CH 309

The rumor that the culprit behind the kidnapping incidents was captured spread throughout Janmalpi at a fast rate. Since the case that had been halting the entertainment businesses in the city was finally gone, all the citizens rejoiced. Of course, those connected to the missing persons were deeply saddened. They had been grasping onto the thread-like hope, wishing for their families, lovers, and friends to come back safely, but all the victims returned as corpses. As coffins left the casino one by one, families wept. Some even fainted after crying. Others insulted the culprit and demanded Condel’s corpse to disgrace it. 

Yet, their sadness couldn’t affect the whole city, and Janmalpi regained normalcy quickly. People wandered out in the streets again and lovers filled the space with laughter. Entertainment businesses recovered to their previous level. Joyous that the case was resolved, the lord of the estate gave a generous reward to everyone involved in solving the case; this also acted as a way to spread the news even faster throughout Janmalpi. 

After the grand award ceremony, Zich and his companions returned to their lodging and held their own mini party. The food and table they prepared were way too humble for a party with a count and a lady from a marquess family as guests, but everyone took out the drinks they prepared and clinked their glasses.

“Sigh. I finally feel that this case is completely over now,” Joachim said after gulping down a strong drink. 

Zich responded, “It seems the case has really taken a toll on you, sir.”

“It couldn’t be helped. No matter how much we investigated, we couldn’t find any clues and the number of victims kept increasing. I was so worried for the kidnapped people and future victims that I couldn’t go to sleep. Furthermore, my family’s destiny was on the line with this case.” Joachim shuddered, thinking about his mental state at that time. “It was truly fortunate that you came, Sir Zich.”

“So, will your family be all right now?”

“We barely managed to regain our balance after almost falling to the pits, but I can sigh in relief now.” Now, Joachim could see a stream of light in a foggy future. It was a situation where he could be completely satisfied. “I have to continue to rise up with this case as my support,” he said. Then, he would be able to place the Dracul name on top of the world platform again.

Joachim added, “The culprit’s unexpectedly expert abilities played a positive influence on our reputation. However, I can’t just be glad, considering the victims.”

If this case had been a normal kidnapping crime, there wouldn't be as many victims as they had right now. Joachim’s voice became heavier. 

Evelyn comforted him. “Don’t feel so guilty, Sir Count. You gave your all to this case and solved it.”

“Truthfully, that also hurts my conscience too. Sir Zich was the one who solved every single aspect of this case,” Joachim said.

Lyla disagreed. “There’s no need for you to think that way. The responsibility of people in high places is to find talents and place them in fitting positions. If it wasn’t for you, Count, nobody would have employed Zich and given him all the necessary support. If you didn’t back him up, I’m sure the case would’ve dragged on for longer. Don’t you think so, Zich?”

“Yeah.” Zich wouldn’t have been able to solve the case as easily as he did without Joachim’s backing. Moreover, Joachim was the one who had given him information relating to the robed figures. 

‘We couldn’t find the robed guys in the end though.’ Although Zich had looked for the robed figures while investigating this case, they couldn’t find even a hair strand from the robed figures. 

‘They must have departed after making Condel Siede into a Demon Person and finished everything they needed to do. Or they might have left the rest for Glen to handle.’ Regardless, screwing up the robed guys’ plans was enough of a reason for Zich to help Joachim. 

“Ms. Lyla is right. Besides, the one who was of the least help was me,” Evelyn said.

“That’s not true, Lady Rouge. I mean, your thoughts and knowledge helped us solve this case,” Joachim said. In the first place, it had been her idea to make the party members act like lovers and bait the culprit. Thanks to that, they were able to see Condel’s shadows face-to-face for the first time. 

“Do you really think so?” Evelyn asked. 

“Of course.”

“Then I think you have no reason to feel burdened with guilt either, Count,” Evelyn said with a bright smile on her face. 

After being taken aback for a moment, Joachim laughed heartily and agreed with her. “Yes, you are certainly right, Lady Rouge. I shouldn’t consider myself useless after admitting that you were of help.”

“See, sir? Now, we can put an end to this conversation,” Evelyn said and clapped her hands. Then, she lifted her glass. Her glass was completely empty now. “Let’s have another drink!”

They filled up their glasses once more, and everyone clinked their glasses against each others’ glasses. Afterward, all kinds of conversation went back and forth among them; the conversation varied between different topics, and amid the small talk, Evelyn stared at the corner of the table. 

“Hm, did you say that you were Ms. Dwayne?”

“Y—yes?” Elena was surprised to suddenly hear her name. 

“You seem a bit anxious. Is there something going on?” Evelyn asked. 

Elena had not said much. Evelyn wondered if her and Joachim’s status intimidated her, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Elena was glancing at just one person.

“You seem to be wary of Mr. Zich,” Evelyn said. 

Elena’s body twitched. The person Elena had been glancing at was Zich. Perhaps, she had done something to him. However, the one who answered for her was Lyla.

