Chapter 11: The Offer
Nioh had been in a daze for a week. No food or water had passed his lips in the last seven days. He hadn't uttered a single word or responded to any question. He sat like a statue, unbothered and untouched by the world around him.
"This poor boy has been in shock since the incident," one of the prison guards remarked, leaning against the bars and glancing at the motionless figure within.
"Then why is he still here?" another guard questioned, crossing his arms as he peered into the cell.
"They've got no leads on the crime," the first guard replied. "And since he was the only one on the scene and refuses to speak, they're holding him here until they figure something out."
Both guards sighed and moved on to their duties, the echoes of their boots fading down the corridor.
But inside the cell, Nioh was anything but unfocused. In truth, his mind had never been sharper. With the help of Ekoh, he had spent every waking moment reconstructing the events of the crime scene. Every bloodstain, every object out of place had seen that day he examined them endlessly in his mind.
At first, he thought he might have had a hand in what happened to Granny Leah, but the clues said otherwise. The more he pieced things together, the clearer it became this was a carefully orchestrated act.
He knew Granny Leah had a sensitive identity, but he lacked the details to connect the dots.
She use to tell him, if I die you must know "I exist within, but have no form of my own. I connect parts, making a whole unknown. I'm the essence between, the space in the middle, A hidden relation, a secret riddle." He never managed to solve the riddle, but now knowing it was the only lead, he had been hyper focusing on a solution.
"You look pitiful for someone who claims to have ambition."
The sharp voice broke Nioh's concentration. He looked up to see a tall man in military attire standing outside his cell. The insignia on his uniform marked him as someone of significant rank: Lieutenant X.