“Anoteros, fancy running into you here- Are you a disciple to one of the elders?” the prosecutor was swift to start a discussion, currently wearing his official attire, the dark colour contrasting greatly with his platinum blond hair and clear blue eyes, this sort of clothing did not fit in the least with the clearly oriental setting, but Edrick never made it obvious when he found something to be odd.

“I learn with both Elder Ting Zhenniao and Elder Ku Xing… I have been meaning to ask if your investigations have been advancing since the last time we conversed” Anoteros formed a simple smile, motioning with his hand for the prosecutor to walk alongside him whilst they spoke.

Yi marked a small moment of silence as they descended a few steps.

“The case for Golden Teeth’s death, as well as that of his goons as pretty much gone cold by now, from the start, there were no lead whatsoever, logic would dictate that there was a great, underlying reason for these violent murders, but it seems more and more like that it was random and that these men were targeted for no particular reason, honestly, I feel that the stealing of money that should have been present, and the act of arson were all done on a whim- In short, they were killed for enjoyment, perhaps even sport” spoke the young man, and Edrick nodded like it he was hearing unexpected stuff.

‘That kid has good intuition, there is no proof to back-up his claims, but he is right…’ it had been a while since anyone on the opposing side from him had been able to figure stuff out like this, so this was certainly refreshing, but mostly a shame- It was a simply a pity that the prosecutor had to be so deeply involved in Jingyi’s plot, that would cut down the period of time they could play cat and mouse together for…

Yi rubbed his nape.

“I noticed that you said ‘investigations’, and not ‘investigation’- But I do not recall mentioning any other case I was working on”

“I heard about it from Li, actually, he explained the details when asking me if could help him with it”

“Is that so? Li is indeed restless about what happened… The only reason his cultivation has not ceased is because it’s the only way he can relax, otherwise he rapidly loses his temper over the mildest of things… A bit ironic for one that cultivates a technique based on ice” the prosecutor sighed, he hid it well, but it was rather obvious that this matter was a rather big preoccupation in his mind as well.

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to speak to you about… I believe the girl’s name is Jingyi, right?”

“Indeed, do you know anything?” he remained composed, but his speech accelerated just enough for Anoteros to know that he was very much interested and could hardly wait for what Edrick had to say.

“It is nothing much, but Li spoke to me about how much the girl disliked receiving help and was pretty much impossible to convince as she viewed it as preferential treatment, so I figured that I would be of help… I am surprised you didn’t learn of it before I even ran into you, actually”

Yi formed the faintest of smirks.

“Jingyi… She is indeed stubborn, nothing that we say can convince her to agree, I fear that she views it as a form of pity rather than as a genuine wish to provide assistance, but how could you help with such a matter?”

“I am Edrick Lucien Anoteros, Zixuan Elt, of the Great Elt Clan- I am a special disciple in this very sect and someone Miss Jingyi does not personally know, so naturally, I decided to hire her as a maid for my residence, she is now housed, fed and dressed like a little princess, and more importantly, she is safe from whoever preyed upon her”

“Ah! Of course! Such an offer would be seen as a genuine opportunity, it’s obvious that she wouldn’t turn it away- How come I never thought of this?” the prosecutor seemed genuinely bedazzled that this had never crossed his mind.

‘Is that part of the effects of being part of a script? He couldn’t think of something obvious because it would interfere with the story?’

*I believe it is more so a consequence of being part of such a small, and simplistic script, the threads making this story up are much more feeble and require more assistance to be kept together*

*As you know from with Xiao, certain scripts are made alongside a fictional story in another world, being someone from said world, Xiao can ignore the plot as he knows it already, but the three of them are instead confined to it, including the illogical aspects, or the ‘plot holes’, although this does not exclude the possibility that they could change things somehow*

‘Mmh, that’s good to know… I guess those three mostly communicate amongst one another, so they don’t get to realise that they are missing things that their wits should not allow’

“Is she adapting well?”

“She’s doing great, my second wife is showing her the ropes” spoke Edrick, and at the mention of wife, Yi cleared his throat.

“Speaking of which… I was wondering about something concerning Golden Teeth…”

“Yes?”

“You did not mention that your third wife had a debt to him”

“Naturally, because she no longer did”

“No longer?”

“I paid it off for her, naturally, who do you take me for? Would I have four wives if I didn’t have money to throw around? Though, I suppose that money is in the pockets of the killer now, but oh well…” Edrick shook his head, the nonchalant act incredibly convincing.

Not that Yi actually suspected much just from that one piece of information, it wasn’t strange for a noble scion to not care about spending money, and accusing an Elt of murdering a petty loan shark for a debt that probably looks like pocket money to him would simply be outrageous.

Anoteros slapped the prosecutor’s shoulder.

“Once her training is over, why don’t you and Li come over to my residence to see her? I am positive that she’ll be beaming by then, in fact, she’s already looking healthier, I’ll inform you once that’s done, alright?”

“Sounds good, my apologies for-“

“No worries, you are merely doing your duty, and I respect that- Do keep your eyes wide open, Yi, you never know when the clue that unwraps everything might show up… You might just get a new lead soon”

Edrick bid his goodbyes, now that this was done, it was time for his daily trip to the woods.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep