Talmern Tenche watched the door of the contritum click and spewed out white gas before it opened and pulled out a staircase. Beside him, Tarvi Ere stood with both hands on her staff. Talmern checked his short blade on both sides of his waist and his main sword on his back. He pulled out their straps, making sure they were easy to draw when the need arose. He caressed the communication conveyor on his belt, a small stick with a yellow color, and a red button on top. Another new invention, it could let him communicate with his colleagues from miles away.
But even with all the preparation ready, they could not be at ease. Harn Yorbin was murdered in the Red Dragon Restaurant. As a son of a baron, he was protected by five children of fate at all times. Yet they all die a tragic death. His guards were no weaker than Talmern and Tarvi, which meant the assassin can kill them too. This was a suicide mission. For all they know, they could be entering a basilisk nest right now.
"Let's go," Talmern said.
Tarvi nodded and followed him from behind. He had armor hidden under his cloak. If the assassin decided to attack, Tarvi would have enough time to use her technique and warn the others. They wanted to be quick. No, they had to be quick. Harn Yorbin's guard died with the symbol of a skull pierced by a rose on its forehead—It was the symbol of Death Rose, one of the branches of The Night Walker.
And they couldn't take any chances with these groups.
Talmern stepped inside the contritum. A profundamaris, a deep sea fishman with blue scales, sat on the left sofa, while a human sat on the right. Talmern walked closer to them, hand on his back. He moved his fingers to signal Tarvi to step back and to be prepared. After he got closer, he realized that the two figures in front of him were shadows. He knew that much from working in the field for forty unending years. Day and night, they had dealt with all types of scum imaginable. This could be the target they looked for or just another prank by a student. But chances of the latter were higher since they were dealing with youngsters.
Whatever it was, he needed to shake them first. They had dug out all the information about the university before they inspected the place. He knew that the only one who had the ability to manipulate shadows was Maninsov Urbi. A genius in internal pathways who was also proficient in the art of shadows. An orphan who was picked by Earl Viss Inni for his talent. It was impossible for him to be the assassin, but Talmern needed to question him first, as per the tradition.
"Maninsov Urbi, we suspect that you are involved with the murder of Harn Yorbin, the son of Baron Keres Yorbin."
Tarvi approached and stood beside him. She, too, realized that the situation was not dangerous.
"I think you are mistaken, sir Praepositor. My name is Thetcah. And this is my friend, Jarkinson."
"That is correct, sir Propositor. No one here is called Maninsov Urbi."
Both of their lips didn't match their voice. Like a puppet, their lips only moved up and down while their tongue stayed still. Do they think that could fool a Praepositor?
Talmern held back his smile. Youngsters and their pranks. If not for the tradition, he would just leave and not deal with them. They are hard to speak to and almost always ignore authority. Sadly, he had no right to beat them and let them know what power meant. All the more reason for him not wanting anything to do with teenagers. And now he had to play hide and seek with them.
Judging by the level of their voice, they should be near. Talmern looked down below the sofa and recalled that it had storage space for luggage. Got you! Talmern held back his smile again. This was his opportunity to make them pay. Though he couldn't beat them physically, he still can make them pay. This was because these teenagers hide while being questioned by a Praepositor. So now he had the excuse to arrest them for a few days. He couldn't wait to see their sobbing face, while they beg and plead. Sorry boys, let this be an important lesson for you. Talmern walked closer to the profundamaris.
Shadows moved under the table and pounced on him.
Talmern drew his short blade and slashed. The shadows morphed into dark hands and held his arms before they attack his face and covered his mouth.
He staggered and fell, punching and pulling the shadows. Beside him, Tarvi struggled about as the darknesses enveloped her body and face.
Blackness covered his body. Then he felt it, like a sharp thorn. Something stabbed his neck before it coiled up through his throat. It drilled into his brain before stopping on his forehead.
He spat out blood, and there he saw on his hand, on the last second of his life—the symbol of a skull pierced by a rose on its forehead.
He moved his eyes to the small hole in the storage space. A red blood eye stared back.
Shadows engulfed him.
***
Aidan heard something fell, but he didn't have time to think about that right now.
"Haha, I'm just joking with you. We know you use shadow cloning to trick us and both of you are hiding in the storage space right now," the male Propositor said.
"Alright, you got me, officer. Aidan, come out."
