## Chapter 124 – The Price of Dipping a Toe (2)
Deborah returned to her desk, causing those around her to flinch. She stared down at the stack of documents placed on her desk.
‘Disgusting bastards.’
People who wouldn’t feel an ounce of guilt for anything if their interests were at stake.
Someone like that must be gloating, believing they’ve used their “power” to bury this incident.
This case was no different.
After questioning those around, she knew that rumors were circulating about the Grenote heiress.
The Grenote heiress was of marriageable age.
Therefore, rather than clearing the name of an heiress who might soon be betrothed to another family, they chose to cut her off from the family, tarnished by a scandal that was already difficult to disprove.
The death of the Druella heiress was also the same; it was as if she was pressured by that brat, the head of the Polignac family, whose intentions she couldn’t understand.
‘A simple accident…
Impossible.’
The Druella heiress’s group, found at the scene, clearly had sword wounds.
Any academy student who had even a little sword training wouldn’t be foolish enough to attack each other while swinging swords. The only reason Anne de Monehen was excluded as a suspect was that she didn’t have a sword to attack with.
One could simply think they were trying to cover up an embarrassing incident at the academy, but the suspect was only a baronet’s daughter.
From the academy’s perspective, it would have been simpler and more certain to pin the blame on her and expel her.
That way, even if the injured heiresses’ families complained later, the academy wouldn’t make any enemies.
‘There’s something more behind this.
This isn’t just a simple brawl.’
But for Saint Flansina Academy to risk its reputation to protect an insignificant baronet’s daughter seemed strange.
‘But where?’
No matter how she thought about it, the only conclusion she could reach was that there was something about the unremarkable baronet’s daughter.
Perhaps she was just a victim caught up in a fabricated crime to hide something.
‘Nothing is certain yet.
I have to start finding out from now on.’
“Um… Inspector…
It’s time for the field inspection…”
“Let’s go.”
Deborah, who had been interrupted by her trembling subordinate, opened her desk drawer and shoved the documents inside. She stood up and began to take off her uniform.
“Eek!”
Her subordinate, startled by her suddenly unbuttoning her clothes, cowered as if having a seizure. Deborah, who had changed into investigative attire instead of her splendid uniform, walked past him.
Perhaps the survival instinct that made him feel death passing by outweighed his lust, rather than feeling regret for not seeing her healthy, bare body covered in underwear.
But even so, it was still a very regrettable scene.
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“The… deceased, Raul Frederick, was described as someone without any particular flaws, according to the investigation.
You could say he was an ordinary citizen…”
Investigators gathered at the deceased’s home on the outskirts of the royal capital.
Deborah, watching the mage examining the scene to read the magical traces and review past actions, listened to her subordinate’s report and paused to think.
She picked up a bottle that appeared to contain drugs, turned it over, and then spoke in a sharp voice.
“The cause of death is the cessation of life functions due to drug overdose.
In other words, he bought drugs somewhere and overdosed.
According to the kingdom’s laws, the sale and use of unauthorized drugs are severely punished.
Has the purchase route been confirmed?”
“That’s… As you know, drug addicts are inherently difficult to find…
Most of them are in a decentralized structure that makes it easy to cut off the tail…
The biggest achievement of this investigation will only be arresting one small organization…”
“That’s not important.
So, the purchase route?”
“That… We don’t know…
He might have bought it directly in the back alleys, but only he would know…
Or someone from the dealers might have approached him and sold it on a one-off basis…”
“Then who are the known dealers?”
“Some low-level dealers who run around are wanted…
But even those wanted guys are hiding everywhere, so we can’t catch them most of the time.
We don’t know if they’re in the royal capital right now or buried in some field…”
“If they were stupid, they would have been caught and punished long ago.
Start with the door-to-door investigation according to the manual.
If we catch their tail, we’ll deploy the magical investigators.”
“Huh? Are you serious?”
“Is there a problem?”
“N.. No!!
I’ll start the investigation!!”
Deborah, watching her subordinate salute and give instructions to the other subordinates, putting them into action, put her hands behind her back and slowly walked down the alley.
‘Among the victim’s actions during his life, he left home in a direction other than his commute route once or twice a week.’
She stared at the ground as if she could see footprints in front of her, steadily moving forward, wandering aimlessly.
