Chapter 227: The Suspect Who Killed the Earl

“The Earl is dead?”

The words of Great Witch Dorothy caused a stir around the tea table.

Earl Foyle Isaac Mastan’s smuggling business had allowed Moirland to extract vast amounts of real gold and silver from the enemy nation of Noren, along with a great deal of intelligence and technology.

His death was no small matter for the current Witches’ Assembly, or even for Moirland as a whole. Surprise and curiosity quickly spread around the entire round table, and everyone’s gazes turned toward Arachne, who had been the liaison directly dealing with Earl Foyle.

At this moment, Arachne’s expression was gloomy, clearly looking rather displeased.

“This news has already caused a stir in the Empire for some time. Arachne, you maintained continuous dealings with Earl Foyle, yet you never noticed anything? Or did you deliberately conceal it?” Dorothy spoke toward Arachne.

Moirland and the Noren Empire were extremely far apart, and information did not flow particularly quickly between them. Although Moirland possessed a method of communicating across this distance through Labyrinths, only Great Witches possessing Third-Tier power or close to Third-Tier power could use it. During periods when no Great Witch was stationed in the Empire, they had no way to quickly grasp information from Noren.

The intelligence personnel planted in Noren communicated with Moirland by having bird-type Magical Beasts carry letters across the ocean like migratory birds, so news would be delayed for a long time.

“I’m still confirming whether the information is true or false. Even now, the Empire has not released definitive news of the Earl’s death. Naturally, any information reported to Her Majesty cannot contain the slightest error. Dorothy, before reporting this to Her Majesty, shouldn’t you have first confirmed it with me?” Arachne asked in return, displeasure evident on her face.

“So isn’t confirming it with you directly in front of Her Majesty more efficient? In any case, the fact that Earl Foyle has been missing for more than two months is indisputable, and the Noren Church has also issued a missing-person notice for quite some time. You never reported any of that to Her Majesty either, did you?” Dorothy smiled.

Both Dorothy and Arachne held authority within the Nemesis Agency directly led by the Queen, each commanding a separate force. Their duties were divided and they occasionally cooperated, but there was even more competition between them.

Their styles were vastly different. Dorothy preferred quietly infiltrating the Empire to steal intelligence, while Arachne focused more on rear-area sabotage and had created many incidents.

For a long period, because Arachne’s excessive actions had brought about some unfavorable consequences, while Dorothy’s intelligence operations had continued producing steady and consistent results, Dorothy had been more heavily relied upon within the Nemesis Agency.

But after Arachne successfully established a smuggling route with Earl Foyle and rapidly accumulated achievements, the positions of the two had reversed before anyone quite realized it.

Anyone could see that once the Earl died, the problem Arachne faced was by no means merely losing a source of income.

The Queen hidden within the mist had remained silent throughout. Only now did she finally turn toward Arachne: “Arachne, explain.”

Her voice was exceptionally clear and carried a trace of childishness. Compared with the other Great Witches present, she sounded much younger, as though she were merely a teenage girl.

But the instant she spoke, every Great Witch straightened their expression, including Arachne, who had been showing displeasure toward Dorothy.

Upon hearing this, Arachne stood and said: “Your Majesty, about a month ago, I did indeed receive intelligence that the Earl had gone missing, along with some unconfirmed rumors. I already sent people to conduct a thorough investigation. I originally intended to report everything to you after confirming all the details.”

“With all this back and forth, by the time you think of reporting it to Her Majesty, won’t half a year or a whole year have passed? You’re delaying because you’re worried about how this matter will affect you, aren’t you? How long has it even been since you returned from Noren before Earl Foyle went missing?” Dorothy suddenly interjected.

No one objected to Dorothy suddenly cutting in. The speaking rules here were such that, barring special circumstances, everyone could speak freely as long as they did not interfere with someone else’s speech, except while the Queen herself was speaking. They could even openly debate.

This time, only Dorothy and Arachne had investigated the matter, so everyone apart from Queen Alice simply remained silent and listened.

“What? Is your brain really stupid enough to think I would have any reason to eliminate him?” Arachne asked in return.

“Of course not. He was far too important to you. But Arachne, surely I don’t need to remind you how many people your excessive methods have implicated? Didn’t you previously report that you and the Earl jointly planned the Saintess Incident in Old Ailand City? We already told you back then that there was no need to kill that many people using Magical Beasts.” Dorothy said.

The Old Ailand City Dorothy referred to was what was now the Empire’s Southeastern Archdiocese. That place had originally been Ailand, the capital of Ancient Ailand.

Previously, Arachne had responded to the Earl’s invitation to make a deal and traveled to the Southeastern Archdiocese to create the incident in which Saintess Weiss was framed. She had reported the plan to the Queen in advance, and the entire Witches’ Assembly knew about it.

