Poison

Roko tried returning to the castle to give a report to Takeko, as little as there was to report, but it was proving difficult to find her. Roko sat down in the garden, laying the sword that was abandoned with him on the bench.

"I've investigated this book three times now. How many more times do I have to follow along the clues? ...Or do I have everything I need to know already?"

"Do you ever stop looking like you have stomach issues?"

"I see you're not in the dungeon today." Roko sighed as Hase walked up to him, "Are you here to clean the gardens now?"

"We have a gardener for that." Hase scoffed, "Not that they do their job properly anyway. But more importantly, I assume you've been to Kirito's house?"

"Yeah."

"And? Learn anything interesting?"

"Some things." Roko replied, "But more importantly, I came across a zombie in the home."

"It wasn't Daichi was it?!" Hase cried, his face scrunching up in anger.

"No."

"Well, that's good."

"It was Kyousei."

"KYOUSEI?!" Hase roared, "How dare they desecrate his body like that! I'll kill whoever's responsible myself!"

"With Kyousei as their personal guard, I don't think that's going to happen at your age."

"What?! Was the bastard there themselves?!"

"No but they were there at the graveyard."

"You met them in the graveyard?" Hase frowned, "You didn't tell me about this."

"Wasn't much to tell. They just showed up, roughed me up for a bit and then left."

"And now they showed up in Kirito's old home?"

"Only Kyousei." Roko explained, "And he was picking out one of the swords on display."

"One of the swords Daichi had?" Hase looked troubled.

"Do you know anything about a sword with a greenish tint to it?"

Hase sighed as he looked down, "That was probably Evergreen then."

"Evergreen?" Roko frowned, "Is that a named sword?"

"Not just any named sword, it was Kyousei's own personal sword when he was alive. He left it to Daichi when he died."

"Why Daichi?"

"I forget you're not from around here." Hase chuckled, "Me, Daichi and Kirito were Kyousei's students."

"You three?" Roko raised an eyebrow, "That's not too surprising I suppose."

"Heh. Daichi was always the most eager one out of all of us. All that changed after he married Hanamura though. Put down the sword and picked up a pen. Ended up living the most peaceful life out of all of us. That's probably why Kyousei left his old sword to him."

"So he was retrieving his old sword." Roko mused, "I guess this sword isn't very special then."

"This one?" Hase asked as he picked up the sword that was leaning on the bench.

"Yeah. He just dropped this one after he got his old sword back."

"Hmmm..." Daichi studied the blade curiously, "Nope. Can't say I've ever seen this one."

"Guess that was too much to hope."

"I can say this sword probably wasn't made here though."

"You can?" Roko frowned, "How can you tell?"

"There's no 'magic' in it."

"You guys have magic swords?!"

"Ah, I forget you're not from around here."

"You've said that. Are you sure you just don't know how to talk to tourists?"

"Well, we don't get much tourists around here either." Hase smirked, "But no, we don't actually put magic in our swords. That's high level blacksmithing that you're more likely to find in one of them fancy metropolises. No, what we call 'magic' is all in the composition."

"Composition?"

"Yeah. For example, Evergreen is the sword that Kyousei uses and it's made with steel imbued with Kaifu sap from the Kaifu tree. It bonds strongly with the metal, making it sturdier but also is good at recovering from chips and scratches. You can break off the tip and it will grow right back in a fortnight. That's also why it has its green tint."

"So it's just imbuing the metal with natural properties?"

"Yep. You can call it enchanting in it's own way but it's not exactly compatible with normal magical enchantments. If too many attributes start crossing each other, things become a mess. At least, that's what I've been told."

"So you're saying this sword doesn't have that kind of composition?"

"Nope." Hase said as he tapped the sword, "It's a perfectly normal sword. Made very well but with no special properties."

"But what makes you sure that it's not from here?"

"Because we don't have enough metal to make much of an armory. Our armor is leather and most of our weapons are wooden spears with metal heads. Swords are a luxury item that are only awarded to distinguished soldiers or leaders. And since we don't have much metal to work with, the imbuing process is as much a cost saving measure as it is an enchanting process. So if you're making a sword in this country, it'll likely have some sort of impure element to the steel."

"Then where could this sword have come from?"

"Honestly, from anywhere. We don't have a lot of steel but we've fought lots of wars with countries who did. And after beating them all, there's a surplus of normal weapons hanging about. We haven't exactly mastered how to melt them down and reuse them but you can pick up a sword like this off any old battlefield if you know where to search and look hard enough."

