The floorboards shudder again. The Scarred Man drops to his knees, almost crawling from the hidden papers as if the wood itself burns him.
From the shadowed corner, Reina the Kitsune steps into view, white fur bristling. Her stare fixes on the bundle in Arimari's hands, cold with warning.
Reina
Put those documents down. They are bait, and the hand that laid them will want you bound before dawn.
Scarred Man
No, no, you do not understand. They were never meant to be opened. Someone will come for them, someone crueler than me.
A hard scrape answers him from beyond the paper screen. The Steward's shadow cuts across the frame, then stops, as if he has heard enough to choose caution over charge.
Reina
There is a hostile eye on this house. If the seals are carried out, the trap closes elsewhere. If they are read here, it closes on all of you.
The Scarred Man presses back against the wall, shaking. Reina holds her ground between Arimari and the room's darker corner, while the papers lie exposed in the lamplight.
“I question Reina about the trap”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled -1)
Arimari lifts the bundle higher, holding Reina's gaze instead of the room's corners. The lantern flame wavers across the black wax seal.
Arimari Tiarasan
What makes this a trap?
Reina
Because it is meant to be found. Documents that easy to reach are never meant for honest hands.
Reina
The one who set them wants a name attached to the theft, then a witness, then a reason to close a net.
The Scarred Man swallows hard, eyes fixed on the floor latch as if it might open again and bite him.
The Steward
And if we burn them? If I call this off now?
Reina
Then you admit fear before you know who is watching. Better to know the face behind the net first.
Reina's ears angle toward the doorway, then back to Arimari, her posture easing by a breath as she waits for his next move.
Quest Complete
Secure the hidden documents
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb