Chương 126: Chapter 123: Investigation

"Rotham," Daphne muttered, sharp brown eyes fixed on the dark words scrawled across the page.

"I've heard that name before, but I don't know much about them." Lord Alardice clicked his tongue.

"They're decently influential in Serindell, but they're quite local. I wouldn't expect them to be particularly well known outside of Galen." His eyes narrowed.

"Lord Rotham has been trying to undermine me for years. He seems quite intent on increasing his family's influence." Pyre was pretty sure that was the most disdain she'd ever heard in Lord Alardice's voice before, which was an impressive feat considering that "mild disdain" was his default state of being. The dislike was practically dripping off of him. The noble in question ran a finger along the page, taking in the words.

"Though I did not think he would be involved in something like this," he added lowly, brows furrowing slightly.

"And yet you don't seem all that shocked," Pyre drawled. The man's lips thinned.

"I'm not some green fool." His voice was clipped.

"I'd never be able to maintain my position if I was surprised at such things." Pyre vaguely recalled the carriage-driver mentioning that the disappearances were different from the "usual shit" that happened in Serindell. Between this and his stony-faced reaction to Llyr admitting to mercy-killing a bunch of the victims and keeping the bodies in his house, she wondered what kind of stuff had gone down in the city in the past. Agnes had remained completely stoic the whole time, too.

"Okay, so Lord Rotham has been regularly purchasing ichor for an unknown reason since a month before the disappearances started in Serindell. Which isn't a guarantee of a connection, but it's the best lead we currently have," Callan muttered. He stepped back, still frowning at the open records. Pyre could see his mind churning as he parsed through the information.

"So our first step would probably be to investigate him. We—" Before the ghost could continue, Agnes cleared her throat, interrupting him. The knight captain looked apologetic as she nodded to their group.

"Before we continue, I'd like to confirm the presence of those bodies Llyr mentioned. I'm inclined to believe you," she added, nodding at the healer in question, "but I'd like to examine them myself. I don't think it would be helpful or particularly effective for us to proceed further without complete trust in the other.""'Complete' might be asking for too much," Pyre said with a snort. Agnes smiled at that.

"As much as possible, then." She turned to Lord Alardice and raised an eyebrow.

"I assume you feel the same, my lord?" The noble nodded slowly.

"Yes, that would be the first matter to attend to," he muttered.

"I assume the bodies are still at the seaside mansion?" At Callan's nod, Lord Alardice abruptly pushed his chair back, causing both Callan and Daphne to quickly dart back in surprise. He ignored the dirty look Daphne shot him and simply straightened, brushing off his coat with an almost bored expression.

"Henry, tell Joseph to prepare two carriages." The knight bowed, looking just the slightest bit put out at being reduced to running errands. He spun around and exited the dining hall once more, armor clanking behind him. Once the doors had closed once again, Agnes nodded to Daphne.

"Lady Daphne, I know you mentioned that you'd prefer if as few people knew about this as possible. I do agree with you on that front, but I'd like to bring a trusted medic with us. He'll be able to examine the bodies more thoroughly than I can, and I can personally vouch for his character." Daphne frowned. She didn't look particularly happy about the idea of adding more potential loose ends, but this didn't seem like an area the knight captain (or Lord Alardice) was willing to budge on.

She and Callan exchanged a look, some silent conversation passing between them.

"Alright," she finally said, "but we'll only tell him what's needed to examine the bodies. We won't mention the group's existence, the possible Lord Rotham link, or any of our plans." Agnes nodded.

"That's completely reasonable. I'll go fetch him—he lives nearby. It shouldn't take long." True to her word, half an hour later she came back with a wary middle-aged man who didn't look like he wanted to be anywhere near here. He was particularly suspicious of Pyre, based on the way he kept glancing in the demon's direction, and smiled more fondly at Llyr. He didn't know about the siren thing, then. On the other's part, Llyr barely reacted to the greeting, which left the other healer confused.

The siren had remained almost entirely silent since his comment to Henry, and he was still seated at the table staring distantly at the wall. Pyre raised an eyebrow.

"Yo, the carriages're here. We're leaving." Slowly, Llyr raised his head to meet the demon's gaze. His face was blank. He nodded once, then stood and left to join the others waiting by the dining hall entrance. Still not talking, then. Then again, maybe that was for the better considering the last thing he'd said had done rather poorly on the "don't seem suspicious" front. Pyre gave the healer a final look, then shrugged and left for the exit as well. The carriage ride was a silent affair.

