Chương 90: (B2.26)

26) Whisper Ellen Once again, Whisper stared at the wall covered in small scraps of paper. Scribbled notes were on each, and she'd acquired some cheap yarn to run connections between each scrap. Every detail made the web of yarn more complex, and both Kaluk and Anroll were trying to remember anything else of note while they watched her work. She couldn't tell them about her new Ability.

She'd already been shocked at the sheer amount of experience she'd gotten from their little foray, but she hadn't expected it to push her all the way to the next Level. Once again she'd been given a list of strange Abilities… and she was starting to realize why things were getting so very different for the various Ellens, even if she didn't really consider herself to be Ellen any more.

When she'd seen the list, she'd expected to wrestle between upgrading Contact Trace and taking Read Person, which had been so tempting before. Instead, she had new Abilities on the list that crowded out some of the ones she hadn't taken. The new options made sense. Too much sense. She'd taken one of them.

ABILITY: Probable Cause Cost: 5 Mana (Flat) + 2 Mana per option + 1 Mana per assist Effect: The user may assess a large amount of information that leads to a choice or deduction, including all relevant known information and related details, or assists. This Ability will provide a probability of success or likelihood of the correct deduction. The simpler the goal the more accurate the probability.

It will also provide a confidence rating, which is more accurate the more the user understands the problem, allowing the Ability to properly account for unknown information. Whisper had taken the choice the moment she saw it. On the surface, it looked like some kind of deduction Ability, and it was… but it also had a relationship that made it clear why it was being offered to her.

The Grey Class appeared to revolve around espionage, but the root of this Ability was similar to the game she'd played so long ago to train herself up to become a Merchant Class, all the way back in another life. She remembered it clearly. It was only a few months ago, really! Yet it was two lives ago, even if one of those lives had been so brief it had no memories to attach to it. Nonetheless, she felt the distance.

Maybe it was the gravity of what had happened between her current life and that of the original Merchant Ellen, but it felt far away, even if the memory was clear and definitely her own. None of that was as important as what this Ability let her do though. Like many in the world, she'd spent part of her childhood fantasizing about getting some legendary power or Class that was completely overwhelming and would let her become a famous adventurer.

The fact that her grandfather was such an adventurer gave her even more reason to believe it… and as a child she'd never grasped that he had become famous without any single unique ability. Now, Whisper realized that she and her other selves had those unique powers. They simply weren't necessarily suited to spelunking into a dungeon to kill monsters. Even their revival ability wasn't fully tuned to that. The appearance of the dungeon and how it grew when they died made it a double-edged sword.

"Let me take another look," she said aloud, dismissing her vague wandering thoughts. She'd been procrastinating while her mana regenerated, so she wouldn't dip under that critical halfway point in her personal stores. It was frustrating to use this Ability of hers because she knew there was so much she didn't know about each suspect… but she'd managed to narrow it down anyway. Taking a deep breath, Whisper activated Probable Cause once more.

She tried to ignore the vague amusement of Kaluk, and the boredom of Uncle Anroll. Her uncle wanted to move on to the dungeon, and his skill at finding people was less useful in an actual complex conspiracy. Kaluk likely assumed she didn't have the experience to figure it out… and he was probably right, if she didn't have this Ability.

"I think with what you just told me about payment, we can ignore the idea of some lesser noble or criminal who just doesn't understand what would happen,"she started.

"The payment in dungeon coins is just too telling. There aren't that many out there from ours, and most of them came from us. So someone has been buying up the currency… probably." Kaluk chuckled. He didn't like adding those hedging words, but Whisper ignored him. She'd explain the qualifier after she finished this explanation. It wasn't very believable, but it was the only alternative she had… and the probability just kept going up.

Thirty percent wasn't exactly certainty, but for a previously wild theory that wasn't even visible on the wall right now, it was uncomfortably high. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Obviously, the reason they'd do that is for traceability," she continued.

"Of course, if we try we can figure out who has managed to collect most of the dungeon-spawned currency, it will just be a lot of work. It also has problems because it would just be easier to use foreign coin, or old dungeon-spawned coins from older dungeons." That statement brought a sigh from Kaluk. No doubt the spy had figured that part out some time ago. It did tell Whisper she was losing her audience. Of the three in the room, only Stage didn't look more bored.

She was watching raptly, chin in her hands with elbows on the table.

"Don't sigh at me," Whisper grumbled.

"This is important! Just bear with me a little longer. This fact narrows our likely sponsors down to only seven individuals who have the pull and funds to do that. It also means we can now look at motives, because that will allow us to narrow everything down." Kaluk sat up suddenly.

"Excuse me, young Whisper. I normally leave the investigation portion to others, but I have been very thorough about aiding in your attempts and I am quite certain that only six of those shown have the resources for that." Anroll frowned, and Whisper gave both of them a faint smile.

