The interrogation of the watermelon vendor went smoothly. He was a local of Weimar, having sold fruit here for over a decade, honest and straightforward, without any record of cheating his customers. He didn't even know the victim.
Levin furrowed his brow, sensing something amiss with the case. From his experience in the Guard, when things seem strange, magic is often involved.
"Sir, the autopsy results are in." An officer entered the room, knocking on the door as he spoke, ensuring Levin heard him.
"Oh? What does the coroner say?" Levin paused the interrogation and took the autopsy report handed to him.
"The coroner noted clear traces of illusion magic. It appears the victim was under the influence of such a spell," the officer replied.
As Levin perused the report, he asked offhandedly, "Have we identified the victim's social connections?"
The officer shook his head. "We haven't even confirmed his identity yet... He's likely not a local of Weimar."
Levin sighed in frustration, closing the autopsy report. "Post a notice seeking any information on the corpse, see if anyone comes forward to claim it. In the meantime, have the body frozen until we get some answers."
The watermelon vendor, sensing hope, asked, "Captain, so... it really has nothing to do with me, right? This was just a disaster that fell from the sky... Can I leave now?"
Levin frowned in thought. The victim had been under the influence of illusion magic before his death, and the vendor was just an ordinary man with no magical abilities. It was highly likely he wasn't involved, but the possibility of him being an accomplice couldn't be entirely ruled out...
In this situation, the vendor would have to remain in custody for the time being.
"Sorry, boss, but we haven't completely cleared you of suspicion yet. You'll have to stay with us for a few more days."
...
After wrapping up the interrogation, Levin strode over to the Guard's headquarters. Flashed his badge, and the guards let him in.
"Ah, Deputy Captain Levin of the East Fourth Unit, correct?" The receptionist seemed to remember Levin after only one encounter. "What brings you to headquarters today?"
"I need to visit the archives to review some old case files. Could you direct me?"
"The archives? They're on the basement level. Just take a left from here." The receptionist pointed the way, and Levin thanked her before heading off.
"Strange, what's he looking for in the archives? Something happen?" The receptionist mused to herself as Levin disappeared down the hall.
Levin was searching for files on past cases involving illusion magic.
Mage-related crimes had become a new challenge for Weimar City since its establishment.
Across the continent, extraordinary individuals generally held certain privileges, and the laws didn't always apply to them. In nations like the Hain Empire or the Cold United Federation, extraordinary powers often superseded worldly rules, and the lives of commoners were of little consequence compared to the mages.
Especially for mages, whose abilities required innate talent and tutelage, even if they committed crimes, their mentors or affiliated powers would pressure worldly institutions, leading to many mage-related crimes being brushed under the rug.
But in Weimar City... the number of mages was simply overwhelming.
To bolster Weimar's national defense and promote the development of magitechnology, the Council of Sages established the Weimar Academy of Magic, where any citizen with magical aptitude could study.
Mages had thus transitioned from a lofty identity to a mere profession.
Now, in Weimar, it was no exaggeration to say that apprentice mages were as common as dirt.
Though those capable of casting even first-tier spells were still rare, the number of people who could perform simple tricks had grown significantly.
In other parts of the continent, mage crimes were often ignored. If a victim was found to have died from a spell, it was simply bad luck for having crossed a mage.
But Weimar was different. After transitioning from a duchy to a free city, the concept of equality had taken deep root. In Weimar's law, the life of a mage held no more value than that of a commoner. If someone died due to magic, the Weimar Guard was duty-bound to find the culprit.
Mage crimes had thus become a new challenge for the Weimar Guard.
Most low-level mages were physically frail and relied heavily on their team. The Guard's combat prowess wasn't weak, so dealing with individual mage criminals wasn't an issue of power. The real challenge lay in evidence collection and crime prevention.
To address the prevention issue, the Council of Sages established no-casting zones throughout Weimar City, covering most of the urban area. Casting spells within these zones without permission was considered illegal.
However, due to cost issues, these zones weren't strictly enforced. It was more a case of "no harm, no foul"—if no one reported it, no one would investigate.
As for evidence collection, that proved to be an even greater challenge for the veteran Guardsmen.
How do you prove that the frost ray used to kill someone was cast by a specific mage?
With illusion magic involved, even eyewitness testimonies couldn't be fully trusted.
