Eldritch Horror Theatre

Honestly, it was more than a little unusual.

Although they hadn’t seen each other for a few days, Classmate Liushuang was indeed not the Ameng of Wuxia. She seemed to have made even further progress.

Regardless, even compared to Guan Jingzheng, there was a clear gap in their strength. She was, ultimately, just a student.

On a serious investigative mission, she appeared to be the only young face in the group. It was hard to shake the suspicion that she was just on a publicly funded vacation.

She seemed quite self-aware, though, standing quietly in the farthest corner without the slightest intention of drawing attention to herself.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared that mindset.

”Mister Yun?”

The next moment, a pale-faced man with eerie eyes suddenly spoke up from the Academy’s group.

”Yes.”

Fu Qian glanced at him. The man’s level was quite impressive, not much weaker than Li Weixuan’s.However, it was hard to tell where the obvious hostility in his tone came from.

He had already transitioned to a Sword Demon style, yet he was still drawing this much aggro?

”Linghui Courtyard of the Academy, Ni Huayuan.”

Facing the scrutiny of a demigod, the man remained entirely at ease, introducing himself with absolute confidence.

”May I ask what you were doing down there just now?”

”That is a place guarded by the Kamakura Family for generations and usually heavily fortified. Of course, that means nothing to a demigod, but there must be a reason, right?”

...

As soon as Ni Huayuan asked this question, the members of the Kamakura Family couldn’t help but look over.

For a professional Tombkeeper Family, the assessment was undoubtedly a bit harsh on the ears.

Unfortunately, it was the truth.

That Tombkeeper blessing known as the Divine Seal didn’t seem as powerful as imagined.

Although the visual effects were startling, even Kamakura Ki, who had just stepped forward to greet them, was actually only slightly stronger than Ji Liushuang. His Rank wasn’t particularly high.

Fortunately, his competence as a family head remained quite high.

In the face of Ni Huayuan’s critique, not only did Kamakura Ki’s expression remain unchanged, but he also immediately quelled the commotion among his clansmen.

With the family facing an almost apocalyptic disaster, there was no point in arguing over such things.

How could he not know that Swordsman Yun’s behavior was suspicious? He had forced out an expressionless word of thanks earlier precisely to show that he wouldn’t pursue the matter.

At this moment, the Kamakura Family absolutely could not afford to offend a demigod.

Especially a demigod already famous for slaughter.

Right now, however, although Ni Huayuan’s words were unpleasant to hear, since he was willing to step forward—which to some extent amounted to questioning Casi’s earlier judgment—Kamakura Ki decisively chose to quietly observe the changes.

...

Although the tone was harsh, it inexplicably didn’t feel like it was aimed at him.

Fu Qian didn’t even bother racking his brain for an answer to Ni Huayuan’s question.

After all, when the man asked the question, he had been glancing at Casi half the time.

It seemed there were voices of discord within this luxurious investigation team.

The volume at which Kamakura Keiji had made his report earlier was handled perfectly.

It was practically at the absolute maximum limit of what could be considered a hushed whisper.

Ni Huayuan had naturally heard Casi’s statement proving that he had nothing to do with the deceased.

But to still ask like this now was clearly somewhat targeted.

”No.”

The next moment, Fu Qian chose not to answer the man’s question.

If you’re a real man, go confront Casi directly if you have a problem. Don’t waste my brain cells on boring questions.

...

His answer was undoubtedly a bit overly sharp, and it even infected Ni Huayuan’s gaze.

Unfortunately, when comparing murderous intent against the Academy’s fortune plunderer, Brother Ni Huayuan quickly realized that subjective initiative had its limits.

”So you think a guy like this is innocent?”

A few seconds later, Ni Huayuan decisively followed Fu Qian’s guidance, questioning Casi with a disdainful tone.

”Yes.”

Dean Casi’s vertical pupils contracted into thin slits as he nodded very naturally.

Not only did he imitate Fu Qian’s answering style, but he didn’t even hide the bizarre smile at the corner of his mouth, turning his mockery up to the maximum.

”...Unfortunately, I don’t think so.”

This attitude was undoubtedly extremely provocative. After waiting a few seconds and seeing that Casi wasn’t going to spit out another word, Ni Huayuan spoke through gritted teeth.

”If you cannot provide a convincing reason, I will consider the results of this investigation to be severely compromised and no longer reliable.”

”Dean Casi already confirmed just now that there are no traces of transcendent power clashing at the scene.”

Seeing the situation suddenly become so antagonistic, Guan Jingzheng, who was standing to the side, finally couldn’t sit still and spoke up to explain on Casi’s behalf.

However, upon realizing that this amounted to a disguised exoneration of Fu Qian, his expression also turned quite strange.

”So that’s how it is. Why didn’t Dean Casi say so earlier?”

Ni Huayuan sneered coldly, his tone exaggerated.

”A grand demigod of the Apocalypse... I thought you were only capable of creating transcendent traces. I didn’t expect you actually knew how to detect them.”

”You are more than welcome to reconfirm it yourself using whatever methods you deem reliable.”

Glancing around and seeing that the investigation had turned into a farce right from the start, Casi directly motioned for Ni Huayuan to do as he pleased.

”After all, the methods of the Linghui Courtyard have always been brilliant. I wonder what method you’re planning to use this time? Do you want to host a few more Masquerades first?”

...

The first half of his words was still somewhat normal, but by the end, the flavor had clearly changed completely.

For a moment, not only did the Kamakura clansmen look at each other in dismay, unable to understand the meaning behind Casi’s words, but at a glance, even Ji Liushuang wore a look of confusion.

”Bullshit! How about you hand over that guy surnamed Fu first!”

It seemed that Ni Huayuan was not only lacking in Rank, but was no match in a battle of words either. He instantly lost his composure.

This operation really is taking place after I killed that guy, Fu Qian thought silently to himself.

And it appeared that the Academy had actually managed to find out a few things regarding Yi’an’s death, such as the identity of the murderer.

This wasn’t surprising. After all, on his way there, when he bumped into Ji Liushuang, he had even mentioned to her that he was off to kill someone.

However, the Academy didn’t seem to have reached a unified consensus on the specifics of right and wrong in the matter.

With a member of the Linghui Courtyard killed, they were naturally extremely dissatisfied with the Apocalypse. To some extent, this might even be the driving force behind the current conflict.

Meanwhile, on the Apocalypse’s side, as could be heard from Casi’s earlier remarks, their evaluation of him was actually quite positive.

By deliberately mentioning the Masquerade just now, they might have even framed his actions as eliminating a public threat.

But regardless of which opinion they held, one thing Ni Huayuan said was correct: they needed to find him first.

Classmate Lanaya must be having a rather hard time right about now.

Fu Qian leisurely recalled the person in charge of the Disciplinary Department.

”You two, are we still doing this investigation or not?”

Seeing the two of them arguing without regard for the occasion, to the point where even Guan Jingzheng was scratching his head, a somewhat familiar female instructor coldly spoke up.

Was she one of the guests at his hearing? If he remembered correctly, she was also from the Sword Comprehension Institute.

Fu Qian spent quite a bit of effort recalling the source of this familiarity, though he naturally had absolutely no idea what her specific name was.