The woman took another deep breath.

"It's... a vase. My grandfather left it to me, and..." she hesitated for a few moments, as if worried about being heard by someone else, someone who wasn't meant to be getting all this information. "It looks like a vase, rather. But in truth, that's not an accurate description. It's a magical construct created for the explicit purpose of gathering and storing ambient mana for the use of the wielder."

Toshiko nodded, quietly. Mana was not only found in magi and onmyouji. It was found inside of every human being, albeit not in a usable form for most of them. Beyond that, it was also simply found naturally occurring in the environment. The limitless origin did not grant mana only to magi. But magi could take advantage of ambient mana to bolster their abilities. An exhausted mage could take advantage of ambient mana to keep casting and defending themselves, though drawing on ambient mana did require a little more knowledge. It was knowledge that most magi received through their lessons.

"But it can do more then that," Tomoko continued, "When used properly it can also take the mana from individuals. Enough to kill them. It's a distasteful, parasitic relic, but it was still granted to me by my grandfather. Therefore it's something I can't simply destroy or abandon."

She took another deep breath, her gaze turning downward.

"And now it's been stolen."

A vase that could kill by taking mana? Certainly, there's plenty of reasons that someone would want something like that.

"Are the defenses inactive?" Toshiko asked, "We'd like to take a look at the scene of the theft."

"Ah? Oh, yes, My daughter can show you to the room."