Percy started walking out of the reading room, and Rita spoke up while following behind him.

"Do you think Beelzebub is responsible for this?"

Percy scoffed. That was impossible. After the attack that Verati landed on him, Beelzebub had been destroyed all the way down to the atomic level, so it would’ve taken a miracle from the god of this world himself for Beelzebub to have survived! There was no way he was still alive!

"I’m sure the city guards will figure out what’s going on. Come on, let’s go take inventory."

Percy spoke up calmly, and Rita smiled when she heard this. Rita knew just how powerful Percy’s attacks were, so she wasn’t really worried about Beelzebub being alive, and she decided that there was no point in thinking about it! Rita hurried forward and hugged Percy’s arm with a smile as they went to take inventory together.

"Wait, where in the world is Lana? I haven’t seen her all morning."

Rita spoke up after a few seconds, and Percy hummed calmly and answered with a small laugh.

"She’s wrestling with one of the baby basilisks that snuck out from the basement. She should be fine."

....

[The Aquinas City Guard Headquarters]

The headquarters of the city guard was a large building located in the heart of the city. With more than two thousand officers, they were one of the largest branches of the Kingdom guards, and they were known to only accept the very best mages into their ranks!

Right now, there were more than twenty city guards sitting around a large table in a room and discussing the recent cases of mysterious deaths that had been happening around the kingdom! At the head of the table was Officer August, the General of the Aquinas Guard, and he stood tall and proud, and he looked over the officers gathered in front of him with a sharp gaze before speaking!

"There’s been an interesting development regarding the recent murder cases in the city. I think we’re all aware of how strange these cases have been. The suspect always claims innocence even after eyewitnesses point them out as the ones responsible for the crime. One of our officers has been looking into this case and might’ve found something that can help us solve it."

"Huh? Why do we need to dig deeper? Isn’t the case already solved? This is the perfect open and close case."

A tall canine officer in the room spoke up in annoyance when he heard August’s announcement! The officers in this room were the highest-ranking members of the Aquinas City Guard, and many of them had been working in the force for more than five years now, so they all believed completely in their own abilities! But the person who had just spoken was probably the one officer who had the highest ego amongst all of them! His name was Radiz, and he was a wolf-human hybrid with a handsome face and sharp teeth!

August shook his head.

"I think it’s best you hear what the officer has to say. Viva, come in here."

Viva entered the room with her folder, and she swallowed nervously when she saw all the officers in the room looking at her expectantly! Officer Radiz was staring her down with a sharp gaze, and she felt slightly intimidated by his intensity! Viva had only joined the City Guard last year, so all the officers here were way higher than her in the hierarchy! But Viva took a breath to calm herself, and she placed the folder on the table and spoke up.

"After the death at the Verati Academy library three days ago, I was asked by Headmaster Leonart to look into the death properly and make sure that the accused student was really responsible for it. Myself and Percival—"

"Who’s Percival?"

Radiz spoke up again with a frown, and Viva hesitated for a moment before she answered.

"Percival is the librarian at Verati Academy."

"Huh? You did an investigation with a school librarian? What sort of nonsense are we listening to now?"

Radiz frowned while leaning forward in his chair, and there was murmuring from the other officers as they wondered what sort of benefit they could gain from a librarian’s input! But Viva didn’t allow their doubt to stop her from presenting what she had found out! Viva pushed the folders forward, and she spoke.

"I was guided to a Seer who helped me find out that an artefact was involved in the death of all the victims. The artefact is called [Statue of Eternal Rest], and it was last seen at the Western Verati Canyon outside of Hendrix."

The officers all read through the folders with curious expressions on their faces. There were images of the anomaly as well as references and drawings of what the artefact should look like. Radiz looked up from the folder and said.

"Alright, so what does this have to do with the deaths?"

"I believe the statue was recently retrieved by the auction master, Jacques, and he is using it to cause the deaths across the city."

Radiz immediately got to his feet when he heard this!

"Are you out of your mind!? Do you know who you’re trying to implicate right now!? Jacques is one of the highest financial contributors to various charity organizations in the city! Why would a man like that be responsible for the death of so many people!? Why are we even listening to this right now!?"

Viva took a step back when she saw the intense look in Radiz’s eyes. Radiz was her superior, so it was obvious that Viva felt a little scared of him. But August stood up for Viva and spoke.

"Sit down and let her finish, Radiz. There’s more."

Radiz frowned, and he looked at Viva with one last glare before he finally sat down. Viva let out a small breath, and she hardened her expression and spoke seriously.

"I was also skeptical about this when I found out. Jacques is a prominent member of society, so it’s hard to believe he’ll be involved in anyone’s death. But then I did some digging. As the owner of a chain of auction houses all around the kingdom, Jacques does quite a lot of travelling. He has been to more than fifteen different cities in the past two years alone. And when I looked at the dates of all the unexplained deaths that happened in those two years, I found out that they were a perfect match for Jacques’ movements! The first deaths happened in the City of Hendrix two years ago, at the same time that Jacques was in the city for an auction, and after Jacques came to Aquinas for the upcoming auction, there have already been two mysterious deaths! This can’t be a coincidence!"

At this point, Viva had gained complete confidence, and she was speaking to the rest of the room in a hard voice that passed her point across even more! All the officers looked at the data in the folders a little closer, and they also realized that Viva was right! There really was a connection between the deaths and Jacques’ movements! How in the world was this possible? Was there really some sort of connection between them?

Even the wolf demihuman, Radiz, was quiet this time, and he looked down at his folder with disbelief written on his face. As an officer, Radiz knew that there were only so many coincidences that you could overlook! When connections continue to pile up, then they stop being coincidences and start becoming causes!

August stood up once he saw that everyone understood how serious this was, and he spoke in a loud voice!

"Due to Viva’s discovery, we have decided to carry out a raid on the mansion of Mr. Jacques! I already received a warrant from the higher-ups, so I need you all to prepare your officers to move out as soon as possible!"