Quoted By:
The first thing you do when you lean over the big table with the map on it is think, oh wow, you’re really doing this, huh? By the Goddess, this is quite a responsibility. Only a few months ago, you expected to be relaxing your summer away, traveling to palaces around the country, and yet here you are, an Inquisitor. Holy shit- Anyway, you then shake your head and refocus. What would a malicious entity stand to gain by not attacking these estates? Sure, there are others that had next to no damage, or Inquisitors or the Guard apprehended suspects before they could cause any damage at all, but there were no reports of these very specific estates being targeted. That’s not to mention that every noble house ranked above that of a baron has an estate in the Capital, even if they only live there a few days out of the year, so that’s quite a few buildings that have been scorched. Now, why is it so that these five are untouched by flame?
Well, you can think of quite a few off the top of your head. First is the obvious; these five make up the Heaven Society and, as such, did not attack themselves. This one is ludicrously stupid, but Asher has seemed to always lament how this world makes no sense compared to his own. Perhaps he’s more right than you’d like to admit? Nah, it can’t be. Maybe this is nothing more than a red herring, a distraction? That’s more possible, seeing as the Heaven Society seems quite willing to throw disposable agents around. Then you’re struck by a dark thought, at the Academy, all the heirs to these houses were as thick as thieves as they say, and you’ve heard that’s caused their respective house leaders to be closer as well, seeing as they all hang out so much. What if a few of them are a part of this conspiracy and stupidly decided to not attack their estate in a false flag while also not attacking their friends? Argh, that just sounds like your first theory with extra steps. Whatever, you won’t find any answers without investigating yourself. But you can look over the basics once more.
“Hey, did either of you get the name of the Priestess that sat next to me earlier?” You say out of the blue, catching both Marie’s and Alyssa’s attention.
“What Priestess?” Marie asks after they share a glance and though Alyssa has her ever present neutral look you see a slight frown. She doesn’t know what you’re talking about either.
“Nevermind,” You say, “Marie, remember Alice in Wonderland,” What a strange book that was, an absolute nonsense story of talking animals and a stretchy girl. How does that relate to your life at all?
“Oh, yeah, I love that story. I cosplayed her once at Disney, you know?” You’ll disregard whatever that means.
“Did the story contain anyone named Dorothy that you remember?”
She thinks for a second, “No, not that I know of. The Wizard of Oz does, though!”
“And that is?”