"I'll get to that." She appreciated the comment, though she wouldn't say so out loud. Kaluk was a spy and knew far more about Thallis than he should… but he was also a good man in his own way. His statement had not been entirely out of confusion, but a subtle worry that she was about to reveal something that could get her in trouble with the authorities.

"Of the seven, we can safely put the Theocracy as the least likely," Whisper continued.

"Too easy to track them down, too many other options to get what they want, and they're not in the best position to risk a war with Thallis. It's just too sloppy and risky. Even if they could avoid getting revealed, they know they wouldn't gain enough from it." She sighed, hands on hips.

"Which means the purpose was to attempt to start a conflict between Thallis and the Theocracy, and maybe the dungeon would be a secondary goal. That has problems too, though. A full-fledged conflict benefits only two of the people on this wall, and it's still pretty unlikely. Other theories were that this was either an amateur and clumsy attempt to grab control of the dungeon, or a desire to cause confusion and disorient either us or Merriweather in order to cover something else up."

Whisper could tell she was losing the more experienced two, even if Stage was watching her with wide, enthusiastic eyes. She'd need to get to the point faster, but really didn't want to upset Stage. Such a delicate balance of needs and desires!

"Anyway, most of you probably realized that anyone who had the ability wouldn't be this clumsy about it, which means that we're dealing with someone who has something they need hidden and isn't afraid to murder someone important to do it," she concluded.

"Since the nobility already knows I'm hands off—apparently—this only leaves two possibilities on the wall, and the third that isn't shown yet that is the most unlikely but has to be considered." Anroll shook his head, "I know I said Listern had the capability and possible motive, but I'm still thinking he's unlikely. He might not be above murder, but I think he'd be cleaner about it, wouldn't bother with the Theocracy cover, and isn't likely to target someone he doesn't know much about or who is completely clean."

"Agreed," Whisper said, pointing at the scribble indicating the infamous smuggler.

"I'd put fifty-fifty odds on his organization being involved, but not him personally. Some underling made a mess of things, is the likely reason he's involved. It might already be taken care of, if that's the case… from what you've said he has some kind of moral code and would be pretty angry that Ellen got murdered when she hasn't done anything shady at all."

"I'd say he's willing to do that kind of thing, but only as a last resort," Anroll agreed.

"He'd want it cleaner and without all the loose ends. The strange accent that the man who hired our killer used is just too distinctive." Whisper glanced at her uncle, but Kaluk looked thoughtful as well, so she didn't press on that aspect. A strange accent was distinctive, but it didn't matter if the accent couldn't actually be traced, did it? The fact that a reasonably experienced assassin couldn't place the accent had to be strange, and it really gave her a bad feeling.

"It is also unusual that they did not hire someone more expensive and talented," Kaluk mused.

"I see how you might think an underling did this."

"Exactly," Whisper agreed.

"He was dangerous to most people, but even though I took him by surprise, I'm pretty sure he could have beaten me in a straight fight, I'm only Tier 2 still, and not a direct combat Class." Kaluk frowned, but didn't say anything about that. She knew he'd seen her use her knife, so whatever Class he saw her as was definitely something else, likely harmless. She avoided looking at his eyes as she pointed out the other options.

"So if it isn't Listern, there are only two options. The one listed is… maybe one in twenty. Still better than the almost impossible odds of the others, but we have a lot of unknowns," she continued.

"I don't like thinking of it, but the king could have ordered it, or more likely one of the princes who thinks it'd show initiative to get the dungeon for the kingdom. The thing that makes this incredibly unlikely is that if he wanted to, he could just seize it anyway. I turn nineteen next month, he could always argue that I'm too young, and it's not like I would even complain much." Anroll shifted uncomfortably at the idea of accusing the king of anything, but Whisper waved a hand.

"Relax, we aren't really going to assume that unless every other outlet is gone. If one of the princes did this, he'll find out himself and take care of it. I doubt he wants any conflict with the Theocracy, even faked, so this is really really unlikely."

"So it seems that Listern is the most likely candidate," Kaluk murmured.

"Unless this mysterious seventh is more likely? I could investigate Listern… uncovering something would strengthen ties with Thallis."

"Yeah, you do that," Whisper suggested.

"Anroll and I will check out the last one, which is um… about a one in three chance, I'd say. It's only so low because it's so unlikely normally, but all the evidence lines up. Someone who wants Ellen dead, is a little amateur at doing it, wants to keep their involvement secret, and has plenty of dungeon coins specifically from Greylan's Legacy. I've never heard of it happening, but there's one option that can do all that."

Kaluk frowned, and Anroll looked puzzled, but it was Stage who clapped her hands and leapt to her feet. It was a ridiculous idea, so of course she'd think of it before the older men.

"Right, of course! The dungeon itself!"