Episode-732
Chapter : 1443
In his head, a voice was screaming. Misdirection.
Rubaiya was smart. Too smart. She was a strategist. Would a strategist really believe Jamie was the mastermind? Jamie, who once got his head stuck in a helmet?
"Or maybe," Lloyd thought, a chill running down his spine, "she is pointing at Jamie so we don't look at her."
He didn't say it. He couldn't. Not yet.
"I need to talk to Jamie again," Lloyd said. "I need to look him in the eye."
"I will come with you," Isabella said.
"No," Lloyd said. "He's scared of you. You put him in jail. I need him relaxed. I need him to talk."
"Fine," Isabella huffed. "But if he confesses, I want to be the one to execute him."
"We don't execute people without a trial, Princess," Lloyd reminded her.
"A trial is just a slow execution," Isabella muttered.
Lloyd left the library. He walked back to the dungeon. The path was becoming familiar.
"Accusations are easy," Lloyd thought. "Truth is hard. And Rubaiya just made it a lot harder."
Lloyd stood outside Jamie's cell. The fencing instructor was asleep, curled up on the cot. He looked small. Vulnerable.
"Jamie," Lloyd whispered.
Jamie woke up with a start. He scrambled back against the wall. "Don't kill me! I have excellent hygiene!"
"Relax," Lloyd said. "It's just me. Lloyd."
Jamie let out a breath. "Lloyd. Did you bring a comb?"
"No," Lloyd said. "I brought a question. A serious question."
He unlocked the door with the master key Valerius had given him. He stepped inside.
"Rubaiya thinks you're the traitor," Lloyd said bluntly.
Jamie's jaw dropped. "Me? Why? I am beautiful! Traitors are ugly!"
"She thinks you funded Daniel. She thinks you bought the cursed weapons to create chaos so you could play the hero."
"That is insane!" Jamie shouted. "I have no money! My family is broke! I spend my entire salary on hair oil and polishes!"
"She says you might have a sponsor," Lloyd said. "Someone giving you gold."
"I wish!" Jamie cried. "I have been trying to find a sponsor for years! I tried to get a sponsorship from the 'Royal Shampoo Company'. They rejected me! They said my hair was 'too voluminous'!"
Lloyd looked at him. Jamie was indignant. He was offended. But he wasn't guilty.
"Jamie," Lloyd said. "Look at me. Did you want to hurt Isabella?"
Jamie's face crumpled. Tears filled his eyes. "Hurt her? I would die for her. I love her, Lloyd. I know she thinks I am a joke. I know I am... a bit much. But she is the sun. You don't hurt the sun."
It was pathetic. It was raw. And it was absolutely true.
"Okay," Lloyd said. "I believe you."
"You do?" Jamie sniffled.
"Yes. You're too in love to be a killer. And honestly, you're not smart enough to be a mastermind."
"Hey!" Jamie protested. "I am smart! I know all the fencing terms in three languages!"
"That's vocabulary, not strategy," Lloyd said.
He sat down on the cot next to Jamie. "Listen. Someone framed you. Someone pushed your arm. Someone wants us to think it's you. Why?"
"Because I am an easy target?" Jamie suggested.
"Yes. And because if we are looking at you, we aren't looking at them."
"Who is 'them'?"
"I don't know yet," Lloyd said. "But Rubaiya... she was very quick to accuse you. Very quick to point the finger at Daniel, then you."
"Rubaiya is scary," Jamie whispered. "She looks at people like they are math problems she wants to solve by subtraction."
"Yeah," Lloyd agreed. "She does."
He stood up. "Stay here, Jamie. Stay safe. I'm going to get you out. I promise."
"Can you bring the comb next time?" Jamie asked. "Please. My bangs are a tragedy."
"I'll bring the comb," Lloyd smiled.
He left the cell. He locked the door.
He walked back up the stairs. His mind was working overtime.
Rubaiya was the strategist. She was the one mapping the mana flows. She was the one who "found" the pattern.
What if she was creating the pattern?
What if she was the traitor?
"She has the brain," Lloyd thought. "She has the cat spirit that can pierce defenses. She fits the profile of a sleeper agent. Adopted. Orphan. Grudge against the system."
It was a terrifying thought. The woman helping him hunt the ghost might be the ghost herself.
"I need to verify," Lloyd decided. "I need to check her alibis. I need to see what she's really doing in the archives."
