13 I suspect him for a few reasons.

"I heard all the guardians died recently big brother Shin...is that true?" Yui turned to face Shin with big black sad eyes.

"No...not all of the guardians, Yui. Still four..."

'ahem' Shin cleared his throat as if he had to correct something he said.

"Three guardians are still alive. You don't need to worry about it, the guardians have always taken care of things and they will do so again." Shin looked distant as he said.

"Bye, big brother Shin..." Yui waved her hands as she left with her father.

Shin waved back as he made his way back to the house for lunch. Ryu and Ken were still thinking what story Shin told the little girl to make her so desperate to hear it's ending.

"Everyone sit down and eat before the food turns cold." Lia served the lunch to everyone and started to nag.

"Hey, Shin...what did you tell that little girl...I don't know what you told her, but you made yourself 10 silver today, here you go..." Ryu handed over Shin, the 10 silver he got as a discount from Mr. Wakanabe.

"Thank you, Mr. Takahashi."

"Now don't forget that the vice chief Izumi is coming after lunch, you both be ready by the time she arrives. Making a Soul Sword is as hard as anything gets." Ryu reminded as he munched down his lunch.

Ken and Shin replied with a nod as they continued their lunch. Ken still wanted to know very badly, what Shin told the little girl.

"So, brother Shin, what did you tell her anyway?" Ken looked away as if he wasn't exactly interested.

"Just a little bit of our history Ken...just some history." Shin said as he got up completing his lunch.

"Mr. Takahashi, I am going out for a small walk, I will be back in a few minutes."

"Be back in 45 minutes, we will start preparing for the Soul sword." Ryu ordered as he waved his chopsticks.

------1 hour later in the workshop-----

"Shin we might need to increase the temperature of the furnace a little more, get on it..." Ryu ordered around Shin and his son. Making a Soul sword was considered as a noble and a hard task to perform.

"Mr. Takahashi...are we ready?" A voice came from the entrance of the shop. It was the voice of the vice chief protector of the city, Izumi.

"Yes, we are...I hope you still remember what I told you about coming here fully replenished with your stamina and energy." Ryu signaled Izumi to come in.

"Yes, Nothing to worry about, I didn't have the necessity to use my energy anywhere today."

"Then let's begin...Shin, do you know how to use the basic pure energy conservation technique."

"No, I don't, Mr. Takahashi." Shin replied as he looked towards Ryu.

"Alright then...Shin, you hammer the Tamahagane...Ken, hold the Tamahagane in place as I cast the conservation spell." Ryu ordered around as he signaled Izumi to get ready.

Izumi riled up her energy and concentrated her energy in her palms. "I am ready...let's start."

Ryu nodded at her and signaled Shin and Ken to get ready.

"Diatrisi...!!!"

A small golden-yellow energy field appeared engulfing only Izumi's hands and the Tamahagane.

"Miss Izumi, start the transfer...Shin start hammering the Tamahagane and Ken hold it still."

Shin's hammer traveled in and out of the field as it hit the Tamahagane. The hammer and the clamp were made of special materials which are not affected by the pure energy.

Some of the energy that emitted from Izumi's palms tried to escape into the surroundings, but bounced back hitting the field. All the energy was being transferred into the Tamahagane while Shin was hitting it exactly how Ryu directed him to.

The four worked hard for 4 hours without taking a break. Ryu noticed that Izumi was hitting her limit as she started to waver.

"That's enough for today you lot. Miss Izumi stop the transfer." Ryu signaled Izumi, who was relieved to hear him say those words. Izumi stepped back as she stopped the transfer.

"Prope Diatrisi..!!!" The energy field shrunk forcing all the energy inside the field into the Tamahagane.

"How was your first day, Miss Izumi..?" Ryu smiled seeing a tired Izumi. All the four were sweating heavily as they sat down for a bit of rest.

"Not...good...nope..not good Mr. Ryu..." Izumi gulped as she said word for word.

Ken got up, to hand her a glass of water.

"I didn't expect it to tire me out this much." Izumi drank the water as if she was handed a glass of water in a desert.

"You should go home and take the rest of the day off." Ryu suggested as he carefully took the Tamahagane and placed it in a specially made closet.

"I will...I noticed something else that piqued my interest while we were forging the sword. You father and son pair, have a very strong and unique kind of energy, why...?" Izumi questioned as she stared at the father-son duo.

"We are from the lineage of a S-Rank protector and also a master blacksmith, Ray Takahashi. It is probably because of his genes." Ken was the one who answered Izumi's question.

"Oh I see...but why don't I sense any energy emitting from you..." Izumi pointed a finger towards Shin as she interrogated him.

"Probably it's because I haven't had my energy seal opened." Shin answered with his indifferent tone. Shin didn't put any thought, how to answer her question, he just gave her a random answer.

"Oh..I see..okay." Izumi tried to look as if she was satisfied with his answer, but she understood he was lying. Izumi's spirit was a Harpy Eagle, which provided her with a unique power to sense the life energy of other people.

"Ken...accompany Miss Izumi till her home, she is drained of her energy and it isn't right to let her leave alone." Ryu signaled Ken as he prepared to close the workshop and call it a day.

"Got it dad..." Ken walked up to Izumi lending her a hand to get up.

As Izumi and Ken approached Izumi's house, Izumi glanced at Ken "Mr. Ken...from how long has the other person in your shop been working for you?"

"Oh, you mean Shin, a little more than a month...why do you ask?" Ken replied casually without any suspicions.

"I am the new vice chief of the city, I just want to know about the people here as much as I can." Izumi smiled as she easily evaded his question.

The very next morning Izumi made her way into the chief's office.

"Sir." Zeyner turned around to face Izumi who seemed eager to report something.

"Yes, do you have any lead in the psychopath's incident." Zeyner asked with a serious look on his face.

"Sir, I heard you recently provided an ID to an individual who lost his due to the Tristina incident. Is that true?"

"yes, it is." Zeyner answered calmly as he saw Izumi matching some dots in her head.

Izumi remembered that Shin rushed to the incident along with Zeyner that day. She started to describe the physical characteristics of Shin.

"Is that the person you gave the ID, sir?"

"yes, You have any suspicions on him?" Zeyner looked at Izumi with a Perplexed look.

"Did you notice if his energy seal was broken or not?"

"It was broken for sure Izumi." Seeing the look on Izumi's face, Zeyner was now sure that she found a lead.

"Sir, I suspect him to be something more than your average everyday person."

"I will notify the other protectors to have an eye out for him." Zeyner said as he was contemplating something.

"That wouldn't be necessary sir. I suspect him for a few reasons of my own. I will look into it myself, sir."