Snow continued to fall by each passing hour. The group of five followed closely behind a certain khansama.
"He went into this building." Said Lau, stating the obvious.
"If memory serves, this is…" Red began but was soon interrupted.
"I see. Now I'm starting to get the picture." Ciel narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Soma questioned. "Whose house is this?"
"Now, now, your highness, patience, patience." Lau said as he patted the prince's shoulder. "It will be clear once you've gone inside. And then you will be forced to face the truth, whether you like it or not. You…and I both…'kay?"
Silence filled the wintery air as everyone looked at Lau.
"By the 'and I', I take it you haven't a clue either?" the short teenager asked.
"Yes!"
Red walked up behind Lau and slapped the back of his head with the fan she kept on her.
"You complete blundering idiot! Are you always this clueless?!" She shouted.
Ciel turned to the prince as the girl kept hitting the Chinese man.
"This residence belongs to Harold West Jeb, who runs an extensive import business. I had the distinct displeasure of meeting him once. He's an unsavoury sort who loves all kinds of titles." The child explained.
By the time Red was done hitting Lau, he had already caught up with the conversation. "Imports, hmm? We're in the same business then."
"Why would Agni go to an importer's house?" asked Soma.
"He mainly imports spice and tea leaves from India, and runs 'Harold Trading', a general store and the 'Harold West', a Hindustani coffeehouse. Whilst investigating Miss Mina, I happened across Mister West's name in some of the documents I was reviewing. Per those papers, Bengal is indeed the main source of his wares and he has suffered collateral damage from the hanging incidents, but it seems the company representative, Mister West himself, just happened-" Sebastian explained until he was interrupted.
"To be away at the time of the incidents, blah blah blah, and escaped being hung." Red said.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her as his lord looked at the wall.
"There's nothing for it…Let's go take a look." Said the tiny teenager.
"As you wish, sir."
The butler in black grabbed both teenagers as he leapt into the air heading over the wall.
"You idi-!" they both shouted before they landed on the ground.
"It is faster this way." Sebastian said as he brushed snow off of his master and fixed his coat. The others were struggling to climb the wall.
"Bastard!" Red shouted as she began to hit the butler with her fan. "Do you realize what could've happened to your master if you lost your grip?!"
As the red head nagged to the demonic being, three angry guard dogs began to corner the trio to the wall. The growling from the animals caught the attention of the others as they all looked directly at each other. Sebastian stood in place while the only girl of the group shielded the other short teenager who was probably feeling weak at this point and getting sick of the author right no-(lemme stop).
"Ciel!" Soma shouted in warning.
The livid animals charged at the group, ready to attack. Only for the butler to gaze at the dogs with his demonic fuchsia eyes causing them to back away whimpering.
"Oh? The hounds are falling back…?" The prince wondered.
"Heh. What cowardly guard dogs Mister West keeps." Sebastian said with a slight smug look on his face.
"Hohhh there, Earlll!" Lau shouted from the entrance to the home, waving towards the group with a set of keys in one hand and a pair of unconscious guards behind him. "Over here, over here!"
Soma began to shake in fear at the Chinese man while the teenagers just glared.
"Nooo, what do you take me for? I didn't kill them. I simply put them to sleep! I think it's a four-thousand-year-old method from ancient China?"
"You…" Red began but was soon cut off by Ciel.
"Never mind. Let's stop dallying and find him already."
The group entered the home and crept around quietly.
"There do not seem to be any guards inside." Sebastian whispered. "I can hear voices coming from the second floor. What say we go upstairs and have a look?"
The others nodded to the butler and followed his trail. Red looked over to Ciel and whispered, "Is this the best idea?"
The Earl shrugged in response as they stopped at a door that was cracked open.
"You've done a splendid job." A voice spoke as the others neared the door and peered in, seeing a well-dressed blond man grabbing a newspaper with a cigar in his opposite hand. Agni sat on a couch, staring at the ground. "Don't look so tormented, old chap. Why not have a cigar and relax? This is a first-class Havana cigar I bought from James Fox, the royal warrant holder."
He stayed silent, a frown etched onto his features as the man walked toward him.
"Well, in any case, the plan has been executed to perfection so far. Everything will be resolved in a week's time." He then grabbed Agni's bandaged hand. "And as long as I have this 'Right Hand of God', my scheme will be realized! Three long years long I've waited. I'll see myself victorious in this, no matter what!"
The others leaned their heads more towards the space to hear better.
"If I can carry out my mission as promised, Mina wi-" Agni began but was interrupted by Soma barging through the door causing the others to fall back to not be seen, each person falling on top of one another.
"If you three would kindly get off of me," Red began in a harsh toned whisper as she glared at the three males. "It is very difficult to breathe will all of you bloody gits on top of me!
