Chapter 205 : Chapter 205
Chapter 205. The Culprit is Inside Here (1)
“What is it?”
“What happened?”
People looked for the protagonist of the sudden scream.
The one who screamed was none other than the Countess.
“My pink diamond brooch!”
She looked down at her dress with an expression of disbelief.
The brooch that had been shining dazzlingly just a moment ago had completely disappeared without a trace.
“My brooch is gone! It was definitely here just now!”
The Countess, turning ghastly pale, ended up collapsing onto the floor.
As she collapsed helplessly, the Count hurriedly supported her.
“Are you alright?”
“What should I do? To think I lost our family’s precious heirloom passed down from our ancestors for generations.......”
“Someone must have stolen it! For that huge thing to disappear suddenly is ridiculous!”
A brooch, huh.
Rabbit Mask’s expression became serious.
He quickly instructed his employees.
“Lock every single door right now. Make sure no one can leave.”
“Understood.”
The employees followed Rabbit Mask’s instructions with swift movements.
CLICK.
BANG!
CLANK.
Before long, all the doors in the House of the Undead were locked.
Not only the doors but even the windows.
Rabbit Mask looked around at the guests and said.
“Attention, everyone. We need your cooperation. I am very sorry that this happened, but right now, solving this case as soon as possible seems to be the priority.”
The people in the party venue murmured.
“A case?”
“Someone really stole it?”
However, seeing the serious Count and Countess, it seemed true that the brooch was missing.
The Count shouted, wrapping his arm around the Countess’s shoulders.
“Please! I earnestly beg you to find my wife’s brooch.”
Rabbit Mask looked at them once.
And he nodded.
“From now on, until the case is solved, no one can leave the House of the Undead.”
It was the moment when golden eyes flashed inside the rabbit mask.
“Because the culprit is inside here.”
* * *
The Countess’s brooch disappeared.
And in just a few minutes.
The Owner of the Flower Garden crossed his arms and observed the unfolding situation.
Without realizing it, the corners of his mouth twitched.
‘It’s getting interesting, isn't it?’
He was a man who loved scoops to the bone.
If he discovered an interesting case, his whole body would shiver.
It was a bit boring until now, but it was starting to get interesting.
“Do you think someone really stole the brooch?”
Green Fingers asked the Owner of the Flower Garden.
He was one of the loyal reporters the Owner of the Flower Garden had with him.
“What do you think?”
“That is.......”
He also seemed to have smelled a scoop.
“Of course, it would be more interesting if someone stole it.”
Hearing Green Fingers’ answer, the Owner of the Flower Garden couldn't hide his smile.
It was a satisfying answer.
Articles must be interesting no matter what.
Someone criticized him.
That reporters should only convey facts.
Facts?
In his opinion, facts should also be interesting.
Articles that failed to attract the public's interest were meaningless.
That was the reason ‘Blue Rose’ had survived until now.
“Let’s just watch for now.”
The Owner of the Flower Garden looked at the stage with his loyal reporter.
“It was definitely hanging on her chest just before raising the glass.”
The Countess came forward and was giving a statement.
Because they needed to know everything about where and how it disappeared.
Rabbit Mask was listening to her words without missing anything.
After closing the doors, he had already instructed the employees to scour the floor thoroughly.
Under the tables, under the chairs, they checked if it had fallen on the passing path.
However, the brooch was not found.
According to the Countess’s testimony, the pink diamond attached to the brooch was a very large jewel.
No matter how dark the House of the Undead was, it wasn't a size that couldn't be found on the floor.
“We must find it. The diamond on that brooch is a jewel with the oldest history in our family. Its value is indescribable.”
The Count spoke following the Countess.
He shouted to the guests with a grievous voice.
“If there is someone here blinded by money who stole the brooch, please return it. I will give you any amount of money!”
However, there were bound to be people who found the Count’s words jarring.
“......Hey, it hasn't even been concluded that someone stole it yet, has it?”
He stood crookedly as if he didn't like it and opened his mouth.
“I really don't like how you keep talking as if it was stolen since earlier?”
The person who picked a fight at the Count’s words was none other than the Knight Commander wearing a ghost mask.
The Vice Commander, who was listening beside him, said quickly.
“Commander, stop it.”
“Stop what? Did I say anything wrong?”
The Knight Commander ended up saying this to the Count.
“And what do you mean by giving any amount of money? Where do you have money? I saw you going around borrowing gambling funds earlier.”
“What did you say?”
At the Knight Commander’s words, the Count grabbed the back of his neck as if dumbfounded.
However, the Knight Commander’s mouth did not stop.
“When things like this happen, it is usually right to suspect the closest person. If it is money, aren't you the most urgent?”
The Count’s splendid mask trembled.
As the situation took an unusual turn, the Vice Commander put a hand to his forehead.
The Commander ended up causing trouble in the end.
How much debt had been incurred by that blabbering mouth alone?
He elbowed the Commander’s side to prevent a bigger accident.
THUCK!
“Ah, why!”
“Stop causing discord!”
But the Knight Commander acted as if he was more aggrieved.
