A familiar murder case

With money in her pocket, her heart was at ease.

After borrowing money from Manager Winnie, Su Ran no longer worried about encountering any unexpected situations in Hermel.

With the power of a Sequence Six, she at least had more than enough to protect herself.

Even if she encountered a probing Church member like the last time, Su Ran would make sure he never returned.

The next morning, Su Ran appeared in the cabin right on time.

Before her was a cup of black tea that Philly had woken up early to brew, while Isa was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone.

Knowing that Su Ran would be entering the city with them, the nervousness deep within Isa and Philly’s hearts vanished without a trace.

This sense of security was particularly profound for Philly.

In the past, whenever Philly had a mission, she was usually the one who shouldered the responsibility.

Now, with Lady Su Ran’s presence, she was no longer lost.

As for Isa, as long as she could be by Lady Su Ran’s side, she would unconditionally choose to believe in her, no matter what happened.

“Lady Su Ran.”

Just as Isa was about to finish making breakfast, Maimai came downstairs, carrying Canlisa in her arms.

Canlisa rarely reverted to her human form, preferring to remain a cat most of the time.

According to her, it seemed she simply preferred her cat form.

Upon seeing Su Ran, Canlisa deftly leaped out of Maimai’s arms and burrowed into Su Ran’s embrace.

“How nice, I want to be held by Lady Su Ran too.”

Seeing Canlisa being held by Su Ran, Maimai couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.

Lying in Su Ran’s arms, Canlisa kneaded her soft paws on the cushion beneath her, looking utterly content.

“It’s because Lady Su Ran has a kind aura, just like being back in my mother’s arms.”

Hearing Canlisa’s words, Su Ran’s body stiffened.

She had thought Canlisa simply liked to cuddle with her, never expecting there to be such a reason behind it.

To be honest, she wasn’t ready to be a mother.

But looking at the soft, fluffy Canlisa, Su Ran didn’t have the heart to make her get down.

Just then, Isa emerged from the kitchen and heard Maimai’s muttering, beckoning to her.

“You’re a big girl now, still envious of a child. Hurry up and come eat breakfast.”

The words Isa spoke were not just for Maimai, but for herself as well.

When she came out and saw Canlisa being held in Her Highness Su Ran’s arms, her own heart had filled with envy.

Only after repeatedly reminding herself did Isa manage to suppress her wildly growing jealousy.

After finishing breakfast, they all prepared to head towards Hermel.

“Should we put the house away?”

Isa glanced at the house behind them, not wanting to recite the incantation to retract it.

In front of Her Highness Su Ran, she felt a little too embarrassed to say it out loud.

“It probably isn’t necessary. Our carriage is still parked here. Putting the house away would be what’s strange.”

At that moment, Philly spoke up, resolving Isa’s dilemma.

After shooting Philly a grateful look, the group set off towards Hermel.

Along the way, Philly’s convenient witch ability, relying on feedback from the trees, allowed them to avoid all ordinary people before they were spotted.

“Alright, let’s split into two groups. Isa, Canlisa, and I will be one group. Philly and Maimai will be the other. After entering the city, we’ll look for traces of Sant.”

Considering that Philly and Maimai had been working together for a longer time, Su Ran didn’t split them up.

However, she wouldn’t skip the necessary precautions.

“Isa.”

Called upon by Su Ran, Isa understood immediately.

She took out two magic scrolls from her storage ring and placed them in front of them.

“This is a Sequence Four magic scroll, Witch’s Aegis. It will trigger automatically upon being attacked, and I will immediately know your location.”

Isa had used this scroll before when facing the Earth Dragon; its defensive effects were remarkable.

Philly and Maimai each took a scroll.

Even if they had never heard of the spell Witch’s Aegis, Lady Su Ran never acted without reason.

Su Ran had proven this to them many times.

“Then, we’ll see each other later.”

With that, Su Ran led Isa and Canlisa towards one of Hermel’s city gates.

Philly and Maimai, meanwhile, continued on, heading towards the gate on the opposite side.

After paying the sufficient entrance fee, Su Ran’s group entered Hermel.

Unlike the cities of Laita and Blackstone, which were closer to the Theocracy’s interior, one could see far more mercenaries and people of different skin colors walking about in Hermel.

This was the border of the Theocracy.

Its unique geographical location brought together people from various nations, who interacted and traded with one another, creating a prosperity unique to Hermel.

“Your Highness, Mr. Sant didn’t leave any clues about his acquaintance. Where should we start looking?”

Philly had made an assumption here, thinking Isa knew the layout of Hermel, and so hadn’t told her where to go to gather information.

Upon entering Hermel, Isa also felt a bit lost.

Although she knew they had to enter the city, it was completely different from what she had imagined.

Hermel was as large as Laita and Blackstone combined, which left her at a loss for a moment.

When asked, Su Ran only pondered for a moment before leading the two towards a destination.

Generally speaking, in a city like Hermel with many mercenaries and a transient population, a place like a tavern was actually the best spot to gather intelligence.

Inside, one could find not only mercenaries but also newsboys and various information brokers.

But precisely because taverns were chaotic, if Su Ran were to rashly go in with Isa, it would likely cause conflict.

With their appearances, they would easily attract the attention of the drunkards, and disputes would be inevitable.

Therefore, after some inquiry, Su Ran led Isa to Hermel’s marketplace.

Compared to the tavern, which had the most up-to-date information, the marketplace was mostly filled with citizens and merchants, and setting up a stall required paying a certain deposit.

Gathering intelligence here would involve far fewer troubles than in a tavern.

Su Ran spotted a vegetable-selling aunty and, seeing the right moment, went up to chat.

After buying all the fresh vegetables at the aunty’s stall, Su Ran pretended to ask casually, “Hermel seems very lively recently. The Church’s knights must be very busy.”

Hearing Su Ran’s words, the aunty nodded in agreement.

“Of course. Too many people have been coming to Hermel recently, all sorts of them. Just yesterday, the Sir Knights caught a murderer. They say his methods were extremely cruel. The body and everything were gone, only the skull was left.”

Hearing this disturbingly familiar modus operandi, Su Ran’s brows furrowed.