Chapter 6

Lily woke up. Something was wrong. Her drowsiness vanished in an instant. The room was still dim, but she could see a figure standing beside her bed. From its height, she immediately knew it wasn't her husband.

Finally, the moment had come. Understanding the situation, Lily, without thinking, scooped up her sleeping son, Ruby, to protect him. She closed her eyes, and time passed without the expected impact.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

A man's voice made Lily open her eyes.

"What if it was me? Will you let me go?"

"I might let you go if you answer my questions."

"How kind of you. It was Elsa who let you escape, right? I just helped her."

"Do you want me to kill you?"

"No, but I can't give you the answer you want. Unfortunately, I can't cure your sister."

"...I see."

The morning sun shone through, and Lily could see the man's golden eyes flicker slightly. He closed his eyes to hide his disappointment, and when he opened them again, the signs of distress were gone.

"Where is the Earl's room?"

"At the end of the corridor."

"...Is that okay?"

"Feel free."

Lily said indifferently and closed her eyes as if to go back to sleep. She sensed the man leaving the room. After a while, a faint noise could be heard. Her husband, being an Aviram faction politician, had likely had his limbs cut off, based on his usual methods. He would be receiving treatment to prevent him from bleeding to death.

His method was to kill researchers and deprive politicians of their limbs.

After a while, a sound came from the garden. He must have jumped out of the window. It was a brilliant move. He had completed the crime in just a few minutes without making much noise.

When it was much brighter outside, Lily sat up. She gently stroked Ruby's sleeping head, got out of bed, and headed towards the marital bedroom, which she hadn't entered in a long time.

* * *

In the morning, as I arrived at the academy and got off the carriage, heading towards the school building, I heard someone calling my name. Turning in the direction of the voice, I saw Abagnail standing near the gate. It had been less than a week since we last met. If he was waiting for me so early in the morning, it must be...

"There's a new victim. Please come with me immediately."

Abagnail said with urgency. I nodded silently and followed him. A carriage was parked a short distance from the gate, and I got in after Abagnail. Baker wasn't there. According to Abagnail, Baker was staying at the scene.

During the carriage ride, Abagnail told me the details of the incident. The victim was one person, the head of the influential Livy family, a member of the Aviram faction.

The crime scene was in the Livy family's mansion, in the marital bedroom, located on a street north of the intersection with Alkum Street. The victim had his limbs cut off and was found immobile by his wife, who was sleeping in another room with her son.

The son's name is Ruby. He was a victim of the serial kidnapping case a few years ago, a quiet boy whom Van and I rescued. Since then, we've become quite close, and I recently asked him to write a script for the drama club.

Is Ruby at home now? How must he feel knowing his father has been attacked? The sight he must have seen is unimaginable.

"Can I open the carriage door a bit?"

I asked Abagnail, turning to him.

"Well, the scene is a bit further ahead, but..."

"I want to check for traces in case Quintas passed this way."

"Of course, go ahead. Be careful not to fall."

I opened the door, held the frame, and leaned out. I enhanced my vision with magic and looked at the ground, but I couldn't detect any magical residue.

Unfortunately, I can't conclude that Quintas didn't pass this way. If he escaped without using body enhancement magic, there would be no residue. He might have fled quickly, but he could also have left the scene on foot or by carriage.

"It's no good."

I sat back down and shrugged.

"I see..."

Abagnail sighed regretfully.

The carriage slowed down and eventually stopped. I opened the door and jumped out, and just then, Baker emerged from the mansion's entrance, having heard the sound of hooves on the cobblestones.

"Hello, Roy. Good morning. I've been waiting for you."

Baker said casually, as if welcoming a friend to his home. His calm demeanor, unlike Abagnail's tense one, was unexpected at a crime scene.

"Good morning. What's the situation?"

"I've just finished taking statements from the servants. The master is unconscious, but the doctor says he'll be fine. From the method of the crime, it's almost certain that Quintas is responsible."

"Considering his exceptional swordsmanship and healing magic, it's hard to think of anyone else."

"Exactly. The first to discover the crime was Mrs. Lily. She was sleeping in her son Ruby's room, not the marital bedroom. She woke up in the early morning to the sound of something and found the intruder standing beside her bed, about to strike. She hugged Ruby to protect him and closed her eyes, and the intruder left the room without doing anything. She was in a daze for a while but then went to check on her husband and found him in the marital bedroom, his limbs cut off and lying in a pool of blood."

"The crime happened in the early morning. That means it's been less than two hours. If so, the magical residue should still be present."

"That's good. Let's head to the third-floor bedroom immediately. Time is of the essence."

The Livy mansion had a similar structure to my home but a completely different atmosphere. To put it bluntly, it was eerie. As we walked from the entrance to the marital bedroom, dolls were placed everywhere, making me feel as if they were watching me, sending a chill down my spine.

