They search thoroughly.
Drawers are emptied. Cabinets inspected. Floors tapped for hidden compartments. Shelves combed through page by page.
But they find nothing that directly points to the murderer.
No hidden weapon.
No confession.
No threatening letters.
Only ordinary records of trade.
However, they do obtain something useful: a complete list of Axel Turner's business partners.
With the list secured, they return to their assigned residence.
The mayor has arranged a large townhouse for them, four bedrooms, one for each of them. The building is modest but comfortable, clearly prepared in haste.
When Clive and Rosalyn enter, they find Adam and Reese already inside.
The two sit in the living room.
A chessboard rests between them.
Pieces are mid-game.
Reese glances up and nods in greeting.
Adam looks toward them and asks, "How is the investigation?"
Rosalyn exhales.
"We got nothing."
Clive walks past them and takes a seat at the dining table. He rotates the chair to face the living room.
"Miss Rosalyn," he says calmly, "it is wrong for you to say we did not get anything."
Rosalyn's eyes turn toward him in surprise. She stands.
"What did you find?"
Clive folds his hands.
"I found that Axel was not collateral damage. He was meant to be killed."
Rosalyn frowns.
"So?"
Clive continues.
"So the murder cannot have been committed by rebels."
Rosalyn crosses her arms.
"Why? Why can't the rebels kill him? He is a Celtic businessman friendly with nobles and generals of the Crown. They have every reason to kill him."
Adam nods in agreement.
"That's right. That doesn't exclude the rebels."
Clive shakes his head.
"I found in the trade files that under Axel's orders, grain and vegetables were delivered at a loss to Sunset Town and Green Sea Town."
Rosalyn replies, "I read that. I asked the workers. There was nothing wrong. They received forest products and sea products in return."
Clive smiles faintly.
"Yes. Among those products were Sun Crystal fruits and the skins of Scale Sharks."
Rosalyn goes silent.
Adam looks confused.
"Is there something special about those?"
Rosalyn answers slowly.
"Sun Crystal trees grow only in the depths of the Sunset Forest. And Scale Sharks live in the depths of the Green Sea."
She lets the implication settle before continuing.
"And the Celtic rebels hide in those regions."
Adam and Reese's eyes widen.
Adam speaks first.
"Axel Turner was supplying resources to the rebels."
Reese follows.
"Then the rebels would not kill him."
Clive nods.
"I also found that Baron Lethar's grain shipments followed the same routes."
Rosalyn's eyes sharpen.
"And General Marsh?"
Clive replies, "General Marsh's brother commands a mercenary company. That company escorted the shipments from Mariopoll to Sunset Town and Green Sea Town."
Silence falls.
Rosalyn stands abruptly.
"I have to inform Major General Abel."
Without waiting further, she exits the house.
Adam and Reese stare at Clive.
The chessboard remains unfinished.
Hours pass.
The house grows quiet.
Late at night, the front door opens.
Rosalyn steps inside.
The living room is dark.
She exhales in exhaustion.
Then,
Click.
The steam bulb ignites overhead.
Rosalyn jumps.
She turns sharply.
Clive stands in the corner.
"What are you doing here?" she asks.
"I was waiting for you."
Rosalyn drops onto the sofa heavily.
"I was made the lead investigator of the case."
Clive nods.
"I thought as much."
She narrows her eyes.
"You are not surprised."
Clive sits opposite her.
"This case involves nobles, military officers, and rebels. You are close to the royal family. You are here. They will give the case to you."
He pauses.
"Also, General Marsh was the son-in-law of Major General Abel."
Rosalyn rubs her temple.
"The nobles supply resources to the rebels. The generals provide protection. And the rebels supply resources to the nobles."
Clive nods.
"If we look at it that way, the killer could be a patriot."
Rosalyn tilts her head.
"A patriot?"
"Yes. Someone is eliminating traitors."
She considers that.
"Then why not expose them publicly? Why kill them personally?"
Clive leans back.
"That is the question."
Rosalyn watches him carefully.
"You think there is another reason."
Clive nods slowly.
"Perhaps the resources were not the only thing being exchanged."
Rosalyn exhales quietly.
"So you think the motive is deeper."
"Yes."
Silence settles again.
The steam bulb hums softly overhead.
Rosalyn looks tired.
Clive rises from his seat.
"Maybe there is more," he says. "We will find out."
He walks toward his room.
"Get some rest," he adds without turning.
Rosalyn remains seated in the quiet living room.
Outside, Mariopoll remains under lockdown.
Soldiers patrol.
Rumours spread.
And somewhere in the shadows,
Someone is watching.
The next morning, sharp knocking breaks the quiet of the residence.
Clive opens his eyes instantly.
Another knock follows.
Rosalyn steps out of her room just as a patrolman's voice calls from outside.
"Official Rosalyn."