With both Henry and the doctor tagging along with them, that left four people to a carriage. Pyre rode in one with Agnes, Llyr, and Lord Alardice while Callan and Daphne rode in the other with Henry and the doctor. Lord Alardice took to staring idly out the window the entire ride while Llyr was apparently still insistent on staying quiet. This, as expected, led to a rather quiet trip. Halfway through the journey as the carriage entered the Lower Ring, Agnes quirked an eyebrow at Pyre that she met with her own.

The demon didn't feel a need to fill the silence herself, though, and neither did the knight captain, so they kept like that for the rest of the way there. It was still early enough in the day that the sun hadn't begun setting yet, though it was distinctly lower in the sky since they'd arrived at the Alardice estate for questioning. The waves continued to crash rhythmically against the shore.

Pyre hopped out of the carriage—jumping in and out was ironically the best way to avoid the whole thing tipping over from her weight, she'd found—and landed on a harder patch of dirt that wouldn't sink down too much. She heard the others getting out behind her as well as the members of the second carriage. In contrast to their completely silent ride, Daphne and Callan were muttering to each other when they got out, locked deep in a conversation that the demon was willing to bet five eyes on was about magic.

Based on the slightly weary look on Henry and the doctor's face, they'd probably been at it the whole ride. Pyre strode forward towards the front entrance. The mansion still looked the same as before, pristine and silent from the outside. As Llyr unlocked the door and swung it open, she remembered that the interior was currently in the exact opposite state since they'd never cleaned it up after her and Llyr's fight. They maybe should've warned the Alardice and knight crew about it beforehand.

She suspected Daphne and Callan had both forgotten, too absorbed with first the interrogation, the ambush, then the latest discovery of Lord Rotham's possible connection. Stolen novel; please report. Maybe Llyr remembered, but if he did, he clearly didn't care since he didn't hesitate to step inside. Lord Alardice and Agnes trailed behind him. The former immediately stopped.

Pyre could see the moment his eyes landed on the pile of rubble deeper inside the manor, then moved up to catch a glimpse of the cracked staircase and the absolute mess of broken walls and debris on the upper floors. His mouth opened, then closed again.

"What," he began, "is this." Pyre heard Daphne quietly curse behind them. Yeah, she and Callan had definitely forgotten, the demon thought in amusement. To be fair, she had too until they'd gotten here.

"We had a bit of a disagreement earlier," Llyr said idly. Ah, so he was talking again. Maybe not for the better, though, if the way Lord Alardice's eyebrow twitched was any indication.

"And what sort of disagreement involves destroying my entire mansion?"

"The first floor is intact," Llyr remarked, still in that short, slightly detached tone.

"My guests found the corpses I was keeping locked in the storage room."

"Oh my god," Callan muttered. Daphne scowled at the healer.

"You know there's other ways you can phrase things, right. You don't actually have to pick the most suspicious-sounding one every time." The siren's lips thinned.

"I don't care for mincing words."

"That's not the point." Before Llyr could respond, Pyre cut in.

"We found the bodies, fought about it, then stopped once we learned about the group and what's actually been going on. Not all that different from your whole ambush thing, actually." She gestured casually around them.

"Didn't have a chance to clean up yet."

"The Bellheins will pay for the damages," Daphne added. Unlike when she'd offered to pay for the damages to the city after Pyre's merry chase after the tattooed guy, she didn't look particularly happy to be offering the same to Lord Alardice. The noble in question, meanwhile, had been standing rooted in place since entering the mansion. This probably wasn't what he'd been imagining when he'd loaned the place out, Pyre thought with a snort.

Agnes let out a light chuckle, which finally seemed to jar Lord Alardice out of his blank-faced shock. He turned and shot the knight captain a scowl, which she thoroughly ignored.

"Oddly enough, this makes me more inclined to believe you," she remarked with a smile. She cocked her head.

"At the very least, I know Llyr's explanation was already vetted once." If only the knight knew just how much it had been "vetted." And how many limbs had been lost in the process. In the corner of her eye, Pyre caught a brief flash in Llyr's eyes that was all too reminiscent of what she'd seen after their fight. She gave the siren a long look, considering. She took note of the way his arm would twitch every now and then, the tense line of his shoulders that hadn't gone down since they'd left the Alardice manor.

Her eyes narrowed. No, now that she thought about it, that specific tension had been present starting from a certain moment. To the side, Callan and Daphne were explaining as little as they could get away with to the bewildered-looking doctor. Presumably so he wouldn't be completely caught off guard when they went to the store room. Llyr looked just as stiff as before, and in that moment, the demon came to a decision.

"Hey." Llyr's eyes snapped to hers, and she jerked her head in the direction of the hall.

"I think it's time we had a chat." The healer's brows furrowed, and Callan glanced over at them with a frown.

"Right now? We're about to head upstairs," the ghost said. Pyre sent him a casual wave.

