"What? No clues at all?"
Kalv looked at the Law Enforcement Team captain in front of him and asked back in surprise.
"Yes. Four nights ago, an apprentice in the Commercial District saw Beloli of the Modification School holding a piece of paper and gesturing toward the crowd. That is the last clue we could find."
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with that apprentice?"
"No, he returned to his School's base that same day and was taught by his mentor all night... He only took an extra look because he was surprised to see a Formal Mage who usually doesn't appear in the Commercial District."
Kalv frowned; nothing had been found.
He somewhat regretted impulsively taking on this investigation task, even though it felt great to spite the Modification School he hated.
But the Alliance also had corresponding rules and regulations to govern the behavior of Investigators.
Every Investigator who took on a task had to investigate everything diligently. If there were no results, the file could only be closed after at least two years.
In other words, if he never produced results, he would have to stay here for two years, wasting two years of his life.
Normally, new Investigators would be stationed in a large city. The difficulty was low, and they could earn some merit after serving for a while, making it very suitable for newcomers.
However, the investigation task he had rashly accepted was usually only taken on by those who had been Investigators for five or six years.
Furthermore, they would carefully look into the task's situation before accepting. If it was too difficult, they simply wouldn't take it unless it was a mandatory assignment.
He had really been blinded by the news that he could investigate the Modification School. He had applied for this investigation task directly to Headquarters, and the message had already been sent; it was likely being reviewed by now.
It was a bit too late for him to terminate this investigation task now. He estimated that just as his letter arrived, the notification of approval would be sent back.
Kalv sighed and rubbed his throbbing temples.
He had participated in the Investigator assessment for better promotion resources.
There was a complete merit exchange system among Investigators, where resources needed to promote to a Second-Tier Mage could be exchanged. Thus, many newly promoted Formal Mages participated in this assessment.
Kalv's luck was quite good. His exam results were mediocre at best, ranking sixth in the region. Originally, he would have missed out on the top two spots for Investigator positions.
However, four of the top five had something go wrong. One died a horrific death, with body fragments found scattered at home after the results were announced.
One suddenly received sponsorship from a mentor and didn't need to take the path of accumulating merit.
One won a management exam organized by a School and chose to develop there.
The last one was discovered to have committed crimes during the assessment, such as cheating, bribing examiners, murdering companions, stealing exam materials, slandering the chief examiner, and bringing prohibited items into the exam hall. He was likely in prison now.
By the way, that last one was originally ranked third.
When the Investigator Admission notice arrived, excitement clouded his judgment.
The next day, he heard that the head of the Modification School had gone missing. Two good things happening at once made him stop thinking, and he sent out his application letter that very night.
Then he went to Losqi to show off arrogantly, and it still felt great thinking about it now.
However, thinking about this task with zero progress, his mood sank again.
"By the way, Lord Investigator, an apprentice from the Modification School also went missing before. Just like Beloli, they disappeared overnight."
"Oh?" Kalv became interested and said:
"Tell me more."
"That apprentice's name was Richter. He went missing the night the assessment ended. The Modification School had been searching until two weeks ago, when body fragments were found on a piece of land processed by the Construction School."
"Afterward, the Modification School blocked our involvement in the investigation on the grounds of potential leaks of School knowledge. We don't know what happened after that, only that the Modification School caused quite a stir investigating the killer."
"Beloli might have gone missing because she was investigating Richter's killer. A few days ago, she had a conflict with people from the Sword Chant School."
Kalv was lost in thought after hearing this. He hadn't expected so many things. Previously, he had been focused on finding direct clues, not realizing Beloli was linked to so many events.
"Do we know who placed the order for the land where Richter's body was found?"
"It was the Apothecary Association. They happened to set the day after Richter's disappearance was confirmed as the start date for the project."
Kalv's eyes lit up, feeling this was a clue. He said excitedly:
"Then what are we waiting for? Go investigate the people from the Apothecary Association."
"But the people from the Modification School have already investigated, and there were no results."
"Heh!" Kalv let out a cold laugh. He wasn't afraid of wasted effort now; he was only afraid of having nowhere to apply pressure.
"They might have missed some hidden details. What do apprentices know about investigation? Could they really investigate such a large association clearly?"
The Law Enforcement Team captain was stunned and only spoke after coming to his senses:
"But, Lord Investigator, the Apothecary Association has already disbanded."
"What? Disbanded? Didn't they sell those damn energy potions for 45 silver coins! With so much money, how did they disband?"
After the Law Enforcement Team captain explained the reasons for the association's disbandment in detail, Kalv thought for a while and decided to give up on this clue.
The reason he didn't know the association had disbanded was that he had been busy preparing for the Investigator assessment and was completely out of touch with the outside world.
After the exam, knowing he hadn't done well and likely wouldn't pass, he buried himself in experiments until the Investigator Admission notice arrived.
These past few days had indeed been busy, which led to him only finding out now that the association had disbanded. It was already lucky that the Modification School could find anyone who had signed the documents.
If he went looking now, the people would likely have been 'interrogated' to death by the Modification School, leaving only skeletons.
"I'll report the Modification School's unauthorized use of torture, but that's for later."
"So, it's basically confirmed that there's a significant connection between Richter's killer and the cause of Beloli's disappearance. That's a clue."
"And the internal investigation records of the Modification School are also a clue. I'll go and demand them."
"Finally..."
Of course, it was the Sword Chant School. Beloli had previously had a conflict with them, so naturally, they were under heavy suspicion.
Unlike Beloli, who couldn't investigate through official procedures, he, as an Alliance Investigator, naturally had the right, though he had to apply for it first.
"As for the Sword Chant School, we'll wait for the Alliance's Search warrant before acting. In the meantime, look around to see if there's anything strange in the market."
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