Chapter 1238: Chapter 1238: The Prince Assassination Case
As the conversation reached this point, Shard, holding a glass of wine with a furrowed brow, couldn’t help but think of more things.
On the Heart Lake Island in the center of the Pantanal Swamp, there really was a manor. Curiously, the relatively intact buildings on the island included only that manor and an old lighthouse in the northeast. Before the Battle of Pantanal, Shard and Iluna had seen a group of undead within the manor when they passed through it.
Looking back now, it was strange. The demigod witch affected by the Sublimation Incantation fought so fiercely with the evil creatures of Pantanal, causing the ground to crack almost to the point of destroying the entire island. Yet, the manor’s damage was almost negligible.
However, people’s attention was focused on the evil creatures and the aftermath of the battle, and no one paid much heed to the manor already located on the island.
"Were Mr. Thomas Granger and the Farr family’s letters all on that island deep in the Great Swamp?"
He asked quietly, and Mr. Granger slightly shook his head:
"I don’t know, but people didn’t find those letters elsewhere. In a blink, it was almost a hundred years ago, sotis you really have to sigh about ti."
He looked at Prince William dancing in the center of the crowd. The prince was two years older than Margaret but still unmarried, making him the most sought-after bachelor in Casenli:
"I can still talk to you about these things now. Over the decades and centuries, who will be able to rember these nas, these stories?"
He looked up and emptied his glass of red wine:
"The aning of family probably lies in this: only family can rember every departed individual. Few people know the na of Uncle Thomas Granger now, but the family will rember him... Just as my descendants will rember . The Randall Valley is where the family spreads. In the butterfly-fluttering spring, the budding earth rembers those buried, may the earth be with you and ."
Shard wasn’t sure if the Earl was lanting this way because he had drunk too much.
The Earl still had to entertain other guests, so Shard didn’t continue to disturb him. Instead, he took the next clue back to the lounge of Miss Benanis and Margaret.
But the two ladies were not in the room at the mont. Luckily, Shard found the Princess’s maid and learned that they had left the room ten minutes ago to walk in the courtyard. Shard guessed that the witch probably had sothing to discuss with her prospective apprentice, so he wasn’t concerned.
It was only eight o’clock in the evening, and it seed sowhat impolite to leave abruptly. Shard wanted to find sothing to do, but continuing to play Roder cards would attract too much attention. So, after thinking it over, he decided to go to the courtyard to find the two and hoped he wouldn’t interrupt their chat.
It was already the end of the Moon of Birth in 1854. The coldest part of winter had ended, and in about three weeks, there would be a rapid warm-up, but that didn’t prevent tonight from being very cold.
Shard planned to go out through the main entrance of the building, so he re-entered the banquet hall intending to pass through. Just before he approached the door, the door was opened, and a man wearing a patched black coat, who definitely didn’t look like an invited guest of the Earl’s banquet, slipped in sideways through the gap.
He was bulging all over, pushing the door with his right hand, and his left hand was in his pocket. As he entered, he kept his head down, letting the brim of his black hat cover his face.
When he looked up to scan the banquet hall, he briefly made eye contact with Shard before quickly looking away. He seed suspicious, but since he was just an ordinary person, Shard didn’t approach him to make contact.
However, Shard did stop and watched as the man quickly entered the banquet hall, where a dance was in progress. As the people around noticed his inappropriate attire, the man who had barged into the banquet abruptly pulled his left hand out of his coat pocket.
"I wonder what kind of gun it is?"
Shard thought to himself.
A handgun Shard couldn’t identify was aid at Prince William Anjou in the center of the crowd. At that mont, the prince, due to a turn in his dance, had his back to the man.
Bang!
As the loud gunshot rang out, accompanied by exclamations, the attendants around the prince had already pounced.
As Shard had predicted, the hurried shot didn’t hit anyone. The shooter yelled and fired again, but the prince, already shielded by the attendants at the center and bent over to avoid the bullets, was now safe.
The prince’s attendants and guards were exceptionally capable. While they couldn’t knock down ten strong n at once and kill in 0.2 seconds, they did successfully prevent the shooter from pulling the trigger a second ti.
