Chapter 79

◈ Chapter 79: The Approaching Night Stalker (1)

Terryna Ryanhall, who had been leading the way, stopped and looked back.

"Director? What's the matter?"

"…No, nothing. I just felt like someone was watching us."

"No way."

Lloyd, adjusting his glasses under his hood, said this, but Enya was different.

"Oh, senior. The Director has a better intuition than us, so it might be true. That's why we came here."

"Hmm."

Enya was right.

The three people dispatched to investigate the mystery of Velbort Rickson's death were now wandering through the back alleys in the middle of the night, largely due to Terryna Ryanhall's intuition.

She had led the two subordinates here as if she had been seized by something.

If Lloyd was dissatisfied, he was dissatisfied.

To him, who valued reason and scientific thinking, intuition was a story from a far-off land.

"Anyway, isn't it just a bunch of thugs or vagrants fighting and killing each other in the back alleys?"

"This time, it's a bit different."

"What's different about it?"

"My intuition is telling me that."

"Again, intuition?"

Even Lloyd, who couldn't say anything to Terryna, had to admit that she was clearly his superior, and her intuition had often proven surprisingly accurate.

It was impossible to say it was unreasonable when she had achieved so much.

She had accomplished tasks that others thought were impossible.

Thus, even if Lloyd had complaints, he didn't show them.

"Here we are."

At the scene they arrived at, several bodies were scattered.

"This is… quite a lot of bodies."

"Did a war break out here?"

"Probably a fight between organizations."

Terryna approached the bodies with large strides.

She squatted in front of one body that stood out and examined it.

"An assassin."

"Huh? What is it?"

"This body. It's not just any assassin."

Terryna frowned as she caught the pungent smell from a vial attached to the body's waist.

"A highly toxic substance. This is a special poison used by the assassins of Kalsa."

The body itself didn't seem much different from the others scattered around, but it was just a disguise to avoid being noticed.

Terryna's words prompted Lloyd and Enya to come closer and examine the body.

"Indeed. There are clear signs of training. The rough, calloused hands and the small scars all over the body. Given their age, you wouldn't see this in the thugs of the back alleys."

"Wow. If it's an assassin from Kalsa, that's… the famous assassination group from the southern Fatima Dynasty, right?"

"Terrifying bastards who don't even spare their own lives to kill their targets. But why would such an assassin be in these back alleys…?"

Terryna stood up.

"Director?"

"The body is indeed an assassin from Kalsa, but not a formal one. Perhaps he came here after training to gain experience, or was expelled due to lack of ability."

"Still, he's a highly trained assassin, right?"

"Yes. It's true that he shouldn't have ended up like this in such a place."

But there he was, dead.

For a mere back alley fight, it was an unbelievable outcome.

"The cause of death is probably the wound on the forehead. A thin, sharp blade pierced it in one strike. And he fell from above."

Terryna looked up.

The night sky, full of clouds, appeared narrow and confined by the alley walls.

"I don't know who the opponent was, but they were a formidable fighter. The fact that they finished it in one strike without leaving any minor injuries suggests that."

One strike.

The assassin from Kalsa had been defeated in one strike.

Terryna stopped her examination and moved to a more secluded part of the alley.

Lloyd and Enya followed her silently.

When they finally arrived at another location, they saw more bodies.

"Was this caused by magic?"

Enya asked, looking at the bodies scattered around.

It would be impossible for nearly ten people to be cut down at once in such an alley without magic.

"Probably. I think so."

"Amazing. A mage was involved in a fight here. Then, could that assassin…?"

"Maybe."

At that moment, Lloyd, who had noticed something, spoke up.

"Director. There are more bodies over there."

Beyond the cluster of bodies, in the darkness, there were two more bodies with different causes of death.

Terryna realized these two were also assassins from Kalsa.

"This one is the same as the first. One was killed by a heart-piercing wound. The size of the wound is the same as the first, so it was likely the same person. He was probably ambushed from behind."

An assassin, who should have been the one to ambush, was ambushed.

How?

And the second body had its neck cut by a sharp weapon.

"The second one was also killed by the same weapon, but the last one is different. Not magic, but a dagger or some kind of hidden weapon. Lloyd, check the area near the feet."

"Y-Yes?"

"There are marks there."

Marks? What kind of marks…?

Lloyd, half-disbelieving, carefully examined the ground near the feet.

Sure enough, as Terryna said, there were faint traces of metal scraping the ground.

"This is…"

"The marks of the weapon that killed the first two assassins. So, a picture is forming. The assassins from Kalsa and these bodies were working together to kill someone."

But the opponent was no ordinary person, as the assassins from Kalsa were the ones who fell.

The last remaining assassin managed to take the opponent's weapon but ultimately failed.

"Your deduction skills are impressive."

Lloyd couldn't help but admire Terryna's ability to quickly grasp the situation.

Enya didn't need to say anything. She was already looking at her superior with a deeply absorbed gaze.

"It's nothing. I just learned it from someone I know."

"No. Who did the Director learn deduction from?"

"It's more about quickly finding clues in the surroundings. That person told me I could learn it easily because I have good senses."