“What, are you sympathizing with those Imperial people now? No number of enemies who persecuted us would be too many to kill! I successfully struck at the dignity of the Noren Church and made them lose face! I also forced Isaac Mastan to hand over intelligence he had always been unwilling to provide. Dorothy, you stationed so many people in the Empire, but how many achievements have you actually made? Are all the people you’re supporting just idlers?” Arachne retorted.

Dorothy was not angered by Arachne’s words. Instead, she bared a grin: “Is that so? Then I truly hope you can still be this capable after Earl Foyle’s death.”

She made no attempt to conceal the mockery in her words. Anyone could see that the achievements Arachne had accumulated over the past ten years were built upon her cooperative relationship with the Earl.

Arachne glared fiercely at Dorothy. At this moment, Queen Alice, hidden within the mist, spoke again: “Is the Earl’s death connected to this matter?”

She was asking both Dorothy and Arachne at the same time.

Clearly, as two High Priestesses commanding intelligence forces within the Nemesis Agency, both of them had already spent at least a month investigating Earl Foyle’s death. But because of the delay caused by distance, it was difficult to say how much information they truly possessed.

The shadow within the mist faintly shifted. Within this Labyrinth Illusion controlled by Queen Alice, no one could clearly see the Queen’s expression, yet everyone could distinctly feel the focus of Queen Alice’s gaze, like an invisible spotlight.

Right now, Queen Alice was looking at Arachne, signaling for Arachne to answer first.

“Your Majesty, from what I have investigated, the connection does not appear to be significant. There is no evidence whatsoever causing the Church to suspect Earl Foyle, and Earl Foyle himself had exceptionally solid connections within the Church. Right now is also the period when the internal noble factional split within the Empire is at its most severe. Even if Stuart suspected him, it would have been impossible to secretly execute him.

Based on what I have investigated so far, there are two theories. One is that the Western noble faction of the Empire planned an assassination, and the other is that he died due to betrayal by someone within his own organization. I am still investigating and confirming the matter.” Arachne slowly explained.

The moment she finished speaking, Dorothy, sitting opposite her, silently pursed her lips and laughed, earning an irritated glance from Arachne.

Queen Alice also wordlessly shifted her gaze toward Dorothy. This time, it was Dorothy’s turn to speak.

“High Priestess Arachne’s investigation is even shallower than I expected. Have your contacts with the Empire become so dependent on Earl Foyle’s side that you’ve forgotten how to collect intelligence yourself?” Dorothy first mocked Arachne.

“So you know more?” Arachne stared at Dorothy. She too urgently wanted to uncover the truth behind Earl Foyle’s death.

“The people I placed in the Empire uncovered more detailed intelligence. The Earl was killed by a newly appointed Cadre under his own command.” Dorothy gave her conclusion in an exceptionally certain tone.

“I already mentioned that.” Arachne reminded her impatiently.

“I said it is confirmed. This information came from personnel in other territories within Earl Foyle’s organization. On the day the Earl disappeared, he organized an internal purge operation, gathered a force, and headed to Temple Island, where he ultimately died in battle.” Dorothy said.

“Temple Island……” Queen Alice reacted slightly to the place name.

Temple Island had once been an important diocesan stronghold of the ancient Ailander Earth Mother Goddess Church. After Ailand was destroyed by the Empire, fleeing personnel had briefly stopped on Temple Island before crossing the sea to what was now Moirland.

Temple Island had now also been occupied by the Empire and renamed Arend Island.

“That Cadre’s code name within the trade is Fenrir. According to rumors within the Earl’s organization, on Arend Island he transformed into a Werewolf, released Purple Poisonous Gas that slaughtered many people, and used that to kill the Earl in a single battle.” Dorothy said.

“A Werewolf!?” Arachne immediately realized something.

At the time, she and the Earl had jointly planned the incident, only for it to be disrupted in the end by the sudden appearance of a mysterious Werewolf.

Although Arachne had also thought the appearance of that mysterious Werewolf was strange, it had not affected the payment she received from the Earl. The Saintess being taken away had not caused her any loss either, so she had not investigated it deeply.

But if Dorothy’s report was true, then the Earl’s death was probably genuinely connected to the incident she and the Earl had previously created through their transaction!

“Incidentally, according to the rumors, the effects described for the Purple Poison Mist released by that Werewolf were extremely similar to the Petrification Curse.” Dorothy continued reporting.

“Cursed Blood?” Queen Alice asked.

“Precisely, Your Majesty. Based on information gathered from multiple intelligence sources, the abilities used in battle by the suspect who killed Earl Foyle, Fenrir, overlap to a very high degree with Cursed Blood.” Dorothy answered.

“Wait a moment, is that Cadre you’re talking about a woman?” Arachne raised a question.

Previously, based on what Bishop Beckett had reported to her in the Southeastern Archdiocese, the Werewolf who abducted the Saintess had clearly appeared to be male.

But if someone wanted to use Cursed Blood, then only a Witch possessing Moilai’s Blessing should have been capable of it.

“No. Based on the intelligence currently available, this Cadre Fenrir can basically be confirmed to be male.” Dorothy slowly said.