Chapter 181: Deduction

Moonlight filtered dimly into the simply furnished room through the window.

Lamps were mounted on the wall beside the wooden door, casting a soft glow over a table surrounded by four chairs.

Bookshelves stood near the table, though they held only a few books covered with thick dust between them.

Two wooden bunk beds stood parallel to each other on either side of the room.

Given the room’s modest size, they were spaced only about a meter and a half apart.

Each bed had a somewhat soft mattress, a pillow, and a blanket neatly arranged.

"Ughh... It’s been a while since I slept on a proper bed inside a room~" Killian spoke with his face digging into his pillow, making his voice quite muffled.

Aurelia also smiled, "Although the tents and sleeping bags we had were top quality, nothing beats this!"

Meanwhile, Pandora had already tucked herself into her blanket with a satisfied expression.

Regis smiled, "This feels way more comfortable than sleeping in the wilderness..."

Each of them enjoyed the softness of the pillow and mattress that they had not experienced for the past few months of their journey.

In addition, they also felt full from the dinner they had just eaten.

This only intensified the sleepiness that they were feeling.

Killian turned his body and spoke, "I feel like my stomach’s about to burst..."

"Pffft! Who told you to eat that many burgers— Gurgh!!" Aurelia giggled, but a sudden gag reflex cut her short, forcing a choking sound from her throat.

"Haha! Serves you right!!"

"Your face makes me want to throw up."

"Wha— How can you say that to this beautiful, handsome, gorgeous face of mine!?"

"I’ll really throw up on you. Uwakkk!"

"H-Hey, I’m just joking. Please don’t"

...

While Killian and Aurelia were caught up in their antics, Regis suddenly stood up.

The movement drew everyone’s attention, and a serious expression settled across their faces.

From the top bunk, Killian glanced down at Regis. "Are they gone, Boss?"

"They are," Regis replied. "Aurelia, can you tell us what’s been bothering you?"

"Pardon?" Aurelia blinked in confusion.

Regis looked directly at her. "When we met the commander earlier, you seemed uneasy. Why?"

’He noticed? I thought I hid it well...’ Aurelia couldn’t help but smile faintly.

Still on the top bunk above Pandora, she straightened her posture.

Killian and Pandora followed suit, sitting up attentively on their own beds.

After thinking for a minute, Aurelia began speaking.

"The first thing that made me uneasy was the way Uncle treated me."

Killian chimed in with a confused expression, "What? I thought he was fine. He’s seemed really warm and caring."

"Killian, let’s listen first." Regis interjected.

"Alright, sorry, Boss."

Aurelia glanced at Regis and smiled before continuing, "Yes, had our relationship been normal, then I wouldn’t have felt uncomfortable, but..."

"He never treated me like that. Not once did he talk or treat me warmly since I..."

She felt a lump in her throat, but continued anyway, "Since I killed his family... H-He treated me like I didn’t exist. So, the way he spoke earlier doesn’t really make sense."

"Before everything happened, we were very close—and I was just as close to his wife and daughter, who were my aunt and cousin."

"Still, to treat me like he did back then, when he did not even look me in the eye... Well, it’s not like I can blame him."

"Besides that, the way he knew that my father took an important position in the newly established satellite city of Ligera. It was something that shouldn’t have been made public yet."

"Finally, my father warned me before sending me to this mission: that if my uncle behaved unnaturally, I was to leave as soon as possible without causing any suspicions."

Aurelia took a breath as she finished speaking, "That’s why he gave me a teleportation scroll that I can use to escape... But of course, I’d rather not leave you all here."

"Hmm..." Regis thought deeply before looking at her, "By the way, can you tell us what’s inside the letter you gave your uncle?"

"I don’t really know the details... only the gist of it."

"That’s fine/"

"Um... my father said that since our merchant organization formed a strategic alliance with Ligera’s government in establishing a new satellite city, we were also drawn into the war against the demonic worshippers."