"You guys go ahead. It's not like you need us when the doc's examining shit." Actually, they'd probably ask Llyr to wait outside the room anyway, just so he didn't influence the doctor's judgement.

"We'll catch up later." Callan opened his mouth, then closed it again. He squinted, glancing between Pyre and Llyr. Some sort of understanding dawned on his face, and he slowly nodded. Callan turned away, presumably to explain what was going on to the others, and Pyre used the opportunity to push past Llyr and stride further down the hall. A few moments later, she heard the siren hesitantly follow behind her. Pyre ended up stopping in the infirmary.

It was far enough away to be private, and she was used to the place after spending so long in there watching Callan, Daphne, and Llyr puzzle out their ritual spell. The room wasn't in the greatest condition, considering the scorch marks on the wall and the toppled table, but it looked practically sterile compared to the rest of the mansion. Pyre strode forward and came to a stop by the window. Outside, she could see the ocean waves churning below the warm sunlight.

When she leaned back against the wall, its surface was noticeably warmer than the rest of the mansion. Llyr stopped a little ways away from the demon, entire body drawn in a line of tension. He studied Pyre warily.

"What is it?" he said slowly. Pyre didn't respond right away. She simply watched the healer with flat, unblinking grey eyes. She cocked her head.

"Was it the restraints?" she finally said, voice betraying no emotion. Llyr stiffened.

"…I don't know what you mean," he gritted out. His fingers had squeezed tightly into a fist, Pyre noted. The demon just hummed, her own body language every bit as casual and lax as ever.

"After our fight, you were panicking. And you've been doing the same thing since Agnes put those shackles on you. So, was it the restraints?" Llyr's eyes flashed in understanding, probably thinking back to when Pyre had used her flesh warping to hold him in place after their fight. He exhaled.

"No," he murmured.

"That wasn't the reason back then."

"But it is this time." It was a statement, not a question. Llyr's lips thinned, his silence confirming it. Pyre cocked her head.

"I'm not gonna judge or whatever, but you're acting kind of suspicious right now. Not that I'm one to talk," the demon added with an amused snort, "but it's not great for the whole investigation thing. So if you know something's gonna set you off or you feel the panic coming or whatever, say it. It'd also save Callan and Daphne from wondering why you're being more snappy than usual." Llyr was quiet at that. Pyre had a brief moment to wonder if she should've gone about this differently.

Consulting Callan or Daphne might've been a good idea, but she was pretty sure neither of them had really figured out what was going on with the healer. The only reason she'd realized was because she'd seen it happen once. In the end, though, Llyr released a long breath.

"I know," he finally said. One of his hands moved up, unconsciously fiddling with his earring again.

"My apologies, I haven't been making things easier. Normally it's not this bad," he muttered.

"You know, you could probably talk to Callan or Daphne about," Pyre remarked. She paused.

"Or me, but a soulless demon's probably not on the top of your list for best listeners," she added with a snort. Llyr smiled thinly.

"You all already know more about my past than I'd like. I see the way Callan and Daphne glance at me when they think I'm not looking. I imagine they've already made all sorts of assumptions." The demon shrugged.

"They do the same with me. Just how it is for reincarnators." She was pretty sure Callan had already formed an entire theory in his head about who her past self was and what had led to her current soul-shattering situation.

"It's different for you," Llyr said, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"You don't remember your past life. You don't understand." Pyre studied the healer for a moment.

"I do remember dying," she finally said. She shrugged.

"Got that memory with the last soul piece." Llyr's head snapped up at that, blue eyes immediately landing on the demon while she continued speaking.

"You're not wrong, though. Without any past memories to back it up, it doesn't really hit the same. Feels a little detached." She gestured vaguely. The words didn't feel entirely sufficient to explain the ghostly way that memory lingered, the faint ripples of emotion in her chest when she thought of it that never quite coalesced into anything bigger. Less a shard and more an afterimage. It was too hollow and intangible to be anything solid. Llyr opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Pyre could see his jaw flexing as he digested the words. He swallowed.

"…How did you die?" he finally asked. The question was hesitant and careful, but Pyre could see the intense curiosity in the siren's gaze. It was reminiscent of when he'd first found out she was also a reincarnator—that same cautious, almost hopeful glint. She had no real reason to answer him. It wouldn't benefit her in any way. And yet, the demon found herself responding anyway.

"I jumped off a building." Her voice was blunt and utterly devoid of emotion. Llyr stilled, and Pyre cocked her head, steel grey eyes still watching the other reincarnator.

"What about you?" The siren hesitated. Pyre half expected him to dodge the question, but that glint was still there. Llyr glanced around, surveying the room as though ensuring it was empty before focusing on the demon again. Her eyebrows rose. And then, to Pyre's surprise, Llyr answered.