World Domination System (Web Novel)

By this point, it was clear that these five were being suspected of killing that seed, but the question still remained as to justify why that was so.

The answer to this was given by the guy who had been amused the entire time that Daneel had seen him until now.

"These dumbf*cks from the investigative department automatically branded us as the suspects because there was no one else at the scene, and because even though there are plenty of clues here, inside, to show that we had a small altercation, there are none to prove that there was an assassin in the first place. They clearly don't have the brains to understand that someone can arrive and leave without leaving any trace of themselves…"

His harsh words were obviously directed at both the one who had led Daneel and Kellor here and the two who were standing a little way off while examining something on the ground.

They all ignored him, though, because it looked as if this wasn't the first time that he was saying something like this.

He had short hair that was cut stylishly and combed back, and he was wearing a vest and a purple shirt whose color was so vivid that it popped in anyone's eyes who saw it. As for the rest – the other man who had been hostile before along with the ladies was wearing a grey cloak which covered most of his body, and he had a hook nose and a weak chin which was unsuccessfully covered up by a short beard.

As for the ladies, the one sobbing on the ground had delicate features, with a small nose and full cheeks. She was wearing a white dress, almost as if mourning, and the other lady who had bent down to comfort her was also wearing the same. Unlike the first one, though, this woman looked more mature, and her eyes also had a craftiness to them that would not go unnoticed by anyone who looked at her.

Both of them were pretty, but where the first was like an innocent flower which had still not fully bloomed, the second was more like an orchid which would both strike anyone with its beauty, and also stay behind on their mind due to its uniqueness among the sea of common roses and lotuses that one might usually come across.

Not knowing how to respond to someone crying, Matthew made short introductions, simply pointing at each and calling out their names. The amused man was the one called Memphis, so the other was naturally Dave. The lady who was crying was called Jessica, and the one who was holding her shoulders and comforting her was named Scarlett.

With the main facts of the case established, Daneel looked forward to see what Luther would do. Would he want to get started on interrogations right away to get more information? Would he perhaps try to use this valuable time where Jessica was crying so that he could wring something more out of her than what she had already said?

Contrary to all these expectations, though, Luther simply said, "Let's break for lunch!"

This departed so much from the serious man the Daneel knew that he, too, just like all the others in the area, couldn't help but stare at him as if he was crazy.

Such a serious tale had just been uttered, but he wanted to break for lunch?

As if unaware of all the stares that were directed at him, Luther simply turned around and began to walk back along the path that they had just come in.

Meanwhile, he sent a message to Daneel discreetly.

"Please don't feel puzzled due to my actions, My King. Again, this is the personality that seems to invite confidence the most, as I've seen many times that if you push for answers, the only thing that you receive is resistance. Instead, if you act nonchalantly, almost as if it doesn't matter to you whether the case is solved or not, then I've found that it is much easier for people to let their tongues wag. This is a special case, too, because the objective of these five is obviously to clear their name. Hence, they will mostly be eager to give their versions, anyway, so if I have this attitude, they might put in effort from their side to fill in more details even before I ask. Unsolicited answers are much better than those which are solicited. As for lunch… It is simply the afternoon, so I thought that it is a good excuse. By the way, have you noticed-"

BANG!

Right as Daneel felt something in the atmosphere that made him turn around with alarm, a loud sound was heard from behind, exactly in the direction where Luther had begun walking in.

Because he hadn't understood the reason behind his sovereign'ss actions, Daneel had stayed where he was, so he was not near enough to be of any help.

By the time he turned, all he saw was Luther being flung back, bloody, while the tell-tale grey-colored smoke of an explosive formation could be seen from where he had just stepped foot on.

Immediately, Daneel flew to catch him gently and lay him on the ground before commanding the system to deploy Peak Warrior level healing spells.

At the same time, he cursed the limitation due to which he could not put his real power on display, but soon, when he got the report that the injuries weren't so life-threatening that he would need to expose any of his secrets, he heaved a sigh of relief before whirling around with anger.

He had detected just what had set off that explosion, so he spoke while looking in the direction of the five, who all had similarly shocked expressions on their faces.

"It was an explosive formation which was set to detonate when someone who is either a Human level Mage or Warrior steps on it! This was clearly done so that if anyone from the Central Continent arrives, they will be rendered incapable of continuing the investigation! You said that the assassin left right after attacking, right? Then how the hell was he able to set up something like this!"

As Daneel said all this, expressions of realization appeared on the faces of the five, but after a moment, the girl who had been crying was the first to respond.

