As our eyes met, Valdrik startled.
His eyes widened, and his grip tightened.
Nevertheless, he continued stalking me.
So, he was going to stalk me whether I knew about it or not.
I suppose that answered that.
“So, you will accompany us on our night patrol?” Vaelgrave asked, her expression a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
“Well, I have a theory about the pattern of these crimes. If my theory is correct, I know where he will appear next.”
I raised a hand and rested it behind my head.
“Ah…”
Vaelgrave hesitated for a moment.
“Though, can you fill us in on that theory of yours?”
“I suspect that the criminal is a resident of the area where the first body was found.”
I folded my arms.
“Because if we map every crime scene, the center of its radius is located around the area where the first body was found.”
“Though, even if that's the case, how can you determine where the next crime will happen?”
Vaelgrave asked the question as though she had already considered the possibility herself.
Hearing her reasoning, I couldn't help but think that she was actually quite sharp.
Sharper than she let on, at least.
For some reason, however, she seemed to restrain that side of herself.
“You don't need to pinpoint the location of the criminal's next crime.”
I turned my gaze around the surrounding area.
“We only need to block the criminal's exit from his hideout.”
“Though…”
Just as Vaelgrave was about to continue, I interrupted her.
“Yeah, I know. It risks allowing another crime to happen if my theory is wrong.”
I looked toward her.
“And that's why I'm staying. You knights can continue doing your job, while I cover the area I'm suspecting.”
“Well…”
Vaelgrave paused, apparently considering it.
“Then we will keep in contact. If any of us find the criminal, we will let the others know.”
As she said that, Vaelgrave looked toward Shirohana.
“Hmph. I would prefer my sleep over this game.”
Shirohana looked toward me, the lower half of her face concealed behind her sensu fan.
There was a faint sound of amusement from behind it, as though she had just laughed at me.
I gazed toward Shirohana as she walked away.
I see…
“Are you fine with that?” Vaelgrave asked me while watching Shirohana leave.
“Well… she may have understood what I'm doing.”
I began walking.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“It means she knows when and where she prefers to use her energy.”
I continued toward the area where the first murder had occurred.
“Well… I still don't fully understand.”
Vaelgrave paused before continuing.
“Though, how are you planning to reach there? You can take this wagon if you want.”
She pointed toward the wagon standing nearby.
“Well…”
I glanced at it.
“Thanks, but there's no need for that.”
I lowered my stance.
Then I launched myself forward.
A blast of wind erupted behind me as I accelerated, leaving Vaelgrave and the other knights standing there.
The wind rushed past them.
For a moment, none of them said anything.
“Oh…”
Vaelgrave watched the direction I had disappeared in.
“It has been a while since I've seen someone faster than me.”
A slight smile of acknowledgment appeared on her face.
Vaelgrave then regrouped with her subordinates and began their patrol.
--------
I continued running toward the area I had targeted.
If I assumed that the murderer was a noble, then another question immediately arose.
Why would a well-established noble go on a killing rampage?
And why would he act against the knights and challenge the integrity of the system?
Then…
What about a noble who wasn't in a position of power yet?
Nobles were not the only people living in that area, either.
Those who served them lived there as well.
If I narrowed the possibilities down further, it was highly likely that the culprit was either the child of a noble or one of their servants.
Adding all my assumptions together…
The killer was male.
He was trained in combat.
He was likely more powerful than the people he had killed.
He was either the child of a noble or a servant.
Killing itself was not his true intention.
And he had something against the knights, or perhaps against the integrity of the system itself.
I knew someone who fit more than half of those criteria.
And from our previous conversations, I could assume that the other half fit him as well.
Though…
Isn't this too big of a jump in my chain of reasoning?
Yeah.
It is.
That was why I was calling it intuition.
I wasn't going to lean on that intuition any further until I gathered evidence.
But before that…
I suddenly stopped .
My hand moved.
I pulled out a knife, infused it with fire magic, and threw it backward without even turning around.
The knife streaked through the darkness.
Its blade, wrapped in fire, illuminated the night as it flew straight toward Valdrik's face.
Valdrik abruptly stopped.
