NOVPUBLeading the way through the narrow alleys, Terrina Lionhowl suddenly stopped and turned around.
“Commander? Is something wrong?”
“...No. It's nothing. I just had the feeling someone was watching us.”
“No way,” Lloyd muttered, adjusting his glasses beneath his hood. But Enya wasn’t so quick to dismiss it.
“Come on, senior. The commander’s intuition is way better than ours. That’s the whole reason we came here in the first place.”
“Hm.”
Enya had a point.
The reason the three of them—sent to investigate the mystery surrounding Belvotte Rixon’s death—were now combing the backstreets of Rederbelk in the middle of the night... was mostly because of Terrina Lionhowl.
Her instincts had latched onto something, and she’d brought her ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) two subordinates along.
If Lloyd had any complaint, that was it.
He was a man who believed in logic and scientific thinking—"gut feeling" was a foreign concept to him.
“In the end, isn’t this just another turf war between thugs and drifters?”
“This time’s different.”
“Different how?”
“My instincts say so.”
“There it is again—instinct.”
Even so, Lloyd didn’t dare voice his frustration too loudly. Terrina wasn’t just his commanding officer—her intuition had proven startlingly accurate time and again.
She had achieved results that seemed impossible. Time after time, she succeeded in missions others had deemed hopeless.
So while he might grumble internally, he didn’t let it show.
“This is it.”
The moment they arrived on scene, the sight that greeted them was a mess of corpses strewn across the ground.
“This is... quite a few bodies.”
“Was there a war here or something?”
“Probably a gang clash,” Lloyd speculated.
Terrina strode confidently toward the corpses.
She crouched down before one of them in particular and inspected it closely.
“An assassin.”
“Pardon? What is?”
“This corpse. Not just any assassin.”
She leaned in and sniffed the bottle hanging from the dead man's waist, wrinkling her nose.
“A strong toxin. A special blend used by Kalsapha’s assassins.”
The corpse didn’t look all that different from the others nearby—but that was likely intentional, a disguise to hide his true identity.
Lloyd and Enya stepped closer to examine the body.
“Indeed. There are signs of extensive training. Callused hands. Numerous small scars, some very old. Not something you’d see on a typical alley thug.”
“Whoa. If he’s from Kalsapha, that’s that infamous assassin group from the southern Fatima Dynasty, right? They're kind of legendary.”
“They’re ruthless killers who don’t even value their own lives if it means completing a mission. But what would someone like that be doing in a back alley like this...”
Terrina rose to her feet.
“Commander?”
“He was a Kalsapha assassin, yes—but not a fully sanctioned one. Most likely one of those cast out for lacking ability, or a trainee sent out to gain experience.”
“Still, even a trainee from Kalsapha would be highly dangerous.”
“Exactly. That’s why it’s strange to see him dead in a place like this.”
An assassin from Kalsapha, dead in some back-alley brawl.
Hard to believe, even with the evidence in front of them.
“Cause of death appears to be the forehead wound. A narrow blade pierced the skull in a single strike—then he fell from above.”
Terrina looked up.
The cloudy night sky was barely visible between the narrow walls of the alleyway.
“Whoever did this had serious skill. The kill was clean—no excess wounds.”
A single blow.
A Kalsapha assassin, taken down in one strike.
Terrina ceased her examination and headed deeper into the alley’s shadows.
Lloyd and Enya followed her without a word.
When they reached another section of the alley, they found another pile of corpses. 𝑛𝘰𝑣𝘱𝑢𝑏.𝘤𝑜𝘮
“Were these... killed with magic?”
Enya looked around at the bodies scattered across the ground and voiced what they were all thinking.
For nearly ten people to be cut down at once in a place like this—if not with magic, then how?
“Most likely,” Terrina replied.
“Incredible. A mage involved in something like this... Then maybe that assassin was also...?”
“Hard to say.”
Just then, Lloyd pointed at something in the distance.
“Commander. There are more corpses over there.”
Beyond the clustered bodies, deeper in the shadows, lay two more distinctly different corpses.
Terrina immediately recognized them as more Kalsapha assassins.
“Same type as the first. One of them had his heart pierced. The wound matches the first—most likely killed by the same person. Probably ambushed from behind.”
An assassin, ambushed.
How ironic.
The second corpse had its throat slashed with something sharp.
“The same weapon was used for the first two, but this last one is different. Not magic. Something like a dagger or hidden blade. Lloyd—check near his foot.”
“Y-Yes?”
“There’s a mark on the ground there.”
Mark?
Lloyd crouched, skeptical, and examined the spot near the corpse’s foot.
Just as Terrina said—there was a faint scrape, as if metal had dragged across the ground.
“This...”
“That’s where the weapon that killed the first two was dropped. That paints the picture. These assassins teamed up with someone to kill a target.”
But that target... wasn’t ordinary.
In the end, the Kalsapha assassins were taken out instead.
The last one must have succeeded in disarming the opponent—but still lost.
“The slashed throat was made by a cutting weapon, not a stabbing one. Looks like a concealed dagger. The wound is narrow, which rules out a large weapon. That means the blade used initially was probably a swordstick.”
“And how can you be sure of that?”
“You might think it was a rapier—but look. This body was taken down by a concealed weapon. That tells me the killer was someone who specializes in exploiting openings. If he used a piercing blade, it’d be hidden in a cane.”
“I-I see.”
“Also, consider this—the assassins tried to engage at close range. If the opponent had been a rapier-wielding duelist, they’d have avoided that. They must have assumed their target required close proximity to fight. They were wrong.”
“Your deduction is... incredible.”
