The next morning, we went to the Duke's house. Although it resembles a castle, I won't say it's a castle with certainty. You could say that it's a small castle or a very big house resembling a castle. You know what, I think it's just a very large mansion that resembles a castle. Though it's normal to not build a real castle when you live close to the capital. People would even question your motive for the royal family if you indeed build one.
We got down from our carriage and there was some servant already waiting for us. Yes, the Duke sent a carriage to pick us up this morning. It is also my first time riding a carriage in this world. I wouldn't call the wagon that we use in our journey the same compared with this carriage. But hey, I've got nothing to complain about.
One of the servants then led us inside the mansion. I could see that this is indeed a noble place. There are many ornaments on the wall, some paintings, some art, and many more. I guess a high noble like Duke really have to show everyone his wealth in a way that's not too gaudy. So, showing high-value art like this is the safest bet he can make.
Then the servant knocks on some luxurious door, the door that seems different from the other door in this house. That's when the voice, "come in", echoed from the other side of the door. The servant look back at us and nodded before opening the door.
This is a large room that makes you feel relaxed. I guess this is the room that the duke uses to welcome any guests in this mansion. There are some short but long tables, sofas, and some normal furniture.
"Welcome sir Liber, I've been waiting for you", Says the man inside the room who I presumed to be the Duke himself.
The duke sat on one of the sofas beside the short table. Across him is another sofa that, I'd expect, he wants the other person to sit on. And as expected, sir Liber and Camila sit on the sofa across from the Duke with me and Andre standing behind them. The servant that leads us also stands at the corner of the room. Now with this, we're ready to talk.
"So this is the group you're talking about yesterday?", asked the Duke.
"Yes, this is my daughter Camila", Sir Liber introduces his daughter beside him, "And the one that stands behind me is my disciple, Andre, beside him is... one of my acquaintances, Neil. He'll join us in this whole journey"
I know that feeling. I guess he also had a hard time introducing me to other people in the future. Compared to Camila and Andre, I'm just an outsider in this group. But an acquaintance, really? Is that how you gonna introduce me? Me as some random kid being an acquaintance with one of the strongest adventurers in this country? Dude, no one would believe that. If anything, it'd make me more suspicious in other people's eyes.
If we're going with the behaviour of most nobles in the novel, he'd send someone to retrieve my information after this. It's not like he's going to get any information from investigating me. But it'd just make me more suspicious in front of some nobles. Knowing sir Liber, he's not someone who'd take some weak kid on a long journey with him, unless there's a reason so.
"An acquaintance of mister Liber, curious", The Duke said while scanning me, "Oh, by the way, I'm Lewis Lennox, the owner of this mansion. People usually called me Duke Lennox, so you can call me that too if you'd like", Duke Lennox introduces himself as someone befitting of noble rank.
There's a short pause after that before sir Liber said, "So about the thing you told me yesterday...", maybe sir Liber is also not used to noble etiquette so he just goes straight to the main point. I've got a feeling that if we let the Duke talks again, half of the conversation will be about small talk about the weather.
"Ah yes, you're right", Said the Duke while glancing at us.
"You can speak freely. They can be trusted. You can explain from the start", Assured sir Liber.
"Okay, then if mister Liber said so", Said the Duke while clearing his throat, "So it first started around 3 months ago. There's some murder happening on the east side of the city, in the slums to be exact. Some murder is happening, people are getting killed, especially in the slums"
"So all of those murder cases are related to one another?", Ask sir Liber.
"At first, I also think that it was a separate murder case. But as the lord of this territory, it falls within my responsibility to appease the worry of my people. I can't just stand around as my people are getting killed right?"
I doubted that. I believe he wouldn't want to solve this murder case if it does not benefit him. Most high nobles are like that, just a few commoners dead won't be an issue to them. Heck, they won't even care. Plus, I know this Duke's nature from the novel, and I can say for certain that he's definitely not a kind or responsible person.
"After that, I ask some of my men to investigate the case and found out that there are certain similarities between one murder case to another", He explains further.
"And what is that?", This time it was Camila asking, maybe she was getting impatient.
"Most of the death happen instantly. My men said that most of them couldn't even react before they were dead. Also, from the corpse, we could conclude that most of them were killed from behind"
"You said that it's only happening to most of them. But how do you conclude that the other death with different characteristics is related to this murder case?", Ask sir Liber. Nice question, I am also curious about that.
"Well, the thing is, the murderer always leaves up a note", Explains the Duke casually while waving his hand in the air.