After a pause, Aurelia continued as she cleared her throat with a cough, "Of course, as humans, participating in the war against demons was the natural thing to do. But by allying ourselves with Ligera, we were able to obtain vital information with one of which was the places where demonic worshippers were suspected to have taken root..."

"So in short, your alliance with Ligera knew that demonic humans had taken root in the Bakurad Fortress. Your father, being concerned with his brother, wanted to know Larkson’s situation."

Regis looked at her and asked, "Is this right?"

"Huh? Y-Yes." Aurelia nodded after a short pause.

"However, since allying with Ligera also put a target on your backs, he decided to send you away under the guise of being a runaway. He also intentionally gave us the exclusive quest to increase the chances of your cover succeeding. Still, this won’t be enough to send his daughter when he knew it was dangerous..."

"Something’s missing..." Regis muttered, "It doesn’t make sense..."

"Let’s move on for now. The reason he gave you that reminder is to make sure that you’ll escape the moment Larkson behaves unnaturally. Which means that your father knew that there was a chance his brother would take the side of demonic humans..."

"Since you said that you killed his family, then a deal must have been formed between him and the demonic humans... something like handing you over to them in exchange for curing his family, assuming that you had turned them to gold."

"It’s very likely for humans to use this strategy since this already happened before in the Orpheus Manor..."

"This fortress is more like a town instead of a city. Larkson said that this fortress existed for hundreds of years. This means that the citizens of Bakurad should already know each other."

"However, the way the guard talked to the innkeeper earlier, coupled with the latter’s expressions..."

"There are also people keeping an eye on us as we walked through the streets..."

Regis kept muttering, piecing together the countless fragments of information in his mind like a complex jigsaw puzzle, each one placed with meticulous precision.

Killian and Pandora looked at him silently, while also thinking of information that could help him.

Meanwhile, Aurelia felt dumbfounded, ’He already deduced that much? What the...’

She took quite a pride in herself in being smarter than the average due to the education she received, coupled with her innate comprehension.

However, she still felt shocked by Regis’s deductive abilities.

At this moment, Regis stopped muttering.

His blood-red eyes radiated intelligence as he looked out the window.

"W-What happened?" Aurelia asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Regis glanced back at her, "Your uncle... he’s innocent."

"Huh? B-But..."

"Trust me, okay?"

"Okay..."

He then glanced at Killian and Pandora, "I’ll leave everything to you two. I’ll need to go out for a while."

"Alright, Boss." "Okay, Brother."

"H-Huh?" Aurelia felt confused at the sudden turn of events.

Regis smiled, "Don’t worry, I’ll bring back good news."

He then walked towards the darkest part of the room and disappeared.

"That’s so cool!" Killian exclaimed before glancing at Aurelia, "Don’t worry, since when did Boss fail us?"

Meanwhile, Pandora silently gazed at the moon without a word.

***

In the Fortress Commander’s Office...

"I just dropped by for a short while to remind you of your duties. I’ll be going now."

The hooded figure got up from the commander’s chair before disappearing.

"Fucking shit, still treating me like a minion." Larkson’s stoic face curled up in anger.

He turned to the window and flung it open, letting the night breeze cool the simmering anger within him.

But just then, a voice rang out from behind him once more.

"Good evening, Commander."

"Are you playing with me!?" Larkson’s voice was filled with rage as he threw a dagger with his full might.

Whoosh—!!!

However, his pupils constricted as he saw who was sitting on the couch.

"Y-You— Aurelia’s friend... Regis!?"

At this moment, Regis, who still had his head tilted to the side when he avoided the dagger, responded with a calm voice, "Isn’t that quite the rude greeting for a guest, Commander?"

Larkson’s face was filled with complex emotions, "Y-You— How?"

Of course, the most prominent one would be, without a doubt, confusion.

"Listen, you must get out of here before they—"

"They? You mean that demonic human?" Regis gestured with his hand, which held a wine glass filled with grape juice.

Larkson followed to where he was gesturing, and his eyes were filled with shock again.

What greeted his sight was the hooded figure who was currently sprawled on the ground, unconscious.