New law of Beast Taming

"Ugh, I can smell something sweet and revolting down there. What kind of abomination did our chef make for it to smell this bad?"

Sakura made her way down as soon as her mother was out of the picture. And it was not because Sakura still felt fearful of her mother, but because it was optimal for her not to cross paths with her mother.

Or that was what Sakura tried to convince herself of.

She came down and sniffed the food in front of her. She could not help but feel as if she had smelled something rotten here and it irked her feelings and nose a lot.

"Ah, so you can smell the poison in these dishes as well. It's nice to see that you have such a strong sense of smell."

Sakura could not tell if Yoko was glad for her or teasing her. But those words attracted Sakura's attention to the real problem in front of her.

"Poison? My mother tried to poison us all? This is getting out of hand now. I will go and talk with-"

"Leave her be. Neither you nor I can be killed with normal poison now. Besides, I am thinking of having our kitchen thoroughly checked before we head out for today. I do want to know what happened here after all."

Sakura shut her mouth as soon as she heard Yoko speak those words. Even she wanted to know what her mother had planned for her up until now.

"Ok fine, let's check out the kitchen then. I hope the situation is not as bad as we think it to be."

The situation was somehow worse than they had thought it to be. Even the chefs and other workers were baffled by what they saw happening in front of their eyes.

Not only the food but the spices and other ingredients had been mixed with poison. It would be impossible to separate it or take it out of things now.

"I-I am so sorry, Miss Yoko. It is all my fault and I will take responsibility. I will resign and-"

Amane held her hand up as she thought about this situation. It was clear that it was not the head chef's fault. It was also not the fault of any of the staff.

This level of deception was deliberate and it seemed as if the staff was not informed of what was happening.

"Yoko, this is…"

"No one's fault this time. I will distribute the antidote for this poison so mix it with your food if you don't want to get sick or infected. I am afraid that the same thing might happen even if we replace everything in the kitchen. So, this is the best course of action we can take."

With how determined Elios seemed to harm Amane and Sakura, Amane doubted she would stop here just because of a small problem like this.

It was more likely that these things would keep happening in the future as well.

Her words scared the servants and they shared a look of discomfort. They knew that they would be in for a world of trouble if they stayed in the Tsurugi mansion.

"Ah, anyone who wants to leave can do so now. We will cover your expenses as well as write you a letter of recommendation as well. There is no need for you to stand on our side after this."

Amane allowed all the servants to leave. And the old ones who had no loyalty to her decided to pack up their bags and leave. Only the slaves Amane had saved before were loyal to her and decided not to leave.

With this, Amane carried out another major cleaning inside her staff. So, she could not help but think of this as a net benefit in the long run.

When they came back, Aqua seemed to be awake as well. Thankfully, she had not touched any food in front of her because a maid had stopped her. And Aqua looked up with a jolt as soon as she noticed Yoko and Sakura heading her way.

"W-We need to head out now. I am afraid that my other half does not have much time left. So please, help me out."

Aqua seemed desperate today. Sleep had helped her ground herself and rethink her priorities. She needed to get her other half back at any cost and Aqua was not even afraid to beg to make it happen.

"Well, we were going to help you anyway, Aqua. your situation has a lot of interesting things that make me curious about what is going on with you. I really cannot handle my curiosity anymore."

It did not escape Aqua's notice that Amane was making it all about her curiosity and nothing more. It was a dangerous thing for Aqua to rely on Yoko when she was like this.

'But Yoko is my best shot at getting my other half back. I need to hand her over to the other side to even have a chance of things going right for me.'

Did Aqua feel bad for Yoko and what she was putting Yoko through in the future? A little bit. But that was not enough to make Aqua think twice about her decision.

"Then, let's head out now. Oh, and for today, just order out and enjoy. You can think of it as a bonus from my side." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The servants could not believe what they heard at first. They were being treated by Yoko Tsurugi because of what happened to the ingredients. It was a dream come true.

"Alright everyone, today is a party. Let's eat to our heart's content and make up a big bill."

The servants cheered as soon as Yoko Tsurugi was gone. After all, it did not matter how much they ate or partied right now. Tsurugi's fortune was huge and vast and would not be impacted.

...…

Amane followed Aqua as she led them around to the second location of the lab.

According to Aqua, there was only one more location where her other half could be kept. And this location was quite a secretive place for the researcher's side.

"Even I have only been here once so I do not know what lies beyond this door. Heck, I don't even know how to open this and I am someone who has been here before."

Aqua pointed toward the door as she spoke. It was locked up tightly and it refused to open for her. It had a sensor that stopped unauthorized people from entering.

Both Sakura and Amane were rejected entry as well. So, it was clear that this was not going to work out well. Your next journey awaits at empire

"Tsk, I should just break down this door now. Everyone, take a step back and brace yourself. I will…"

"Do nothing. There is no need to use such brute force on the door right now. Here, let me handle this."

Amane recognized the type of technology that was being used in this lab. It was the same one she had created all that time ago during her research days.

Since it was dated so back, it was clear that hackers would have a hard time even figuring out what the heck was this technology. It was a clever way to conceal their secrets.

But Amane knew exactly how this thing worked and she cracked it open in record time. Both Sakura and Aqua looked amazed at her fastness.

Aqua, especially, could not keep her mouth close once she saw Amane crack the door open. She had not even known that it was possible to open this lock. No one had ever succeeded in doing this as well.

"H-How did you open this lock so easily? It was made specially to keep people out."

Aqua asked with an uncertain voice. She wanted to know Yoko's secret so that she could use it in the future as well.

But Yoko just shook her at the question and pretended as if she had not heard anything.

After all, she did not want to explain her origins and her connection to what happened in her past. She especially did not the others to know that she had a hand in creating this kind of technology.

Once upon a time, Amane had made mistakes. But that was all in her past now. She was not going to think about it all now and let it sour her mood.

"Let it go. If Yoko does not want to tell you, then there is no point in forcing her to tell you either. For now, let's focus on retrieving the one you want to get back."

Sakura placed her hand on Aqua's shoulder and led her away. She did not want others to interfere in Yoko's personal life.

Amane noticed the person looking at them through the security camera and she gave them a small wave. The person on the other side was startled as well but he decided to do his duty.

A silent alarm echoed through the building and everyone was alert. They all decided to wait around for these intruders to enter. Then they would take care of them and no one would know what happened.

"Hey Yoko, what are you hurry? Hurry up and follow me."

It did not seem as if anyone else but Yoko Tsurugi had noticed the security camera and she did not share what she found with others in her group. That assured the onlooker that Yoko Tsurugi would be an easy target to go after.

And that was where he made his first mistake - to underestimate Yoko Tsurugi and her capabilities.