(Several hours ago )
"Minister Brian," Jacob, the butler of Minister Brian, knocked on the bedroom door to wake him up. "Minister Brian, Sir, you'll be late for the meetings."
As he said that, Jacob started knocking on the door with a bit more force. Jacob knew about Minister Brian's purchase from the Thousand arms house, and he guessed that he overslept after an eventful night. But as time went by without Minister Brian's response, he started to panic.
"Minister Brian!! Please, sir! Open the door!" Jacob couldn't help but shiver in panic and fear. His legs had turned to jelly, yet he already knew what he had to do.
Jacob had a bad feeling about this. He had lived long enough to know that something was amiss here. He didn't want to get killed because of this fat pig. In his old age, he cursed Minister Brian in his heart as he ran towards Rosaline's room downstairs.
The closer he got to Rosaline's room, his heart slowly started to calm down. In his perspective, a great master is like a mountain. Not only that, he knew that Rosaline was specially appointed and sent to protect Minister Brian by the capital itself. A person trusted by the capital was not a small thing. As he was thinking about this, he reached the front door of Rosaline's room.
The door was visibly decorated with magical runes. The door itself was painted in fire red, striking fear into Jacob's heart.
"Miss Rosaline," Jacob gently knocked on the door despite his panic.
There was no response from Rosaline's room. But before he could knock again, the door slowly opened, making Jacob see the red-dressed Fire mage, Rosaline.
"What's the matter?" she calmly asked.
"It's...It's Minister Brian, miss Rosaline. He isn't waking up," Jacob explained the situation like a mouse in front of a cat.
"He's probably still sleeping. Try again after a few minutes."
Rosaline didn't panic like Jacob. She knew that her defense magic was still in place without being disrupted by anyone.
"I already did, miss Rosaline. I knocked on his door several times. Usually, he will at least shout at me. But today, there was nothing. Not even a sound was coming from his room."
Rosaline could see that Jacob was starting to break down in fear and panic. Seeing Jacob in this state, she realized that she could at least try for the sake of giving this old man some closure.
"Follow me."
Rosaline took her staff and walked towards Minister Brian's room. After a few beats, they had reached the front door of Minister Brian's bedroom. Sure enough, she could still feel that her defense magic was still in place.
"Minister Brian?" Rosaline called out, but she didn't get any response from the other side.
"Calling of fire spirits..." Rosaline closed her eyes and cast a spell to scan the room. When she finished her spell, she suddenly opened her eyes. If someone was before her, they would see the anger and confusion in her eyes.
"Go out and call the other guards immediately. Nobody gets in or out without me noticing."
Her voice was so dominant. Anger hid within her tone, making Jacob shiver uncontrollably as he nodded before quickly running downstairs to give out Rosaline's orders.
"Flare of hell."
Rosaline pointed her hands towards the door just as dark, purple-colored flames came out through her fingers and burned the door down in a second.
She was stunned to see the scene in front of her. There were broken glass and bottles all over the floor, as well as bloodstains and broken tables. But the thing that shocked her the most was what was in the middle of the room.
At this time, the guards, maids, and experts of the Brian Residence were all alerted by Jacob and were brought to the main hall. As for the personal guards, aka Rosaline's team, they all headed for Brian's room.
Minister Brian's lifeless body was tied to a chair before Rosaline. His clothes were ripped off and used to tie him to the chair, while a deep stab wound marked his chest. There was also a big bloodstain on his left thigh. It would seem that he was stabbed there too.
Seeing everything in the room made Rosaline doubt her abilities. She clearly remembered casting the defense spell before she left. And as of now, there weren't any disruptions in the spell. There were only two conclusions to be made with this. One, the spell didn't work, and second, the killer found a way to disable or evade the spell. Just as she was investigating the crime scene, her teammates entered the room.
"Oh my god..."
Aster, the healer, almost threw up when she saw the horrible scene. The other three didn't react like Aster, but they too were a bit nauseated and afraid at the scene.
The team's archer, Chase, stepped forward and knelt to investigate the bloodstains. She then looked around the room and began to study the dead body beside Rosaline.
"There was a little struggle between two people here," Chase pointed at the place where Minister Brian let out Arrora and beat her. "There are some rosy-red bloodstains besides Minister Brian. I bet it was the half-elf's," Chase then moved towards the place where Arrora fell and broke the wine bottles. "And then, it would seem that she also broke Minister Brian's statue. The statues have the same rosy-red blood-stained fingerprints on some of the broken pieces."
