New World New Life 152 Special Gues

"Cry spicy tears of salt," Vy muttered to herself. 

Could the line in the riddle be linked to food? It could be a food item that would make someone's eyes water and sting their eyes. Green horseradish made you tear if you ate too much of it. But the tears did not sting your eyes. 

What food item would sting your eyes?

-Onions sting your eye. When you cut them.- 

"Lycster! It's onions!" Vy happily exclaimed. 

"Onions?" Lycster asked in confusion.

What on earth was Vy talking about?

Vy took out the letter from Future Eye that she had kept on her person. She explained her theory on how the second line of the riddle could be referring to onions. When onions were being chopped, it would sting your eyes and cause you to tear up. As they were discussing it, Monma happened to be by their table.

"Is that a riddle you have there?" Monma asked. 

She was intrigued by the black letter Vy held in her hand. 

"Yes, would you like to take a look?" Vy asked as she handed the letter over to her. 

Monma read it a couple of times before she pa.s.sed it back to Vy. Vy explained how Lycster and her had been trying to decipher the riddle but they had not been able to make much progress. 

"I'm sorry that I can't be of much help. But I think Mr Nazo might be able to give you a hand," Monma replied. 

"Who's that?" Vy asked. 

"Oh, Mr Nazo is one of our special guests. Every year, he would stay in Yama Yoma for two months. He loves puzzles and riddles like these. He would often share them with us as well," Monma explained. 

She turned to look inside of the Dining Hall, then out onto the other balconies. It was the middle of lunch so the entire place was filled with guests enjoying their meals. After searching for a while, Monma pointed to one of the dining rooms at the back of the hall. Outside of the room were two goat men, standing guard. 

"Do you see where those two are standing guard?" Monma asked Vy. 

Vy nodded as she looked in the direction Monma pointed at. 

"Mr Nazo is in that room. If you explain to him that you need some help with your riddle, I am sure he would be more than happy to help. Although, a word of caution. It is unlikely that he would give you the answer."

The siblings thanked Monma for their help. They decided to enjoy the rest of their meal first, before heading over to seek help. After all, they would not want to disrupt Mr Nazo in the middle of his lunch either. 

The green tea mochi ended their lunch on a sweet note. The mochi, made out of glutinous rice flour, was filled with green tea flavoured white bean paste. Vy loved it so much, she ordered extra so that Lycster and her could enjoy it in their room. 

When their meal was completed, they decided to go and meet Nazo. But as soon as Vy and Lycster got close to the room, the guards stopped them. It had been difficult to see from where they were seated. But now that they were up close, Vy could see their features clearly.

Their head was that of a goat with curled horns. Their fur was white, and they both wore plain black yukatas. Each of them had a sheathed sword that was tucked into the belts around their waist. 

"Halt," one of them spoke out. 

"State your business." the other said. 

In the room, she noticed that Nazo was aware of their presence. He was waiting to find out why two humans were looking for him. Nazo was also a goat-man, but his fur was dark brown. He had a pair of circular rim gla.s.ses and sky blue eyes. 

Vy bowed, "My name is Vyrena Blackfire and this is my younger brother, Lycster. We heard from Monma that Mr Nazo likes solving riddles and puzzles. So we were wondering if he might be able to help us with ours."

Nazo heard the ongoing conversation and was intrigued. What sort of puzzle would a human have? Would it be something he had already seen, or would it be something new and interesting? Their meeting by chance surprised Nazo. 

"Send them in," Nazo said as he adjusted his gla.s.ses. 

The guards heeded the words of their master and let the humans in. Vy and Lycster stepped into the room and greeted Nazo with respect. Vy briefly explained how she came into possession of the riddle and what they had been able to figure out so far. She then showed him the letter itself. 

Vy shared her thoughts on what she thought the riddle might have meant. Before she could continue sharing, Nazo waved his hand at her to stop her from continuing to talk. She quickly quietened down as he looked through the riddle. 

He did not a.n.a.lyse it for very long. Once he was done, Nazo placed it down on the table and covered some of the words with his hand. 

"Miss Blackfire, what do you see?" Nazo asked as he readjusted his gla.s.ses. 

Vy looked down at the letter paper. It was the side with the riddle on it, but Nazo's hand had covered part of the riddle. Only the first letters of each line were still visible.

Suddenly, it clicked in her mind. 

Using her index finger, she traced down the column for the capital letter of each line. As the riddle had two parts, it spelt out two different words. 

"What words do you see," Nazo asked again. 

He could see the light in Vy's eyes. He knew she had figured something out. 

"It spells… Lock and key," she replied. 

Nazo smiled, nodding in agreement.