substance."
Charlotte paid close attention to what Giovanni said.
Giovanni swallowed when he saw Charlotte's look and said, "I ran to him and insisted on knowing what was going on. He seems to have decided to act alone."
Giovanni said in closing, "It turns out that Marcello knew the distributors. I never would've imagined."
As Charlotte examined Marcello's room in detail, Giovanni's words lingered in her mind.
Charlotte's eyes caught on something brilliant within the tidy stack. She leaned forward to examine it more closely and realized that, like her communication orb, it was a mana instrument.
Its primary distinction was that it seemed to be intended for surreptitious eavesdropping in hostile areas.
She used her mana to break it.
"I have to locate anything that my brother might have forgotten." Charlotte rummaged through Marcello's possessions, thinking to herself, "There has to be something."
She noticed something she knew. "Isn't that...?" she queried, her thoughts quickly returning to their time fighting together during the war.
"What have you got there?" Marcello noticed his sister clutching a gem and asked questions.
"Oh, this?" With a somewhat amused expression, Charlotte replied. "It's a storage utility. It has safe storage for important documents and files. We received it today from the royal mage."
Charlotte explained further, her voice nostalgic. "It looks like any regular table decoration, but when you infuse it with mana, it transforms into a functional storage tool."
Charlotte's face lit up a little, a memory of her brother's presence returning. Their relationship, forged throughout their difficult years together on the battlefield, warmed her despite everything going on right now.
As Charlotte integrated her mana into the device, a soft violet radiance sprang forth.
"Marcello, you bumbler. When did you set all this up?" As she studied the papers and records kept inside the magical device, Charlotte muttered to herself. She felt a wave of mixed emotions pass over her as she tightly gripped the folders.
"I wasn't planning on ever contacting him again..." With a voice full of resignation, Charlotte let out a sigh and reached for her communication orb.
The orb's familiar chime sent a shiver down Charlotte's spine as she answered the phone.
When the other person answered, Charlotte's voice welcomed them. "It's been a while, Reaper," he remarked in an intriguingly smirky voice.
Charlotte did not say anything, only listened as the man on the other side of the communication orb started talking.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" In a lighthearted tone, he teased. "Did you accidentally dial me while drunk, like you would an old lover?"
Charlotte was frustrated and said to herself, "This is precisely why I didn't want to call."
At last, Charlotte breathed deeply and spoke. "How have you been, Sebastian?"
A loud chuckle reverberated within the communication sphere.
"No need for pleasantries," Sebastian laughed. In any case, why have you come to Castello d'Oro?"
"Perhaps you're my ex-lover or just a stalker?" was Charlotte's snarky response.
In a seductive tone, Sebastian said, "How could I possibly live without stalking you?"
Charlotte winced, realizing that Sebastian probably had someone watching her.
"I suppose that implies I may request a favour from you," Charlotte replied, her voice trailing off.
"You want me to look into something for you?" asked Sebastian.
To be clear, Charlotte said, "No, I just need some help."
Charlotte spoke again, her tone cold. "I'll offer you some details regarding a case I'm working on in exchange. I'll send you more emails if it piques your interest. You'll enjoy what you see, I'm sure."
Sebastian leaned forward and gave me a shy little smile. "What kind of case are we talking about?" he inquired exuberantly.
Charlotte gave a considered response. "It involves someone of significant status—Dante Vittorio, the Crown Prince of Crepuscolo."
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