◈ Episode 35 Nightcrawler
When Terry, Lionhowl, and the two lieutenants appeared, the Rixon mansion was filled with tension.
Officers inspecting the scene saw Terrina and quickly stood up and saluted her.
“Te, Marquis Terina! It’s an honor to meet you! My name is Inspector Teboran!”
“Oh, yes. It’s been a lot of trouble.”
“If it’s not rude, may I ask what the hell Marquis Terina is here for?”
“Did you not hear? As of this time, all investigation rights into the murders at the Rickson Mansion are taken over by our Sheriff’s Department.”
“Bo, at the security office?”
Inspector Tevoran, with a long beard and sideburns, gulped.
I didn’t think it was just a simple murder case, but it’s an incredibly dangerous thing to the extent that the Security Agency steps in.
The Security Agency doesn’t do much unless it’s really serious.
“Sir, excuse me! Everyone withdraw!”
The Inspector and his subordinates quickly left the scene.
All they had to do now was block the hyena-like reporters at the gate, still keeping an eye on the events inside the mansion.
As the eyes disappeared, the younger-looking female knight among the two lieutenants who had followed Terina relaxed her shoulders.
“Ugh. I was scolded for setting the mood.”
“Uh huh. Enya. Even if you don’t have eyes to see, act up to the reputation of the Nightcrawler Knights.”
Enya, the female knight, rolled her eyes at the nagging of Lloyd, the senior who reprimanded her from the side.
“No, senior. Anyway, there is no need to do that all the way here.”
“Enya, you… … .”
“Stop it, Lloyd. You just don’t have to show that in front of others.”
“Look at that. Even the captain says that.”
“This little thing is real.”
Adjutant Lloyd finally shook his head and raised the white flag.
The Knights of the Nightcrawler was a place where only the elite gathered, befitting the knights who guarded the center of the empire, but it was also a place where they could talk comfortably among seniors and juniors.
It was all because Terina herself, the leader of the knights, liked such an atmosphere.
However, the rules themselves are not lax.
It has also been a long-standing tradition of the Nightcrawler Knights to do what needs to be done more clearly than anyone else.
Above all, the fact that the discipline of the Nightcrawler Knights did not collapse is proof that the current leader, Terryna Lionhowl, has great control and charisma.
“Don’t forget For what purpose did we come here?”
“yes.”
“yes.”
This incident was evaluated as not an ordinary incident, but a serious matter that required the Security Bureau to step in.
In particular, in terms of the connection between the cryptid and black magic, it was not usually serious because Terrina, the leader of the knights, directly stepped forward.
“It is still just a rumor floating around, but the dead bellbot was a man who had been on the list to be watched closely by our security department for his suspicious behavior from before. That he was suddenly killed by a monster cannot be regarded as a mere coincidence.”
Lloyd and Enya nodded at Terrina’s words.
The three immediately began exploring Rickson’s room.
Broken windows that seemed to have been invaded by intruders, and black marks that could be said to be traces of a burnt monster.
And even the blood presumed to be Bell Boat’s scattered around.
According to eyewitness accounts, a monster appeared and Rickson was killed.
Given that all of their statements are identical and consistent, I don’t think they are lying.
For more than 10 minutes, I searched for any clues, but there was no sign of anything special.
Still, thinking that he had searched for everything, Lloyd was about to say something.
It was then that Terrina, who had crossed her arms in deep thought, suddenly strode toward one wall.
“Captain?”
“Here you go.”
Terrina stared at the pictures hanging on the walls.
Belvote, like one of Leatherbelk’s greatest riches, decorated his spacious room with all sorts of splendid artworks.
Terrina moved closer to the wall, touched the rims of the paintings, and then lifted the mural in the corner and set it aside.
“Captain? What is that picture for?”
“There is space in the back.”
Before he could ask if that was true, Terrina’s fingertips, clad in white gloves, touched the center of the wall.
Then, with a gurgling sound, the wall opened as if it were being pushed aside.
A secret space measuring only 1 meter in width and height.
It wasn’t too big for anyone to enter.
“What the hell is this?”
Enya asked, staring curiously into the empty space.
Terrina crossed her arms and said in a low voice.
“Judging by its size and location, it was probably a place to hide a secret safe.”
“A secret safe?”
“Because Bellbot Rickson had a notorious reputation as a tycoon and a vicious entrepreneur. He must have evaded taxes or black money by avoiding the eyes of the empire.”
“Is this safe where you put them?”
“But there is no safe.”
Realizing something, Lloyd opened his mouth with a heavy face.
“Someone took it.”
“okay.”
“Then who took it? The servants of the mansion? Shall we interrogate the most suspicious butler first?”
Terrina shook her head at Enya’s words, already full of enthusiasm.
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“no. it won’t make any sense The butler has nothing to do with this.”
“yes?”
“There is no way that a person like Bellbot would have confided his slush funds to anyone else. He probably hid it so thoroughly that only he knew about it.”
“But it’s empty here.”
“Just because you didn’t tell me doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t know.”
Didn’t Terina also discover this secret space right away?
“Entrepreneurs, rich people, and merchants all think alike. I don’t really like opening an account with a bank. They always want to keep things or gold coins that can be used right away within their reach. Because that makes me feel comfortable.”
“Then who took it?”
“I have to figure it out now. It’s just speculation, but whoever stole the safe must have something to do with Rickson’s death.”
“But you said Bellbot Rickson was eaten by werewolves.”
“I wonder if that was a werewolf. Look at the traces that still remain. Almost half of the floor of this large room was burned. The fire did not spread because it was burned with magic. It is said that it was burned only with a precise range of flame, but it is still that large.”
“That means… … .”
“Cryptids, werewolves, no matter how tall they are, are only 3m tall. It’s also very large, but even if you burn a guy like that to death, there won’t be a trace that big.”
