Volume 2 Chapter 46 Murder Scene
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Kian smiled and approached Oswald’s trusted dark elf head magician.
”I came to check on the murder case on Sir Oswald’s orders. It seems that you all──”
She grimaced slightly as she looked at the bald knight.
”It seemed that Sir Oswald wanted to keep this incident a secret.”
”He just wanted the next ‘Knights of the Sun’ to participate in the ceremony without any worries. His Excellency and Sir McCutchen think the same.”
”Well, since Sir Oswald is the star of the ceremony, we should inform him about the details of this incident. You know, there’s a challenge from ‘Azrael’s Death Sword User’ stating they plan to disrupt the ceremony as revenge for their comrade’s death.”
”What did you say, Ms. Aisha?”
When Kian asked back, Christy, who had been silent next to him, grimaced and said, “Oh no.”
Meanwhile, Waterman──the bald knight──clicked his tongue in annoyance.
”Did Mr. Kian not hear? It seems you are here as a representative of Lady Christina and Her Excellency.”
”No, I haven’t heard anything. I only learned that 2 urgent news came during the knight ceremony 2 days ago.”
”Lady Aisha! You shouldn’t say such things to adventurers!”
”I’ve already said it, but Baron Waterman seems determined to keep this matter private.”
”…Tsk…”
”Kian”
Christy pulled on his sleeve.
She continues.
”Two days ago, during the banquet, urgent news came in. One is about this dismemberment murder case. The other is that the male victim was apparently a member of the crime group ‘Azrael’s Death Sword User’… Oh, by ‘Azrael’s Death Sword User,’ I mean the group that attacked us before. They are demanding the release of their captured comrades and a large sum of money, or they will ruin the ceremony.”
”So, the victim of this murder was part of the assassin group from last time, and they believe that the one who killed their comrade was someone connected to Her Excellency Maribel?”
”Let me be clear, we are not responsible for the assassination of the shopkeeper as revenge against an attack on Her Excellency!”
The bald knight spat out with frustration.
He continued, irritated.
”The murder scene is upstairs. Lady Christina, feel free to go if you want to see it. I’ll say it again, we have nothing to do with this. We did nothing. The shopkeeper’s murder was likely caused by the international crime organization ‘Azrael’s Death Sword User,’ which is infamous. They often have imitators, but ‘Death Sword User’ is strict with those impersonating their name. They are merely stealing the title of Azrael.”
”I’m starting to get confused.”
The guard captain murmured with a pathetic expression.
Christy looked up at the bald knight.
”For now, I’ll go see the scene. I’m going up the stairs, but I won’t allow anyone to peek under my skirt from below.”
”Of course, I have a wife who is thousands of times more adorable than you”
The bald knight turned away after saying that.
”And please refrain from disturbing the scene. We are conducting other investigations below.”
* * *
Kian then accompanied Christy and Aisha up to the second floor of the warehouse.
The smell of death was even stronger on the second floor than on the first floor, and there was also the smell of iron in the air.
Up the ladder, he can see the attic space with a triangular roof where grain is piled up.
There was a thick stain of blood on the large beam at the back.
There were marks where something had been nailed down.
”It seems the victim was nailed there. The severed hands and feet were hanging like puppets from a higher beam, and on the roof behind, written in blood was──”
”‘Fake’──is it?”
Christy furrowed her thin brows and murmured.
As she said, the dark triangular roof had ‘Fake’ written in large letters in blood.
The language was Eastern Common Language.
Whether the culprit only knew Eastern Common Language, or if they chose it because the person they wanted to communicate with primarily spoke it.
Kian had a vague feeling it was the latter.
Aisha crouched down and placed her hand on the floor.
”There are large bloodstains here and where his body was hanging. There were none around the ladder or on the first floor.”
”So, the victim was killed here and then nailed to the beam?”
”The victim had breakfast in the back of the house. After welcoming a visitor at the entrance, they moved here without any sign of a struggle… So, the victim and the culprit were probably acquaintances.”
Christy looked up at the triangular roof as she spoke.
She continued.
”The method of being cut into pieces and having body parts taken away is the same as that of the rumored ‘Death Sword User’. The group that attacked Manon called themselves ‘Azrael’s Death Sword User’, but it seems that was all a lie.”
”On the contrary, it seems that they have summoned the real ‘Death Sword User’, which should never have been summoned.”
Kian looked up at the word ‘Fake’ written on the ceiling and muttered.
”That would be the case, unless the Baron Waterman did it.”
”Is Ms. Aisha suspicious of that bald guy──or rather, of Baron the Knight?”
”Mr. Kian, you previously predicted that the assassins had accomplices in the sewers.”
”Yes. Otherwise, there would be no way to carry a high concentration of chemicals that would destroy one’s face into a sewer infested with monsters. Unless there’s some kind of magic that can create formaldehyde from air or wastewater.”
”There’s no way that could exist.”
”The guard captains narrowed down the candidates of shops in the East End that were cooperating with the assassins based on Mr. Kian’s predictions. One of them is this shop. In fact, the owner was part of the assassins’ gang.”
Christy looked at Aisha.
”Does the owner have connections with the southwestern port town?”
”It’s a shop under the control of ‘Mao Yue.’ They deal not only in Shin’s rare potions but also in many liquids produced by Azrael’s alchemists. According to the shop’s records, they had also ordered some formaldehyde from the port town. It’s a place common for corpses since it’s an adventurer’s town, so that side business must have been quite profitable.”
”So, Ms. Aisha, you’re saying that Baron Waterman, who received a report from the guard captain, carried out his own investigation to identify members of the gang from the candidates and took retaliatory action?”
