The morgue of the Inquisition.
Aaron and Bishop Becket stood side by side before the killer’s corpse, both wearing bird-beak masks designed for protection against toxic fus.
“Do you recognize this face?” Aaron asked Bishop Becket for confirmation.
“As far as I know, there is no such person within the Church, including among those apostates officially registered,” Bishop Becket shook his head.
“I fear this was an assassin privately cultivated by soone.”
“Starting from Henry Potter’s enemies or competitors, are there any suspects who fit?” Aaron continued.
The likelihood that Potter’s clients or collaborators would send an assassin to eliminate him without destroying the evidence was low.
If it were Potter’s enemies, however, it would be far more plausible.
After a mont of contemplation, Bishop Becket replied, “Your Highness, perhaps we can also consider a different angle. This assassin may not necessarily have been targeting him.”
“You an…” Aaron turned his head and found Bishop Becket staring straight at him.
He imdiately understood the implication.
“? You think this was an assassin sent after
by my imperial elder sister or her faction?”
“We cannot rule out that concern.”
“Then why kill Potter? And if the goal was to kill , they should have sent soone more capable,” Aaron raised his doubts.
“Killing others could also be done to muddy the waters and interfere with the investigation, especially when targeting soone as important as yourself. And even if they fail to kill you, they can still obstruct your ability to earn rit within the Church,” Bishop Becket said.
Because of this assassin, they had been unable to bring Potter before the tribunal.
Although Potter’s guilt could still be established, the assassin had beco a major point of doubt in the case, making the conclusion sowhat unsightly.
Bishop Becket’s suggestion was extrely pragmatic.
If the assassin were inferred to be part of an attempt on His Highness the Prince’s life, it would instead highlight Aaron’s hardships in handling the case, allowing those within the Church willing to support the prince to further affirm his achievents.
“Furthermore, it is good that you have confidence in your own strength, but you must never be careless. Even you could be in danger if attacked from the shadows. I also heard that you initially intended to personally carry out the infiltration mission? You should not have risked yourself so recklessly,” Bishop Becket continued.
“I rely felt that I was the most suitable,” Aaron said.
“But Inquisitor Set insisted on taking the mission. He was injured as a result, though fortunately the injuries were not serious.”
“May the heavens bless the brave. Then I truly must thank him. We should pay him a visit afterward,” Bishop Becket said, subtly shifting the topic.
“There is sothing that concerns ,” Aaron suddenly pointed at the killer’s eyes.
“The autopsy report says there were ulcers on the eyes, along with severe congestion, as if li had been sprinkled on them.”
“Perhaps he was accidentally splashed by so chemical while committing the murder in the apothecary room. No wonder he failed to kill Inquisitor Set. Enough, Your Highness—let the coroner examine this more carefully. Why don’t I take you to have a look at the labyrinth instead?”
Bishop Becket proposed, clearly trying to divert Aaron’s attention away from the assassin.
“Alright, let’s go now,” Aaron agreed, turning and leaving the morgue.
Before leaving, Bishop Becket pulled the white cloth back over the assassin’s body.
As he caught one final glimpse of the killer’s face, the brows beneath his mask furrowed slightly, and a trace of barely perceptible irritation flashed through his eyes.
……
Not long after, Aaron and Bishop Becket appeared inside the labyrinth, where several apprentice knights were moving back and forth, collecting evidence in the labyrinth workshop.
“So they really were breeding Magical Beasts inside the labyrinth and extracting Mana.
No wonder we could never track down the smuggling route for this batch of goods,” Aaron looked around and sighed.
“Only the Earl Foyle could have thought of this.”
The Earl Foyle, the most powerful newly risen lord in the eastern Empire, was on good terms with the family of Prince Aaron’s mother and was also Aaron’s strongest supporter as a contender for the throne.
When Bishop Becket was younger and studying within the Church, he had once received the Earl Foyle’s patronage.
On the surface, he was the earl’s close friend, and at the earl’s request, he assisted the prince in entering the Church to secure support.
This ti, Aaron’s temporary appointnt to take charge of the investigation at the Hal Town Inquisition in South Harbor County had been suggested by the Earl Foyle.
The earl was deeply concerned with the progress of the case and frequently kept in contact with Bishop Becket.
It was also he who proposed the hypothesis that the high-purity Mana might have been produced locally and was connected to the labyrinth from thirty years ago.
He had even specifically leveraged his connections to temporarily deploy a knight order from the Church under Bishop Becket’s command, coordinating with Aaron to raid Potter’s estate while simultaneously searching the sealed labyrinths near Hal Town.
Aaron knew that without the Earl Foyle, they would surely still be running in circles, fruitlessly investigating smuggling routes.
Within the Empire, Mana was basically all smuggled in from abroad.