"What kind of note is that?", sir Liber's voice become more serious as this could be a pretty important clue for us.
"It's nothing important, to be honest. The notes don't give us any clue about who the perpetrator was", Said the Duke while handing sir Liber a small piece of paper with a bloodstain in it, "This is the example of the notes that the murderer leaves us. I'm sorry to disappoint you"
Sir Liber open the small paper and read the content. I tried to peek from his back, but I can't read the content. But from the words, I could see that it was a short note about something. I really need to learn how to read after this.
"The slum child kidnapper?", Said sir Liber in a confused tone.
Hearing what he said, I too am also confused. The slum child kidnapper? Do you mean that this murder happens because of someone's sense of justice? Like someone playing a superhero, killing the bad guys in the city?
No, but if that's the cause, I don't think the Duke would've wanted to intervene in this case. There seems to be something that he's been hiding from us. Solving this case won't benefit him, and it'd only waste his time and resource. I bet if someone really removes the bad guy for him, he'd be glad to welcome them anytime.
"This guy seems to help you remove the bad guy in the city?", Asked Camila nonchalantly.
"Hahaha, you surely jest young lady. There's always a procedure for such a thing. Doing your own justice without obeying the law is a crime in itself", Said the duke while laughing.
Except if you're also the bad guy here. My basic hypothesis here is, this guy is also scared to be killed by this phantom killer. Although the chance is small, seeing so many knights guarding this mansion, it's still just an early conjunction. We need to do more investigation in order to learn the truth.
"Uh, can I ask a question?", I said while raising my hand. Camila looked at me with an annoyed expression. I could see Andre started smiling when I speak. But I ignored them.
"Sure young man, you can ask me anything", Replied the Duke smiling.
"You said this murder first started around three months ago and happen again and again after that. Is there any pattern to the killing? Like, how often does he kills or where?", I asked.
"Hmm... The murder is indeed happening for quite some time but not in a timely manner. I think he kills the most in the second month, there's no pattern to that, except that he always kills at night and in deserted places, like in a small alley, toilet, etc", Said the Duke with a hand on his chin, "Even though I proud myself, because this city is always festive and never sleeps, there's indeed some deserted place outside casino and bars that always filled with people. Murder usually occurs when the victim leaves a crowded place like a casino or bar. In order to go home or go to the public toilet", Continued the Duke.
"I see, there's no pattern then. Thank you for your information", I replied lastly.
There was a short silence before the Duke claps his hand and said, "Okay then, if there's no more question, I want to introduce my children to mister Liber over here", Then he raise his hand to the butler and said, "Please call my children over here"
The butler just bowed and leave the room. After a short while, there are two young men and a young lady inside this room. They're the Duke's child.
"Mister Liber, this is my children. The oldest is Rein over here. Here's my second son, Owain. And lastly, this is my sole daughter Laia", He introduces his children to us, or to be exact to sir Liber
"Guys, please introduce yourself", Said the Duke to his children.
"""Pleased to meet you Mister Liber""", All of the said while bowing their head.
I know that there's still 1 more child of his. In the actual storyline of the novel, in the future, some incident will make all of his children perish, and only that kid survived. The reason why Duke Lennox doesn't introduce him to us is that he was an illegitimate son of his. Everyone knows of his existence, but because he's not important, they just ignore him.
At first, I deduced that this is the event that will bring the downfall of this duke's household. But it's still not clear, as the novel states that it was demons that killed the Duke's children. While thinking about that, I glanced at the Duke's daughter, Laia.
She was already dead when the novel started. But the fact of her death will trigger an event in the novel. The fact is, she should already be engaged with the son of another Duke household. When she's dead, and it was known that the demon is the cause, her fiancee swore revenge to kill all of the demon kinds.
It's a cliche plot, but that's when her fiancee meets the main character in the academy. One thing led to another, and it triggers events that make them have to solve the mystery surrounding the death of this Duke. The events conclude that it was the work of demonkind that kill most members of this Duke's household. Later on in the story, this household would be abolished for colliding with the demon. I guess the illegitimate son is just incompetent?
While I glanced at her, Laia notice my glance and smiled at me. She's exactly as Fal, her fiancee, describe in a story. "A kind-hearted woman that doesn't deserve her fate", that's how he describes her.
I could feel Camila tug my elbow, and it hurts. Look, I'm not trying to woo her okay? It's just my first time seeing a character that's connected to the main event. That's it. She could be said to be an important character in the novel, so you know. As the reader, I'd be lying if I don't get hyped. I can't wait to meet the other character soon.