The order reached every corner of the shop, and everyone's attention landed on Max. The manager moved with great haste, bringing everyone who worked in the shop.
Cooks, servants, helpers, and chefs, they all lined up before Max. Max picked up the steamed fish dish and held it high for everyone to see.
"I want you to listen and act upon it. I will not repeat myself." Max swept his gaze across everyone. "I want the person who cooked, helped, and served this to me to come forward."
After hearing the command, everyone looked shocked and surprised for a second, and a few looked at each other. Max simply waited without doing or saying anything, waiting for people to come forward.
Soon, a young girl came forward. She wore a cook's dress. Another person came forward; Max could remember this guy was the one who brought him to the waiting area. Yet another servant-donned guy stepped forward. Max could also remember this guy was the one who asked him to join Gina and the others.
Hence, a total of three people came forward who were involved in preparing and bringing the food to his table.
"Anyone else?" Max asked again in an ultimatum tone.
The whole shop stood still at that moment.
Seeing no one ready to come forward, Max put down the plate and arranged three tables side by side.
"Now, you three please sit. I want you to have a taste of the food you prepared and served." Max put the steamed fish in front of the table and called the three over.
Everyone in the shop gasped after Max's order. They all knew that the food was poisoned, and they had seen what that poison could do.
It was a poison that could not be cured by regular healing, where an experienced Awakener had failed to heal the girl.
Now, Max was asking them to taste that poisoned food. It was cruel.
However, these were the people who prepared and brought the food to his table. Without their knowledge, no one could have put poison in it. Therefore, they must reveal who put the poison in the food, or eat the food and die.
"I will not repeat it again. Please sit and have a taste of the food you cooked and served," Max said in an annoyed voice, seeing that these three simply stood still with horrified looks on their faces.
"Young Lord, I did not know how the food got poisoned! I just served the food; I have no part in this deed. You could even call any Truth Seeker, and I will prove my innocence!" The first servant who attended him begged that he did not have any part in this. He even went as far as to ask a Truth Seeker to prove his innocence on this matter.
"Me too, Young Lord! I have no part in this. I simply served the food which was given to me. I am also ready to take a Truth Seeker's questions." The other servant similarly claimed he was innocent.
Max moved his eyes toward the young cook, who simply stood with her head looking at the ground. Everyone's attention also darted toward the girl. She seemed too young to be a cook.
"You, take a seat and have some taste of your own cooked food, and give me your opinion," Max called out to the girl.
Since these two servants were ready to take the Truth Seeker test, he could ignore them. If they were lying now, they would get caught during the test.
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However, seeing that the girl simply stood there without even preparing to plead her innocence, it was blatantly obvious that she was caught and guilty. Otherwise, would she not have joined in with these guys?
However, before Max could issue a firmer command, the manager came crouching down to his knees. Max, looking at the guy trying to speak, gave him permission to talk.
"Young Lord, she is mute. She cannot speak. But I guarantee she would not do anything like this. She comes from a very good family background. Please, you have to show mercy on her. I assure you she will take the Truth Seeker test." The old man explained the situation regarding why the young girl was not talking or pleading for her innocence.
Max thought for a while. He essentially knew these people were not part of this poisoning.
If someone wanted to kill him, the only son of the Grand Duke and a student of the Number One Academy, they would not blatantly mix poison and get caught. If he were to die, they would eventually be caught.
Now, his only question was who put poison in this food without these people's knowledge. Could this be the act of another chef or servant standing in front of him?
Max shot a piercing gaze at those people.
This was going to be a big issue. If his family were to know about this matter, things would escalate even more.
However, the question was, who in the world wanted him dead, going as far as to poison his food? Moreover, the poison was incurable by normal healing. This was a very concerning matter.
Suddenly, his eyes moved toward the girl who got caught in the middle, Gina.
A terrifying thought came to his mind. "What if the target was not me, but the girl, Gina? What if she got poisoned by her own food, and not my food?"
"Where are the Guards? Did someone go to call them?" Max shouted.
"Yes, Young Lord. My son went out to call the Head of the Guards. They will arrive at any moment," the manager said.
"Gina, come and sit here." Max nodded to the manager and called out to Gina.
Subsequently, he quickly secured every dish of food on the table. He wanted to check every food on the table to get the truth out of it, instead of guessing who was the main target of this assassination.
"Now, Gina, you were poisoned by one of these two dishes. One was ordered by you, and the other one was by me. I believe you ate from both dishes before you went into a seizure? Am I correct?" Max pointed at the two dishes she ate before she got poisoned.
"Yes, I had taken a taste of both foods." Gina nodded her head.
"Now, there are chances that your food was the one that was poisoned, not mine." Max revealed his speculation. "Perhaps the assassination target was you, not me."
When Max said this, all of her friends gasped. They could not comprehend the absurdness of what Max claimed. However, before they could fall into despair within their own thoughts, he continued.
"Or any one of you." Max swept his gaze across every one of Gina's friends.
Hearing this, every one of their faces darkened. Max currently did not know the backgrounds of these people. However, there were possibilities that one of these people was the target, rather than assuming he was the target.
While they were discussing, the shop door opened, and a group of people entered donning Capital Guard uniforms. Walking at the front was a rough-looking middle-aged man exuding immense authority. The people automatically parted ways for him.
"Explain." The middle-aged Guard demanded.
The manager quickly trotted near him and started to explain all the things that had happened.
After hearing the manager's side of the story, his eyes moved toward Max and the others. Max stared back at him. Afterward, he slowly moved toward the table and inspected every dish of food on the table, often giving the surrounding people a quick glance.
"Scott, confiscate all the food and send it for a poison test. I want the result within a day. Also, inform the Academy about the incident so there will be proper cooperation," the Head Guard ordered.
"Everyone, I want all of you to leave your information and cooperate with the investigation," the Head Guard announced to the customers who stood blankly. "As for you guys, I am glad everyone is safe and sound. Do not worry. I will find the culprit who did this heinous deed."
"Please follow the officer. He will safely lead you to the Academy. We will meet again once everything is handled here," he assured everyone.
"Officer, you have to check these dishes to see which one is poisoned. Currently, we do not know who the target of the assassin was." Max quickly offered this information, since the Head Guard did not ask for any explanation from them; only the manager had explained the situation.
"What is your name, kid?" the Head Guard asked.
"My name is Maximus Bransford, son of Grand Duke Malcolm Bransford, the ruler of the West." Max gave a full introduction in case they were to think he was not important enough to assassinate.
Currently, Max could not discern who the target was here. Once he came to know which food got poisoned, he would automatically know. However, that would take at least one day.