Chapter 3, Part 1

Note: due to time constraints this part has not beed proofread, typos galore ahead 🙁

The Crystal Cup was a renowned tavern in the city of Re-Estize. It was a place for lower and mid-tier nobles to hang out, and the prices reflected this. Certainly no commoner could afford to eat or drink there. However, today the mood in the tavern was very different than the usual, jovious atmosphere. All of the patrons of the Crystal Cup looked annoyed. The reason for this was obviously a certain patron.

The cloth he wore, while high-quality, was completely mismatched, as if someone just threw together a bunch of items. Comfortable brown leather boots, white, tight riding trousers, a pink short with frilled sleeves and a blue jacket with golden chains across the chest. It looked ridiculous.

However, the eccentric way of dressing wouldn’t cause the other patrons to be so annoyed. It wasn’t even due to the man being quite drunk. No, it was because he had recruited two waitresses to sign a song for him. It was about a commoner who went to war only to find out on his return that a noble had abducted his beloved. The commoner then sought revenge and in the end killed the vile noble. It was a very offensive song, which was popular with the workers and other shady characters. To make matters worse, neither of the waitresses had any singing ability, their sad attempts could only be likened to beasts roaring.

“Oh, for the love of Gods, stop this immediately,” one of the nobles bellowed, unable to take it any longer.

“Shud up,” the drunk man shouted in response without turning his head. He held a drink in one hand and was waving his other hand as if a conductor for an orchestra.

“You dare to talk to me, a noble, like that?” The noble yelled jumping to his feet.

“Ah noble, ar ya? Ya think you ar above the rest of us?”

“You better get out of here and never come back, if you know what’s good for you,” the noble threatened.

“An you better shud up if ya know what’s good for ya,” the man said before sipping some ale from his cup. “Or ya might just get killed,” he added.

“You, you dare to threaten a noble? In a public place with all these witnesses?”

The drunk man got up from his seat, and after wobbling dangerously, shuffled to the noble’s table.

“And what if I am? What are ya gonna do about dat?” He asked while laughing uproariously.

The noble was going to retort, but his attention was drawn to a shiny object which appeared in the drunk man’s free hand – a dagger.

“Yea, ya not gonna do jack,” the man laughed once more after the noble swallowed his words at the sight of the weapon. “An donn even think about callin da guards, or I’ll visit ya home too,” the man grinned.

Afterward he returned to his table, emptied the cup’s contents into his mouth and threw some coins to the waitresses, before wobbling his way out of the inn. The noble whose face was red with shame and anger wanted to follow the man and call the guards, but the last sentence kept him in his seat. While the culprit was clearly drunk, his eyes were very cold, and didn’t promise anything good.

So, he did his best to brush it off, loudly claiming that he got what he wanted – the drunkard out of the inn, and that there was no need to escalate things further. However, later he went to complain about the incident to the city guards.

Additionally, the words the man used stuck in the noble’s head “or I’ll visit ya home too.” After thinking about it for a day, he decided to go to the captain of the palace guards, who was still conducting the investigation into Philip’s and Samuel’s murders. Even if the drunk man had no connection to the murders, being investigated could turn up other things and would certainly cause him a head ache.

After listening to the noble, the captain of the palace guards, Shaun Olter Bonur, was quite excited. He quickly confirmed the drunk man’s appearance, and then sent out a group of guards to question the tavern’s staff. The drunk man was just the one he was looking for.

In accordance to Zanac’s order to find the assassin, Shaun began to conduct his investigation. Unfortunately, none of the guards or maids at Philip’s estate could provide any clues to the assassin’s identity. As such, he decided to go a different route and look for people who had recently come into money and began to act differently.

The price tag for a murder of a prominent noble like Philip wouldn’t be low, and would likely completely change the financial circumstances of the assassin. While hoping that the assassin would be stupid enough to flaunt their wealth was the obvious weak point of this plan, Shaun couldn’t think of anything else he could do.

