When they arrived at the hall, all of the villager had gathered and the chief of the village, Ri Minsu, greeted them.
"Please take a seat, madam Zhueze and Hongxin… oh- "His words halted when he saw Kaine trailing behind Hongxin.
"and who might you be, young man?"
"Please do call me Kaine, chief. I'm a mere traveller who passed by this place. I heard about this case an decided that maybe I could lend a hand." He flashed a quick smile before walking to an empty seat.
The chief looked at Hongxin as if needing a response from him, and Hongxin just nodded carefully to him as assurance that the traveller is a good man.
The blond man noticed this and smiled at him, "is there anything worrying you?"
Startled, he shook his head and continued looking forward. Mentally, he mouthed a 'sorry' to the villager.
With a clap, Ri Minsu announces, "as all of you has been informed, we have lost one of our precious friends, Nan Yu, to an unknown cause. After some inspection we had done earlier, it was clear this was a planned murder…"
A few gasps could be heard and some women had started to sob quietly, Minsu let the crowd calmed down first before continuing,
"Indeed, such a heartbreaking news… but we don't have time to grieve when the perpetrator is still out there living his life." the way his tone gradually changed from sadness to enthusiastic and burning with determination made the other villagers felt moved too.
"Thus! Everyone, I need your help by cooperating today!"
Hearing the enthusiasm in his voice, the others felt moved and their spirits seems to have lifted a bit.
"Alright, those who weren't out late night yesterday can move to the left side, and the rest who weren't to the right side."
Hongxin stood up simultaneously with Kaine, the young man looked at the blond who's behind him. His face smiled again whenever their eyes met. Then, he looked at his own mother at the right side of the hall.
The hall was now empty on the middle of it, with each side filled with people. The right side was filled with more people, all of their faces relaxed as if they escaped something dangerous. Zhueze felt extremely anxious for his son and keeps looking at him with worried face.
Hongxin couldn't bear to see his mother's face and closed his eyes, take a few breaths before he opened them. Quickly, he smiled at his mother to assure her and thought, 'everything is fine, don't worry'.
"Now, I shall continue," Ri Minsu announced, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Late madam Nan Yu's body was found in her home this morning, with two stab marks on her stomach. I believe that was the cause of her loss and this clearly shows that this was not the work of any wild beasts."
"Additionally, the condition of her body gave us a lot of hint of when she was fatally injured by a stab wound on her body. After a few inspections, she was probably attacked during night time, yesterday."
Turning his head towards the left side, he spoke, "All , on the left are the possible perpetrators since you were outside when the incident was believed to occur. "
The hall was quickly filled with mutterings of the villagers. The right side seemed to back away further than the left, assuming one of them was the perpetrator.
Ri Minsu added, "This doesn't mean that we're looking at all of you in a bad light. This has to be done to narrow down the possible perpetrators, so please cooperate well."
The villagers on the left side were agitated and restless, their faces frozen with fear. Kaine however, appeared nonchalant about it and keeps fiddling with his ring of keys. Hongxin eyes then wandered on the ground, his mind turned into puddle.
"Hongxin,"
Hearing his name being called, he turned towards the voice. It was Kaine.
"It's alright, don't be nervous. You know yourself that you're not the perpetrator."
Hongxin stared at the blond man beside him for a while before quickly lowering his gaze. He gave a soft nod, swiftly, he took a deep breath. In his mind he thought, do I look that anxious? I thought I concealed my nervousness well...
"You're right, I shouldn't over think this too much," With a smile, Hongxin thanked him. "Also, this might be sudden but I noticed you really have a scent of Camellias on you."
The movement of the keys abruptly stopped as Kaine seemed to say something, yet he swallowed the words back. Then, he turned his face away.
Realization hits Hongxin and a faint blush appeared on his face. Inwardly, he thought, "Why do I have to say such weird things.."
Kaine returned his gaze towards him and replied, "I happened to live somewhere around where there were a lot of Camellias. Although it's a faint scent, it's surprising that you could guess the smell correctly."
Hongxin just let out a short 'oh' and quicky avert his attention towards the chief village. His face still felt hot.
In his mind he noted to himself to never casually point out someone's else fragrance.
Ri Minsu was occupied with his subordinates, before he quickly ends their discussion with a nod and announced, "Dear villagers!"
"My subordinates and me have had a thorough discussion for this case, and we have come to a conclusion. Since the killer is still unknown, and with the little clues we had we can only filter the possible perpetrator by this method. So, these people will have to stay at the hall until the case is over and refrain from coming contact with the rest."
The murmuring between the villagers became louder and hectic. Ri Minsu was trying to calm them down, yet no one paid him any attention. Hongxin cowers himself to the side as he picked up some of it.
"Isn't it clear already? it's obviously that woman's son!"
"Shh! He could have heard you!"
"Who cares! What if all this time he pretends to be nice to hide his evil act! The nicest people are not to be trusted after all! "
That last words caught Hongxin off guard but he didn't say anything.
"Both of you," a stern voice called them out. "Have you had enough of living?"
Kaine steps closer towards them, emerging a sword in his palm. This took all of them by surprised as that action required a high level magic! They all stood quietly on their spot and watched in amazement.
"I don't really care if I become the second killer, you know." He swings his sword and pointed it towards the two men's faces.
"Eeekk!! Have mercy!!"
Hongxin's eyes widen and he quickly grabbed Kaine's hand. "Wait!"
Kaine turned his head and rest his eyes on Hongxin's face, before tossing away the sword that fades into thin air.
"If that's what you wish, Hongxin."
Seeing the sword fades, Hongxin felt relieved and sighed. He really wanted to ask him why did he went that far for him, but seeing the chief village walking towards them with a calculative expression, he quickly changed his mind.
"Kaine... right?" Ri Minsu started. "I heard you're a traveller and camped nearby our area?"
"Yes, that is true."
"I'm afraid then you will be one of our prime suspects, and-"
"Hold on, chief!" Hongxin quickly moved to the front. His body just moved on his own! Nervously, he continued, "He is not involved in this. In fact, his innocence has been proved since a while ago by... by um.. that magic.."
"This cube," Kaine held out a small cube earlier on his palm towards Hongxin, but this time the cube looked like the light in it are fading in and out. Almost like a faint beating heart.
"Yes, this cube!" Hongxin continued.
Ri Minsu's eyes widen. "This artifact! How... Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Ri Minsu's youngest subordinates quickly chirped in, "Then, if possible we could have let everyone test their truth using this!"
Kaine shook his head and said, "I'm afraid my artifact isn't as high quality as the other lie detector cube, and just by using it 3 times it'll need some time for me to recharge it back with inner energy."
Gu Jiang scoffed at the back and continued to whisper something under her breath. Hongxin wasn't interested anyway so he didn't pay any attention to it. Meanwhile, Ri Minsu's let out a small 'ah' and nodded.
"I must say this artifact is trustworthy. Then, shall I ask you why are you participating in this when your innocence has been proved, young man?"
"As I said, thought I can lend a hand in this case. After all, I think I am fit to help instead of watching by sidelines."
A puzzled look was seen on the chief's face but he continued anyways, "I see, very noteworthy of you. Though as the chief here I deserved to know your background beforehand. Seeing your action earlier, you're not just a mere traveller."
The scene where a literal sword flashing out from his hand replayed in his mind.
Kaine crossed his arms before replying, "Then, don't hold yourself back, chief."