She opens the door.
A uniformed patrolman stands stiffly.
"Another Celtic businessman has been found dead."
Rosalyn's jaw tightens.
Clive is already putting on his coat.
They leave immediately.
Minutes later, they arrive at a shooting range on the edge of the city.
The air smells of oil and gunpowder.
The body lies near one of the firing stalls.
A clean bullet wound pierces the center of the man's forehead.
A steam gun rests on the bench beside him.
At first glance, it appears simple.
He used the range's weapon.
He shot himself.
An open-and-shut suicide.
If this were an ordinary world.
But this is not an ordinary world.
In a world of transcendents, an alchemist apprentice can easily hypnotise an ordinary person. Some knights, even without strong bloodlines, possess spiritual influence. There are dozens of ways to compel a man to pull a trigger against his own will.
And this businessman's name appears on the list.
They do not linger long over the body.
Instead, they go directly to his office.
They search thoroughly.
Documents.
Correspondence.
Financial records.
Nothing immediately incriminating.
Afterwards, Rosalyn gives orders.
"All businessmen on the list. Any nobles and generals currently in Mariopoll. Bring them in."
The arrests begin.
By nightfall, tension grips the city.
Back at the residence, Adam informs them that a convoy will depart for the ruin in three days.
Three days.
Rosalyn was originally sent to accompany Kaelan.
But Kaelan has already gone ahead.
New orders place her on this investigation.
Clive was meant to follow his Master to ruin.
But his Master has not summoned him.
And Clive would rather solve this case first.
They decide: the ruin can wait.
The killer cannot.
The following day, interrogations begin.
The Celtic businessmen are ordinary people.
Under alchemical hypnosis, they speak.
The nobles and generals are different.
Knights are difficult to control.
Their wills are trained.
Their spirits hardened.
Even so, fragments of truth emerge.
Ten years ago, when the Royal Griffon Kingdom began its campaign to conquer the Celtic Kingdom, alliances formed in the shadows.
To preserve their wealth, certain Celtic businessmen betrayed their own kingdom.
They aided Crown nobles and generals.
They provided intelligence.
They opened supply routes.
They profited.
During the chaos of war, these businessmen also captured young Celtic girls and women.
Beautiful ones.
Talented ones.
In wartime, disappearance is common.
After the conquest, the assumption was simple: they died.
But they did not die.
For several years, the girls were kept in a mansion.
Used.
Controlled.
Discarded.
Eight years ago, that mansion burned.
Reduced to ash.
The official record states: all inside perished.
But under interrogation, something else surfaces.
Anya Turner was one of those girls.
Her alchemical talent had been discovered.
She was not alone.
Girls with the alchemist or knight talent were selected.
Married off to some of the Celtic businessmen in the group.
Their bloodlines would elevate future generations.
Transcendence secured through exploitation.
When this truth emerges, Clive and Rosalyn return to Anya.
Under pressure, she breaks.
Eight years ago, the mansion fire did not kill all of them.
Several escaped.
A few months ago, Anya received a letter.
From one of the surviving girls.
They were alive.
And they wanted help.
The letter revealed something else.
Axel Turner and the other businessmen were planning to resume their activities.
Their political favour with Crown nobles and generals was weakening.
They sought new leverage.
New alliances.
New victims.
The letter asked for Axel's daily schedule.
Anya knew what those girls endured.
She knew what she endured.
She did not want new victims.
So she helped.
She sent the schedule.
But Clive suspects another motive.
Anya is now a third-tier alchemist apprentice.
Without Axel, her status within the Turner family does not diminish.
It increases.
She becomes the only transcendent in the household.
Her influence grows.
Even knowing Axel's crimes, even knowing the nobles' involvement, they continue searching for the killer.
Because justice and vengeance are not always the same.
That night, the prison erupts in chaos.
The killer strikes.
Every businessman.
Every noble.
Every general on the list.
Dead.
All of them.
Before anyone can respond.
When they inspect the bodies, the pattern is clear.
Long, thin puncture wounds.
Clean.
Precise.
The killer controls thin needles.
Remotely.
Through spiritual manipulation.
They cannot stop the killer in time.
But they follow the needles.
Tracking residual spiritual traces.
The trail leads to a house near the city's edge.
From the house, a cloaked figure escapes.
They pursue.
Out of Mariopoll.
Through fields and into darker terrain.
Finally, near the River Caelbrath, a winding Celtic river whose waters cut silver through the land, they surround the figure.
Knights form a perimeter.
Steel glints in torchlight.
Rosalyn stands with Major General Abel.
Weapons ready.
The river roars behind the cloaked figure.
Clive arrives moments later, slightly behind the knights, breath heavy from running.
He slows as he reaches the circle.
The killer stands at the centre.
Still.
Silent.
The air tightens.
At any moment,
The battle will begin.