𝔽𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟 || 𝕂𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕠 𝔸𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕠

28. To Love, Or Not To Love?

TW: Slightly su!c!dal remark

Sara's commanding voice echoed throughout the office as she gave her weekly report, her tone almost robotic. Kanari stared at the file she was reading from, looking at the crisp paper without really seeing it. Not a single muscle in her body had relaxed since she stepped out of her room that morning. A strange feeling of apprehension haunted her, though she couldn't quite pinpoint the cause.

"We have a few leads to the bandits' hideouts, but investigation is still underway," said Sara, her voice forcibly dragging Kanari out of her muddled thoughts. "I shall notify you immediately when we find their locations, Sir."

Ayato nodded, looking almost as distracted as Kanari. "Is there anything else?" He asked, not looking at the general sitting on the other side of his desk.

"Well," Sara mumbled, shifting in her seat in an uncharacteristically manner. "There are rumors that a Harbinger is in Inazuma."

Ayato paused as he processed her words. He slowly looked up, meeting his general's gaze with a conflicted expression.

"Rumors are rumors," he began, not quite annoyed, but not calm either. "Do you have any real confirmation for this?"

Sara nodded curtly. "Unfortunately, the spies say the rumors are true."

Pressing his lips together, Ayato glared down at the table, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he was holding back a remark. "Deploy all of the Shuumatsuban," he said, his impatience now obvious. "Find out which Harbinger it is as soon as possible."

Harbinger was the highest rank in Snezhnaya, apart from royalty itself. The current eleven members served as the queen's court, assisting her in her cunning schemes. Rumor on the street was that each of them were as ruthless as their monarch, committing unspeakable deeds behind the closed doors of their nation. Inazuma was not on the greatest terms with the land of snow and ice, so the unannounced arrival of a Harbinger was a cause for concern indeed.

"All of the Shuumatsuban?" Sara asked, her composure slipping momentarily in the face of the king's strange request.

"Yes, did I not make myself clear?" said Ayato. He spoke quietly, his voice exuding an eerily calm aura laced with the slightest hints of frustration.

"No, you did, Your Majesty," Sara replied, bowing her head.

Kanari watched the exchange with mingled curiosity. It seemed like she was not the only one agitated this morning. The Shuumatsuban could only be described with one word: Elite. They were a secret band of the best spies in the nation, employed only in the direst of situations. Few know of them, for they served the king directly. To utilize the full might of this classified association, Ayato must have been at his limit.

"There is one more thing, Sir," Sara added, confidence returning to her tone. "A few old logs were discovered by our agents. They contained records of illegal dealings that occurred in the past decades."

Ayato raised an eyebrow in questioning. Such an inconsequential fact was usually not reported to him. 

"Is there any significance to these records?" He inquired, his eyes shifting to the pen in his fingers.  

"Well, they've allowed the police to solve a multitude of old cases that had been closed for quite a number of years," Sara explained further, sliding a list of case names out of her files. From the way Ayato's eyes widened, Kanari could tell that the list was exceptionally long.

While the king inspected the piece of parchment, Sara snuck a glance at Kanari. Their eyes met for only a fraction of a second before the general turned away, frantic. Kanari, well versed in the art of reading body language from all the years she spent cowering beneath those in power, could see the dread latched onto her friend. Something was definitely off.