The males immediately got up, Lau helping her up, they then moved back to the door and listened on the conversation.
"Mina?!" Soma shouted looking around the room. Agni and the man looked at the prince with shock.
"You bloody f-!" Ciel began but had his mouth covered by Red.
"He knows the young master and I. Let us see how things proceed before rushing in." Sebastian explained.
"M-my prince-" Agni started to explain but, once again, was interrupted.
"What is the meaning of this, Agni?!" The plum-haired prince shouted. "Have you known where Mina is all along?!"
"Ah…So that's your master, hm…Agni?" the man asked as he began to twitch.
Soma turned to the man with anger, "You are the swine who took Mina away. Agni! Knock him down!"
Agni frowned more as he didn't obey the order as the man casually leaned back onto his couch.
"Agni! What are you doing?!" Soma questioned.
"Hmph," the man grinned. "Agni. Throw his annoying highness out of here."
"Wha-?!" the prince exclaimed in surprise. "Can't you hear what I'm saying?"
On the other side of the door, the butler sighed as he gazed at the situation.
"It would seem a quarrel has ensued." Red stated.
"Though there's no mistaking West's involvement with the hangings based on their little chat, they no longer seem to be 'incidents of the underworld'. And that means this is all outside of the Earl's jurisdiction, as it has to do with polite society and all." Lau confirmed to the others about the situation.
"Indeed…" Ciel agreed "But informing the Yard is a pain, so what do you say we beat them silly and go home?"
"That doesn't sound half-bad, but I have another idea. Let's leave West at large for a while longer. Tonight, we'll be leaving here with that thick-headed prince." Red suggested.
"But West knows what you two look like, right?" Lau asked the master and butler.
"That he does." Ciel agreed with Lau again.
"Please, let me handle it." Sebastian smirked at the others. "I have a good idea."
"Agni, what is wrong with you?! Explain yourself!" Soma ordered his khansama.
"I…I have nothing to tell you. Please leave now." Agni spoke with the same frown.
"Wh-What are you say-" the prince stuttered.
"Good boy." West grinned with a cigar in his mouth.
"You bastard!" Soma grabbed the man. "What have you done to him?!"
"Please stop!" Agni shouted as he pulled his master away from West.
"Let me go, Agni! Why are you doing as he says?!" Soma began to thrash around, trying to break free.
"Well I never! My Gieves & Hawkes suit is all wrinkled!" West said, fixing his suit with an irk mark on his forehead.
"Agni!" Soma shouted. "Get your hands off of me!"
"Y'know, for those chaps who are a bit hard of hearing, a good beating always does the trick!" West spoke aloud in thought. "Agni. Give his highness the prince a good whack to shut him up."
This put both the prince and his servant in shock at the man's words.
"Ha-ha! What's wrong? I'm not ordering you to kill him. I'm only telling you to rough him up a bit to get him to bite his tongue. Aren't I a nice fellow?" West questioned with a smug smirk plastered on his face.
"Nice fellow my ass…" Red muttered.
"Agni…" Soma looked at Agni with a sad expression.
"Agni!" West said in a demanding tone.
Agni swung his hand back and went to hit his master but had his arm blocked by a figure that moved in front of him, sending both males into shock. The figure looked up…and had the head of a deer.
'A deer?' questioned everyone in the room.
"Wh-Wh-Who the hell…A deer man?! What is going on here?!" West questioned in a yell for being startled.
The "deer man", who was obviously Sebastian turned towards West, who let out a small shriek.
"I, nought but a humble deer, have come for this prince." He bowed.
"Putting on that mounted deer head and going in was a stroke of brilliance, master butler!" Lau smiled without a clue.
Ciel, on the other hand, was covering the female's mouth to keep her laughter quiet. He turned to the Chinese man and asked "Are we talking about the same 'idea' here?"
"Fo-Forget the prince, this might be one of the enemy's spies! Agni!" West exclaimed.
"Nothing of the sort. I am merely a humble dee-" Sebastian began but was interrupted.
"Kill him!" the snobby rich man ordered.
"Kill-! I cannot do such-" Agni tried to protest.
"Shut up! Do you want me to renege on that promise?!" West threatened. "I'm ordering you! Do it!"
"I…I…" Agni tried to refuse but began to shake with frustration as his fist clenched. He then fell to his knees with blood (Idk?) dripping onto the floor. "My god…My master…is but one and no other…and for he alone would I use my right hand…so had I vowed."
A moment of silence passed as Agni clenched his teeth and spoke.
"Now I shall commit a sin by betraying that god…"
"Agni! No!" Soma yelled.
"Please forgive me!" the khansama yelled as he took off the bandages on his arm.