Chapter 37: Master, What Should We Do
BAM!
Now left alone with Harri and Yoko, the sound of my head slamming against the table resonated in the room.
"You guys are unbelievable…" I muttered, exhausted by everything that just happened.
"Thank you!" Harri happily answered.
"It wasn't a compliment. And to think I am the one who needs to clean up your mess…"
"What? What's wrong? Everything went fine, did it not?" Yoko asked.
"Haha… Do you really think so? I thought I told you guys not to disrespect anyone." I sighed, once again. "Yet… I can't believe you insulted them right in front of their faces."
"We disrespected no one. Is it because I called your aunt boobless? I was just stating a fact, so it's not an insult. It's not my fault if she took it the wrong way!" She exclaimed. "Actually, she is the one you should blame! Even though I was being completely courteous, she is the one who disrespected us!"
As she spoke, Harri nodded approvingly. Obviously, now that it's convenient for them, those two suddenly come to an agreement.
"Besides, there is nothing to be worried about," Yoko added. "Even if they did get suspicious about something, you'd just have to give them a good beating to make them forget!"
I sighed. "That's not how it works, Yoko…"
Lazily lifting my head up, I started massaging my temples, trying to get rid of the new headache assaulting my mind.
"Well, I do agree that you may have gone too far with the kiss, Yoko," Harri said. "Why did you do it? Did you feel anything?"
"Actually, I did." Yoko crossed her arms in front of her and stayed silent for a while, seemingly thinking about something, and then she turned her gaze in my direction. "Lynett, did you do anything to her? When I kissed her, I felt her mana core, and it seemed… broken?"
Huh? Widening my eyes, I shook my head. "No, I didn't. I mean… I may have tormented her a little, but I never touched her mana core."
Harri frowned. "Someone used soul magic against her?"
"Yeah… And it wasn't a low-level spell," Yoko answered, as she started rubbing her chin. "Besides, it's not just the woman. I also suspect that there is something wrong with the man's mana core, but that has yet to be confirmed…"
My uncle too? What's with this situation? Someone else can use soul magic here? That's impossible… I would have noticed it in twelve years. Is someone targeting the family? I don't think I have to worry about mother and brother since they're protected, but… who would do that and why?
[Jack POV]
"Tell me everything about what happened today."
Currently sitting in my office room, I am interrogating Ivy, who nervously stands up in front of me. Nora and Yao are here too, as they followed me right after we left Lynett with her… friends.
"Yes, my lord…" Ivy responded with a small voice. "The young mistress and I were just walking around the market district, rounding the stalls. However, at some point, she approached a young orphan who was waiting on the side of the road. Soon after the boy left, she ran after him, ordering me to wait for her. I believe he was a thief, my lord."
Uhm… So far it matches the story that Lynett and her guests told us.
"Continue," I ordered, seeing that she fell silent.
"T-That's all I know, my lord…" Ivy muttered, with a hint of fear in her voice. "The young mistress did not return until two or three hours later. When she did, she was accompanied by this strange couple. She introduced them as her friends and told me she wanted to invite them over…"
So we know nothing about them? That's not enough. Letting out a loud sigh, I gestured for her to leave.
"Thanks, you can go," I simply said.
"Heh?" Ivy widened her eyes in surprise, clearly expecting more. "Is that it? Aren't you going to… punish me?"
"You can see to that with Mairin. Now leave."
"Yes, my lord!" Without being asked twice, Ivy excused herself, deeply bowing in front of me.
"Yao," I called out once she left the room.
"Yes, master," Yao answered, stepping forward.
"Who are they?" I inquired.
"I do not know, master."
"Didn't I ask you to follow the girl whenever she went out?" I said, displeased by his answer.
"And I did, master, but lately, it became harder to follow her. She started to notice my presence, so I need to keep a good distance between her and me. This way, it's more difficult to track her."
She started to notice him? That's impossible… Yao is one of the rare beastmen able to transform. As a cat, very few people would notice his presence. Tracking and stalking people from the shadows are his specialty. He is the best in his field. Yet he lost her?