His attention had been caught by the sudden attack.
He twisted his body to dodge the knife.
And that was all the opening I needed.
In an instant, I slipped behind him.
“Yo…”
I whispered directly behind his back.
“When…”
Valdrik's expression startled as he tried to turn around.
“Don't turn back.”
I placed my hand against his back.
“Or I'll blow up your internals.”
I temporarily cut off my connection to the commander and erected a barrier around us, preventing our voices from reaching anyone nearby.
Valdrik froze.
“What are you trying to do?”
There was visible annoyance on his face despite his current position.
“Well, that's my question.”
I pressed my hand slightly harder against his back.
“Did Julian send you?”
I paused.
“If yes, then what is he trying to do?”
“Heh…”
Valdrik gave a faint laugh.
“You think I will betray my master for my life?”
His voice carried a strange mixture of defiance and conviction.
“Kill me if you want, but I can't tell you his plans.”
“Oh…”
A slight smile appeared on my face.
“Well then, let me ask you a different question.”
I leaned closer to his ear.
“Your loyalty to Julian…”
I paused.
“Or your brother.”
My voice became quieter.
“Which one is more dear to you?”
Valdrik's expression changed instantly.
“What are you going to do with my brother?”
His voice was suddenly anxious.
“Who knows…”
I kept my hand against his back.
“Though, what if Julian ordered you to kill your own brother?”
“That…”
Valdrik closed his eyes for a brief moment.
“I have my loyalty to Julian-sama. He…”
Tch.
Before Valdrik could say anything further, I struck him and knocked him unconscious.
His body went limp.
Before falling completely unconscious, he tried to turn around and look at me, struggling to remain conscious for those final few seconds.
My standing figure reflected in his eyes.
Then he collapsed.
Useless.
I gazed around me.
It seemed like I was so popular that I still had stalkers.
Apparently, Julian didn't trust his servants.
I assumed his other servants were probably around Valdrik's level of strength, or at least somewhere close to it.
Though I had expected them to attack me the moment I attacked Valdrik.
They didn't.
What are Julian's intentions?
Ignoring the other stalkers, I continued roaming through the area where the first murder had occurred.
In the silence of the night, I was being tailed by several other people sent by Julian.
Some watched me from above a mansion.
Others followed from the roads and alleyways.
I continued running while keeping my expression as neutral as possible.
I didn't stop anywhere.
Even when I found something related to the case, I deliberately continued moving.
I observed the surroundings instead.
The mansions.
Their nameplates.
Their current condition.
The people around them.
The general state of the area.
Everything.
I was trying to make my stalkers believe that I hadn't found anything.
That I was merely patrolling the area aimlessly.
Even after finding what I had been looking for, I continued roaming around for a while before finally heading toward the commander's location.
I reconnected the communication link and asked for her position.
Then I headed toward her.
Just as I was approaching her location, a knight's voice suddenly came through the communication network.
“Dead body found.”
The knight immediately reported its location.
“Kurogane-kun.”
Vaelgrave's voice followed.
“Yes. I'm heading there.”
I changed direction immediately.
Behind me, the stalkers stopped for a moment in confusion.
Then they rearranged their formation and changed direction as well.
I and the commander arrived at the reported location almost simultaneously.
We immediately began looking around the area.
Was there any immediate evidence the criminal had left behind?
How was the situation around the location?
What had changed?
We needed to understand the scene before disturbing anything.
We slowly walked toward the place where the corpse was lying, approaching from opposite sides of the same alley.
For a brief moment, the commander and I faced each other.
Then we turned our gazes toward the corpse.
A knight stood beside it, holding a lamp in his hand.
Its light illuminated the dead body against the darkness of the alley.
The moment we saw the corpse, our eyes widened slightly.
We stood silently in front of it.
The body was lying in the same position as the others.
The upper half of the body, or more precisely, the head, was leaning against the wall while the rest of the body lay on the ground.
Both hands were open, positioned on either side of the body.
But this time…
There was something different.
The victim's mouth had been cut in such a way that it appeared to be smiling.
A thin board hung from the corpse's mouth.
There were words written upon it.
**“End my suffering.”**