“Often, it is best not to go against local authority. Instead, go *over* it and bring someone from higher up in the hierarchy ladder to deal with your problems when you can.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden

“Hmm… What you have said definitely brought some new light to the matter,” said Oleg Veros later that night, when he met with Aideen’s group in his study, which doubled as his office in the mansion.

Aideen had naturally related her suspicions about the string of disappearances in Deyos, along with the circumstances in which they had discovered Kino’s remains hidden deep in the forest, as well as the subsequent incident that came from it. The therian nobleman listened to her tale without interruption, though Aideen noticed that he was holding back some emotions when she talked about how they had been waylaid by some of the Baron’s retainers with orders to kill along the way.

“Definitely explained why he refused so vehemently when I offered assistance back when I passed through there on my way back from Sabaya a few months ago,” noted Oleg with a frown. “At the time, I just thought maybe he was being prideful and was trying to save face by solving the incident without outside help, but when put together with what you told me, now I can’t help but frame his actions in a different way.”

“Sending people to kill others does make him pretty suspicious in hindsight, doesn’t it?” replied Aideen nonchalantly as if she wasn’t one of the targets of said assassination. Oleg put quite a bit of weight in her words despite their short acquaintance partly due to her identity as one of his own ancestors, certified by the Empress herself, so she saw no reason not to make use of it.

“It definitely does, indeed,” answered the therian nobleman with a firm nod. “I had only been made aware of the issue relatively recently, as I’m sure you would understand that we generally do not… interfere with how others rule over their lands. It was only when things got bad that we’d intervene and cases would be brought up.”

“A couple dozen disappearances over a decade wouldn’t even register on that scale, yeah,” said Aideen in agreement. She was aware that there were limitations even powerful nobles like Oleg could do, and something that could be written off as a temporary spike in crime would barely count as a casus belli for interfering in another noble’s territory. “I guess only when it started becoming more noticeable with the perpetrator never being caught that it became something you’d hear about, no?”

“That and when they linked the first disappearances decades ago to the current spree,” said the therian nobleman with a nod. “My father used to have pretty good relations with the previous Baron Deyos. Even visited their place somewhat often when I was younger. I still remember the way the Baron looked devastated after he lost his wife, that was not long before the first disappearances.”

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“And then you brought her with you,” continued Oleg as he pointed towards Kino with one clawed finger, causing the girl to look around with uncertainty before she realized that he did point at her. “Even if you were some nobody, I would have listened and put some credence in your story just because you have brought her with you, honestly.”

“Why so?” asked Aideen, who noticed that she was clearly missing some piece of the puzzle, given the confident way Oleg spoke.

“Because other than some minor differences like the color of her hair, and how she’s got even less therian blood in her, this girl is practically the spitting image of the previous Baron’s late wife,” stated Oleg, looking both serious and slightly troubled. “I would have even pegged her as one of the previous Baron’s kids with his late wife had you not mentioned that she’s of the void affinity. Neither the previous Baron nor his late wife had the right affinity to produce that.”

“So you’re saying that she’s unrelated to them, yet at the same time, looks extremely similar to the previous Baron’s late wife,” said Aideen in understanding. “I don’t think she’s a bastard child of the Baron’s, not with how they treated her. She was kept hidden for years if not decades and practically was never let out of her room.”

“Most curious. What might it be that would make them want to hide her so badly?” wondered Oleg as he scratched his chin with one hand.

“She can tell you her story herself, if you like,” offered Aideen, at which point Kino slowly nodded to signal her willingness to relate her tale once more. Oleg thought about it for only a moment before he sat down to listen to Kino’s story, at least as the girl understood it.

It took a while for Kino to recite her tale, but nobody made any complaint or left the room as they quietly listened to her, Aideen rubbing the girl’s back in an encouraging manner from time to time. Oleg made thoughtful faces from time to time as he listened to the story, but refrained from commenting until Kino finished a while later.

“It sounds to me like she was involved in some sort of… research, considering what she said about the man with the glasses,” speculated Oleg. “What I’m wondering is what sort, since if they hid it so well for so long it must have been something that could ruin them if brought to public knowledge. I never noticed any signs on the times I visited there in the previous Baron’s later years.”

“She isn’t certain where exactly she was sequestered away, but given that the incident where a part of the Baron’s mansion collapsed and the Baron was injured was caused by her when they tried to force her, it’s likely that it would be in the vicinity of the mansion itself,” contemplated Aideen. “Do you have any idea on how to gain access to the mansion in a more… discreet manner?”

“I could probably think of something. Give me a bit of time.”