038 The burning capital? (4) p.5

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“Ugh...ku….”

He took a closer look at the person’s face. His brown hair was bloodied. His facial features were somewhat similar to his, and everytime he noticed their similarities, he felt disgusted.

Tullius Shernan Oubeniel.

The brother he wished to be dead was almost dead.

“H-Help me, Uni… it hurts...I don’t want to be afraid...”

Tullius spit some blood as he said. Uni grew angrier as Tullius begged for mercy.

“Ahh, my master! Do not say anything! Please rest assured! I will definitely save you! Help is coming!”

Tears trickled from the side of her face. Between Uni’s crying and Tullius’ rough breathing, the room was silent. Nobody could say a word. They might be the next one lying on the floor if they did anything to anger this crazy woman. That was what Linus thought.

However, Simone, who probably did not understand Uni enough, nervously asked.

“What happened?”

Linus gave his wife looks of surprise. What are you trying to do? Can’t you see that this dangerous person might blow up if you poke at her? It was as if Simone did not want to live any further. Luckily, this time Uni did not blow up.

“J-Just as I went out to have a look, m-master… Ahhh! My purpose was to make sure such things don’t happen! And I came back really quickly too! Sniff, sniff…!”

More tears trickled down as she said. Most likely, an assassin came when she had her sights elsewhere and Tullius met with mishap when he was bathing.

(Really… what in the world is happening…?)

Linus pondered.

The rebels that were attacking the Oubeniel residence. And Tullius who was attacked. The obvious inference to make was that Tullius was attacked by the rebels. However, this was extremely hard to believe. How was the disorderly mob able to catch Tullius unguarded and deal a deadly blow to him? It was unbelievable that the likes of those rebels were able to do something like that to Tullius.

Linus knew that this slave was also in charge of protecting his foolish brother. Tullius was able to trust her enough to leave her by his side since his days at St. Gallen and when he was at Marlan. She was so loyal to Tullius that she would give up her chance to be a noble and would rather stay as Tullius’ slave. Ever since she was returned, she started clinging tighter to him. How could she have made such a mistake even though they were in the midst of an uprising. No way she could have left her master’s side for a long time. The window of opportunity would have to be small. Also, Tullius himself could use magic and was capable of protecting himself.

The assassin would have to slip into his house, search for the target, evade detection from his skilled guards and fight against Tullius’ magic. A person capable of such must be employed by a noble.

(Hmm, don’t tell me…)

A sudden thought flashed through his mind.

(...employed by a noble?)

Using the hypothesis that the assassin was under some noble, then it was normal for the assassin to operate under the guise of being a rebel.

The conflicts between nobles were in theory, arbitrated through politics, discussions and perhaps, traps. Still, there were cases where some would use a more direct method ― assassination. This guy is in the way, let’s just kill him. There were some simplistic nobles that would do such. In fact, Linus himself wanted to have Tullius killed. Also, 6 years ago, the crown prince was assassinated too. Nobles who have weighed the odds could have decided to send their assassin today. Linus himself might have done so.

(Quite possible huh....But who could it be!?)

Linus slowly stood up from the sofa. And as softly as possible, asked Uni.

“Just asking, but what happened to the assassin that attacked my brother.”

“...I executed them. What of it?”

Her response was chillier than before, but the madness within it grew. The grief and anger grew deeper rather than vanishing. This woman was well aware that he had always wanted to have Tullius killed. She must have known that he was the person that tried to separate her from Tullius too. If that was what she was thinking, then him trying to call out to her while she was tending to her master injuries would have displeased her. Her subzero gaze was truly terrifying.

Swallowing his fears, Linus continued asking.

“...Where is the body?”

“The body should still be rolled over at the same place. Is that all?”

Which means it was still in the bathroom.

Looking away from the petrifying glare, Linus spoke to his servants.

“I shall have a look. Follow me.”

“Huh?”

“Dear, what―”

Ignoring Simone’s attempt to stop him, he left the room with his servants who were meant to be his meatshields.

Ignoring Laubert who he met outside and Uni who reproached him, he headed for the bathroom.

...When he arrived, the bathroom was a sea of blood.

The sickening smell of fresh blood. The scent that he had gotten used to thanks to the madman Tullius.

There were 3 bodies. Even with his untrained eyes, he could tell based on their wounds that they were stabbed. They looked like butlers. They were definitely not commonfolk that were incited by the activists.

And they were also not servants of this household. However, Linus could remember some of the faces of the bodies.

“...”

While grimacing, he examined the bodies. He would have ordered his servants to do this normally, but they were frozen in fear and it did not seem like he could easily get them to do it.

He found a pendant hidden in their pockets. This too, was familiar. He saw something like this on the night of his wedding.

It was a communication tool. People who could not speak telepathically through magic or did not possess sufficient magic could rely on this item. Furthermore, it was imported from St Gallen and was imbued with a high quality crystal that can allow for communication at a further range.

Linus silently activated it and waited for a response.

Soon, he heard somebody.

“What is it? Did something unforeseen happen?”

As expected, it was the hoarse voice of an old man. So it was the deed of him.

He replied in a shaky voice because of anger.

“...Yes. As a matter of fact, I did not foresee this at all.”

He could feel the person on the other side making a gulp.

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