For a few more seconds, Sévon's gaze stayed fixed on the if trying to piece together another lie, the man's lips trembled and he continued to tremble.

  "I've told you everything," he muttered feebly.

  After a moment of silence, Sévon let out a quiet breath.

  "I understand."

  The air began to ripple faintly. A thin blade of compressed wind flashed across the prisoner's neck before he could even react.The man's head tipped slightly as his breathing completely stopped, and his body went limp after a brief moment of stiffness.

  Kiichi gave a single blink.

  Then he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed deeply.

  "Man," he whispered. "And here I thought he would finally break."

  He gave Sévon a sidelong glance.

  "Why murder him?"

  There was no response. Sévon was already looking the other way. He walked silently toward the door, his steps as steady as though nothing important had just happened.

  At last, Tasia looked away from the window. Her gaze shifted from the corpse to Sévon's back.

  She said softly, more as a conclusion than a query, "He was useless."

  Kiichi gave a tongue-click.

  "But that was quick."

  After exchanging a quick glance, neither of them heard back, so they followed him out.

  Yorna exuded style outside.

  Nobles strolled down the stone-paved streets dressed in elegant clothing; some wore traditional hanfu layered with pricey silk and gold thread, while others wore modernized kimonos with embroidered crests and sharp tailoring.

  Cherry blossoms floated through the air and paper lanterns swayed softly above the walkways, as though the district itself refused to acknowledge the ugliness concealed behind closed doors.

  Kiichi's arms were slightly extended.

  He muttered, glancing at a passing noble carriage, "Man... hard to believe people like that live here."

  Calmly, Tasia adjusted her sleeve.

  "This is Yorna,where, behind etiquette, beauty and filth coexist."she answered.

  Sévon remained silent. His eyes shifted to the noble sector farther down.

  Tasia maintained a forward-looking gaze, a calm and straight posture, and measured steps more akin to those of a trained noble than a field worker. Finally, Sévon raised his head a little at the front. He looked up at the sky. The sun was already farther to the west than it should have been. There was a slight furrow between his eyebrows.

  "Tch."

  He paused his gait for a brief moment before speaking in a quiet, low voice.

  "We're running late."

  Kiichi blinked.

  "Already?"

  Tasia's eyes narrowed slightly as she quickly mentally calculated the time while following his gaze toward the sun.

  "You're right," she muttered.

  After adjusting his sleeve, Sévon started to walk again, but much more quickly this time.

  "We squandered more time than anticipated."

  Their footsteps made a gentle reverberation against the elegant stone streets.

  Following a quick exchange of glances, Kiichi and Tasia both accelerated to keep up with Sévon as the three of them ventured farther into Yorna's noble sector.

  A hard slap reverberated through the room in another section of Yorna. Every servant in the room was silenced by the volume of the sound. In an attempt to maintain her balance, a young woman staggered to the side, her cheek turning red at once. She looked down, too scared to say anything, her hands shaking.

  The room's temperature appeared to drop. With a look of panic on their faces, two attendants rushed forward and firmly but gently grasped her arms.

  One of the men bowed his head slightly and restrained her, saying, "Lady Yasukoi, please refrain from your actions."

  However, they were violently shook off by the woman.

  She screamed, her voice shaking with rage, "Let me go!"

  Her breathing became irregular as her nails dug into her palms.

  "My husband was killed by that rodent!"

  The servants tried to talk Yasuko Shirai out of the matter, even if she was mad about it.

  The woman who was slapped by Yasuko Shirai gazed down, her face darkened. One would even believe that maybe she was reflecting on her actions and that Yasuko Shirai was telling the truth. But she was doing the complete opposite of that very thing.

  While her face was still facing down, something curled up slowly. A faint smirk curled at the corner of her lips gone in an instant, but not fast enough to escape Yasuko's eyes.

  In fact it looked like she enjoyed it the most.Yasuko Shirai saw the sly smirk on the woman's face and wanted to go attack yet again but her servants restrained. She yelled to be released but her servants did not listen.

