The next day, the teams set out to investigate and search for the kidnapper. As expected, everyone headed toward the location reported by the witness, hoping to find any clues. However, Shion Lan chose a different path.
"I'll ensure my viewpoint. So, I will investigate somewhere else as we can cover all the possibilities." As he said at the last day.
He went toward the neglected, impoverished district. The conditions there were miserable, pitiful and poor. The houses were old and the road wasn't intact but he pressed on until he reached a gathering of people drinking in a pitiful state.
' I have some money, so getting information shouldn't be hard… though with people like these, it won't be easy either, ' Shion thought.
He spotted a bartender and approached him. When the man noticed Shion's noble demeanor, he quickly bowed.
"How may I serve you, sir?!"
"Do you have any stories?" Shion asked.
The bartender understood immediately. "What kind of story are you looking for, sir?"
"A story about an evil man who kidnaps children."
Shion took out a silver coin. After receiving it, the bartender began,
"Well, sir, it's said that someone was seen abducting a child in an alley and—"
Before he could finish, the tip of a sharp sword pressed against his neck. Shion's stellar aura flared, threatening to kill him.
"I already know that story," Shion said coldly. "I want to hear another."
The people who were drinking saw Shion acting like that so they stood and show him their auras.
"Little boy! If you don't want to lose your head, let him!"
"You must know your place boy!"
"You —"
"Shut up!"
Shion released his deadly aura making the men collapsed and said with deadly voice,
"Scums of the second level dared to stand against me?! You got enough of your mere low lives, didn't you?!"
He looked at the bartender and said knowing that none could hurt him as he engraved his presence in their minds,
"Where did we stop?"
"But, sir… those are just rumors—"
"All stories have an origin. I want to hear them so I can reach the truth behind them."
The bartender gave in, lowering his voice as he poured wine for Shion as he suppressed his aura.
"To be honest, I have my doubts too. What I told you came from the guards… but I've heard whispers."
Shion took the wine and drank as he listened carefully.
"They say there's an old woman who moves at night, kidnapping children to perform a forbidden spell that restores her youth. She seduces men to carry out rituals, but they always fail, and she returns to being old again."
Shion smiled. "Any other interesting stories?"
The bartender nodded.
"There's another tale told by travelers. It speaks of a beautiful witch who can charm even the strongest men. Everyone falls into obsession over her. But to get close to her, a sacrifice is required… and unlike normal love, the sacrifice must be human."
He added, "In my opinion, sir, the two stories are strangely connected. That's all I know."
Shion finished his drink and handed him a gold coin.
"Thank you. Do you know where these stories originated?"
After learning the locations, Shion left.
' There's a high chance someone before me already swept those places clean… but there's still hope, ' he thought.
He headed toward the village entrance, where one story claimed the old woman roamed at night. There, he encountered another student—a fourth-grade who didn't belong to either Princess Jina Joul or Prince Jaiden Joul.
Shion smiled and approached him. "Greetings, senior."
"Lord Lan? Welcome. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your team?"
"Sorry," Shion replied. "I came to see if the kidnapper passed through here and to gather information." And added, "Addition to this, I feel embarrassed about being with the beauties."
"..."
The senior didn't react to that statement especially when it came from Shion who was calm.
"I thought the same," the senior said. "But no one has seen him. They're only talking about some old witch kidnapping children."
Shion feigned surprise. "An old woman?! I'd love to hear more details… ah, sorry, what's your name?"
The senior sighed. "Furo Lebent, from the Lebent family… a commoner."
"An honor to meet you, Mr. Lebent."
Furo nodded. "They say the old woman has lived for many years, and every few decades she regains her youth through sacrifices—children. The kidnapper we're searching for is supposedly someone she seduced to bring her victims."
Shion thought for a moment then said, "I've heard of forbidden spells… there may be some truth behind this. But tell me—where did you hear this story?"
Furo frowned. "Why do you ask?"
"I just like stories," Shion said lightly. "My teammates will handle the investigation perfectly."
Furo looked at him with a complicated expression.
' Is this really the student everyone admires?! '
Then he reconsidered.
' Wait… is he pretending to be foolish while thinking deeper? Nobles really are cunning… '
After a pause, Shion urged, "Come on, I want to hear more stories!"
Furo pointed in a direction. "Go that way. You'll find a filthy alley with some vagrants. They'll have stories for you."
He expected Shion to hesitate—but instead, Xion thanked him and rushed off with eager eyes.
"…He really is the strangest among us," Furo muttered.
...
