Fate: How About a New Savior?

After that, Gray returned to her room to get some rest, while Shiomi stayed behind to look after Caren.

The two chatted idly from time to time, and before long, Caren dozed off under the influence of her Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution.

When she opened her eyes again, there was a sharp knock at the door—Gray was knocking urgently from outside.

Caren crawled out from under the covers and opened the door, only to find the gravekeeper girl visibly flustered. It wasn't the usual awkwardness she showed when dealing with strangers—this time, it felt like something serious had happened.

"What's going on?" Caren asked.

Gray hesitated, looking like she didn't know where to begin. "I'm not sure where to start…"

"Then just start with the outcome."

Caren yawned, turned around, and headed into the washroom to freshen up, leaving Gray waiting at the door.

"You're right." Gray lowered her head. "I'll start with the outcome… This morning, the Princess of Gold was found dead in her room."

"…The one from last night?" Caren checked her reflection in the mirror, making sure the Holy Stigmata had faded. "What a coincidence. Just said she was going to flee, and now the next day she's found dead in her room. Did someone from the Iselma family find her?"

She calmly pieced together the information. If that was the case, then the Princess of Gold hadn't been lying last night.

"It's more than that," Gray said, her face clouded with worry. "Teacher Shiomi is the prime suspect. He's being interrogated right now…"

Caren went quiet for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. "So they've finally decided to make their move."

"Make their move?" Gray asked, confused.

"Don't mind me. Just thinking out loud." Caren brushed her hair back. "Looks like something unexpected happened while I was asleep. Fill me in with the details on the way."

Once she had finished washing up, Caren followed Gray toward the Tower of the Moon.

The Princess of Gold's room was located there. Everyone who had stayed behind after yesterday's social gathering had now gathered at the tower.

According to Gray, Shiomi had gone to the Princess of Gold's room early in the morning as scheduled, but no one answered the door. When he picked up the scent of blood behind it, he opened it by himself.

And that's precisely why he was suspected.

Just like the Princess of Gold had said the night before, the sisters' rooms were secured with Magecraft locks.

Magecraft locks are a type of ceremonial equipment. They come in various forms but typically use the user's mana wavelength as a key. These locks are expensive, exclusive to Magus, and difficult to reassign to a different user. However, their high reliability has made them a common choice among Magus.

Even the Clock Tower's treasury uses this kind of lock.

By that logic, only the Princess of Gold should have been able to unlock her door.

But Shiomi was an exception.

He could use a type of Magecraft called the "Knock Spell," which allowed him to simulate the owner's wavelength without damaging the Magecraft lock—thus unlocking it while leaving the lock functional.

So, even though the Iselma family had been notified immediately after the discovery, Inorai—who was still there and served as the head of the Valualeta family—couldn't deny Shiomi's potential involvement.

That Lord knew of some of Shiomi's unique Magecraft.

In the past, when Valualeta had been unable to investigate a missing treasure vault keeper, Inorai had entrusted Shiomi with the matter. Shiomi had unlocked the vault and demonstrated the existence of the Knock Spell at that time.

Ultimately, because the Magecraft was deemed too difficult to teach, lacking a formal theoretical foundation, and not valuable enough, the Clock Tower had simply documented it and filed it away.

It's just like how locksmiths have to register with the local police department.

"I miscalculated. When I smelled blood, my first thought wasn't to call for help, but to open the door..." Shiomi sat in the reception room next to the Princess of Gold's quarters, facing Inorai across from him and Byron standing behind the sofa. "No... even if I hadn't done anything, I'd still be the prime suspect."

When Caren arrived, Shiomi appeared entirely unfazed by his situation, casually facing one of the three great noble Lords of the Clock Tower, along with the head of their branch family.

"Don't act like that, Shiomi," Inorai said with a composed smile. "You are indeed the most suspicious, but I still trust you. To me, if you were the real killer, the scene wouldn't have been so gruesome."

The Princess of Gold had died on her bed, her body savagely dismembered into twelve parts.

That kind of murder didn't match Shiomi's methods.

As a former Sealing Designation executor, Inorai knew Shiomi's style well—clean and efficient, ending the enemy in a single blow.

The most recent case was the previous Lord, El-Melloi.

Though the autopsy confirmed that Kayneth had sustained injuries during the magecraft duel—Shiomi had even turned Kayneth's own technique against him, creating symptoms of mercury poisoning—the fatal strike had been the one that pierced his heart.

Had it been an assassination rather than a head-on battle, the Princess of Gold would have either been found lying peacefully on the bed, breathless, or there wouldn't have been a body left at all.

That's why, even though Inorai didn't exclude Shiomi as the primary suspect, she still believed he wasn't the one who killed the Princess of Gold.

"It's reassuring that Lady Inorai understands where I'm coming from," Shiomi said with a faint smile.

He had already explained to Inorai about his final meeting with the Princess of Gold the night before—what they talked about and what had happened.

Even her father, Byron, couldn't help but believe she had planned to escape.

If Shiomi had truly gone through with their original plan to flee with both the Princess of Gold and the Princess of Silver, then not just Valualeta, but even Barthomeloi would've had a hard time tracking them down.

"I understand. But I'm afraid I can't let you return as scheduled today," Inorai said.

"You're placing me under house arrest?" Shiomi asked.

Inorai's eyes glinted shrewdly. "No need for the sarcasm, Shiomi. You're not staying because Valualeta can detain you. You're staying because you don't want to leave."

"So in other words..." Shiomi glanced at the other guests in the room. They had all stayed behind after the gathering, each for their own reasons.

They were suspects too—but none more suspicious than Shiomi.

"Iselma won't mistreat you or your companions while the investigation continues," Inorai said, turning to Caren and Gray at the door. "Please remain at the Twin Tower until everything is cleared up. Since I was the one who invited you here, I bear some responsibility."

"Of course. It's not like I can just walk away after being turned from guest to murder suspect overnight."

Sitting in a relaxed posture, Shiomi slowly smiled, his teeth flashing with a cold glint.

...

(90 Chapters Ahead)

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