Detective Shraider’s POV:

“Agent Shamoni, can’t you see I’m busy?” I asked, irritated.

My lunch break is sacred!

Shamoni didn’t dignify my annoyance with a response. He just handed me two files.

“What are these?” I didn’t bother opening them, wanting to finish my ham sandwich first.

“Reports from the divination branch and the lab.”

I looked between the files and my sandwich a few times.

“Sir, it’s—“

“I know, I know.”

Hesitantly, I dropped the sandwich before opening the files and skimming through them.

“…No way.”

“Yes, sir. The highest purity Biomancy ever seen. 67% of the bone we scanned was cellularly identical to normal human bones. This… this is not a hobiest; this could be a tier 2 biomancer.”

I stared at Shamoni, surprised at the length of the sentence he had uttered.

Should I tell him that I was surprised that Bell’s divination was right?

I quickly discarded the idea—I valued my life.

“Y-ya, exactly. That’s what I thought.”

***

We were back at the crime scene, but this time, we didn’t enter the barn. Instead, we were next to the fence where we suspected the criminal had entered the premises of the crime scene.

We had just managed to shrug off the farmer’s wife by promising her that we would find the killer.

“You can start, Bell.”

“A-are you sure, sir? I really need to focus and c-can’t be distracted again. I have only one cast left in me, and as you know—“

Why the hell am I surrounded by twerps?

“Yeah, yeah, kid. The woman won’t be coming again. Now start before I become your distraction.”

Bell looked between my and Shamoni. Gulping for some reason, he started his work.

He put a hand on an arcane cube while resting his index and thumb on his closed eyes.

Even though I was no mage, I could feel something moving through the air—Mana.

Maybe I really do have a talent for magic? Argh, if only my father weren’t so insistent…

Unlike most magic branches, Divination magic was the only one that used external Mana and combined it with internal Mana, or Core Mana, as the more academically inclined liked to call it.

Bell started to walk slowly, with Shamoni and me following close behind.

Hmm… the kid has been going at it for a good while now.

I used [Detective’s Eye], the evolution of [Keen Eye], which was the evolution of [Identify], wanting to see what level Bell had reached.

Bell, Human, Lv. 69

Class: Cubical Divinator. {Tierless}

Special points: Left leg shorter than the right one, eye…

Relevance to case: Extremely weak.

Already close to getting his third class skill? I hate to admit it, but this kid is impressive.

Bell had recently joined our group. Being a recent graduate from a magic academy, no one wanted to take him in, so I decided to be generous enough and offer him a chance, not because I did some research on the kid’s background and found out he had an important uncle, no; this was all out of generosity.

At first, I hadn’t taken him that seriously, but with him gaining 30 levels in the span of a few months… it changed my opinion a bit.

So not every aristocratic brat is hopeless, huh?

We soon reached the southern gate’s main route.

Bell stood above a particular spot.

Haaa cough cough…

Bell suddenly took a deep breath before he started coughing—a sign his spell was over.

“So?” I asked, handing the young man a water flask.

As he took the flask from my hands, I saw it in his eyes.

And here’s our sweet, sweet lead.

***

“Captain Coloom, are you sure you haven’t allowed entry to a stray kid?” I asked the guard captain. The man looked ridiculous with his heavy plate armour that covered the entirety of his being, leaving only a slit for his purple eyes—probably a modification from some skill.

A guard captain wearing enchanted armour… his pockets must run deep.

“Of course, not. What do you take me for, a rookie?”

“How about this?”

I handed the man the drawing that Shamoni had just finished, relying on Bell’s description.

How the heck is his drawing so good?! What doesn’t this man know how to do?!

The captain stared at the picture for a heartbeat before shaking his head.

It seems I might have to get this out of you.

“Then I’ll ask you to lead us to the recordings—“

“Wait!”

Well, that was too easy.

Many guards, especially their corrupt captains, tampered with the records. Using their ranking, they extorted money from travellers and even reduced the recorded entry numbers so they could take a cut of the entry fee. And by the looks of this guy’s armour… he for sure was making more than the average captain's salary.

It was given to me as a gift, ha! Loads of bullshit.

I internally laughed at the line most corrupt criminals used when I caught them.

A normal inspector could be bought, even deceived, but a detective with a divinator, no way.

“Can you let me see the drawing again. I… I think I remembered something.”

***

“A kid able to use possibly tier 2 magic… Could he be a prodigy?” Bell asked. We were currently in my office, thinking about our next course of action.

“No Bell, this is no kid. These Biomancers… they can alter their shape. Still, he is a prodigy,” I answered Bell’s question. I acted sure of my answer, but this was the first time I’d heard of such excessive body alteration.

“67% for a bone arrow… this is flesh golem level. Who could he be… some hidden old monster who decided to awaken? And this Hambara guy…” I mused.

“Bell, are you certain you can’t divine more. Maybe tell us their levels?” I asked Bell again.

“Yes, sir, I’m certain. Using a few days-old torn piece from the biomancer’s shirt isn’t much help. Maybe if we found some blood, I could achieve more, but at my current levels… I’m afraid this is the best I could do.”

“What about Hambara? Can’t you crack his anti-divination ward with more rest and mana?”

Bell shook his head, giving me a sad smile.

“Sir, I think we should bring this up to Branch Leader Gamher,” Shamoni suggested.

“Of course not! That bastard wants to get rid of me. This investigation, if it succeeds… it could bring me back from the dead. It may even give me a raise or a promotion.”

Shamoni looked sceptical, while Bell seemed a bit discouraged, scared even.

Sigh…

“Look… just give me a week. We’ll figure it out. If by the end of the week, I don’t have that bastard in chains, I swear I’ll tell Gamher.”

