A remarkably awkward silence had fallen over the two boys once Alden had left the room. Hazel was no empath, but they looked strangely melancholic for some reason. She glanced around the room again, finally noticing that it was littered with photo albums of a couple.
"So... any idea what we're dealing with?" the girl asked randomly to break the silence.
"Doesn't matter until we find it," Liam muttered to himself. "Ugh, why this room...?"
"I don't mean to be nosy, but is this your parents' room?" Hazel asked, her eyes still fixated on a photograph. "Where are they?"
More silence.
"They're dead," Liam stated with a surprising amount of coldness in his voice. "Killed by Wendigos in the line of duty nine years ago, along with all twenty members of the House of Davies. They were gored right through their backs when they shielded their foolish son from wandering into the battlefield. This is— No, was— their room."
"I'm sorry—" Hazel began, but the boy interrupted her with a short chuckle.
"No, no. Don't be. They died serving a greater cause; it's a better death than most can hope for." He smiled wryly. "That's why I can't let more people die on my watch. As Magus, we must protect the world from supernatural threats. It is our duty, no matter how much we need to sacrifice."
Chester glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows, before looking away silently.
"It is our duty," Liam repeated in a harder tone as if to affirm himself. "And as the only surviving member of my House, it is..."
He swallowed. "It is my duty."
Hazel decided to keep her silence as well. She had only known the Union of Mages for three days, but Liam and Chester's sentiments about this organisation were already as clear as day. She envied their exciting double life, sure. But it seemed they had quite a high price to pay for something they did not exactly sign up for either.
"Master Davies?"
Hazel looked up as a line of well-dressed servants practically marched into the room. There were no less than five of them, but they looked more like a small group of friends in this huge bedroom. Alden was standing beside them, although he seemed to be throwing Hazel strange glances now and then.
"Ah, about time." Liam turned his attention back to them without hesitation, as though he hadn't just relived a traumatic memory just a few seconds ago. "What do you have for me?"
A maid stood forward after a few seconds of waiting to see who should go first.
"Last night, I woke up to a strange sound," she began. "Fearing that our house had been intruded, I followed the source of the sound to this room, only to find it already in disarray."
"What exactly did you hear?"
"The sound of something heavy toppling over."
Liam glanced at the bookshelves. "I suppose that would be those. Alright, did anyone hear anything else?"
Another servant stepped forward. "I heard strange knocking sounds all around me last night as well. It sounded like something was banging around in our walls. I tried to investigate, but I couldn't find anything."
"Did anyone hear the sound of glass breaking?" Chester spoke up.
The servants looked at each other, before collectively shaking their heads.
"Why do you ask?" Liam raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"If it were an intruder, the only way it could've gotten in is by breaking a window, no? Your windows are huge. If they were broken, surely the commotion would be loud enough to be heard." Chester gestured at the room windows that were at least two metres tall. "You have charms all over this house that protect against lockpicking techniques too. So how exactly did your uninvited guest get in?"
"Good point," Liam muttered. "Does anyone else have anything to add?"
A few more servants stepped forward. "We have missing food in the kitchen, and there were those webbed footprints all over the walls as well."
"Oh? But you served breakfast as usual today, didn't you?"
"Yes, that's because our breakfast menu for this week didn't involve the stolen food," a servant replied. "We had purchased a few packets of roasted soybeans to serve as a side dish, but we found a small hole in our packets. Half of the soybeans are gone."
"Heh, this little rat has quite the appetite, doesn't he?" Chester commented with a slight smirk.
Roasted soybeans...?
Hazel's eyes sharpened as something rang in her mind.
"Sorry, may I ask something?" she asked in a small voice. "Are roasted soybeans the only food that went missing? How about cucumbers?"
"Oh, now that you mention it, yes! There was a small dent in our cabinet where the cucumbers would have been, although no cucumbers were taken. Thank goodness we locked it tightly enough."
"Do you have an idea of what it is?" Liam turned to Hazel.
"I just recalled something Chester mentioned yesterday." She nodded. "Among the missing Yokai, a Kappa is one of them, isn't it? It's a river spirit that loves roasted soybeans and cucumbers. That would also explain why I keep getting a 'watery' sensation from its presence."
Liam's face visibly brightened. "Well done, Hazel!"
"But we still haven't figured out how it got into your house," Chester mused. "A Kappa is akin to a Nixie, I believe. I don't believe its magic is advanced enough to let it slip through walls."
"Perhaps we should investigate the kitchen as well—"
"If I may, Master Davies."
Liam turned to Alden. "Yes?"
"Wilson mentioned knocking sounds all around the house," Alden said calmly. "If this is truly a river spirit we're dealing with, could it perhaps be travelling through somewhere... wet?"
The teenagers looked up at where the head butler was pointing.
"The pipes..." Liam breathed. "Of course, our pipes are connected to the waterfall outside the house! That's how it must've got in! But where could it be hiding? We have pipes all over the house and there's a sink in every bedroom."
"Soybeans are a type of legume, aren't they?" Chester picked up his bowl of nuts. "I may have an inkling of where our little Yokai was attracted to."
