Impossible.
A person cannot simply disappear from a locked room.
Martial Blue Sister checked, none of the walls had any empty spaces to suggest a hidden door. The floor was sealed tight. And there was no furniture big enough to house a body. The bathtub was full of water, mixed with blood, but thank god there wasn’t anything else inside.
How? How did Lady Peony disappear?
There can only be one answer to this mystery.
“We have to search the building!” Martial Blue Sister yelped while running out of the bathroom.
“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Martial Red Sister used her [32 Morphing Skills] to transform into a red bloodhound. She would do a quick whiff of the scent inside of the bathchamber before she followed whatever trail left behind.
Moon Tavern had the staff of Mutiny Inn help out, making sure no one leaves the inn or enter. They were given a financial incentive so of course they were diligent.
After searching and sniffing out the entire dining hall with no success, they try to make their way upstairs. Martial Blue Sister cursed her luck, as she saw about 14 different doors. Oh god, the thought of talking to strangers door to door made her sick.
Fortunately, Martial Red Sister would bite at her ankle to get her attention. She would then transform back to her human form, before staring at a certain room.
“...Something is wrong...in this room.” Martial Red Sister whispered, as if an even greater beast was searching through the halls. “We’re going in.”
“W-wait, we don’t know if—” Martial Blue Sister tried to be the sensible one, but of course her small voice could never reach far.
Martial Red Sister kicked the door down and stormed in – only for a cage of scimitars and morning star maces to surround her like a trap cage.
The room wasn’t empty.
There was a crowd of six men and women, all various levels of martial artists and warriors armed to the teeth. They stood together by the door in identical clothing as if screaming they are a family you don’t want to mess with. They didn’t look or feel like bandits, they held themselves with a professional air. Not to mention the quality of their weapon seems custom made with swirls of clouds marked across their scimitar blades and handles of their morning stars.
“S-stay your blades!” Martial Red Sister shrieked, not sure to duck or run from the blades on her shoulder. “M-Moon Tavern! We are Moon Tavern!”
Normally Martial Red Sister would fight her way out. Sure she’ll get carved up a bit, but she knew her winning chances when she saw it. However if there was one thing she learned while working for Moon Tavern – talking-fu was more effective than kung-fu.
Putting a bet in speaking out her group’s name...she won when the weapons withdraw and sheathed themselves.
One of the men would approach Moon Tavern to give a light apologetic bow.
“We are designated guards of the North Cloud Shipping Company,” he said, “Apologies for our reaction, prestigious Moon Tavern. When you barged in, we thought it were bandits taking advantage of the terrible storm.”
Martial Blue Sister pulled at Martial Red Sister to give the latter some breathing space. The lady in the kimono touched her neck to check for blood. When she saw none, she thanked her gods for the lucky break and nodded with equal respect and authority.
No need to go off on the wrong foot a second time.
“Many pardons,” Martial Red Sister would clear her throat. “Long story short: we were in the company of a noblewoman, who suddenly disappeared from her bathchamber...Actually now that I think about it, your very room happens to be right above where she vanished from.”
A spicy idea came to her head.
Might be a bit direct, but there was no time to honey over those words. Martial Red Sister dared to ask, “Do you happen to know anything about it?”
“Preposterous!” The head of the North Cloud Guards would bark with indignation. “I am willing to forgive you for kicking down our door without a proper greeting; but to accuse us all as peeping toms! Kidnappers even! Outrageous!”
It was in this moment, Martial Red Sister knew she screwed up.
She had no idea why Martial Kim assigned her to help her companion in this case. She clearly wrote on her job application ‘No Negotiation Jobs’. Then again neither of them predicted this strange incident. “C-clearly we got off on the wrong foot. Wh-why don’t we start over—HEY!”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Martial Blue Sister had to yank at Martial Red Sister to get the latter’s attention, making the kimono lady stumble with her wooden sandals. Martial Blue Sister earned a slap, but she really care. Instead she wanted to ask in a whisper. “Martial Red Sister, what made you think this room is strange?”
“I’m no true born bloodhound, but I picked up a strange scent inside.” Martial Red Sister would utter while glancing at the tenants of the room she just kicked open. “I smelled blood, but none of them look injured.”
“In the corner.” Martial Blue Sister secretly pointed to the side within the doorway. “There’s a lot of boxes.”
The North Cloud Shipping Company had a series of chests and trunks piled up in the corner of their room, to keep it out of the rain and within line of sight. Each of them varied in sizes, but many of them were large enough to carry several sacks of flour.