  Eventually Sévon , Tasia and Kiichi arrive at the compound where the confrontation was taking place. As they were trying to enter, a man stopped them and asked for their identities.Sévon just showed them the Sweepers logo. The man showed a disgusted expression before letting them inside.

  Sévon was the first to walk in, Kiichi and Tasia followed after. They all witnessed the ongoing commotion. Kiichi was surprised by the amount of people who were there. The number was not much but still enough, an estimated count would be over twenty.

  Kiichi then walked next to Sévon's left side and asked,"What's going on here?Why are there so many people?"

  Sévon gave him a simple side eye and sighed for a bit.

  "Outside when I said we were late, you spoke like you knew where we were going."

  Kiichi laughed nervously and apologized.Sévon accepted his apology and started explaining.

  "So apparently the owner of this estate…Masao Shirai was murdered in his own bed while cheating on his wife. And as you can see over there is the main suspect."

  Kiichi and Tasia look at the so-called suspect. Her appearance was, without exaggeration, no wonder why would a normal noble man take interest in her, even if she looked young and Masao Shirai was a little bit older. Her appearance was, without exaggeration, breathtaking.

  Soft brown hair flowed down her back in smooth layers, each strand meticulously kept, catching the faint glow of the lantern light. A few loose strands framed her face, giving her a gentle, almost harmless appearance that sharply contrasted the tense atmosphere around her.

  Her eyes were a muted gray calm, observant, and impossibly steady.

  "Her name…Esyn Lantana."

  Esyn wore a refined hanfu of pale ivory layered with subtle silver embroidery, the fabric pristine despite the chaos unfolding around her. There were no visible stains, no signs of struggle, no wrinkles that suggested panic or resistance.

  If anything, she looked as though she had stepped out of a noble portrait.

  One of the servants nearby whispered something under his breath, but even that hushed voice trembled slightly, as if speaking too loudly in her presence would be disrespectful.

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  Meanwhile, Lady Shirai's breathing remained uneven, her glare fixed on Esyn like a blade that refused to lower.

  "You…dare to stand there so calmly?"

  Kiichi leaned slightly towards Sévon, his voice dropping just enough so that it wouldn't be lost among the noise of the estate.

  "So... how did Masao die, exactly? Poison or something dramatic?" he asked, scratching the side of his head.

  Sévon didn't respond right away.

  He stretched one arm lazily above his head, his joints creaking with a faint crack as if the whole situation was more boring to him than anything else. A quiet yawn followed, completely unselfconscious and utterly out of place in a room full of tension.

  Only after that did he put both hands back into his pockets.

  "I'm not sure.I don't have all the information yet."Sévon said matter-of-factly.

  Kiichi blinked.

  "That's... reassuring."

  Sévon's eyes flickered briefly towards the inner corridor of the estate, where a few servants stood nervously whispering among themselves.

  "But from what I heard, his body was found completely lifeless." he said quietly and evenly,

  Tasia's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "Lifeless?" she repeated. "You mean hollow... perhaps?"

  There was a brief pause.

  Sévon nodded slightly.

  "That is the possibility I am leaning toward."

  Kiichi's slouching posture straightened just a little.

  "Hollow, as in…drained?"he whispered, his voice dropping even further.

  In a world like Yorna, where nobles were known to surround themselves with guards, physicians, and magical protective charms, an inconspicuous and "lifeless" death in one's own bed was not only fishy.

  It was intentional.

  Tasia shifted her gaze to the upper levels of the manor.

  "If it was poison," she said matter-of-factly, "the physicians would have detected residues in the blood."

  Her gaze shifted to the nobles assembled before them.

  "If it was an assassination method, there would be evidence of internal damage or external trauma."

  Kiichi crossed his arms.

  "But there aren't any, right?"

  Sévon shook his head once.

  "None reported."

  As the three Sweepers spoke in hushed tones, the tension in the estate did not dissipate, but rather, it merely shifted.

