"Now that everyone is here, let us head inside," I said once we all t up at the east barracks of the city militia, the eastern part of the city area where the said cri had been committed.
"How can I help you?" A guard asked monotonously. It seed as if he had nothing to do with us but he was intentionally treating us like that.
After all, the academy didn't trust them enough with this task so they had to bring in the elites. In case we solve this case, the reputation of the militia would further take a hit. And considering that Desmond has already sent the letter to hand over all authority to us, they have further taken a hit. They would do everything to thwart our investigation.
"Take to your captain," I said.
"Captain is busy at the mont. If you could wait here." He replied but I wasn't in the mood to play gas.
"Nothing is important unless he is shitt*ng or getting beaten by his wife. If he is doing none of these tasks, then he isn't busy. Take to him. Now." I replied with a little stern tone.
He was taken aback and turned to look in a direction subtly but I also noticed it. Turns out he was looking at a woman who was similarly dressed as him but she had a star on her shoulder which would suggest she was an officer and she was also this guy's superior.
"Please relay a ssage from to your captain, if he isn't here in one minute, I will barge in and beat him to crap," I said to the female officer. At most, a captain would be a C-rank. A B-rank at most. There was no need to pull over the authority, just the strength was enough.
The female left without much contemplation and in fifty-seven seconds, a man ca with her, embarrassed as proven by his red face.
"I am D---" He began to introduce himself but he was interrupted by , "I know who you are and I have no interest in knowing again. Take to the dead body and bring all the relevant files."
He was even more embarrassed but he didn't say anything and said to the female officer, "Bring the files."
Then he turned to and said, "The dead body is at the city morgue." He was sensible to keep his reply short which I also found pleasant.
Of course, he wasn't going to take this lying down. He was just waiting for an opportunity.
Soon the female ca with the file. I took the file and gave it a read. It was pretty much a classic case.
Husband kills wife. Husband denies. The cri unit finds the evidence. Husband goes for life.
If we want to add a more dramatic touch, then the cri unit later finds out the criminal was soone else. The cri unit regrets it. Opens the case again. A lot of drama happens. In the end, the husband becos free. Everyone happy.
But, I find a few things odd here. But I will have to examine the dead body for that.
"Let's go," I said to my teammates.
"Where?" Zefton asked curtly.
I didn't mind and simply replied, "The morgue."
"Let take you there." The captain said, seeing the opportunity. Still, it was good if he was leading us there so I didn't refuse.
=====
"And you are?" The morgue keeper asked when we asked him to show us the body.
"We are appointed by the academy for this case," I replied. He nodded skeptically and took us inside.
[The sll of death is quite strong here]
'How would you know the sll of death?' I curiously asked.
[I just could]
Strange. I thought. That awfully sounds like Dad.
"This is the one." The morgue keeper stopped, turned off the cooling magic keeping the corpses from decaying, and pulled out the dead body. He only uncovered from the top to let us see.
It was a woman in her thirties. Her pale skin made it difficult to tell her skin color when she was alive but that wasn't what I was curious about.
There was a slit on her neck. Starting from one end of her collarbone to the other.
"Was this the cause of death?" I asked the morgue keeper.
"No. It was more like a final blow." He replied.
"What do you an?" I asked.
"She was already dead when this incision was made." He replied. "Then what killed her?" I asked curiously. There wasn't anything in the file except for the husband and wife details.
"Are you sure you want to see?" He asked.
"What do you an?" I asked.
"What he ans to say is that the sight might be too much for you children." Instead of the morgue keeper, the captain of the militia answered.
"I'm sure we can take it," Asmara replied instead of . My teammates have been quite annoyed with the captain since earlier.
I didn't wait for an answer and grabbed the white cloth covering the body and pulled it completely exposing the body.
The scene was, how should I say, overwhelming? Not for but for my teammates. I have seen worse.
Asmara, Zefton, and even Eric, who had seen bloodshed in his past life, were frozen. As for Layla, she couldn't bear the sight and turned her head.
"Huh." The captain scoffed. "I am curious, how the elites of the academy who haven't even finished their first years are going to handle this. Seeing as even the sight of the dead body is making them like this. If you ask , this is what I call incompetent." He yapped while I got closer to the body to examine it.
Of course, I wasn't going to let him have at it. "Tell , captain, how long have you been a captain in the city militia?"
I didn't let him reply to my question as I answered for him. "Thirteen years, correct?"
"Yes." He replied unsure of what sort of expression he should make.
"And in all this ti, how many tis have you been considered for promotion?" I asked again while pulling out a pair of gloves from my inventory.
Again, before he could reply, I answered for him. "None. Not a single ti."
"You want to know the reason?" I asked next. This ti, even though I gave him enough ti, he didn't reply.
