Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System-Chapter 36: Assassination

In the days that followed, Baron Duval’s Castle was plunged into unprecedented turmoil.

The Steward’s furious shouts, the heavy footsteps of the Guards, and the occasional crack of a whip left the castle with no peace, day or night.

The interrogations began with the servants of the Outer Fortress.

Murphy stood in the line of those waiting to be questioned, calmly observing his surroundings.

He saw a kitchen hand ahead of him get publicly flogged for hiding bread, while another groom was caught red-handed by the Steward for stealing the warhorses’ special feed.

"I... I just wanted to give that old horse a little something extra..."

The groom knelt and begged for mercy.

The Steward sneered. "Stealing warhorse feed is a fine of four Silver Coins! If you can’t pay, you get twenty lashes! Next, Murphy!"

When it was Murphy’s turn, he shuffled timidly into the interrogation room, not daring to look the Steward in the eye.

The Steward sat at a table, flanked by two Guards.

"What was your relationship with Norton?"

"We... we both worked in the main stables."

Murphy’s voice held a suitable tremor, but he was secretly using [Breathing and Guiding] to control his heartbeat.

The Steward’s gaze was sharp. "I heard he stole your job. And someone saw you stealing oats from the stables."

Murphy swallowed. "Norton’s post was Lord Leo’s decision. As for the oats... my lord, it’s hard not to get some on your hands when you’re feeding the horses..."

The Steward stared at him for a moment, then suddenly slammed the table and shouted, "Don’t you hate him? Hate him for stealing your position, for forcing you into the public stables?"

Murphy put on a timely display of panic. "My lord, I... I wouldn’t dare..."

After a brief silence, the Steward snorted. "For the theft of special warhorse feed, the fine is four Silver Coins! If you can’t pay, you get twenty lashes!"

Murphy deliberately put on a pained expression. He tremblingly took out his coin purse, counted out four Silver Coins, and placed them on the table, making sure his hand shook violently.

The fine was equivalent to more than half a month’s wages from his old job at the main stables.

That night, the three of them huddled for warmth behind a haystack in the deepest part of the public stables, as usual.

Hank lowered his voice. "I heard they’re investigating in the Inner Castle, too. Roton Knight summoned all the followers for questioning."

Bart said mysteriously, "It gets better. Lord Kelvin flew into a rage on the spot, demanding to know if Roton Knight suspected him just because he’s an illegitimate son..."

Hank asked curiously, "And then what?"

Bart scoffed. "What else? It just fizzled out. These nobles would never really do anything to one of their own."

Murphy feigned a look of both curiosity and fear. "Lord Kelvin got angry right then and there? Where did you guys hear all this?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the color drained from Hank and Bart’s faces.

"Oriane preserve us..." Hank’s voice trembled. "This... this is stuff we’re not supposed to hear..."

Bart shivered. "Someone... someone wanted us to know..."

Murphy put on a panicked expression, mimicking them as he nervously glanced around.

’I can’t believe the steps I took to get my groom position back would cause such a stir among the higher-ups,’ Murphy thought to himself.

’At first, I did consider using my Qi to disrupt Red Leaf’s physical condition, making the horse sick so that I would be the only one who could care for it.’

’But after visiting Hank and Bart’s homes and witnessing Tom’s death, I realized how naive that idea was.’

’I learned three years ago that a groom can never try to control a follower. Even if I could heal Red Leaf, the best I could hope for was to be an on-call helper, never its dedicated groom.’

’Recalling the incident in the Twilight Mountain Range two years ago, I’m also certain that even if Supernatural Power exists in this world, abilities related to interrogation and Mind Detection are exceedingly rare.’

’Back then, the major incident involving the Church Court and the Witch was far more serious than this, and the second option that appeared indicated that returning to the Baron’s Castle as a groom wouldn’t be particularly dangerous.’

’So even though I’ve killed someone now, it’s unlikely any significant Supernatural Power will be used in the investigation.’

Hank muttered to himself, "This news is spreading too fast... from the Inner Castle to the Outer Fortress, we even heard exactly what Lord Kelvin said when he questioned Roton Knight..."

Bart suddenly grabbed the corner of Murphy’s tunic. "Murphy, remember this! We don’t know anything, and we haven’t heard anything!"

Hank nodded emphatically, his voice barely a whisper. "This is business for the higher-ups... If we run our mouths..."

The three of them fell into a deathly silence, with only the sound of a packhorse chewing its fodder.

After a long while, Hank finally spoke in a hoarse voice, "From now on, we just feed the horses and clean the stables. Whatever we hear, we pretend we didn’t."

Bart quickly agreed. "Right! We just do our work!"

That night, all three lay down early, but none of them truly slept.

Murphy could hear Hank and Bart tossing and turning in the nearby hay.

The next morning, Murphy noticed the atmosphere in the castle had grown even stranger.

Servants kept their heads down and hurried past one another. Even the washerwomen, who normally loved to gossip, kept their mouths shut.

But this eerie quiet was shattered in the afternoon. The news that Baron Duval’s eldest son, Sylvan, had been critically wounded in an assassination attempt struck the entire castle like a clap of thunder.

The commotion began at the west tower.

First, guards were seen running about in a panic. Then, Roton Knight led a squad of fully armed Guards striding across the courtyard, their iron boots clanging heavily on the flagstones.

A doctor was all but dragged toward Sylvan’s quarters by two followers, his medicine box CLANGING chaotically against their armor.

"Lord Sylvan has been attacked!"

"Right in his own bedchamber!"

"Oh, Oriane, how is this possible..."

Whispers spread like a plague through the Outer Fortress.

Although the Guards harshly berated any servants trying to fish for information, fragmented details still leaked out through the cracks.

The assassin was disguised as an Attendant delivering medicine and used a short, poisoned blade.

Sylvan had avoided a fatal blow, but the poison had already seeped into the wound.

All the guards on duty were detained, and everyone who had handled the medicine was being harshly interrogated.

The defenses of the Inner Castle were immediately doubled.

Guards with drawn swords stood watch over every passageway, their wary eyes scanning every figure that passed.

Any whispering would immediately result in severe punishment.

Kelvin was one of the first followers to rush to the west tower. He wore an expression of extreme shock and deep concern, yet he, along with the other followers, was made to wait outside the door.

Among the gathered followers, Leo gripped the hilt of his sword. As he stared at Kelvin’s back, his eyes were filled with a chilling coldness, his lips pressed into a thin, straight line.

Also standing among the group of followers was Old Jimmy. The normally steady veteran’s brow was deeply furrowed, his gaze shifting back and forth between Sylvan’s closed door and Kelvin’s back. A flicker of imperceptible worry crossed the depths of his cloudy eyes.

And in Baron Duval’s residence, the lights burned all through the night.