“Sir… The floor is highly unstable! Please don’t just stand there…” spoke a man from a distance, looking up through a gaping hole in the second floor’s ground, his attire was tainted with soot but the bright and noble get-up of the city guard’s of Oie was still perfectly recognisable.

“Do no worry about me, just go back to your duties” a man garbed in a rather ample black coat, pants and gown replied back, the white band around his neck somehow untouched by the soot and ash that still sometimes fell from the ceiling above, his platinum blond hair slicked back on his head, and his clear blue eye peering at every corners as though seeking for something specific.

A low hum escaped his lips, but soon enough, he stopped and frown, it was only slight but on his absolutely blank face, it was instantly noticeable, he slowly walked back and forth, his gaze following the same pattern a few time before he switched, eventually he exited the room, ashen floorboard making most worrying noises under his weight as he instead moved to all other rooms of this house.

One by one, he repeated the same strange actions over and over, every time with the same reaction, he rubbed his chin in thought whilst finally stepping back outside.

“Prosecutor Yi, what do you think?” asked a nearby guard, who was staring at the burnt building, the smell of fire was still strong in the air, the flames had been discovered and suppressed quickly, they had managed to only contain the destruction to this one building, the place around were only superficially damaged.

As the man spoke, the second floor finally collapsed fully, rousing up dust and ash under the unimpressed gaze of the young prosecutor.

Instead of responding immediately, the blond man’s eyes fell on piles of charcoal, which were actually whatever remained of the corpses of the four men who had been inside as the place was consumed by an inferno, and probably bits of other things that got mixed in with them as well.

It was pretty miraculous that anything was left behind, some were better conversed than others, but having bodies to bury at all was a good thing, no matter how disliked these four may have been.

“I think that you shouldn’t focus on small-time criminals or regular people who owed Golden Teeth money” sighed the prosecutor, putting both hands behind his back as he spoke.

“Why not? Do you not have a lead like you always did?” the guard was confused, he had worked with Yi on plenty of cases and the prosecutor had always seemed to just know everything by just looking or at least had very strong leads, the young prosecutor hadn’t been called up to the royal capital to become a prosecutor for the royal family for no reason, his skills in bringing together strong evidences and making unbreakable cases against defendants was simply incredible.

So to hear him be vague in any capacity was a surprise.

“Unless all of the people that should have been short of money somehow came together and hired an excellent assassin, which seems rather far-fetched, this shouldn’t possibly have anything to do with them, a rival also seems highly unlikely, only the other big ones could have gotten the services of such an individual or people, and it would hardly be worth it, the cost must have been high…”

“You don’t know whether there was multiple or only one killer?”

“Indeed, I have my limitations as well, whoever is responsible for this quadruple homicide and arson is a skilled killer, most certainly a greatly experienced assassin, the sort whose services are a luxury” Yi’s clear blue eyes seemed to stare at empty space again.

“Well, that or it was a ghost” he mumbled to himself.

“In any case, do make sure to establish a list of all possible suspects anyways, we might find something noteworthy still”

“Of course Sir!” the guard gave a salute and turned around but stopped for a moment.

“Prosecutor Yi… May I enquire about your return however? It is great to have you here, don’t take me wrong, but shouldn’t you be working for the royal family now?” he asked, having seen Yi take up functions, rise to fame as he worked throughout the Oie and the surrounding region and then be extended a formal invitation from the crown, he hadn’t expected to see Yi ever again.

“I do suppose that would spark curiosity… I denied the job offer” casually responding, the guard felt like saying something but he swallowed his words and just squeezed out two words :

“I… See” then leaving as was originally intended.

Yi remained before the burnt down building, he hadn’t know Golden Teeth personally and although his character was rather deplorable, the loan shark had never gotten himself linked with any actual criminal activities of any kind, and even if he had been a filthy criminal, no one deserved what had happened to him.

No one but him knew for now, but Yi was well aware that Golden Teeth had been thoroughly tortured and had even still been alive when the fire started.

‘I speak of a professional assassin, but why pluck out the gold teeth then? As proof of the kill? But why do it in such a barbaric fashion then, if not to inflict as much pain as possible? And then, why keep him alive and finish him off with the fire?’ Yi was a bit confused, it simultaneously looked like a hit done by an expert, and a sloppy vengeance.

The young man hadn’t been expecting to be faced with such a difficult case on his return from the capital, especially directly within Oie, the city was safe and practically free of criminal activities, criminals here acted hidden, tucked in the darkness of their homes and not out in the open.

“Excuse me, how is the neighbourhood survey going?” he asked another guard passing by.

“Information is as dry as the desert, they were nearly all sleeping soundly, an old lady thinks she saw a very big dog at one point, and the people who live directly next to the crime scene say they heard some sounds, but didn’t think anything of them and have no idea the exact hour it occurred” she replied with a shrug.

“I see, thank you…” Yi felt like sighing, he pulled out a small locket from one of his pockets, opening it, he gazed at the picture of a pretty girl for a few moments.

‘This investigation will take a while, I should just go check on her right now…’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep