-Ten’anum-
Upon arriving at Lord Aes Ten’anum’s home, Kuro decided he had no real idea what to expect from the Lords’ choice of home. Ten’anum’s house was a single building that was quite small, having only one floor. It felt tiny when compared to the other houses and buildings next to it, which were all three floors or more. That feeling wasn’t helped by the house only having three bedrooms. Hardly a manor worthy of one of the kingdom’s rulers. Jarou’s explanation was that Ten’anum only had a single child, who lived with his ex-wife in Gold Port. After the separation, Ten’anum sold the lavish house he’d bought to impress her, and downsized to something just big enough for him to have a single noble on staff staying with him, and also have an office separate from his bedroom.
Another surprise awaited them as they approached the front door. For when they knocked it was neither Ten’anum, nor a noble that answered the door, but Ibiryn Shen’anum. “Oh, hello Hunters. What can I do for the two of you?” She asked, stepping outside and shutting the door behind her, maneuvering deliberately so they couldn’t see inside.
Kuro explained the situation to her. He’d watched her do her work during the Peace Party, but he’d never talked with her, or been this close up to her for that matter. She was a pretty woman, who clearly took very good care of herself, with clear skin, and vibrant red, velvety hair. She had the same piercing blue eyes as Raen. All these factors combined to make him feel a bit nervous, but he’d thankfully had his and Jarou’s exposition scripted out, and was able to deliver it cleanly.
“Oh,” She said, then frowned, “Well, I hate to break it to you, but Aes is currently missing.” She leaned in and quickly added, “I can trust you two not to spread that rumor, right?” The boys both nodded, “Good. Come inside, we can talk there.”
She led them inside, to a sitting room next to the front door. The house’s interior was as quaint as the exterior, yet it felt unmistakably comfortable. The light brown carpet was neither too thick nor thin, and was incredibly soft. The matching walls were sparsely, yet tastefully, decorated. There were painted portraits of Aes Ten’anum, and a younger man that Kuro guessed was his son. Aes was yet another well built man, though he had deep black hair, and amber eyes instead of the red and blue combo he’d come to expect from his siblings. He did have a streak of the same vibrant red as Ibiryn’s hair, starting from his forehead and swept back with the rest of his hair. The young man was a spitting image of his father, though he had a gold colored streak instead of red.
“I’ll get right to it,” Ibiryn said as she sat down in one of the plush sitting room chairs, “Hopefully I don’t miss anything. There is evidence of a break-in having occurred here last night. Aes and the nobleman staying with him last night are both missing, and I have been cooperating with his house’s other noble families to investigate the break-in. It doesn’t seem likely to me, or the nobles here, that this is connected to the necromancer the two of you are chasing. That said, if you are willing to assist in our investigation for a little bit, we could compensate you for your effort.
“As for the necromancer business, I’m afraid I don’t have any more information than you do. If the situation weren’t what it is, I too would have suggested coming to Aes for information. Going to Rel was also a good move, though his circumstances with helping Ama means he doesn’t know a whole lot either. I’ve wanted to get my hands dirty and investigate the situation myself, but now I have to help find Aes. So, I’m sorry, but you’ll likely need to look for information elsewhere.”
Kuro and Jarou both took a moment to think, until finally Jarou spoke. “That’s alright, it seems like it’s a busy time for all of the Lords.” He turned to Kuro, “I’d like to help, since we’re here and all. What do you think?”
Kuro nodded, “I agree. We still have two days before they’re supposed to attack, so I don’t see why not.”
“Thank you both,” Ibiryn bowed her head slightly, “Shall I walk you around the house, show you our findings so far?”
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The Hunters agreed to the idea, and followed her from room to room. It was a quick tour, ending in Ten’anum’s office. The two bedrooms and kitchen were a mess, and had clear signs of someone rummaging around. The office was on a different level entirely: a topple bookshelf, cuts in the wall, a broken window. Kuro’s eyes were immediately caught by a safe in the wall that was cracked open slightly.