"Who is that person? And when did you learn it…?"

"It's been a few years. I met them by chance when I visited a different country, not the Empire."

"What did they do?"

"A private detective."

"Really? Just a detective?"

Certainly, a detective would be specialized in finding clues and deducing, so it was impressive.

But could someone with senses far beyond the average teach Terryna?

"She's capable enough. She's quite eccentric, but her skills are solid. Sometimes, I was amazed by her seemingly impossible deductions."

"To hear the Director say that…"

Terryna, who always maintained her composure and charisma, admitting to being amazed.

"Whatever the case, seeing these bodies scattered here, it wasn't just an ordinary fight. The fact that they hired assassins from Kalsa suggests that the attackers were willing to risk their lives."

"Is this related to the investigation of Velbort Rickson's death?"

"We don't know yet. There aren't enough clues. However, it's certain that something significant happened in this back alley of Leathbark."

Terryna carefully examined the surroundings, looking for any other clues.

'Hmm. The key point is that all this was caused by just two people.'

One man and one woman.

It was clear from the shoe prints and traces on some of the bodies.

'One uses a sword in close combat. The other is a mage who can use magic.'

Terryna approached the wall of the alley and ran her fingertips along it.

She then rubbed her fingers together and sniffed them.

'A subtle fragrance hidden among the stench here. The trace of this smell is still in the alley. It's the scent of a diffusion perfume.'

Diffusion perfume was famous for enhancing the conductivity of magic, but she knew exactly where it was used.

When facing a mage.

To seal the opponent's attack magic.

'The assassins knew they were facing a mage. But they failed. Did they not know about the sword-wielding opponent?'

No.

Both the man and the woman were mages.

However, one of them was also skilled with a sword, which the assassins didn't know.

'A mage who is skilled with a sword…'

Terryna's eyes sharpened.

She remembered a similar person from her past.

A human who wore a black shadow and stole all kinds of expensive items.

She had tried to catch him several times before she became the head of the knights, but always failed.

The famous thief, Arsène Lupin.

'The safe in Velbort Rickson's mansion disappeared too. Could it be him?'

He had vanished without a trace, seemingly giving up on this matter.

Was that not the case?

'Suddenly reappearing thief. Suddenly appearing Cryptids, werewolves. The secret abandoned factory where something happened.'

Terryna was certain.

All these clues were connected.

"The investigation is complete."

"Already?"

"Yes. We've gathered all we can from here."

"What about these bodies?"

"Leave them. The cleaners of the back alleys will take care of them."

Terryna knew the rules of this place. No one was surprised or questioned the bodies.

This was such a place.

Even if dozens died, it wouldn't be reported in the next day's newspaper.

A world where people naturally disappeared into the void, unnoticed by the grand flow of time.

"Then, what will you do now? Will the investigation end here?"

Shaking her head at Lloyd's question, Terryna replied.

"The investigation continues."

"But we haven't gotten proper results yet. Continuing like this…"

"Yes. So this will be the last time."

"Huh?"

"So we need to go to a place where the last clue might be."

Terryna turned her head and looked in the direction of that place.

"We're going to Seol Academy."

* * *

It was early morning, with birds chirping noisily.

Rudger usually went to the faculty office even on days without classes, but today he decided to rest in his personal quarters.

Due to the accumulated fatigue from recent events.

The <Omni-Stone> incident, and then the chaos in the back alleys of Leathbark.

Even he couldn't help but feel exhausted.

'But it's a fortunate thing.'

Rudger sighed, lying on a soft sofa.

It was the first test period, so he could use the excuse of setting exam questions.

Thanks to this, he could stay in his quarters and rest without going to the faculty office.

Knock knock.

The sound of knocking on the door roused him.

Who could it be? He tried to pretend he wasn't there, but since they came all the way here, they must know he wasn't at the faculty office.

He had no choice.

Rudger got up from the sofa and opened the front door.

"Ah! Mr. Rudger!"

"Ms. Selina."

It turned out to be Selina, his colleague from the same year.

"What brings you here?"

"Ah, I heard that Mr. Rudger wasn't going to the faculty office today."

"Yes. It's a day without classes, and I was struggling with setting exam questions."

"Ah, I see."

Selina's gaze lingered on Rudger, her words trailing off.

She had never seen Rudger in casual attire before, only in his neat, professional clothes.

Of course, he was still properly dressed in a suit and shirt, but it was a new sight for her.

'Even his hair is loose.'

His usually tied-up hair was completely loose, giving him a different appearance.

There were slight dark circles under his eyes, suggesting he hadn't slept well, but even that added a certain charm.

A person can look this good without any effort.

Selina inwardly marveled but then remembered why she had come.

"Ah, right. Mr. Rudger, the reason I came here is… there's a visitor looking for you."

"A visitor?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you send a servant? Why did you come here yourself, Ms. Selina?"

"Hehe. I was on my way anyway, so I thought I'd stop by. It's better for both of us, right?"

"I see. So, who is this visitor?"

Selina replied with a bright, innocent smile.

"Knights from the Security Bureau."

"…"

Rudger's expression stiffened, but Selina didn't notice.