Souta wondered where are the people that living here in this mansion. He hasn't seen anyone here in this place. In fact, Souta hasn't encountered a single person.
The wife and the children were all gone.
"So, the question is where are they?" Souta muttered as he rubbed his chin. He turned his head and looked outside through the window.
"Did the guards know that the duke's family was gone?"
Souta looked down at his sword and asked, "What is it? Did you guess the reason behind this?"
'Um... I'm not sure but...' Saya said.
"But, what?" Souta looked at the sword with a questioning gaze.
'You have to see it for yourself. There's one place that you haven't check yet. And that is the basement where the maid saw the duke's wife eating her roommate.' Saya said to him.
"Okay, I'll go there. Also just spit out what you have in your mind." Souta nodded and sighed as he walked towards the door.
'If I'm right, then this case is worse than you thought. Only if I'm right.' Saya's voice sounded in his mind.
Souta raised his hand and fixed the position of his mask. He carefully hid his mana inside his body so that no one could detect him. The guards here weren't strong enough to sense him. Only people with special abilities like Lynn could detect his presence.
"That girl, Lynn. Maybe I could bring her to my party. If she could enhance her ability then she would be able to help me in my future quest." Souta muttered as he walked towards the basement.
Lynn's sense was unusually high. Back in the special test, she pinpointed the one who casted the tier 2 spell. If she knew some sensory spell and combat arts, she would become a great sensory type mage.
She would become a great asset to him if she managed to improve her abilities. A radar that could detect anyone could bring huge benefits when the war comes.
If Souta wasn't wrong the pope of the True God's Holy Kingdom was a sensory type mage. He could sense anyone within the radius of ten thousand kilometers around him.
If Cluster was really a part of the True God's Holy Kingdom, it's hard to imagine how she managed to escape from the pope's surveillance. Cluster possessed a power that was unknown to him, Souta thought that she used it to escape from the pope.
'If it's that girl. I'm sure that she wouldn't decline you. I think that she will be happy if you invited her to your party.' Saya said to him.
"I'll try it later."
...
Souta arrived in front of the stairs. The stairs were heading to the underground basement of the mansion. Darkness covered everything in the basement.
Just by standing in front of it, Souta could already feel the ominous aura in this place. The pressure that this place was giving to him was unreal.
"This energy and this pressure..." Souta muttered with a surprised expression. He couldn't believe it. He felt being pressured even though he was standing on the outside.
'Cast your buff spell... It's useless to use mana inside. You wouldn't be able to cast it once you step inside the place.' Saya said to him.
"That's a good idea." Souta nodded and he started to cast all the buff spells and combat arts that he knew.
[Agility Boost]!
[Strength Boost]!
[Triple Muscle Strengthening]!
[Cat's Speed]!
The guards outside the mansion wouldn't be able to detect him even though he used mana. The reason for that was the energy coming out of the basement. It's harder to detect his mana if he's near the stronger energy.
Souta thought that this room was a special one. He couldn't sense this energy when he was outside the room.
He looked around trying to find the switch to open the light but unfortunately, he couldn't. There's no light in the basement. It's all up to the night vision traits that he has.
Souta took a deep breath and he pulled out the [Vajra Sword Saya] from its scabbard. He then went downstairs.
The stench of blood attacked Souta's nose as soon as he stepped inside the basement. It feels that a lot of people died in this place.
Souta looked around and saw that the basement was surprisingly wide. He could even fight someone in this place.
The floor and the walls of the basement were covered in red moss. With a closer look, Souta found that it was blood.
"Let's see what's hiding here."
Souta muttered as he ignored the other room and head towards the direction where the energy was coming.
After a few seconds, Souta saw a wide room. The atmosphere in this place was heavy and suffocating. At the center of it was an ominous existence.
"That's..." Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw the creature in the center of the wide room.
Suddenly, the entire basement began to tremble. The ceiling, floor, and the walls were shaking nonstop.
'It's not the time yet so leave quickly!' Saya said to him.
"I know." Souta quickly turned around and left the room. He ran as fast as he could.
In just a few seconds, he arrived outside the basement. He checked his mask if it was still intact. He then packed all the things that he needed such as the maid's diary before leaving the duke's mansion. This was the evidence that he needed to prove that the duke was not the same person anymore.
The trembling only stopped when Souta exited the duke's mansion. It put all the guards around the mansion in panic. They roam around the mansion but no one dared to enter it.
Souta knew the reason why. It seems that the duke forbids anyone from entering the mansion without his permission.
He ignored them and he went to the town. With all the things that he got from the mansion, Souta was sure that he would be able to complete the quest once he gave all the evidence to old man Jared.
Just a little bit more and he's going to complete it.
Souta turned into the alley and found two people lying down on their stomachs. They were covered in fresh blood.
From the looks of it, they just died. Souta approached the corpses and he turned them around.
"Haha, damn! They really took the organs of the victims." Souta laughed when he found that these two corpses don't have any organs at all. The culprit took all the organs of the victims for that existence in the basement of the duke's mansion.
'Someone is coming!' Saya warned him in his head.
Souta quickly stood up and was about to leave but it was too late.
The woman who saw him screamed loudly and pointed at him.
"Kyaa! Someone killed a person!"
"What?!" Souta was stunned when the woman thought that he's the one who killed these two people. Well, it's not that surprising considering his outfit. He was wearing a mask and robe. He's trying to conceal his identity.
In just a few seconds, a lot of people arrived on the scene. All of them have the same thoughts in their mind. They thought that Souta was the culprit behind the killing in their dukedom.
The guards also arrived and pointed their weapons at Souta.
So fast? Their response was too fast. Did someone set this up?
'Leave Souta! With your strength, it's not a problem! You're wearing a mask! They still haven't know your identity!' Saya shouted in his head.
Souta looked at the people around him with a calm expression. He didn't show any signs that he will leave this place.
'What are you doing?' Saya asked him in bewilderment. She couldn't understand why Souta was doing this.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see who have the guts to turn all the people here into a sacrificial lamb," Souta answered her with a smile on his face.
"You're under arrest! Don't resist or else we'll use force to subdue you!" The guards shouted at him.
"Don't worry, I won't resist," Souta said to the guard. He then looked at the corpse and said, "I'll tell you, I didn't kill them. All of them didn't have internal organs. If I'm the one who killed them then where's the internal organs of these dead people."
"Still, we're taking you with us. You're the most suspicious person here." The guards said to him.
...
Boom!
Boom!
"Go down!" Bryan shouted as he shot powerful flames towards the dark vine eaters.
Since Bryan wanted to fight someone that badly, Lumilia gave him a task to fight this monster while she and Brando were leaving the place.
Bryan agreed to her without hesitation. It was finally his turn to move and fight the monsters.
Brando was running in front of Lumilia. If someone appeared before them, Brando would be able to protect Lumilia. The two were going up to the surface while Bryan was fighting the monster.
"Is it really okay to leave Bryan there?" Brando asked Lumilia.
"It's fine, Bryan is not that weak that he would go down in fighting some second evolution monsters," Lumilia replied to Brando. She was leaving some trail behind so that Bryan could follow her once he finished fighting all the monsters.
She also didn't forget to tell him that he should go back as soon as possible. He should not drain his stamina in this place. This was only a side quest in this dukedom. They still have to finish their real quest so draining one's stamina wasn't advisable.
She knew that Bryan wouldn't understand it that way. She understood how's Bryan's mind work. That's why she told him that they would fight a stronger culprit in the killings once Souta finished his investigation.
And it works, Bryan said that he would come back as soon as possible to not let Souta hog all the battle on the surface.
