Returning to the greenhouse, the horrific scene awaited us once more. Liu Sheng, or what remained, dangled in the air, watched from afar by a few folks clad in blue suits. Only one man stood closer, a stunning redhead dressed in a scarlet suit. Unlike the others, his look was filled with terrifying fervour rather than loathing. As we neared, the rustling of our footfalls caught his attention. He tipped his head back, showing us in his steely gaze.

“Hey Polo Shirt,” said Evige whilst his eyes peering tight, “what you got there?”

“Some precious pieces falling out of his flesh,” replied Polo Shirt. “A man of no remorse already did the play… with his graceful fricandeau.”

“So in other words,” said Ayako, then hemmed with her grimace etching across the cheeks, “a killer might be a clever professional who wants to bring terrors across the palace rather creatively.”

“Precisely, but the question is… who on earth is this young glamorous Fareastern man? Mind if you’d offer an answer to the inquiry from your dear fan?”

“I’m no superstar, and with all due respect, your fanaticism sickens me,”

“Oh, but I still do appreciate your eagerness to forward the legacy.”

“And I dare you to shut your mouth,” her eyes gaped, “or else I’ll make it happen.”

“But isn’t that your duty to—”

Ayako's eyes flashed crimson, casting a terrifying shadow. His lips tightened into a frozen grimace as her Kusengan cradled his life out. However, a wretched scorn flashed across his face, trembling out of her chaining sight. His cheeks bright red, and a wicked grin stretched across his lips, a sight that only heightened her fury and bursted her gasp out.

“Quite a pleasant contest,” Polo giggled. “And I’m afraid that you seem to have no answer… yet.”

“Of course, isn’t that obvious?” Ayako rolled her eyes and shrugged. “That’s why I come here to obtain some pieces here… starting with your autopsy report.”

“Well, that’s quite disappointing, but as you wish then…,” Polo took a fleeting glance at me and smirked, “my lady.”

His words and demeanour also heightened my wrath. But surrendering to anger would be a betrayal of my steadfast resolve, a virtue of grit. Seeing his ridiculous face only wavered a serious truth before my eyes. Even for a Lithplia and Drea’s scion, hatred slowly bloomed within me.

“Behold, a terror that shocks the palace of this night,” cried Polo, sending a slight surprise to our attention. “Tonight, mysteries still deaden our sight. When will it be time to shed light?”

“Then state your findings.”

“Well, we all know that everyone around here has had their bad night, but this poor lad from one of your IL fellows just happened to have his worst. Intestines protruding out of his open belly with blood dripping out. Two Weian characters painted on his upper chest, reading…Pantu, or shall we say… traitor, and lastly, a rope holding his entire husk on air. Odd, it really seems. But would that be Mavet’s foundation, if I may ask?”

“No,” answered Ayako, her eyes peering through behind the hanging body. “Because there are no traces of blood further around here, that I find this bloody gutted belly of his to be nothing, but a grotesque display.”

“Precisely,” replied Polo. “But which is the actual foundation, you may ask?” He then walked closer to the hanging body and pulled out a thin stick, pointing at its tied neck with purplish rope burns. “That, my dear fellows, was where and when Mavet called his soul out of the body. Thirty five minutes late, heroism was now all for naught.”

“So in other words, a killer purposefully strangled the victim to avoid blood traces, all the while transporting his corpse from point A to point B.”

“And A can be the actual crime scene, while B is… well, here,” added Evige, “but to put out such a gruesome display in this private place rather tells some sort of internal conflict happening behind the curtain. But to mention thirty minutes, how far?”

“Which leaves us another question… where could it really happen?” asked Ayako, then she turned her eyes towards me. “What do you think? Do you have any authority to… check what’s behind and under?”

“Behind and under…?”

She smacked against my brow and chuckled, “The escape hall, you silly goose.”

I looked daggers at her and groaned, “Right… right.”

I walked them past the hanging body, my eyes ferreting around potted plants and tangled bushes. Memories cast her shadows, whispering of a hidden location etched in my past. Though the surroundings had morphed beyond recognition, a sliver of knowledge flickered in my mind. Following that faint echo, I led them onward, a pursuit of answer finally brought itself before my eyes.

The waterless well, my most thankful token.

“A well?” said Ayako.

“A well filled with deep, verdant greens,” Polo replied, “remaining true to its time.”

I smiled, “Well… still remains.”

“So this is what you meant about… hatch, eh?” asked Evige. “People back then did find the Beortcild bloodline to be of immeasurable worth.”

“Thanks to her,” I walked near the well and peered down to the dark pit, which only the hanging rope could witness its depth, “she brought me to the world outside of the palace. The world filled with clear knowledge, true strength… and even the real struggles of my people, all the while they had been flaunting their royal name for naught.”

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“Understandable,” Ayako stood beside me and shared a peering look. “So this was where your lucky charm is… perhaps the killer’s, too.”

“A lucky charm,” said Evige, “escaping from the Wicked Siblings named Andreas and Ka—”

“I dare you to shut your mouth,” I cried, glares piercing at him. Then upon wondering about his innate knowledge on such a subject, I heaved a heavy sigh and mumbled. “Nevermind, my mind slips.”

