Chương 63: Investigation - Part 2

Adolin and Nicholas stepped into the shade of a tree, where Guardsman Coal was arguing with another guard. Adolin had used a eavesdropping spell to listen in on their argument, and it turned out to be about a maid they both wanted to court. Once again, he wanted nothing to do with it. As it turned out, investigation wasn't something he was passionate about. Not when he had the cheats his spells provided. Besides, it felt less like investigating and more like a survey. The butler was much the same.

He had what Adolin assumed was a gift that acted like a lie detector. He still wasn't sure whether it was a particularly powerful gift or if the man was simply good at telling when people were lying to him. It could be both. Yet he didn't have a spell that could confirm it. Gifts were special. There was no spell capable of uncovering them, and every gift was unique to the person who possessed it.

"—the first one to approach her!"

"She doesn't like you. She finds you unhygienic and dirty. You dirty pig," the guard said to the other guard in front of him. Coal's hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

"Say that again."

"What? That you're a dirty pig?" the man sneered. Coal's sword started leaving its scabbard when the butler intervened.

"Gentlemen," he said in his calm voice.

"Report to your captain." The guards' faces fell as they glanced toward Nicholas, both avoiding eye contact. It seemed the butler could make guards tremble with ease. Adolin sympathized with them. The butler was one scary man. With his gift for discerning lies, it was no wonder they were afraid of him. Finding an excuse around him was impossible, and guards always seemed to have an excuse for everything.

"Yes, sir," both guards said, their heads lowered as they hurried away from the butler.

"Coal," Nicholas said.

"Stay." The man's shoulders slumped as he slowly turned around. The other guard had already picked up his pace. Adolin suspected he would have started running if he could. As soon as the guard was out of earshot, Coal spoke.

"What's this about?" He kept his eyes fixed on the ground. Adolin paid close attention to the guard as he cast Trust on him. Since the butler had taken the lead during the previous investigation, he decided to let him handle this one as well. There was no need for Adolin to do anything except confirm the answers with his spell. It made his job significantly easier.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions," Nicholas said.

"Answer truthfully, and you'll be dismissed." Coal nodded.

"As you command." Coal kept glancing at Adolin from time to time. Fear was evident in his eyes. Adolin studied him for a moment and recognized him. He had been one of the guards present during his... show of strength in the Count's room. It was closer to an outburst than a show of strength. He hadn't been thinking clearly at the time, and he had really wanted to be left alone. Whatever. It was already done, and he didn't plan on lashing out again... Probably.

"Does Baron Minias have anything against the Count?" Nicholas asked.

"Baron Minias, sir?" Coal said, looking a little nervous.

"No," he said, shaking his head.

"I think," he added a moment later.

"I didn't serve the Baron for long, and that was a decade ago, sir. I don't think I can answer your question accurately. But during the time I served the Baron, there was no ill will toward the Count." He looked slightly confused and uncertain about his answer. Nicholas nodded.

"Do you have any ill will toward the Count?"

"No." Coal shook his head.

"Never. The Count has done too much for me and my family. I could never." He shook his head again, as if the very idea offended him. The guard answered every question truthfully. There had been a slight hesitation when he spoke about the Baron, but that could have been because the question caught him off guard, or because he wasn't sure how accurate his answer was. He certainly looked nervous, but who wouldn't be when asked such questions out of nowhere? Adolin knew he would be.

Nicholas asked a few more questions, all of which the guard answered truthfully before being dismissed.

"The next name?" Adolin asked. Nicholas nodded.

"The gardener." They walked in silence for a while before Nicholas spoke again.

"You don't have any ill will toward the Count, do you?" Adolin chuckled.

"I do." The butler didn't even turn and simply continued walking forward. The bastard really did have the gift. Adolin was certain of it. That didn't mean he wouldn't test it a few more times, just on the off chance he was wrong. Which he usually wasn't. It was a good thing Nicholas hadn't asked about Eduard. Adolin definitely had some ill will toward the man and the inn he had directed him to. But that was only toward them, not the Count.

The man had been in a coma before Adolin had even arrived in this world, so he couldn't exactly blame him for anything Eduard had done. It just wasn't fair, in his humble opinion. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. They continued their investigation, talking to dozens of people without finding a single lead. Maybe they were asking the wrong questions. Well, they were definitely asking the wrong questions.

Only the culprit would fail them, and for that to happen they would either need to get lucky or interrogate every person on the estate. There were hundreds of them. That would take a long time, and the culprit would probably escape before they even got around to questioning them. It was a bad situation. They needed someone who was actually capable of investigating because, clearly, neither of them was particularly good at it. They simply had an advantage when it came to discerning truth from lies.

