The man looks up at them from the floor, his thin slit eyes previously exuding intimidation now had a look of confusion - borderline innocence even, If only his face lacked the massive burn scar running down his temple or maybe if his outfit is something more conventional. His tank top revealing his tattoos isn’t selling his newfound innocent gaze well, after all.

"Where am I?" he asks, his voice stable and growl-free, an interesting contrast from earlier. "Who are you kids? I have to go home… What the hell am I doing here?"

Yena frowns, the fingers of her right hand brush lightly against the skin of her neck, the lingering feeling of the man’s hold still vivid to her. She clenches her teeth, irritation mixed with fear climbing up her spine. She takes a deep breath, mustering the courage to lash out at her predator from a few minutes ago. 

"Stop pretending you weren’t just trying to kill me!"

"I don’t kill. What are you even on about…" he says in a low voice, his eyebrows creased.

Yena clutches the collar of her button-down blouse, yanking it down to expose more of her neck. Thick, long red marks run horizontally around her neck. "Don't act all dumb!"

Nako peers in closer, holding out a hand, running her fingers across Yena's neck, a focused look on her face. "There really are signs of strangulation."

"If I did that I wouldn't hide it! Even if we say that’s true, what would I gain from trying to kill you and stop all of a sudden? If I do a job, I do it thoroughly," the man insists, folding his arms in front of his chest, almost looking offended. "I doubt I'd even accept a job that includes harming children.”

"Well, you just did," Yuri says, standing tall, her eyes narrowing down at him, her fingers clutching the booklet tight. "There are witnesses and evidence. You can be charged for attempted murder."

His eyes narrow up at hers in challenge. "You think I'd let you?"

Yuri flinches from the sudden confidence that oozes from the man, holding her wand and spellbook defensively, her pupils shaking in caution at the young man before them. Yena stands up, her body still a bit wobbly from the near-death experience. Shaking her head, Yena steps in front of Yuri, trying to look at him with the hardest expression she can muster.

"Look, let's do this. How 'bout you tell us what you know? You did this to me, even if you kept saying you don't remember. Make up for it."

The man purses his lips in thought for a good few seconds. Moments later, his shoulders ease, letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine. I don't know what information you want. To protect my honor, I'd repay you whatever the you want." 

His wordings are crude, but sincere nonetheless. Straightening his body, sitting cross-legged on the tiled inn room floor, he faces them properly, no more fooling around. Nako, who looks especially pleased with the turn of events, waves her huge staff with a whisper. All entrances leading into the room shut close - even the broken window is good as new. Stabbing the floor with her staff, a wave goes throughout the closed room, the light illuminating the place, making everything more visible.

"There. Soundproofed and safe, no one will disturb us," Nako says, tapping the staff on Yena's shoulder lightly with a cute beam. "Sanatio." 

A cool, splash-like feeling erupts within Yena, making her feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Her aching neck feels good as new and her breathing normalized. Her body is in peak condition. Her breath hitch in amazement, this being her first time experiencing rapid healing while conscious.

"Do you feel better, Miss Yena?" Nako asks.

Yena, stunned for a moment, takes a while before nodding. "Y-Yes. Wow, this is amazing."

"It's basic healing, nothing too grandiose," she says, kneeling on the ground directly across the man, sitting with grace in contrast to the armor she has on. Despite her innocent demeanor partly because of her outwardly too-adorable-to-do-anything appearance, Nako’s sharp gaze bores through the man’s eyes. "Just a warning, please don't try anything on my watch," Nako says, her voice still sweet and mellow despite the blatant threat.

"Won't even dream of it," the man reassures tiredly. "Just ask away so I can be on my way. I'm not exactly free if you can't already tell. I have a clan to feed.”

Yena plops down not-so-gracefully next to Nako on the tiles across Yuri, forming a widespread circle on the floor with the mercenary - no, he tried to kill her, that makes him an assassin, doesn’t it? The fresh memory of the man’s firm grip on her neck makes Yena scoot further from the tall man, gripping Hansol tightly in her clammy hands.

Nako places her staff across her lap, the ring in her hand glowing for a split second. “Alright. I’m here on a mission directly from the House of Yabuki, and you know why I’m here before you right now, right? Geonhak.”

Geonhak’s eyes widen at the sight of Nako. He lowers his form into a bow, his head parallel to the floor.  “I’m sorry for the rudeness, Your Highness. But no, I have no idea why you’re here.”

Nako sighs, her lips puckered slightly.  “I told everyone not to call me that. A concubine’s daughter is barely a princess,” she mumbles. “Anyway. Are you absolutely sure you’re not aware of why I tracked you down?”

“No, Your Highness.”

Nako pulls out a thin stack of papers from one of her rings - presumably an inventory ring - and begins perusing them, her lips moving as she skims over the documents. “Alright. So, I procured this document when I was investigating your clan.”

“S-Suspicious?! Our clan? We would never!”