"It's because you are incompetent. The only reason you are even in that position is because your wife has been bedding your imdiate superior, the major Lennart for three years now." He was dead beet angry at my answer.
"The word 'incompetent' was made for people like you, so shut up." I finished his grilling. His teeth were terribly gritted and his fists were so strongly clenched that even blood was coming out of them.
Still, he had no guts to do anything so he left.
Ha! Amateurs. Always do your howork. I know more about these people than they might know about themselves. The head butler is really sothing.
I turned my attention back to the dead body under the awkward and astonished eyes of the observers.
The body was divided. Like, literally cut to pieces. The wrist, forearm, and shoulder were three precise pieces of each arm. Then even the fingers were precisely cut from her pores.
Then from one shoulder to the other, the lower body was separated from the head and neck.
The chest was also expertly sliced. There was a precise partition in the middle of her chest, and then from underneath the brea*ts, it was further sliced into two pieces.
The torso was expertly separated from the abdon and then, from each joint, it was sliced to her feet. And then again, her feet fingers were expertly separated.
[Even a butcher can't do such an expert job]
He can if he is strong enough to hold down the bodily spasms when cut. The wonder here is that the way it is all cut, it's as if the bone isn't even there.
[Then it must be a thin wire]
'No. the thickness of the cuts indicates it to be a cleaver.'
"What's your na?" I asked the female officer who was shocked at how closely I was examining the body. She wasn't the only one. Everyone was looking at the sa way.
"Ta… Tanisha." She replied. She just gave her first na because of the sight she was witnessing.
"Tanisha, where is the husband held?" I asked.
"At… At the eastern barracks." She replied.
"Did you question him?" I asked next.
"Yes." She answered.
"Is he a blessed?" I asked again.
"No. He isn't." She replied.
"Then is he a butcher?" I asked next.
"No. He isn't." She again replied swiftly.
"Hmm. I see. Take to the cri scene." I said next and then casually said to the morgue keeper, "Thank you. Sorry to bother you."
"That is what I am here for." He replied in return.
=====
"What?" I asked as everyone in the group kept staring at as we traveled to the eastern noble district.
"Nothing." Layla was the only one who replied.
Nothing else was said but after a few seconds, they again started to stare at .
[Makes one wonder]
'I know but I have no reason to explain myself.'
They can think what they want. I never cared in the first place. None of the people here are yet my allies. Asmara is a potential candidate, but even that is uncertain.
[Aren't you worried the system would cause problems for you]
'I never cared about that in the first place.'
In the first place, it was solely my decision to go along with this farce. Even if it is my father, no one can force into doing anything I don't want to.
As for the rest, I have yet to see what impact they would have on the world before I decide anything. Every person is important with a role designated to them. Harming them in any way can cause irreversible problems and I don't have the ntal capacity to deal with them right now.
"The suspect is a noble?" I asked Tanisha who was walking ahead of us. Even she would glance at from ti to ti.
"Son of a noble. He doesn't have his own title yet." Tanisha replied.
"Was the victim from noble lineage?" I asked next.
"She was but of lower rank." She replied.
"Was their relationship investigated?" I asked.
"It was but from everyone's testimony it was concluded that the couple had a very harmonious relationship." She replied.
"Children?" I asked next.
"The neighbors and close friends said that they were trying hard but they couldn't for several years." She replied.
"How many years?" I asked.
"They have been married for thirteen years until her murder." She answered.
"What do you think?" I asked next. Even though the captain looked incompetent, Tanisha seed to be very observant and dependable so far. It wasn't a bad idea to consider her view as well.
"Well, the evidence all points to the husband." She replied. "He was the only one found inside the house. The house had no indications of soone else being there."
"But…" I said, knowing she had more to say.
She was reluctant to reply but under my constant stare, she hesitantly replied, "There is sothing strange about this."
"What is?" I asked.
"Well, for one, the husband isn't a blessed. How he managed to murder a blessed itself is confusing." She replied.
"The wife was a blessed?" I asked. It wasn't ntioned in the file.
She was a little reluctant to reply but she replied after so ti and hard contemplation, "The captain said it was irrelevant so it wasn't considered."
It would have been the case if she was drugged but I saw no sign of it on the dead body. The body was fully conscious when it was cut.
"So he's an idiot," I comnted. Tanisha didn't reply but from how she looked, it was clear she agreed.
We finally reached a mansion that wasn't very big but it was decent enough to call it a mansion.
"It is here?" I asked.
"Yes." She nodded and replied.
[Do you feel it?]
'Feel what?'
[I'm not sure but it feels like faint traces of death]
'Faint traces of death? Like a spirit?'
[I can only guess since it is very faint]
So it seems we have a problem on our hands.
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