I turned my head towards the gate of the house. It was a boy of about seventeen years of age. His face was convulsing with an expression that was a mixture of utter anger and fear. He came running to us. He looked like he was quite ready to strike us even though we were three and he only one.

“Nothing,” I said to him as I held up the toy and his eyes widened, “we just came to return your brother’s toy. But it seems like it is not his.”

“Yes, it isn’t,” the seventeen year old said, and he shoved his way past us and into the house. “So you can go away now.” He shut the door with a bang.

I stood up, the bang of the door ringing inside my head.

I turned at Lana and Danor.

“What do you think?” I asked them.

“Let’s beat up the older kid and make him speak the truth,” Danor said, curling his fingers into a fist and punching the palm of his other hand.

“I have a feeling he might be the thief,” Lana agreed.

“Then let’s make him accept that, eh?” I said, “He’s not that old a kid after all.”

It only took a mighty blow from Lana’s fist to break open the door. Cries came from the inside immediately. It was Gony, cowering near a door that led to a second room. He ran into the second room, we followed him.

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The moment we entered the second room, the older kid threw himself at me. He had a chopper in his hand and he tried to hit my neck with it. He was strong and he pushed me against a wall. Thankfully, I had not come alone. Danor grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and lifted him to the air, while Lana wrenched the chopper away from his hand and threw it away.

He tried to fight back, but the giant Danor, who was having difficulty standing in the hunched position inside the house, kept him under control. Only now did I take in the second room properly.

On the other end of the room there was a bed on which lay a middle aged lady. She had a pallor like that of someone who had recently been in a great illness and was only recovering. Near her was the frightened Gony. He stared at us with wide fearful eyes.

“Please let my son go!” the woman pleaded.

“Then make him speak the truth,” Lana told her.

“Go on, kill me,” the older kid who was still hanging from Danor’s hand said.

“Shut up, you,” Danor said slapping the boy’s mouth.

“Where is the moonstone?” I asked the three residents of the house. “I know you have it. Do not lie. Because of you countless people have had to suffer so much.”

Suddenly the woman burst into tears, and even the older kid who had been struggling so much until then let out a sob.

“I-I never expected that to happen,” the boy said. “I-I just wanted to heal mother.”

Tears streamed down the face of the boy.

Seeing that the boy had accepted his guilt, I nodded at Danor, who let go of him. The boy dropped to the floor.

“Tell us everything,” Lana said to the boy, her voice slightly more tender.

The boy nodded solemnly. He looked like he no longer cared anymore whatever happened to him.

“I shall,” he said, “but I want your word that even if you hand me over to the succubus, you would not harm my mother or my brother.”

“We promise,” I said to him.