"So you think the half-elf killed Minister Brian and escaped?" Aster asked Chase in doubt, but the one who answered her was Rosaline.
"No. Look up," Rosaline signaled Aster to look at the broken roof. "The killer came this way."
"But how could he do that without triggering the defense magic?" Aster asked the question that everyone asking themselves. She looked at Rosaline for some answers.
"Chase, the defense magic is still in place, right?" Rosaline asked to make sure whether her defense magic was effective or not.
"Yes. The spell is still in place. If anyone other than us, Minister Brian, or the half-elf came to this room, the spell would be triggered."
"But clearly, the spell didn't work, right?" Aster asked in a low-pitched voice. She didn't want to undermine or underestimate Rosaline's ability.
"There's nothing wrong with the spell," Rosaline answered, pondering about the possibilities for a moment.
"But the killer seemed to have found a way to evade the spell. Either that or he might be a heavenly level mage," Chase answered.
"What!!?"
The twins were shocked to hear the mention of the heavenly level. Aster almost shouted out her disbelief.
"It's unlikely that a heavenly level mage would come sneaking around just to kill him."
Rosaline had heard about the heavenly level magis from her master and realized there were only a few heavenly level magis in the Empire. They wouldn't come out of seclusion for mere assassinations like this. Also, she already found a weird fact.
"The killer left no magical fluctuations. I can't even see a little bit of magical fluctuations aside from the master-slave bond," Rosaline said as she lifted her staff and cast a spell, "Solar Net."
The room turned to a slight orange as she cast the spell. This was one of the spells used to see or analyze magical fluctuations more vividly. The team could now see two bright waves in the air they didn't see before. That, and a bright blue thin layer covering the room.
The bright waves were the master-slave bond fluctuations, and the blue layer was the defense spell Rosaline had cast earlier. They could also see a faint layer of light and waves radiating from the bodies of the people in the room. These were the magical fluctuations of a mage. The layer of light would become brighter, and the waves stronger as a magi levels up or use powerful spells. The fluctuations caused by the magi could be seen by some spells like the one Rosaline used. No matter how powerful the magi, no one could hide the magical fluctuations they'll leave behind. This was one of the unchangeable rules in the magic world. But now, it would seem that someone found a way to change it.
"How it is possible? No one should be able to do that," Willaim said.
"Yes. We have to notify the Ministry of Magic back in the capital about this."
Rosaline couldn't find a way to explain this phenomenon, so she decided to notify her master and her superiors about it instead.
"Why didn't Minister Brian shout for help? And where is the half-elf?" Aster asked Rosaline, but Chase answered her question instead.
"He would have if he got the chance," Chase stepped near the dead body and pointed at the whip around his mouth. "The killer tortured him for a moment. His nose was broken, and he was stabbed through his left thigh. As for the half-elf, the killer probably took her with him."
Chase concluded her investigation and waited for Rosaline's orders.
"Chase is correct, but what did the killer want from Brian? Also, what did he take from him?"
Rosaline signaled the others to look at the torn carpet near Brian.
"Hidden safe. It seems Brian was hiding something even from us," Chase said.
"If we can find out what he had to hide, we might have a chance of finding the killer," Rosaline said, anger rising within her as it literally erupted through her eyes.
Her teammates had never seen Rosaline get this angry. She looked as if she was a fiery phoenix to them.
"When I find the killer, I'll roast him alive."
Rosaline never liked Minister Brian even a tiny bit, but she knew it was her duty to protect him. It was personally given to her by her master as a test, and yet she failed her test and duty. She felt humiliated just thinking about her failure. She had never felt this way before in her life. But now, someone forced her to.
Chase had an idea as to why Rosaline acting this way, so she chose not to console her or anything. She knew that it would only be a waste right now. The only thing she could do now was to send a message to the capital and Rosalin's master about the murder of Minister Brian.
"I'm going to send a message to capital. You guys should investigate the perimeter and everyone in the manor for some clues."
Eventually, Rosaline was left alone in the room. Her fury hasn't calmed down in the slightest. She wanted to kill the half-elf and whoever Brian's killer was.
"Whoever you are, you just made a big mistake."