  In the middle of the room, one of Esyn's servants drew closer to her and leaned in, whispering something so softly that even the nobles surrounding them couldn't pick up a single word. Esyn didn't flinch or react right away; she merely listened. Then, after a brief moment, she gave a small, elegant nod.

  Without raising her voice, she ever so slightly adjusted the sleeve of her robe and turned toward the exit as if the whole scene had already lost its significance. Her five servants moved as one, forming a subtle pattern around her. They started walking toward the doors of the compound.

  "Where do you think you're going?!" Yasuko's voice suddenly cut through the air, sharp and laced with anger.

  All eyes in the room turned. Yasuko Shirai's eyes blazed with anger as she fought against the servants holding her arms back.

  "You think you can just walk out of here? Just like nothing happened?" she shouted as the attendants holding her back were unable to contain her when she lunged at them again.

  "Filthy vermin! You've killed my husband!" she screamed as the servants tightened their hold on her.

  "Madam! Restrain yourself!"

  But Yasuko was now flailing about like a wild animal.

  Esyn, on the other hand, didn't even glance at Yasuko until after Esyn had taken several steps forward while being led by her entourage. Each step was slow, graceful, and done with no rush as she moved across the polished floor of the estate with no noise. Only when the noise of Yasuko's yelling reached a crescendo did Esyn stop and briefly acknowledge Yasuko before continuing on her way. Kiichi looked on in amazement.

  "Cold," he said quietly.

  Tasia looked over at Kiichi.

  "She is either extremely confident or extremely dangerous," she said in a whisper.

  Sevon said nothing.

  Well-formed and stable, Yasuko continued to yell at Esyn as her servants moved through the crowd towards the front of the room. With a hustle of movement, the crowd parted slowly but steadily in front of them. The nobles turned their heads and looked toward the six people moving through the agitatedly-moving mob with an array of judgments and perceptions on their faces.

  Just outside of hearing distance, Yasuko yelled to Esyn,

  "Do not ignore me!" She continued to attempt to free herself from the two attendants holding her in place, but she was unable to.

  When Esyn reached Sévon, Kiichii and Tasia, she was almost taller than the three of them put together. The heavenly aroma of perfumed oils followed her as if it was leading a group of people into the house of a friend. Her movements were graceful as she had a good posture with her head lifted and her shoulders, hips and ankles aligned.

  It almost appeared at that moment that she was going to ignore them completely, but a second later her eyes met Sévon's eyes. There were a few moments of what seemed like slow-motion and her lips broke into a slight smile, which was very subtle.

  Then she narrowed her eyes at him in such an obvious and calculated manner. It felt as if she was staring him down without using words and challenging him to stay.

  Kiichi blinked.

  "Did she just...";

  Tasia narrowed her eyes at him, but did not speak.

  Sévon, on the other hand, offered no reply whatsoever to her glare.

  His face remained completely expressionless as if there was absolutely zero value in her glare. When it became clear that he wouldn't respond, Esyn's facial expression softened just a little, and she walked right past him without saying one word.

  Her followers closely and right behind her in an orderly and organized manner created a corridor through which Esyn walked out of the huge entrance to the compound.

  Outside the mansion, you could faintly hear the sound of carriage doors opening.

  You heard the sound of her getting into her carriage and taking a seat with elegance to give everyone the impression that she was a lady of the highest order. Once she was seated and the servants were in their positions, she was out of the carriage and rolling away from the estate like it was just a social call to say "farewell."

  Inside the room, Yasuko's quick breaths filled the void she had created.

  "She's escaping.You all saw that, right? She ran because she is guilty!" Yasuko snarled as she clenched her teeth.

  Kiichi scratched at his cheek while glancing back at the exit nervously.

  "Or maybe she's just walking away because she knows we can't touch her," Kiichi said softly.

  Tasia didn't disagree but Sévon still stared at the door now that it was closed, a little more intent and focused than he had been previously.

  "Interesting," Sévon said quietly.