Realizing that something might have happened, the group sped up and ran toward the manor.
"Seal off the roads. Don't let anyone leave."
"Go get the Security Force."
From far away, Yorii Tsugikuni heard the panicked voice of the servant who had guided them earlier coming from the manor entrance.
Unlike the quiet, peaceful atmosphere inside the manor before, many servants carrying weapons were now running about in panic.
Faint sobbing could also be heard coming from within the manor.
"What happened?"
Sayo was the first to rush to the manor. She looked at the servant who had received them earlier in confusion.
From the servant's pale, frightened face, she could vaguely guess that something bad had happened.
"The master was murdered."
"And all the valuables in the storeroom have disappeared."
Seeing Sayo and the others return, the servant seemed to have found a lifeline. Though still flustered, he became much calmer.
He quickly told Sayo everything that had happened.
"Let's take a look."
"Ieyasu, organize the guards and have them secure the entire manor."
After hearing the servant's account, Sayo quickly gained a rough understanding of what had happened and began assigning tasks. "Sayo, gather more members and seal off the roads."
"Yorii, come with me."
Inside the manor.
In a lavishly decorated room with carpeted floors, a fat man lay dead on the bed.
His head had been split open, and his body had nearly been cleaved in two.
Blood that had clearly begun to dry was splattered across the walls.
"The wounds are very smooth. The killer was an extremely skilled swordsman."
"And he died last night."
Yorii Tsugikuni briefly examined the scene before checking the dead master of the manor.
He quickly reached his conclusion.
Though he had not truly fought many times in his life, he could keenly notice details that ordinary people found difficult to observe.
"Murdered last night?"
"According to those two servants, someone was guarding the door at night."
Sayo examined the room's layout, and her brow quickly furrowed.
There were no windows in this room. The only opening was a tiny vent, far too small for a person to enter through.
The only exit was the heavily guarded door.
That meant the key to this murder lay with those responsible for guarding it.
Following that line of reasoning, Sayo quickly summoned the two guards in charge.
After hearing their statements, she quickly overturned her previous conclusion.
The two guards had remained outside the castle entrance that night.
Moreover, the room's door was securely locked, and only the master possessed the key.
They had no way of opening it at all.
More importantly, everything had been normal the night before. They had not heard any sounds of fighting.
"He must have lost consciousness before he died."
"You can tell from how peaceful his expression is."
Yorii Tsugikuni looked toward the vent, gripped by a persistent feeling.
The killer had entered through that vent.
And from the footprints on the floor, he could tell there had been two killers.
Could there be strange creatures like demons in this world too?
After fighting demons for decades, Yorii Tsugikuni had seen all kinds of demons.
So even if something could squeeze through such a narrow vent, it was not entirely unbelievable.
Chapter 27: Speculation, the Suspicious Kitten
"It seems things have become more complicated."
"Let's interrogate everyone first."
Sayo nodded at Yorii Tsugikuni's deduction.
Although it now seemed unlikely that someone inside the manor had killed the master, she still wanted to be cautious.
Sayo decided to investigate everyone regardless.
You were the ones who did this, weren't you?
Other than the power of your Imperial Arms, how could ordinary people possess such methods?
After leaving the room, Sayo began to ponder. In truth, the moment she learned that the manor master's treasury had also been emptied—
Night Raid had been her first suspect.
But as a Security Force officer, she wanted to find sufficient evidence.
So Sayo began investigating the matter according to standard procedure.
After screening everyone from start to finish, Sayo became increasingly certain of her initial suspicion.
Even so, she still could not be completely certain that Night Raid had done it.
The interrogations were long and tedious.
They continued from noon until evening before every interrogation was finally completed.
"Finally, we're done asking questions."
"It really has been a busy day."
After questioning the last person in the manor, Sayo yawned.
In order to find the culprit as soon as possible, she had not stopped since the interrogations began.
"Yorii, you seem to have something on your mind."
"You look rather down."
Sayo quickly noticed something unusual about Yorii Tsugikuni and asked with concern, "Why not tell me? Maybe I can help."
"I just feel that life is too fragile."
"It has been a long time since I last saw such a brutal death scene."
Yorii Tsugikuni waved his hand. Sitting beside Sayo, he organized the information gathered from that day's interrogations.
Since coming to this world, this was the first time he had seen death.
Though death was nothing unfamiliar to him, he still felt distressed whenever he saw it.
"You'll see much more of it in the Security Force."
"People die every day in the Imperial Capital. Most deaths simply pass without a sound."
Sayo was somewhat surprised. She had not expected Yorii Tsugikuni to have such a side to him.
She wanted to say something to comfort him, but after thinking for a long while, she suddenly realized that she did not seem to know how to comfort people.
In the end, she could only imitate her father and tell Yorii Tsugikuni about the crueler side of this world.
It was as if, compared with an even crueler reality, the discomfort caused by what lay before them would lessen somewhat.
"Mm."
Yorii Tsugikuni said nothing more and merely nodded.
He and Sayo held different views on life, but Yorii Tsugikuni was not stubborn enough to demand that everyone think as he did.
He only wanted to hold fast to his own way of living. That was all.
"It seems we can rule out everyone in the manor."
"Then the people we need to track most likely came from outside."
After carefully reviewing the interrogation records, Sayo made her judgment.
She focused her attention on her initial guess.
"It truly has little to do with the people inside the manor."
"But if they came from outside, then who could they be?"
Yorii Tsugikuni had participated in the entire investigation with Sayo, so he completely agreed with her conclusion.
And by now, he had formed a rough theory about the whole incident.
Most likely, one killer had entered through the vent and then opened the door for an accomplice to enter.
After that, they killed the manor master lying on the bed.
"The culprit may possess an Imperial Arm."
"Night Raid is the most likely suspect, but this time, their style is somewhat different."
Sayo offered her deduction, though she still had doubts.
She had encountered Night Raid quite a few times. Based on their usual methods, whenever Night Raid wanted to kill someone, they always killed them directly. They rarely acted as silently as they had today.
Those people had never feared the Security Force.
But today's killer seemed not to be very strong, which was why they had needed to hide themselves like this.
An Imperial Arm?
What kind of people are Night Raid?
Yorii Tsugikuni sat silently in his chair. He had only learned about things like Imperial Arms after joining the Security Force.
Compared to a Nichirin Blade, Imperial Arms were clearly much more powerful.
Furthermore, much of the power wielded by people in this world came from Imperial Arms, which did not sit well with Yorii Tsugikuni.
In his view, only power that belonged to oneself was truly reliable, so he had no interest in so-called Imperial Arms.
Besides, since joining the Security Force, he had heard the name Night Raid more than once.
At first, Yorii Tsugikuni had held no interest in Night Raid, but now he was gradually becoming curious about them.
"Master, Sister Sayo."
"We questioned everyone around the area, but we didn't find any useful information."
Sayo and Ieyasu entered from the manor entrance. From their tired appearances, it was obvious that they had covered quite a large area that afternoon.
Sayo stepped forward first and reported the day's progress to Yorii Tsugikuni and Sayo.
"You've worked hard."
"It's getting late. Let's go get something to eat."
Sayo poured Sayo some water. Though the matter had not been completely settled, it had at least reached a temporary stopping point. After a busy day, she finally realized that none of them had eaten anything.
"Alright!"
Before you continue