Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 509 Chapter The Benevolent Should Tremble

When Xiahou Yan and Chief of Staff Quentin followed the sound and rushed to the side door of the meeting room, they were both shocked by the scene before them:

A man in lavender clothes was lying on the ground with his limbs spread out, motionless. A long silver sword had accurately pierced through the man's left chest, and stood on the man's body trembling like a flagpole in the wind.

Scalding blood was still gushing out from the wounds on the man's chest and back, first soaking his priceless silk with large patches of crimson, and then spreading across the ancient stone brick floor of the "Olav's Roost" castle like the night sky swallowing up the day.

This castle must have witnessed countless deaths over its long years, but the corpse of a man lying on the ground was still so strange and ominous that it made people feel like they were in a dream.

——What's more, Xiahou Yan and Chief of Staff Quentin recognized the identity of the body almost immediately.

"…It's Baron Misty Ridge!" Chief of Staff Quentin muttered in a daze, his face completely pale. "Oh, the Most High Holy Spirit! How did he die?!"

  Xia Houyan was also a little dumbfounded:

He could never have imagined that he would encounter a murder case at close range in the castle of Olaf's Roost, where many nobles of the empire gathered! The Baron of Misty Ridge, who had just made an impassioned speech at the War Council, had now turned into a bloody corpse before his eyes!

Who the hell did this? Who on earth dared to go against the will of the world and murder an imperial lord during the war council? Xiahou Yan stared at the miserable corpse on the ground for two seconds, then looked up and looked around.

Xiahou Yan and Chief of Staff Quentin, who were standing outside the main entrance of the conference room and talking just now, were not the first to rush to the crime scene after hearing the screams.

The corpse of the Baron of Misty Ridge was already crowded with people. Most of them were the imperial nobles who had just attended the war council in the meeting hall, but there were also a few castle servants who happened to be passing by, shivering and trembling like sieves.

Grand Duke Grimm Rosario was also among the nobles who were watching. He noticed Xia Houyan and Chief of Staff Quentin and gave them a worried look.

Xiahou Yan knew what this look meant: the Empire was about to launch a general attack on Thorn City, and a murder case against an Imperial noble was happening at this moment. There must be something fishy behind this.

The top priority now is to find out the truth behind this murder.

"What happened here?" Xiahou Yan asked sternly to the group of nobles.

"Lord Igor..." a gray-haired old nobleman said in a trembling voice. Xiahou Yan recognized him as Herodotos, the Marquis of Morning Star Land who had spoken in the parliament before. "Just now, we were in the meeting room and heard shouting from the side door. Then someone curiously went out to take a look... Then someone said that someone had died outside! So we all came out..."

"Who was the first to hear the scream?" Xiahou Yan asked.

"It's me..." A young noble raised his hand tremblingly. He seemed to be still in shock from the horror of discovering a corpse. "I, I heard screams coming from outside the door, so I went out to take a look... As soon as I went out, I found this gentleman lying on the ground motionless, with blood on his body..."

"After you saw the body on the ground, you immediately returned to the meeting room to inform everyone?" Xiahou Yan waved his hand and looked at the other nobles. "Then the rest of you ran out of the meeting room and gathered here?"

  The nobles nodded in silence, and Grand Duke Rosario said in a deep voice:

"exactly."

  Xiahou Yan pinched his brows and pondered for a moment:

The circular meeting hall of "Olav's Roost" has a main entrance and two side entrances. The corridor outside the main entrance where he and Chief of Staff Quentin were located was almost diagonal to the side entrance where Baron Misty Ridge was found. Therefore, when the news of the discovery of the body came, the nobles who stayed in the meeting hall after the recess arrived at the scene earlier than Xiahou Yan and Quentin and saw the body earlier.

"After you heard the shouting and went out, you saw Baron Misty Ridge lying on the ground? Were you able to confirm that he was dead at that time?" Xiahou Yan turned to the minor noble who found the body - based on the coat of arms on the latter's body, Xiahou Yan judged that he was a viscount from White Dove Mountain.