“A-arrangements,” Martial Blue Sister struggled her words out of her tense throat. “Y-you said before, Lady Peony may have planned to escape her home and made arrangements for someone to pick her up...right?”
This clicked in Martial Red Sister’s mind.
Without waiting to hear more, she pushed her companion to the side – with a good purpose – and turned to face the North Cloud Guards with her own purposes. “Those crates you have. What are they to you?”
“Precious cargo, of course.” Failing to see the point of this question, the North Cloud Guards would form a formidable wall with themselves to not only block the lady in the kimono’s eye sights, but to prevent her from sneaking through their defenses.
“They are deliveries from our clients back in North Cloud City,” the head of the guards would mumble, “Our job is to keep them safe and secure the integrity of their contents. Obviously from bandits and people who are too curious for their own good. If anything were to happen to them, even so much as a loose thread in a cloth, our company will pay heavy fines and compensation fees. So we prefer if no one than ourselves go near it.”
“Like I asked,” Martial Red Sister pushed her luck further. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary come in here?”
“Impossible. We always kept at least two eyes on the door, take turns to sleep and eat. We only let food and wine come in at the crack of the door. We aren’t going to take chances when any bandit can dress up as common folk and walk in – let alone this noble girl you claim to be missing.”
Again, Martial Red Sister mumbled in her mind. Just her luck.
The head of the North Cloud guard would snort and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Each and every one of our strong boxes are locked and sealed. They can only be broken when they reach their destination – never before. As you can see, all of our seals are intact!”
Martial Red Sister accepted the reasoning, but she wanted to yank at the strings a bit tighter. She wanted to see how far she can stretch this band. “I understand you have your code and your principles, but a human life is in danger. Every passing second gone, the more dangerous her situation is. For the sake of a human life – could you let us check your—”
Once more the wall of weapons pull out and point at her. This time she felt they left a mark on her neck.
“Moon Tavern and North Cloud Shipping Company may be part of the great martial world,” The head of the guards would spat out, “But we do not drink from the same well water. We recognize your reputation, but we have a job to do and we won’t—”
“B-Boss! That girl!” Another guard called out with shock and pointed behind everyone.
Martial Blue Sister cursed under her breath. The entire time Martial Red Sister was trying to draw their attention, while she took advantage of her wallflower like personality to blend into the surroundings.
The invisible one in a crowded conversation.
Unfortunately, it seems the North Cloud Guards were well trained and well seasoned. Their senses were precise enough to pinpoint the darting of a rat through the floorboard, probably can skewer it with a single stab.
The swords and maces turned to Martial Blue Sister.
“Open the damn boxes little blue!” Martial Red Sister called out, before using her [32 Morphing Skills] to transform into a large red python to coil around one of the guard’s face.
She had no choice but to brace the fury of the North Cloud Shipping Company as a distraction!
As mentioned both groups in the room should be more or less allies in the martial world, but given the circumstances and the mystery behind Lady Peony’s second disappearance – there was little room for talk.
It had to be aggressive negotiations.
To not waste her companion’s efforts, Martial Blue Sister quickly checked the boxes while a battle went on behind her. She grabbed at one of the wine pots from the table and dipped the spout to pour wine towards the floor
[Azure Dragon’s Flowing Water] can control not only water, but any moving liquid and fluid. So with the dipped wine pot she turned the wine into a long watery sword! With several swift and precise swings, she hacked through the steel locks on each trunk as well as splitting their paper seals.
One by one she kicked open the lids to check inside. To save time, she only focused on the large boxes.
Boxes of clothes; boxes of expensive art scrolls; boxes of raw spices individually wrapped in separate waxtree paper packaging; boxes of relics and artifacts; boxes of salt; boxes of golden...Wait.
Salt?
It’s not uncommon to ship salt across long distance. To ensure the quality of the salt do not become contaminated or damaged, they would usually be stored in sacks, jars, or even bamboo canisters.
Not filling an entire transport box like sand box.
Martial Blue Sister didn’t understand the logic. The box was filled to the brim with salt, fine and powdery. Soft even, just by sweeping her hand she felt just how high quality the...salt...suddenly...felt bumpy.
Only a small spot. A few brushes of her fingers...it revealed another set of fingers emerging from the pile of sand.
Martial Blue Sister dropped the wine pot, the watery sword splashing into nothing. Ignoring the chaos of fighting behind her she quickly duck the salt aside. She had to know, she didn’t want to – but she had to know what was inside.
...Then there it was, the truth, buried under the pile of salt.
The fight between red python and North Cloud Shipping Company came to a screeching halt – when Martial Blue Sister screamed.