C186: King of the Dark Path (1)
Chapter sponsored by myosotis. Thank you for your support.
"For now, we'll hear the details after the investigation."
Trina, Enya, and three Nightcrawler Knights headed inside the mansion to begin their investigation.
The Nightcrawler Knights brought up the artifact they had prepared. It was an oval sphere the size of a human fist. It looked like an egg of something and had a subtle gold color on its surface.
"What is this?"
Enya showed curiosity at the sight of the object she saw for the first time.
"Come to think of it, you must have seen this for the first time because you're only in Leathervelk. It is a new type of artifact that was recently introduced."
"Artifact?"
"It's an item made by bining the theory of memory storming in the New Tower. It's an early prototype that hasn't been named yet, but it's definitely effective."
"What's its effect?"
"It allows you to read the criminal's memory related to a magical incident."
The artifact reads the remaining mana and absorbs it into a special piece of paper inside it and if someone infuses the paper with mana they'll be able to see the wizard's fragmentary memories.
It was a very innovative artifact that made it possible to analyze most magical events.
Enya's eyes shone, too.
"That's amazing! It will solve the unsolved cases right away."
"There is also the limitation that it needs the remaining mana and since spells used by wizards pletely disappear after 36 hours, there is a time limit."
In addition, there is a limitation that there must be a wizard who handles Mana to use this artifact.
"Of course, it's something great enough to pletely offset those shortings."
Trina put the artifact on the shelf.
The artifact, which looked like a golden egg, split into 4 parts and a magic stone appeared. The magic stone surrounded by white paper resonated with a hum and scattered waves around it.
"Did it work?"
"Yes, now the artifact will scrape away the residual mana and turn the white paper into a different color. That way, we'll be able to immediately determine if this incident was the work of a wizard."
An hour passed like that but there was no change in the paper that covered the magic stone.
Trina frowned.
"Captain, there is no change in the artifact."
"I know."
"Don't tell me that'…."
Trina nodded with a heavy face.
"Yes, this case has nothing to do with magic."
"That doesn't make sense."
It was an incident in which people in the mansion evaporated overnight. Obviously, they could see that there were people here until last night by looking around a little bit.
A typical example was the kitchen where the ingredients that were just being trimmed remained.
"How many people stayed in this mansion?"
"We estimate at least 100 people."
"How is it possible for 100 people to disappear overnight without magic being used?"
"……This is physically impossible unless magic it's used in the first place."
"Yes, that's why it's a problem. That physically impossible thing happened here."
Any further investigation seemed pointless.
Trina recalled her conversation with Enya.
"Nya you said a while ago that this has something to do with the slums. What did you find there?"
"Do you remember the day you found a body in the back alley while investigating the death of Bellbot Rickson?"
"I remember."
Trina clearly remembered it because it was unusual that a Calsapa Assassin was involved in the fight of the backstreet vagrants.
"After that, I couldn't care less about the looting of the Kunst auction house, but I recently had a chance to check it out."
"What happened to the slums?"
"Yes."
Enya nodded with a firm face.
"The ones fighting in the alley the other day were the remains of the Red Society."
"The Red Society was previously said to be the organization that ruled the back alleys of Leathervelk."
"They did but just nominally. The ones behind them are right here."
"Silver Sun."
Trina muttered as she looked at the desolate mansion.
"These were the mafia bastards that the Mayor of Leathervelk condoned, the scum that eat away at the country."
Trina, who hated the wicked, frowned and did not hide her displeasure at the loaches that mitted illegal acts and were protected by the law.
Although the news that Silver Sun was destroyed in a day caused a sense of exhilaration, the problem was that the impact of this case was too great.
An incident that cannot be identified even by a magic tool used to track magic was something major.
"Do you think the key to this incident in the slums? But what on earth can those abandoned by the city do to get rid of an entire mafia organization?"
"A normal slum couldn't have done that."
"That means it's not normal now."