“No, isn't it true! How do we know the price of a brooch we saw once! Isn't that person over there the one who knows best that it is expensive?”
The Knight Commander didn't hesitate to point fingers at the Count.
Seeing that appearance, the Vice Commander felt his insides rotting.
Vice Commander of the Meteor Shower Knights.
Serge Sorte clenched his molars thinking about how he ended up here.
‘I must endure.’
He and the Commander came all the way to Marcellent to become followers of the 8th Prince.
In fact, it was as good as having no other choice for them.
They had to become followers of the 8th Prince no matter what.
‘If we are not chosen here, there is nowhere else to retreat.’
There were various knight orders in the Empire.
Usually, when one became a knight, they would be employed under a lord or join a knight order to work, but knights who couldn't belong to the Imperial Knights or famous knight orders would sometimes create their own knight orders separately.
Since creating a knight order wasn't difficult as long as one had a knighthood, numerous private knight orders existed in the Empire.
Old or skilled knight orders were famous enough for ordinary people to know.
For example, the Horizon Knights commanding the desert region or the Guardian Knights active in the border regions were like that.
Serge and the Commander also dreamed of such a knight order at first.
There was a time when they pledged to become the most renowned knight order in the Empire while creating the Meteor Shower Knights.
They did make a name for themselves.
The problem was that they made a name in the other direction.
Private knight orders were better than mercenaries but lower than official knight orders.
So when people paid money to entrust a request, they often came with the mindset that a knight would be better than a mercenary anyway.
But this damned Commander had a talent for thoroughly shattering the hearts of such clients.
An attitude more swaggering than a mercenary.
A way of speaking that picked fights with clients at the drop of a hat.
The surprising thing was that the Commander was also a formal knight who received a knighthood from the Empire.
Although he was of mercenary origin, that part was real.
But the people who entrusted requests to the Meteor Shower Knights didn't believe those words.
‘Oh, you are the client?’
‘Hey, client!’
Because he turned the clients' insides upside down with such speech habits.
Furthermore, the knight order members also resembled the Commander, and everyone had strong personalities.
Since they became so famous as a rogue knight order in the Empire, there was no place that would use them.
They were in a situation where debts only increased day by day.
But if it is the 8th Prince.
If it is the 8th Prince who just started gathering power, wouldn't there be hope for us too?
‘But you cause trouble without being able to endure that short moment?’
It was a situation where the Vice Commander’s insides were beyond rotting and were crumbling.
However, the Commander was blabbering like a runaway train.
“Is what I said wrong? Huh? Speak. Speak up!”
This crazy.
The moment the Vice Commander couldn't endure anymore and tried to use violence.
The enraged Count struck first.
“What about you? Do you think I don't know who you are? You are the Meteor Shower Knights, gathered only with crazy people. I heard you have thousands in debt because you caused so much trouble!”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“I heard you guys go around without even being able to eat! You hunt monsters because there is nothing to eat, right? Aren't you the one most desperate for money here?”
......It’s over.
The Vice Commander smiled despondently.
* * *
They must have gotten quite close in that short time.
Rabbit Mask admired slightly seeing people who knew well about each other.
‘They have to know something to fight.’
Even thinking about it now, arriving late seemed to be a good thing.
‘Although I was really late because of cleaning up.’
After paying daily wages to Armandy, Pirenzo, and other daily part-timers, and sending donations with Gusto and the people dispatched from the temple, it ended up getting late.
Thanks to that, it seemed the guests had time to recognize each other.
‘Gathering the followers was an excellent choice.’
Of course, gathering the follower candidates at the House of the Undead party was Radel’s plan.
It was something done borrowing the power of Gusto’s S-rank trait, Unseen Hand.
It wasn't difficult for the employees, who had already investigated the follower candidates and knew their characteristics, to distribute number tickets separately.
“Are you done talking?”
“You should be the one prepared!”
The Meteor Shower Knight Commander and the Count went to the verge of grabbing each other by the collar.
Radel’s eyes shone behind the rabbit mask.
The information that the Meteor Shower Knight Commander was hot-tempered came to mind.
Indeed, experiencing it personally, he felt he knew his personality well.
‘Isn't that better than Leon?’
Wasn't he much more moderate than Leon, who threatened to kill his brother at the drop of a hat?
He didn't suddenly emit killing intent or use magic either.
“Wait a moment. There is no need to fight here.”
Just then, someone appeared to stop them.
“If it is really a theft case, wouldn't it be fine if we search each other’s belongings?”
He was wearing a mask, but he was a man with a somewhat subdued atmosphere.
Radel knew who that person was.
He was a person who stood out even in the list of prospective followers Edward handed over.
2nd Vice Minister belonging to the Administration.
A person from a commoner background who came to assist the head of the Administration solely with his brilliant mind.
‘Davit Stinger.’
Curiosity appeared in Radel’s eyes.
Did he see through this play?
Then Davit looked straight at Rabbit Mask and said.
“How about it. Let’s inspect belongings one by one here.”
Davit’s mask was shaped like a hunting dog.
“Of course, that includes Rabbit Mask as well.”
He also looked at Radel and thought.
That the 8th Prince had plotted something quite interesting.