Marie guides Yuichi along the quiet evening street toward the community library. Behind them, the damaged block settles after the attack, while her fairies keep Janet’s invisible thread steady.
Marie
The library is still open. We can use the private study room, and nobody here needs to know what happened outside.
Inside, fluorescent lights hum above empty tables and tall shelves. Marie presents the notice from school, then leads Yuichi into a restricted local-history section marked for supervised research.
A damaged archive box rests behind older town records. Its brittle file describes the Blanko and Artist war, with several pages warped by age and dark staining.
Marie
This name is familiar. Mika... the rest is covered, but the witness list says Jaricho.
Marie carefully turns the page. A faded photograph shows a younger Jaricho in an old uniform beside an obscured woman, while handwritten notes mention a hidden survivor.
Marie
Janet’s thread just tightened. Whatever this file says about your parents, it may explain why your powers were concealed.
“Ill go see about this thanks marie*I say waving goodbye as I go to talk to my father about this*”
SUCCESS (Legendary Investigation, rolled +3)
Cold Yuichi
I’ll go see about this. Thanks, Marie.
Cold Yuichi waves goodbye and leaves the library, following the familiar streets home. Marie remains by the archive table, while her fairies keep Janet’s thread linked to him.
Jaricho is waiting in the kitchen in his police uniform, black hair slightly disordered and the mole on his cheek visible beneath the yellow light. The archive copy lies open before him.
Cold Yuichi
Dad, Marie found this file. It mentions Mom, you, and a hidden survivor. What does it mean?
Jaricho
It means the record was never supposed to survive. Mika and I concealed you after the war because someone was searching for the child she protected.
Jaricho turns the warped photograph over and reveals a second note sealed beneath it. The paper names a surviving witness and gives a secure address, an advantage the archive never showed.
Jaricho
The witness is alive, and I know where to find them. I will tell you everything, but not in this house. Someone may still be listening.
✓ Quest Accepted
Get Jaricho to reveal the surviving witness’s identity
✓ Quest Accepted
Meet the surviving witness
Quest Complete
Determine why Jaricho concealed Mika’s history
Skill Upgrade: Psychology Mediocre→Fair
“Let's go meet him then”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Cold Yuichi
Let’s go meet him then. Thanks, Dad.
Jaricho closes the archive file, slips it into a plain folder, and leads Yuichi through the back door. They take quiet streets toward the secure address.
Jaricho
Stay close. I chose this place because nobody connects it to our family, and the witness agreed to speak tonight.
The address is a narrow brick apartment above a closed tailor shop. Jaricho knocks twice, pauses, then knocks once more as dusk settles over the street.
An elderly woman opens the door. She has a slight build, silver hair braided over one shoulder, warm brown skin, and a faded green cardigan over a long gray dress.
The Elderly Witness
Jaricho. You brought Mika’s son. I wondered how long it would take before the past found him.
Jaricho
He deserves the truth, and you are the only living witness who saw what happened the night Mika hid him.
Quest Complete
Meet the surviving witness
“I qould like to know what really happens to my mother why she died infront of my baby brother”
FAILURE (Fair Psychology, rolled -2)
Cold Yuichi
I want to know what really happened to Mom, and why she died in front of my baby brother.
The elderly witness grips the doorframe. Her expression tightens, and Jaricho lowers his eyes as the apartment’s quiet suddenly feels too small for the memory.
The Elderly Witness
I saw Mika fall protecting you, but I cannot give you every detail. That night was broken by fear, smoke, and someone hiding the truth.
Jaricho
Maric was there, yes. He was only a baby. Mika placed herself between you both and the attacker, and I arrived after the worst of it.
The witness steps aside and reveals a small metal box on a table. Its lid bears Mika’s initials, scratched beneath a faded police seal.
The Elderly Witness
I could not remember safely, so I wrote what I knew before the details blurred. Her final message is inside. It may tell you who she feared.
Jaricho unlocks the box but leaves it closed between them. The missing explanation remains out of reach for now, yet Mika’s own words offer a path beyond the witness’s damaged memory.
“I qould like to know what really happens to my mother why she died infront of my baby brother”
SUCCESS (Fair Psychology, rolled +1)
Jaricho opens the metal box. Inside rests a folded letter, a small photograph of Mika holding newborn Maric, and a dark fragment sealed in clear resin.
Jaricho
Mika discovered that a former Blanko faction was hunting children with mixed spiritual blood. You were their target, and she refused to surrender you.
The elderly witness points to the resin fragment. Its surface carries a faint cold sheen, like a splinter of a Soul-Sword preserved after shattering.
The Elderly Witness
The attacker entered through the back room. Mika shielded both boys, but she was already wounded. She used the last of her power to hide you.
Jaricho
I arrived after the strike. Mika was dying, but she made me promise to take you and Maric somewhere safe. She died protecting you both, never betraying where you came from.
Jaricho unfolds Mika’s letter and places it in front of Yuichi. Her handwriting is steady, addressed to him by name, with one line underlined twice.
Jaricho
She wrote, “If Yuichi asks why I died, tell him this: I chose my children over fear, and that choice was never a burden.”
Quest Complete
Get Jaricho to reveal the surviving witness’s identity
Skill Upgrade: Psychology Fair→Good