This Is the Real Investigation

Gun in his left hand, cane in his right, Lynch rolled and rushed onto the corridor of the school building.

Something was off. No one was looking out from the other classrooms, but Lynch still spotted the source of the scream.

A schoolgirl wearing a silk scarf leaned against the wall. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her lips trembled, her face was deathly pale, and her eyes were filled with sheer terror as she shivered.

Another schoolgirl, as if she had encountered something terrifying, covered her face and screamed in a classic dramatic fashion. Then, she turned and fled in terror, crying out as she ran, “A ghost! A ghost is grabbing my hand! It's trying to drag me into the Netherworld!”

The terrified voice grew more and more distant, making Lynch wonder if she had indeed encountered some bizarre, mysterious event.

“How terrifying. Sarah's sleeve was suddenly yanked to the side just like that, and even her arm was pulled away.”

“Yeah, yeah! She couldn't have done that herself. There must be something we can't see. It's too scary. I—I want to go home.”

It was seven or eight schoolgirls from the adjacent classroom who had also come out to watch. A group of little ladies huddled in the corner, whispering among themselves, looking thoroughly frightened.

“It was me!” the shivering schoolgirl cried to her classmates, her voice trembling. “Why? Can't you hear me? I was the one who pulled her! Can't you see me?”

Strangely, however, even though she was shouting quite loudly, the other schoolgirls kept whispering in fear without so much as turning their eyes toward her. This made the girl with the silk scarf even more terrified. She cautiously approached the other girls and tentatively touched one of their arms.

Another scream rang out. The girl who was touched leaped aside in horror, frantically looking around. “Who is it? Who's there? Don't come after me! I never did anything to hurt you!”

For a moment, some of the girls even burst into tears, but the most terrified was the girl with the silk scarf. She pounded the wall a few times until her hands turned red, then let out a loud cry, clutched her head, and ran out of the school building in tears.

What was going on? Had she encountered a mysterious event? He had not detected any residue of mystery.

Lynch knelt on one knee with his gun and cane raised, feeling like an idiot in this posture. He stared blankly at the remaining girls, who were now smiling, feeling like his brain was short-circuiting.

Indeed, the young girls, who had been so expressive and utterly panicked just a moment ago, suddenly wiped the expressions from their faces, cold sneers appearing at the corners of their mouths.

In an instant, these underage little ladies abruptly became cold and sinister.

“A merchant's daughter dares to go to school with us? And here I thought she was brave.”

“Without noble blood or the inherited glory of a long-standing family, she thinks having a bit of money means she can share the same status as us? Scaring her is for her own good.”

“Hehehe...”

Fuck, school bullying really was everywhere.

Everything had changed too quickly in less than half a minute. Those reserved, elegant smiles sent a shiver down Lynch's spine.

Were these fucking kids?

And what the hell did they mean by noble blood?

“The nobility and glory I know refer to the resolve to bear sins alone for the sake of righteousness and duty, and the courage to wash away those sins with one's life to honor one's conscience once everything is settled. It does not refer to rats who lounge on their family histories with arrogance and conceit, capable of nothing but playing underhanded conspiracies in the dark. It seems we need to readjust our external relations.”

“Who dares—”

The girls whipped their heads around, only to suddenly discover that the visitor who had arrived today had appeared behind them at some point, looking at them indifferently with neither joy nor anger in his eyes.

“What? Do you have an issue with my words? Especially you, you, and you?”

Lynch pointed at the girls who had mocked the other girl. They were clearly the ringleaders.

“N-No...” The faces of the ringleaders turned as pale as the girl with the silk scarf. They lowered their hands and bowed their heads, not daring to meet Lynch's gaze. “You are right, Your Excellency.”

“And then?”

The girls looked at one another. With contorted expressions, they lined up, lifted their skirts, and curtsied deeply to Lynch. “We are sorry, Your Excellency. We should not have defiled the honor of the nobility. We will reflect deeply on our actions, take the initiative to find the etiquette teacher, and request ten lashes as punishment.”

They didn't even know to show their cleavage when apologizing—how lacking in common sense. Lynch curled his lip and said, “The others must watch. As for the one who wore the silk scarf just now... now, beat it.”

Using borrowed power to act big really felt amazing.

Lynch didn't know who they were, but it didn't matter. Nobility had ranks too. True prestigious families, like the Valente family, used private tutors for one-on-one education and would never send their children to such a school. The children here were at most from minor noble families—bullies who feared the strong and would never dare to resist.

