Chapter 99: The Council's Response.

  With news of the destruction of the Hanma Clan being quickly spread throughout the magji world, people couldn't help but talk about this news. The first thing people did were to prove if this information was true. Curious and brave magjistars directly went to the Hanma compound themselves to get to the bottom of the absurd rumor spreading. It didn't take more than a single look for them to realize that someone really destroyed the Hanma Clan.

  Quite sloppily at that as well in Harper's opinion. They left so many survivors... Harper felt a migraine coming as she had droves of refugees from the Hanma Clan outside her office right now. She was already starting to regret nominating herself as the Head of Internal Defense in the Council. But it was too late for regrets! The only thing she could do now was put on her big girl panties and make sure to quickly hire employees to handle this type of grunt work for the future.

______________________________________________

"I'm telling you! That monster was unlike any magjistar I've ever seen!"

"Please elaborate, sir." Harper insisted, ready to write down any characteristics of the attacker.

"It had the face of a bear but the body of a human! It was more than 10ft tall and had a roar that paralyzed me down to my bones!"

"Did you notice anything else about it, sir? Was it using any recognizable magji or distinguishable physical traits?" Harper asked.

"Its fur was the same color as its face! The only magji I noticed was just that it was super strong! It could defeat our clan's assassins with only one or two strikes from its hands!"

"I see..." Harper continued writing.

______________________________________________

"It was daemon plain and simple!" A middle-aged woman raised her voice.

"Can you describe it?" Harper couldn't help but ask since these people never continued talking on their own.

"Its dark body was filled with muscles, it had weird wolf hands that could eat magji, and its face was that of a daemon! Sharp teeth, long snout, and fierce eyes that nearly gave me a heart attack when she looked in our direction when sweet Hayato was helping us escape."

"Hayato?" This was a name that popped up from time to time.

"You don't know? Isn't he here? It was because of him that so many of us managed to escape the attack on the clan without harm." She explained.

"Hanma Hayato, correct?" Harper started writing down his name. This could be an important lead she'll have to follow up on later.

"That's right. He's the Patriarch's only son. I don't know what the sweetheart's doing these days, but I imagine he's probably trying to find the daemon to deal with himself."

"Thank you so much for your time, Miss Chiyoko. The Council promises to help serve justice on behalf of the Hanma Clan." Harper felt that she'd gained enough from this witness.

"Make sure that daemon suffers for what it did!" Chiyoko begged.

______________________________________________

"You know, I was just a simple blacksmith... At the time when the bastard attacked, I was just working with my metal. Since I didn't have any talent for assassination, it was decided I could support the clan in other ways. I was heartbroken I couldn't become an honored assassin, but as I grew up, I realized that some jobs aren't meant for everyone."

"Sir, can we get back to the criminal?" Harper politely asked with tiredness nearly overpowering her tone. This was probably her 100th eyewitness. She lost count around 67.

"Right, right, of course. My apologies. That bastard destroyed my shop! He didn't even give a look of remorse or anything like that after punching Yamato into my store! It's going to take months, maybe years, before I can get back to running my own store!" The middle-aged man rose in anger. "Aren't you folks in that committee or whatever going to support us?!" He asked.

  Harper had a suspicion early on that this man had no reliable information, but it was only a suspicion. But now, after hearing this, she realized that he just wanted some cavons. He didn't even know if the criminal was a male or female. Maybe he didn't even know anything at all about them except that his shop got ruined.

"Thank you so much for coming down, sir. The Council will make sure to address the damages suffered by those of the Hanma Clan. Just wait to hear the good news." Harper didn't promise anything.

  She was only a single figure in the Council. Decisions couldn't be made without ¾ of the division heads agreeing. Even if she wanted to give these people support to help them get back to living a normal life, she'd have to do her damnest to convince everyone else on the Council they were worth it in the first place.

______________________________________________

  Harper entered the Council's room with a stack of papers in her hand. She was the last division head to enter. Everyone else was at their seats waiting for her to enter. Her tired, bagged eyes met their stares before she headed to the front of the room.

"Looks like someone worked their ass off." Head of Magji Defense chuckled.

  Harper only met his words with a sharp glare. "I have not identified the being that destroyed the Hanma Clan." Harper slammed her stack of papers on the large table. This caused some discontent and ridicule toward her. "But!" She raised her voice to shut them up. "If someone matching their description shows up in public anytime soon, we'll be able to bring them in without mistaking them for anyone else."

"We gave you a month to handle this case, Harper. I'd expected better out of you." Head of Justice looked at her with disappointment in his eyes.

"I mean is anyone really surprised Harper couldn't hack it?" Head of Magji Defense laughed.

"It must have been too much for her. Maybe we'll need a new Head of Internal Defense soon."

"Harper. You said being instead of magjistar. Please talk more about that." Head of Magji silenced those mocking Harper with his pressing aura.

"From the several hundreds of eyewitnesses and statements given by them, it is uncertain whether the being that destroyed the Hanma Clan was a magjistar. From my reports, it could have been a hybrid between human and daemon, a daemon entirely, or a magjistar in a mask. There were too many conflicting statements among the survivors to... to claim anything decisively." Harper replied.

"What can you claim then?" Head of Magji Defense mocked.

  Harper focused her glare on Tyson. "They are a close-ranged combatant. Most likely to fight with gauntlets, gloves, claws, or some sort of weapon on their fists. Those weapons on their fist may have the ability to absorb the magji of others. Their body is brown. Their height is shorter than the average male. They use an unknown or uncommon branch of magji. Their strength is strong enough to deal with several elites from the Hanma Clan, along with taking out the Hanma Clan's Patriarch all by themselves with no help. Personality-wise, they're rather merciful."

  Harper would've felt smug at the shocked looks of mostly everyone in the room, but she was way too tired for it.

"Continue." Head of Magji insisted before anyone decided to question Harper.

"Not a single fatality was reported out of all of the hospitalized assassins. Even the Patriarch was spared. As of now, the motivation of the attacker for the destruction of the Hanma Clan is unknown. If any of our members meet with the criminal, they don't need to be afraid that they're going to die trying to chase after them."

"Ah, don't say it like that, Harper... You're saying it like they have nothing to fear chasing after the criminal." Head of Safety felt he had to clarify something. "I'm going to list some of the injuries suffered by the Hanma Clan assassins after the attack."

"Broken legs, broken ribs, broken arms, shattered spines, shattered pelvises, traumatic brain injuries, collapsed lungs, crippling organ damage in general, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the patriarch is in a coma!" Head of Safety listed the most common injuries among the several injured assassins. "When we move out to capture this criminal, please do not get complacent. Some of these magjistars will never recover to the extent that they'll be able to live their lives as they have before, even with my clan's connate magji." He advised.

"To think even the famous Star Clan would be pressed by this guy." Head of Magji Defense was impressed. "I'm getting excited just hearing about them."

"Tyson." Head of Magji addressed the Head of Magji Defense. "Harper's done the legwork for us. Now it's up to you and your division to track down this criminal with all the information we've been given. If you need any support, feel free to ask. We must capture this criminal and show everyone how effective the Council is and will continue to be. Failure is not an option." Head of Magji stated.

"Leave it to me. Whoever this guy is will be crying and begging by the time I'm done with him." Tyson met his palm with his fist.

"Their gender was never confirmed. It could be a male or female." Harper added.

"Whatever..." Tyson felt it in his gut that there was no way this criminal could be a woman. A woman couldn't get him this excited after all!