The difficulty in detecting and collecting evidence for mage crimes led to many suspects being acquitted in the early days of judicial practice, often due to skillful defense attorneys. Victims of illusion-based magic were frequently misclassified as suicides or accidents.
Mages could use illusion spells to make their victims see tall buildings as flat ground, pits as beds, or daggers as dishes...
Fortunately, the Council of Sages later equipped the forensic department with facilities to detect magical traces, preventing victims of illusion magic from being hastily ruled as suicides or accidents.
But evidence collection remained a daunting task. If there was a suspect, things could still be managed. In the worst-case scenario, a scroll of Truth could be requested from Guard headquarters. But without a suspect, the case would likely remain an unsolved mystery.
Levin had come specifically to search for records of mage-related crimes, hoping to find a breakthrough. The case from this morning was already verging on a "cold case"—the victim was killed in a crowded market, with no mage suspects, no valuable witnesses, and the prime suspect was an ordinary man who couldn't use magic...
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
As Levin flipped through the old files, a case of murder by hypnosis caught his eye.
Five years ago, a male mage, driven by jealousy over his girlfriend's infidelity, used hypnosis to compel her to kill her lover. During the investigation, the Guard discovered the suspect through a probe into the girlfriend's social connections. Under the effects of a Zone of Truth, the suspect confessed to his crime without hesitation.
This was a premeditated murder, but it stood out from other cases in a unique way.
In this case, it wasn't the victim who had been subjected to illusion magic, but rather a third party who was hypnotized into assassinating the victim. This gave Levin a new insight.
"What if this case is similar? What if the criminal wasn't targeting the victim but intended to frame the watermelon vendor?" Levin briefly entertained the thought but quickly dismissed it.
Ridiculous—if someone had a grudge against the vendor, why go through such elaborate lengths? They could've just hypnotized the victim to stab him directly.
Levin continued poring over the files, searching for more cold cases with similar elements.
Before he knew it, the afternoon had slipped away, and someone from headquarters had to remind him that it was time to leave.
Levin reluctantly closed the file, concluding that today's investigation had yielded little.
All he could do now was wait for someone to come forward and claim the victim's body.
However, it wasn't entirely fruitless—at least investigating the vendor's social connections could be a lead. Who knows, maybe someone truly did harbor a grudge against him and used this twisted method to seek revenge?
The Guard couldn't afford to overlook any possibilities.
On his way back to the camp after work, Levin decided to revisit the crime scene to see if there were any more clues.
By now, it was nearly dusk. The sun was setting, casting golden rays over the streets, while the moon had yet to fully rise.
When Levin arrived at the scene, he noticed a young girl wearing a tall witch's hat standing just outside the cordoned-off area.
As Levin approached, the girl didn't move, remaining defiantly in place.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Levin asked, his tone sharp with suspicion.
"Guard? What are you doing here? What happened?" The girl tilted her head slightly, casting a disdainful glance at Levin.
"I'm the one asking the questions! Answer me—what are you doing here?" Levin's voice grew more severe, pressing her for an answer.
"I'm looking for something. Satisfied?" The girl's tone was filled with annoyance, as if she felt insulted by the questioning.
"This is a murder scene. What exactly are you looking for?" Levin narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the girl intently.
"M-Murder?" The girl's voice trembled with disbelief. "The cordon is because of a murder?" Her tone wavered with a hint of panic.
"Surprised, are you?" Levin's hand slipped inside his coat, gripping the handle of his gun. "I'll ask you one more time—who are you, and what are you looking for here?"
"That's... none of your business..." The girl still refused to answer, turning to leave.
Something was off.
Levin's instincts told him that there was something wrong with this girl, so he cast a Confusion Probe.
[Confusion Probe successfully initiated!]
[Information obtained from the target as follows]
[Possessions: Weimar Academy of Magic student badge.
Item Description: For some unknown reason, it's not where it's supposed to be.]
"Stop right there! Even if you're an Academy student, you're still obligated to cooperate with the Guard!" Levin shouted sternly.
"How did you...?" The girl froze in place, staring at Levin with wide eyes and slightly parted lips.
"Do you have any information about the murder that took place here this morning? What exactly are you looking for?" Seeing the girl had stopped, Levin pressed her for information about the morning's murder.
"I... I don't have any information. I was just here looking for my pet."