Chapter : 1444
He walked out into the night. The Academy was sleeping. But the shadows were awake.
And Lloyd Ferrum was done playing detective. It was time to start playing soldier.
"Game on, Rubaiya," he whispered. "Let's see who's smarter."
The next morning, Lloyd convened a meeting of the "Alliance" in the Old Tower. He wanted to see their faces. He wanted to see them react.
Rubaiya was there, looking smug. Daniel was there, looking terrified. Tulip was there, looking worried.
"We have a suspect," Lloyd announced. "Rubaiya believes it is Jamie. Daniel believes it is a mysterious woman in the market. I believe we need to be sure."
"I am sure," Rubaiya said. "I checked Jamie's room. I found a bag of gold. Unmarked coins."
"You broke into his room?" Tulip asked, shocked.
"Necessary measures," Rubaiya said. "The gold proves he had funding."
"Or," Lloyd said calmly, "it proves someone planted gold in his room. Jamie leaves his door unlocked because he 'welcomes fans'."
"It is evidence," Rubaiya insisted.
"It is convenient," Lloyd countered.
He turned to Daniel. "Daniel. You said you met the woman in the Midnight Market. Can you take us there?"
Daniel nodded frantically. "Yes. Yes, I can show you the stall."
"Good," Lloyd said. "Tonight. We go to the market. All of us. If this woman exists, we find her. If she doesn't..."
He looked at Rubaiya. "Then we rethink our theories."
Rubaiya didn't flinch. "Fine. But if it is a trap, do not blame me."
"I never blame the strategist," Lloyd said. "I blame the intel."
That night, they slipped out of the Academy. They wore cloaks. They looked like a group of very suspicious wizards going to a very suspicious party.
The Midnight Market was a labyrinth of tents and shadows near the docks. It smelled of fish and illicit magic. People were selling potions, cursed items, and questionable meat on sticks.
"Where is it?" Lloyd asked Daniel.
"This way," Daniel whispered. He led them through the crowd. He was shaking. He was clearly out of his element.
They reached a small, dark stall tucked between a crate of eels and a wall. It was empty. Just a wooden table and a tattered canopy.
"She was here," Daniel said. "Right here."
"It is empty," Rubaiya said flatly. "Convenient."
"She moves," Daniel pleaded. "She said she moves!"
Lloyd walked up to the table. He activated his [All-Seeing Eye]. He scanned the wood.
There was a residue. Faint. Black. The same corruption signature as the sword.
"He's telling the truth," Lloyd said. "She was here. Recently."
He looked at the dust on the table. There was a shape in the dust. A circle. Where a jar had been sitting.
"She packed up in a hurry," Lloyd noted. "She knew we were coming."
"How?" Tulip asked.
"Because we talked about it," Lloyd said. "In the tower."
He turned to the group. "Someone told her."
The silence was heavy. Suspicion hung in the air like fog.
"Are you accusing us?" Rubaiya asked, her voice dangerous.
"I am stating a fact," Lloyd said. "The leak is in the team."
"Or," Tulip said gently, "the enemy has listening spells. We are dealing with powerful magic."
"Maybe," Lloyd allowed.
He looked at Daniel. The big man was sweating. "Daniel, did she say anything else? Anything about her boss? Her plans?"
"She... she mentioned a 'harvest'," Daniel said. "She said the harvest was coming soon. And that the 'seeds' were planted."
"Seeds," Lloyd muttered. "The cursed items. They are seeds. Waiting to bloom."
"We need to find the other seeds," Lloyd said. "Before they grow."
"We need to find Jamie," Rubaiya said. "He is the key."
"Jamie is in a cell," Lloyd reminded her. "He is safe."
"Is he?" Rubaiya asked. "Or is he waiting for the harvest to break him out?"
Lloyd looked at her. She was relentless. She was pushing the Jamie narrative hard. Why?
"Let's go back," Lloyd said. "There's nothing here but fish smells and bad memories."
They walked back to the Academy. The mood was grim. They had confirmed Daniel's story, which meant there was a dealer. But they had missed her.
As they walked, Lloyd fell into step beside Daniel.
"You did good, Daniel," Lloyd whispered. "You told the truth."
"I am sorry, Professor," Daniel said. "I am so sorry."
"It's okay," Lloyd said. "We'll fix it. But Daniel... keep your hammer close. I think we're going to need it."
Back at the Old Tower, Lloyd dismissed the team. He said he needed to sleep.