Encounter at City Hall

At 10:30 AM on May 15, the two entered city hall on Crown Square.

With Mr. V’s orders, Officer Natalie had practically escaped the tedious, exhausting on-site investigation. Now she could follow Lynch around and slack off with complete justification, leaving several Watchers behind them stamping their feet in frustration at their retreating figures, practically radiating the grievance of field agents.

Lynch, on the other hand, was in high spirits. Not only had a hefty sum of money entered his pocket, but he had also gained a capable helper.

Their cooperation the night before last had filled Lynch with both gratitude and admiration for the lady officer. Now that they could cooperate a second time—with Mr. V commanding her to assist him—Lynch was grinning from ear to ear. After all, aside from being a little violent, this temporary partner was perfect in every way.

Especially her identity as a Watcher.

All materials related to this railway were kept in city hall. Ordinary people would need to go through cumbersome procedures to consult them, but with Natalie stepping forward, it was far easier.

Although the Watchers were not actual police, their authority was even higher, and carrying the label of an agency directly under the royal family meant no one dared casually obstruct their actions. This made Lynch immensely glad that a sudden stroke of inspiration had led him to drag the Watchers into his investigation.

His rationale for convincing Natalie had been more than sufficient as well: the Square Massacre was clearly targeted at the protest, the protest was an extension of the Bester Tunnel hillmen incident, and Bester Tunnel was part of the entire railway project. Rather than stubbornly fixating on the square, it was better to step back from the specific case and sort through the information as a whole from the very source.

While he had selfish motives, the reasoning was genuinely sound.

The bizarre deaths had only recently drawn the client’s attention; previously, they had merely circulated as tabloid rumors that no one took seriously, and the Watchers had never stepped in. Consequently, none of them had ever thoroughly organized information on the railway. Now was the perfect opportunity.

Stepping into the magnificent, imposing building of city hall, the interior was solemn and quiet.

The effects of the chaos from two hours ago seemed to have dissipated. Government staff in formal suits and top hats walked briskly yet exceptionally quietly throughout the building.

The archives were located in the basement. The guard at the entrance led the two deep into the hall. Just as they prepared to head downstairs, Lynch suddenly halted, turning his gaze to the side.

Seven or eight people were coming down the stairs, several servants crowding around a young lady draped in a green shawl and wearing a pale yellow dress. Holding a folding fan in her hand, her smile was elegant and her bearing graceful as she spoke softly with two government employees while descending the staircase.

Lynch looked back not because the thoroughly aristocratic young lady was exceptionally beautiful, but because an image suddenly flashed before his eyes.

A lady with a peculiar, half-human, half-beast appearance—yet carrying the same graceful demeanor—was holding up an exquisite necklace and fastening it around her neck.

【Karina's Exquisite Makeup. May my makeup never fade.】

Hiss... It was probably a mystery relic that kept makeup from smudging. Why on earth did such a pointless relic exist, and why was someone actually using it? She carried a mystery relic on her—was she a Soul Severer too?

【Yes.】

“What is it?” Although Lynch had pulled his gaze back after just a glance, Officer Natalie had still keenly noticed him stealing a peek at the passing lady.

“That woman just now—a Soul Severer carrying a pointless mystery relic. I found it a bit strange.”

“Uh... do you know that lady just now, sir?” Officer Natalie felt a bit awkward; she didn't know her either, so she could only turn to ask the guard.

“She seems to be a high noble, the eldest daughter of the Valente family. She stated her identity when she arrived earlier.”

A high noble and a Soul Severer, who just happened to appear in city hall right next to the square?

Lynch narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment. “Do you remember what time they arrived?”

“A little after eight o'clock. The workday had just started then, so there was barely anyone in the hall.”

Hiss, the timing fits too. Right before the incident erupted, she showed up here. Could she really be connected to it?

It probably wouldn't be such a coincidence. I can't just suspect every Soul Severer I see. Travel Companion, are there any other mystery reactions nearby?

【No more.】

Alright, I'll hold my doubts for now. The eldest daughter of the Valente family—I'll look into her later.

Lynch nodded, glanced once more at the departing figures of that group, and followed the guard into the archives.

With their status as Watchers, the two encountered no obstacles whatsoever. Or rather, the greatest obstacle was that the archives staff was far too cooperative—obediently pulling out virtually every file related to that railway and piling them high before the two.

Both of their faces paled. Only then did they realize that what they were investigating were records of a national project tied to the economy and the people's livelihoods; it would have been strange if the contents were brief. Fortunately, official construction had not yet begun, or it wouldn't have been unusual for the files to be several times larger.

There was no other way; they had to read.

“Let’s each take a portion. Tell me if you see anything important.”

The lady officer gave a soft hum of agreement.

Dividing the work between them, they opened the thick dossiers. For a time, the only sounds in the archives were the rustle of turning pages and their occasional whispered exchanges.

Soon, the grand picture gradually unfurled before them.

The Age of Steam had begun, and roaring trains were beginning to shape the destiny of every nation.

As the leading nation in the Age of Steam, the Kingdom of Lande had laid down extensive railway tracks. However, the Carlos Mountain Range stretching hundreds of kilometers blocked the railway's extension. Between the two major economic gems of the south and north, there had never been a railway connecting them; transportation still relied on the Lande River's waterways or detours of hundreds of kilometers transferring through other cities.

Freight would be delayed by at least three to five days, and every single train trip could result in losses of thousands of Lande pounds.

A philosopher once said that interest is the driving force behind all action.

The loss of money drove everyone into a frenzy. Thus, proposed by the Rose family and the Duke of Vane family—the Governors of Rhine who had controlled the surrounding region for centuries—the first Norin-Rhine Railway to cross the Carlos Mountain Range was placed on the agenda.

