The plants in the flower shop were all sorts of varieties, yet not one carried any mana.
Presumably a shop like this wouldn’t often see even the nature-loving elves.
Everyone carefully followed Angela toward the storeroom.
The haphazard arrangement of the plants made it hard to walk, yet every one of them was well tended—you could tell how much care their owner put in.
“Miss Angela, are you a half-elf?
To be able to tend so many plants all by yourself—amazing.”
“Huh?
I’m not a half-elf~ I’m human.
Actually, I’ve lived among blooming flowers since I was little; now I just want to recreate the surroundings of my childhood.” Angela smiled and cleared up the curious cat girl’s confusion.
“Blooming flowers everywhere? Is there a place like that in the Rainbow Wing Kingdom?” Aisha was quite puzzled.
“My old home was in a remote spot out on the edge of the Rainbow Wing Kingdom, but a sudden fire burned it all to the ground…” Angela’s voice went very low.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s all right. It’s all in the past.”
Amid the small talk, everyone reached the storeroom.
Angela took out a black key and unlocked the door.
The instant the storeroom opened, everyone felt the chaotic mana inside.
“This was originally where I kept my tools, but lately I’ve been receiving all sorts of strange items. I didn’t dare throw them out, so I just put them in here.”
The storeroom was piled with all kinds of items—truly all kinds; there was even a cursed doll in the mix.
“There’s too much here to finish testing in a short time… I’m very sorry, Miss Angela, but could we take them back to test slowly?” Aisha knew the request was a bit much, but to be safe she had no choice.
“Of course. Honestly, having these things here troubles me a great deal too. The various threatening letters have made me afraid to report to the police, so if you could help me deal with them, that would be wonderful.”
Aisha took out her communication crystal and called her subordinates.
Before long, two burly officers tiptoed carefully over through the sea of flowers.
“Sorry, could you move the potted plants aside first? Hauling things out will be a real hassle otherwise.”
Hey!
You’re a cop—why are you asking someone’s permission to conduct official business?
Angela seemed a little hesitant, but she nodded in agreement all the same.
“Hey, as the strongest one here, aren’t you ashamed to just stand around idle?”
“Why don’t you go help?” Mir felt thoroughly put out.
“You’re a big man—aren’t you ashamed to make a lady do the heavy lifting?”
“Huh?
Sister’s a boy?”
“Huh?
The director’s son is actually a boy?
Then why dress like that?”
The two who didn’t know were quite astonished.
“I’m a girl right now too~” Mir struck an exaggerated orchid-finger pose.
And then Mir earned contemptuous looks from both Xia Ye and Aisha.
Though he looked thoroughly unwilling, Mir still went over to move the potted plants.
“If you’re making me help, I can’t promise I won’t break them, you know.”
“Please don’t hurt these children.” Angela’s voice was piteous.
Mir didn’t answer, but his rough movements didn’t soften in the least.
These plant pots were all one size—clearly some of the plants were tiny, yet they’d been put in such huge pots.
This really grated on his sense of order.
Mir grumbled inwardly about Angela’s odd quirk.
Once the potted plants and magic items had all been loaded onto the truck the police had brought, Aisha gathered the three prime suspects into a teahouse.
“You three may go back now, but our people will be keeping an eye on you around the clock these next few days. Please understand—after all, we can’t let any suspect move about freely.”
Hearing this, the other two showed no particular reaction, but the socialite clicked her tongue in displeasure.
“I already said it—I’ll be reporting today’s events to my godfather in full.”
Aisha ignored the threat and simply waved a hand in a shooing gesture.
The three were led out by several officers.
“Feels like we got absolutely nothing. Should we round up everyone who ever had contact with the victim?”
Aisha rolled her eyes at Mir for the suggestion.
“How many people do you think the owner of a clothing shop like Ana would come into contact with?
We’ve investigated the others, and there were no problems.”
“I get the feeling this Angela is pretty suspicious.” Xia Ye began drawing on the experience she’d gained watching Conan back in the modern world.
“She keeps casting herself as an innocent victim, but something about her just feels off…”
“Well? Who did you feel was the most like the Black Silhouette out of those three?” Aisha asked Berti.
“I can’t tell.
They all feel like it, and none of them feel like it…”
“Tch!
Aren’t beastfolk supposed to have sharp instincts?
You’re not a fake beastfolk, are you?” Mir promptly looked down on the cat girl.
“Then maybe the culprit isn’t among those three at all…” Berti widened her eyes and shot back.
Aisha reached out to stop the two from bickering.
“Let’s go check on those two boys who went to look at the body—maybe they found something.”
She rubbed her brow and said helplessly, “This magic ritual business really hits a blind spot in our knowledge as police.”
Magic rituals were nowhere near as universally understood as the written word.
Even the most learned person in the world wouldn’t dare claim to have mastered every one, so law enforcement everywhere was helpless in this area and could only do their best to stop them.
Just as the group was about to get up and go meet Sak and Carlo, the two had already come to find them, so both sides ran into each other on the road.
Sak asked about their progress first thing.
“Did you make any headway?”
“No, we were just about to come find you.”
“We’ve actually got some progress on our end.”
Carlo pulled a photo from his breast pocket.
The scene in it was extremely gory: the victim’s body had been cut open along that goat-head sigil, most of the internal organs already removed, and the rest arranged into a strange pattern.
Seeing this photo, everyone felt more or less uncomfortable; the cat-eared girl could even distinctly feel her SAN score starting to drop.
Only Mir seemed utterly unchanged.
Let’s go get barbecue tonight, was what he was thinking.
“Your coroner cut the victim’s belly open along that goat-head sigil. The way the organs inside are arranged—I think I’ve seen it somewhere before, back when I was reading in the library.” Sak looked gravely at everyone’s varied reactions, his mouth twitching a little when his eyes landed on Mir.