Chương 133: All Roads Lead To Dead Ends–Or Do They?

Binibelle and Jupo were able to get an audience with the city lord of Tolten impressively swiftly. The apprentice was greatly taken aback by the speed.

"Stop looking so starstruck. Didn't I tell you? Mister Nebulo is much more influential than the lord of Tolten. It should have been easy to guess, you know that Mister Nebulo has nationwide influence""Right… It's just that… I've lived all my life in Tolten. The city lord has always been the highest figure in my life, you know? The king and nobles are obviously greater, but he is the one whose decisions actually directly matter the most to the people I know and I…"

"I'll really need to take you on a trip eventually. I forget that you are like a little country boy who has never seen anything further than his farm… Anyway, keep calm and don't say anything unless he speaks to you directly, alright? I'll handle it. Leave it to your master!" The duo stood inside a luxurious hall. Jupo didn't even dare to sit in any of the chairs around–They were so ornate and expensive-looking that it did not seem appropriate for him to even look at them for too long. Binibelle, though?

She didn't have the same reservations as he did…

"Madam and Sir? Lord Einhert Vont Tolten is ready to talk to you" They were led into an office where even the air felt expensive. On the other side of the desk, a youthful-looking man was sitting. Dressed in a refined suit of white, gilded with gold–He stood up to greet both of them. There was a smile on his face, but his demeanour was rather distant… It didn't help that he looked a lot more rough around the edges than Jupo had imagined a formerly pampered young scion to be…

This man had a bright scar starting from the top of his forehead, which went right through his right eye, only ending at the tip of his chin. It could be viewed in full thanks to him having his black hair slicked back against his head. He was also tall and broad-shouldered, definitely completely different from his father, who had been said to have a belly so big that he would hit the sides of doors and the corners of hallways with it.

Now that the former lord had stepped down to let his son handle the city, one could only wonder how much more he had let himself go… Regardless, what surprised Jupo the most wasn't the scar's presence, but the fact that it had clearly not been caused by a cut–No, this was clearly the result of being struck by lightning. The mage apprentice frankly had no idea how someone could survive being hit by lightning on the head and survive…

"Miss Binibelle. It is my pleasure to greet you and your apprentice. I have heard much about your talents as an investigator" He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it as was customary for nobles to do–It looked a bit ridiculous since she was a halfling and he was a tall human man, but he managed it with grace nonetheless. Jupo was starting to get jealous of him already…

"Do take a seat. I was told that you believed that two recent strings of murders and disappearances had something to do with what happened in Harvey's Diner?" …The city lord dropping the name of an establishment that had closed more than twenty years ago was already enough evidence to know that this place had been more important to him and his father than anyone could have assumed.

"Yes. The prevalence of negative energy, similarities between the two entities responsible, and the fact that the most recent one bears the likeness of the clown mascot involved in the crime at Harvey's Diner led us to assume that not only were both of the killers linked, but also that they both had something to do with the tragedy" Binibelle responded with such seriousness that Jupo glanced to the side to make sure it was still her. Lord Einhert sighed, shaking his head.

"You've read the archives, haven't you? You must have come wondering why a case in such a neighbourhood was so important to my father, yes? You would be correct in assuming that this was not common. Usually, even the most hateful of crimes would not have come to his attention. As much as the guards of the city can be critiqued, they've always done a good enough job to not lead to unsolved cases bothering my father or me" He looked toward a window.

"... I will tell you why. It was because of me, actually""This case only mattered to my father because of me… You see, my father was always concerned with his health. He did not care if he was disliked or not, but he hated the thought of being viewed as incompetent by those above him the most. Thus, he wanted to make sure that I was prepared to take over his position""From a young age, he wanted to 'toughen me up'. He wanted me to have a great understanding of the entirety of Tolten.

He wanted me to interact with the officials, the bourgeois, and even the commoners. I could have any dead angles""This led me to moving around town with tutors and instructors all the time when I was young… One time, when I was fifteen. I was brought to Harvey's Diner to eat. You know, to experience poor people's food or something like that? Also, entertainment automatons were a novelty at the time…" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"... It is there that I met her for the first time… A beautiful girl named Poppy. She was a commoner, but I immediately found her far prettier than any bourgeois or noble girl my father had tried to get me to fancy""I was starstruck, and only grew more infatuated as I spoke to her… Upon learning that her parents would very often drop her off at the diner, I did everything I could to be there as much as possible…

But I had obligations to attend to, and one day–She disappeared along with four other girls" The city lord rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"You can imagine that I was quite freaked out upon learning this, to such an extent that even my father felt compelled to try and do something about it. He was a practical man, but also one who knew not to be stubborn. Since our family's position as rulers of Tolten was already long set in stone with a spotless track record, he had agreed to let me marry a commoner, since an arranged marriage was unnecessary""I'll admit, for a time, I had thought that he was responsible for Poppy's disappearance, you know…

That he had only agreed not to upset me, and then gone around to get rid of the nuisance? But I quickly changed my belief as the details of the case accumulated" He sighed once more.