And people who actually witnessed the werewolf said they mistook him for a ‘monster’ at first.
It’s dark and terrifying, though people might be mistaken for something.
Looking at the traces, that wasn’t the case.
“Speaking of results, someone was involved in Bellbot Rickson’s death. unnatural death. appearance of the monster. Even the bad rumors of Belvoo. There must be a lot left to check.”
More than anything, what bothered Terina was the skill of an unknown intruder who took the safe that was supposed to be inside without leaving any traces.
I lit my eyes and tried to find a trace, but the other person didn’t leave any evidence as if he was a pro at this kind of thing.
As if the vault never existed in the first place.
‘No way. There must have been a safe here. Until last night.’
The proof is that the floor has not yet accumulated dust.
No matter how enclosed a space is, air and dust are always able to pass through.
If so, who took it?
This feeling of trying to hold a blurry mirage with your hand is not unfamiliar.
‘It’s so familiar that I feel a sense of deja vu.’
Terryna Lionhowl was suddenly forced to recall a memory from the past.
few years ago.
There was a thief who made the continent hot.
It was blurry as if wrapped in the darkness of the night, and his movements were so elusive that no one had ever seen his real face.
The culprit who made many rich people shed tears and anger, easily breaking through any strict security and robbing valuables without leaving a trace.
The Phantom Thief <Arsene Lupin>.
‘I bet that thief… … . No, no. It’s been a few years since you stopped your activities, but now you’re moving again?’
But the method still bothered me.
Even if he wasn’t himself, he couldn’t deny the possibility that he was an acquaintance, or an accomplice or disciple.
“Lloyd.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Any other unusual incidents in Ledervelk?”
“Uh, um. There was one.”
“what?”
“One of the factories in the abandoned factory zone was said to have been destroyed by fire. It was also the day Bellbotte died.”
“There you are.”
What could happen to a fire in an abandoned factory?
Even the location is a remote place where people’s eyes don’t reach.
“egg plant.”
* * *
The werewolf incident that made Ceorn and Lederbelk noisy came to an end with the death of the vicious tycoon.
FYI, I was lying sick in my room at my dorm right now.
‘Okay. Had I known it would be like this, I would have prepared a little more. It’s a relief that there’s no class today, otherwise it could have been a big problem.’
More than a sore body, the floating head and subtle migraines are the most troublesome.
Lying on the bed, I took out three pills and shoved them into my mouth.
badly.
Others might think of it as a headache medicine or pain reliever, but this is literally a chewable mana potion that replenishes mana.
Usually, when it comes to restoring mana, the mainstream is to recover it automatically over time or drink it as a potion.
But now that pharmaceuticals have developed.
It became possible to grind magic potion into powder and mix it with water and drink it, or mix it with starch like me and make it into pills.
Powder or pills are easier to store and carry than hanging around with potions.
In other words, the pill itself, which restores mana, is a world in which there is nothing magical about it.
Now, the only difference is how much better the effect is even if it is the same drug.
So, what is important in pharmaceuticals is the efficiency of how much better the effect is compared to the ingredients used.
effect
risk
and efficiency.
By combining these three factors, the drug is graded from the highest grade 1 to the lowest grade 10.
The pills I am currently taking are my original recovery pills that I made myself.
An item that maximizes the effect in return for slightly increasing the risk due to my ‘constitution’.
Since it’s my specialty, I didn’t entrust it with a clinical trial, so it didn’t have a grade tag attached.
I’m guessing this would probably get a fairly high rating. And now I’m chewing it instead of rice.
‘It was a problem because I used too much power. Who would have known that he was a black magician who had always changed his body like that, even though he always won quickly.’
bug brother.
Among them, because of Veron, my older brother, I had no choice but to use the ‘real magic’ I use, not the magic of this world.
Magic with the occult and mythological knowledge of the world I originally lived in, not the magic or the knowledge of this world.
If there’s a problem, it’s that the aftereffects aren’t a joke.
The fact that I periodically took medicine to replenish my mana was something I experienced because I had learned this magic.
[——————————————————
voice.
The sound that kept bothering me gradually faded and then disappeared.
This voice can only be suppressed by using magic, so I’ve become a constitution that consumes magic even if I breathe normally.
Therefore, it is necessary to periodically replenish the lack of horse power.
‘It’s a bit better.’
When the headache went away, I thought of something else.
This werewolf situation was able to be finished once I stepped in.
Since they were all burned without a trace, there is no way to find evidence of the test subject from the werewolf.
If there’s a problem, it’s probably an eyewitness who was there at the time.
‘Aidan.’
The first year student who stopped me from killing the werewolf.
Brown hair that doesn’t stand out that much, and a good impression.
But the greatest thing about him is probably his personality.
Taking risks to protect a friend, or risking one’s own body when oneself might be in danger, such an act was rare even in Seorn.
okay.
To put it bluntly, he was like the main character of a boy’s cartoon style game or novel.
In the case of the students in my class, I remembered all of them, and Aidan in my memory was a model student who focused on my class with a brighter gaze than anyone else.
Unlike others who learn magic as if they were being chased, they entered Seorn because they genuinely liked magic, and enjoyed working hard.
Such a guy witnessed the werewolf’s secret and threw it away.
If this was a game, it would probably be [Act 1. Ceorn’s Werewolf] might just come to mind.
‘I might be suspected of killing the werewolf there.’
Fortunately, Leo and Tacy Freead, who were together, didn’t notice.
If Aidan told me, the story would be different.
How on earth could a freshman get caught up in an incident like this and approach the truth again?
It wasn’t intentional, but things got twisted like this.
I put my hand on my forehead and brushed my bangs back.
if it goes like this.
There was one way that came to mind.
‘Should I kill him?’