"...Or you could pick them off the dead bodies of old enemy corpses." Roko mused.

"Aye, the necromancer certainly wouldn't be short on swords in that case." Hase frowned.

"But if they have access to so many dead bodies with weapons, why have they hardly been used to attack the village?" Roko frowned.

"If the necromancer could raise every dead soldier in our history, the entire town would be theirs in less than a minute." Hase nodded, "But they've wasted time with these old unarmed corpses and this ghost business."

"And they've been sending me on this noble killer business." Roko sighed, "I'm so close, I can feel it but I just can't get to the end."

"Didn't get anything out of Daichi's corpse?"

"No, there were some things strange about it." Roko replied, "Particularly a chest wound."

"I didn't hear about any chest wound." Hase scratched his head, "Are you sure about that?"

"I reopened it myself."

"You did what?!"

"It's a nearly five year old corpse, it's fine."

Hase grumbled, "Well fine but what does a wound in the chest even mean?"

"For one, it's a sign of a struggle."

"Hmm...if it's a covered wound, then there's no doubt it's the work of the killer. And I can't say a chest wound like that is normal for their victims. Usually it's just the neck."

"So the usual method of killing is cutting the neck?"

"You've been on this case for how long and you still don't know?" Hase scoffed, "Yeah, most of their victims were killed in their sleep. For the longest time, we all just thought they just died of natural reasons until we discovered that they were all slit in the throat."

"And they still refused to believe there was an assassin?"

"There's a difference between an assassin and a serial killer. If it was the latter, then everybody is in danger but if its the former then it immediately becomes more personal and everything else starts to become more personal as well."

"I guess that's true." Roko nodded.

"So you're saying the killer had a fight with Daichi?" Hase mused, "That all but confirms that they're a noble themselves though I can't imagine a single person who'd do something like that."

"Nobody with means, motive or opportunity?"

"Well we got opportunity and motive aplenty if you want to break it down that much. But means? Nobody has figured out how the killer managed to kill so many people in such an unusual way."

"In that field, I've possibly made a new discovery."

"Oh? What's that then?"

"Poison."

"Poison?"

"The barest amount of poison was found lingering in both Hanamura and Daichi's wounds."

"How'd you find something like that out?"

"Magic."

"What kind of spell did you even use?"

"It's a bit complicated if I explain it to you now." Roko sighed, "But trust me when I say I found poison."

"Well, if you're so confident, then fine. But are you saying they died of poison instead?"

"No, if I had to guess it's some kind of numbing poison that makes the body not react properly to the wound. That's how they managed to kill that many people without waking them."

"Numbing poison?" Hase thought to himself.

"Can you think of a poison like that? Something that could remain on a corpse after five years?"

Hase's expression became unpleasant as he looked sadly at Roko, "Well...one poison comes to mind."

"What is it?"

"Usude Fuchi. The Shallow Abyss."

"What's that?"

"It's a local urchin. They secret a poison from their spines that numbs your nerves, making stepping on them undetectable. It even stops the body from recovering properly, making you bleed out easier."

"That sounds like the perfect weapon for our assassin." Roko raised an eyebrow, "Is it easy to harvest their poison?"

"Hardly. They're easy enough to find since they live in both shallow and deep water but they're urchins so you can't touch them without getting poked."

"Can it remain on a body for five years while frozen?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that. But I find it unlikely any liquid would last that long, even frozen."

"Hmm..." Roko thought deeply, "A persistent poison that remains after five years...any liquid would have evaporated by then..it could have been frozen but what if it was fused with a solid? If it was found in all three wounds then its usage could have been...Hase, is there a weapon made from this poison?"

Hase sighed, "I was afraid you'd figure that out."

"So there is one?"

"A dagger. Made by a foreign diplomat who allied with us during a war. It takes the poison organ from the Usude Fuchi and attaches it to the knife, letting the poison seep around its edge and solidify into a blade. When it slashes, it breaks off in micro fragments that melt in the human body, causing numbness and induces bleeding. Its name is Calcify."

"Calcify." Roko nodded, "Who owns this dagger?"

"It used to belong to Lady Tsukimi."

"Tsukimi?!" Roko cried, "Kaguya's mother?!"

"Yes. It was a gift for her. From what I heard, she was using it during the coup but it has since disappeared."

"Nobody knows where it could have gone?"

"No. No one was particularly looking for it in the middle of the chaos. For all I know, it was buried with her corpse. Perhaps it was stolen later but that could be anybody."

