Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?-Chapter 191 – Next Step

Chapter 191 – Next Step

[I’m sorry, everyone.] (Eva)

[For the love of everything, don’t be.] (Luna)

[The duo got exactly what they deserved. You, on the other hand, were treated as if you were lesser. I’ve heard talks around the city about appraisal prices, and the figures they were suggesting were less than a tenth of the average. They scammed you for your services, and I know what you are about to say: you couldn’t use mana, so it had to be expected. No. They scammed you, that is it.] (Syrus)

They were a duo of bullies that, in Syrus's eyes, exploited a child who was already struggling. The way they laughed about it, and snickered, even in front of Anlesa, who had been asking about the person. Perhaps they assumed Anlesa had no personal connection to the child and was just someone doing reporting, but either way, that wasn’t how people should act.

It wasn’t just because of what they said; it was for how they treated Eva for all those years.

Luna was the one who made the potion go off, but it was Syrus who suggested the action. Was it a bit of an extreme reaction? Probably, but Syrus was the type of person who was ready to punch their faces in but held herself back due to such actions being extremely detrimental for their current situation.

They went around a few more places to chase some leads, but in the end, the results seemed to be clear. When Lilly died, no one noticed her decomposing body for at least three weeks. Then, since it was in such a state, the body was taken to be thrown into the trash instead of being properly buried in the city’s catacomb system. Looking into the records for the catacombs was basically impossible, as they didn’t track who was actually buried within it.

[...I’m sorry you had to go through such things, Lilly.] (Luna)

[It’s not like I have memories of my body rotting and being thrown out.] (Eva)

[Your body shouldn’t be treated in such a way…] Luna wished to cry. [You shouldn’t have been left to rot like that; you should’ve never been treated disrespectfully by people like that.]

Luna was upset about how they treated Lilly’s body. But like Syrus, who cared about how Lilly was treated, that side of the argument was also more important to Luna as well. She just didn’t realise how bad the treatment was, but seeing the couple almost bragging about their mistreatment, and the fact that not a single person apparently visited Lilly for so long… It hurt Luna, and she was glad Eva didn’t experience that part after death.

Luna knew Eva would be upset with her if she knew some of her anger was directed at Lilly’s parents. Luna knew Eva felt fondly of her original parents, and even when they found out she had younger siblings, Luna was only happy that Lilly had more family, but when learning the truth that really no one visited Eva for so long… it brought up a deep, burning rage.

Eventually, when emotions calmed, it was decided that they return to the group.

Anlesa walked through the streets and turned down an alley that would lead towards the manor where they currently lived. Since it was an alley, nobody was standing around, but they found it to be a good direct path back to the residence.

[Looks like we got company.] (Syrus)

[Where?] (Luna)

[Hiding in the trash and a few people in the side alleys.] (Syrus)

[Level of worry?] (Luna)

[Nothing.] (Syrus)

“Give us your money!” A man yelled after jumping out from a box in the alley with a club, swinging towards Anlesa’s head.

The action screamed they had no desire to come to a nice agreement.

Four more people quickly came out of the alleys to provide emotional support with handmade weapons.

[What an interesting party.] Syrus raised her foot to the air and kicked the man right in the face. It would’ve been much more efficient to punch him, but she wanted to have a little fun; no one around seemed to be an actual threat.

[Party? This group of hooligans? They don’t deserve to be referred to referred to as such ] (Luna)

Syrus caught the club, which no longer had an owner. It was nothing more than a lump of metal, some kind of pipe. The restrictions on acquiring weapons within the country’s walls were much tighter compared to all the other countries they visited, so people within had to get creative if they wanted to beat someone over the head.

“So,” Syrus said with a devilish grin. “How much money do you have?”

Her words spooked the group, but perhaps too well. Despite having a perfect exit, they were the ones who felt trapped in a corner with a raging beast.

“Argh!” One screamed and rushed towards Anlesa. Syrus punched him in the face and threw his body like a potato sack into another one of the group.

[Sigh....] Luna was certainly disappointed they were getting into a fight in this city. Everything went so well. Why did they have to get more blood on their clothes here, of all places? All she could think was that bad apples do really exist everywhere.

[There isn’t a slum in this city, but they certainly act like they are from a third-rate gang.] Syrus replied while tossing the ambush party into a trash pile. This so-called gang couldn't hold a candle to Syrus. She was also a little disappointed that she didn’t bring Ethan along with them. It would’ve been a great practice.