“Uhh… ok.”

Ayako approached him and whispered a warning unreached to my ears.

Meanwhile, Polo traded Ayako an approach and shared a peering look together into the depth of the dark, open well, then asked, “The end of the beginning, yes?”

“Seems the chronicles never cease to be written.”

“As it should be,” he smiled. “After all, curious minds never cease to amuse.”

“Speaking of curious minds, how did you end up here?” I asked. “I have never heard of your forthcoming presence here from your sister Ana.”

“What? You ask me, a man of no consequence, such a speed of my arrival? To tell you honestly, my duty is not merely visiting the dead, but also flaunting their fruits of survival.”

“That is to say, you have brought yourself here for your bid… or what? Never seen you flaunting your ranks being a noble scion.”

“Dear me,” giggled Polo, “my purpose of being a noble scion is quite an understatement, to be frank, but let’s say that I’m… fortunate to possess such a fruitful nascent.”

“Right, I can understand.”

“Besides, I’m never fond of my family’s slight culture and legacy. Quite bored of reading most of their living experiences as ‘glorious and gratifying’, so to speak. Only one thing, however, intrigues me much.”

“And what is it?”

“Try to think over our first meeting… at the museum. How did I come to know who you are?”

Thinking back, his wave of greeting and the glint in his eyes hinted at a knowledge, even before my ‘second’ coming. Even though he belittled his ancestral House Lithplia’s ranks to be of no worth, it seemed his ancestral archives held a myriad of chronicles. Perhaps he had devoured them all, all the while lying about his aforesaid ‘understatement’. But thanks to Drea’s legacy, our name still unfurled across the ages, even unfortunately to these whoresons.

Indeed, all was clear to tell.

“You were fond of Lady Drea’s tale,” I answered, “at least… reading about them.”

“Truly,” he broadened his smile, “such a tale of your time was the most entertaining read I had, especially the Swester War.”

“Swester War?” I repeated.

“What? You’ve never heard of it before?”

“Yes, I am sure of it, and I beg for more words of it.”

“Hmm,” he moaned, his eyes darting across the side and his arms crossed, trying to recall. “I can’t… remember, unfortunately.”

“You are lying,” I cried. “Of course, you can.”

“For a young doctor who read countless journals,” he shrugged and shook his head, “such less significant details didn’t really etch my brain.”

“But even a young knight who once was a country boy could remember a piece of wood in a bloody wagon, why can’t you?”

“A young knight who might have thousands of scars across his flesh, yet only a plain across his mind. Of course, he’d only recall a war to be his horrible wind, but never a shred of apple rind.”

“Nonsense,” I jumped to grab his collar and cried… with a sharp glare. “Do you really take me as a fool here?”

Yet, even a rough grasp on him, his broad smirk held firmly in place, a firm bane to my eyes.

Meanwhile, Ayako and Evige caught our braid of slight affray, then yelled altogether, “Hey!”

“What’s the meaning of this?” added Ayako, charging towards us.

Her glare whetted, burning with a chilling crimson light. The hand grasping Polo faltered, my grip loosening as I released him. His unchanging smile became a fresh torment, a mockery in my face. And glancing at Ayako, there was dread coming, again, coiling once more in my gut.

“Nothing,” replied Polo, whilst fixing his suit, “it seems my words did hit her somewhat below the belt, so indeed, it was all my fault, good fellows,” then he returned a look at me and bowed. “Pardon me… my lady.”

“Not this,” I mumbled and jumped again to grasp, but Ayako held my arm and shoved it away.

“Pay respect to him,” she said, albeit quite a galling twaddle, “he’s not your only ordinary coroner here, but also the Head Researcher of the UAF Ministry of Technology.”

“Or to be more precise,” added Polo, “I’m the Head Researcher of the Biotech Department, one of the branches inside the Ministry of Technology.”

“Head Researcher… of Biotech?” I repeated.

“Or in old terms, let’s say… a High Alchemist.”

“Oh, I see…,” I paused, studying every inch of his look, and not a single cold tremble was found across the skin. Such poise, I could give him that. “I thought you were never fond of your family's legacy.”

“Oh, wow, was I wrong?” he sneered, “or perhaps, you'd been falling to a deaf ears a while ago.”

“A while ago…”

“Quit the trivials,” Ayako interrupted. “The only important questions are these… What does this escape hall look like? And how did the killer manage to move across the underground?”

“A mere safe dungeon, if I must say,” I replied, then thinking about Liu Sheng’s unfortunate passing sparked a question inside my mind, so I asked her. “How about the bet?”

“Change of plans,” she replied. “Instead of seeking something from Liu Sheng, how about we’ll unravel something behind the death of Liu Sheng?”

“This peculiar incidence really digs the pit deeper for us,” Polo giggled.

“And speaking of digging deeper,” Evige said, then jumped on the edge of the well, “how about we delve ourselves deeper into this… hatch? Shall we dive in?”

“Wait, before you go—”

Before I was about to ask for his heed, he outright vanished, now falling… or rather sliding down into the further depth of the darkest waterless well.

“Oh, this is going to give him a slight shame for this.”

“What’s in there?” asked Ayako.

“Better see for yourself.”