Meanwhile, Violet Night and the others conducted standard investigations with the rest of the teams. As Shion predicted, they only searched for the kidnapper—and no one had seen him except the supposed witness, who was now under the protection of the Kito family.
Princess Jina Joul and Celisia Joul considered Shion's theory and decided to visit the Kito family. Accompanied by Violet Night and Solan Neumann, they entered Kedna Kito's office.
"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked with a smile.
Jina spoke directly, "May we speak with the witness?"
Kidna shook her head. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but you are currently a student. I cannot treat you as the princess over the others."
"I don't see the issue," Jina replied. "We need to do our job properly."
Kedna smiled. "We've already gathered information on the kidnapper, but he disappeared. We're concerned for the witness, so we placed him in a secret location. Revealing it could endanger his life."
Violet said, "Endanger his life? So why are we here?! Do you mean our lives isn't that important?! The second princess' life isn't that important?!"
Kedna said, "It's not like that, the witness is too weak and ill. A mere sunburn can hurt him too much."
Solan asked, "If he is that weak, how did he got the information?"
"He was there at night, you know, the kidnapping happens in the night."
Kedna smiled and said, "If I were you, I would go on my investigation to find the kidnapper quickly to get the high marks. Don't waste your time in something worthless. Good bye."
Jina nodded. "I apologize for the interruption."
The girls left.
Celisia said bluntly, "That woman is full of nonsense! What's so scary about a sunburn? That fool Shion might actually be right."
Jina felt uneasy hearing Shion insulted.
"I'll go investigate this with Shion," she said. "You continue the investigation."
Before she left, Solan grabbed her hand.
"Your Highness," Solan said firmly, "even as a student, you're still the second princess. You must remain protected. With Lady Violet here, you'll be safe. I'll go with Shion."
"You —!" Jina wanted to object, but Violet's firm gaze forced her to agree.
"Take care of Shion for me," Jina said provokingly.
Solan paused, then turned with a gentle smile hiding her anger. "Of course, Your Highness. I'm close to Shion—I won't let him get hurt."
Jina felt an uncomfortable sting in her chest but left with Violet.
"That girl…" Solan muttered. "How dare she speak about Shion like that…"
She vanished.
...
Shion reached the alley Furo mentioned. The place was disgusting, but he smiled and walked in.
"Hello," he said. "I'd like to ask you something."
One of the vagrants looked at him and noticed his well-filled pockets.
' Easy target, ' he thought.
Another warned, "What if he's from a noble family?"
"Nobles wouldn't come to a filthy place like this," the first replied. "But rich idiots would."
He approached Shion, releasing his knife.
"Kid, leave your money, and I'll let you live."
Shion tilted his head. "Is that a threat?"
"You're already dead," the man said, raising his knife.
But before he could strike, Shion moved past him effortlessly and addressed the others,
"Will you let him kill me, gentlemen? Without reason?"
One of them scoffed. "You should've listened to your mother and stayed away. Haven't you heard of the child kidnapper?"
Shion paused. Then, in a barely audible voice,
"(Aura of the Death)."
A chilling aura spread from his body, piercing them and crushing their spirits.
"I just wanted to hear some stories and leave," Shion said calmly, drawing his sword. "But it seems some rats want to block my path… what should I do?"
Terror filled their hearts.
No matter their strength, they were all below fourth level—before Shion, they were nothing.
The man who threatened him stammered, "Please forgive me, mighty lord, you won't harm worthless people like us. It was just—"
The sword didn't hesitate but the vagrant blocked the sword as it touched his neck.
"I didn't expect a vagrant like you to have such a silver tongue, and a power to block my attack." Shion said.
The man realized his mistake—but Shion gave him no chance.
"Who are you?"
Shion's aura intensified, his eyes turning pitch black. The man broke and confessed everything he knew.
"Really?"
Shion's smile got widened.
...
Later, Shion wandered through the district, listening to rumors and casually buying sweets from street vendors—until he bumped into Solan.
"Oh, Sol! How are you?"
"I've been looking for you all day!" she snapped. "Where were you?!"
Shion blinked in surprise. "Don't tell me you already caught the kidnapper?"
She shook her head. "No. Violet sent me to continue the investigation with you."
Shion smiled. "Don't worry. I've already found the kidnapper you're looking for."
Solan froze.
Shion grabbed her hand and led her through winding alleys until they reached a dead-end.
She got frozen,
' Why are we here?! Don't tell me..... '.
Her thoughts took an embarrassing turn making her cheeks blush.
She asked with hesitation,
"Why are we here—?"
Shion knocked on the wall in a specific pattern.
The wall shifted—revealing a hidden entrance.
"..."