[They certainly don’t look like they are lacking money either.] (Luna)

The group was well dressed in the sense that their clothes at least looked new. No second hand or stolen clothes in this group. Of course, one could speculate they had bought it with stolen money, which was certainly a possibility.

Everyone was now in a nice (not dead) pile. Killing somewhere he would bring about consequences they sure didn’t want to deal with.

Syrus could hear the footsteps of someone coming near. Likely by the weight of the steps and some form of guard and chose to book it before anything annoying could happen.

Thankfully, no trouble followed them, and they could proceed with the rest of their plans.

The following days, Anlesa did some investigating, mostly in Syrus’s form. They did create a few unique disguises, which served as good practice for Eva, who hadn’t experimented much with Morph in what felt like a long while. Whenever they used a new disguise, they made sure to swap in secure places and leave no traces. Syrus’s being the master in the field of knowing the movements of everyone in her vicinity made this process much easier.

The plan to investigate the past was something they had on their mind. Originally, it was only going to be a small look while they were temporarily in the city. Eva accepted that a full exploration into the country’s past would be a big undertaking. However, entering the city with the unexpected energy in the air from people who were already wishing to know their history meant that leads into the past might be easier than they originally guessed, as there could already be people who had begun that work.

Of course, it wasn’t that easy when they actually tried to look into the past; many leads led nowhere. There was the possibility of giving up, as they had other objectives, but Mary’s request was enough not to abandon this investigation into the past.

From their results, there were no major leads into what caused the fatal plague. There was a lack of material to explore and draw a conclusion from. All theories were made from comparing it to other diseases because no one was able to examine the original sickness. There was a major lack of injected material at the time.

However, they weren’t without potential leads. There were a few groups who had been collecting information about that year and the people. One of those groups was someone who they already knew, Havier and his paper company. The Weekly Paper had a story about someone who died during the plague every week. The details weren’t necessarily about how they died. Most of the time, it was about what type of person they were, an effort to maintain memories of the fallen.

Anlesa had listened to many praises and complaints about the company and its practices for profiting off these people’s stories. But what they cared about was the information itself. The number of different true stories about people who died and whose information was preserved even after the massive information cleanse. It was a clear sign that if not Havier himself, his company had its hands deep in investigating the past.

[Everything is set.] (Syrus)

So, here they were. After spying on Havier and his operations for a few days, they were ready to make their move.

Inside his work office, Havier walked through his door to his closed-off office. There was a tiny window to the outside that a bird could barely fit through, but it provided enough sunlight for him.

Thinking about his next appointment, Havier walked towards his desk, where someone called out to him. “Hello, Mr Havier.”

“!” Havier turned around as the familiar voice came from a location it shouldn’t have.

The words were logged into this throat for a moment before he coughed to release them. “Hello as well, Ms Syrus.” Maintaining his composure, he moved towards his seat. “May I ask why you are here? It is quite dangerous to partake in such activities." He didn’t even bother asking why she was standing in the corner, feeling that such an answer wouldn’t be given.

He was still confused. The locks on the door had been sealed with a magic signature that meant only keys with that code and shape could open the door. Not to mention all the other security measures and all the people in the building.

“Personal curiosities," Luna replied.

There was a limit to what they could uncover without speaking with someone. They had searched through some reports within the room, but everything was related to the company. Searching Lord Hall’s house was difficult, as any room that could’ve kept confidential files was secure, and the risk of being spotted was increased as everyone was much more aware of their presence.

“You are the proud owner of a certain selection of information I require.”

“Is this on behalf of Mary?”

“Is that information necessary?” Luna smiled. “I want to know what happened during the plague thirty years ago.”

“Why would I have such information?”

“Please. It took a while to fact-check, but every story you told has been confirmed to be true. Out of everyone I have looked into, your company, you, have the most information about people from that time.”

He sighed, “May we have this conversation tomorrow?”

[Do we let him?] (Syrus)

[I see no harm. If he tries to set up some kind of trap, then that also gives us information.] (Luna)

[Dealing with the trap would be the easy part.] (Syrus)

[Unless our luck is that awful, then he shouldn’t die before our next meeting.] (Luna)

[True, but if he does, then we have a new target to hunt.] (Syrus)

“Of course.” Luna clapped her hands. “Any particular place?”

“My office in Lord Hall’s residence will suffice."

“Lovely.” Luna stepped forward and turned the door handle. “Pleasure to continue this conversation, Mr Havier.”

Once she stepped out of the room, Havier realised he had greatly underestimated that woman.