But before they could beat it, the principal arrived with several etiquette teachers and solemnly led the girls away. It seemed they were in for a thorough scolding.

Lynch had only lectured these bad seeds out of a sudden fit of anger. Seeing the principal arrive, he had been slightly worried about getting into a dispute. However, the hunchbacked old principal, leaning on her cane, said nothing. She simply gave Lynch a solemn nod and departed, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

Thud.

A sudden muffled thud echoed from the classroom behind him, making Lynch realize that his attention had been diverted.

If the screaming outside had nothing to do with the dark shadow, and it had suddenly disappeared... Oh no, his client!

With no time to overthink, Lynch spun around and returned to Monia's classroom, only to witness a bizarre scene.

Inside the luxurious classroom, about a dozen long sofas were scattered around. Bookcases and display cabinets filled with books lined the walls, a piano sat in the corner, and medium-sized instruments like violins hung on the wall beside it.

At this moment, perhaps because the hook had loosened, a violin suddenly fell to the floor.

It shattered completely, turning into a pile of wood shavings.

Hmm? Something wasn't right.

The scene at the secondhand stall in Charles Square this morning had been too far away to see clearly, but it felt like that piece of clothing had dissolved directly into powder, as if corroded into dust. Yet this violin had merely turned into wood shavings. Was it a matter of material?

“Ah!”

The dozen or so girls in the classroom finally realized what had happened. They covered their mouths and stared in terror at the bizarre pile of wood shavings, before casting fearful glances at Monia. Monia's expression was also quite grim, and even her bow seemed to have lost its luster. She showed none of the composure she had displayed back at the Knowledge Library.

“It's just a broken violin. Monia, take me for a walk.”

Waving casually at the young girl, Lynch led Monia out under the monster-staring gazes of the other girls.

As they walked, his expression darkened.

The reaction in the classroom was a bit off. The situation might not be what he had anticipated.

Frowning, Lynch said in a low voice, “Take me to the ritual site first. On the way, you'd better think carefully about when you're going to tell me the whole truth.”

“I...”

“Think first. Talk to me after I've had a look. Make sure you think it through; you only get one chance.”

The school was built in a common U-shaped layout, typical of many courtyards in this era.

The open space in the center was a garden, and the other three sides consisted of three buildings.

On the left was a long, three-story building serving as the student dormitory. Despite there being only fifty or sixty students, each person occupied a significant amount of space.

In the center was a school building resembling a Western-style manor. The first floor housed the classrooms for the four grades, while the second and third floors contained various activity rooms, boasting top-notch facilities.

On the right were some smaller structures, where functional facilities like warehouses were located, with a domed auditorium being the most prominent among them.

It was the school's theater, used for their art class performances. Usually deserted, the main doors were tightly locked, a thick layer of dust covered the ground, and the surrounding windows were draped with heavy curtains, sealing the interior completely from the outside.

But following Monia to the back, Lynch saw that the theater also had several side doors. A large number of footprints were scattered in front of one of them, making it obvious what had transpired.

Sure enough, the lock was broken. The door swung open with a gentle push, revealing a pitch-black interior.

Just as the young girl was about to enter, Lynch grabbed her. The memory of checking tall grass with his face was still fresh in his mind, and he had no intention of making the same mistake so soon.

Standing at the doorway, he used his inspiration to sense the interior. There seemed to be no danger, and the feeling of mysterious filth was weak. Feeling the Torch of Light in his pocket, he activated one despite the immense pain in his wallet.

After all, life was more important than money, whether it was his own or this child's.

“Stay here and don't wander off. I'll go in and take a look first.”

Holding the Torch of Light in his mouth and clutching the Hourglass of Secrets Beyond Time, Lynch slipped into the auditorium with his cane. At this moment, Lynch suddenly realized that compared to when he had first arrived in this world, he seemed like an entirely different person.

Back then, he had been empty-handed, practically risking his life. But forty-odd days later, he had weapons, armor, and abilities to protect himself. Perhaps this was what a real investigation was supposed to be like.

It was pitch-black and empty.

He gestured for Monia to come in. However, the moment the young girl stepped into the dark space inside the door, illuminated by the light from outside, Lynch realized that the bizarre dark shadow had appeared behind her once again.

It vanished in a flash.

He couldn't have seen it wrong. Was there really something following her?

But since it had already disappeared, Lynch didn't act rashly. After double-checking that all the doors and windows were completely sealed, he flipped the switch for the gas lamps on the wall.

The lights flared to life, illuminating the auditorium.