Aidan opened the storage space and came out. He stood and patted his clothes. Maninsov sat on the sofa, smiling. Both of the Propositor also smiled. They didn't seem like the cunning officers he imagined at all, and why was Maninsov smiling too? Maybe smiling meant frowning, no that was impossible. Smiling had always been universal throughout the galaxy, no matter what language or cultural barrier they have. Smiling always meant happiness.
"What are you going to do to us?" Aidan asked.
"Nothing. I just inspected the ship and see nothing wrong. Anyway, don't pull any prank on other Praepositor. You're lucky I can take a joke. But don't expect everyone to do the same. We're leaving now, take care both of you."
The Praepositor opened the door and left the shuttle. After the staircase retracted and the door closed, Aidan looked at Maninsov.
"They just left like that? They're not going to arrest or interrogate us? That's not something a cunning and evil person would do."
Maninsov laughed. "I'm just playing with you. Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'm going to the toilet. You can start eating without me if your meat arrives."
Maninsov stood up and went to a hall where Aidan thought the toilet was.
Aidan leaned on his sofa and drank his juice. He couldn't believe he had to hide inside the luggage space because of Maninsov's pranks. he really had a bad taste in jokes. Thankfully, the Praepositor was cool about it. If not, then they would certainly be taken into custody.
A maid came with a tray in her hands. She slid from the hall on the other side and set down the food. Taking a closer look, Aidan noticed that the maid was not a human or any other creature. She was a puppet. Her movement was quick and smooth, yet the plate didn't even tick against the table.
Her face was made out of wood pieced together. It was the same with her hands. She wore a black and white dress tied in a bow. The sleeves covered her arms right above the wrist. And covering her blonde hair was a white mop hat. Aidan guessed those billionaires couldn't help themself and directly copy the maids from earth.
"Do you need anything else, sir?" The maid said.
She had a humanlike voice, although slightly muffled and rigid. It felt programmed and unnatural. The voice assistant on earth was slightly better, but for a civilization that focused on magic, this was good enough. Aidan wondered how they make her speak and how they programmed her on what to do. They didn't have artificial intelligence, do they?
"Thank you, I don't—"
The fragrant smell of meat entered his nose. It had a tinge of spicy flavor into it, but it was not something Aidan disliked. Just by smelling it made his mouth water. His tongue became excited. It had been a while since it acted that way. Last time it was because of Wagyu steak, and that was the highest grade. Aidan took the knife and fork beside the plate.
"Sir?" the maid asked.
Aidan almost forgot about her. "Can you bring me more strawberry juice?"
The maid clasped her hand on her belly as she bowed. "Most certainly."
"Thank you."
Aidan pounced on the meat. Sawing the thick golden brown meat and revealed its fresh pink inside. He cut a chunk of it and stabbed it with his fork before he brought it inside his watery mouth. It felt like the meat melted inside as its juice squeezed out. It was soft and easy to break down. The sweet scent permeate inside his nose and brought a once-in-a-lifetime ecstasy to his brain. He had never used drugs before, but he was sure this was what it felt like to get high.
Aidan took another slice of meat as he looked at the window. Students came out of their shuttle and followed the Praepositor inside a giant ship in the shape of a golden bee. The size was bigger than the contritum shuttle stacked three times. He and Maninsov were truly lucky to meet with a cool Praepositor. If that was not the case, then they would have to go inside that giant ship and no one knows when he could come back and improve his strength.
He looked at his food as he chewed. He wondered if he could keep the bird for its meat if he killed it. Then maybe he could find a chef to cook it for him. He couldn't let Maninsov keep paying for him. Now that he thought about it, does the school provide food? It was Mrs. Zahir who gave him food last time, so he was not sure. Maybe he had to buy it himself. In that matter, he needed to find a job to get some money. He wished that was not the case. Aidan wanted to get stronger so he could explore this world without being afraid of being killed. The first day he came here, he was already chased by a deadly bird. Who knew what he would stumble against in the future. So he needed all the time he had to improve his strength, and getting a job would slow his progress.
"You're sure enjoying yourself," Maninsov said.
Aidan gulped. "It's not every day I can enjoy the meat of a giant bird with a huge pincher and the ability to fly at the speed of sound. And not to mention it was delicious too."
"Haha, it's good that you like it. You can try other food if you want. The Winged Serpent from the Silent Stream River is popular this week. Maybe we should try it sometime."
Aidan shook his head. "Nah, I'm not a fan of snakes."