Chapter 115: Who Does Heaven Ever Spare?

“This is serious!”

An hour after the battle, the Head of the Disciplinary Office stared grimly at his two most capable subordinates, Daina and Byron, and explained, “Not only were important members of the Clark family killed, but one of our academy’s renowned professors, along with a great many teachers and students, and even an entire knightly regiment of the City Guard were involved.”

“This is the greatest case in Prondela in the past decade! Her Majesty the Queen and the Dean have both taken a personal interest in it. You have only three days. The case must be solved within that time! If you fail, it will be handed over to Prondela’s Law Enforcement Division, and we will become the laughingstock of the entire capital.”

At that point, the Head of the Disciplinary Office turned abruptly toward Daina. “Especially you! This time, you not only lost several of the Disciplinary Office’s elite members, but were also accused by the Clark family of failing to protect Peter, resulting in his death. I have managed to suppress these matters for the time being, but if we cannot find the real culprit after too long…”

The Head did not finish, but Daina understood perfectly well. After an incident of such magnitude, someone had to bear responsibility. If he could not find the murderer and earn enough merit soon, he would be the ideal scapegoat.

A sense of urgency filled Daina. The moment he left the Head’s office, he hurried straight to the academy library.

He went directly to the seventh floor, the highest level of the library. When he arrived, he saw an old man with completely white hair and beard dozing in an empty room.

Daina did not dare delay. He bowed respectfully and said, “Director, I request permission to use the Grimm Stele!”

The old man opened his eyes slightly and cast him an indifferent glance. He then pointed at an alchemical device on the table, paid Daina no further attention, and resumed his nap.

Daina took out his student card and gently swiped it across the alchemical device.

“Beep. Student card,” a mechanical voice announced.

He then walked toward the room at the very back of the seventh floor. The swipe had deducted more than five thousand contribution points from his card—this was already the result of the fifty-percent discount granted to members of a fourth-level society.

If he had not been entitled to a certain amount of reimbursement each month, and if solving the case quickly had not concerned his future, Daina would never have been willing to spend his contribution points so lavishly.

Inside the room, he finally saw the mysterious stone stele that shared the academy’s name. The Grimm Stele was as tall as a man, its entire surface radiating a faint glow. It looked both mysterious and noble.

Daina knew that the information of everyone in the academy who had activated a student card could be retrieved from the stele.

He took a longsword from his spatial pouch—the very sword that Abel, commander of the Earth Dragon Knights, had thrown at the end. With great care, Daina scraped off a small amount of blood from the blade and smeared it onto the stele.

The stele released a dazzling radiance. Countless runes flowed endlessly across its surface. At last, the light gradually faded, and a line of text appeared:

“Stein, Student Number: 023014852485.”

Daina stared fixedly at the name, then left the library and hurried to the archives of the Disciplinary Office.

Byron was there, searching through Peter Clark’s records to see whether the man had any enemies or conflicts of interest. He had only reached the middle of his investigation when Daina burst in.

The moment he entered, Daina shouted, “Quick! Search Stein’s records. Student number 023014852485!”

The archivists rushed about in confusion. Before long, Stein’s file and Peter’s file were placed side by side before Daina and Byron.

They soon discovered two points of intersection between the records.

The two men had been enemies!

Just as Daina thought he had finally uncovered a major clue and that the case could soon be solved, Byron turned to the final page of Stein’s file. Pointing at the information there, he said, “There’s a problem. The records state that Stein’s soul aura disappeared half a year ago. In other words, he has been dead for six months. How, then, could his blood have been left at the scene?”

Daina examined the page carefully and found that Byron was right. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Could Stein have plotted to assassinate Peter long ago, then used some secret treasure to conceal his soul aura and fake his death?”

He thought again before adding, “It’s also possible that the murderer knew about his grudge against Peter and deliberately left traces of him at the scene to mislead our investigation.”

“Regardless, the blood left at the scene is an important clue. We cannot determine whether Stein is truly dead, but we can begin by investigating his social connections,” Byron said, immediately following his reasoning.

The archivists once again plunged into a frenzy of activity. Before long, one of them reported, “We’ve found them. There are currently three people in the capital who have connections with Stein. One is Martin, a teacher from the Outer Academy and his former friend, but he left the capital long ago. Another is Flora Orianna, the vice dean’s assistant and his first love. The third is Andy Charles, an Outer Academy student and his apprentice. The latter two are both currently in the capital!”

“Her?”

“Him?”

Daina and Byron cried out at the same time, though it was obvious they were not referring to the same person.

Daina had thought of Flora’s persistent entanglement with him that morning. The more he considered it now, the more suspicious it seemed. Byron, meanwhile, had thought of the bald boy from the Outer Academy whom he had begun observing. He had never expected the boy to be connected to a case of such magnitude.

After exchanging a glance, Byron said, “How about this? I’ll arrange meetings with them and question them carefully to find out whether they know anything about what happened.”

Daina smiled. “Good. I’m sure neither of them will escape our great detective’s discerning eye. But pay special attention to that woman named Flora. She is no ordinary person.”

They immediately divided up their tasks. Daina went once more to find Abel, commander of the Earth Dragon Knights, to see whether he could uncover any further clues. Byron sent people to summon Andy and Flora. He intended to rely on his Ring of Truth and Lies to see whether he could draw any information related to the case from them.

Andy had only just finished pretending to attend two classes at the academy when members of the Disciplinary Office found him. Upon hearing that they wished to invite him in for questioning again—and that this time he was being summoned to the headquarters of the Inner Academy’s Disciplinary Office—his heart tightened.

He thought, “I’ve barely finished killing Peter, and the Disciplinary Office is already at my door. Could the matter have been exposed? Impossible. I clearly erased every trace at the time. Surely the Disciplinary Office doesn’t have someone like Sherlock Holmes, Conan, or Judge Dee among its ranks?”

Compared with Andy’s unease, Flora remained perfectly calm when the members of the Disciplinary Office came to find her. She had already paid Sherlock’s fee through the Hive and sent him and his companions out of the capital. They would board a ship belonging to the Night Circus on the western coast and sail toward the waters of Victoria.

Naturally, she had learned how Peter had died. Though she was slightly surprised that others had taken action as well, she had ultimately achieved her objective, and that allowed Flora to breathe a sigh of relief. As for the consequences that Peter’s assassination might bring, she had anticipated them before taking action and had made ample preparations.

Flora had already prepared a scapegoat to bear the blame for Peter’s assassination: the spy organization known as the Blue Phoenix Society, agents of the Duchy of Sain.

Long ago, their worker bees had infiltrated the Blue Phoenix Society. This had greatly broadened Flora’s channels of information. However, once she seized control of the Clark family’s power, the small conveniences provided by the Blue Phoenix Society became practically dispensable. Now that Flora needed someone to take the blame, using them caused her no pressure at all. After all, they were enemy spies. Framing them could even be considered a contribution to the nation.

Flora had already made the necessary arrangements. Before long, the capital’s Law Enforcement Division would presumably discover conclusive evidence that members of the Blue Phoenix Society had attacked Peter.

According to the worker bees, the Blue Phoenix Society had a fairly formidable expert named Alvis. Flora only hoped that he would resist fiercely when the time came. The greater the commotion, the less attention others would pay to her.

Under such circumstances, Flora and Andy met for the first time at the headquarters of the Inner Academy’s Disciplinary Office.