Slander?

"I am accusing Caleb, the administrator of Gede Town, of plotting to murder a mage from the Alliance."

Upon hearing this, Dante's heart sank, and he thought to himself that he was doomed.

The three High-Order Mage had made many demands on his actions, and many of these demands were contradictory, which gave him a huge headache.

But now, another disciple of a Fourth Order Mage has appeared, and his words are clearly implying that he should just capture Caleb.

He was in a terrible headache and was so focused on doing exactly what Fran said.

But at the crucial moment, reason prevailed, bringing him back to his senses.

Dante spoke slowly, as if seeking Fran's opinion.

"Well, Fran, Caleb is, after all, the Alliance's appointed administrator. I don't think he would do such a thing."

The Alliance's administrators are appointed by the Alliance itself, and to a certain extent, they represent the Alliance's image.

If it weren't absolutely necessary, Dante would never want to point the finger at this manager.

It's important to understand that the managers in various parts of the Alliance are all deeply entrenched, and if you point the finger at a particular manager, your own superiors might try to stop you.

Furthermore, a First Order Mage cannot simply convict someone based on a mere suspicion.

The Alliance is, after all, a force of mages, and it strives to provide the best possible protection for every mage.

Unless the Fourth Order Mage behind Fran comes in person, he, a mere Investigator, really cannot capture Caleb directly.

"Oh! Well, I have evidence."

Hearing this, Dante perked up and asked.

"What evidence?"

"At the dinner party hosted by Caleb that I attended, after the dinner, Caleb suggested an entertainment activity."

"At that time, he proposed a duel between knights and promised a reward to the winner."

"The reward was a token, and he didn't know exactly what it was, only that it was definitely a token, perhaps used to open a certain door..."

"And that's where the problem lies. I won, I took the token, and I suspect it was originally meant for Zeno, but I just happened to get my hands on it."

Dante frowned and asked:

Why do you say that?

A smile appeared on Fran's lips as she spoke;

"The problem arose after I received the token. When I tried to leave the city for the Northern Territory, a group of people blocked my way, and they specifically asked for what I had."

"I had no choice but to hand this over to them."

"Their leader was dressed in black armor, with a wolf's head emblem on his shoulder..."

Upon hearing this, Dante's pupils contracted slightly, as if something had suddenly flashed into his mind.

"They even considered killing me to ensure the information about this thing wouldn't be leaked, but they only gave up on that idea after I brought up my mentor."

"And after I inquired about the specifics, this is what they told me..."

"They desperately need this; it's a crucial item, which is why they came to intercept and kill me."

"They initially thought it was in Zeno's possession, but after discovering it wasn't there, they learned from Caleb that it was actually in my hands."

"I think, poor Zeno the mage, betrayed by his trusted colleague, lost his life in vain."

"That's why I accused Caleb of murdering his colleague; he's utterly unfit to be the administrator of Gede Town."

Fran finished recounting everything with a smile, unaware that Caleb had actually done so.

She thought that this item was given to her by Caleb, and that Zeno happened to die not long afterward.

However, Zeno has the highest apparent probability of winning the Knight's Duel proposed by Caleb.

This made her suspect that the item was deliberately given to Zeno so that Zeno would be killed by those knights.

Although she didn't know the details, she immediately concluded that Caleb was the murderer.

She was thinking that if she and the person in front of her went to search Caleb's house together, they might be lucky enough to find some clues Caleb.

You could also press them to reveal exactly what this "Caleb" thing is.

Fran still doesn't know what this thing is, but it seems those knights are determined to get their hands on it.

She suspected that Caleb actually knew what this thing was, which was why he specifically used it as a reward for the Knight's Duel.

She was now extremely eager to know what this thing was, so she wouldn't fight those knights without knowing the truth.

Even in the worst-case scenario, where Caleb truly had no intention of harming her and it was all just a coincidence.

She suffered no loss; by invoking her mentor Harbos's name, she could make it seem like the incident never happened.

Meanwhile, Dante was struck dumb by Fran's words and remained speechless for a long time.

He came up with an extremely bold idea.

If Caleb really was the mastermind behind all this, then he could slightly alter the investigation records.

Zeno, who killed the Blood Wolf Knights, attributed the sword to Caleb, explaining that it was made from the bones of a Frost Giant Wolf.

In this way, he can perfectly cater to the opinions of all parties without anyone raising any questions.

This avoided the opinions of the Lorenbu Family, preventing the Blood Wolf Knights from being convicted; it also accommodated the opinion of Elliott of the Skeleton Society, proving that the deceased truly died in this way and that his device was indeed effective.

If Caleb truly plotted to kill Zeno, he would surely confess during the subsequent magical interrogation to the scheme.

He could simply change the wording of the interrogation records and steer everything toward Caleb, fulfilling everyone's demands.

At that moment, he desperately hoped that Caleb had indeed plotted to kill Zeno.

Caleb's house.

In a basement, Caleb covered his nose, opened the door, and a foul smell wafted out.

He stared at the only table in the basement, on which rested a somewhat rotten head.

Zeno wasn't a member of the Transmutation School; at most, his head could hold on for a little longer before it rotted.

He looked at the head and almost burst out laughing.

"Is this what they call a genius? A genius who joined the University Association...?"

He didn't put the head here to satisfy his perverse tastes or to have some fun every now and then.

Rather, for safety reasons, he wanted to find a safe place before transporting the head there.

However, this wasn't the first time he'd thought of leaving the head there, buying some preservatives to soak it in, and checking on it from time to time.

Just then, his heightened Mental Power, typical of Formal Mage, allowed him to hear the sentence above.

"The Alliance Investigator, we need to search this house."