“Almost…” Viscount White Dove Mountain said in a trembling voice, “As soon as I walked out of the side door of the meeting room, I saw this gentleman lying on the ground, with the sword still stuck in his body… There wasn’t so much blood at that time, but it felt like he was already dead then…”

"When you went out and saw the body, was there anyone else in this corridor?" Xiahou Yan asked.

"I, I don't remember..." Viscount White Dove Mountain said tremblingly, "I... there should, there shouldn't be anyone else, but I'm not sure..."

“How can you not be sure!” Marquis Liam shouted angrily, “Human lives are at stake!”

Viscount Baigeshan was frightened by the power of the commander of the Central Army. He trembled even more and was unable to speak.

Xiahou Yan sighed.

Look at this Viscount White Dove Mountain, he is only fifteen or sixteen years old. When he first saw the Baron Misty Ridge lying on the ground bleeding, he must have been so frightened that his brain went blank. How could he have had the extra energy to pay attention to other situations at the scene!

“Everyone!” Grand Duke Rosario glared at Marquis Liam, interrupting the latter’s intention to continue to accuse him, and then said loudly, “As you can see, a horrific murder has occurred here, and the victim is one of our very close noble brothers! Now we must find out the truth of the matter as soon as possible and find the murderer who killed the Baron of Misty Ridge!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"There is one thing I would like everyone to pay attention to..." Grand Duke Rosario said solemnly, "...During the war council, for safety reasons, the entire 'Olav's Roost' castle is in a strictly closed state, and all major entrances and exits of the castle are strictly guarded by soldiers. This means... no matter who the murderer is, he must still be in this castle..."

A chilling fear spread through the crowd like a wave.

Everyone realized a terrible possibility: the murderer who murdered the Baron of Misty Ridge might still be hiding in the crowd, or even this seemingly harmless noble colleague beside them...

In an instant, everyone felt insecure and subconsciously kept a distance from the people around them.

"Unfortunately, none of us here seem to have Inspector Edgar Allan Poe, the famous detective from the Imperial Police Department..." Grand Duke Rosario said with a wry smile, "...In order to find the murderer of Baron Misty Ridge, we can only ask you to stay in the castle for the time being and wait for our detailed investigation..."

"Mr. Rosario! I thought... it wouldn't be necessary to go through so much trouble!" An abrupt voice interrupted Grand Duke Rosario.

Everyone was somewhat surprised to see that the speaker was an amiable old wizard with a pointed wizard hat and a gray beard.

  Xiahou Yan was also shocked when he saw the old wizard swaggering up to Grand Duke Rosario: He suddenly remembered that this master was none other than the chief wizard of Beiwang County, Master Naimisas, whom he had met once at Kemal Manor!

——At the war council of "Olav's Habitat", many lords were unable to attend, so they chose to send their chief wizards as representatives, and Master Nemisus was one of them. In the noisy atmosphere just now, Xiahou Yan really didn't notice that this old acquaintance was also at the war council venue.

"Master Nemisus!" Grand Duke Rosario was also stunned, and then his face showed joy, "Look at my brain, I actually forgot that there is a great man and famous detective like you! With your help, it will be easy to find the murderer!"

"Ah?" Xiahou Yan looked at Chief of Staff Quentin beside him stupidly, "Master Nemisus is a 'famous detective'?"

"Of course!" Chief of Staff Quentin looked at Lord Frost Maple Ridge with dissatisfaction, as if the other party didn't know the most basic common sense. "Two years ago, Master Naimisus worked with you to catch the real culprit behind the Kemal Manor Massacre! Have you forgotten that? Since then, Master Naimisus has become interested in solving cases - he has been using magic to help solve various cases in Beiwang County. All problems are solved wherever he goes. Because of solving several major cases, His Majesty the Emperor awarded him the honorary title of 'Famous Detective of the North'!"

Xiahou Yan tried hard to recall Master Naimisas’s “wonderful” performance during the Kemal Manor Massacre.

Then he decided to just shut up.

While Xiahou Yan was speechless, the imperial nobles present were excited by the appearance of a "famous detective", and many of them applauded and cheered for Master Nemisas who stepped forward.

  Master Nemisus bowed calmly in response to everyone's greetings, then cleared his throat and said:

"Everyone! The death of the Baron of Misty Ridge is not only a great misfortune, but also a mystery to be solved. And we detectives, under the guidance of the goddess of justice, use our wisdom and sweat to solve the mystery and return justice and fairness to the world!"

