“Extra! Extra! The Hall of Order launched a night raid on the Railway Workers’ Union, apprehending fourteen individuals connected to the Crown Square Massacre, seizing over forty pieces of evidence, and cracking the major case within 24 hours.”
“Extra! Extra! The Hall of Order, swift and efficient, achieved great success overnight, solving a major case in 24 hours.”
“Extra! Extra! The massacre boosted the city hall's approval rating instead of lowering it, with supporters praising city hall's effective leadership for thwarting the culprits' more sinister plots.”
“Extra! Extra! The Governor's Guard is surrounded by excited citizens paying respects to the royal family. A royal agency led the police in solving the major case. Citizens are holding portraits of Emperor Rudolph II and Her Highness Princess Sophia, shouting, “Long live the Rose family!””
Morning, May 16, 1399.
People were astonished to find that the entire city's atmosphere had changed overnight.
The Crown Square Massacre, which suddenly erupted on the 15th, left over a hundred dead and hundreds injured. The Kingdom of Lande had not seen such a major incident in over ten years.
Yet, throughout the 15th, many citizens noticed that they heard almost no news about it from media outlets.
No special editions, no extras; almost all news organizations remained silent.
It was like the calm before the storm, oppressive and stifling.
Those with foresight realized last night that a huge eruption was brewing in the silence.
Perhaps by tomorrow morning, the media would launch a unilateral war against the city hall and the Governor's Guard.
Incompetent police, weak city hall, a regional governor who only knew how to build railways while ignoring accumulating conflicts—in the minds of the clever, tomorrow's newspaper headlines were already taking shape.
Indeed, the newspapers of fifteen publishing houses had already been printed overnight, waiting to be distributed throughout the city.
However, just before dawn, several major news items suddenly broke.
With the support of the Governor's Guard and the direction of the city hall, a royal special security agency and the Hall of Order police collaborated to create a miracle.
They uncovered the truth: the Railway Workers’ Union, for its own interests, had colluded with fanatical cultists to orchestrate the tragedy.
The case was solved, with both culprits and evidence apprehended.
Furthermore, a legendary expert supporting the Governor and the royal family had triggered a miracle, unleashing divine punishment from the heavens to purge all cultists.
Almost all the news was precisely the opposite of what had been printed in the newspapers.
Thus, after desperate damage control by the journalists, the spectacular sight of a morning with no regular editions, only extras, finally appeared.
“Originally, all parties had prepared for the worst. The Hall of Order had even selected several scapegoats to prevent a public outcry if the case couldn't be solved quickly,”
Officer Natalie and Lynch were sitting in a carriage by Crown Square, listening to the fervent cheers outside.
Officer Natalie was still dressed in her usual menswear, unchanged as ever, but Lynch was different.
Although his top hat was recovered when they returned to the surface, his trench coat was completely ruined.
Fortunately, Mr. V assured him that this was a work-related loss, covered by reimbursement, and a new trench coat would be expensed for him, with Officer Natalie overseeing it.
Lynch was deeply moved and immediately declared that his dress shoes and top hat were also damaged. However, Mr. V merely smiled and said, “Think ahead next time,” which promptly silenced Lynch, who looked crestfallen.
At this point, Lynch had reunited with Officer Natalie and was riding in a police carriage to Crown Square. During the traffic jam, Officer Natalie quietly explained:
“As it turns out, you gave them a huge gift. You completely turned around the unfavorable official situation overnight, pulling them out of the mud and letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief.”
“It was us, not me.”
The officer's lips curled into a faint smile, and she snorted softly, ignoring Lynch as she continued, “They’ll certainly take the credit, and your Watcher consultant identity isn’t suitable for the spotlight. But to keep ‘us’ quiet, and to ensure people are still willing to work for them in the future, our benefits will definitely not be small. Unfortunately, as the key figure who caused such a huge ‘disaster’ for the city’s media, Mr. Levive won’t have a chance to stand before the public this time. How about I interview you on behalf of the reporters? Mr. Levive, what are your thoughts on your contributions to the city?”
“Thoughts? How much money will the benefits be? Enough to pay next month’s three and a half Lande pounds in rent?”
Lynch touched the seven Lande pounds in consultant fees he'd received from the Scarecrow Club this morning; the other three Lande pounds had already been returned to Officer Natalie.
“I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you; the money won’t be much, but… you’ll find out soon enough.”