“One of his clerks is going through everything in there, cross referencing with records at their main office,” Ibiryn explained when he pointed it out, pointing with a thumb to the desk, which also looked fairly banged up, and had an older gentleman poring over a massive stack of papers. “So far as we can tell, nothing outside of the safe was stolen, just broken.”
While Kuro observed the room while standing still near the door, Jarou was walking around the room, closely looking at the various points of damage. After a moment he turned to Ibiryn and asked “What kind of fighting style does Lord Ten’anum use?”
“He usually uses either a rapier or his fists, why?” She had a puzzled expression as she spoke.
“Just curious, I want to see if I can piece together how the fight may have gone. This window is the only one that was broken, correct? Were there any other signs of entry or exit when you arrived on scene?”
Ibiryn shook her head. “None. Do you agree, then, that the burglar entered through the window, and Aes likely chased him when they exited the same way?”
“That seems the most likely answer,” Jarou confirmed, “But if this room is where they came in and went out, and is the only room something was taken from, why do the other rooms appear ransacked as well? It’s clear this room is also the only room any fighting happened in. Then there’s the matter of the nobleman that was on staff last night, what motive would he have to go with Ten’anum to chase after the culprit?”
Ibiryn took on a shocked expression that quickly turned into a grimace as she considered something. “I don’t like the idea of it, but perhaps the culprit and the noble are the same person.”
Jarou nodded, “That’s what I’m thinking as well.” He stood near the toppled bookshelf, looking at it, then to Kuro. “Mind helping me lift this up?”
Kuro walked over and together the two of them lifted the heavy, hardwood bookshelf back to its upright position. It fell face down, so all the books and other trinkets on the shelf were scattered around the floor. After getting the ornate shelf back up, the two also picked up all of the books, placing them on the shelf in a mostly random order, trying to guess how they were originally ordered by their place on the floor. Even with all the books on the shelf, it still felt mostly empty. There were various trinkets on the floor as well, many of which were shattered, their shards scattered. But even if they had all the trinkets on the shelf, Kuro felt like the shelf would still feel bare. He got the attention of the old man going through papers at the desk, and asked “You probably know this office the best, does this shelf usually look this empty? Does it look like there’s anything missing?”
The man looked the shelf up and down several times, going through the contents slowly as though he was checking everything was accounted for. After a few minutes, he finally responded, “Aside from the knick-knacks now scattered on the floor, I think everything is accounted for. My Lord recently got rid of dozens of older books that he has no more use for. That shelf was once stuffed so tightly you couldn’t pull something out without pulling two or three more books with it.” The man looked down at his papers again, then continued, “I believe I’ve gone through most of everything that was documented to be in the safe. The only things not here are the house’s private ledgers from the past two years to today.”
“Really? That’s it?” Ibiryn asked, walking carefully around shards of broken trinkets towards the desk. “You don’t by chance have any idea why those in particular would be taken?”
“I’m afraid not, but we should have copies at the main office. I won’t be able to get into the office for a few days, unfortunately. Once I am able to, however, it should take no time at all to find the records. The organization at the office is much better than the Lord’s personal stash.”
“If you could do that and report your findings to me or one of my nobles as soon as possible, that would be great.” The old man bowed his head as though to say ‘of course,’ and Ibiryn turned to the two Hunters. “I will of course pass along any info I can to the two of you. Thank you for your assistance. I’m afraid it isn’t much, but here is some pay for your time.” She walked over to Kuro, and fished a small stack of silver coins from a pouch she kept in her pocket. She gave the same amount to Jarou afterwards. “I wish you luck with your other investigation, if I can be of any use, please let me know.”
“We will, thank you.” Jarou stated, sliding the coins into his cloak’s inner pocket. “The same goes for you, if you could use our assistance in finding Lord Ten’anum, you know where to find us.”’
The Lady walked them outside, and bid them farewell. “Well, it’s getting a bit late,” Jarou spoke, “Shall we head back to the lounge, discuss what we know so far?” Kuro agreed silently, and the two began the walk back. During the long walk, Kuro was plagued by a feeling that there was something they missed, or perhaps something being kept from them. He attempted to dash the feeling by telling himself that even if there was, there was no way for him to know about it.