And it was clearly not working. Not at all. Nicholas had fooled him for quite some time. Adolin had genuinely believed the butler knew what he was doing. At least when it came to investigations. Otherwise, he was still an incredibly capable man. Adolin was fairly certain the butler was a good fighter, perhaps even a great one. But none of that mattered when it came to finding the culprit behind the curse placed on the Count. Adolin coughed.

"We're just walking in circles now." Nicholas's expression didn't change, nor did his pace.

"Two more to go."

"Only two names remain on the list?"

"Yes."

"And after? Because we're not finding the culprit this way," Adolin said, already irritated and tired of the whole thing. Who knew investigating could be this boring? Even after wasting more than half the day, they were still stuck on the first step. Nicholas's expression didn't change.

"One of the two is the culprit," the butler stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Adolin ignored him and followed behind. They were heading toward the gates and were currently walking through one of the front gardens. He was getting tired of gardens as well. They were everywhere, and most of the people they had spoken to had been in one. He made up his mind. There would be only a single garden in the house he was going to buy, or build.

He didn't care what others thought, even if gardens seemed to be some sort of status symbol in this world. Soon they were done with the two remaining names on the list, and both guards were innocent as well. Nicholas was quiet, though he seemed a little angry. He was walking faster than usual, and his normally straight posture had slumped slightly. They stopped off to the side of the gate, where no one else was around.

Adolin felt like he had earned the right to call the butler out on this disaster of an investigation, but he held his tongue. There would be time for that later, when the butler had calmed down a little. At the moment, Nicholas was a little frightening. A screaming drunk would have made for better company than the silent butler.

"This is not working," the butler said.

"No sh— yeah, it isn't," Adolin agreed with a nod. It wasn't like he wanted to say anything else. Not at all. Nicholas gazed at him in silence for a few moments before exhaling in defeat.

"My... so-called gift is not particularly useful if we can't find the culprit." Adolin nodded.

"What are our next steps?"

"Gather everyone on the estate and make them answer our questions," the butler said. Adolin stared at him. Then Nicholas chuckled.

"Very funny," Adolin muttered. The butler ignored him.

"We need to see Lord Eduard and ask for his guidance. He used an investigator in the past, though I'm not sure who it was. If he allows us to use him, we can find the culprit. At the very least, we now know there is one, and we've narrowed the list somewhat."

"And with your gift, we can easily question any suspects the investigator identifies," Adolin said with a yawn. He was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

"Let's make it happen." The sun had already set by the time they returned to the building where Eduard lived. The guards stationed outside escorted them to the dining room within the sprawling manor. Eduard sat at the head of the table. The table itself was covered with all kinds of food. He looked up at them.

"Any progress?"

"No, my lord," Nicholas replied.

"We narrowed the list of suspects, but we require additional support to continue the investigation." Eduard nodded.

"Join me." They took their seats on either side of Eduard. The food looked delicious, but Adolin stopped himself from digging in. Eduard wore a dark expression, and the bags beneath his eyes seemed even deeper than before. The man looked exhausted.

"What kind of assistance can I provide?" Eduard asked after a few moments of silence.

"The investigator," Nicholas said.

"He would be of great use to us, as would others with a similar skill set." Eduard nodded.

"That can be arranged. He is currently in the city." He raised a hand, and a maid immediately stepped forward.

"Send word to Blanzin. He is to return to the estate at once." The maid bowed and hurried away. Once she was gone, Eduard placed several mana potions on the table.

"You sensed it?"

"You could say that," Adolin said as he poured himself a glass of wine from the pitcher on the table.

"It seems you're preparing for it." There weren't many things Eduard could have meant by that. The only explanation that made sense was the danger hanging over the estate, or perhaps even the Capital itself. Change was coming. He just didn't know enough about the Empire—or this world—to understand what form it would take. From the sense of danger he had felt since arriving at the estate, to the army Eduard was quietly gathering, to the cryptic comments the man made, the signs were impossible to ignore.

And somehow, he had ended up right in the middle of it.

"Take them," Eduard said, sliding the potions toward him.

"If it starts while you're still here, make sure to escape. You have my thanks." There were seven mana potions on the table. Adolin took one and stored it in his inventory. He was curious about what was coming. The only thing he could sense was danger, not what it was, how it would happen, or why. It was an irritating feeling, but it had always been right. Eduard looked like a man preparing to lose against whatever was coming. Adolin took another potion.

"So, what exactly is coming?" he asked, slipping it into his inventory.

"I'm not sure myself," Eduard said, taking a sip of wine.

"Our best guess is that the people who cursed my father are coming to finish the job." Adolin nodded slowly as he stored the third potion away. Then he took a sip from the glass in his other hand. Eduard continued.

"We knew... everyone knew there was someone—or perhaps an entire organization—working with the corrupted. But no one ever managed to confirm it." He took another sip of wine.

"I suppose we're the bait."