“It’s nothing much. You know how nasty Zich’s personality is, right, miss?”

“Well, that…” Evelyn didn’t finish.

“Zich used all the means he had possible to torture the culprit this time. It was Elena’s first time seeing something like that,” Lyla said. 

Joachim and Evelyn also looked in Zich’s direction. Although they both wanted to know what Zich did that made Elena stare at him like this, they also didn’t want to know at the same time.

Lyla said, “Time is going to solve this. Hans and Snoc have gotten used to it now.”

Hans and Snoc were now completely used to Zich’s lack of morality and didn’t show any special response to this incident. Of course, this incident with Condel was one of the cruelest acts they saw from Zich, but they were already aware that Zich was capable of doing such actions and more. On the other hand, they could also understand Elena’s feelings. The first act that Elena witnessed from Zich had started out much too strong.

“Elena, don’t be too scared. As long as you don’t cross a certain line, he’s harmless. Look.” Lyla moved her hand and pinched Zich’s cheek. 

“Whaw you douwing.” Zich’s pronunciation became muffled, but he didn’t look angry. If one had to describe how he looked, he looked mildly irked.

Elena could not help but let out a small ‘Pwff!’ at Zich’s face.

“Yeah, that’s good enough. You don’t have to get immediately used to him, but there’s no need to be too scared of him.” Lyla let go of Zich’s cheek. 

Zich rubbed his red cheek a few times and pinched Lyla’s cheek back. Lyla’s pronunciation came out muffled this time. There was now a fun and pleasant atmosphere in the room. Inside this atmosphere, although Elena was still wary of Zich, she let out a laugh once more. Like this, their small party turned even more lively.

*    *    *

Zich and his companions didn’t immediately leave Janmalpi. In the first place, they had come to Janmalpi to play and enjoy themselves. Condel Siede’s existence had been a completely unexpected event. Since they were stressed and tired from solving a large incident, they passionately enjoyed the entertainment offered in Janmalpi. Even though this was a bit callous to say, they were able to enjoy themselves even more because the number of tourists had decreased from the serial kidnapping cases. 

However, not all of Zich’s companions were playing outside. Zich stayed inside their lodging and relaxed in his room. Hans, Snoc, and Elena had gone outside to play. Someone knocked on his door and burst it open. There was only one person who could come into Zich’s room whenever they wanted to like this. 

“You’re really taking it easy.” Lyla entered his room with a thick book in her arm.

Zich been lying down on his bed with his arms stretched out like dried mud on top of a rock. He raised his hand. “You are here?”

Lyla asked, “Where are the others?”

“They went to play.”

“You didn’t go?”

“No matter how fun it is, it gets boring after a while. As expected, it’s hard to keep up with these youngsters.”

“Since you’re saying nonsense, you seem to have some stamina left.” Then, Lyla plopped into a chair and put a thick book on a table. “It’s actually better this way. Come here and help me with this.”

“I’m resting right now. I need to recover my stamina.”

“I can pass over your nonsense as a joke the first time, but if you spout out nonsense a second time, it just gets annoying.”

Zich scratched his head and slowly trod down to the table and sat in front of Lyla. He looked like a bum who would just lay on his bed all day and eat food. Zich asked, “What are you doing?”

“Deciphering Clowon’s letters.”

Zich’s eyes sparkled; that interested him. “What do I need to do?”

“I need someone to mark the pages of passages that contain these letters.” Lyla passed a piece of paper that contained a few of Clowon’s letters.

Lyla was requesting him to do simple labor; it was not something that he enjoyed doing. However, it was necessary work. Moreover, if he helped, they could uncover the truths about Clowon faster. Zich took the thick book that Lyla passed and opened it. Incomprehensible texts densely filled every page. Zich looked at the piece of paper that Lyla gave him and slowly scanned it.

“Have you had any success?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, even for the great Lyla, is it hard to interpret letters that you don’t know anything about?”

“No, I already have the minimum amount of information needed to interpret these texts. It’s difficult, but not impossible. The problem is that I didn’t have enough time.” Lyla let out a small sigh. “Honestly, I was planning to completely engross myself into interpreting these texts while Elena calmed her heart here.”

“But your plan was hampered by Siede’s appearance, right?”

“Yeah.” Lyla moved her eyes away from her book and stared at Zich. “I know this is a big request, but can we stay in this city for a while? Honestly, I want to have some time deciphering these texts.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Zich thought that finding out about Clowon was the first step to finding out about his regression, Glen’s identity, and the robe figure’s identities. Thus, finding out about Clowon was one of his top goals right now. If Lyla wanted to stay in Janmalpi to find out more information about Clowon, there was no reason for him to insist on going to another city. 

Moreover, he could probably do kind acts, his other goal, in this city as well. Like this, Zich readily agreed to Lyla’s proposal, and their companions decided to stay in Janmalpi for a while.