Enya told Trina everything she had found out.
"The slums are thriving at a tremendous rate these days."
"They are?"
"Until recently the organization which had been divided into three came together as one and began to carry out several projects that were successful simultaneously and continue to thrive."
Trina folded her arms and her eyes shined sharply.
"That's a strange thing. What kind of money do the abandoned people of the city have to do business? Did the city go into redevelopment as part of the relief policy?"
It didn't make sense otherwise but Enya shook her head.
"The city of Leathervelk still doesn't care about the lower class. Rather, they want them to disappear because they hurt the beauty and image of the city. Surprisingly, it is not the city councilors or the nobles who have brought about this change but one person."
"Only one person?"
An intriguing smile crept across Trina's lips involuntarily.
It must have been because an unexpected answer came back to her as well.
"Who?"
"The people are calling him [Owner]."
"That can't be a name. Did you get his real name?"
Enya could not answer and Trina looked at her surprised.
"That's surprising. You haven't figured it out yet. Does it mean that the opponent hid his identity that well?
"……It's embarrassing, but it's true. One day, the man called Owner, suddenly appeared in Leathervelk and took plete control of the dark world. He's a ghostly man, with no trace of what he's done in the past."
Beyond integrating small and medium-sized organizations into one, they are continuing their aggressive moves by achieving successful projects.
Because of that, the surrounding mercial districts were nervous.
"It's a wonder that an individual can make such a thing possible."
"You may not believe it, but it is true. Owner must be quite something."
Trina looked around inside the luxurious mansion also known as the home of the mafia, which became a haunted mansion in just one day.
The appearance of the Owner and the collapse of Silver Sun, which was at odds with them. Was there a connection between the two?
It was a hasty decision that he was the criminal, but it was clear that he was a prime suspect.
"I'll have to meet him."
"I'll prepare it right away."
"Retrieve the artifact and keep the no-entry guard line intact. We can't let the reporters of the newspaper run wild."
Trina looked out the window. At the entrance of the mansion, there were already many reporters gathered.
"They're rushing in too quickly. These guys are like hyenas."
At that moment, Trina pulled out her sword like lightning and aimed it at the air.
"Leader?"
Enya and the Knights panicked but Trina stared at the empty space with a sharp gaze.
"Come out right now. Don't hide yourself like a rat."
"As expected, Trina."
At the same time a voice was heard in the air where there was nothing. The thin curtain of water, which used to distort the light, disappeared, and the person hiding inside appeared.
"Your intuition is very sharp? I haven't seen that in other people."
"Casey!"
"Yeah. Long time no see, Trina."
"Detective Casey?!"
Enya, who recognized Casey, also jumped in surprise.
Trina immediately put the drawn sword and strode up to Casey to ask for a handshake.
"I don't know how many years it's been! How have you been?"
"I'm doing fine as usual. Ah. Nice to meet you Enya Joyner, wasn't it the first time we met at Kunst that day?"
"Ah, yes. Long time no see. Detective Casey."
"Hey Casey. Who is this person here?"
Trina belatedly realized that there was a blonde girl next to Casey.
"Ah. Let me introduce you. Trina, this is my assistant, Betty."
"I'm Betty, a great assistant who works hard to assist the unruly Casey."
"Betty, this is Trina Ryanhowl, the current Marquis Ryanhowl and the leader of the Nightcrawler Knights."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Betty."
"Oh, oh? Were you an aristocrat? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know."
Enya and Casey smiled bitterly at Betty's change of attitude in an instant.
"Casey, what are you doing here?"
"What do you mean? Does a detective need a reason to look into a case?"
"……I see, but you've gone too far. This place is off limits to the public."
"So I sneaked in. And I'm not a normal person, am I? I'm a state-approved detective."
Casey winked her eye and next to her, Betty muttered an excuse.
"I tried to stop her. It's all Casey's fault."
It wasn't an excuse, but a statement that sold Casey.
