CHAPTER 413: The Investigation Continues

Brian was not very happy to know that two of his mages were now suspects.

"Really? So not only are you no longer helping with the runes, I now have to suspend Johnson, and Renata will likely get arrested, if she is still around. At this point I will have to remind you that you are students and have no authority to arrest someone." Brian said.

"We are going to contact the nearest guard station, of course." I assured him.

"Mhm, see that you do. I will give you the address and try not to cost me any more mages." He said.

We left the building in search of a guard station, although I already had my doubts that Renata was still around. After we killed one assassin and captured two it wouldn't make sense for her to just wait until someone suspected her. But maybe we could find something.

"You know, we could still help Brian with the sewers." Rose suggested.

"Do you want more corpses for Koyuki?" Cassie asked.

"Uh, no, I just mean we, the undead, could fill runes. Maybe it will allow Koyuki to store more undead at the academy without being charged for them, if we provide some assistance. It could also help us to befriend the city officials." Rose suggested.

"It would be dangerous." I countered.

"I am sturdy, so are all of your undead." Rose said. "And I am not suggesting doing it alone. There should be at least two tier three and some tier two as backup. Further we need a way to check for sabotaged runes, actually, could you train a tier two to pour mana into them?"

"They lack a core. They do have some mana in their body of course, and they can use inborn abilities, but those are just very efficient. They wouldn't be able to truly fill up runes without help. Hm. I suppose we do supply them through the bond, maybe we could use them as a sort of relay? I am not sure if we can get a tier two to properly channel mana into runes though." I replied.

"How fast did the attack occur?" Kaito asked. "If you had been aware of the danger, could you have just put a trickle of mana into it to see if it was safe?"

"Uh, maybe? I honestly didn't pay enough attention, it happened really quickly." I replied.

"They used your large core against you." Helena noted.

"Anyway, if we solve the rune problem I think we should send teams into the sewers." Rose said.

"You do have a point, I am just concerned about all of you." I replied.

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"The pack is strong." Garm's left head said. "Sadly the sewers are a bit cramped for me but I could help with any runes near the proper entrance at the docks." The right head added.

"You know, while you are busy in the academy and don't need a maid I could use the academy uniform and do some sewer patrols. If anyone mistakes me for you I might be able to get you more corpses." Hatsumi offered.

"Just be careful if there is tainted blood." I reminded her.

"Don't worry, I am getting rather good with my bite." She replied, with a toothy smile. "Also, you have your goblin shaman project, right? While you work on that with Rose, safely at the academy, we can make ourselves useful in the city."

"I suppose I do have a squad of assassin goblins now, I might as well test some of their abilities in the sewers." Kaito added.

"Ok, ok. We are going to talk to Brian about it." I said.

"Let's talk to the headmaster, I think you want to negotiate some benefits before you commit." Skadi suggested.

"Good idea." I agreed.

We went to the same guard station where we had delivered our captives, that way they already knew about the situation. We explained our evidence against Renata and they agreed to accompany us and question her. Probably the biggest reason why they agreed was the presence of Cassie and Helena, who were nobles, and Renata was a commoner. While mages tended to have some money and privileges a title was more important.

We arrived at her home, which turned out to be an apartment inside a larger building. The sergeant leading us frowned. "Mages can afford a better place, usually."

"Sir, I can have my undead go first, in case there is a trap." I offered.

He nodded. "I appreciate that."

As we entered the building an old woman came down the stairs. "What's this? Is something wrong?" She asked, as she saw the guards.

"Ma'am, we are here to question Renata." The sergeant said.

"Renata? Oh, I haven't seen her in a while. She is always so busy! Is she in trouble?" The woman asked.

"We are here to find out." The sergeant replied.

"You know, when she is around she often has young men with her! I told her she would get into trouble!" The old woman said.

"I see, thank you for that information. Maybe you would be willing to join us at the station and tell us more about those men?" The sergeant offered.

"Oh, I have a lot to tell you!" The woman replied, while looking delighted about a chance to talk.

While one of the guardsmen escorted the woman to the station we moved to the first floor to the actual apartment. It was locked and nobody answered as we knocked.

"Oh, that won't be a problem." Hatsumi stated and approached the door. Then she summoned blood in her hand and filled the lock with it. It clicked. Hatsumi looked proud: "I have been working on my control over blood and this is a fairly basic lock. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be a bar on the inside."

"I should learn to do that with water magic." Helena mused.

"Are there any places you want to break into?" I asked.

"It could just be a useful skill to have." Helena replied.

"There are locks where this won't work so easily but they cost more. I expect most nobles have better doors." Skadi noted.

Before we actually entered the apartment we prepared ourselves for an ambush but it was empty. The place was rather small and had a living area with a stove, a bedroom and a bathroom.

"I don't think this was her only home, unless she was a terrible mage." Skadi noted.

"Yeah, this isn't even an expensive part of the city." Cassie added.

"Uh, this is exciting! She had a decoy home, like a spy!" Rose suggested.

"Like a spy? She is probably a spy." Helena said.

"You think she is a spy?" The sergeant asked.

"Well, there is a decent chance she is working for Ilestria, or was hired by them." I said.

"Damn, that means more paperwork…" The sergeant muttered.

We started searching the place but it didn't have anything interesting. Cassie, Skadi and Rose were obsessed with finding a hidden compartment but they were unsuccessful. For now we had to accept that Renata might be gone and we didn't know where she was. The guards would be on the lookout for her from now on but she could have already left the city.

It was a shame but not unexpected. Oh well, maybe I had some time now to focus on my undead goblin shaman project.