Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 783 - 132: Demon King’s Followers_2

But in reality, he had never seen a true follower of the Demon King, nor had most people in Gear City. Those fanatical followers usually existed only in rumors, and the majority of people executed as followers of the Demon King were just ordinary residents. Some of them attempted to accuse the baron or simply encountered the nobility in a bad mood.

"Nobles aren't so special; they're just like anyone else. If you cut their throats, they die. They can't hold on any longer than the lower classes they look down upon."

His mouth continued to speak.

Suddenly, the inquisitor finally realized the source of it all.

In a daze, he saw an arm woven from shadows crawl out of the wound on the back of his hand, climbing up along his forearm, and that hand grasped his throat.

The fear was so intense it made him dizzy, wanting to vomit.

Didn't you see?

It was all the black cat's doing!

He wanted to loudly recount everything that just happened in the interrogation room. He wanted to warn the agents of the Security Office that those two vagrants might leave like those followers of the Demon King in Riverside Town before, but what came out was a chilling strange laughter that terrified even himself.

The symptoms of loss of control had already spread to his arms and legs, his limbs betraying his will, causing him to charge at Detective Blake amidst that piercing laughter.

Blake!

You must have noticed something, right?

We had a drink together at the Baron's party!

He could only convey information to Blake with his eyes, but that glimmer of hope was soon drowned in despair.

Blake pointed the gun barrel at his forehead.

The inquisitor saw the muzzle flare up with fire, followed by the sound of the gunshot.

"Bang——!"

...

That night, in the Imperial Capital.

"This is the report sent from the Gear City Security Office this afternoon."

The vast manor was deathly silent. Only a single candle was lit in the study, where a white-haired elder sat at the desk, his eyes shrouded in darkness. A vicious emotion spread through his heart, yet facing the blonde girl who had entered the room, he had to put away all hostility, maintaining as calm and composed an appearance as possible.

However, when he saw the inquisitor charging at Chief Blake with wild laughter in the memory crystal, he couldn't help but clench his fist.

The blonde girl noticed it all.

Baron Fulin, full name Fulin-Simpler, is the illegitimate child of Duke Ash-Simpler.

This was no secret among the nobles in the Imperial Capital. It was for this reason that Fulin dared to commit repeated crimes in Gear City because he knew that as long as he didn't provoke a select few individuals, Duke Simpler in the distant Imperial Capital would handle anything else that happened.

It was an unwritten rule in Gear City known to the security officer, other local nobles, and even the city hall, that Fulin had such backing.

But today, Baron Fulin was dead.

The murderer who killed him swaggered into the Security Office, openly announcing his crime to everyone.

As that last gunshot rang out, the image in the memory crystal instantly extinguished.

"Thank you for your hard work, Holy Mage."

After a long pause, Duke Ash spoke.

On the surface, this matter seemed settled.

The murderer openly confessed his crime and was subsequently shot dead while attacking the detective. The only issue was that the murderer died too quickly, the bullet from the musket piercing his skull, leaving him in a pool of blood without much suffering.

This was not how the nobles dealt with criminals; such a swift death would hardly serve as a warning and deterrent to others. Were it his subordinates, they would never let the murderer die so easily. Torture tools could be used for hours, during which drugs would keep the victim conscious, and finally, the murderer would be paraded to the busiest street to be skinned alive in front of all potential resistance.

This was Duke Ash's thought on reviewing the memory crystal.

Even though the murderer was shot dead, his heart received no solace.

"Chief Blake also sent some information about the murderer. This matter is quite intriguing."

Ilya said, "The murderer was the captain of the Firearms Team, deeply trusted by Baron Fulin, almost all aftermath work handled by him. After the murderer was shot, Chief Blake immediately led a search of Baron Fulin's residence. They did not find the Baron's body in the manor, and the servants mentioned some clues. Putting aside these clues, the Chief suspects it more resembling the work of a follower fanatic of the Demon King."

"What clues?"

Baron Ash's eyes shimmered with murderous intent, showing no intent to hide his killing intent.

"The servants mentioned that the Baron, after learning about a striking-looking vagrant arriving in the town, left with the Firearms Team. This vagrant had distinctive features...white hair, red eyes, not characteristics of Imperial people."

"What do you think?"

"Perhaps Chief Blake's judgment isn't accurate."

Ilya furrowed her brows. Gear City had also reported back some unexpected news to her.

The city patrol found that the hero had returned, but according to them, Solan seemed mentally unstable, and a few days ago, Haitia was found dead in her residence. The chain of events recently made her feel that this couldn't all be mere coincidence.

Additionally, being the caster of Teleportation Magic, she genuinely didn't understand why Solan could return to the Empire.

It was an undirected teleportation.

In other words, when casting the spell, she didn't consider allowing Solan to return here.

The Demon King was defeated, the hero lost his value, his disappearance or sacrifice was part of the plan. In theory, both Solan and the Demon King should have been swept into a time-space ripple, or teleported to a lifeless place, there to await death's approach in solitude.

This was also the hero's fate. The family had dealt with several heroes similarly using the same magic, never encountering any issue.

Ilya began, "We've dealt with many followers of the Demon King; these aren't their usual methods."

No follower of the Demon King had ever been mad enough to announce their actions at the local Security Office, not even the Demon King would do so, and this was the part of the whole incident that left Ilya most uneasy.

The royal family needed to mold a Demon King, but within a controllable range.

It was to wield great power but not use it to harm the Empire too severely, especially the nobles. According to Ilya's assessment, the current Demon King relieved the Empire the most.

A simple-minded battle maniac who revered face-to-face, bare-knuckle brawls, in a sense, almost identical in personality to Solan.

What happened this evening in Gear City, on the other hand, seemed more like what a real "follower fanatic of the Demon King" would do.

This was a term painstakingly woven by the Empire to deeply embed such evil images into people's minds, but such a group had never truly existed — at least during Henry VI's reign, it didn't, and with Solan's return, the Demon King seemed to have truly appeared.

After killing everyone related to Baron Fulin, he vanished into the shadows, leaving behind a scapegoat who bore all the crimes.

This was undoubtedly a scenario the Empire least wanted to see. If the "Demon King" were to wield its power to oppose or even massacre the nobles, it would have real repercussions on them.

"Duke Ash, I fully understand your feelings at this moment, but until we find the final results of our investigation, please remain calm."

"Of course."

Duke Ash promptly agreed.

Ilya gave this white-haired elder a deep morning look, slightly bowed, before hurriedly gathering her former comrades. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Many issues remained to be resolved to deal with the real Demon King and the stability of the Empire.

And shortly after Ilya left, Duke Ash blew out the candle.

"Leave no one behind, including the servants in the manor. They have no value in staying alive."

He gave orders to the shadows, "And that white-haired woman, leave her alive, bring her to me, you must act before the Holy Mage."