Eldritch Horror Theatre

Yasui Tokiyuki was dead?

The news Chaumont brought was undoubtedly a bombshell.

Almost everyone in the transcendent community knew the name of Emperor Yasui.

As a widely recognized Tier 2, an entity only one step away from becoming a legendary New God, he was rarely associated with death—even if his condition had been poor lately.

The revelation was explosive, leaving almost everyone momentarily stunned.

But shock was one thing. Sure, His Excellency had delivered earth-shattering news, but what the hell did that guy’s death have to do with them?

Did they really have to suffer through that agonizing auditory assault first thing in the morning just for this? What, did he think they had killed him?

As reasonable intellectuals, they were clearly dissatisfied with this explanation once the initial shock wore off. If anything, the crowd quickly grew more indignant.

...

They were right, but not entirely. Still, the pieces were falling into place.Amid the victims’ uninhibited grumbling, Professor Fu—the newly minted Demigod and defender of academic integrity—instantly connected the dots and figured out the whole situation.

Chaumont really was here because of Yasui Tokiyuki, though his initial motive was a bit unexpected.

True, regardless of whether Anjing Company wanted it hidden, Yasui Tokiyuki’s death would have been exposed sooner or later. But hadn’t it happened a bit too fast?

Going into seclusion, claiming illness, dispelling rumors, and eventually holding a memorial—going through the standard motions for a figure of his stature should have easily stalled things for six months to a year. How could they fail to keep a lid on it after only a few days?

As for Chaumont’s purpose in coming here, it obviously wasn’t because some miraculous foresight had pinpointed the killer’s location, prompting him to travel thousands of miles to hunt them down.

If the Night Watchers had that kind of ability, Yasui Tokiyuki’s blatantly borderline behavior would have seen him chopped into mincemeat long ago. Why would they need to bother with this now?

In all likelihood, someone had reported the Academy.

...

Before Yasui Tokiyuki kicked the bucket, the Academy had sent a star-studded investigation team to the Ye Island Kamakura Clan to help determine the cause of their family curse.

And over on Ye Island, there was a regional Night Watchers chief who usually acted high and mighty but was an absolute master at passing the buck when things went wrong. Just a couple of days ago, seeing the situation going south, he had even tried to conscript unwilling helpers from Yuan Shan.

A guy like that most likely had a very good habit: keeping a record of any suspicious individuals, making it easy to find a scapegoat when it counted.

The Academy’s investigation team had probably failed to escape this net and was listed as a group of suspects in Yasui Tokiyuki’s incident.

Judging by the probe just now, the Night Watchers didn’t actually suspect the investigation team of being the killers. Instead, they wanted to rule out the possibility that someone in the group had covertly tampered with the warning systems.

What a coincidence. It had been him all along.

Of course, what was even more coincidental was that his name definitely wasn’t on the investigation team’s roster.

Taking advantage of this meeting rather than calling the investigation team together directly was likely a move to minimize their wariness and prevent them from covering their tracks.

As a mere tag-along, the scrutiny he received was bound to be discounted. Not to mention, he had entered the situation via a mission.

Based on past experience, any traces he might have left during the mission were almost entirely wiped clean by the Warehouse the moment it was completed.

This only highlighted the necessity of putting away the Ring of Favor earlier. The chances of him giving himself away under the probe were slim, but if Mother had actually made an appearance, things would have definitely become much more complicated.

”His Excellency Chaumont has indeed brought us quite astonishing news, but could you clarify a bit further?”

After the initial uproar, Li Weixuan had taken control of the situation, raising a hand to signal for silence.

”What does this have to do with the Academy? You didn’t come here because of the previous incident?”

”Correct. I already gained a preliminary understanding of how the previous incident was handled on my way here. You all did very well, especially Professor Fu.”

Chaumont expressed his opinion straightforwardly, even offering a slight nod to Fu Qian.

”It is impossible to completely eliminate black sheep, but what matters is having the ability to self-correct. In this incident, I saw the most decisive measures taken, along with a verification process that didn’t merely pass the buck.”

”The reason I insisted on coming here today under the pretext of that incident was to confirm a few questions with everyone. Please forgive my lack of manners.”

...

A dignified Divine Emissary of the Night Watchers had apologized so candidly, even setting the official tone for the previous incident while he was at it.

Thinking back on it, while the probe just now carried a terrifying aura of pollution, it had clearly been measured.

Disgusting as it was, that brief exposure wasn’t enough to cause any irreversible consequences.

For a time, the anger in the hearts of the Academy mentors largely subsided.

”So it’s because of the previous investigation? Gin Kazuhiro suspects we have something to do with Yasui Tokiyuki’s death? I suddenly really want to hear what kind of story he spun.”

Cass chuckled coldly, not bothering to hide his mockery.

”Besides, rumors of Yasui Tokiyuki’s death have circulated more than once or twice before. How was it confirmed this time?”

”Simple. Just last night, during a semi-public appearance on Ye Island, Yasui Tokiyuki was assassinated on the spot.”

Chaumont wore an indescribable expression as he said this.

Assassinated on the spot? What kind of fucking assassin could pull that off?

Setting aside Anjing Company’s security, the man was a Tier 2. Even if his condition was absolute garbage, shouldn’t he have at least been able to run away?

The listeners’ faces twitched as they suddenly understood the source of Chaumont’s bizarre expression.

”The exact sequence of events went roughly like this: a couple of days ago, Siren began spreading rumors that Yasui Tokiyuki was dead again, and Anjing Company issued their customary denial.”

”However, because Anjing Company’s recent reactions had indeed been rather strange, they arranged this public appearance to stabilize morale. The result was him being killed on the spot, reduced to nothing but a pile of ash. They couldn’t even use the excuse that he was severely injured.”

”There was no possibility of keeping the news contained for long, either, because our people had actually been invited to attend.”

”That... must have been a body double, right?” someone whispered.

”That is indeed what Anjing subsequently claimed.” Chaumont nodded.

”But it’s meaningless now. If anything, it proves that Yasui Tokiyuki likely died even earlier.”

Beside him, Li Weixuan sighed.

”When the situation is unfavorable and opponents are spreading rumors, you either lock the doors and play dead, or you make a genuine public appearance.”

”For them to make a decision like this at such a critical juncture, even if Yasui Tokiyuki isn’t dead, it’s highly probable that he no longer possesses the sanity to communicate.”

”A bunch of idiots trying to be clever.” Cass snorted.

”But I still don’t understand. What does this have to do with us?”

”It’s simple. A few days ago, we went to assist at the request of the Ye Island chief, Gin Kazuhiro. We discovered that before Yasui Tokiyuki stopped making public appearances, there was a clear violation of protocol, and someone likely helped him cover it up.”

”To that end, Gin Kazuhiro provided a list of names, and we are investigating them one by one,” Chaumont explained rapidly.

”Of course, you all have been cleared.”