Emperor's Reckoning

The three students gathered by the fountain and the ripples of water reflected their faces, eyes filled with contemplation.

"So that guy is really apprehended," said Rayus. "Perhaps the teacher's guess is right."

"That he died?" asked Noah. "I don't think Sir Refl's friend would be that easy to kill."

"I agree with Noah," said Reinhard. "Besides, something feels off."

"What?"

"The story of him being dragged out into the wagon," said Rayus. "Remember that inside the bar, there were no broken tables, only specks of dust and cobwebs."

"There was no resistance," said Noah with brightened eyes before they sunk into confusion. "But... why?"

"I got it!" Reinhard exclaimed with his palm hugging his fist. "He must have pretended to be weak and then tried to catch them off, guard. That way, he can sweep them easily."

"That's too obvious, I think, besides, it's been a couple of days, doubt that the lair would be far away from the city," said Noah. "I reckoned the enemy knows who this Lenu guy is, and considering his relation with Refl, even the Burgeon Swan won't make a stupid mistake like that."

"Sorry Reinhard, but this time Noah's opinion is more plausible," said Rayus. "He might have been rendered into a condition where he cannot refuse and thus joined them into the wagon."

"That sounds depressing," muttered Noah before he loosened his shoulders. "Either way, we can't get anywhere deducting this case by ourselves, we need another opinion."

Reinhard nodded, "Noah's right, we have to go get teacher Lyon and tell him about our findings, I'm sure he is eager to—"

"Oi, is that you three?"

"Damn, speaking of the devil," muttered Noah as he noticed Lyon with his wife coming. ( Well, perhaps he is one ).

"Teacher!" called Reinhard with a smile. "You arrived in a very serendipitous time!"

"Reinhard, you damn sassy, don't change the subject! I know what you did in the market, hahaha!" Lyon laughed.

"What?!" Reinhard exclaimed, "You were there?!"

"Well most of the time, I mean, you're sticking out like a sore thumb with garments like that," said Lyon. "Everyone thought you're a born elite or something, not pretty 'blending in' compared to the rest."

Reinhard scratched the back of his head as he made a hesitant chuckle.

"Teacher, we have found where Lenu might be," said Rayus.

"See, you can do this kind of thing," said Lyon as he nodded, "Alright, where is he?"

"We heard that he was being captured and the wagon went toward the north gate," said Noah.

"That's it?" Lyon raised his brows.

"That's it...?"

"We don't have anything more specific?" asked Lyon as he furrowed his brows.

"We... don't," Noah sighed, "After talking to a bunch of people, we came to the same conclusion that the bar is borderline abandoned even when the barkeeper was inside. Nobody ever drinks in that place."

"Damn it," Lyon cussed under his breath. "Well, it's not like all hope is lost."

"Huh?" the three students raised their brows.

Rayus looked at Lyon before asking him, "You're not going to comb the entire north, are you?"

"What? Of course not," Lyon shrugged. "Remember, Lenu is not our ultimate goal here, besides, if he is Refl's contact, there is a high chance that he is still alive, might be tortured though, I don't know— don't start acting all heroic Reinhard."

"I..." Reinhard was checked.

"Teacher, you're not having a crazy idea are you?" asked Noah before he gulped the moment he saw Lyon's brows bounce up and down twice with a smirk on his face. "Fuck..."

The three students suddenly found themselves inside the private room. Lyon put his legs on top of the other on top of the table as he leaned back as if he owned the place.

"What's your plan, teacher?" asked Rayus.

"Let me ask you all of you something, which one is easier in getting a woman, chasing a woman, or getting the woman to chase you?" asked Lyon.

The three students raised their brows before they heard one of the most chilling tones out of one of the sweetest words in existence.

"Darling..." Selena smiled but her face darkened.

Lyon raised his brows, "I-It's just an analogy!"

"Darling better keep it that way..." Selena still smiled but her face darkened even more.

Lyon gulped before he averted his glance at the three students, "You know what I'm saying right?'

