What Malinda Julius Caesar was concealing amounted to no more than-
1. Anna was alive. Her supposed murder by the "Axe Murderer" was merely a setup, a staged death to let her slip away.
2. Anna was dead, but the "Axe Murderer" had not killed her. It was still a setup, framing someone else while lulling the real opponent into a false sense of security.
3. Anna was dead, and the "Axe Murderer" really had killed her.
Simply put, if either of the first two guesses was right, Miss Caesar was exploiting the chaos for her own ends!
Without realizing it, Arthur raised his assessment of Miss Caesar's danger level once again.
At the same time, his gaze returned to her.
Her blue eyes were as clear as the sky. Apart from anxiety, he could discern nothing in them. Her expression was flawless, too-she looked exactly like a woman searching for her girlfriend.
Even with the aid of his skills, Arthur could make out nothing more.
Arthur could not determine which possibility applied to Anna.
Judging by Malinda Julius Caesar's behavior, Arthur leaned toward the third guess-Anna really was dead, and the "Axe Murderer" had killed her.
But that was only a leaning, not a certainty.
Regardless of which guess was right, however, Arthur would choose the safest answer, one based on the assumption that the woman before him was still testing him.
Testing whether he truly knew Anna's whereabouts.
And then?
Naturally, she would tailor her next move accordingly.
With a large amount of XP just within reach, Arthur did not want any further complications.
So, faced with her question, Arthur shook his head.
"No!"
"My Mediumship ability allows me to discover lingering souls and actively contact them, provided... she is in front of me.
And among the voices just now, Ms. Anna's was not present."
Although he wanted to avoid complications, Arthur was not about to humbly claim that he had failed to find Ms. Anna because his abilities were inadequate. Instead, he stressed that Ms. Anna was not here.
After all, the young reporter Scott had been taking notes beside him the whole time.
More importantly, of course, this answer fit all three of his earlier guesses.
The first went without saying. If she was not dead, his Mediumship ability naturally would not detect her.
In the second case, she had not died at the "Axe Murderer's" hands, so naturally she would not appear here.
The third was plausible, too. Who said everyone killed by the "Axe Murderer" had to appear here before him?
Arthur's crafty answer brought a look of dejection to Malinda Julius Caesar's face. At least, that was the outward appearance she adopted.
Scott, meanwhile, exclaimed again and again.
"Master, you truly are astonishing!"
"Master, you're incredible!"
"In some respects, you may already have surpassed Mr. Charlie!"
Having confirmed Arthur's Mediumship ability, the young reporter had automatically switched to a respectful form of address. As he showered Arthur with praise, Fontel and Wiggins naturally chimed in.
Arthur responded with a smile.
Most of his attention, however, remained on Malinda Julius Caesar.
Her brows drew together slightly, as though she were considering something.
A moment later, she sighed and stood.
As she rose, a Gold Ticket with a face value of ten appeared on Arthur's desk.
"This is your consultation fee. Please don't refuse it. I know it falls short of what your services are worth. I'll have Edwin deliver a proper gift of thanks later.
Thank you for everything you've done for me.
I look forward to our next meeting.
And...
I'll take care of the matters concerning him afterward."
She took the pipe from her mouth, glanced at the body on the floor, and pointed toward the ceiling before bidding Arthur farewell. She also nodded to Scott, Fontel, and Wiggins.
The patrol officers waiting outside then entered the room. Without a word, they cleaned the blood from the floor, gathered the deceased's belongings, lifted the body, and hurried away.
"She really is a fine woman. What a pity!"
Fontel ignored the patrol officers and simply watched her retreating figure, a trace of longing in his eyes. A moment later, however, he could not help sighing.
South Los's traditions made it impossible for Fontel to accept her "rebelliousness."
Wiggins, on the other hand, said nothing.
Having grown up on the streets, he understood perfectly well that he had no chance whatsoever with that woman. Rather than pass judgment and gossip about her, he was better off keeping his mouth shut.
Scott paid no attention to any of this.
The young reporter was discussing three new special editions with Arthur.
Not one special edition!
Three!
Everything that had just happened, whether the curse or the "Axe Murderer," deserved a special edition of its own. Never mind a small paper like The Horn Newspaper-even the South Los Daily would have run special editions.
The third would be an exclusive interview!
Unlike Dokule, who had used an interview as a pretext to trap someone.
Scott was entirely sincere.
He even handed his completed draft straight to Arthur and asked what needed changing.
As Arthur listened to Scott's explanation, he discreetly slipped the ten Gold Tickets into his pocket.
Gold Tickets were a higher denomination than sols.
Ten fractional Los equaled one Los, and ten Los equaled one Lapis Lazuli.
South County had once had an extremely complicated currency exchange system: sixteen copper sols for one silver sol, twelve silver sols for one gold sol, and so on. The currency systems also varied between noble territories.
Ordinarily, that had posed no problem. But once the Seven-Year War began, the complicated currency systems caused unnecessary trouble. The Grand Duke of South County therefore abolished them, replacing them with a unified decimal exchange system and eliminating copper Los, silver Los, and the like, leaving only Los, fractional Los, and Lapis Lazuli.
In fact, Gold Tickets had originally been slated for abolition as well. But after the grand duke discovered a gold mine in his own territory, they were retained.
Before leaving for Barney, old Charlie had worried about his grandson and left Arthur's predecessor ten Gold Tickets. That sum was enough for an adult to live comfortably in South Los for a month.
But who would ever complain about having too much money?
After putting the Gold Ticket away, Arthur began listening closely to Scott's explanation and accepted the draft he offered.
Arthur trusted both Scott's writing and his professional competence as a reporter.
Both had already been proven!
The draft before him was also a faithful account. With Scott's stylistic polish, even this rough version made for a heart-pounding read.
Dokule's concealed schemes and Chief Lark's aggressive stance were particularly nerve-racking. When readers reached their deaths, they would surely breathe a sigh of relief.
The headlines, however, were far too plain.
Titles like "An Unexpected Discovery of a 'Curse'" and "The Truth Behind the 'Axe Murderer'" were nowhere near as effective as "Shocking! What This Male Reporter Did to a Medium!" But to account for what the South Los public would accept, Arthur had to restrain himself and replace that far-too-ahead-of-its-time headline with "Mysteries of the Past: The Medium and the Curse" and "The Medium's First Case: The Axe Murderer"!
Scott read them and nodded. Then the words "first case" caught his attention, and he looked up at Arthur.
"Don't worry, Scott. You need to trust me. This is only the beginning-my grandfather once said, 'Trouble always comes knocking at a medium's door!'
And I'd like you to call me Arthur.
We're friends, after all."
Arthur answered with a smile.
For the sake of more XP, even if trouble did not come to him, Arthur would seek it out himself-provided, of course, that it was trouble he could control.
Scott's eyes lit up.
"All right, Mas... Arthur!"
The young reporter had a feeling he would not be short of things to do for a long time to come.
At that moment, Arthur turned his gaze toward Fontel and Wiggins.
The two men, already looking anxious, immediately grew even more flustered.
Seeing them like this, Arthur smiled.
He knew another substantial payment was coming his way.
Although he had paid them no mind earlier, Arthur certainly would not turn down extra income!
And so, a moment later, Arthur said softly-
"Gentlemen, I think we should discuss how you're going to compensate me!"
Before you continue