Welcome to Lesou

7

 Once they settled in the Matron's office, the Palace Investigator started out gently by having Tai Yi tell his part of the story.

"Trooper Chan insisted we go back to the dorm to get my padded shirt to go under the fencing kit. I haven't been bothering with it but he made a fuss so we headed back. Three men were hiding my room when we got there. I don't know how or when they got in. They said thanks for the delivery and then ran Trooper Chan through with a sword to the belly. I started yelling for help and throwing things and tried to get away. One of them finally got a hold of me but then Junseo came in. I don't know how he managed it but he got the one with a sword tangled up with door. Trooper Chan helped trip that man up and Junseo pushed him into the window. I managed to get a good kick in on the man who was trying to hold onto me and Junseo got him down with a choke hold then tied him up. Junseo then tried to doctor up Trooper Chan before the Master-of-arms and the Watchman turned up. Then we came for tea." Tai Yi's story tumbled out so quickly he had barely taken a breath.

"Did they say anything that might tell you why they came after you." The Investigator asked.

"Only that one of them told the man trying to catch me to be careful because I would only be worth the money alive." Tai Yi looked very angry reporting this. He realized the attack could just have easily been organized by plotters from the North as rebels from the South.

"Thank you. You have been very helpful." The Investigator said gently then looked at Junseo, "Is there anything you might want to add to the story?"

"Only that I feel a bit bad I encouraged Tai Yi to try to make Trooper Chan's day a bit better. When he was still a captain, he coached my school fencing team for a short time. I can't imagine what pushed him so low but he will have paid with his life." Junseo could see his Uncle was wondering why he said this, so went on to explain, "I have helped in my father's medical clinic for a couple of years now and even with the best surgeons belly wounds are almost always fatal. There is no way to stop the infection when the bowel cut." Junseo just looked bleakly into space for a moment.

It was clear from his demeanor that Junseo wrestled with his own ghosts. Headmaster Kim shook his head wondering why his brother-in-law would let someone so young serve as a healer. Then he remembered the earthquake and widespread riots so there may have been more pressing need that personal choice in the matter. He would certainly want to talk seriously with his sister about what the boy's experiences.

The Investigator took a sip of tea and waited for the young man to compose himself before asking "Having fought the men, what skills would you say they had?"

"I can't imagine they were professional assassins. The guard in the hall probably had basic military training but not much more. The swordsman wasn't very skilled either. I mean, I managed to disarm him bare handed using a door for leverage. The only thing the other guy had going for him was size. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they had been recruited for this job in a pub." Junseo's damning assessment sounded accurate from what the men upstairs had reported.

"If you don't mind me asking, how would you rate your own skills?"

"I was working toward a fourth dan at my last level qualifier. I tied for first in senior fencing for our school's regional team. You can check with the Master-at-arms here about my staff and archery work since I was in his class this morning but honestly, I would say above average for someone at school for classics."

The Palace Investigator was charmed by the young man's candor. Headmaster Kim, on the other hand, was nearly apoplectic. He could not believe something like this could happen in his school with his nephew right in the middle of it sounding like, like, he could not pin it down. It wasn't arrogant but it was uncannily assured. It reminded him of someone, maybe someone from the court, he just couldn't place it. While he was busy musing, the Palace Investigator asked the most potentially damning question.

"It seems incredibly lucky you were here to stop this poorly executed plot. I mean, you only just arrived as we are hearing news of rebellions all over G'sang province. So how do you explain the timing?"

"I guess you might call it the weight of the stars." Junseo shrugged and went on, "My family was worried about the tensions in our city, especially with the way the extra guards treated the earthquake victims. They thought if I needed to do a remedial test to bring up my science score, I should study here. If I made the cut for the qualifying rounds, then I would need to train in the city anyway."

The Inspector scratched down a few notes and continued to stare at the two boys when he was interrupted by one of his men carrying two jade jars.

"I assume these are your tuned crystals," the Inspector passed the jars over, "Maybe you should just confirm everything is intact."

Junseo suddenly felt very shy. He kept mostly clear quartz in with the sapphire armband and obsidian with his ruby ring. There was no silver plate to display the collection safely so he just held up each piece before he put them on. He expected the questions about the number of crystals he usually wore and knew having personal jewelry with the totems from both the northern and southern royal houses would be noted. He felt some assurance from the warm boost of energy from the stones once all the pieces were in place.

The Inspector had been trained to read crystal energy and the distinct signatures left by affinity stones but could not make sense of what he was seeing. There was no denying the strength of the protective aura now extended to both boys but the colours were not fixed. The young lord was washed with intermittent waves of the clearest red while his rescuer seemed to range between violet and indigo. The Inspector's head started to ache so he squinted and tried to watch from the corner of his eye for another minute. He rubbed his face and stroked his long mustache.

"I guess you can tell I still haven't established an affinity stone." Junseo admitted this very quietly.

"Yet, those are all tuned to you?" The inspector waved his hand in a circle around Junseo.

"It was a slow and painful process." Junseo was spared having to elaborate by his uncle's exclamations over the number of tournaments the stones must represent.