After several years of preparation and surveying, a viable route was finally mapped out. It merely required excavating several tunnels a few kilometers long around Bester Mountain to connect both sides and build the railway.

To ensure the tunnels were successfully dug through, both sides had even mobilized some "special personnel" to assist with construction, showing how much importance was placed on the project.

Official construction had originally been scheduled to begin in August, and preliminary work was already underway. But as the start date drew near, the hillmen of Bester Mountain suddenly erupted in fierce opposition, even inciting the construction workers to strike and stage violent protests. This led to numerous bloody conflicts, and even fatalities.

As for today's protest, it was clearly a countermeasure against the hillmen.

Lynch let out a long breath and closed the dossier. Looking up, he saw Officer Natalie sitting opposite him, propping her chin on her hand and staring at him, looking somewhat lost in thought.

“What is it?” Puzzled, Lynch looked down at himself. His clothes were neat; nothing was amiss.

Looking back up, he found that the lady officer had already looked away, her expression a little stiff, though she quickly returned to normal. “Nothing. Seeing you so focused, can you really summarize anything from all this?”

“Yeah, actually I can.”

Lynch opened his detective notebook, turned to a fresh page, and habitually jotted down the time and location in Chinese and Arabic numerals.

Lady Natalie merely gave it a casual glance and said nothing. There were far too many scripts in this world, and Lynch’s original body had graduated with a degree in archaeology and natural history, so knowing a few ancient scripts she didn't recognize was completely normal.

“What did you deduce? To me, it just looks like a railway project. Maybe it’ll be very useful once built, but right now it's facing opposition.”

As if following a political drama in his past life, Lynch organized and recorded each piece of information while countering with a question: “Who would oppose it?”

“The hillmen, of course.”

“And the reason?”

The lady officer tilted her head, a bewildered expression on her face as she watched Lynch speak with increasing speed.

“The hillmen oppose it, but why? And how could opposition from a bunch of mountain folk hundreds of kilometers away cause such a huge storm in Rhine City? Could someone be pushing from behind the scenes? If so, who?”

Officer Natalie shook her head vigorously.

“Then we have to consider why they would support the hillmen. The vast majority of conflicts boil down to a clash of interests. So whoever's interests are harmed is likely a supporter of the hillmen. Whose interests would be harmed?”

“I feel like the entire nation would benefit.”

“No, many people's interests will actually be harmed behind the scenes. We'll need to investigate the specifics, but I can already think of a few right now—like the shipping industry on the Lande River.”

Lynch ran his finger across the mention of waterway transport in the dossier.

“As well as the cities along the original railway transport routes.”

He traced the words describing the detour of hundreds of kilometers.

“In short, those who profited the most under the original model are mostly the ones whose interests are harmed. As for those indirectly harmed, there are even more, though we aren't certain yet.” Lynch sighed, knowing that if he had been a native of this world, he would certainly have gathered much more. “These parties whose interests are harmed could all support the hillmen in obstructing the plan. Then, the ones whose interests are harmed by their obstruction could become the organizers of today's protest, while those supporting the hillmen could be the masterminds who manipulated mystery to orchestrate today's massacre.”

“Hiss, I see. That really does make sense. Doesn't that mean this case likely involves a massive, massive web?”

“Yeah, but it's only a possibility. Drawing conclusions now would be too arbitrary, so we need to investigate further. However, try not to leak to outsiders that we are investigating this aspect.”

Lynch recorded his thoughts as he spoke, his headache worsening the more he wrote. No wonder Archbishop Trinlais had said too many factions were involved; after reading through the dossier once, Lynch felt that all of Lande—or even half the world—could be implicated. And that was just on the surface; factoring in those secretly involved made the list even longer.

With such a complex matter, no wonder the Archbishop was unwilling to provide a direct overview, fearing the way he described those factions would bias Lynch’s judgment. It seemed this investigative report would not be easy to write at all.

“What's the next step?” the lady officer asked, seeing Lynch finally close his notebook.

Lynch pondered for a moment. Without mentioning the bizarre deaths he had heard about from the Archbishop, he pointed to the information they had just found. “Look here. The hillmen incited workers to stage violent protests, resulting in fatalities—and more than one—which triggered the subsequent series of issues. This is very strange: who were they fighting against? And the project hasn't even officially started yet, so how did they clash? People even died. I feel something isn't right here. We can look into the case files of those deaths to see if any issues are hidden within. Additionally, let's see if there are other cases related to this railway—perhaps there's a connection there too.”

“You mean those reported deaths might be related to mystery?” Officer Natalie immediately straightened her back, her voice turning solemn.

“Since today's incident was definitely caused by a mystery relic, why couldn't the previous deaths be related to mystery as well? Besides, the descriptions here are vague and lacking detail; something might be off.”

“Indeed. In that case, we definitely can't ignore it.” The lady officer’s interest was piqued. “However, files on severe crimes and fatal incidents certainly won't be found in city hall; we'll have to go to the Hall of Order.”

Saying this, the lady officer pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

“It's past twelve. The officers are probably having lunch right now, so we definitely won't find anyone if we go now. How about this: let's grab a bite to eat, and on the way, we can tackle another issue near the Hall of Order.” The lady officer pointed to the box beside Lynch. “Didn't you say you wanted to see if we could track movement trails from this mystery relic? I'll take you to a place that might meet your needs.”

“Huh? Someone can do that?”

“Otherwise, how do you think I tracked you down the night before last? I'll introduce you in a bit. Barring any surprises, you'll probably find a lot in common with her in the future.”

“Huh? Why?”

“She's also someone with sharp inspiration, a partner of the Watchers who specializes in buying and selling mystery. Right, she also sells holy mystery—the kind you need. She might even have it in stock. Come on, let's go check it out now.”