Relius Engura
The door to the student council room is ajar. As I draw closer to it, I hear sounds of conversation coming from within. Kyrie isn’t alone today. Could it be one of the student council members?
“…still you continue to be stubborn.” The refined voice was that of a man, and though his words were harsh, his tone was conciliatory and soothing, as if gently trying to make a wayward child see reason.
“I have
always been stubborn. You should know that by now.” Kyrie sounded unhappy. The man sighs.
“I do, and it is a trait that endears you to me. Still, you know very well there is no other way for you to be heard in the corporation unless you join your voice to mine.”
“I am not ready. I should accrue more experience in school-“
The man interrupts her coldly without raising his voice. “School is a bad influence upon you. I have heard many stories of how you behave here when you are unsupervised. You terrorize the students and have nothing but rude words in a manner entirely unbefitting the heir of the Empire.”
“How dare you-“
“I dare to because I care for you, Kyrie. No one else speaks out against you because they fear your father, but I will. I am on your side, to guide and support you when you finally become the Empress.” His tone softened. “This is why I do not want you to waste your time here anymore. Your talents and beauty are squandered in the Academy, when I could be helping you use them against our enemies in the corporation.”
That does it. I am unable to hold back my curiosity and peek through the door. Kyrie is sitting at her desk as usual. The man stands behind her, one hand placed gently on her shoulder. The handsome face is instantly recognizable; I had seen far too much of it on the magazines that my sister used to buy – and it belonged to Relius Engura, the scion of one of the oldest noble houses in the Empire.
I still recall the sycophantic biographies that Chinatsu would read out to me.
Relius Engura, age 26. Net worth of 12 billion. Made his first million when he was 13. Champion runner, winning over ten international competitions. Conquered the peak of the highest mountains at age 16. Celebrated artist. World-class pianist. Trusted philanthropist. Genius entrepreneur. Voted “Most Desirable Bachelor in the World” for 10 years in a row. Currently holds a position on the board of directors of the Imperial Shinar Corporation, and is the youngest director ever in the 250-year history of the corporation.
His elegantly manicured fingers rub Kyrie’s shoulder gently. Sweeping a lock of perfectly curled dark hair from his immaculately high cheek bones, Relius leans down and brings his face close to Kyrie’s, his delicately pointed nose expanding as he sniffs. She appears to panic and starts to turn red. As her eyes dart around the room, they meet mine before I can pull away. She stares at me desperately, but in a situation like this the safest choice is to leave. Relius Engura is definitely a person I do not want to anger.
After breathing in deeply and running through a plan of action in my mind, I knock on the door and go in. She’s already seen me anyway, and sometimes the safest choice isn’t always the best. I prepare myself to speak boldly. “Miss Vice-President, I’ve something to talk to you about regarding the Kenjutsu Club…” I let my voice trail off in surprise as I stare at them.
“Oh, sorry for interrupting,” I grin abashedly as I bow my head in apology. “Unfortunately, this is something urgent-“
“This is not urgent, boy.” Relius did not even lift his eyes to look at me. His voice is cold as he commands me. “Leave us.”
“I’m sorry, sir, are you a teacher here? I haven’t seen you before.” I ask.
He gives an exaggerated, drawn out sigh and straightens himself. He walks up to me, patting down his exquisitely tailored suit. Though he is about my height, his posture, bearing and confidence makes him look taller than he really is. His dark eyes attempt to stare me down. I probably
should frightened by him, but I’ve seen scarier eyes. One of it tried to slither down my throat just last week.
“I am not a teacher, and you are interrupting my conversation with the… vice-president. Do you not know who I am?”
A blank look crosses my face.
“Who… are you?”
An irritated look flashes across his.
“My name is Relius Engura, lord of House Engura.”
“Ah, that’s one of those noble houses in the Empire, right? I heard that you have many of those.”
“One of? No, we are the greatest. Sadly, I would’ve expected even an uneducated foreigner like you to know about me. Now, if you would kindly leave us…”
“That’s wonderful, being able to meet a real lord! It’s an honour! Miss Vice-President, could I discuss the matter of the Kenjutsu Club with you?” I look away from him, towards Kyrie. She is a bit startled, but nods her head.
