Another Murder

As soon as Sally cried out, her face flushed a little.

The dance really did look good and had plenty of energy, but the moves were just too sleazy!

Why did the vice president always like doing those moves in front of her? Was he hinting at something...?

Rhode did not notice Sally's expression, while Lilia was already bouncing excitedly and copying the arcane golem. "This is amazing! I've never seen a doll that can dance before!"

All right, so you're calling an arcane golem a "doll."

Next, everyone watched the arcane golem finish its dance with a stylish swing of its arms and a lift of its hips, then return to its normal standing posture.

Mm, perfectly executed.

Rhode smiled in satisfaction.

This meant his knowledge of construct crafting had reached a certain level, and the arcane golem's cognitive abilities were already quite advanced.

Next, he would probably need to look into giving the arcane golem some practical combat capabilities.

After all, he had not built a magical construct like this just to dance for entertainment...

"That's it? It's over?" Lilia still looked unsatisfied. "Can't it do any other dances?"

"Not for now." Rhode smiled at Lilia. "This is the only one it knows at the moment, but I'll gradually teach it more."

"All right, then." Lilia pouted, turned, and took Sally's hand. "Sally, let's go play! I'm definitely going to beat you this time!"

The game Lilia meant was actually Gomoku.

Gomoku did not exist in this world, but it was a very simple game. Once Rhode taught them, they picked it up and made it one of their regular pastimes.

The "board" was simple, too. They just drew a grid on paper, then marked circles or triangles on it one after another.

I'll make a proper board and pieces when I have time.

Perhaps once he learned more about construct crafting, he could develop some related spells and put together more entertaining card games.

For instance, he could use some Magic Marks as health points. When a "Leper Gnome" on the table was killed and triggered its "Deathrattle," the AI beside them-the arcane golem-could use logical judgment to deduct the corresponding amount of health, removing the appropriate number of Magic Marks.

It could even simulate calculations for damage cards with random targets, such as "Arcane Missiles," randomly deducting health from cards.

That would make playing such card games much easier. There would be no need to calculate anything manually, and it would be just like playing a computer game.

Of course, this was only an idea that had just occurred to Rhode. Working out the details would have to wait until he had truly mastered construct crafting and had time to study them carefully.

Right now, Lilia was tugging impatiently at Sally's hand, eager to leave.

She had lost many games of Gomoku to Sally earlier, after all, and her competitive streak made her determined to win them back.

Sally smiled and motioned for Lilia to wait a moment. Then she went into the inner room and brought out pastries, some preserved fruit, and fruit wine. She set them on the table before following Lilia outside.

What a wonderful assistant.

Rhode picked up a pastry and popped it into his mouth as he walked to the window to look out over the square.

Many people were busy working in the square.

They were the beggars he had seen in the alley that day.

Of course, it was not just them. There were even more people in the square now, all brought there by their leader, Katel.

Some simple single-story houses had already been built on one side of the square to serve as temporary lodgings for the beggars.

They would live here and build the "dormitory building" Rhode wanted.

These people had certainly not become beggars because they were lazy. The main problem was the lack of employment opportunities.

In fact, many members of the Beggar Gang Katel had brought had construction experience. They could not have been better suited to helping build the dormitory.

Katel himself was an experienced craftsman!

That saved Rhode a great deal of trouble. He could simply leave the work to Katel.

As for the beggars, Rhode had taken the initiative to provide them with shelter. Naturally, every one of them was deeply grateful, and they all worked their hearts out.

Mm, I should spend more time teaching the magic apprentices under me when I'm free, too. At the very least, I should teach them how to use Mage Hand.

Of course, not the basic uses described in books, but the expanded applications he had developed himself.

It could lift heavy stones, hammer wooden stakes, transport materials...

Then he could send them to help the beggars build the houses, which should greatly improve construction efficiency.

They could put what they learned to practical use and improve their proficiency with the spell at the same time. Why not?

As for the money to build the dormitory... that was pocket change to the wealthy Magic Tower.

Rhode watched from the window in satisfaction. Just as he was about to turn away, he spotted Lieutenant Drake approaching from the other side of the square in his military uniform.

What's he doing here?

Oh, he must be here to teach Lilia swordsmanship.

Coming this early in the morning-what a dedicated teacher.

But he soon heard someone bursting into the tower downstairs, followed by Lieutenant Drake shouting up:

"There's been another murder in the woods outside the city! The method is very similar to the alley murder!"

"What?" Rhode hurried downstairs and came up to Lieutenant Drake. "When did it happen?"

"Just this morning," Lieutenant Drake answered.

Rhode was both shocked and pleased.

He was shocked that the murderer was bold enough to strike again so soon.

He was pleased because, with the crime so recent, the scene was surely still undisturbed. He could examine it and perhaps discover something new.

Rhode said to Lieutenant Drake, "Shall we go take a look at the woods?"

"Let's go!"

They soon reached the small patch of woods outside the city.

They could see that many people had already gathered there.

The outer ring consisted entirely of townspeople who had come to watch, pointing and commenting nearby.

Many townspeople traveled in and out of the city in the morning, so word of the murder had spread quickly, drawing a large crowd of onlookers.

Inside that ring were soldiers maintaining order. They stood in a circle to keep the townspeople from entering and disturbing the scene.

On the ground behind the soldiers lay several people, some on their backs and others facedown, all completely motionless.

When the crowd saw Rhode approaching in his mage robes alongside Lieutenant Drake, they immediately fell quiet and spontaneously parted to let them through.

Most eyes were fixed on Rhode. After all, a mage's presence here was rather out of place.

As Rhode looked around, anyone whose gaze met his recoiled in fear, not daring to look him in the eye.

Of course, this was not a sign of a guilty conscience. In such a tense atmosphere, they instinctively shied away from someone who combined the exalted status of both mage and noble.

The class divide.