Episode 3 "Murder"

As Viol continued to read his books in his room, a loud noise came from above. Surprised Viol, slowly went upstairs to check what was going on. It was coming from his father's room. At his fingertips, he proceeded slowly and crouched down by the door and began to secretly listen to what was going on.

- "What!? The king needs me urgently!? Why!?"Thomas thundered.

He was pretty upset when the day off was interrupted like this. Because of his anger, the sense around him was shaking, aggravating the situation. Even Viol, who wasn't in the room, was fascinated by it. He felt a great burden on her shoulders. When he was little, he carried Gerard on his shoulders but this wasn't like it. It was like something was nailing him to where he was and trying to stop him from moving. He was trying not to make a sound, even though it hurt a lot. He knew what would happen to him if he made a noise and got caught while listening his father's conversation.

The messenger who came to deliver the King's order tried to calm Thomas, while continuing to explain the situation. The pressure didn't seem to affect him.

- "I understand your dissatisfaction, master Thomas. But you have to understand the situation. There's been a murder, and we need your cooperation on this."

Thomas got even angrier and the pressure continued to increase.

- "Why do I, Thomas Vale, have to be disturbed for just one murder! Leave this to the Royal Guard and they'll handle it! I trained them by myself!"

Viol was having trouble at breathing. This time even messenger started to affected by pressure . Thomas's power really gave him the right to be the King's right-hand man.

"Yes, we would, but this is no ordinary murder, master Thomas. The murder was carried out very close to The Adventurer's Alliance. You too are well aware of the power of the Adventurer's Alliance. It takes guts to mess with them."

Thomas still didn't understand why he was being disturbed for just one murder. What if it was carried out near the Adventurer's Alliance? The adventurers were free to duel and kill each other. It happened quite often. After all, only the strong could survive on this world.

- "So? what if a few adventurers died? Isn't it normal for adventurers to duel and kill each other?"

- "You misunderstand me, master Thomas, the killed one wasnt adventurer."

Thomas was surprised. If it wasn't an adventurer who was killed, who would have been foolish enough to commit murder in the realm of the Adventurer's Alliance. Even the Vale Family wouldn't want to go against the Adventurous Alliance.

- "Who then? We both know that the King will not summon me for the death of a peasant. Hurry up and explain this properly."

- "Yes, master Thomas. It wasn't a peasant who was killed, as you say. It was a maid who was killed."

Thomas was getting angry again. Did they bother him just because of a commoners death?

- "So it's just a commo-"

The envoy intervened and interrupted Thomas.

- "Calm down, master Thomas. She was a maid who was murdered, yes, but not a normal maid."

Thomas was very uncomfortable with the interruption.

- "What do you mean? If she's not someone really important, you should be ready to lose your arms for the thing you just did."

Thomas's intent to kill was enough to make the messenger's legs tremble. Viol was sweating cold. He was scared to death. He had never seen this side of his father before.

The ambassador was trying to remain calm, even though he was quite afraid. He went on to explain the situation with a serious facial expression.

- "My apologies for my behavior earlier, master Thomas. My intention wasn't to interrupt you. With all due respect, I continue. It was the maid who was killed, not really just any maid, yes. The maid who was killed was a servant of your very vale family."

Viol and Thomas broke ice at the same time. Thomas couldn't believe what he was hearing. There were people who were stupid enough to piss off the Vale family. Thomas wanted to confirm what he heard.;

- "Is that true?"he asked. The envoy continued where he left off.

- "Yes, sir. Apparently, the murdered maid's name is Margaret. She was one of Lady Catarina's personal servants, if I recall. But this murder is not limited to that, Sir."

Thomas didn't know what could be more important than that. With an icy voice;

- "What do you mean?"he asked. Right now, he was struggling to keep himself from killing someone.

The envoy cleared his throat with a cough and gave the final information. That information was the last straw.

-"Cough..Cough... Sir, based on the physical damage to the body and the remains of mana, we believe the killer was an "Anima"."

Viol knew what" Anima " was because of the books he read. The animals were humans who had a different kind of mana pool than usual, They were able to control animals and monsters through mana. The worst part was that there were only a handful of Anima users in the kingdom of" Diamonds". And all of these animals were directly under the King's command, so the killer wasn't from the kingdom of "diamonds." There was only one place famous for where Anima magicians were abundant and very powerfull. It was the kingdom of the "Hearts".

Thomas was frozen. His eyes were wide open and He was shaking a lot due to anger.

- "Alfred!"Thomas thundered.

Alfred instantly appeared alongside Thomas and the messenger. When Alfred appeared, Viol slowly moved away from there and returned to his room. Ever since he was a kid, Alfred had been very good at catching him. So he escaped there as fast as he can.

Alfred combined his right hand with his waist, threw his left hand over his shoulder and leaned slightly toward Thomas.

- "Yes, sir. How can I help you?" he said, calmly. There was no emotions in his face.

Thomas with an icy voice;

- "Tell Catarina I have urgent business, so they have to go to the picnic without me. I'll join them later if i can."

Alfred kept bowing.

-"Yes, sir."

Thomas and the emissary teleported out of the House. Alfred was still leaning, but something was wrong. He had a creepy smile on his face.

- "Everything goes according to plan, Lady Catarina." he said.