Chen Residence in Hua City, Kingdom of Wren
The thick smell of coffee filled the air as silence descended upon the group of men sitting at a round wooden table.
"You are telling me… that the person who killed my grandson was no demon?" The voice boomed, it made everyone in the room trembled with fear.
"Patriarch Chen— "
"You are telling me that a person… another mortal could slit my grandson's throat and chop him into small pieces?"
"Patriarch, listen— "
"Knight Lores… are you saying that someone, as twisted like that, could roam inside the walls of Wren undetected?" Patriarch Chen continued.
"Patriarch, there is no sign that the person who killed the Young Master was a demon. We cannot trace any dark elements from him. We cannot detect any signs that he used a summoned weapon or that he was possessed by a summoned weapon. We cannot detect a ring from this person. My guess is, we are dealing with an experienced assassin that kills without mercy."
"An assassin? Who would want to kill my grandchild? Harolt is playful but he was not evil! How could someone pay just to have him brutally killed that way?"
"Patriarch Chen, this case is already under the empire but I suggest we see Deacon Circinus about this too. It would good to ask for the Federations— "
"Why would I asked those people for help?" The patriarch yelled. "Do you think the Empire is not capable of solving this case?"
"Patriarch Chen… that's not what I meant."
"Those people from the Federation wanted money more than they would want to know if a demon is roaming in this place!"
"It's not a demon," the knight said one more time.
"I don't believe you! Only possessed people would be able to do something to… sinister! My grandchild is an innocent child! There is no way that— "
"Patriarch… I heard some news about young master Chen fighting against one of the Seymour boys."
"Seymour?" Patriarch Chen squinted. "Isn't that the young man… who can summon daggers?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you said that… my Harolt died by a dagger?"
"Yes, sir but it wasn't an entity. It was a normal dagger."
"I DON'T CARE IF IT WAS A NORMAL DAGGER!" Patriarch Chen said before he raised his hand and slammed it on the table. "I want to talk to that Seymour boy! Bring him to me!"
"But patriarch… that is not…"
"I WANT TO TALK TO HIM! NOW!"
…..
Meanwhile, Kai spent his afternoon reading the book. Since he already knew almost everything inside, it didn't take him a few hours to finish reading the book. It was already two in the morning when Kai finished everything.
He roamed his gaze around and noticed that Alfred was nowhere to be seen. He walked out of the small cavelike structure where the book was located and examined the cave.
It was huge, its stone walls extending at least five meters from the ground. Weirdly form stalactites can be seen above. The ground no longer has any signs of stalagmites aside from the few ones next to the stone walls. Aside from the peaceful sound of fire crackling, he couldn't hear any other sound. He looked around and didn't discover any water source nearby.
Despite the absence of lamps and candles, the cave wasn't dark at all.
"Night Pearls."
Kai's head shifted towards the man walking out from one of the room-like structures in the cave. Now that he had the time to look around, he noticed that there was a lot of makeshift room inside the cave. "What is this place?" He asked.
"I found it in one of my attempts to make the building bigger. I decided to live in the place." Alfred answered, his voice echoed inside. "Are you done?"
"Yes, sir."
"Were you able to memorize it?" Disbelief flashed in his eyes.
"No, sir."
"Hmmm. It would be magical if you did." Alfred nodded. "Do you need to sleep? You can leave if you are sleepy. If your not… help me with the preparation of some plants that I need to use for my potions." Alfred walked towards another room with a few plants inside a sealed jar. "Do you know… when can you summon plants the simple ingredients."
Kai hid the expression in his eyes. Before he could answer, Alfred already continued, "Don't worry, I will give you points that you can use in the canteen or library. I will also give you some ingredients that you can use to make the simple healing potion so you can get a certification as a potioneer level one. I need you to have the certification at the end of the month as I am planning to bring you in one of my adventures."
"I can summon some of the ingredients now, sir." His words made the old man froze. He turned towards Kai.
"What did you say?"
"I can do it now," Kai said. From Yumi's words, Alfred was actually a level three potioneer. Meaning, he could teach him a lot of things about potioneering. Of course, he was also after the points that he would earn. After all, he could use it to read in the library and probably found a way to get rid of the murderous voices inside him.
Alfred squinted. "This is the first day of the school year. Are you saying that you can already summon just from staring at the photos of the entities?"
"Yes, sir." He started summoning just two days after he woke up three days ago. And that was the time, the voices started to appear. First in his dreams, until it started talking to him.
"What can you summon?"
He faked a shy look. "The ones from the previous book."
Suspicions flashed in the old man's eyes. "Are you saying that you memorized the previous Mantra?"
"I can remember everything I see." This was partially true. Kai thought there is no harm in letting the old man know about this ability.
"Then... " The old man's face turned ecstatic. "What are you waiting for? Show me!"