Dostic production generally involved hunting Magical Beasts in unsealed labyrinths, or small-scale breeding near labyrinths for refinent.
Cases like this—secretly breeding Magical Beasts deep inside a sealed labyrinth—were exceedingly rare.
“Because not many people have the conditions to do so,” Bishop Becket echoed.
Active labyrinths were extrely dangerous.
Magical Beasts naturally multiplied within them, forming clans and entire ecosystems.
Wild Magical Beasts could appear anywhere, and there were predatory relationships among them.
Even Witches found them difficult to control, let alone carving out space for breeding.
Moreover, the Church could execute a sealing operation and intrude at any ti.
A sealed labyrinth, however, would no longer generate Magical Beasts, yet residual magical power remained, making it extrely suitable for breeding.
But after sealing a labyrinth, the Church would destroy its passages, leaving only a single concealed entrance for Inquisition patrols.
Only the Inquisition possessed knowledge of that entrance’s location.
If one did not have access to Inquisition intelligence, then it would require soone who happened to discover the entrance—and who also had the ans and the audacity to carry out such a sche.
“I rember that a long ti ago there seed to have been a similar case in Foyle, wasn’t there?” Aaron asked casually, his back turned to Bishop Becket.
A fleetingly strange expression crossed Bishop Becket’s face before returning to normal.
“Yes. Twenty years ago, a Witch was once found breeding Magical Beasts in a labyrinth in Foyle. After being captured, she committed suicide by poison in prison.”
“Then this ti, how did the person breeding the Magical Beasts learn the location of the labyrinth entrance?” Aaron pondered.
“Personally, I believe the likelihood of an internal intelligence leak is very high,” Bishop Becket said.
“You an Caron Eso was involved?” Aaron asked.
Before assuming their posts, they had already investigated Caron and quickly obtained evidence of his involvent in illegal transactions for profit in Hal Town.
Seen this way, the establishnt of this labyrinth breeding site might very well have had a direct connection to Caron.
“That possibility cannot be ruled out. If it is true, then it would constitute an extrely serious cri of apostasy,” Bishop Becket said.
“Then the possibility that Caron fled in fear of punishnt also can’t be ruled out, can it?” Aaron said.
“That is not necessarily the case,” Bishop Becket shook his head, recalling the Earl Foyle’s speculation regarding increased Mana purity.
At that mont, an apprentice knight called out to them, “Two sirs, we found this at the scene!”
The two turned around to see two knights carrying over several wooden barrels.
At first glance, the barrels appeared to be filled with piles of crushed stone.
“These are…?” Aaron failed to recognize them at once.
Bishop Becket sniffed lightly, catching a peculiar, aty stench.
He bent down to examine them carefully, then spoke.
“These are fragnts of corpses petrified by Magical Beast venom. I believe we have found Caron Eso’s body.”
Petrified corpses could be preserved for a long ti.
By feeding them to Magical Beasts in batches, one could maximize the production of high-purity Mana.
The Earl Foyle’s conjecture was once again confird.
“Take them away for detailed identification,” Aaron imdiately ordered, then turned to Bishop Becket.
“If this place was established by Eso, and he also died here, then was he betrayed? Internal conflict?”
“At present, the clues are still insufficient. Both Eso and Potter are dead, and we can’t ask anything of them. What we need most now is to find the Witch’s evidence of guilt. With decisive evidence, we will have the authority to employ all interrogation thods, and then we may have a chance to extract the full truth from her mouth,” Bishop Becket said.
“A girl who looks to be only sixteen—could she really be that Fenrir? Supplying Henry Potter and killing Caron Eso?” Aaron recalled the petite figure who looked inexperienced in the world, finding the doubts hard to dispel.
In the end, whether she was even a Witch at all remained unknown.
“Sir, when facing heresy, you cannot judge by appearances. Even the most innocent-looking Witch is extrely dangerous. Caron was poisoned—so long as one chooses the right mont to administer poison, it can be done. Nearly all the key figures in this case are already dead. We must find the Witch who produced the Mana in order to close the case!” Bishop Becket emphasized.
Only by successfully closing the case could Aaron obtain rits fully recognized by the Church.
“I know,” Aaron exhaled deeply.
At this mont, an apprentice knight rushed in hurriedly and saluted the two.
“Reporting to both sirs! We have identified the suspect. She is a villager from River Mouth Village at the southern foothills. Her na is Rena Lothark, sixteen years old, living alone in a house in the forest at the foot of the mountain.”
“Get to the point. You searched the place, right? Did you find anything?” Bishop Becket urged, his eyes gleaming with anticipation for evidence.
“We conducted a thorough search of the suspect’s residence…” The apprentice knight hesitated briefly, then continued his report.
“But so far, no clues have been found.”
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