"OH? And may I ask how would you do that?" the brown-haired 'Santa' asked with interest.

Shen Ji Yun didn't want to quibble with this NPC and was just planning to directly cut the pipa he was smoking when he felt the back of his cloak being tugged gently. Before he could look back, he already heard Luo Yan's voice whispering in his ear. 

"Brother Ji Yun, is it really okay to antagonize him? What if he refused to tell us what we wanted to know because finds us annoying?"

Shen Ji Yun couldn't answer immediately because all his mind could focus on was the itchy feeling of Luo Yan's breath on his ear. Even the powerful momentum he just showed slowly subsided. He felt like it's not just his ear being tickled but his heart as well.

Seeing Shen Ji Yun not saying anything and lowering his sword, Luo Yan thought that he agreed on what he just said. He finally breathed a sigh of relief thinking that that was the case. Although he knew that the other was just doing that because he coughed and showed his dislike towards the cloud of smoke around them, he couldn't let him fight with an NPC that could be a possible source of information from them. 

He did feel moved because of his action though. It seemed almost automatic. As if his body just moved on its own after seeing him looked so uncomfortable. Knowing Shen Ji Yun, he wouldn't even be surprised to find out that that was really the case. And that made the whole thing even more moving. 

It made him want to smile like a fool. But he caught himself before he could do that. Smiling for no reason in this situation would really make him looked like a fool. So, he just used his acting skills towards the leader of the Crimson Corps.

"I'm sorry, my companion didn't mean to be rude. He's just worried about me because I don't like the smell of smoke. So, could the Leader please put out the smoke in your pipa?" he asked from behind Shen Ji Yun, looking at the leader of Crimson Corps with big watery blue eyes. As if he would cry if he refused.

It's probably useless to act like this in front of an NPC, but considering how rich the emotions of some of the NPCs here were, maybe this NPC would be affected by his 'pitiful act'.

Well, there was certainly someone who's affected. 

Shen Ji Yun stared at Luo Yan. He now looked like a pitiful rabbit who would shed tears at any second. The urge to enclose him in his embrace and comfort him was so strong that he had to clench his fist tightly and feel the pain of his nails sinking on his palm just so he could calm down. He took a deep breath and just put back his sword on its scabbard. 

When he glanced back at Luo Yan again, he was still looking pitifully at the leader of the Crimson Corps. But if one looked closely, they would see that he was not really scared, not even a bit worried. Of course, once he was able to calm down, Shen Ji Yun also saw that. And then he realized that his rabbit was not exactly a rabbit right now but a fox instead. 

So, the urge to hug him just turned into an urge to pinch those blushing cheeks of his. This naughty fox.

"Of course, how could I refuse a request from a moon elf?" said the leader, putting of the smoke from his pipa. He even stood up and opened the windows of the office to let out the smoke.

[Wow, Mashter, you're amazing! This brown bear really did what you asked him. Eclipse should really learn more from Mashter.] – Eclipse commented, looking at him with eyes full of admiration.

Luo Yan wanted to say, 'nope, you don't have to learn from me at all'. But he had a feeling that it wouldn't really matter even if he did. Because this virtual pet of his, who's a lot smarter than any other real pet out there and probably even some real person, would just do what he wanted.

Once the smoke inside the room subsided, the leader asked them to sit. Luo Yan and Shen Ji Yun both sat on the seats in front of the desk with Eclipse sitting on Luo Yan's lap.

"I apologize for the state of my office. I just work better with all this chaos," the leader said with an apologetic tone.

"It's okay. We're the ones who should apologize for coming here unannounced," Luo Yan returned back.

"So, I heard you're here because of Finnea?" the leader then said, his expression becoming more serious. 

Luo Yan nodded. "Her husband asked me to find the reason behind her death and the events that led up to it."

"And why do you think of coming here for that?"

"We know that Finnea's father was once a member of your mercenary group. And we have reason to believe that Finnea also became one. And the reason she contracted that curse was because she was out on a mission for your group," Luo Yan said. "Of course, these were all mere speculations. But it wouldn't hurt to learn of the Leader's opinion about it."

The leader of the Crimson Corps looked at them, particularly at Luo Yan, very seriously. It's as if he was contemplating about something. "I want to know first what led you to that conclusion."

"She always went out of the village in the guise of meeting a friend. On the days before she contracted that curse, she said to her husband that she would be meeting a friend of hers. When she returned, she was already cursed and closed to dying," Luo Yan explained. "We suspected that this 'friend' she was talking about is a member of Crimson Corps. Because how else would she return that way if she was simply meeting a 'friend'? They probably undertook some kind of dangerous mission that put her in that condition. If we're wrong, the Leader is free to contradict me."

The leader only let out a long sigh after he heard that. "Yes, Finnea was indeed a member of Crimson Corps. After she got married, she sometimes took missions to earn money for her new family," he said, confirming their guess. "But the mission that took away her life, I have no knowledge about it."

Luo Yan stared at the leader. He knew this one was just an NPC. If he was not telling them anything important, then that meant that they were not saying the right key words to trigger it. 

"Tower of Edia. That's what she wrote on a piece of paper before she left the moon elves' village."

 After he said that, obvious ripples appeared on the leader's eyes. And he knew he just hit the jackpot.

The leader removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you certain of that?"

"Yes," Luo Yan said without hesitation.

The leader sighed once again before putting his glasses back on and looking at his guests. "There might be someone who probably knew what happened to Finnea. But she's not here right now. If you're willing to wait for her, then I could call her back."

Luo Yan turned to Shen Ji Yun and the other also looked at him. They nodded to each other. And Luo Yan said to the leader;

"We're willing."

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