Lloyd was in awe of how quickly Terrina pieced the events together.
As for Enya, she was already watching her commander with wide-eyed admiration.
“It’s nothing. I just picked it up from someone who taught me a few tricks.”
“Wait, you learned this from someone? Who?”
“Not deduction, per se. Just how to quickly notice clues. She said my instincts would make it easier for me.”
“She? Who was she? When did you even learn this?”
“Years ago. During a visit to a foreign country. I met her by chance.”
“What did she do?”
“She was a private detective.”
“A... detective?”
Sure, detectives specialized in observation and deduction—but for someone like Terrina, whose instincts surpassed most mortals, could anyone really teach her?
“She was more than capable. Eccentric, sure—but brilliant. There were times even I was stunned by how absurdly accurate her deductions were.”
“Wow... if even you say that...”
Terrina, who never lost her composure or charisma, admitting she’d been surprised by someone—it was hard to imagine.
“In any case, judging by the bodies here, this wasn’t just a simple turf war. If they went so far as to hire Kalsapha assassins, the attackers were ready to risk their lives.”
“Do you think this is related to the death of Belvotte Rixon?”
“We can’t say yet. There’s not enough to go on. But one thing’s certain—Rederbelk’s underworld is about to be rocked.”
Terrina continued to scan the surroundings for any additional clues.
‘Hm. So far, it seems only two people caused this entire incident.’
One man.
One woman.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
The footprints and shoe marks left on some of the corpses made it clear.
‘One used a blade up close. The other’s a mage, capable of casting magic.’
Terrina approached the alley wall and ran her fingers lightly across it.
Then she rubbed her fingers together and brought them to her nose.
‘A faint scent hidden beneath this place’s stench... it still lingers here in the alley. This is the smell of diffusion incense.’
Diffusion incense was well known for increasing the conductivity of mana, but Terrina knew its real purpose precisely.
To fight mages.
It was often used to suppress or seal enemy magic during combat.
‘The assassins knew they were up against a mage. But they still failed. Did they not know one of their targets also used a blade?’
No.
Both the man and the woman were mages.
Only, one of them also wielded a sword expertly. The assassins hadn’t known that—and that ignorance got them killed.
A mage who’s good with a blade...
Terrina’s gaze sharpened.
She could think of one person like that from her memory.
A man who cloaked himself in shadows, stealing rare and expensive items wherever he went.
The most infamous thief she had ever tried—and failed—to catch, back before she became commander.
The phantom thief Arsène Lupin.
‘The disappearance of Belvotte Rixon’s vault... could it have been him?’
She had assumed Lupin had quietly vanished, having stepped away from the game.
But maybe not.
‘The sudden return of the thief, the sudden appearance of a cryptid, a werewolf, and a mysterious, sealed-off factory...’
Terrina was now certain.
All these threads were connected.
“The investigation’s finished.”
“Already?”
“Yes. We’ve learned everything we can from this scene.”
“Then what about the bodies?”
“Leave them. In a place like this, the back-alley cleaners will take care of them soon enough.”
Terrina knew well how this place operated. No one would blink at a corpse—no one would ask questions.
This was that kind of place.
Even if dozens died, the papers wouldn’t mention a word.
A world fated to disappear into the void, never even brushing the tides of history.
“So what now? Is the investigation ending here?”
Lloyd asked cautiously.
Terrina shook her head.
“No. It continues.”
“But we haven’t found anything conclusive. If we keep going at this pace...”
“I know. That’s why this next one will be the last.”
“...Pardon?”
“We’re heading to the place where the final clue might be.”
Terrina turned her head to face a new direction.
“We’re going to Seorn Academy.”
* * *
Early morning. The birds were already chirping noisily.
Even on days when he didn’t have lectures, Ludger usually reported to the faculty office. But today, he had decided to rest in his private quarters.
The sheer exhaustion from recent events had finally caught up to him.
The <Philosopher’s Stone> incident, followed immediately by the cleanup in Rederbelk’s underworld...
Even he had to admit he was worn out.
‘Still... I suppose I should be thankful.’
Ludger sighed as he lay sprawled on the plush sofa.
With the midterm test period underway, he had a perfect excuse—preparing exam questions—to stay in and rest instead of heading to the office.
Knock knock.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his brief rest.
Who could it be? He thought about pretending not to be in, but if they’d come this far, they clearly knew he wasn’t at the faculty office.
There was no avoiding it.
He rose from the sofa and opened the door.
“Ah! Professor Ludger!”
“Professor Selina.”
So this was who had come looking for him—Selina, a fellow newly appointed instructor and colleague.
“What brings you here?”
“Oh, I just heard you didn’t show up to the faculty office today.”
“Yes. I don’t have any classes today, and I’ve been wracking my brain over the exam questions.”
“Ah, I see...”
Selina trailed off, staring at him.
She was used to seeing him perfectly put together, so this dressed-down version of Ludger, even if he was still in slacks and a white shirt, felt like a whole different man.
‘He let his hair down too...’
His usually-tied hair was loose now, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes—evidence of poor sleep—but even that gave him an alluring, weary charm.
He looked like a man born to be picturesque, no effort required.
Selina stared for a beat too long before snapping herself back to the moment.
“R-right. The reason I came—someone’s here to see you.”
“A visitor?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t they send an attendant? Why come yourself?”
“Ehehe, I was heading that way anyway, so I thought I might as well. Better for both of us, right?”
“I see. So who exactly came to see me?”
With a bright, innocent smile, Selina answered cheerfully.
“A knight from the Security Bureau.”
“......”
Ludger’s expression froze.
But Selina, unaware, simply smiled on.
