After this incident, Rika and I decided that the best course of action would be to prove the Lord's guilt with documents from his office and then drop the matter. With his guilt confirmed, his widow would receive no power, and the position of Lord would remain open for Kiichi's safe return. With the documents found in the Lord's office, the widow would be incriminated as well. We agreed to reduce the charges against her as long as she admitted to framing Kiichi. She tried to negotiate with us but failed. In the end, she gave up and agreed.
After a couple of days, Obo and Master Shiki returned from the mission they had set out to complete. They attempted to act cheerful, but Kina and I see through it. We have yet to be informed of the troubling issue, but I hope they trust us enough to tell us about it eventually. Until then, I'll focus on the tasks set in front of me.
Mito is recovering from the shock of unconsensually receiving a dangerous treasure while Shiki talks him through it. The best medicine in this situation is to stay active and train the use of the treasure. Unfortunately, he's stuck with it now, so he better learn to control it. I know that better than anybody.
After reporting the outcome of our mission to Obo and Shiki, they both agreed that inviting Kiichi to return was the best course of action.
Worried about the time it would take to do such a thing, I say to the both of them, "Mount Nova can be a real pain to traverse, and I'd rather not leave for two weeks in these uncertain times. Is there any way to send word to Kiichi about the recent events without actually traveling to him?"
Obo and Shiki look at each other coyly and then look back at me. Shiki gestures for me to follow him, and we end up outside. Obo whistles loudly, and the echo bounces off the cement walls surrounding the dojo. After the echo dissipates, we stand in a deafening silence. Shiki and Obo look relaxed, as if there's not a doubt in their mind that this whistle will cause something to occur. A short while later, the silence is broken by the shrieking of a bird descending into the dojo grounds at high speed.
As the bird approaches from the sky, my perspective adjusts. I thought it was further than it actually was, but it's actually just massive! As it sets down on the ground, the flapping of its wings causes my hair to fly in all sorts of directions.
Obo walks over to the noble bird and strokes its massive feathers. Obo is tiny in comparison to this thing. It must be bigger than an elephant! As my hair settles in a ruffled fashion, I become aware of the fact that my jaw has been dropped this entire time. I quickly fix my composure before speaking.
"What... what is this massive bird?"
The bird screeches at me before Obo calms her down. He pats down the hawk's feathers before turning to me to speak.
"Don't mention her size, Adachi!" Obo cups his hands in an attempt to dampen his words and says to me, "She's a bit self-conscious."
My eye twitches habitually from this bizarre situation.
"I see... So what's her name?"
Breaking his silence, Shiki pipes up.
"Her name is Strix, which is actually just the name of her species. However, she is the last one of her kind, so we figured it's fine to name her Strix."
She's the last of her kind, huh? I suppose I can relate. Cosmics were supposedly wiped from existence during the purge over thirteen years ago. The likeliness that one of my kind survived in disguise for thirteen years straight is low.
"You and I aren't too different, Strix."
The black and white bird eyes me warily, but there's a twinge of curiosity behind her eyes as well. Perhaps we can become friends. I've suddenly become aware that my comment has made the atmosphere a bit awkward. I don't want anybody feeling pity for me over trivial matters. So, I decide to move the conversation along quickly.
"So, can I ride her to Mount Nova? I assume that's why you've brought her to me."
Obo chuckles and walks away from his feathered friend. He grabs my shoulder and says, "Perhaps someday she'll allow you to ride her, but that will take a good while. She's naturally distrustful of humans, as they brought her species to extinction. Her feathers are worth hundreds of thousands for various uses or simply as collector's items."
Mito, who had been eve's dropping on the conversation from inside the dojo, rushes outside.
"Strix's feathers are worth hundreds of thousands? Strix, you don't mind if I take just a few, right?"
Obo doesn't attempt to stop Mito as he rushes over to the black and white-colored bird. Instead, Strix lifts Mito off his feet with her beak and quickly throws him across the dojo grounds. I wince as he crashes into the opposite stone wall from us, but I trust that he survived the impact.
Obo bumps elbows with me and says, "You see? Mito has been here since we met Strix, yet she still doesn't trust him. However, I'm sure she'll find you more agreeable than Mito. I'll bring word to Kiichi and do my best to convince him to return. It's important that he returns before the Kingdom assigns a new Lord to this city. I'm sure you understand that time is of the essence here. Also..."
Obo looks to Master Shiki for confirmation before proceeding in his statement. Shiki has a severe look on his face as he nods his head. Obo continues, saying, "Bring Mito and Kina to the meeting area. We have something that we need to share with all of you."