The mushrooms in his hair pulsed weakly in alert.
“Who is it?” he asked, his voice betraying some of his exhaustion from the intense cultivation session.
“That doesn’t matter,” a female voice answered from the other side. “Could you open for a moment?”
Ren quickly looked around the room. The containers were sealed, Shadow Stalker skins stored away, work area dismantled. But the smell… a mixture of poisonous fungi and decomposing tissues still lingered heavily in the air.
“Who are you?” he insisted, buying time while considering opening a window to clear the suspicious scents.
“It will only take a moment.”
“It’s… it’s very late and I’m not presentable,” Ren responded, his exhausted mind trying to process the situation. “Could it be tomorrow?”
There was a pause, barely a heartbeat…
The tone changed.
“Open the door, fungus,” Luna’s voice cut through the silence, cold and direct. “I need to talk to you.”
Ren froze. Of all people…
“Luna,” he tried to make his voice sound firm despite the exhaustion. “I was about to take a bath…”
“Can it really not wait until tomorrow?”
“No.”
Ren looked around the room with desperation. Everything was stored, but the smell… And he was shirtless, covered in sweat, his veins still glowing faintly from the mana manipulation…
“Luna, it’s really not a good time…”
“You have ten seconds,” her voice didn’t change tone. “After that, my wolf will find another entrance.”
As if to emphasize her words, Ren felt the shadow wolf’s presence manifesting on the other side of the door. The mushrooms in his hair pulsed more strongly.
“Five seconds.”
No choice. Luna didn’t seem like someone who made empty threats.
Ren opened the door.
Luna stood there, her shadow wolf partially manifested in the shadow beside her, her blue eyes studying him with clinical intensity. Her gaze traveled over his bare torso, stopping at the veins that still glowed weakly with residual mana.
“Interesting,” she murmured, gently pushing him to enter the room. Her nose wrinkled slightly. “Though the smell is… peculiar.”
“Luna, please…”
“Sit,” she ordered, closing the door behind her. “We need to talk about what really happened during the expedition.”
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed with resignation.
♢♢♢♢
“Where were you when the tent fell?” Luna began while her wolf materialized more clearly, its eyes glowing with a silvery tone that seemed to pierce through him.
“In the hole with everyone else… but you already know that,” Ren responded, noticing Luna’s gaze focusing on his chest when he answered, studying his mana patterns.
“When did you leave?”
“When you saw me do it… This is strange, you already know all this, why…”
Ren stopped, understanding something…
Mana flowed subtly to Luna’s eyes, a pattern that Ren knew generated in some beasts that used enhanced perception.
“Why did you leave?”
“I wanted to verify something.”
“Lies,” Luna didn’t change her expression, but her wolf growled softly. “The real reason.”
Ren blinked, surprised by the certainty in her voice. The mushrooms in his hair pulsed while analyzing the mana flow in Luna’s eyes again.
“I wanted to help,” he answered carefully, observing her reaction.
This time Luna didn’t contradict him, but her eyes glowed more intensely. “How did you know you could?”
“I didn’t know,” Ren measured each word, noticing how the mana in Luna’s eyes fluctuated with each response. “I just… had an idea.”
“When did you see Zhao?”
“A while after leaving the hole.”
The shadow wolf took a step closer, its eyes reflecting the same glow as Luna’s.
“Was finding him a coincidence?”
“Yes,” Ren responded, and saw the flash in Luna’s eyes. “No,” he corrected immediately. “I knew he would be near because of the feathers left behind.”
Luna narrowed her eyes, mana flowing more intensely. “How?”
“By the attack pattern,” the mushrooms in his hair pulsed while Ren connected the dots. Luna could detect lies, probably through small-changes in the speaker’s mana flow.
“I see you notice many changes… for example, did you notice the medusas were very organized?” Luna began. “Too organized for…”
“I noticed,” Ren responded, aware of the mana flowing to Luna’s eyes.
“What else did you notice?”
“That it wasn’t natural. Medusas don’t hunt like that.”
“No,” Luna took a step toward him. “They don’t. You know what else isn’t natural? That a child with a spore knows exactly how to help during such an attack.”
Ren had to be careful, Luna was building to something.
“Someone must have been controlling them, right?”
The shadow wolf tensed.
“Why is Zhao hiding information about the attack in the official report? Why didn’t he make public that they were looking for me and Klein’s group?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
“Don’t play dumb… Zhao told you something,” Luna didn’t ask. It was a statement while her wolf moved even closer. “Before disappearing and avoiding my questions.”
“He thanked me,” he responded calmly. It was truth.
“What else?”
“He left me some credits for the store.” Also truth.
Luna took a step toward him, her eyes glowing with a particular mana pattern…
The games and roundabout hints stopped.
“Who gave the order to the attackers?”
“I don’t know that person.” Technically true, he had never met the First Minister.
“But you know their name.”
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed with alarm. That was the real question Luna had come to ask.
Ren maintained his neutral expression. He had to be very careful now.
“I know many names.” Another truth.
“Which is the culprit’s?”
“I couldn’t be certain.” Also truth, he had no physical proof to be certain.
Luna narrowed her eyes, mana flowing more intensely. “What did Zhao tell you exactly?”
“That he would conduct a careful investigation.” Truth again.
The shadow wolf drew closer, its eyes reflecting the same glow as Luna’s. They were looking for the slightest fluctuation in his mana that would betray a lie.
“Why?”
“Because accusations have consequences.”
“You’re good,” she said finally. “Very good.”
Ren observed the mana flow in Luna’s eyes that were now very close. “You can detect lies, can’t you? That’s why the pattern in your eyes changes with each response.”
Luna tensed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Now you’re lying,” Ren smiled, the mushrooms in his hair pulsing with enthusiasm. “I think I’m understanding the trick.”
“Impossible,” Luna stepped back. “You couldn’t see…”
“My spore can detect mana patterns too,” Ren advanced, for the first time feeling he had the advantage.
Luna stared at him while confirming that what Ren said was true.
“Show it to me,” said Ren, his smile widening at seeing Luna lose composure and backing away as he approached, turning the tables. “Show me how it really works.”