“Of course. I will always sacrifice my personal time for the sake of the school’s students. Have a seat. Relius, would you mind waiting outside for a moment? I’m afraid regulations state that student council consultations are a private matter.”
The handsome billionaire clicks his tongue in slight frustration. “That is alright. I will return to my hotel room for now – I still have other things to do. Goodbye, Kyrie. I will see you soon.”
“Goodbye, Lord Engura.” I wave cheerfully, but he ignores me, already treating me as part of the background as he leaves with elegant footsteps.
We pretend to chat for a few seconds before Kyrie furtively peeks at the door again.
“Is he gone?”
I walk over and look around in the hallway before closing the door.
“Yeah.”
Track 6
“Thank the Emperor!” She stretches out and then slumps back in her chair. “I thought he’d never leave. It’s a good thing you came when you did.”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to interrupt, actually. Your stare was not very informative. I half thought you were asking me to go away.”
“No, no, that was definitely a ‘help me out here’ stare.” She giggles suddenly, perhaps relieved as all the tension drains out of her. The pressure leaves me too. Though I wasn’t exactly intimidated, putting on a performance of bravado in front of the most desirable man in the world is not entirely easy on my nerves. “By the way,” she added, “you really have got guts, talking to Relius like that. He does not have much patience for fools.”
I shrug, taking my seat across her. “The way I see it, he thinks of everyone else as fools. To him I am just another fool among many. A man like that will not hold a grudge over some ignorant student.”
Kyrie agrees with me, rubbing at her eyes. “I suppose so. He’s never been the sort to concern himself with petty insults as long as they don’t become a serious obstacle to getting what he wants.”
“I’m glad to be right. By the way, are you feeling okay? I will always sacrifice my personal time for the sake of the school’s students?”
“What do you mean?”
“It… just doesn’t sound like you.”
“You mean to say that I don’t do my best for the sake of the school?”
I shake my head. I know how hard she works. The stories that she stays back alone in the student council room come about because she is usually the only one still working there after school hours. I have spotted her around the school from afar, and not once have I seen her with a friend. Just copious amounts of paperwork in her arms.
“I mean to say that you would usually say something like… I will always sacrifice my personal time for the sake of the pieces of shit studying in this school.”
“Hey, Senya.” She suddenly looks grim.
“What?”
“Do you think I talk crudely like that all the time?”
“Well, you usually do.”
“I’m not so stupid as to do it with my father and the higher-ups in the corporation. I do know etiquette.”
“You should use it with the rest of the school, then. Perhaps it would make life easier for you.”
“I know, but it’s just stifling. This is the only place where I can say whatever I want, and I don’t plan to change that.”
I get it. “This is your kingdom, huh?”
“Yes. This is my kingdom, and when the dream is over I will never be able to return.”
I glance at her. The setting sun casts shadows over her face, and in the orange light she looks weak and vulnerable. “Kyrie?”
“Yes?”
“You’re being very depressing.”
“That’s… you tactless turd! Is that any way to comfort a lady? You started it with that lame talk of kingdoms!” A styrofoam cup flies at my head and bounces off.
I laugh. The fear of her I had on our first meeting is no longer there. She’s just as human as any other person. It might be clichéd to say this, but I think she’s just lonely. Of course, she’d really try to kill me if I told her that.
“Anyway, about the investigation...”
“Actually, that is why Relius was here.”
“You asked him for help?”
“Oh, no. I would never ask
him to help me.” She shudders. “The price would be too great.”
“Your chastity?” I had been thinking about that since I saw him try to get close to her, and the words just slip out of my mouth. Kyrie turns red, even redder than the sunset.
“Well… probably… he’d ask for something bad…” she mutters almost inaudibly. Then, an evil gleam appears in her eyes, and she smiles nastily at me. At least, she tries to; it's not too convincing when that flush is still on her face. “So you think my chastity is a great prize?”
“Uh, I…”
“Hm, you really are disgusting, aren’t you? Anna was right. Are you fantasizing about my chastity? Do you think I would even consider giving it up just to satisfy your base urges to investigate some rotting monsters? You disgusting pervert. Your dick probably rots off if you stop thinking about dirty things.”
