While the king was busy blaming himself for not watching over the detective properly, the latter easily sneaked away and hid in the shadows. This was an essential skill he had gained in his previous life. That was also how he hid from that suicide bomber in the first place!
Zion knew that there was a guard who was monitoring him all the time. So he didn't dare to act in an abnormal way before replacing himself with pillows and sneaking out of his room secretly. After that, he kept walking slowly and stealthily across the palace until he could reach the prison area, which was far away in the East.
He exhausted all of his strength just to come here! After wiping sweat from his forehead, Zion squinted his eyes at the guards with elf ears, who were protecting a giant door with metal bars. Now, how would an average detective enter this place? If it were him, he wouldn't enter instantly, since he knew Rhesus would come here looking for him. He would hide in this area and wait for the guards to change their shifts before walking inside.
If possible, Zion might have even taken the disguise of a soldier with a helmet covering his face.
But right now, all he wanted was to tell the entire world that the aristocrat detective had entered this prison. He even planned to give himself away so that the king could easily find him with no hindrance.
Zion's eyes flashed with determination as he thought of something.
Rhesus had many aristocrat officers under him who had permission to enter the prison to interrogate the criminals. So he can pretend to be one and enter. The king would have realized that Vincent was missing from his room. Zion could bet that the first thing that king would do was to suspect that the aristocrat detective was an assassin in disguise who wanted to murder Princess Lia.
After all, the criminal targeted that girl. It was perfectly normal for Rhesus to think like that.
When Zion made the plan to show himself as an aristocrat officer, he didn't wait any longer. This group of guards hadn't seen him entering the main hall of the palace since yesterday. So they wouldn't know who he was!
Thus, Zion didn't bother changing his attire and walked toward the guards, who stopped him and gave him a fierce glance. "Who are you? You're not allowed to enter."
"Not even with His Majesty's permission?"
The guards raised their eyebrows. "Then show the evidence."
Zion nodded and took out a seal he had stolen from one of the aristocrat officers in the passing. The guards glanced at the seal with a dull expression on their faces and nodded. Then they gave him the way to enter the prison.
Once Zion entered, he didn't go inside directly. First, he didn't know which prison Princess Lia was kept in, and second, he wanted to get caught. So wasn't it better to just stand at the point from where the guards could see him clearly?
He moved his gaze and stood beside the first prison door silently, and stared at the lock. He was proficient in picking locks in modern times, and in this world, the technology had collapsed. So since everything looked ancient, it was even easier for him to open the lock before his eyes, but he wouldn't do so.
Zion would just continue to act like he was finding it hard, trying to open this lock.
These prison doors were unique. Without a key, no one could even get a glimpse of who was sitting inside the iron door. An average person couldn't open the window meant for giving food. So even if he had to search for the princess, he would have to open all the locks and see who was inside through the small window.
Just then, he heard a girl's humming sound that faintly reached his ears. He frowned. This voice was familiar. Wasn't this Princess Lia?
Zion leaned toward the door in front of him, and the sound became clearer. So it seemed he really ended up hitting the jackpot.
But he didn't relax his shoulders. He had come here not to interrogate this princess, but to avoid the troubles that would occur in the future. But if a pie fell from the sky, who wouldn't catch it? Naturally, Zion also thought he might as well just ask her a few questions.
So he finally opened his mouth. "Princess Lia?"
The humming sound stopped all of a sudden. Then he heard a groaning sound as someone's footsteps echoed from the inside. Then the girl stopped and said, "Did you find who's the culprit?"
Zion raised his brows. How did she know he was looking for the murderer? But he didn't intend to answer her. He cross-questioned her instead. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"Do you think I'm a God?" Princess Lia Snorted. Her voice was hoarse, but she acted as if she wasn't suffering, and her voice even had strength that made ordinary people bow before her respectfully.
The detective said nothing. Just when he thought the girl would remain silent, she spoke. "I can give you a hint."
Zion frowned. He felt as if this girl already knew who the killer was! His eyes squinted for a moment. But just as he was about to open his mouth to ask something, someone opened the door. He couldn't help but curse under his breath, but his expression didn't change.
He would get more chances to confront that dignified girl. For now, he would have to focus on the task at hand.
What Zion saw before his eyes was a group of guards glaring at him, and behind them was Rhesus, whose face was filled with anxiety.
Did he just strike a win with his deductions? Zion's lips curved up to form a satisfying arc. It looked like this detective's mood turned better all of a sudden.
But the king obviously wasn't happy. He even glared at the detective hatefully and said, "How dare you enter this room?! Guards, capture him!"