Something's Fishy

The deceased's body was discovered at their home.

Upon finding the body, Minister Honest immediately sealed off the scene and thoroughly interrogated the household servants.

However, no suspects were found.

The servants were preliminarily ruled out as perpetrators.

The victim's time of death was midnight, and there was only one wound: a single needle prick to the back of the head. The concubine who slept with the victim was the most suspected.

But after a series of interrogations, the concubine was found to be innocent.

Minister Honest's subordinate's mansion had considerable defensive capabilities, yet they were still assassinated without anyone noticing.

In the Imperial Capital, the only ones capable of such a feat...

"It can only be Night Raid!"

Esdeath stated with certainty.

Lilith shared the same assessment.

Lilith accompanied Esdeath to the home of Minister Honest's subordinate.

Before they arrived, Minister Honest's subordinates had already searched the premises multiple times, but no valuable clues were found.

"Even though I was mentally prepared, we still haven't found any valuable clues," Esdeath remarked. She then looked at Lilith and asked, "Did your pet catch any scent?"

Lilith shook her head.

She was also trying to figure out who the killer was.

The current situation reminded her of an Imperial Arms user.

An Imperial Arms user with a very special Imperial Arms.

That Imperial Arms possessed no offensive capabilities but was extremely effective for reconnaissance and assassination.

[Gaia Foundation]!

Once mastered, it allowed the user to transform into various forms, not just of the same species, but even animals.

Lilith wondered if [Gaia Foundation] could also transform someone into plants or rocks.

If it could, that would be incredibly powerful!

Lilith only knew that [Gaia Foundation] could alter one's shape, but she didn't know the extent of its capabilities.

However, Lilith had already instructed Big Wolf and the others to memorize all the scents within the mansion.

If any familiar scent appeared, Big Wolf and the others would alert Lilith.

While she didn't know if [Gaia Foundation] could mask the user's scent, it was better than doing nothing.

Afterward, Esdeath and Lilith departed, awaiting the next incident.

In the following days, more people were found dead in their homes.

All of them, without exception, had died silently.

It was evident that their killer was an extremely skilled assassin.

However, Minister Honest would not allow the assassin to continue their rampage unchecked. He had his own informants within the Rebel Army.

It was far easier for the Minister to plant spies within the Rebel Army than for the Rebel Army to do so in the Imperial Capital.

It was merely a matter of money and official positions.

Therefore, although Minister Honest did not know who had killed his subordinates, nor even what their appearance was, He did learn about Night Raid's next target.

After all, Night Raid's targets were mostly designated by the Rebel Army.

Consequently, Lilith, accompanied by Seryu, headed to the residence of Night Raid's next target.

Even though their actions were swift, the person was already dead.

"Lady Lilith, the police have completely surrounded the mansion. Not a single fly can get out!" Seryu said, holding Little Ke, and saluted Lilith.

"Thank you for your hard work," Lilith replied.

"It's no trouble at all when it comes to fighting criminals!" Seryu said energetically.

Lilith looked at the deceased lying on the chair, their eyes wide open in death.

The body was still warm, or rather, the person had just died.

Before they arrived, they had already ordered the area around the mansion to be cordoned off. Lilith could guarantee that no one could escape this inescapable net easily.

Unless... they weren't human!

"Awooo~"

The bright moonlight shone through the huge window, causing Lilith's shadow to flicker.

Suddenly, a giant wolf... no, a dog's head emerged from Lilith's shadow, then snatched a small cat from its bed next to the chair.

Seryu's mouth gaped in surprise as the giant dog completely emerged from Lilith's shadow.

She looked at the Big Wolf, then at the little cat in her arms. After comparing them, she realized that even when the little cat grew to its largest size, it was still smaller than the Big Wolf.

"Little Cat, you need to try harder!"

"Woof~"

Seryu and Little Cat cheered each other on from the side.

Meanwhile, Lilith watched as the utterly bewildered and innocent-looking kitten looked at her, blinking its big, sparkling eyes. It was incredibly cute.

"What a cute kitten, only a little smaller than my Little Cat. Lilith, are you planning to adopt it?"

Seeing Lilith's curiosity about the kitten, Seryu asked.

"Adopt?" Lilith narrowed her eyes and answered Seryu's question. "If it were just a cat, it wouldn't be impossible to adopt, but it's not."

"???"

Seryu tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion.

If it wasn't a cat, what else could it be?

"Gaia... Foundation, that's the name, right?"

Compared to Imperial Arms like Essence of the Demon, Murasame, and Incursio, which shone brightly in the original story, the Imperial Arm Gaia Foundation was remembered by Lilith solely because of the word "Gaia" in its name.

Otherwise, even if Lilith could remember the Imperial Arm's abilities, if it had a different name, Lilith would have forgotten it!

This is it, this is it, this is it! Chelsea thought frantically, utterly panicked.

When the Big Wolf grabbed her again, her heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest. She feared that in the next second, she would be swallowed whole by this giant wolf.

If that happened, she would surely become the Imperial Arms user with the most humiliating death in history!

Chelsea hadn't even considered the possibility of her disguise being seen through.

She had immense confidence in her Imperial Arm and believed her disguise couldn't be seen.

But when Lilith spoke the name of her Imperial Arm, Chelsea truly panicked.

If before she was afraid of being eaten, now she was afraid of being recognized.

Although she might... probably... perhaps, have already been recognized.

But she still wanted to struggle a bit.

What if she could just bluff her way through?

"Meow meow meow~"

Chelsea let out cute meows, making anyone who saw her want to exclaim "So cute!"

But Lilith was not among them, and...

Killing intent!

A vast killing intent emanated from the girl beside Lilith, whose arms had been modified.

Seryu's face gradually contorted.

She wasn't an idiot. With just a few simple sentences, she guessed that there was something fishy about this cat!