"Anyway. This is why this case was so important. The love of my life was amongst the victims… Oh Poppy… I love my wife, but I have never stopped thinking about her…" The man leaned back in his chair, his expression pensive.

"... I was willing to do anything to get my hands on the culprit. However… The crime was unsolvable. Magical and other esoteric means simply did not work, or only yielded results lacking in use altogether–And the regular investigation? There was no good lead. No one was ever identified as the culprit. The best we got was one employee being deemed a likely accomplice…

'Likely' is the keyword here. Not even that was formally proven" He turned his gaze to the pair in front of him.

"I have great doubts that you'll be able to resolve this twenty-year-old crime, and in fact, I cannot help but place suspicions on your motives here. I greatly respect Sir Nebulo, but his sister was one of the prime culprits in this case. If she were to be the true culprit… Would either of you be willing to actually speak out about your findings? Or do you know it was her, and are only investigating to erase any possible evidence of her involvement?"

"Lord Einhert. I guarantee that this is merely due to my curiosity relating to two strings of murders. My apprentice was attacked by the first in the past as well. The link to Harvey's Diner was only discovered by us recently" The city lord shrugged.

"I figured this was the most likely explanation. Pardon my grave tone just now, I merely cannot let go of Poppy's memory. If you were to solve this… Do make sure to inform me. I will reward you handsomely" On this note, the meeting ended. The pair soon found themselves walking through the chic streets near the lord's residence. The conversation had been instructive, to say the least. It did not actually help with solving the case, but it explained an oddity at least. It was one less thing to worry about.

In appearance, the master-student duo seemed at a dead-end. As though they had run into the same roadblock as the original investigators–It was not the case. They had discovered something abnormal in the archives. Binibelle had not made mention of it to the lord, and instead, brought it to Sir Nebulo, believing that he might know what it was. The item they had discovered had definitely just popped into existence as they were reading the files.

It was not something someone could just slide in between pages without anyone noticing. It was a thick, rectangular item that would have stuck out like a sore thumb instantly had it actually been present from the very beginning. The halfling mage had only used mana to check it out, but in her eyes, it looked like something mechanical in nature–Thus something Leton Nebulo would be able to make sense out of.

"Sir Nebulo, we discovered this… Do you know what it is?" Jupo was the one to ask. Leton tilted his head slightly, his light purple eyes analysing the item handed to him. He looked at it from every angle, a slight glow permeated his ocular globes…

"Mmh… I have not yet invented something like this, but I do know what it is" He spoke a sentence that made no sense, putting the rectangular item down.

"I can create something capable of reading it, if you so desire""This… This would be lovely, Sir Nebulo! But what is it exactly?"

"It is nothing much. Miss Binibelle is certainly acquainted with memory stones and other similar items, yes?" The halfling nodded.

"This object is similar. It can memorise images and sounds. It will make it seem like you are watching from the eyes of someone else–The only difference is that it uses non-magical means to achieve such a result, and requires additional equipment to be used properly" Leton looked at the object.

"... You said you found it in the archives of the files about the investigation at Harvey's Diner, right? Its appearance there is definitely abnormal. Viewing of whatever is recorded on it should be done carefully" Binibelle and Jupo both nodded, with the former asking a question immediately after.

"If I may ask, how long will it take for us to be able to view this memory item?" Leton scratched his chin.

"Heh… Thirty minutes, give or take. I have nothing to do at the moment, I'll craft what's needed right now" He walked away with his cane nonchalantly. It seemed like creating a machine capable of playing something he had supposedly only seen for the first time today was not out of the ordinary for him.

"... Master… Is he joking, or…? I can't tell!"

"My dear disciple. I can't tell either. I know he is a mechanical genius, but even this seems exaggerated…" They waited, and only twenty minutes later, Leton reappeared, wheeling in a modified version of what he liked to call a 'screen' or 'monitor'. With the addition of a space at the bottom capable of welcoming the rectangular object. He pressed a button, causing something to extend outward.

"Just put it in there. I will leave you to your own devices. Be careful" He was not interested in what was to be seen or heard on the mysterious contraption.