"Yeah, but my way made us meet him faster!" Octavia shot back.
"You frightened a potential information source. He’ll be too scared to think of anything useful."
"Quite the contrary," she said proudly. "Mother always said people are more memorable when they’re scared."
Renlo watched them bicker with a wry smile. He had only spent a few hours with them, but already knew what to expect.
"Both of you will become great friends..." he muttered absently.
Both Malakai and Octavia’s gazes snapped toward him at once. Renlo visibly flinched. "W-what?" he stammered.
"What are you talking about?" Octavia demanded.
"Em... em..." Renlo looked to Malakai for help, but all he got was a blank stare that said the same thing: What are you talking about? Orıginal content can be found at NoveI[F]ire.net
Renlo was saved by a sudden cry.
"Olen! What are you—" The man’s eyes widened the moment he saw the two veins. "Esteemed veins!" he blurted, quickly approaching and offering a deep bow.
"I apologize for my lateness in welcoming you. My name is Bell Sanguine. I hope your journey here was free of troubles."
"Bell..." Octavia stepped forward, addressing him in a sharp tone. "I’m surprised you’re showing us respect now. Your little stunt earlier suggested otherwise."
Bell let out an awkward laugh. "Forgive me, Tenth Vein, that wasn’t my intention."
Malakai silently observed him. Coinmaster Bell was a man of imposing height and build. Like most of the Umbrella Group’s upper ranks, he was a Sanguine, and a strong Bloom at that.
Yet, his tone as he addressed the twelve-year-old vein was as respectful as that of a servant.
’At least he’s not as broken as the other one,’ Malakai thought.
After appeasing the irritated Tenth Vein, the Coinmaster led them to a private room where tea was served. Malakai went straight to business.
"I’m here to investigate the sudden disappearances occurring in the Umbrella Group," he said. "Tell me everything about your daughter."
The Coinmaster’s face darkened the instant she was mentioned. His expression turned solemn, and Malakai could hear the grief hidden in his voice as he began to recount everything about her.
Unlike Coinmaster Oner’s wife, the daughter was a jovial one. As the eldest, she had been set to take over from her father and was deeply invested in the matters of the Umbrella Group.
This required her to frequently venture around the city, and sometimes even out of it. But at the end of Bell’s explanation, to Malakai’s surprise, the same thing had occurred in this case.
The daughter had suddenly vanished from the mansion without any trace. Malakai pushed for more information but came out blank.
He even asked to look around the mansion and examine the last place she’d supposedly been, her room.
"There’s nothing here," Octavia said after some minutes of searching the room.
It was a large space, simple, considering it belonged to a woman.
Malakai didn’t say anything. Instead, he kept on observing everything silently.
At this point, even Renlo had made his way back to the door. There was clearly nothing here.
’It’s too clean.’ Malakai’s mind worked quickly.
There was not even a single thing out of place in the room. Compared to Oner’s powerless housewife, Bell’s daughter was a warrior of the Synergy stage. That she vanished without a trace was baffling.
’I should be able to find something...’
Bell had assured them that nothing had been touched since his daughter vanished. Even her table filled with scattered documents was untouched. Which meant...
’There was no struggle.’
Malakai moved over to the curtain at the end of the room and sniffed it. The action baffled Octavia and Renlo, who stared at Malakai in bewilderment.
"Is he alright in the head?" Octavia whispered to Renlo, who didn’t know what to answer.
’No off smell.’ Malakai determined.
No gas was used to knock her unconscious. Malakai spread his perception around the room, but couldn’t even find a single dent.
’Did she really just vanish?’
Malakai gave the room one last look, but couldn’t find anything new until his eyes landed on the open window.
’Had it always been opened?’
"Bell." He called out, and the Coinmaster, who had been outside the door, entered.
"You called, Ninth Vein."
The man appeared a bit shaken. To enter the room where his daughter had last been was traumatic for him.
"That window." Malakai gestured to the open window. "Has it always been opened?"
"Yes, Ninth Vein," Bell answered. "We met it open the day she vanished."
Bell nodded his head, as if expecting the question.
"It’s very odd, Ninth Vein," he replied quickly. "There was a time she always kept her window open, but one night when she was little, a creature slipped in. She screamed, and I rushed over to kill it.
Since that day, she’s never opened her window again."
"Can it be opened from outside?"
"No. It has a lock on the inside which she always uses."
From his tone, Malakai could tell that the man suspected the same thing he did. Somehow, the window had been opened, and that was where she had been taken from the mansion.
"Alright." Malakai turned away from the window and moved to the door. "If I have any other questions, I’ll come back."
The Coinmaster saw them out of the mansion. As they vanished from his sight, the smile on his face disappeared.
"What do you think, Olen?"
The butler stared at the distant veins, specifically Malakai.
"His prowess is shocking, master. But he’s only a child. Is it alright to leave this to him?"
Some time ago, the Chaos Bringer had sent a missive throughout the entire Umbrella Group. Its words were simple:
By order of the Sovereign, the Ninth Vein, Malakai Von Sanguine, will investigate the disappearances within the Umbrella Group.
He will be accompanied by the intelligent and beautiful Tenth Vein, Octavia Von Sanguine.
For the sake of your lives, or something even more certain, I suggest you cooperate.
Delay or hide anything, and you will discover exactly how uncomfortable I can make your lives.
This is not a suggestion.
— Vaelira Von Sanguine, Exalted Sixth Pulse of the Sanguine Clan.
Bell, as well as many affiliates of the Umbrella Group, didn’t know what to make of this.
To ask a fourteen-year-old to investigate something as serious as this was baffling.
But after everything he’d just witnessed, Bell wasn’t so sure anymore.
’He was able to figure out how she disappeared.’