There was a thunderous applause. Xiahou Yan stared at the "famous detective" Master Nemisus dryly.

"We saw that Baron Misty Ridge died here. But behind this death, this murder, there are actually three crucial elements hidden!" Master Nemisus pointed to the body of Baron Misty Ridge who had fallen to the ground, then paced back with his hands behind his back, "They are: motive, method, and alibi! Who on earth would want to murder our dear Baron Misty Ridge? How did he accomplish this horrific and cruel murder? And among all the possible murderers, who had the opportunity to contact the victim when the murder occurred? Gentlemen, as long as these three problems are solved, the real culprit behind the case will naturally appear before us!"

These three questions are indeed the key to finding the real murderer of Baron Misty Ridge. Everyone nodded in agreement.

  Master Naimisus was recognized by everyone, so he said more excitedly:

"Gentlemen, let's deal with these three issues now. First, the simplest one is the method of committing the crime. Regarding the exact cause of death of Lord Baron Misty Ridge..."

Master Nemisus glanced sideways at the sword that was poking the Baron of Misty Ridge.

Xiahou Yan felt that even a fool could see how this guy was killed.

However, Master Nemisus still said loudly:

"…Seeing is not believing, only investigation can give you the answer!"

As the master spoke, he took out a golden ball inlaid with an eye-shaped gem from his arms. Xiahou Yan immediately recognized that this was the "Gleos Identification Eye", the treasure that Master Nemisas used to detect magic fluctuations. He had used it once during the Kemal Manor tragedy.

Master Nemisus threw the "Eye of Identification of Gleos" onto the body of Baron Misty Ridge, just like Ash threw the Poké Ball.

The "Eye of Identification of Gleos" was suspended in the air, and a beam of light shot straight out from its "eye", scanning the unfortunate Baron of Misty Ridge several times before flying back to Master Nemisus's hands.

"The Eye of Gleos did not detect any magical fluctuations on the body, so Mr. Baron did not die from some magical means, but was killed by a physical attack." Master Nemisus seemed to feel a little sorry for the boring case, "So, the real murder weapon..."

"Isn't the real murder weapon the sword on him?" Marquis Liam frowned.

"Commander, this is indeed what we see, but appearances can be deceiving." Master Nemisus had obviously been waiting for someone to ask this question, and said triumphantly, "Although it seems that the Baron of Misty Ridge was stabbed to death by a sword, we cannot ignore other possibilities! - For example, could he have committed suicide?"

Xiahou Yan couldn't listen any longer.

He ignored Master Nemisus who was still analyzing the situation, walked over to the body, and took a closer look at the condition of the deceased.

——If Master Nemisus had stopped talking nonsense and come to actually observe the condition of the corpse, he would have immediately determined the real cause of death of the Baron of Misty Ridge: judging from the bleeding in his chest, it was undoubtedly the sword that pierced his body that caused his death - there were no visible scars on other vital parts of the Baron's body, which further supported this conclusion.

The sword that killed the baron with one strike was a very common imperial product, expensive but of mediocre quality. This sword seemed to be the baron's own - the scabbard on his waist was empty, and the pattern on the scabbard was exactly the same as the guard pattern on the sword he was wearing.

Xiahou Yan could imagine how the murderer took advantage of the Baron's inattention, drew his sword from behind, nailed him to the ground with one sword, and then fled.

The modus operandi is unremarkable, and the real difficulty lies in finding the murderer:

The sword of the Baron of Misty Ridge was quite sharp. As long as the angle was right, even a person with little strength could have completed the assassination. Judging from the method, it was almost impossible to rule out anyone as a suspect.

Theoretically, the person who stabbed the sword into the baron's back would have some blood splashed on his body, but Xiahou Yan looked around and did not find anyone with suspicious stains on his body.

Who could be the murderer of Baron Misty Ridge? Xiahou Yan pinched his chin and fell into deep thought, then heard Nemisus not far away lament loudly:

"... Holy Spirit, our poor and lovely Lord Baron of Misty Ridge, who did he offend to suffer such an unexpected event..."

Xiahou Yan smacked his lips.