Solo Swordmaster

Episode #191. It’s the culprit.

Others may not have realized it because they were surprised by the number of shadows, or embarrassed by the mere act of stepping back.

But she, accustomed to formal events, was instantly recognizable.

The ghosts of London didn’t retreat because they were scared of Limon or wary of something.

To put it bluntly, the opposite.

Like worshiping a great king.

Or like welcoming an immortal hero.

Excitement and joy hidden in an indescribably strict and respectful atmosphere stirred the shadows.

Even the improvement ceremony held for the improvement general wouldn’t be this much.

The ghosts of London, not living people, were paying this homage to a musician.

It was only natural for Rose to have doubts about Limon’s identity.

“My true identity… Well, it’s complicated if you go deeper, but I can explain it like this for now.”

However, even with that suspicious look, Limon was not shaken.

It seems like you’re asking about it now.

I just replied with a smile.

“The person who was asked to investigate the witch murder case.”

Rose hardened her face at once.

Although she has made many mistakes lately due to lack of sleep, she is basically a smart girl, so she could notice a lot with just that.

“…Are you a 27 lineage witch?”

“It’s clear that it was a witch who asked me that favor.”

“In the end, you mean you purposely infiltrated the count’s house to catch the killer who killed the witch.”

“Don’t blame Julia. She just hired me while she was looking for a good musician.”

For a moment, look at Limon with complicated eyes, who meekly admits to having served as a spy in the count’s family.

Rose nodded abruptly.

“So, after all, that performance was also a witch’s craft?”

“huh? What do you mean?”

“…wasn’t it?”

“So what?”

“That… nothing. Just forget about it.”

Rose, who was convinced by herself and then embarrassed, eventually blushed and picked up her words.

Looking at her strangely flimsy look instead of the serious look she had a moment ago, Limon put on a doubtful expression.

Is it because I was conscious of that gaze?

Rose, suppressing her growing shame with a clearing of her throat, hastily changed the topic.

“Why are you revealing this fact?”

“Ah, this? I want to reduce the waste of time if possible.”

“What does it mean?”

“Actually, at first I suspected your family of counts as the culprit. The reason is… even if I don’t tell you, you’ll understand, right?”

Limon grins.

Rose nodded her head kindly at him.

“Yes, I can understand.”

The location of the Blue Dragon Clan in London.

The power and status of the 27 genealogies of magic.

and the cover-up of the murder.

Considering everything, it was only natural that he investigated the Countess Sea Serpent first.

Limon calmly continued to talk to Rose who accepted it calmly.

“So the first thing I did was walk around the city of London. I want to know if there are any bad rumors about witches.”

“Did you think we could have staged a witch hunt, depending on public opinion?”

“No, but at least if you guys had started a witch hunt, you wouldn’t have been able to manipulate public opinion.”

Limon said with a mean laugh, and Rose didn’t bother denying it.

They are the righteous blue dragon clan.

And it was also justice for them to form public opinion favorable to them in order to protect the honor of their clan.

“But there were no particularly bad rumors about witches. That’s pretty neat.”

“Is that why you excluded us as suspects?”

“No, not until then.”

Limon shook his head.

The blue dragon clan was too strong a suspect to dispel suspicions with just that reason.

If other reasons were added, the situation would have been different.

“Until I found out that you were against the Sorcerer Lord’s grand plan to clear London of this fog.”

“…How did you know that?”

“Suffice it to say, there is a reason why I was asked to investigate the witch murder case.”

Whether or not Rose was dumbfounded at the sight of him talking lightly about a secret that only a few people in the British Empire knew.

Limon continued calmly.

If the witch murder case was due to the witch confrontation system, the culprit would have the same purpose as Carol, namely, to get rid of the gloomy time.

To put it in reverse, the possibility that Rose, who was in conflict with Carol, was the culprit was extremely low.

“The most decisive thing is the current situation.”

Even so, the narrow-minded investigator couldn’t erase the last bit of suspicion.

Therefore, Limon, who brought her out to the streets at this ‘time’, is the last proof of Rose’s innocence.

In other words, he looked at the numerous shadows surrounding him and ended his speech.

“If you were the culprit of the witch murder, there’s no way the ghosts of London could be so calm.”

“…you know a lot about London.”

“Because I’ve been here a few times before.”

Rose thought to herself.

It’s nonsensical nonsense.

The circumstances surrounding the London confrontation world and the gloomy hour were not simple enough to know this fact just by watching it a few times.

However, he is in the position of investigating the witch murder case.

It was only natural, then, that he knew more about the London showdown.

“Now that I have been ruled out as a suspect, you are saying that you want to seek cooperation in the investigation.”

