Reincarnation Paradise Park

Chapter 1206: Chapter 21: The Mystery

The Old King, upon learning of the upheaval in the Royal Palace, showed little expression. He had experienced all kinds of storms and waves in his lifetime, and had long since formed the habit of not showing his emotions openly.

The Old King sat down, casually tossed the empty wine glass in his hand onto the table, and pulled over a napkin to carefully wipe the wine stains from his hands.

”Iron Hand, if I leave this matter to you, how long will you need?”

The Old King spoke as if no one else was around. The banquet hall was deathly silent; the officials and big merchants present all perked up their ears, yet they all kept their sides or backs turned, no one daring to look directly at the Old King.

”Three days.”

The task deadline was only three days, so Su Xiao’s response was straightforward. If he couldn’t find the murderer within three days, his identity as Iron Hand would be stripped away.

”Alright, I’ll give you three days.”

The Old King was equally straightforward, but he didn’t say what would happen if Su Xiao couldn’t find the murderer within the time. Some things didn’t need to be spelled out so plainly.

From the Old King’s previous ’momentary lapse of composure’, it was evident that the situation had spiraled out of his control. The Little Princess’s death in the Royal Palace’s back garden was strange enough; if her death was merely a provocation, then the Queen and Commander Kalon’s suicides were a colossal conspiracy.

Su Xiao, along with Bubu Wang and five forbidden guards, headed towards the banquet hall’s exit. These five forbidden guards would completely follow Su Xiao’s command for the foreseeable future, serving as top-tier cannon fodder and enforcers.

As he exited the banquet hall, Su Xiao’s mind began to ponder. From the current situation, it seemed the murderer, in order to cover their tracks, had almost entirely cleared the scene of all witnesses, apart from Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and the five forbidden guards.

Commander Kalon had died from a self-inflicted throat slash, while the other witnesses had all poisoned themselves. According to Su Xiao’s observations, the poison the Queen ingested was the same as that which the Royal Guard had taken, meaning someone had provided them with identical poison.

Covering the tracks meant the murderer dared not confront the Royal Family head-on, at least not within the Royal Palace. That’s why they remained hidden and destroyed any evidence.

There’s one thing Su Xiao couldn’t understand: why go through all this trouble and involve even the Queen and Legion Commander just to kill Sharin Herbert?

What’s different about Sharin Herbert? From Su Xiao’s perspective, the only thing about her was her early engagement with men; otherwise, she was nothing special. Her physical attributes were only at an ordinary human level, her appearance was delicate, but not exceptionally beautiful, and regarding her figure—what kind of figure could a 13-year-old girl have?

Sharin Herbert didn’t possess any special energy, nor was she a significant figure in the current power struggle.

Su Xiao’s mind raced through the possibilities, but after much deliberation, he astonishingly found no valuable information. Indeed, his deduction ability was merely average.

Realizing this, Su Xiao wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t banked on finding the murderer through sheer deductive skill—nobody’s perfect.

Su Xiao might not have stellar deductive abilities, but he held the position of Iron Hand. The Holy Sodding Kingdom was a vast realm composed of five united kingdoms, with fertile lands, thus its population ranged between 300 to 500 million. However, given the technological level at the time, the precise population count wasn’t feasible.

With the technological level of the World of Xiya, such a massive population was an exaggerated figure. But considering the vast area of the Xiya Continent, it was understandable to have such a population size. Remember, this was the total human population—Holy Sodding Kingdom was the only human kingdom in the World of Xiya.

Even with billions of people, the Holy Sodding Kingdom was sparsely populated, hence the Royal Family ardently advocated for childbirth. For a kingdom with advanced agricultural techniques like Holy Sodding Kingdom, a large population wasn’t likely to lead to impoverished living conditions or starvation.

The Holy Sodding Kingdom had a crop similar to a potato, called ’Kba’. This crop had a weed-like survival ability and could grow as large as a washbasin if the soil was fertile enough.

Furthermore, the kingdom had advanced techniques for cultivating wheat and other crops. Implements similar to the plow had long been invented, and astonishingly, even the commoners of the Holy Sodding Kingdom understood grafting techniques.

If the Holy Sodding Kingdom’s technology mirrored that of medieval Europe, its agriculture was centuries ahead.

That’s precisely why the Holy Sodding Kingdom could maintain such a vast population base and engage in millennia-long wars against the Undead Clan.

Amid such a massive populace, various talents existed, including detectives with extraordinary deductive skills.

Detective was a favored profession in this world, and some famous ones even earned recognition from the Royal Family. Their status was below officials but above merchants and other vocations.

Many renowned detectives existed. With a single order from Su Xiao, all detectives within the Royal Capital would be forcibly summoned.

But it wasn’t just detectives Su Xiao needed. This task wasn’t about assassinating a specific target; it was deduction-based, and his own deductive skills weren’t strong enough, so he’d compensate with the power of his position.

An excellent detective was necessary, of course. Su Xiao also needed a ’know-it-all’, someone familiar with the Royal Capital’s various powers.

Beyond detectives and the ’know-it-all’, Su Xiao needed a comprehensive and secure intelligence network.

Su Xiao wouldn’t personally seek out detectives—that would be a waste of time.

”Take this and find Joe Valentine. Have him gather the best detectives in the Royal Capital within two hours.”

Su Xiao tossed a Golden Lion Pendant to one of the forbidden guards, who quickly disappeared from Su Xiao’s sight. Su Xiao then turned his gaze to another forbidden guard. These guards all wore metal helmets, showing only their eyes, and they had no names.

”Go to the Second Princess and tell her that the Iron Hand temporarily needs her intelligence network in the Royal Capital.”

Su Xiao, of course, wouldn’t foolishly investigate this matter alone. He intended to employ every available method to complete the hidden side mission.

Currently, there were no leads. Su Xiao’s only task was not to search the world for clues, but to wait—for the murderer to come to him.

This wasn’t mere wishful thinking. Almost all the witnesses to the murder’s first scene had died, with only Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and the five forbidden guards having been there and examined the Little Princess’s body.

If the murderer intended to silence everyone, they would certainly come for Su Xiao. As for Bubu Wang and the forbidden guards, the guards had some value in being eliminated, but Bubu Wang wasn’t likely to attract much enmity.

As long as the opponent intended to eliminate Su Xiao, they would send someone to assassinate him, thus giving Su Xiao his chance.

Su Xiao wasn’t skilled in deduction, but he excelled in combat. If the opponent decided to solve this matter through force, Su Xiao was confident he could complete this hidden side mission.

As for worrying about his Iron Hand identity being feared, let’s not kid ourselves. The opponent dared to kill the Little Princess within the Royal Palace—they wouldn’t fear the Iron Hand.

So now, Su Xiao needed to give the opponent an opportunity. Therefore, he dispatched all the forces around him and stayed alone at a seemingly safe, yet actually unsafe, location—that place being Iron Hand’s residence.