CHAPTER 103: CONFIDENTIAL MAGIC CONTRACT

Several minutes had gone by, and Leonard only ended up with more confusion than ever.

One could briefly summarize the crime scene in a few sentences.

The fight scene happened at an unexpected time, with Bryant being caught off guard completely.

Despite being caught off guard though, Bryant managed to compose himself and attempt to deflect the attacker.

Unfortunately, the attacker was too fierce and strong for Bryant to have an upper hand. What was more alarming was that the fight was committed under complete silence.

Even with the destroyed crates and dented metallic steel beam, nobody heard or saw anything at all.

Let’s not even talk about the dying message left behind by Bryant!

Instead, one should talk about how and when the culprit committed the murder and escaped without being detected.

"Have you found anything yet, Mr. Vincent?" Amidst Leonard’s silent deduction, Wesley entered the storage room and asked.

Soon enough, his eyes quickly took notice of the bloody message, Leon.

"Leon?" Frowning, Wesley’s mind couldn’t help but wander into the Crown Prince’s name being Leonard. If anything, the shortcut for Leonard was precisely Leon in most cases.

Naturally, there were many other people with the name Leon. But how many of them were influenced or capable enough to commit the murder in the Merchant Guild?

Despite having such a thought, Wesley knew better than to attempt to link the two together.

He was addressed as Lord, but that didn’t mean he could topple over the Crown Prince at this current juncture.

"I doubt the dying message referred to the Crown Prince of Aldros." Leonard suddenly said. "I suggest we keep this dying message a secret among us and not have it spread. It would be disastrous if the incident spread to the Crown Prince’s ears."

Nodding in agreement, Wesley knew this was far too complicated to be exposed to the public.

There was a slight opening where he wondered about silencing Leonard on the spot. But in the end, Wesley decided against it.

A certified gold ranked merchant was still valuable to the Merchant Guild. He couldn’t afford to risk everything he built up for a nuisance pest.

Not to mention, Caroline was also present here and had witnessed the bloody dying message.

No matter how influential he was, the death of these two would definitely rouse suspicion and might involve the Mage Association to commence an official investigation.

’Forget it! I’ll just force them all to sign a confidential magic contract. Anyone who refuses to sign can just die.’ Wesley decided this was the most probable option available for him.

While Wesley suppressed his killing intent, Leonard nearly laughed aloud. He had truly thought Wesley might finally have the guts to make a move on him physically.

’Seems like he’s more concerned about his position than anything.’ He mused inwardly. He had seen lots of similar people like Wesley. Cunning and smart, but also extremely afraid of losing everything that they had worked so hard for in life.

Sometime later, Wesley instructed a contract to be drafted immediately and for all present guards to sign it. The contract was mandatory, and any refusal was disallowed.

Once that was done, he turned his eyes to Caroline and inquired, "Do you have any clues as to why the sound was masked?"

Caroline nodded after a brief moment. "The sound wasn’t masked by the cause of a formation. Instead, it seemed to be a type of skill—one that is proficient in stealth and assassination."

"A skill?" Wesley frowned.

Nothing could be more complicated than the culprit having such a skill in their arsenal!

’Why did the culprit assassinate a mere guard, though? Are they trying to foil our plan to counterattack from the recent Sunfire Road incident?’ Still, Wesley remained confused by the need to kill a guard in his presence.

If they truly sought to foil whatever plan they had made, then they should have remained in stealth and waited to investigate for more information.

’Wait a second... information?’ Suddenly, Wesley’s eyes narrowed. He subtly shifted his attention to Leonard and his disappearing guard.

If the culprit was capable of such stealth and skill, then his main office might be infiltrated.

"Damn it!" Wesley gnashed his teeth and extended his hand. "Continue to secure the premises and have some of the guards follow me!"

Leonard was about to follow along to see what was going on until Ethan stood in front of him.

"Please remain here, Mr. Vincent." Ethan calmly said. "It’s for the best of us to avoid any suspicions and doubts."

This was no longer an indirect warning, but a direct warning to not make any funny movements.

"Sure, I might as well continue to see if there are any clues in this crime scene. Or do you think I might spoil or sabotage anything?" Leonard teased.

"Mr. Vincent can naturally continue to look around. A protective formation has been placed, so any removal or alteration would instantly trigger the formation." Ethan responded.

In a sense, he even wanted to encourage Leonard to alter something to give them an excuse to interrogate him.

"Since you’ve finished the discussion, please leave the premises." Caroline suddenly chimed in and explained, "I plan on scattering some traces with these substances to uncover anything amiss. If there’s too much in the room, then it wouldn’t be effective."

Ethan pondered for a moment. He hesitated over whether to leave them alone at the crime scene.

"Do you want to supervise me as well?" Caroline mused. "I don’t mind being scrutinized, but I hope it’s not because you regard me as a suspect or someone involved in this murder."

Having said that, Ethan no longer hesitated. He swiftly bowed his head slightly and permitted Caroline to proceed with her action.

"I will guard the outside and ensure no one will disturb you, Miss Caroline."

Sometime later, Ethan exited the room and closed the door tightly.

It was evident that Ethan didn’t appreciate being kicked out indirectly. What was worse was that he didn’t dare to offend someone like Caroline, whom his boss had repeatedly emphasized to tread carefully with.