"Report everything that you saw today," I ordered.
"Yes, master. After catching up with the thief, Lynett gave him a pouch full of coins in exchange for the necklace he stole," he said, with a dull voice.
"A necklace? Was it something valuable?"
"No, master, just a worthless piece of jewelry. However, it had some sentimental value. It was something she got from her mother," Yao responded. He paused before continuing his report. "After that, Lynett wandered around the city, seemingly without a fixed goal. Eventually, she ended up in the Adventurers' Guild. There, she met the same boy who tried to rob her. They discussed for a while, and then she left the city to head to the Pine Forest. I believe the boy asked her for help with a request."
The Pine Forest? Isn't it an enchanted place? Why would she go there all alone? I think I even heard some rumors about a monster living there lately. It doesn't make any sense. Even if it was to help someone, anyone sane would avoid that forest. And why would she accept a request to begin with? That's not like her. She rarely initiates any form of contact with others and tends to be reclusive. Did that boy promise her a special reward?
"This is where I lost her," Yao continued. "The city was somewhat fine, however, the thick miasma of the forest made it impossible for me to follow her. I quickly lost her track."
"That would make sense," I muttered. "I've heard a lot of stories about people getting lost there. What about after that?"
"Since she didn't show any signs of wanting to run away, I waited for her at the gates. It took a couple of hours, but she eventually came back… accompanied by that couple, along with a third man."
So those two really came out of nowhere. The girl disappears in an enchanted forest and later comes back with two people who have the same golden eyes. That is too much to be a coincidence. Blessed people are not something common. Yet, this mysterious couple suddenly appears, acquainted with Lynett. That's too convenient. But then, who was the third one?
"What about the third man?" I asked, furrowing my forehead. "Was he special too?"
"No, master," Yao responded. "Just a normal human, no particular features. I believe he was connected to the boy who asked Lynett for help since once they returned to the Adventurers' Guild, the boy ran to him. They also left together. He was probably his father or a close relative."
Trying to catch a glimpse of the situation, I leaned on the backrest of my seat, crossing my arms in front of me.
"I don't understand why you are being so hesitant about, Jack."
I turned my head to Nora, who just spoke up. Her eyes were telling me she was getting impatient, displeased by the situation.
"I can't believe you actually let those two stay… What are you waiting for to kick them out?" She grunted. "No matter how you see it, that stupid couple is definitely suspicious, possibly dangerous. They were completely clueless about us! I get that they are foreigners, but their behavior… They were too cocky! Are you seriously going to tolerate that?"
Clearly, she is still confused and angered by what happened earlier. She is not thinking straight. Had she been able to think rationally, she would have understood that we couldn't do something that risky. She, of all people, should know that. The last time she messed with someone close to a chosen one, she almost went insane, while that someone got blessed at the very same moment.
"I understand your point, Nora. However, we shouldn't act reckless. Besides, I believe that you are being wary of the wrong people," I said.
For a few seconds, she tried to study me with her squinted eyes, clearly not understanding what I meant by that.
"The one you should be suspicious about isn't that couple. It's the girl," I explained.
Nora suddenly flinched in surprise, causing her to step back. In her confusion, she clumsily jerked her knee on the corner of a chair. However, she ignored the pain as she tried to regain her normal state, without breaking the eye contact.
"L-Lynett? Why? It's just one girl! Leave the kid alone and focus on the damn couple!" She exclaimed.
Again with that reluctance… Whenever it comes to the girl, she always backs down.
I gave a quick glance to Yao. He didn't say anything, but as he looked at Nora with a slight hint of frustration in his eyes, I could tell he was agreeing with me. The real suspicious one in this story was not the couple who appeared out of nowhere, but Lynett, who brought them here. Nora's strange behavior was the very proof of that.
There have been some strange things going on for the past few years, and only a fool wouldn't have noticed that each time, the girl was somehow involved. I have always been careful about her since she was a chosen one. I thought of keeping her a few years and then discard her, but obviously, I have underestimated the situation.