"……I won't expect normal behavior from you but I'd like you to at least let me know. If you had done something wrong, I would have swung my sword."
"I'm sorry about that but it was such an interesting case that I couldn't control myself."
Trina let out a small sigh as she realized she couldn't hide it.
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Looking at your reaction, I see you found nothing. I wonder if I can help you with anything."
The words shook Trina's heart a little.
Casey Selmore is the only person she recognizes as a close friend and a person of exceptional talent.
She failed to find a clue, but Casey might. It wasn't that she didn't feel like leaning into the slightest possibility but she had to make a clear distinction between public and private life.
"I'm sorry. Even I cannot ask for help with this matter."
"Hmm. It's a pity."
Casey didn't really want much either since she already had a good look at the crime scene.
It was clear that this was not a regular case so Casey turned her attention away.
"You have something more interesting than that."
"Oh, you mean this artifact?"
"That's an artifact that was recently made by the New Tower, right? It is a product that bines the recent emerging memory storming phenomenon in academia."
"As expected, you know everything."
"I just heard it over my shoulder. Looks like there are a few. Can you lend me one of those?"
The Knights opened their eyes wide when asked by Casey but there's nothing they could say because this woman looks close to the leader.
When the Knights showed their displeasure, Trina held them back with a glance.
"So this was your purpose."
"Just looking at it, I got a feeling. So what do you say? One is okay, right?"
"Well, it doesn't matter if it's one."
When Trina handed over the artifact in her hand, the members shouted.
"Leader! Handing things over to outsiders……!"
"I don't care. She's not an ordinary outsider in the first place."
When Trina, the leader of the group, said so, the members couldn't talk more. Regardless, the decision was made by their most respected leader, so there must be some reason.
Casey, who actually received an artifact, also responded that it was unexpected.
"Huh? I thought you'd turn me down but you actually gave it to me?"
"You'll try to get it at all costs anyway so it's better to just hand it over."
"What? You know me too well."
"It's easy to understand because you're so weird. Considering what would happen because I didn't pass it over, my judgment is that it would be cheaper to give it now."
Casey smiled awkwardly.
Betty glanced at Casey next to her and scolded her, 'How many accidents have you caused?'
"Anyway, I'll take care of it well because you gave it to me."
"Yeah. From your reaction, you must be chasing something, too."
"Yes."
"But what are you going to use that artifact for? I don't think you're just taking it because of your personality."
"Of course I have a place to use it. However, I will explain the details separately later."
Casey's eyes were unusually serious when she said so and Trina nodded.
"If you say so, I won't ask you anymore."
"Anyway, it's a shame that we haven't talked for a long time even though it's been a while."
"Don't worry, it's always possible if you're in this city. Next time, let's set a date and solve this regret."
"Okay. Then I'll go ahead."
In an instant, the images of Casey and Betty disappeared like a mirage.
Trina smiled at the sight while thinking that her friend was still the same.
"Let's do our job."
"Yes!"
* * *
Rudger fell into a deep sleep in the hideout. It was a reaction using God's power.
Hans and other members knew he was tired, so they didn't wake him up and left him alone. They had too many tasks to handle to be worried about Rudger.
First of all, they had to take the business run by Silver Sun as soon as possible.
Analyzing the ledgers and tracing the source of the money was not an easy task. It was purely a race against time, as some individuals were already moving.
At noon after a busy morning Rudger, who thought he would sleep more, came downstairs.
"Brother, are you awake?"
"Wele Owner."
"Nari! You slept so soundly!"
Hans and Violetta, who were analyzing the books diligently, and Seridan, who teased Hans, greeted him.
Instead of accepting the greeting, Rudger stared out the far window.
"Brother? What's wrong with you?"
"Get ready."
"What? What?"
"A customer is ing soon."
It was also a very annoying customer.
The Nightcrawler Knights of the Imperial Intelligence Service that were a symbol of fear for the people in the back alley were ing.