"We were in shock due to Letitia's death! How the hell were we supposed to see exactly what he was doing! Besides, his power level was much greater than ours! We're being framed, I tell you! Even this was set up perfectly so that suspicion will definitely fall on us!"

That seemed like one of the dumbest defenses that Daneel had ever heard.

Yet, it was at shouted out with extreme seriousness, and even though he felt like scoffing and saying that right now, the five of them were really the prime suspects of the case, he controlled himself and thought of the ramifications of this event first.

The explosive formation was quite weak, at least compared to his current power level, but if Luther hadn't broken through recently… He would definitely have died.

The most worrying thing was that there had been a Hero level formation overlaid on it, which had prevented it from being detected by most means.

Even the system had just said that it would be unable to detect another one. This was only possible because the explosive formation being concealed was so simple, but what it meant was that it was too risky for Luther to stay.

What if there were more? If they got triggered, Daneel or anyone else in the area could simply weather the damage without even getting hurt, but Luther might die.

There was no way that he would allow that to happen.

Hence, he made a decision.

"I will act in my commander's stead here. A display trinket will be connected to him and he will be able to see everything, but he will not stay on the scene. It is not safe, and I don't think that all of you will be able to detect it if there are more such things laid down. Whoever is behind all this, it is clear that they expected that someone from the Central Continent would be arriving, and they made preparations to make sure that the one who came would either die or be rendered unconscious for a long time. I will not risk my commander's life for this issue."

Without even asking if there were any objections, Daneel directly made Luther float in the air beside him and left the place.

This had all seemed very casual at first, but now that one of his sovereigns had been hurt… It was personal.

Meanwhile, Luther sent a message through the communication trinket.

"It is fine, my King. Mine is a sturdy body, and I'll be able to handle it even if there are more of those. You are right, it seems to be made to target those from the Central Continent. All the other experts are also atmost at the Peak Human level."

Daneel wouldn't have any of it.

"No way. I've carefully analyzed what was used just now, and it is possible that various types of deadly formations that can kill you might already have been hidden. In fact, if you hadn't broken through, you would already have died. With this being the case, it is foolish for you to be on the scene. I will be your eyes and ears, and I admit that I'm quite interested in the method that investigators employ. How about this? You require a little bit of time to rest, anyway, and during that time, I'll carry out basic investigations by myself, and if you need me to do anything additional, just let me now. After that, we can assemble all the facts, and think for a solution. Is that all right?"

Daneel had gotten this idea after once again taking in the extent of the injuries on Luther's body.

He had read enough to know just how to carry out preliminary investigations, and he was actually quite eager to finish this as soon as possible without wasting any time. If it was just all the initial stuff, it was pretty standard, and he knew that Luther would have taken those steps, too, if everything had been normal.

Besides… He had the system, which could record each and every detail more precisely than anyone else in the continent. The main risk with this method was that Daneel might miss something, but even if he did, the system wouldn't, so there was no chance that anything could escape his senses.

Hearing this, Luther sighed and said, "Alright, My King. I wish… That there was a way to grow stronger, faster. I must admit that for the first part of my life, I focused more on acquiring skills, instead of growing in power. After my breakthrough, I find myself yearning for more, but all I can do is slowly train. Anyway, first,I would ask that you to go to all the places of interest in this case, and also to take the personal accounts and stories of all of those who are related to this incident. After collecting this information, we can plan regarding what to do next. But based on what I've seen so far… I daresay that I can venture a guess as to the truth behind what has happened here."

Oh? Luther already had a guess?

This was quite surprising, as he had only heard the most simple version of the story, without even finding out too many details. With just that, he was ready?

His interest piqued, Daneel said, "Tell me. Do you think that they are responsible, and that they're even more guilty now because of this formation that just attacked you? There's no way that they could have missed an assassin setting it down, right?"

Chuckling and then taking a sharp breath as he felt the pain worsen, Luther replied, and his words made Daneel realize that he had already fallen for two of the traps that lay in wait for one who was looking into an issue of this sort – making assumptions with too little data, and missing things that could be crucial.

"Yes, that is my guess, too, My King, but my reason is slightly different. There is a small tool kit that I always carry with me when I handle cases like these, and one of those is a trinket which allows me to look behind me even when I'm walking forward. As you know, it is a simple one, but it has proven to be exceptionally helpful, and it is the same even now. Right before I stepped on that tile on which the formation was there… There were slight expressions of regret on all five of them. It's possibly because they knew that it was there, but they also knew that it wouldn't kill me. After all, very few know that I've broken through. I don't know about who else may be involved in this, but they certainly know more than they are letting on."