”Someone above him might have given the order. If that’s the case, it’s a foolish act. What happens if you just crush one finger of a criminal group? If you’re going to strike, you should do it all at once and choose the right timing to avoid being retaliated against.”
”That’s right. Because of this, we’ve had to face terrible consequences. We can’t pay the criminals, and the ceremony might really be in danger.”
Christy sighed in agreement.
”About the ceremony, Lord McCutchen said to move the schedule up.”
”Is that possible?”
”Yes. The high-ranking bureaucrats and executives of the Commerce and Industry Guild from each country will be coming to the fortress by carriage. Therefore, they have some leeway in their travel schedule. According to our research, all the attendees will be there within the next week, so it is quite possible to ask them to cancel sightseeing inside and around the fortress and move the ceremony forward by 3 or 4 days. …I thought Lady Christina knew more about this than I do.”
”I’m currently under strict discipline. Today I am specially allowed to talk, but I still don’t know the details.”
”It’s likely that Lord Steward and your boss, the head magician, are busy sending letters in all directions. It would make sense to consult Sir Oswald, but they are trying to keep the incident a secret and handle it quietly. It’s quite mad. If possible, I’d like to hear the reason directly from Lord Steward.”
Aisha twisted her expression as she said this.
She continued to look at Christy.
”Could you please pass that message to Lord Steward? We already know the situation, so there’s no need to keep it secret. Let’s tackle the problem together.”
”Understood. I will tell Manon.”
”Thank you very much.”
The conversation that strayed from the main topic was then redirected.
After that, the 3 of them carefully examined both the crime scene and the shop owner’s home.
What they discovered was that it was highly likely the criminal was someone known to the victim.
The shop owner, who was having breakfast, welcomed the visiting criminal at the door and conversed with them (perhaps thinking of having a smoke after the meal, as there were cigarette butts on the doorstep), heading towards the storage without locking the main house.
Then, they climbed the ladder one after the other, and suddenly struck from behind.
For the shop owner who fell victim, it must have been incomprehensible to understand why he literally died.
Even though it was early morning, he had kindly guided the criminal to the storage, and suddenly, intense pain shot through him, plunging him into darkness.
The killer must have been covered in blood, but no one saw a bloody suspicious person on the street.
Either they are very good at hiding, or they just happened to evade the adventurers’ eyes.
There was no sign of them having purified themselves inside the warehouse.
The skill with which the shopkeeper was killed was undoubtedly professional.
Even though it was from behind, their limbs were torn apart almost simultaneously.
This is not something an ordinary person could do.
It’s not impossible to think that Baron Waterman created the corpses to make it look like the work of the ‘Death Sword User’.
But the victim was even smoking and talking with a visitor in the main house.
Could anyone really approach a knight noble living in a castle with such a relaxed attitude, especially when he holds police power?
Kian can’t imagine what kind of conversation would lead to someone being shown to the warehouse.
Were they forced to obey the scene setup while being threatened the whole time?
However, central street was nearby, and in the morning, adventurers were expected to be going in and out for their hunts.
Wouldn’t they at least try to make a commotion, like calling for help loudly?
Although the truth couldn’t be uncovered, the goal this time was to accurately convey the information known to Maribel.
After 2 hours of searching the scene, Christy returned to the castle to report while Kian decided to stop by ‘The Boar’s Trot Inn’ and ‘Pumpkin Pie Inn’ to let everyone know he wouldn’t be back for a while.
Esther and Robert were in the kitchen, so he managed to tell them, but it seemed Serena was out on a quest.
They said she might be back in about 3 hours, but he couldn’t keep Aisha waiting.
In the end, he decided to give a short note to the innkeeper with his message.
”We’ll teleport to the hilly area. After that, we can prepare a carriage to enter the castle together. We should be able to skip the troublesome drawbridge procedures.”
”Thank you, Ms. Aisha,”
He told Aisha, who was waiting for him outside the tavern ‘Pumpkin Pie Inn’.
The dark elf magician took out her silver bow and performed a magic ritual to open a teleportation gate.
And then they teleport from the East End into the increasingly familiar hill country.
Aisha said with a smile as she walked down the hill to the carriage at the bottom of the hill.
”If you plan on using the fortress for a while, please come to my lord’s mansion. Sir Oswald and I will be delighted to welcome you.”
”Yes. I would like to exchange the ancient copper coins for cash, so please do so soon.”
Kian said as he lifted the leather bag he was holding.
He brought it with him when he stopped by the tavern, The Boar’s Trot Inn.
”By the way, who’s the opponent for Sir Oswald’s exhibition match?”
”Oh, is it Lord Guillaume?”
”I see. He is training with Sir Oswald every day now. How’s his progress?”
”Not yet with Sir Oswald. He seems like a free man, but he is actually very busy. However, from what I can see, he has good skills. I don’t think he will mess up and injure himself on the day.”
”I see, that’s good. As a fellow adventurer, I support Guillaume. I plan to ask Christy to take me with her on the day. I’m looking forward to it.”
”Speaking of which, Mr. Kian is staying at Lady Christina’s house, right? The carriage was also directed to her place.”
”Yes. She has been helping me in many ways.”
Kian narrowed his eyes and said that.
Yes, he planned to be of help in many ways.
Since they were technically in a romantic agreement, he intended to take advantage of that tonight.
”I can’t believe Lady Christina has a live-in partner… The world is full of surprises.”
”I’m worried that strange rumors might spread at her workplace. Right now, I’m just a lower-ranked adventurer.”
”Status doesn’t matter. Sometimes love transcends everything.”
Aisha smiled as she reached the carriage and opened the door.
”Sir Oswald doesn’t seem to believe in anything so uncertain as love”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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