Chapter 116: Case Solved!

“Andy Charles, Madam Flora Oliana. Surely the two of you need no further introduction. I invited you here today mainly because I would like to learn…”

“Wait!” Flora interrupted Byron before he could finish. With a charming smile, she said, “An introduction is still necessary. Hello, little Andy. I’m Flora Oliana, a friend of your mentor, Stein.”

Andy and Flora exchanged a glance. There was no denying that, as a woman, Flora possessed remarkable allure. Andy noticed several members of the Disciplinary Office nearby casting surreptitious glances in her direction from time to time. Unfortunately, Martin had already told him about how she had cheated on Stein and later attached herself to a professor at the academy. Andy had no favorable impression of her whatsoever.

And now she was calling him “little Andy,” which irritated him even more. So he deliberately put on a foolish grin and, in a thick rustic drawl, said, “Greetings, Mentor’s Wife!”

Flora’s brows immediately drew together. What an unpleasant thing to bring up. She was beginning to regret having asked Carol to send this boy some contribution points. It seemed that, just as Stein had mentioned in his letter, the boy was not only lacking in talent, but also somewhat deficient in both intelligence and social sense.

He was not her disciple, so Flora naturally had no intention of indulging him. Smiling, she said, “As expected of Stein’s disciple—you truly are extraordinary. Before his death, your mentor even asked me to look after you. He also said that you were clever, quick-witted, and astonishingly talented. I’m afraid there is only so much I can do for you.”

She placed heavy emphasis on the words “clever, quick-witted, and astonishingly talented.”

Andy refused to yield. Continuing in his pure country accent, he said, “My mentor told me too that you’re the most loyal and affectionate person there is, Mentor’s Wife. He said I should come to you whenever I ran into trouble! No need to be polite!”

He pronounced “loyal and affectionate” with exaggerated slowness.

Bang, bang, bang!

Unable to bear it any longer, Byron pounded heavily on the table. What did these two take the Disciplinary Office for? They had actually started exchanging pleasantries here.

At first, Byron had not stopped them when they began reminiscing. After all, the Stein they had mentioned was connected to the case, and Byron had hoped their conversation might reveal some information related to the investigation. But after only a few exchanges, the Ring of Truth and Lies on his finger began vibrating incessantly.

That made Byron realize that the two of them had not spoken a single truthful word. He therefore interrupted them rather bluntly.

“If the two of you wish to exchange pleasantries, you can leave the Disciplinary Office and find somewhere to talk at your leisure. I called you here today for serious business,” Byron said sternly. “Earlier today, Peter Clark was assassinated on the road between the capital and Clark City. The matter has caused a tremendous stir, and both the queen and the dean are paying close attention to it. I have a few questions about the incident, and I hope you will answer them truthfully.”

Interrupted by Byron, Andy and Flora both turned their heads away, no longer looking at each other. They readily agreed to answer his questions.

Byron sensed the ring’s vibration and was rendered speechless. He knew the two had no intention of cooperating. But the more uncooperative they were, the more suspicious they became. So Byron went straight to the point.

“First question: Did either of you participate in the assassination of Peter?”

Andy and Flora turned to look at Byron. Neither spoke first, and the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.

After asking the question, Byron stared fixedly at the ring on his hand.

Andy remained silent not because he needed time to think, but because he felt the question was absurdly unsophisticated. The real culprit would never admit to being the culprit, so Andy instinctively prepared to deny it.

“Of course—”

Before he could finish, someone interrupted him. A young man with an aquiline nose suddenly shoved open the door and rushed inside.

It was Daina.

He had not even taken in the situation in the room before shouting urgently, “The case has been solved!”

The case had indeed been solved. The real culprits had already been apprehended: members of the enemy nation’s spy organization, the Azure Phoenix Society.

When Daina received the news from the head of the Disciplinary Office, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. So everything had been the work of enemy spies. Even the legendary Marshal Vaughn on the front lines occasionally suffered at the hands of Azure Phoenix infiltrators, let alone a mere captain of the Disciplinary Office like him. As a result, his responsibility for the incident had been reduced to almost nothing, and Daina was extremely satisfied with the outcome.

The head of the Disciplinary Office was equally pleased. The deaths of Peter and Professor Bell had placed him under immense pressure. Dean Rossman had even sent a messenger ordering the Disciplinary Office to solve the case within a specified time. Although the Disciplinary Office had not actually cracked the case itself, the real culprits had at least been found while the investigation remained in their hands. At last, the matter had come to an end.

Hearing Daina announce that the case had been solved the moment he entered, Byron quickly rose to his feet. The two of them then went into the inner room to discuss the situation.

Perhaps the Disciplinary Office was protected by some kind of soundproofing formation, because even after activating his Listening Spell, Andy could not hear the slightest sound. Yet he was deeply puzzled. From what Byron had said, they were clearly investigating Peter’s assassination. So why had that man suddenly declared the case solved?

Andy recalled that, when he had taken action, two other groups seemed to have acted as well. Could it be that one of them had been caught red-handed, or that their involvement had been uncovered afterward?

But Andy soon stopped thinking about it. As long as neither he nor Catherine was implicated, that was all that mattered. As for everyone else, they could fend for themselves.

At that moment, Andy failed to notice that, ever since Daina had announced the case was solved, Flora had maintained a smile—an enchanting and mysterious smile.

Inside the room, Daina carefully recounted the progress of the investigation to Byron.

It all began with Grand Knight Allen, former deputy commander of the Divine Wind Knights. Allen had recently been waiting in the capital for the queen to confer his title when, by chance, he discovered traces of the Azure Phoenix Society’s activities in the capital and located one of their contact points.

Knowing that the Azure Phoenix Society possessed many experts, Allen quickly contacted a group of noble family heirs, a large number of his idle companions, and former comrades and acquaintances in the army. Together, they launched a surprise attack and destroyed the Azure Phoenix Society’s contact point in one stroke. They also seized a large number of important documents and records.

Among them was a plan concerning the assassination of Peter Clark. Its code name was Sky Severance.

In truth, Peter was not the real target. The target was Bell, a senior professor at Grimm Academy. The Azure Phoenix Society had learned that Bell was not far from advancing to the realm of a Golden Wizard.

A Golden Wizard represented the highest level of military power a nation could possess. The Duchy of Sain naturally did not wish to see Elan produce another Golden Wizard and upset the balance of power between the two countries. So they had decided to strike first.

In the past, Peter Clark had secretly cooperated with the Azure Phoenix Society on numerous occasions in exchange for influence within his family and valuable cultivation resources. This time, the Society once again contacted him, promising him enormous benefits in return for luring Professor Bell into their ambush and, as an added measure, helping them slaughter a group of teachers and students from Grimm Academy.

But this time, the Azure Phoenix Society had intended to discard Peter after using him. He already knew too much. As a result, they had planned to eliminate both Bell and Peter.

While Daina explained the investigation to Byron inside the room, Flora remained outside, reflecting on whether she had been too deliberate when she fabricated the Azure Phoenix Society’s plan and added a little slander against Peter.

After thinking it over for a long while, she finally reached a conclusion.

“Seems fine to me…”