Shamoni gave me a long look, but didn’t disagree.

“S-sir, can’t we just send the enforcers and let them apprehend them, and after they get the truth out of them, you’ll get the promotion you want.”

“No, Bell, we can’t. This Hambara guy is an adventurer; those have certain protection. He could resist the arrest, and then we’d be in trouble with the Guild.”

“S-So what now?”

I smiled.

“Now, we observe.”

***

Hambara couldn’t be considered to be living in the slums of Cervita, but it still was a cramped and not-so-nice area.

A silver-ranked adventurer with a tier 0 class… what could he possibly be doing with that monster?

We were currently inside a hair salon next to Hambara’s house. The hair salonist hadn’t agreed to let us stay for silver, so I had to resort to the old-fashioned way.

“We’re enforcers, so comply, or die.” I twinked at the man.

Sorry, but not sorry.

After that, we were allowed to stay.

We waited, and waited. Sunset came, and the streets started to get lit by the new electric lights, but they still didn’t leave their home.

“Sir, are you sure they’re there? Maybe he’s out?” Bell leaned in to whisper into my ear.

“No need for secrecy, kid,” I lied.

Bell indicated the barber with his eyes. The man was having tea next to us; he had just finished with a client—the place was empty except for us.

“We’re here as law enforcers, trying to keep the peace, and the barber is surely a just citizen, so no need for secrecy,” I spoke aloud.

“Of course, gentlemen. You can stay as long as you want.”

Ahm.

Shamoni coughed, and knowing the man…

Bingo!

Hambara walked past us, and next to him…

Somani, Human, Lv. 1

Class: None.

Special points: Starved…

Relevance to case: Extremely high.

I wasn’t scared of him noticing that I used identification—one of [Detective’s Eye]’s perks.

Nice anti-identification skills.

***

Shamoni used his class skill [Patient Ignorance]. It allowed himself and a small group around him to go completely unnoticed if they walked slowly. A strong skill, but with hard limitations.

We barely managed to keep up with Hambara and the monster; their walking speed eclipsed ours. Thankfully, they weren’t running, and soon, we reached their destination.

The Slave Market.

Could they want to buy a slave, and then turn it into a meat battery?

Hambara and the monster searched the entirety of the slave market, leaving no store unchecked. For some reason, they seemed to be focusing on female slaves.

Those vile creatures!

The search continued for two hours before…

“Mom!”

If we weren’t standing too close, I would’ve doubted my ears.

Is this some kind of sick performance?

The woman in question looked shocked for a heartbeat before she returned the monster’s hug.

Have they controlled her? No, this can’t be. They could’ve controlled any random woman, so why this one?

A possibility crossed my mind, one that made me shiver.

Could they be on to us and are putting up this act to deceive us?

My heart started to beat loudly. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself with logic.

No, this can’t be. Shamoni is a tier one Silent Assassin. He could even escape the perception of a tier 2, unless…

Unless the monster was higher than tier 2.

Shamoni seemed to notice my nervousness as he approached me.

“Should we abort?” Shamoni whispered.

I breathed out before shaking my head.

“Abort, why? Suddenly scared?”

Shamoi rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment.

We continued to follow them. After the plaza, they went to buy the poor woman some clothes, then let her shower, and before heading back home, they bought her Samsusa—it made my stomach grumble a bit.

Crrrk, boom.

They closed the door to their home, ending our espionage.

“What now?” Bell asked in a hushed voice.

Indeed, what now?

***

After lots of convincing on my part, Shamoni agreed to enter the house and observe what they were doing to the woman.

 “Yes, yes. If you find nothing, I’ll tell Gamher about our investigation. Now, could you get going already? We’re hungry, right, Bell?”

Bell looked between Shamoni and me a few times before choosing me, the strongest, the coolest…

“N-No, I’m not hungry. I suggest we get out of here, sir.”

You traitor!

“Today.”

“Huh?”

“Today, you tell Sir Gamher of this today,” Shamoni reiterated, irritated for some reason.

“Sure, buddy. Now go.”

Shamoni gave me one last long glance before he left our side alley—the one adjacent to Hambara’s house.

Shamoni walked with a confident gait. Reaching the walls, he didn’t stop; he walked on them too, like they were horizontal.

Show off.

Getting on the ceiling, he got out of our sight.

As Shamoni did his assasseny—sneaky stuff, I tried to find any clue that I could’ve missed.

Maybe the monster is controlling Hambara, too.

From the start, we’d been thinking of Hambara as an associate, but could he be forced too?

Yeah, that makes more sense. When the monster saw Hambara outside the gates, he decided to take control of him, but why Hambara?

I decided to look more into Hambara’s background and recent activities after we got done with this part.

I’ll get you monster, you can have my word on it!

The only reason the higher-ups hated me was that I never failed a mission, and this one wouldn’t be any different.

Try to tarnish my name as you, Gamher, you’ll end up as the loser in the end.

Soon, Shamoni returned with his hands inside his pants’ pockets. The man had the same neutral expression on his face as usual, and for a second, I thought he could have been controlled before discarding the idea.

Shamoni is no small fry.

“So?” I asked, full of hope.

Sorry, stranger woman, but if they are now bisecting you inside their basement, we’ll have hard evidence to apprehend them. Because of your suffering, no one shall suffer… and I’ll get a promotion.

“Nothing, they’re just sleeping.”

I deflated at that and immediately got into thinking of a new way to prolong my investigation without my teammates telling on me.

“But, I’ve found this.”

Shamoni took out a strand of hair from his pocket, a brown one.

Now this is what I’m talking about!