After questioning various inn keepers and tavern owners as well as mobilizing all of the spies in his employ, there turned out to be three people who fit his criteria. The first one had won a large sum in a card game. However, there was a dozen witnesses, and so the man was dismissed as a potential assassin.

The second man was a beggar, but recently was seen wearing good clothes and was even negotiating some small deals with the local merchants. After capturing and questioning him, the man claimed that he had found a sack filled with one hundred gold coins laying on the side of the road. Whether he really did find it like he said or perhaps the gold was obtained through more nefarious means wasn’t really important. The man’s background as a beggar made it very unlikely that he could pull off Philip’s assassination.

The third man was the most promising. Sean Aker was an adventurer and then later became a worker, before he quit and began to dabble into even more shady things. A rogue with a rank equivalent to platinum, he was the best candidate for the assassin.

Unfortunately, after claiming that he struck it reach and buying everyone a drink, the day after Philip’s death, Sean Aker disappeared and has not been seen in the taverns he normally frequented. And now, he had learned that a man matching Sean’s description was seen in the high-end tavern for the nobles. Shaun wanted to slap himself. Of course, if Sean began to lead the life of a wealthy man then Shaun’s agents couldn’t find Sean in the kind of placed usually visited by workers and other low-lives.

A few days later the suspect was caught. Sean vehemently denied the charges, but upon searching the house he had rented, a secret hiding place was found which contained over four hundred gold coins. Although, Sean continued to deny any involvement in Philip’s murder, and claimed that he saved that money after many years of working, he couldn’t provide a good explanation for the recent change in his behavior.

The investigators were convinced of his guilt, and so they used some enhanced interrogation techniques. It didn’t take much for Sean to confess his crimes and to provide the name of the one who hired him to assassinate Philip. One Jim Sady. Nicknamed Shady Jim, he was a well known character in the underworld and often acted as a middleman between those who needed things done and those who would get thins done.

Upon his arrest Jim, naturally, denied everything and claimed that Sean was obviously compelled to make things up due to torture.

“Of course he’ll give you a name if you torture him long enough. But him giving my name just means I am too well-known and my name was the first that came to his mind. It doesn’t mean anything else,” Jim argued.

“So, you are saying you didn’t hire him to assassinate Philip-san?” Shaun asked, to which Jim nodded energetically. “Hmm, he had provided the details of the assassination that only the killed would know. So, if he is indeed the assassin, why would he name you and not the actual client who hired him?”

“Maybe he’s afraid of retaliation? Or perhaps he’s hoping his client can still help him get out of trouble?” Jim shrugged.

“Perhaps. However, here’s where I stand, His Majesty the King had ordered me to find those responsible for Philip-san’s murder. Sean Aker is the assassin and will die for his crime. However, the King is more interested in the client than the actual killer. Sean has pointed at you, so,unless you can tell me about the actual client, you’ll have to play that role yourself,” Shaun smirked.

“This is against the law! You would scapegoat an innocent man?!”

“We both know you aren’t innocent. You are certainly guilty of quite a few other crimes. Regardless, I need to show results to His Majesty. If you refuse to cooperate, you can only blame yourself for what happens,” the captain shrugged.

“And if I cooperate, what will happen to me?” Jim asked after a short silence.

“As in, you’ll admit to being a middleman and point us to the one who hired you? Your property will be confiscated and you will go to prison… I suppose if your confession is especially sincere, and you are able to provide irrefutable proof against your client, you might get away with being deported instead of serving a prison term,” Shaun said.

Jim sighed and seemed to shrink into the chair as his shoulders drooped. “Then, you guarantee I will deported after my property is confiscated? I will not be sent to prison?” He asked in a defeated voice.

“What kind of evidence do you have?”

“Transcripts of my conversation with the client… not just this client, other clients too.”

“Ho, an insurance policy? You certainly live up to your reputation of a smart man,” Shaun chuckled.

“So?”

“Alright, if you give us these transcripts and collaborate verbally everything that happened, you will be deported in lieu of a prison term,” Shaun agreed.

Jim was taken back to his house, where he opened quite a few secret hiding places filled with various documents. Upon review of the documents, there were many shady things the various nobles had done on their behalf. Kidnappings, theft, spying on competitors, sabotage and a handful of murders.

The one he was interested in was, of course, the transcript of the client for Philip’s murder. It was one Povel Nder Ithuan – a mid-tier noble and a staunch supporter of Count Lytton. Povel had hired Jim at the price of one thousand gold coins to assassinate Philip within two days of the contract.

The transcription was collaborated by Jim verbally, and he also provided other details – where the two met, how the money was transferred etc. With this evidence in hand, Shaun went ahead and arrested Povel. Upon further questioning, the carriage driver admitted that he did drive his master to the place where Jim claimed he met Povel.

His guilt beyond a doubt, Shaun interrogated the noble. However, Povel claimed that he was the mastermind of the assassination, and that it did not originate from Count Lytton. No matter how he tried to argue it, Shaun couldn’t force Povel to point at the Count as the real culprit. Once confronted with such a dead-end,he chose to leave the decision of what to do next to His Majsety.

He had been reporting his findings to King Zanac after every breakthrough, so he just needed to report Povel’s stubbornness.

“So, he intends to take all of the blame on himself? I see,” Zanac nodded. “By the way, great job on obtaining all of these transcripts from that Jim fellow. Do have him collaborate all of the transcripts verbally as well,” he added.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Shaun bowed.

“As for Povel, I need to think of how to handle him. Dismissed.”

After Shaun left, Zanac spent some time contemplating what he could do to implicate Count Lytton, but was unable to come up with anything the Count wouldn’t be able to defend against. He sighed, and left the room where he spoke with the captain. He walked through the palace until he came to his sister’s quarters.

Before he could knock the door opened, and Climb walked out while looking behind himself, almost crashing into the King. “Be sure to come back to me, you hear!” Renner’s voice came from inside the room.

“Oh, Your Majesty, please excuse me,” Climb bowed to Zanac once he turned around and saw the king.

Zanac nodded to the young man, and walked inside.

“Dear sister, I am in need of your advice once again,” he greeted Renner.

“Of course, Your Majesty, I will do my best to assist you,” the princess replied with a bow.

While she made tea for both of them, Zanac explained the situation with the investigation and Povel.

“So, he refuses to point at Lytton and intends to take full responsibility himself,” Zanac concluded the explanation.

“I don’t think there is anything you can do to change his conviction,” Renner said.

“Right. However, I need to get rid of Lytton. Removing a mid-tier noble like Povel doesn’t do anything for the royal faction,” Zanac complained as he sipped on his tea.

“Then, why not go for Lytton directly?”

“And how would we do that with no evidence?”

“It’s not hard. First, spread the rumors that Povel was working on the orders of Count Lytton – this should be simple, since most people already believe this. Then, demand a public trial via mind magic. If Count Lytton declines, the perception of his guild will magnify,” Renner explained.

“But, what if he accepts?” Zanac said. “After all, he isn’t the one to… you know.”

“Even if the were, other parties who sought the same result, it doesn’t mean that Count Lytton is innocent. After all, Povel has admitted his guilt. So, the real question is whether Povel acted on his own or if the Count gave him the order,” Renner smiled at her brother.

I see, even though our assassin got there first, Lytton was planning the same thing, in that case what are the odds Lytton isn’t the mastermind? Zanac mused when a sudden thought struck him.

“Wait a minute, if our.. um, if one party’s assassin got there first, then why did Povel’s assassin claim he did it? Zanac asked.

“Didn’t he admit to it under torture? Then it shouldn’t be surprising. I mean, should he have said that he planned to do it, but someone else got there first? Who would believe such a thing,” Renner chuckled.

I see. Then, if we go after Lytton directly, if he declines the public trial, it’s our win, if he agrees and is guilty, it’s our win, only if he agrees and is not guilty would we lose some reputation, but I doubt that’s that’s case. Plus, we can make it so the trial is a response to the commoners’ and nobles’ concerns, and doesn’t originate with me. After he came to this conclusion, Kin Zanac made his decision.

“Let’s have a public trial.”

 

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