Murim Recurve

Re'Kha was supported by Burfuna Ki'Sha on their way down the stairs. The two watched the restaurant resume its activity as if the previous commotion hadn't ever happened. In their perspective, they just fell asleep mid-eating and experienced a nightmare.

As for some of them, they didn't even seem to realise they had experienced a nightmare. As most dreams went, they were forgotten the moment one woke up. But, as the two reached the ground floor, they heard a stream of complaints as the customers shouted.

"I had ordered a sweet. Why is it so sour?"

"My dish tastes spicy now."

"The water is salty."

"T-This," Re'Kha looked around, inspecting the conditions of the people. They weren't any different from before but seemed a bit on the edge as their food tasted weird all of a sudden.

"But sir, you just complimented it before." A waiter muttered in confusion.

"I don't know. It was tasty before, but is spicy now." The customer barked, "Taste it for yourself and see."

"But sir, we didn't even add any spice in the dish. This is a sweet dish." The waiter retorted as he took a bite of the dish. Sweat formed on his face as tears streamed out of his eyes, "Spicy!"

"I told you right," The customer spoke, feeling a bit content that he was proved right, watching the reaction of the waiter that downed a glass of water—to curb the spiciness—when he spit it out in reflex, "Too salty."

Just when the customer was about to curse the waiter for spitting the water, Burfuna Ki'Sha arrived at the scene, gazing at the food as she took a small bite from one corner, "This is a sweet dish."

"Lady, something this spicy cannot…" The customer shouted at her, his words cut short as he noticed her Tikka jewellery, at the jet-black gem embedded within. "My lady, I didn't mean to raise my voice…"

"It's fine," Ki'Sha waved her hand, motioning for him to remain seated as she went to another table, tasting the food there too before muttering to Re'Kha, "All the food tastes normal. It's their sense of taste that has gone wrong."

Re'Kha listened in on the conversations happening throughout the restaurant, replying to Ki'Sha, "It's mostly their sense of sweetness that has been robbed while one of their other tastes has been amplified to fill in the gap."

"It's the work of that Sha," Ki'Sha nodded, "So, it's the type to rob people's sense of taste."

"It seems it has only robbed their sense of sweetness." Re'Kha offered her conjecture, watching the restaurant owner run out in a hurry as he began to console the customers. She looked at Ki'Sha, "What are you planning to do to calm them?"

As Ki'Sha was part of the Royal Clan that was in charge of Burfuna City, the livelihood of its people was her concern. She didn't look like someone that held considerable power and influence in her Clan, but that didn't mean she didn't have the responsibilities originating from her status.

It was her duty to placate the people and tell them the required information accordingly, if necessary. Ki'Sha understood the thoughts behind her question as she shook her head, "It's for the best if I refrain from speaking for the time being. It would be better to relay the message through the guards."

She refrained from relaying the message to prevent the customers from getting scared—at the sight of her. If she spoke directly, they would be trembling in fear and would only be thinking of ways to avoid offending her that her message would directly go over their heads. So, she planned to relay the message through the guards. That way, they'll understand the situation and take it to heart.

The situation within the restaurant was getting heated up, all the while they didn't even realise they had survived an encounter with a Sha. They had all forgotten the nightmares they experienced and were back to their business, complaining to the restaurant staff when the food didn't taste the same as before.

Burfuna Ki'Sha and Re'Kha exited the restaurant, noticing the rain had stopped. They stood on the road, soon spotting a guard cycling who seemed to be headed somewhere. Ki'Sha took in a deep breath as she shouted, "Stop!"

The guard was startled for a moment as she looked in the direction of the shout, habitually gazing at the owner of the voice's Tikka jewellery as she turned respectful, "Is something the matter, my lady?"

"Yes," Ki'Sha nodded, pointing at her back, "There wasn't three Sha but four. The fourth one attacked here and robbed the people of their taste of sweetness. The Blinded Ghost was also last seen here before it disappeared."

Hearing the flurry of information, the guard was dumbfounded, staying still in shock, only returning to her senses when she was urged by Ki'Sha. She took out the whistle in her uniform and blew it hard, making a tune that seemed to relay a message. "The other guards will be coming soon. My lady, if it isn't a bother, can you explain it to my higher-ups? I'm just a recruit."

"I don't mind," Ki'Sha nodded as she saw more than thirty guards pedal their cycles and arrive soon after. She looked at their Tikka jewellery, noticing that five among them were Harmonisers. Among them, the one at the centre seemed to be in charge of the group, a middle-aged lady in her forties.

Her hair was wet, dishevelled as she had been in pursuit under the rain for a long time. She pressed the brakes on her cycle, halting as she saluted, "Lady Ki'Sha, what happened here? Were you the one who had spotted a fourth Sha?"

"Yes," Ki'Sha nodded, recounting everything she had witnessed, even explaining how it had robbed the people of their taste of sweetness and how the Blinded Ghost was actually in pursuit of it. Once she heard everything, the guard saluted once again, "Thank you for the input, Lady Ki'Sha. We'll begin investigating it immediately."

"Since you're the one investigating it, Officer Rhi, I can rest assured." Ki'Sha smiled, noticing Re'Kha frown.