We climbed to the third floor and walked down the corridor when a woman approached from ahead. She was wearing a casual black dress with a narrow silhouette. This must be Lily Livy. She had an incredibly beautiful face, but her complexion was poor, likely due to the recent events. If she had been sitting still, she could have been mistaken for one of the porcelain dolls.

"Lily, this is Roy Aviram, the investigator I mentioned earlier."

Baker introduced me to Lily. Her eyes widened when she heard my name. I was relieved to see a human reaction from her, even though I hadn't really thought of her as a doll.

"Nice to meet you, Roy Aviram. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you."

Her voice was surprisingly steady.

"I'm sorry to intrude."

"No, I heard from Baker that someone else would be coming. I just didn't expect it to be you."

You didn't expect it to be me... It wasn't that she was surprised by a child investigator, but that she was surprised by me specifically. Ah, that's right, Ruby's mother was a researcher at the same institute as Elsa.

"Weren't you a colleague of my mother?"

"Yes, that's right! Elsa and I have been together since our school days."

Lily said happily, her face lighting up like a lovesick girl. The doll-like impression from earlier vanished instantly.

I couldn't imagine Elsa having a close friend, but it reminded me that she, too, had a student life. What kind of student life did she have? I was curious, but Baker's cough brought me back to my purpose.

"Mrs. Livy, you and my mother were close. I'd love to hear more about it sometime."

"Of course, soon."

Lily bowed slightly and walked towards the stairs. Her steps were firm. She must be a strong-willed woman, given that she protected Ruby from Quintas.

The marital bedroom was at the end of the corridor. The door had been locked from the inside, and the doorknob had been neatly cut off. Quintas must have used the same method to cut off Professor Wiseman's arm with his magical sword.

When we entered, a burnt smell hit my nose.

"Doesn't it smell like a steak?"

Abagnail sniffed as he entered behind me.

"He must have burned the severed limbs."

Baker said matter-of-factly. Abagnail groaned and covered his nose with his palm.

"From what I can see, there are no ashes left..."

I looked around the room and voiced my question. The bedding and carpet were stained with dark red. A porcelain doll of a boy, with red stains on its skin and clothes, sat on the bed's shelf. The charred limbs of the master were nowhere to be found.

"Most likely, he burned the cut-off limbs to prevent blood from dripping and then took them away. While Quintas usually burns the limbs at the scene, there have been cases where he burned them at a location away from the scene. Given that he was seen by Mrs. Livy, he probably didn't have much time."

The more I heard, the more Quintas's abnormality became apparent. Imagining encountering a man with severed limbs in the early morning in the city was terrifying.

However, adult limbs would take up a significant volume and be cumbersome. He would need a burlap bag or something similar.

Well, that's the patrol team's job. I need to focus on my role. I enhanced my vision with magic. The sheets and the lifted blanket had large bloodstains, indicating that the master's limbs were cut off in that area. With my enhanced vision, I could clearly see the orange fluorescence adhering to them. The color seemed more intense than usual for body enhancement magic. Using a magical sword might leave a higher concentration of magical residue.

Looking at the floor, I saw magical residue on the carpet, leading from the entrance to the bed and from the bed to the window. From this, it seemed that Quintas had escaped through the window after the crime. However, the window was closed.

"Can you confirm the magical residue?"

Baker asked me.

"There are traces leading from the entrance to the bed. The residue is strongest on the bed. There are also traces leading from the bed to the window, suggesting he tried to escape through it. However, the closed window is puzzling."

"Hmm, then it seems reasonable to assume he jumped out of the window and escaped."

"What do you mean? The window is locked from the inside."

"No, I locked it."

"What? You locked it? Why?"

I was perplexed by Baker's actions, which seemed to tamper with evidence.

"I said I still didn't trust your abilities, didn't I? So, I tested you. If you could find traces of Quintas escaping through the window while it was locked, it would prove your abilities were real."

He's a cautious man.

"...I understand."

"I'm sorry for doubting you."

"It's fine. It was necessary."

"I'm glad you understand."

While I didn't like the impromptu test, it was reasonable to incorporate an unknown ability into a serious investigation. It was also good to gain trust quickly.

We went to the backyard and examined the area directly below the bedroom window. About five steps away from the building, the grass was peeled back, revealing the soil underneath. This was likely where Quintas landed. The light was strongest in that area when viewed with my magical vision, indicating he had used strong body enhancement at the moment of landing. I should try that next time.

"He seems to have fled in that direction."

I pointed to where the traces continued. From the landing spot, the residue extended parallel to the building.

"So, he must have escaped through the woods."

Baker glared at the leafless mixed forest.

"Chief, what should we do? If Quintas fled through the woods, it would be impossible to chase him by carriage, right?"

Abagnail frowned in concern.

"We'll have to go on foot. It's going to be a tough job. Roy, we'll be walking a lot. Is that okay?"

It looks like I'll have to skip school today. My reputation as an excellent student will take a hit, but I have no choice.

"That's fine, but could you inform the school about my absence?"

"I'll send a team member to the school."

The three of us, Baker, Abagnail, and I, started walking towards the mixed forest.