[Lifespan Remaining: 29 days, 22 hours, 38 minutes.]
After that whole ordeal, Aurora had decided to take it upon herself to investigate the four people who had died alongside Edward.
Even if she was mostly an outsider in the case, no one could really stop her from doing so.
Noct also didn’t know why she was still here, but appreciated the help nonetheless.
Something about being a paladin and bringing the victim to rest?
Noct couldn’t remember off the top of his head.
It was the first thing he thought to do as well, but with Aurora on the case, there was little value in repeating her work.
Suddenly, he had quite a bit of free time on his hands.
There were a million things to do.
Though really, the first order of business…was to get stronger.
Well, physically stronger.
Even if the Spiral Pool of Castalia had “rebuilt” his body, he would still have to train it to at least get it to function better than before.
Which was precisely why he was running laps around the training grounds right now, with Noelle staring at him like a strict drill instructor.
“Young Master, we’ll be here until nightfall before you can complete a full lap…”
Noct wheezed as he passed her, barely in a jog.
“Encouragement…would be…appreciated.”
“I am encouraging you.”
“You’re doing….a terrible…job.”
Though as soon as the words left his mouth, Noct accidentally stepped on a stray pebble and fell flat on his face.
THUD—!
‘Ahh…curse this weak body.’
Noct rolled to his side and opened his status panel, checking if any of his [Attributes] have gone up at all.
[STR: 2 → 4]
[SPD: 3 → 5]
[STAM: 2 → 4]
‘Not bad, considering I was running for only two hours.’
Once again, Noct found himself grateful for the pool.
Under ordinary circumstances, gaining even a single attribute point through training would have taken at least a week.
But the greedy demon that dwells inside every transmigrator kept telling Noct that his progress could be even faster.
There were various recipes of training elixirs and body strengthening pills that could be made off the top of his head.
Yet the problem was…
Even if House Arcadia did have a lot of money, being the former terminally-ill son did not help in proving the house’s whole “worthiness” motto.
Naturally, Noct was only given enough to provide for his treatment, and not much in the way of allowance.
Definitely not enough to go and buy rare materials to create any cheats.
Noct sighed softly and lay flat along the training ground.
A moment later, Noelle’s face appeared above him.
She had a defeated look on her face, but as his personal maid, she tried her best not to let it show.
“Young Master.”
“Give me a moment. Let me catch my breath.”
“You tripped over a pebble.”
“Even a genius must occasionally be taught humility,” he nodded.
“Otherwise, he might become conceited in his ways.”
Noelle frowned.
“If only you were as talented at running as you are with inventing random philosophical lines.”
Before Noct could defend himself, the soft click of approaching heels echoed across the training ground.
Only one person in the estate would pay that much attention to how they walked.
“Why are you lying on the ground?” Aurora asked.
“Something the matter?”
“Young Master Noct collapsed after two hours of running.”
“How far did he run?”
“…Half a lap.”
“I see…” Aurora unfolded a document in her hand.
“Then I suppose I have time to report what I discovered before you finish the other half.”
With the mention, Noct sat up straight immediately, his legs criss-crossed apple sauce while he listened intently.
“You found something already?”
“Possibly.”
Aurora turned the document toward him.
It contained a rough sketch of where one of the soldiers had died.
But upon closer inspection, Noct had noticed something about the sketch.
Smeared unevenly across the floor near where the body was, there were two bloodied letters:
A.T
“One of the guards managed to write this in his own blood before he died,” she explained.
“We initially assumed they were someone’s name…”
“But?”
“I looked through a few registries and found out that no one connected to Edward, or anyone else for that matter, who had these initials.”
Noelle crouched beside Noct and examined the sketch.
“Then they could mean anything, couldn’t they?”
“Not quite,” Aurora produced another sheet, this time it was a military record.
“The guard who wrote them was stationed in Altaire for six years. And within these records, the city is abbreviated as A.T”
“Altaire, huh?”
If Noct remembered correctly, it was a major commercial city just right along Arcadia’s eastern border.
It was maintained by Baron Altaire, one of Amon’s direct vassals.
But more coincidentally…
‘Altaire is where that mana crystal mine is at…’
Noct looked down at the sketch once more.
“Were the deaths the same? Conditions and all?”
“Yes,” Aurora answered.
“Most of their head was gone.
None of their families heard so much as a scream, and all four deaths occurred within minutes of one another, despite their homes being scattered throughout the district surrounding the estate.
“The guard who left the message was wearing a military-issued ward,” she added.
“It shattered during his death. The physician believes it bought him several seconds.”
“Then it probably wasn’t someone visiting them one by one.”
Noct tapped the four names printed across the report.
“These were the only four people who entered Edward’s cell after he was confined. Whatever killed them must have marked them inside that dungeon.”
Aurora frowned and crossed her arms.
“How would they know Edward would be in that specific cell?”
Noct stared at the bloodied letter once more before coming up with some theories.
“Either Edward had somehow hidden another contingency spell with him. Which would make our guards look very incompetent.”
“Or?”
“Or…we have another insider in our midst.”
Noelle tilted her head.
“Maybe the guard was trying to tell us that the traitor lived in Altaire?”
Aurora glanced at Noct with an amused look on her face.
“Conveniently, that is also where the mine you promised me is located.”
“Ahh…let’s not be so hasty—”
“We’re going to Altaire.”
“…I assumed as much.”
Aurora quickly gathered up the documents once more, before standing up and started to head out of the training grounds.
“Prepare what you need. Let’s leave before sunset.”
“What?” Noct protested.
“Can’t you give us at least a few days to prepare?”
“I can,” Aurora turned back, looking at the two of them.
“But I trust that your maid is competent enough to prepare everything by today.”
Noelle simply curtsied at the compliment before the both of them watched Lowenhardt’s heir disappear from the training grounds.
Noct looked at his maid beside him, then at the fence Aurora had just opened to leave before sighing to himself.
He was already planning to head to Altaire to sort out the business with the crystal mines, but who knew these two incidents would be in the same city?
Could it be a coincidence?
No, nothing in Ending Fantasy could ever be a coincidence.
“This is going to be troublesome, isn’t it?”