~ ~ ~
"What a way to find out that bowl of nuts was meant for me..." Liam groaned as he followed Chester's lead up the winding staircase. "I know I told you to treat this place like your home, but you should really stop stealing my food."
"Ah... I said I'm sorry, mate." Chester put his hand on his head sheepishly, offering the bowl to Liam. "You can have the rest."
"Gee, thanks for leaving the last two for me," Liam said sarcastically, but he scooped the legumes into his mouth anyway. "How generous of you..."
The trio stopped in front of a polished wooden door near the entrance of the mansion. It looked no different from the others in the house, but it was still an impressive sight, nonetheless.
Like the rest of the mansion, it was larger than normal. Intricate engravings of designs were carved into its yellowish sandalwood face, giving the door a sweeping yet meticulous look. The most fascinating part was a faint golden halo around the dull brass doorknob, which turned a light blue as Liam approached it.
His hand stopped a few centimetres away from the doorknob.
"Alden, do me a favour and have all the servants standing by at their designated stations will you?" Liam instructed the butler. "Make sure they watch the toilets, basins, sinks— Anywhere that leads to a pipe. I don't want the creature to get away this time."
The Butler nodded and turned on his heel swiftly.
"Is that your room?" Hazel asked Liam, whose arms were already covered with glowing bangles of light. A purple aura swelled around Chester as his eyes lit up with magic as well, but Liam grabbed him firmly.
"I am almost certain the monster is in my room now; its presence is suffocating. But don't engage just yet," he warned. "If this Yokai is anything like a Nixie, it's going to be one slippery monster. We're no match for its speed, so we can't afford to startle it."
Chester's eyes stopped glowing.
"Here goes nothing..." Liam muttered and twisted the doorknob.
The door swung open to an empty bedroom. It was the same size as the previous room, although it looked a lot less antique and a lot messier.
"I knew it." Chester snapped his fingers, before pointing at a bedside table. "There was supposed to be one more bowl of soybeans. It's missing now."
A shadow flitted in the corner as the three teenagers swung around immediately.
Chills skittered down Hazel's spine as she felt the watery presence intensify sharply. It was so potent now that she could almost taste it. And fortunately, this meant that the Yokai could not hide from her senses.
The girl closed her eyes, focusing on her instincts. She raised a finger after a few seconds, pointing silently at a huge cupboard like a possessed child in a horror movie.
Chester nodded and locked the bathroom door, guarding its entrance like a duty-bound knight while Liam approached his cupboard slowly. There wasn't a single exhaled breath in the room.
The cupboard door opened with a soft creak.
Hazel widened her eyes in surprise. She had seen many depictions of this Yokai, but none of them really hit the mark.
It was a Kappa, alright. Its turtle beak, shell, and the little dish sitting on its head more than sufficed to affirm that. But that's where the similarities stopped.
Instead of a monkey-like appearance— as usually depicted in the folklore books— this Yokai had six limbs instead of four. Two of them resembled the webbed feet of a duck, while the other four looked like the hands of a human child.
The liquid in the dish on its head jiggled as the Kappa shrunk back in fear. Liam glowered at it, but the monster continued stuffing dozens of roasted soybeans into its mouth with all of its four hands.
"Hello there, little one." Liam forced a smile that looked like it fractured a dozen bones in the process. "Would you mind explaining how the hell you got into my house and why you stole my food?"
"Don't... Don't know where... I am..."
It can speak?!
"Yeah... I'm sure that's going to hold up in court," the boy replied sarcastically. "C'mon, get out of my closet."
The Kappa let out a shriek that sounded like a cross between a wailing child and a screeching parrot.
It disappeared in a flash before reappearing on the opposite side of the room, clinging to the wall while keeping its head parallel to the ground. Frills jutted out of its neck as it snarled at Liam like an angry lizard.
"Blimey, it's fast!" Chester exclaimed. "How're we supposed to catch something like that?"
White flashed before Hazel's eyes as dozens of icicles hurtled towards the Kappa. With an incredible burst of speed, the monster deflected every single one of them with its four hands.
Chester's yelp cut off comically as one of the icicles hit him in the process, freezing the upper half of his body instantly. He toppled over like a frozen cartoon character. Hazel rushed forward and stood between the Kappa and the bathroom door before it could reach the toilet.
It shrieked at her.
"Hazel, move!" Liam yelled.
The girl's heart raced. She wasn't a match for its speed, nor did she have any magic to protect her, unlike the two boys. If the monster wanted to, it could easily cut her down or whizz behind her before she could even blink. She had to come up with a plan and somehow trick it into staying still—
Staying still... Wait, that's it!
A mischievous grin formed on her face as Hazel relaxed her body instead. The Kappa did not respond, although confusion was clearly spelt in its black round eyes. Hazel kept her feet together like she was pretending to be a Geisha.
She sank into a deep bow.
The Kappa put its bowl of soybeans aside and bowed back at her as well. A soft giggle escaped from Hazel's lips as the sound of liquid spilling reached her ears. The girl straightened her back, grinning widely now as she approached the now-stationary Kappa.
The leaf-like dish on its head was empty.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBM6cBQ1Fiw
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