“I am very sorry, pure and chaste Princess, so please stop trying to channel Anna. I will not speak that word again.” I humble myself in my apology. While Anna’s banter is just sexual harassment, Kyrie tends to take it into sadistic territory. Frighteningly, I think I might just get used to this... that would make me an actual pervert.
“Hm. Very well. See to it that you do not sully my pure ears any further with your filthy perverted words. So, shall we continue the discussion?”
I nod wordlessly.
“He seems to have found out I was asking about him.” Kyrie was serious now, all playfulness gone from her face.
“Relius is involved?
“Possibly. His men have been in contact with some of the delinquent gangs in the town. I can’t find out the details of their meetings, but he
shouldn’t have a reason to contact them in the first place. The wet market has reported multiple incidents of theft recently, amongst them a prized specimen of a large bluefin tuna. I suspect the delinquents are behind that. Also, he’s recently engaged the services of the Dunamis private security group for reasons unknown. They just came into town together with him a day ago. He doesn’t seem to have hired them to guard him as they are moving about separately.”
I whistle. “That’s very impressive work. You found out about this so easily?”
“I think they weren’t expecting me to investigate since I usually only concern myself with matters of the Academy. All of this information was obtained from my contacts around town. I was actually planning to tell you about this tonight.”
“I see. I suppose this is where we stop using your contacts?” It was probably too risky to continue doing the same thing.
“What do you mean?” Kyrie turns her head quizzically, and I explain. “He came looking for you within a week of the investigation, and he suspects you have been investigating him.”
“From his words, he probably
knows I have been investigating him.”
“That makes it even simpler. I’m guessing some of the people you asked probably told him. That’s how he found out so fast.”
“If that’s the case…” Kyrie bites her lip pensively.
“Can you ask your father for help?” I ask.
“No. That’s not possible. If I want to seek his aid it will become a board matter when he acts against a director, and if on the off chance we are wrong about this…”
“I see. Whatever we do next, we will have to do it ourselves, at least until we gather concrete evidence. How sure are you about these leads?”
“He is definitely up to something. We’re going to investigate this personally, then?” She seems a bit excited about it.
“I’m considering it.”
“I could get the police to try and bring in the delinquents for theft.”
“Could the police be compromised?”
“I’m… not exactly sure about that. I know a few trustworthy officers, but I can’t be certain news won’t get to Relius’s ears.”
“What are our other options?”
“We could track down the delinquents ourselves. Relius will be in town until morning the day after the next – we could try to investigate him directly.”
“Hm, what about the Dunamis private security group?”
“About that… I do need to tell you something.” Kyrie pauses, a hesitant expression on her face. “They’re run by the family of a classmate of yours. Erika Dunamis… I saw you sharing your lunch on the rooftop with her.”
“I’ve only met with her once and she stole all my sandwiches.” I didn’t know Kyrie had seen us on that day. She shakes her head, as if to say that it doesn’t matter, and continues.
“Are you sure you want to check on them? Things might get awkward between you and her. Besides, their rooms have been booked for a longer period of time than Relius’s – they will be staying here even after he leaves. We should have time to investigate them later, if you want. What do you want to do?”
I wonder about the choices that I have, and realize one thing. Since when was I in charge of the investigation? Why am I calling the shots? Kyrie looks at me expectantly, waiting for my decision. Since she has already asked me, I might as well offer my suggestion to her.
If we track down the delinquents ourselves, we won’t have time to investigate Relius before he leaves. Going after Relius, however, would probably make me a target in his eyes in the future. He overlooked what happened today, but if I continue to cross his path I might not get off as easily the next time. It would also be more difficult to succeed, but if we did manage to get conclusive evidence of his misdeeds (which, to be fair, appear to be limited to an attempt at creating dangerous abominations...) Kyrie would be able to get the Emperor to act.
***
A. Track down the delinquents ourselves.
B. Ask the police to bring them in.
C. Ignore them.
(If B or C,
1. Investigate Relius.
2. Do not investigate Relius.)
