Fynn mused, "Putting the sniper aside for now, if the power rampage was indeed premeditated by someone, what was their goal?"
"Since they set a high-ranked Blazer up to be at a specific time and place, then it was probably either aimed against the Blazer, or against someone else who was supposed to be at the scene?" Noah offered his two cents.
"There were over a hundred people on the scene," Fynn stated, "If they were aiming for a specific person, it would be difficult to find their identity. We can only start from the most likely targets."
Fynn paused, his expression turning a bit awkward, "The Blazer, as one can tell from his power alone, is a… hot-tempered man. The list of the people he had offended at some point in time is nearly endless, from rich young masters in a bar to preschool kids in the audience of his show. And even if he could remember everyone he'd recently offended, the perpetrator could be among the people he wasn't even aware he had offended with his brash behavior."
Fynn rubbed his temples and let out a heavy sigh, "What we believe is, that while the Blazer might have offended the mastermind of the incident at some point in time, he wasn't the main target of the incident. If the person wanted to deal with the Blazer, there would be no need to set up such a wide-scale incident that would attract a lot of attention. Taking care of the Blazer in a low-key manner would be preferable, no?"
Noah nodded his agreement, and Fynn continued laying out his speculations, "If the target was someone else, then it makes sense they wanted to pass of their death as an accident. But the same question remains. Why involve other innocent people in this? Either they really wanted to hide who their actual target was to the point of including innocent civilians, or this act of terrorism was their goal from the start. There is also a possibility that the incident was planned out this way because someone wanted to frame you for it. Perhaps they wanted to defame you? Discredit you in attempts to stop you from becoming the next city lord?"
Noah wanted to scratch his head in thought, but Levi was already servicing him in that regard, so instead, he just furrowed his eyebrows and wrinkled his nose.
"If they intended to frame you for it, expect to see some negative press soon. And if not, we are most likely looking at a new terrorist group with unknown motives. Either way, we need to rule out one possibility at a time, so Aris, tell me, can you think of anyone who might want to harm you? Did you offend someone recently? Can you remember anyone who might have a grudge against you?" Fynn started his routine questioning.
Noah went through his freshly obtained memories one by one, but in the end, he could only shake his head, "No."
Fynn felt his head start to throb due to sheer exasperation, "Are you sure there is no one you know that has a grudge against you? You are the next city lord, for crying out loud, there must be hordes of envious people out there!"
Noah shot him a helpless smile, "Perhaps. But how am I supposed to know who feels envious of me? They usually keep it in their heart, and I don't have your skills Fynn. And that is just petty jealousy, who in their right mind would do something like this out of petty jealousy?"
Noah honestly couldn't remember anyone who might have held a grudge against Aris. And Noah could indeed remember far. Far as in everything that ever happened to the original Aris.
Fynn rubbed his throbbing temples again, "Just because you can't come up with anyone who might have a grudge against you, doesn't mean that there is no one with a grudge. Let's put it in another way… who would benefit from your death?"
And Noah's confident response was: "No one!"
At this point, Fynn felt like facepalming, "How can you say no one?? Even if you use your feet to think you'd at least be able to come up with one person! Like, what about your sister? Wouldn't she inherit the city lord position if you died?"
Noah nodded calmly, "Yes, but that is not a benefit."
Fynn's face had turned comical at this point with disbelief, exasperation, and helplessness. "How can that not be a benefit??"
Noah patiently explained, "Sister hates administrative work. She has always been the strongest advocator for me to take over the job, especially after my power awakened. If father didn't have her agreement on the matter, he wouldn't have even started grooming me in that direction. Besides, my post is only temporary."
Noticing Fynn's utterly blank look, not understanding at all what he meant, Noah side-glanced at Levi to check whether Levi wanted to be the one to explain the matter. Seeing how the other had no intention to speak up, as expected from a reticent man, Noah took it as the other giving him the green light.
"Didn't you hear about the marriage agreement between Concordia and Astarea to join the two cities together?" Noah started, Fynn nodded, but the doubts in his eyes didn't clear one bit, so Noah continued, "Marriage is only the first step of the plan. The real purpose is to get a child out of this marriage that would become the city lord of both cities. I am only filling up the position of the city lord until the child is old enough to take over."
Levi's expression fell, turning as black as a bottom of a burned pot. He had been in agreement with this plan in the past, but now it was seriously starting to irk him. Wasn't his little kitten working hard for someone else's sake? Every day running around everywhere with his little legs, only to have the fruit of his labor enjoyed by some snot-nosed brat!
Levi had conveniently forgotten that he was one of the beneficiaries of this arrangement and that the mentioned "snot-nosed" brat would be his offspring. Instead, he concentrated all his ire on the would-be-mother:
As an older sister, shouldn't she be the one pampering the little guy the most?! How could she be so shameless to let him do all the hard work in her stead while she plays around?!
The sister that was shot while lying down: 'What do you mean playing around?!? I'm working my ass off here saving the citizens, ok!?! It's clearly you guys who are playing around!! And what the hell, how can you treat the esteemed and the all-powerful position of a city lord like rotten vegetables at a market??'
Levi: 'If the little guy is too busy with doing that wretched, thankless job, when will he have time to spend with me?!?'
If the two city lords knew their son/future son-in-law viewed the prestigious heritage passed down in their family for generations as a thankless chore, would they be angry enough to spew out blood?
No, wait, forget that… why is it that you don't give a shit whether your wife has the time to warm your bed but are worried whether your little brother-in-law would have the time to play with you?!? Son, aren't your priorities all wrong?!?
Fynn, too noticed some strange intents coming off from Levi, but he decided to ignore it. The man had brain damage, what would be truly weird is if his responses were normal.
Instinctively noticing that the atmosphere in the room seemed off, Noah attempted to lighten up the mood with a joke. "Basically, I am free labor doing tasks she doesn't want to do until her kid can take over. Where else would you get such a great deal? I say, out of everyone I know, she'd be the one who'd want me dead the least!", Noah teased, though the affectionate way he talked about his sister couldn't be hidden from anyone present.
To further lift the heavy mood, Noah even attempted a comical impersonation of his sister's outrage and grief. He put his hands on his cheeks, widened his lovely eyes, and gasped out in a higher voice, "Noooooo!!! Brother!!! How could you go and die like this?!? You could have at least finished the mountain of paperwork first!!" Noah cutely wiped at his eyes with his cute little paws, feigning tears, "Even if I gave birth this very instant, I'd still have to do this shitty paperwork for 18 years!! Dear broooother!! Come back!!" OTL