Loyal guards rushed in, piling on top of him like a human pyramid, pinning him to the ground. They wrested the handgun from him, holding him firmly. At least five n, taller than Shard, piled on top of him, while others used handcuffs and ropes to restrain his hands and feet. The manor’s host, Earl Granger, stood on a sofa and loudly ordered everyone to remain still, warning against drawing any weapons, while police whistles already sounded outside the manor, indicating the urgency of the situation.
This assassination sche is much inferior compared to last sumr’s attempt on Queen Diana. Whether it’s Carsonrick or Draleon, one or two such incidents occur each year; it’s just that this ti the target is Prince William Anjou.
He is not the Great Prince of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, so the waves caused by this incident are not as significant as last sumr’s assassination attempt on Queen Diana in Tobesk.
Shard stood aside, watching along with the other anxious guests as the man who attempted to murder the prince was securely tied up. Before his mouth was gagged, he kept cursing, expressing his intense hatred for the Anjou Royal Family:
"You pack of debt-owing dogs, now I have no family left, nothing remains. Why don’t you pay the price?"
Pieceal information suggests his identity. The man is a stonemason from the Stonemason Guild, still owed wages from twenty years ago and left with a disabled right hand due to an accident at that ti, incapable of earning a living. This is quite sympathetic, but no one dared to comnt on the nature of this assassination at this mont.
Shard, on the other hand, was sowhat suspicious if this incident was related to MI6, or if it was rely a result of personal grievances. After all, if Prince William Anjou were to die here, the opening of the Randall Valley Shipyard and subsequent events might not go as smoothly.
Regardless, this matter involved Shard. Worrying about Margaret’s safety, he specially reminded the Princess about safety issues before bidding her goodbye that night. Although as a Five-Ring Sorcerer she wouldn’t die from a single shot, she wasn’t truly an immortal being either.
The tasks in hand grew, initially coming to the Randall Valley with the primary mission of "searching for the Ti Key," but now the Ti Key remained unfound, and he was entangled with other complex issues. At least Shard knew what problem needed solving first, so early Thursday morning, he waited in the alley beside Blackstone Security Company and called out to Iluna as she passed by.
"Oh, Shard!"
The seventeen-year-old girl wore a long brown big-buttoned trench coat with a decorative belt at the waist today. The coat’s hem reached just at knee level, allowing Shard to see her brown lady’s long boots, almost matching the coat’s hue.
Iluna instinctively hugged her red scarf, appearing delighted upon seeing Shard holding a newspaper:
"Is there sothing you needed so early... Did sothing happen with Luviya?"
She instantly grew nervous again.
"No, no, I want to explore the manor on the Heart Island of Pantanal Lake, as there are things I need to verify. Currently, besides , you’re the only one who can use the Spatial Labyrinth, aside from Sister Delphine, whom I would prefer not to disturb... do you..."
"Have ti!"
Iluna imdiately replied before Shard even finished:
"Is it urgent? If it is, I’ll ask for leave now."
"No, no, we’ll go tonight. I’m worried if we go during the day, the spirits in that abandoned noble manor might hide away. As it’s nightti, I could encounter difficulties handling dangers alone, hence I’m asking you."
The island still retained the power of the Evil Creatures of Pantanal, and aside from High Ring Sorcerers, others from the church wouldn’t set foot on the island easily, thus going at night to avoid notice was prudent.
"No problem, I’ll co to find you at ho after work. Oh, how about dinner together? I can treat."
She boldly extended the invitation, stifling a brilliant smile as Shard nodded:
"Then, see you tonight, Shard, hope everything goes well."
Iluna Beath likely had never hoped so fervently for the day to pass quickly.
Although they agreed to set off that night to the Heart Island of Pantanal Lake, Shard didn’t waste the dayti. He stayed close during the morning because a long-lost client ca, requesting "Detective Hamilton" to find a missing pet cat.
This task was exceptionally simple for Shard; before noon, he found the black short-haired cat that hid in a corner after being scared by a carriage, and hence when he returned ho, Mia "resented" him for a while.
During lunch, he took Mia to Midshire Fort, where the Old Witch and Miss Swift welcod him warmly. During the al, Shard inquired from Granny Cassandra if Miss Aphrola had obtained the Ritual - Contact the Earthquake Worm information, but the situation wasn’t very optimistic.
After all, it was information about the God Summoning Ritual, not sothing the Order would hand over easily, despite its decline.
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