But since he’d find out soon enough anyway, Lynch pouted and pressed, “I heard you just now say something about a legendary expert triggering a miracle? What was that about?”
“It was that moonlight. Mystery experts analyzed it and concluded it was caused by a legendary expert, a top-tier powerhouse who had broken through rank nine authority.”
“Huh? Wasn’t that…” Lynch froze, then looked at Officer Natalie and suddenly understood. “You didn’t report it?”
“I didn’t know what happened; I just saw a beam of light come down.” Officer Natalie averted her gaze. “If you know, you can go say it yourself.”
Lynch was somewhat touched. He rose and bowed slightly. “Actually, I don’t know either. Maybe a legendary expert just happened to be passing by and helped out.”
“Many things in the world of mystery have no explanation, so just be careful yourself.”
With that, Officer Natalie opened the carriage door and jumped out of the police carriage. They had arrived at the city hall.
It was impossible to tell that yesterday this place had been a chaotic scene of casualties. Now, twenty to thirty people, men and women, had gathered in front of the city hall, wearing loose, comfortable jackets, waving paper and pens. Some had even brought people to carry cameras, machines larger than a person, set up right at the city hall entrance—clearly reporters of this era.
“This is our gain.”
The two exchanged knowing smiles and, while the reporters weren't looking, slipped into the city hall.
Inside the city hall, order prevailed. Compared to yesterday, there were many more uniformed guards, dressed differently from the city hall's regular security.
As soon as he reached the second floor, Lynch felt a prickling sensation between his eyebrows—a warning from his inspiration. He looked up and saw Mr. V, who appeared stern and old-fashioned, walking down a side corridor with three men in formal attire.
The four on the other side were also momentarily startled. Mr. V immediately smiled and whispered, “Perfect, I was just coming out to bring these three in. Come along. Let me introduce you beforehand: this is Director Holf of the Hall of Order, and the other two are Inspector Bruno and Inspector Walter. Gentlemen, this is Detective Lynch Levive.”
“A pleasure to meet you.”
Director Holf maintained his composure, politely nodding in greeting, while the two inspectors were exceptionally enthusiastic, gripping Lynch’s hand for a long time and refusing to let go. Disgusted, Lynch quickly retreated a few steps, subtly shielding himself behind Officer Natalie.
Sorry, partner, these two might have unusual preferences.
However, Officer Natalie, seizing the opportunity to glare back at him, moved her lips and mouthed, “Scapegoats.”
Lynch immediately understood. If he hadn’t resolved the incident in time, these two inspectors would soon be reassigned to patrol rural farmlands. No wonder they were so enthusiastic.
“There will be plenty of time to get acquainted later. Come in now; don’t keep the important figures waiting too long.”
Mr. V waved them forward, leading everyone through a grand, heavy wooden door.
“The groundbreaking ceremony for the railway project is expected to be personally presided over by Her Highness Princess Sophia. I don’t care what conflicts there are, they must all be resolved before the groundbreaking date. Let the capital and the royal family see an undisputed situation, allowing Her Highness to safely fulfill her duties. If it cannot be resolved, then either the construction period will be postponed, or the project will be completely canceled. Hmph, there are still three months until the groundbreaking, and hundreds have already died. If we wait until the groundbreaking approaches and Sophia arrives, who knows what might happen? If Sophia were to encounter danger, the Vane family’s centuries of loyalty to the Rose family would become a joke. So all of you must…”
As the door opened, an aged, steady voice drifted out. It wasn’t loud, but it commanded respect without anger, and for a moment, everyone inside fell silent except for him.
Inside, it resembled a European parliament hall seen in movies, though on a much smaller scale. Below the podium were several semicircular rows of seats. Three people sat on the platform, while about twenty more were seated around it.
The three powerful figures from the Hall of Order consciously moved to sit in the back corner, which made Lynch's heart stir. If even these three, given their positions, had to retreat to the corner, the status of those seated below was self-evident.
The three people on the podium were all in formal attire. An old man with white hair and beard sat in the middle, while two middle-aged men sat on either side. One wore a monocle and must have been quite handsome in his youth, while the other wore a curly wig, his two slender eyes narrowed into slits.
“Come with me,” Mr. V said softly as he led the two towards the podium, noticing the aged voice had ceased. “The one in the middle is Duke Vane, the Governor of the Rhine region. The one on the right with the monocle is Mayor Hoffman, and the one on the left with the wig is Chairman Lorand of the House of Commons.”
“Phew, quite a grand spectacle.”
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