[Translation: otwentyfirst]
[Host: justreads.net]
[Apr 21st, 2019]

Asuras left the Human world when the convention was drawn up between the three kingdoms. They moved to a new world created by their king and weren’t allowed back in the Human world without special permission.

Despite this there were always a few asuras who craved blood strongly enough to defy the convention, exploiting the cracks created by distortions in s.p.a.ce to sneak in. That’s where the Sacred Temple came in. They were tasked with capturing these stowaways and bringing them to trial.

“To think there would be an asura in Rime-Frost. It’s unbelievable!” The Mayor felt uneasy just thinking about the cruel and maliciousness of the race. “Contact the Sacred Temple immediately.” His voice rose an octave in obvious alarm as he spoke.

While the Mayor was busying handling the asura’s role in the murders, Jier and Feng Wu were also handling their own missions. Jier felt it necessary to see Clara after having met Wenda and Dusha.

“You want to see Miss Clara Wenda?” Pierre was put in an awkward position. It wouldn’t be easy to see her since she was in custody.

“Yes. I have some questions I want to ask her personally.”

Pierre wanted to help his childhood friend in any way he could. “If it can help Miss Clara Wenda then I’ll definitely try to find a way.”

Jier and Feng Wu stayed at the inn all day listening to the news gathered by those Jier hired earlier. Based on the information they gathered, he found out there were twenty villages in total with missing girls. Every village had at least five disappearances, so with over twenty villages, that added up to about two hundred girls.

So many girls died. If the Mayor had handled the case properly from the start, there wouldn’t have been so many deaths, but instead of investigating he was preoccupied with throwing a birthday party for his daughter. Jier had a very low opinion of the Mayor because of this.

Don’t know how Pierre did it, but Jier and Feng Wu got permission to see Clara three days later. Since they weren’t relatives, it should have taken at least half month to approve their visit. Fortunately the Warden was sympathetic to Clara’s plight and approved the visit quickly.

Although they got permission to see Clara, they weren’t allowed to see her alone. Two guards were present when she came into the visiting room.

Clara was a beautiful girl with brown hair and brown eyes; but perhaps being a murder suspect weighed heavily on her mind because she looked incredibly fragile with her pale face and spiritless demeanor.

“Clara! Are you OK?!” Pierre immediately scooted forward in his chair and reached for her hand, his eyes full of distress at her appearance.

“I’m fine.” Clara tried to put on a smile, but couldn’t quite force it.

“Don’t be afraid! The adventurers will surely find the murderer who killed Mrs. Malin. You’ll surely be free and safe soon!”

“Pierre. Stop wasting time. We only have an hour.” Jier didn’t feel like sitting here and watching them get all lovey dovey.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry! Clara, these are the two adventures, Jier and Feng Wu. They’re very good adventurers. They’ve already found some clues about the murder. They have some questions they want to ask you.” He rubbed his head not really willing to let go of Clara’s hand.

“h.e.l.lo Miss Clara Wenda. I’m Jier. Like Pierre said, I have some questions I want to ask. I would appreciate your cooperation.” Jier got straight to the point.

Clara nodded. It was about clearing her name, of course she would cooperate. She briefly wondered about their abilities, but realized she was in no position to be picky. The fact that Pierre brought them, in and of itself, spoke about their abilities.

“Please ask. I won’t conceal anything. I’ll try my best to answer your questions.”

“Then please excuse my intrusion. On the day your mother died, did she leave the villa at all?”

Clara thought for a second before speaking, “Yes. She left early in the morning to speak to my father. She came back about two hours later. I remember her face was really strange when she returned.” Clara was quick to answer because the investigators had asked the same question.

“When she came back, did she say anything to you?”

Clara shook her head. “No, she didn’t say anything to me at all. She seemed really frightened of something. She went to her room and stayed there the entire night, not coming out even for meals.”

“Interesting.” Jier rubbed his chin. “Do you think your father could have killed your mother?”

Clara blanked out at the question. She had been imprisoned for so long. That same question had crossed her mind more than once. Could the father she adored since childhood have killed her mother? She didn’t know the answer, but she did know she would never be able to trust him again.

She didn’t know how to answer. She could only put an empty smile on her face. “I don’t know how to answer that. The father in my memories was a gentle father. He loved me and my mother very much. If it was this man you asked me about I would definitively say no. But.. now. I don’t know. He’s different. There’s no love in his eyes, just indifference. I don’t know if it’s him, but I hope it’s not.”

Clara had repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hands as she spoke. The sight of her struggling so hard made Pierre’s heart break.

Jier coughed lightly. “That’s fine. We’ll leave that question alone then.” He decided to drop the current line of questioning and move on to something else. “Did you see or hear anything on the night of Mrs. Malin’s death?”