"You mean something like, 'rather than chasing a butterfly, build a beautiful garden'? kind of thing?" asked Reinhard.

"Yes," Lyon rolled his eyes.

"But how do we attract the Burgeon Swan?" asked Noah.

"By doing the opposite of what we have been doing," said Lyon with a confident smile.

"You mean deliberately asking a lot of people about their whereabouts or the incident two nights ago?" asked Noah.

Lyon nodded, "En, I'm sure the Burgeon Swan will get a sniff out of it."

"That's risky," said Rayus.

"It is," Lyon nodded. "But sadly for you, your teacher has a gambling habit."

"What if one of us gets caught?" asked Noah. "They might not necessarily go to this dumpster of a bar."

"That's exactly the plan," said Lyon. "For one of you to get caught."

"You're insane..." uttered Noah. "We're going to die."

"In a perspective, we are all going to die," said Lyon as he shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't necessarily have to die," said Rayus before he courted the attention of others. "He must have a plan— You do have a plan, right, teacher?"

Lyon smirked, "Not exactly a plan, but you can always use mana transmission to relay messages."

"What if they use a domain?" asked Noah.

"What? We can't use mana transmission in a domain?" asked Lyon.

"Eh...?" All three students froze as he uttered those words.

"Well, hahaha! The more you know, right?" Lyon laughed like a fool.

"You've gotta be kidding us," said Noah before he let out a heavy sigh.

"O-Of course I'm joking! but don't worry though, we can think of something else," said Lyon. "All you do is trust me on this one."

"..." Reinhard and the other two were stunned by his words. All gung-ho words that he used were ending in a 'trust me' slogan.

"C'mon, I already bought you clothes, fancy ones! This is the least that you can do."

Reinhard opened his mouth but was cut out by Rayus who said, "I'll do it."

"Rayus..." Reinhard and Noah looked at the impaired young cultivator. This was the friend that had protected them during the ambush. The indebted feeling weighing their souls was something that they couldn't lift on their own.

"That's more like it," said Lyon with a peal of laughter.

"But what if we failed?" asked Rayus.

"Then you need to ask more, be the talk of the town if you must," said Lyon. "Then, let yourself be captured, I will handle the rest."

"What if all three of us get captured?" asked the three students.

"Then you will have each other as you all being led toward where Lenu mostly likely be," said Lyon. "Not the grave of course."

Reinhard and Noah seemed hesitant as they looked at each other with doubt. The plan was not concrete enough that it could hold a building, and the rising chance of death only increased as their imagination ran wild.

"Reinhard, time is running out," said Lyon with his eyes turning sharp. "If you don't do this, Lenu might actually be dead, don't you want to save lives? This is your chance."

"C'mon Reinhard, don't chicken out now," said Rayus, "Where is your hot-blooded self? Are you what Jasper said you are?"

"Tch!" Reinhard clicked his tongue before he grinned. "Alright, if you want their attention then you shall get it!"

"I can't stop him when he's like this," said Noah before he shrugged, "Might as well play along."

"Great!" Lyon nodded. "Now go, and remember, don't use Nirvana School's name at all costs."

He saw them leave the private room and hear the creaked door of the entrance being opened. After a closing click, Lyon leaned back once more.

"Darling, what are we going to do?" asked Selena. "Want me to destroy the entire north instead? But it would attract a lot of attention, Paradise might be alerted."

"I know," said Lyon. "That's why we're not going to do that."

"Then..."

"We are going to wait for them," said Lyon.

"How are we supposed to know if one of them is captured?" asked Selena.

"We don't need to chase the fleeing butterfly, Selena," Lyon smiled. "It's just a matter of where the place we are willing to wait."

"To the north gate then?" Selena smiled.

Lyon nodded, "Exactly, using the information that they have gathered, though not absolute, there is an extremely high chance that they will pass the north gate. However, we will not act until they led us straight to the deepest of their lair that they can. Then, we can exploit the Burgeon Swan."