“Yes, even if you are not the culprit, you will have information about the witch murder case.”

“You are under no obligation to give me any information.”

“But you might have the mercy of giving the victim’s official information about the perpetrator. is not it?”

Seeing Limon smirk, Rose put on a troubled expression.

The witch murder case is also being carefully investigated by the Blue Dragon clan as a top secret.

No matter how much the witch requested it, it wasn’t a story that could be easily revealed to Limon, whose exact identity was still unclear.

“Can you promise that there will be no leakage of information to the outside world?”

“okay.”

“Then good. I’ll let you know if it’s okay, even if it’s approximate.”

Eventually Rose opened her mouth.

It wasn’t just out of mercy.

Currently, the Witch of the 27th Line of Mado is on high alert due to a series of murders and has gone into hiding.

In order to let them know that the Blue Dragon Clan was not their enemy, it was necessary to share information to some extent through Limon.

“To be honest, we don’t know much about this case. At best, that’s all I heard from Jessica.”

“If it’s Jessica, you mean ‘Looking Out Jessica’?”

“yes.”

One of the 27 lineage witches.

At the same time, Limon makes an unexpected expression at the name of a woman who is also the fifth victim of the witch murder case.

Rose calmly confided her circumstances to him.

“She was the first to notice this case and started the investigation, and was our collaborator.”

Originally, witches hide behind the world, so even the witches of the 27th line of magic did not notice the murder at first.

But Jessica was an exception.

As she inherited the genealogy of ‘Looking Out Jessica’, she was good at magic such as primitiveness and search, and felt a change from the beginning.

And after a close investigation, he realized that someone was aiming for a witch, and secretly contacted the Blue Dragon clan.

“Jessica set aside her fellow witches and asked for your cooperation first? why?”

“Maybe I didn’t believe in the same witch either.”

“…That’s a very convincing reason.”

Limon clicked his tongue.

Witches are inherently united by individualism and mysticism.

In that sense, it was a true witch-like act to contact an outside force because she couldn’t trust a witch of the same 27 lineage of magic.

It’s to the point that even if it’s just Syr, I’ve brought him in to solve this case.

“Jessica conducted her own investigation even after contacting us. It seems that I have found some important clues thanks to that.”

“If it was the same, then the clue is that you don’t know either?”

“She was killed right before she met with us and handed over a vital clue.”

“He found and killed a witch faster than you in this London?”

Limon put on a puzzled expression.

To outrun the blue dragon clan, who can use space movement like breathing, in London, not anywhere else.

Because I thought it was common sense, it didn’t make sense.

Rose responded calmly to him.

“It is something that would normally not happen. But they were aiming for the only time slots where that was possible.”

“Hmm?”

It was at this moment that Limon put on a strange expression when he realized the meaning of her words.

That is why the shadows surrounding the two began to stir.

as if shouting something.

Seeing the silently clamoring shadows, Rose hardened her face. Then, like lightning, he drew his sword and charged Limon.

When Limon sees it and twitches his eyebrows.

Chow!

A bright red bloody purple soaked the mist.

It was the result of Rose cutting off something that had just come out of Limon’s feet with her sword.

Thanks to that, Limon clicked his tongue as he tried to crush it with his foot, only to find blood on his pants.

But things weren’t over yet.

The moment it seemed like a thick shadow was cast over the feet of the two people, the same things as before started popping out one after another.

“What are these?”

At first glance, a shadow that resembles the ghosts of London without substance, only outlines.

However, Limon frowned when he saw all of them with bizarre shapes that made him question whether they were monsters… or even creatures at all.

Rose said to him in a hard voice.

“Hide behind me.”

“…what to do?”

“Never fall from my side. These are not the Ghosts of London.”

That’s enough if you pretend to know.

Limon, who was about to answer involuntarily, shut his mouth.

Then, seeing Rose, who was wary of them with a hard face that was a little different from her usual sincerity or seriousness, she narrowed her eyes.

“Hey Count. I can’t believe the ‘guys’ you mentioned earlier…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Rose nodded her head at Limon, who asked as if he was dumbfounded, and continued to speak in a low voice.

“These monsters are the ones who killed Jessica.”

* * *

When he made Jessica his ally, Rose received a magic tool from her to communicate with each other.

And one day, I got a call saying that I had an important clue, and I was being chased, so I received a rescue request to help quickly.

Unfortunately, she was unable to rescue Jessica in time.

The reason is two.

One is that that time was, of course, the ‘time of gloomy’.

Another reason was that there was an obstacle that prevented her and the knights of the Countess Sea Serpent from going to rescue Jessica.

The obstacle is the ‘shadow monster’.

At this moment, Rose was slashing away with her sword, and her body was a bizarre existence made of shadows.