Nako s an arm out to show Geonhak the paper. “This is the Miyawaki Clan seal, isn’t it? And in addition, your signature. A contract with a Reconquista member, Sawyer, and the job is to get rid of Yuri Jo’s bodyguard.”

Yena has been having a hard time following all the new names that Nako has been spouting out that she fails to react quickly to the fact that someone actually made a contract to have her killed. Instead, it’s Yuri who looks at Nako with disbelief, her eyebrows creasing.

“What? Someone wanted Yena dead?”

Snapping from her stupor, Yena grimaces. “I barely even did anything and someone is already after me.” Yena’s hand holding Hansol by the handle trembles a bit, just once, before she squeezes harder to keep the fear from physically manifesting. 

Geonhak’s eyebrows crease at the document before releasing a sigh from his nose. “I swear upon the Founder and the Emperor. I haven’t signed such a shady job,” he says, his eyes unwavering, not a single shed of dishonesty can be found in his features. It’s either he’s a really adept liar or he’s telling the truth. “You can ask anyone from the clan, I haven’t left town lately since there’s a lot of duties back home. I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“What did you say?” Nako asks, her eyebrows creasing, scooting closer, the papers in her hands glowing white before disappearing into her ring.

Geonhak tilts his head. “I... don’t know why I’m here?”

Nako shakes her head. “No, before that.”

“I haven’t left town,” he says, quirking an eyebrow. “I really haven’t. You can ask anyone.”

“The members of the Miyawaki clan had been abducted a month ago, Geonhak.”

He looks back at Nako, still processing her words, his face blank. “Huh?”

“We were suspecting that the Reconquista is behind you guys’ sudden disappearance - so we had shinobis sneak into the Reconquista’s lair and found those documents.”

Geonhak’s frown deepens, his body slightly shaking. “We were just enjoying the festival last night.”

Nako tilts her head. “Festival? The latest festival in Hamasaki was a month ago.”

His eyes widen like saucers, jerking forward. “Pardon? But didn’t you even perform a dance, Your Highness?”

Nako fiddles with the tips of her brown hair, looking a bit bashful. “Yes, I did. And that was a month ago.” Clearing , Nako conjures a journal from her ring, showing Geonhak the filled-out pages of the notebook, stopping at a blank page that contains the current date. “We’re already on the 7th moon, Geonhak. The festival was on the seventh day of the 6th moon.”

The months in Chatan are measured in moons. Every month, the two moons in the sky meet, which is the first of every month. Yena only learned of this once when she saw the purple moon outside the window and Yuri told her that it was the first night of the seventh moon, when the pink and blue moons overlap.

“There’s no way… You’re telling me, in the span of a month, the whole Miyawaki Clan disappeared?”

Nako shakes her head, sorrow seeping out of her gaze. “Yes. Mostly.”

Geonhak’s jaw clenches. “Why don’t I know this? I would have!” He jabs his fist on the floor next to him, teeth gritted. “Where’s that Reconquista’s lair? I’m gonna ing kill them!”

“They constantly relocate, I’m afraid. Their lair is a ship,” Nako says, biting her bottom lip. “But let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we?” She looks between Geonhak and Yena. “You say you don’t remember anything. But then you almost killed Miss Yena tonight. There’s also the contract. What’s going on here?”

The room falls silent, everyone’s head too blank to answer Nako’s point-blank question. As if remembering something, Yena perks up, her gaze meeting Yuri’s. “Yuri, you hit him with some light, right? In the end.”

Nako an eyebrow, gaze shooting at Yuri, seeming a bit surprised that Yuri even managed to cast something normal. “Light? As in light magic?”

Yuri swallows, looking down at the brown pocketbook cradled carefully in her hand. “I don’t know. I read a random spell in this book.”

Yena feels Hansol shake out of its scabbard. “The little mistress wiped that snake guy’s memory. The book she’s holding now? That’s Old Gyerang’s spellbook.”

Nako and Yuri gape at the dagger before looking back at the pocketbook. Yuri examines the book quickly, trying to find any clue of proof to verify Hansol’s words. “You’re kidding. You’re telling me this is one of the historical items, the Founder’s spellbook? Shouldn’t this be in the Royal Treasury?”

Nako nods. “The National Treasury is one of the most heavily guarded places in Chatan. There’s no way.”

“And if that’s true, why would Sir Dongmin have it?”

“Stop bombarding me with questions. I only know about that spellbook since I used to fight alongside that old man,” Hansol says offhandedly. “And isn’t the fact that you erased the snake guy’s memories enough proof?”

“Is the snake guy… supposed to be me?” Geonhak deadpans.

“You have the eyes of a snake and you almost killed the young miss by strangling her. Like a python coiling around a duck to have it for lunch.”

“And? I'm supposed to be the duck?” Yena protests with a frown, her lips turned down in a pout.

“Well, don't you look like one?” Hansol asks bluntly.

“I don’t!”

“You do,” Yuri