Golden eyes.
A proof of divinity. The evidence that someone had been chosen by the Gods and received their blessings. If it was only that, we could have handled her without too many problems, but then, her mother got blessed in her turn. It was probably the first hint that something wasn't right.
Having one person blessed within the family was already rare enough. Two? That was unheard of. But then, they became three. Only a few months after Azariah, it was Aoban's turn to receive the blessing of a God. Most people didn't even ask questions. The joy of having the heir of the family blessed easily overcame their surprise, as very few people noticed the unusual condition of the event.
At first, since it was only Azariah and Lynett, people assumed that there was something special in Azariah's lineage which caused her to be blessed, and later passed it on to her daughter. However, with Aoban's blessings, it became clear that it wasn't the case, since those two were not blood-related. Yet, Azariah and Aoban's blessings conditions were very similar: they were both chosen after their birth. So why did those two get blessed? What did they share in common? Thinking about it, it was obvious: the girl. The first one who has been blessed, and the one relative they shared.
After that, no one else got blessed. It only reinforced my hypothesis.
But that wasn't all. There was also Nora. At the very same moment Azariah got blessed, Nora, on the other hand, almost lost her sanity. The timing was too much to be a simple coincidence.
My sister always had temper problems and was never really mentally stable. However, what happened that time was of a whole other level. I asked doctors, healers, and priests to examine her, but the diagnosis was always the same: nothing was wrong with her, she was perfectly healthy. Whatever happened to her, it was all in her head.
Even after Nora somewhat regained a normal state, her behavior took a 180° turn. Yao was the first one to notice it. No matter how much she hated her, she never touched Azariah again and would always avoid her and her daughter. Whenever mentioned, she'd get nervous and try to change the subject. Given the timing, we first thought that she came to fear Azariah since she was somehow involved in her breakdown, however, as time passed, it became clear that the one she feared wasn't Azariah but her daughter.
Why would a mage like her fear a child? She refused to take any action against her, wouldn't look at her in the eyes and even seemed… submissive. Toward a child, toward a half. Whenever I tried to confront her about this, she denied the facts.
Then there were the girl's mentors. Even as a ghost-member of the family, Lynett needed to receive a proper education, so I hired some tutors for her. They weren't the best but they weren't the worst either. Yet, they quickly ran out of things to teach her, so I had to change them regularly. Each one of them reported the same thing about her: completely clueless when it comes to politics or social studies, but abnormally brilliant when it comes to math or science.
And now, as if it wasn't enough, she suddenly brings home this mysterious couple who appeared out of nowhere. If it was only for their perfection, I could have accepted it, but their eyes… Golden-eyed people keep appearing around Lynett. Coincidence? Definitely not.
Besides, just as Nora said, even as foreigners, the behavior of the couple was definitely unnatural. Except for the royal family and the dukes, there weren't any families more powerful than us. Yet, they did not feel threatened at all. Quite the opposite actually. Their behavior suggested that we were inferior to them. A Duke family? I would have heard about them. Royalty from a small country? But they were a mixed couple. It doesn't make any sense. As long as we don't know more, we shouldn't take the risk of provoking them.
No matter how you'd think about it, it was clear that the girl wasn't normal. Strange things kept happening around her. So far, she has been a pretty passive and obedient child, she never caused any problems. But if one day, she suddenly decides to do as she pleases, I am not sure we will be able to stop her. I don't know what she is hiding, but that is clearly beyond us. Nora was right: it may have been a bad idea to take her in. However, since she seems to only care about her mother and her brother, as long as we have some control over them, she shouldn't do anything.
"Master, what should we do?"
Yao's voice suddenly drew me out of my thoughts, as my eyes fell upon him.
I started rubbing my chin, thinking. "Uhm… Find the boy and his father, and bring them here. I want to have a little conversation with them… Make sure Lynett doesn't find out about this," I ordered.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ozen_Ice
Ozen_Ice mass release 9/10
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone