Chapter 175: The Treasury Theft

I already said that I wouldn't involve myself with him again… and yet here I am, involving him to stuff just so I can relieve my stress using his company. If he disappears again, I'll have only myself to blame, won't I?

But… I just can't help it. I was just so happy that he has returned that… I just don't care why he disappeared these past few days. All that matters is that he's here with me. One last time. Juts one last time… I told myself again.

Anyway, this new incident is putting me into the detective mood. Totally not influenced by that slut's Detective Conyan novel. Totally no.

We arrived at the treasury, a secure vault containing the wealth of the royal family. It contains not just piles of gold and chests of gold. Jewelries, expensive art collections, Artifacts, rare spices, etc… all stored here. I can already see Pooch drolling at the sight of such wealth.

"No touching anything, okay?"

"Kaaay." He nods even though his sight still doesn't leave the treasury.

I approach the door to the vault, which is surrounded by knights investigating the crime scene. Even that infuriating head investigator Gray is around. I try not to frown at the sight of him as he noticed my arrival.

"Ah. Princess Alexia. I must apologize that this incident has disturbed your beauty sleep but rest assured. We shall find the culprit as soon as possible." He says with a suspicious smile.

"Head Investigator Gray. Tell me. What's the situation here? How did the thief broke through security?"

"We are trying to figure that out as well. The royal knights assigned to guard the vault were slain and thus we concluded that the thief is someone very powerful. Lucky for us, the thief left us a clue." He says as he produces a joker card from his pocket, which has a message written in blood. It simply reads: "Jack the Ripper".

"That card…!?"

"This card was found inside the vault where the stolen chest of gold was." Gray clarifies.

"And the slain knights?"

"They have cards embedded on their skulls as well." Gray says as he points his finger towards the bloody mess that is the corpses of the knights who guarded the vault before being slain. Just as he says, a card is embedded on each of their skulls.

"But even if he has slain the knights, he shouldn't be able to gain access to the vault! The door is an Artifact and will not allow strangers in!" Marquis Monay, the treasurer responsible for managing the vault, explains as he points at the wide open vault door, which is undamaged.

"Perhaps the thief… this killer clown, obtained a way to bypass the Artifact?" Gray suggests with a barely concealed grin.

"Are you blaming the royal family again?" I say as I finally let myself frown. I have to give it to him. This guy is persistent. Why did Claude keep this guy around again?

"I wouldn't dare…! But the possibility is still there, your highness. Think of it. Perhaps someone connected to the royal family stole the information on how to bypass the vault's door and said information got leaked to the killer clown, Jack the Ripper, who proceeded to steal money from-"

"That's fake!" Pooch unexpectedly shouts before Gray can finish his ridiculous hypothesis.

"Oh? And why would you think that, boy?" Gray asks with a dangerous glint in his eyes that I noticed just a split second before being replaced by his usual fake smile.

"Umm… Look at the back of that card." Pooch says, which prompts Gray to flip the card around.

"What is in there, Pooch?" I ask curiously.

"That pattern is not a Mitsugoshi brand's playing card. It's Snow Fox's."

"And what does that have to do with anything, boy?"

"Jack the Ripper only uses Mitsugoshi cards." He points out a fact that we all missed. If I recall correctly, I did notice that the cards that the clown used were indeed Mitsugoshi brand cards when I try to figure out any hidden message behind the cards the way Pooch did. I almost forgot about it until Pooch pointed it out. Is Pooch really that observant?

"Bah. That's nonsense. Who would beli-"

"I do, Sir Gray. I've seen all the cards and can confirm that what he said is true."

"T-That proves nothing! Anyone can get whatever cards they want!"

"Which means anyone could've been the culprit, isn't it?" Pooch retorts. Wow. Even Gray can't retort back.

"Hmph. Your suggestion has been noted, boy. But please stay out of this. It's too dangerous for you to be involved in this matter. Especially since your last… incident." Gray warns Pooch with a glare, making him tremble with fear, which is where I must step in to defend my Pooch.

"I also agree with his theory." I say as I stand in front of Pooch, shielding him from the old man.

"Oh? And what makes you think that, princess?"

"I've seen the corpses of the clown's victim. We all have, haven't we, Gray?"

"Yes. We have." He says with a slight frown.

"Then you should notice the difference between the corpses of Jack the Ripper's victims and these knights."

"What are you getting at, princess?" He does not like it one bit. It makes me can't help but smirk.

"Jack the Ripper's kills were clean. He used only the cards to kill. And yet, these corpses look like their skulls have been chopped by a sharp object before a card was inserted inside the wound. Look at how messy it is." I point out at the heads of the knights which sports larger wound than the cards which were embedded on the wounds.

"But the card with his name written on it! It's…"

"Let me tell you my own theory, Sir Gray. It seems that someone stole from the royal family and tried to frame Jack the Ripper as the culprit. And by framing the killer clown, frames Claude Normann by extension because a certain someone has been trying so hard to associate him with the clown."

"But…"

"Of course you are the culprit! Well, a suspect actually." I declare while pointing at him the way Detective Conyan did in one of that slut's novels.

"What!? ME!? I'm the head investigator! How could you accuse me, princess!?"

"You accused my future brother in law before. In fact, you were trying to imply that the thief managed to bypass the door through Claude. Why are you so surprised that I find your behaviour VERY suspicious?"

"Princess! I assure you that I-"

"Knights! Arrest this man immediately!" I order and the knights obey, swiftly arresting the man. He does not protest and left quietly.

"Heh heh heh. Good riddance. I hate that guy."

"He was… quite scary." Pooch says behind me, cowering like a regular person would under the gaze of someone of Gray's caliber. Although…

To be honest, his actions tonight have been very suspicious. It's almost like he's…

"But I was surprised that you were the first to defend that clown, Pooch. You looked like you were angry when Gray accused Jack the Ripper as the culprit. You even noticed that the clown only used Mitsugoshi cards, something that even I almost overlooked. Not to mention you only agreed to help me concerning his case and was initially reluctant to be involved in this case until Jack the Ripper's name was mentioned. You're always there to decipher his clues as if you understand the mind of the clown completely, almost as if you're him." I turn towards him and trap him in a corner.

"Uhh…" He looks like he's having a mini heart attack. How cute.

"As I thought, Pooch. You are…" I pause for a second, in order to build a tension.

"…Jack the Ripper's fan, aren't you?"

"Huh? Uhh… Y-Yeah…" Heh. Looks like I was correct. Didn't know that Pooch is such a nerd. But why does he have to be interested in such a clown? Instead, he could've been more interested in a certain gorgeous platinum haired princess, you know?

"Umm… Princess. Although we have determined that Jack the Ripper isn't the culprit, we haven't determined who the real thief is. Not to mention we have no idea where the chest of gold that the thief stole is." The panicked Marquis Monay asks. He takes pride in his job and this incident must be such a blow for him. Especially because…

"The only ones who have clearance to enter the vault would be you or members of the royal family. Not even Claude has access to it even though he is now the regent, by the way. Not until he's officially crowned king. And the royal family has no reason to steal from themselves, don't we?"

"I-I swear that I'm not the culprit, your highness!" He's getting even more panicking. He's the only suspect in this scenario after all.

"Did you leak the password to anyone?"

"I wouldn't dare!" He denies. I'd like to believe him since he's not a bad person as far as I know. But…

"Then why don't we get a dog to sniff the scent?" Pooch suggests.

"Well, considering you're a dog, I suppose you could do the job, Pooch." I tease him, which earns him a frown.

"Nope. I can't do that." He says while shaking his head.

"But your suggestion has merit. Do we have a Beastkin, preferably from a wolf clan, employed as a mercenary?" I turn to ask the nearby knights, who have probably interacted with the mercenaries more often than me.

"Well… It just so happens that a wolf beastkin has recently signed up to join our mercenary force, your highness. His name is Gettan." The knight answers.

"Bring him in as soon as possible."

How strange. As soon as I signed up to join the mercenary force, which was formed in response to the inevitable war with Oriana Kingdom, a kingdom that has fallen under Necromancer's rule, I was summoned by the royal family. Did they found out that I used to be a part of the Cult? If so, shall they attempt to punish me?

I'm sure I'll find out when I meet the second princess, who summoned me early in the morning.

As soon as I entered the castle, I noticed a familiar smell that somehow gave me chills. But that is impossible. That little monster can't be here, can he?

Ahh… My hands can't stop trembling.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Gettan?" Asks the knight who's currently escorting me towards the great chamber.

"N-Nothing. I'm fine." I reply whilst mustering all the strength I have to suppress the trembling.

"Maybe you ought to wear something thicker. The winter just started after all." The knight kindly suggests, not knowing that the cold of winter is not what's bothering me.

No matter. If I die here, so be it. My only regrets would be my inability to fix the mess I've made… and save Yukime from Necromancer.

I enter the spacious great chamber, which smells very luxurious. The second princess is sitting on a chair and in front of her is a table where two cups of coffee is served. Behind her stands two knights who are stronger than the average knight, probably from the elite Crimson Order. As a former Named Child, I judge that they are no match for me… but I have little intention of fighting back in case they want to arrest me.

"Welcome to the royal palace, Mr. Gettan." The second princess greets whilst remaining seated, not reacting to my appearance. I thought I have to deal with a weak hearted princess who would be repulsed by the scars on both my eyes, but it looks like she's more resilient than that. Her magic is also decently strong. Overall, she's someone I can respect at least.

"A pleasure, Princess Alexia Midgar." I greet her while bowing.

"Come. Take a seat."

"Very well." I take the seat that was provided for me, facing the princess directly.

"May I ask… to what do I owe the pleasure of being summoned by you, your highness?"

"It has come to my attention that… there is been a scheme to destabilize the kingdom from within." There it is… The Scheme.

"I assume it has something to do with money?"

"You catch on quick. Yes. It does concern money. The scheme caused negligible damage to the kingdom's finances but it is a terrible scheme all the same, especially since money is not the end goal but just a small part of the scheme. The culprit must be punished. Don't you agree?"

"I agree… completely." So I'm about to be punished for my crimes. I guess it is inevitable that they would find out about me.

"I'm glad you agree. The reason I called you here is because…" Because you want to punish me for that failed counterfeit bills scheme I hatched with the MCA some time ago?

"…I need your help catching a thief who stole from our castle's treasury last night."

"Eh?"

"Hm?"

A moment of silence passes between us, with neither of us saying anything, though the one who's truly confused was me.

"Ah. You probably didn't know but last night there was a thief who stole from our treasury and put the blame not only on the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, but also tries to blame our regent, Claude Normann, as being associated with said crime." The princess explains. And here I thought I was caught. I felt like I did back when I was a child… when I was caught red-handed doing some mischief.

"I specifically requested you because we need someone who can sniff out the culprit before the trail goes cold. Rest assured that you will be properly compensated for this. What say you, Mr. Gettan?" So they just want a wolf beastkin to track down the thief. Well, I can do that.

"I'm in. When do we begin?"

"Thank you for your cooperation. And I like your enthusiasm! We'll start immediately!"

Author's Note:

A bit of a detective moment for Alexia and Cid. Also, two Misunderstandings in Shadow in one chapter. Not to mention the other misunderstanding from the previous chapter. We're truly back.

By the way, now that I've got my copy of Vol.6, I've started editing some of the chapters in Jack the Ripper arc in order to replace the names of the Thirteen Night Blades with their localized versions.

I've also fixed the grammars and added a few sentences for the earlier chapters in order to improve my writing skills overall. So far I've edited from the Prologue up to Chapter 19. No major changes in the storyline, but if you wanna re-read, go ahead.

Guest: Awesome chapter and we get to see more of my favorite girl Iris, it's been a while, I wonder if she and Claude will have a romantic night after the rescue so Claude can make it up to her

Answer: If he does it, it's only to make Sherry jealous. He does not care much about Iris in the first place and after becoming more evil than before, he definitely cares much much less about her.

DerTrap: Of course I made that reference because this is a very possible direction for Iris, at least in my opinion. She already is completely dependent on Claude(like Anakin was to Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith), in a perfect state to be corrupted to the very core. Also as you told us from Alexia's point of view, Iris is on very bad terms with her, she doesn't even speak to Alexia anymore.

So Claude could see this and use this opportunity to manipulate her, until she willingly joins his/Necromancer's side in this great war between Shadow Garden and Necromancer. With Alexia of course being on Shadow Garden's side. It would also create a great parallel with Rose, an evil queen who is forced into doing evil things and Iris, an evil queen who does it willingly. I could see her going completely insane, until she is unrecognizable.

Also I want her to get a power-up, a big one, maybe if she actually becomes Gilfried's replacement within the seven wraiths(as my theory is that he could be te next one to die, as I see multiple death flags with him). So big that she could even be a legitamate threat to Alpha and the other seven shades, especially the weaker fighters of the Shades. I just want to see her finally truly fight one of them, maybe even Alpha after her potential power-up. In which Iris just straight up wipes the floor with her opponent, even mocking them about their "weakness". If her opponent is Alpha there could even be a reference to the first time Iris has met Alpha in the story. But now their positions would be reversed, as Iris is now the one looking down on Alpha.

Answer: I actually plan on her fighting someone else, but… interesting idea. Also I've almost forgotten about Gilfried's plotline.

Also, I see that you like the Necromancer art I drew. Did you manage to roll him in the game? XD