‘There are mostly residential areas around.
But there is one slum and two markets nearby.’
As she walked, confidently turning whenever an alley appeared, various thoughts came and went in her head.
‘You might think the slum is a good place to hide normally.
But the faint fishy smell left in the bottle. The smell of fish.’
Before she knew it, Deborah’s steps were leading her to the market.
In the bustling marketplace, filled with the laughter and bargaining of people, Deborah quietly surveyed her surroundings and gave a small, natural smile.
‘There’s only one place that sells fish. Is it here?’
She brushed past a customer who was smiling and taking away fish wrapped in paper, and walked towards the stall.
Still with her hands behind her back, she looked around at the fish being chilled using a freezing magic circle. She nodded with a faint smile at the fishmonger’s greeting.
“Oh!! Are you looking for something, ma’am?
The bluefish that came in today is good, and the sand lance is pretty good too!!”
“I think grilling would be good, and making soup would be good too.”
“If you’re going to grill it, bluefish is in season.
But the fish for soup are all gone… Heh heh!!”
“That’s why I’m asking, what about other fish?
I heard that you sell special fish here.”
“What are you talking about…”
“The fish that people who want to taste something fantastic look for.
Do you not have that anymore?”
“Hmm… Who recommended you…”
“Raul Frederick.”
“Oh? You’ve come to the right place.
So, what do you need?”
“You’re not as smart as I thought.
That’s my fault.”
“Huh? What do you mean… Keuk!!”
The fishmonger, who had been looking at Deborah with a bewildered expression, was grabbed by the collar and slammed onto the stall. His scream echoed loudly in the market.
“I’m Inspector Deborah of the Public Security Department.
I’m arresting you for illegal drug trafficking.”
“What!! What are you talking about… Kehek!!
I’ve never done anything like that…!!”
“You have. This is it. You cut open the fish and put the drug bottle inside.
Because of the fishy smell, you could fool even the hunting dogs of the Public Security Department.”
Deborah, wearing gloves, poked the bellies of several fish on the stall next to her. She opened the split belly of one of them and held the glass bottle in front of his eyes.
A glass bottle of almost the same size and shape as the one she had seen at the deceased’s house earlier.
With that, everything became clear.
“Did you think you wouldn’t get caught like this?
The customer who just left, he was a drug addict too.
He tried hard, but his gait was unsteady.
He was staggering as if he had been drinking in broad daylight.
He walked well for a cripple, though.”
“Help!! Someone save me!!
This woman is framing me!!”
“The crime of illegal drug distribution is punishable by death under national law…”
Deborah, grabbing the fishmonger’s collar as he screamed meaningless words, slammed him down on the stall again. She looked down at the fishmonger, who was struggling as if he had lost his mind, and quickly bent down.
The sound of a wooden club whizzing past her head, cleanly missing her, made her eyes sharpen. She drew the sword from her waist, still in its scabbard.
Deborah, swinging the sword still in its scabbard, broke the nose of an accomplice who had tried to hit the back of her head. She could see several men surrounding her.
They were holding weapons that could be considered dangerous, such as iron clubs, farming tools, and kitchen knives.
Deborah, watching the men pointing their weapons at her and slowly closing the distance, sheathed her sword again.
The men looked flustered, but it didn’t take long to find out why.
“Keuk!!”
“Ugh!! My hand!! My hand!!”
“Kyaaaa!!”
The market had become a riot, filled with screams and shouts.
The men who had rushed towards Deborah were now rolling on the floor, clutching parts of their bodies.
It was unclear when she had drawn her sword, but a few drops of blood were dripping from the tip of the longsword in her hand.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the fishmonger tried to escape, but he stopped in his tracks when he felt a cold sensation on his back.
“According to the strict national law, I’m arresting you.
Before that, I’ll give you a chance to confess who your boss is.”
“I… I don’t know anything!! Really!!”
“You’re going to make it difficult until the end.”
With a small sigh, her sword was swung, and the fishmonger lay on the floor.
Seeing that, screams erupted again from the surroundings, but this time she only knocked them unconscious with the flat of her blade, and no one else died.
Soon after, she handed over the criminals to the subordinates who had come after hearing about the riot, confiscated all the drugs hidden in the fish stall, and the investigation seemed to be over for the day.
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