"..." Roko covered his mouth as he thought over everything he's learned.

"Something come to mind, youngin'?" Hase frowned.

"I...don't know. Every step closer, I find only a shadow of the killer. Flashes of their identity but never the full story. I'm only a piece away but I can't get it to connect. If only I had a little more. Maybe if I could examine the scene of the crime."

"Bit too late for that buddy." Hase chuckled, "Nothing you find there will be of any use."

"I know the crime scene have been cleaned up for years." Roko sighed, "But I can't just follow the journal all the time. You've cleaned this castle for years right? Maybe you noticed something?"

"Me?" Hase laughed, "After all this time, you think I might recall something? For one, I wasn't the janitor around the time of those crimes. I only retired as a soldier after Kirito died."

"Figures."

"What's more, I've only ever cleaned this castle so I wouldn't know anything relevant."

"I'm sorry." Roko frowned, "'This castle'?"

"What, you didn't know? Shizuka Castle wasn't where these murders took place."

Roko looked shocked, "It wasn't?!"

"No, this is the castle that all the nobles took to after leaving the old castle. Miyuki Castle was much bigger and grander than this."

"Where's Miyuki Castle?!" Roko cried.

"Ermm...about a day's worth of travel straight behind Shizuka Castle." Hase looked concerned, "But there's no point in going now, you won't make it before nightfall and there's a big snowstorm tomorrow. Going to be snowing all day, you don't want to get snowed out. Besides, there's nobody living there anymore anyway. It's been abandoned for years."

"..." Roko took in the information and looked down, "Still, I have to check it out."

"If there was anything worth checking out, it's been long buried by snow at this point." Hase sighed, "What do you expect you'll even find there?"

"All I need is one last clue." Roko bit his thumb, "One last fact to narrow down the suspects. As it is, I can't even prove that the killer is still alive today so I have to consider the dead as well. Doubly so with the necromancer."

"That's true." Hase rubbed his head, "If the killer is still alive, they'd probably be as old as me. I can't imagine anybody younger than that committing all those political murders."

"You think so?" Roko raised an eyebrow, "Well...if I could only figure out one last thing, I might be able to figure it out."

"And what's that?"

"The means. How did the killer manage to create lethal wounds and then cover them up seemingly perfectly? I've cut open one of those wounds, it's not like a layer of different skin or something."

"That's the big question." Hase shrugged, "Nobody has been able to figure out the method. There's never been a logical explanation."

"My current hypothesis is that the killer used healing magic to close the wound." Roko thought aloud, "But I can't go around scanning people to see if they have healing magic. Even if they did, I-"

"What, are you serious?"

"What?" Roko looked up as Hase looked at him with a bewildered look, "What's wrong with it?"

"I know you're not from around her but are you even from this world, boy?"

"Let's say I wasn't. What am I missing?"

"The gods have left us, boy. We can't use their magic."

"Yes we can, I've seen people use plenty of magic before." Roko frowned, "Fire, ice, lightning. Even rally and protect. I know spells used to be cast on the authority of the gods before but even after they've left, we can still use some magic."

"No, but healing magic is different." Hase shook his head, "Healing magic has always been different. When the gods started disappearing, the Goddess of Healing was one of the first to disappear. No one has ever been able to cast healing magic since, no matter where you look in the world."

Roko stood up suddenly, eyes wide as his face went pale, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah you don't think we would be using healing magic instead of potions if we had it? Healing magic is dead and no one's been able to revive it."

Roko stood there as thoughts swam around his head, trying to avoid what they saw but coming to the same conclusion.

"Are you okay, boy?" Hase asked, worried as Roko's body began to sway.

"I have to go." Roko said as he snatched the sword from the bench and began to walk off.

"Hey, where're you going?!" Hase called, "I told you you can't get to the old castle and there's a blizzard coming the next day!"

"That's not where I'm going." Roko said as he turned around, "One more thing though."

"What's that?"

"When Kyousei found Evergreen again, the sword was rusted until he restored it. Is that normal?"

"Rust?" Hase looked confused, "No, Evergreen shouldn't be able to rust, it's practically a living sword. I can't imagine it getting rusted."

"That's good to know." Roko nodded, "Then do you know where I can find one of these Kaifu trees or Kaifu sap?"

"Well, there's a grove of them to the west of the village..."

"Got it. Thanks."

"You just going to investigate some trees now?" Hase cried as Roko turned and walked away, "Do you want to tell me what you figured out at least?!"

Hase sighed as Roko disappeared into the distance, "Kids these days."