บท 69: Investigation
Looking through the door, Apollo saw a downcast Rose coming in. Sweat could be seeing in her face and her clothes were drenched in blood.
"Rose!? Are you injured!?"
Noticing her Master's surprise she made sure to assure him with a smile and a few words.
"I'm fine, this blood is not mine. Master, I have something to report."
"Hmm! Go ahead."
By Apollo's reaction, Rose could already guess that he had discovered what had happened, so she didn't hold back her words and started explaining what had just happened.
-/-
One hour ago Rose was heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner for Apollo when she saw Alyssa running to the Palace by the Palace's window.
By the look of her clothes, full of dirt and scratches, she had recklessly run through the forest without caring about her own body. Guessing something urgent had happened, Rose quickly jumped out of the window to meet her, postponing her questions about where had she been all this time.
Seeing Rose suddenly appearing before her, Alyssa almost collided on her, but was somehow able to stop just in time.
She grabbed Rose's shoulders in a clear sign of distress and started speaking a few words at a time while catching up her breath, causing Rose to misunderstand her.
"Big! Problem! Big! Problem! The Oni army! They are just! Outside the base! West of here! They-"
(Oh! So she doesn't know yet! That's why she is like this!)
"Calm down Alyssa! The battle is over! We have won!"
"Eh!?"
"I said, we have won! They are not our enemies anymore! So calm down! They are camping outside because they are deciding if they wish to join us or not."
"That's not it! They-They-They are all dead!"
"...What!?"
"All dead! The Oni! The whole camp! Dead!"
"What do you mean by that!? What happened!?"
"I don't know! There are green marks on their chests and neck! No signs of battle! I think it's poison. Anyway, we have to warn Master about this!"
Remembering Apollo's figure sleeping in the living room's armchair, Rose stopped Alyssa.
"Master is tired now, no need to bother him."
"But!"
"I know, I know, we will investigate. Calm down a little and go take a bath and rest. Leave everything to me!"
"No! I! Ugh!"
Because Alyssa was emotionally unstable and refused to cooperate, Rose quickly took action knocking her out.
"Hime!"
"Yes!"
Appearing behind her like a ghost, Hime greeted Rose with a bow.
"Give Alyssa a bath and change her clothes. After you are finished, make some dinner for Master as he should wake up soon."
(How the hell do you know that!?)
"Yes!"
Hime knew all too well what happened to those who defied Rose's orders, and even if she didn't there was a nice reminder right in front of her in the form of Alyssa's unconscious figure so she made sure to hold back her own thoughts and respectfully accept her new orders.
"I will now call Daisy and Mint and head to the Oni camp to investigate what happened."
"Yes."
"We should come back soon but if Master wakes up before we come back, don't tell Master anything, or else he will surely feel guilty when he discovers this happened."
"Understood."
Following her own words Rose quickly gathered an investigation party and headed to the Oni camp in record speed.
"Waaaah!!!! They are truly all dead!"
"Alyssa wouldn't lie about this."
"Well, yeah but she could be mistaken..."
"Mistaken how?"
"Dunno? What if they were just asleep?"
While Nyau and Yuu made small talk, Rose and Mint examined the corpses in more details.
"No signs of injury. And they all have the same signs of poisoning..."
"Maybe someone poisoned their food?"
"It's possible but would they all eat at the same time?"
"Does the poison has a delayed effect?"
"Oh! That could be it! Hmm... I will have to investigate. Let me take some samples! Please hold this body for me."
"Okay, but what are you-!!!"
Before Rose could finish her question, Mint drew out a short knife and stabbed right in the middle of the poisoning marks.
"Let's take some samples here... and here... and here as well."
Mint started butchering the Oni's body without hesitation, while Rose, who was holding it, ended up taking a blood bath.
"Okay, that's enough!"
After retrieving samples of both the poisoned area and the healthy one, she store them all in separate bottles and stepped back.
"Rose!? What happened to you!? You are all covered in blood!"
(This little! Just you wait!)
Holding back her fury, Rose ignored her question and threw the body aside.
"Yuu, Nyau. Any clues?"
"No, there are too many footprints around for us to make any sense of them."
"It's also not easy to search at night. Maybe we will be luckier in the morning."
"Hmm.... All right. Then let's go back."
-/-
"And that's what happened. Now Mint will do some tests with the poison to see what she finds out, and we will go back in the morning to look for more clues."
After hearing her report Apollo nodded his head.
"I see. But I think you missed the most important thing."
"Eh?"
"It's obvious enough that this was not an accident, so, ignoring who and how, what we need to be aware first and foremost is why and what will be their next steps."
"Hmm..."
"Maybe I'm reading too much into it but there is a high chance that Hayate is the culprit. As for his reason, he was pretty clear about wishing revenge, so maybe this is his revenge now that their Master is gone."
"I see, then..."
"Yeah, he should not be a threat to us, but if I'm right he will probably not stop before all Oni are killed."
"Then should we just let him do as he please?"
"...No. I understand his pain but I can't agree with killing innocent people just because of that. Rose, gather the girls, we are going to chase after him."
"Master knows where he is!?"
"Isn't it obvious? The only place with Oni's left in this island should be their home base. Quickly, move fast or we will arrive too late! Wake up Bacon and Daisy, grab your equipment and gather in front of the Palace."
"Understood!"
As Rose vanished from Apollo's sight, Apollo looked through the window, staring at the night sky.
"Stopping him is the obvious, but, after that... how should I punish him? Fuck..."
Less than 5 minutes later, Apollo, Rose, Daisy, Yuu and Nyau stood on top of Bacon's back, as Bacon charged through the night in direction of the Oni's home base.
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