<span style="color: crimson">"...Devastating Glory."</span><br/><br/>Jyuuzou tensed up as a voice came whispering directly into his ear, completing the name of the artifact for him. No, to call it a whisper would not do justice to the strangely resonating voice in his ears. He quickly scanned the area around them for threats, but failed to feel anyone directing ill-will towards their direction, let alone anyone who was even looking their way. He was clearly being targeted by a technique or spell that was allowing the caster to speak audibly without alerting anyone else around them. However, regardless of how this individual was listening in, it did not change the fact that someone had deliberately pinpointed their conversation from within the noisy chatter of the patrons to this tea shop. Furthermore, this person had also demonstrated that he or she had knowledge of the artifact they were discussing. This was already grounds enough to assume that whoever had initiated contact just now possessed significant drive and skill. Jyuuzou glanced towards Kaleissa to ascertain whether she had heard the voice as well.<br/><br/>However, even before he could make a questioning motion, Jyuuzou noticed that not only had Kaleissa heard the disembodied voice as well, her eyes had also undergone a strange change. Instead of the darker, black hue that was normally associated with Jakuuzoku, her eyes had turned an unnatural, bright, ruby red. Was it magic as well? Or was it something similar to what the madman had ground into his body all those years ago? While he was curious, it wasn't the time or the place to be preoccupied with such things. Turning his thoughts back to the disembodied voice, Jyuuzou put himself into a trance. The colors in the room around them, including Kaleissa's eyes, faded into a monochrome. The lingering taste of the tea in his mouth and throat disappeared.<br/><br/><span style="color: crimson">“Nice to meet you, I’m Rei. Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation...It seems we have some common interests.”</span><br/><br/>After a few moments, Jyuuzou located the source of the voice; it wasn't particularly difficult, as whoever was manipulating the sounds hadn't tried at all to try to mask where the source had come from. She had been sitting alone at the far side of the tea shop, huddled over some scrolls. As she still had her hood up over her face, even with his heightened ability of sight, Jyuuzou couldn't make out anything in particular. In fact, her whole presence was rather non-existent; she had been simply keeping to herself before suddenly reaching out towards the two of them. He continued to watch in wary silence as she suddenly shifted, apparently having noticed that both Kaleissa and himself had focused in onto her position. Her hood lifted up just high enough to reveal a rather practiced sort of smile. Immediately after, she had collected her belongings and gingerly picked her way over to where Kaleissa and Jyuuzou were seated. While concealed, the shape of a weapon was still visible through the folds of her cloak.<br/><br/>The only thing that Jyuuzou could say was in their favor in this sort of situation was that at the very least, he did not feel any sort of ill-will coming from her.<br/><br/><span style="color: crimson">“May I join you? Please don’t be alarmed. I am merely a scholar searching for the same thing object that you seem to be seeking. I believe we all can…mutually benefit if we join forces.”</span><br/><br/><span style="color: violet">"Rei is it? Well? You mentioned mutual benefit...Do explain."</span><br/><br/>Jyuuzou partially released the effects of the trance as Rei finally settled in front of them. This so-called "Rei", a Jakuuzoku, had only verbally demonstrated that she meant no harm. Jyuuzou ran his eyes quickly over her still-cloaked body. Now that he had taken a closer look, her build was rather poor if she were a warrior. However, the concealed small-sized weapon combined with the voice that Jyuuzou and Kaleissa had both heard earlier, indicated that "Rei" had more than a passing proficiency with magic. All the factors indicated that Rei was a potential threat just waiting to strike at them. Almost as testament to this, Jyuuzou felt the intense amount of ill-will that Kaleissa had been emitting being directed towards Rei all this time. Despite all of this, his gut instinct, honed by years of war, told him that despite of<span style="font-style: italic">how</span>she had overheard, Rei probably just wanted to talk to them about something she found interesting. He turned towards Rei and began to speak.<br/><br/><span style="color: gold">Hm...<span style="font-style: italic">'jou-chan</span>, let us humor her for a while. Sit with us then, 'scholar' of Jakuu. But beware -"</span><br/><br/>Jyuuzou turned his head slightly, staring off into a space between Kaleissa and Rei, while directing a mind-numbing amount of<span style="font-style: italic">sakki</span>towards Rei. His face held no discernable expression.<br/><br/><span style="color: gold">"-this one is watching every move you make."</span><br/><br/>After pausing for a few moments for the effects to sink in, Jyuuzou halted the flow of<span style="font-style: italic">sakki</span>, satisfied that his intentions had gotten through.<br/><br/><span style="color: gold">"Sit, and un-cloak yourself, 'scholar', and tell us about yourself. Spare us the humility; there are no individuals who can 'merely' know of the artifact."</span>