Chapter 24
The voice that had been leaking out faded away, drowned in static.
At the same time, I glanced around nervously, worried that someone might have overheard our suspicious conversation.
“Why on earth would you record something like this…!”
I shouted, lowering my voice, and Checker shrugged.
“It’s good to have someone’s weakness recorded, in any way.”
“No, this isn’t a weakness—it’s blackmail…! Ugh!”
I pounded my chest and grabbed Checker by the sleeve, pulling him along.
“Ugh, come on, over here!”
I dragged Checker into a random small room nearby.
—Bang!
As soon as the door closed, Checker whistled.
“So, you’re more passionate than I thought?”
“You! Stop spouting nonsense!”
I stomped my feet and approached him, jabbing my finger at his chest.
“Hey, don’t hide those lewd thoughts—say everything you want to! You probably have more threats ready, right?”
Being force-fed this kind of talk wasn’t my style. I preferred to face everything at once, even if it meant taking a beating.
“Impatient, too. Nothing like the rumors about the astrologer Esmeralda I hear in public.”
“Hurry up!”
Checker stroked his chin and smiled.
“If you have the papers you received, you can teleport without being caught by the castle’s detection magic. You could appear inside the room, then instantly at the scene of the crime. That’s assuming there were a few more papers.”
In other words, my alibi—that I was asleep in the room when the incident occurred—could easily be broken.
“But I have no motive to kill anyone…!”
“Do you really think so? You just heard it yourself. You helped me because you held my hand. You just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.”
Then Checker muttered to himself:
“Hmm, betrayal and escape. Exactly the kind of thing Kin would hate. If caught, it’d be a disaster…”
“…Good point!”
I bit down on my thumb and glared at Checker.
“So, what you want is to be removed from the list of prime suspects?”
“You speak well.”
“If things go south, you’ll drag me into it too?”
“Exactly.”
“…You’re a terrible guy.”
“I get that compliment a lot.”
I carefully studied Checker’s sly face.
Naturally, his information flashed before my eyes.
「Name: Gio
Race: Human
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Hometown: Talia Territory
Traits: Fence, eternal wanderer, loves shiny things, troublesome, double agent, innocent suspect, Awakened (Observant Eye)」
‘…Huh?’
A new keyword had naturally appeared under traits.
‘Innocent suspect? Then Checker really isn’t the murderer.’
Even though the info window was vague, it didn’t lie.
After a moment’s thought, I nodded.
“…Alright. I don’t have much choice. I’ll help. But I have a question, and you have to answer honestly.”
“If possible.”
“You’re not the culprit, right? So why are you acting like someone who has something to hide?”
Checker scanned me up and down, clearly unimpressed. Well, what, why, huh?
“Just being innocent doesn’t automatically make things go your way. The situation was bad, so I just secured an ally.”
Still… I hesitated, and Checker lightly tapped my shoulder as he brushed past me.
“The circumstances make me the only suspect. …So you need to investigate properly. Either prove my innocence or find the real culprit. I don’t have time to be stuck here for long.”
With a loud clang, the door slammed shut, leaving me alone to let out a deep sigh.
“Figures!”
Ever since coming here, it feels like all I do is get rushed, ordered around, or tested… Not imagining it, right?
‘The difficulty level of my life just spiked.’
Honestly, why does my life always feel like it’s hanging by a thread?
“But what’s the purpose of this murder? Was it just revenge? …Was anything missing from the warehouse?”
I asked, and Chek slapped down a huge stack of papers.
“I already compared everything in the warehouse overnight and found the missing item.”
Oh, the meticulousness of an investigator.
“What was missing?”
“A bottle of Snowfield Salt from the corner of the warehouse.”
“Snowfield Salt…?”
Salt is salt, but there must be something special about Snowfield Salt.
Seeing my puzzled expression, Chek explained:
“Snowfield Salt comes from the purest places on the continent and is said to be a sacred silver-white salt. Rumor has it that consuming it can cure any illness.”
If Chek’s words were true, Snowfield Salt was extraordinary. A literal cure-all.
“Really? And they kept that in the warehouse instead of a safe?”
My eyes widened, and Chek shrugged.
“Of course not.”
“Eek.”
“If eating some salt could cure disease, why would we need doctors or pharmacists?”
“I thought it sounded real because it sounded plausible.”
Chek shrugged.
“Just the story, that’s all.”
“Then why steal Snowfield Salt? And bother to find it in the corner? There must have been a reason.”
Was Snowfield Salt really valuable enough for someone to kill for?
I voiced my doubt, and Chek scratched his head.
“Maybe the thief was a superstitious person. Snowfield Salt can also be used to make high-grade sacred water.”
“But in this day and age, is there even an archpriest capable of making high-grade sacred water?”
The power of corrupt priests had become pathetic. If such a priest existed, they would already be famous as a saint on the continent.
“…So it’s likely a fanatic’s intrusion?”
Muttering this, Chek hit the weak point:
“But no ordinary outsider can access the warehouse.”
Checker being the only suspect made sense.
From midnight until the body was discovered the next morning, nobody went into the warehouse, and nobody passed the corridor on the same floor except for the guards and Checker.
“Either Checker is the fanatic, or he was acting under one’s orders. One of the two is likely. He also has many connections with suspicious people.”
I cautiously opposed Chek’s confident speculation.
“…Are you really sure there’s absolutely no external way to intrude?”
“Yes. The only way to access the warehouse is that door over there. There’s no secondary door, not even a window.”
Chek added:
“And as I said before, if someone had used teleportation or similar magic here, the alarm would have gone off. The warehouse can only be accessed physically.”
“….”
I decided to stay silent on that point.
‘They’ll think so, but the prime suspect, Mr. Che, happens to have an item immune to magic.’
But if I mentioned this, Checker would certainly become a confirmed suspect.
For his sake and mine, I had to turn a blind eye.
“Ugh, but this is still just circumstantial! No witnesses, no testimony—don’t even know where to start the investigation… a total mess.”
Watching Chek wrack his brain, I quietly got up.
“I’ll check the crime scene.”
Chek waved me off as I left.
“Then look carefully, and if possible, try to hear the culprit’s name from the wrongfully killed Wolf.”
What an impossible request.
I examined the spot where Wolf’s body had been.
“Creepy… it feels eerie thinking someone died here.”
Dark stains on the stone floor looked like blood.
“Ugh, better not look.”
I deliberately averted my attention and began searching the surroundings. Maybe I could find something that could serve as evidence.
“…Wow. Not even a single stone.”
Even if I wanted to inspect evidence, I needed something to inspect.
The floor was suspiciously clean, almost as if it had been specially cleaned.
I crawled along the warehouse floor, focusing on the scene, trying to find any overlooked evidence—a single hair, anything.
By the time sweat began beading on my forehead:
“…Huh?”
In a corner of the warehouse, a small stone about the size of a fingertip caught my eye.
It was a little far from the scene, but it was the only thing noticeable, so my choice was clear.
I quickly grabbed it and activated my appraisal ability. Information appeared before my eyes.
And then…
「Name: Necrotic Finger
Traits: Deformed, necrotic, traces of combat, detached (top-level importance)」
