Chapter 16: Cael’s Suspicion: The Mastermind is Unusual

That night was anything but ordinary.

Cael stepped into his home and immediately spotted five birds laid out neatly on the living room table, along with a pile of bird eggs—nearly twenty in total, varying in size.

No doubt about it: these were the sheriff's spoils of war.

"Meow~" the black cat chirped, tail twitching ever so slightly, clearly seeking praise.

Sheriff had been praised for catching birds the past two days, and that encouragement had clearly ignited its enthusiasm. Today's haul was proof.

Cael gave it an approving nod. "Well done, Sheriff. Excellent job!"

He truly admired the little creature. In this world where meat and eggs were relatively expensive and productivity not especially advanced, the haul could easily fetch two silver coins at market.

While other people's cats drained household resources, his was single-pawedly improving their standard of living.

Truly, not all cats—or people—were created equal.

He squatted and gave Sheriff a gentle head rub. "You're too good at catching birds. There aren't many left in the Ta'an Lesser Spirit Realm. You'd better stop—before you wipe them out entirely."

Of course, he was joking about extinction.

Still, Sheriff had even mastered the art of raiding nests. With that skill alone, he could probably reduce the local bird population by half.

"Meow~ meow~" came the cat's reply, with a curious tilt in its eyes.

It was clearly asking: Then what should I hunt instead?

Cael gave it some thought. "Go after burrow rabbits from now on. They breed like crazy and tear up farmland. The more you catch, the better."

"Meow~!" Sheriff agreed cheerfully.

Cael picked up one of the birds. "So, do you want it roasted or braised?"

He had fed the cat a cooked drumstick the night before—and after tasting it, Sheriff had refused to ever eat raw meat again.

Not surprising. Cooked food is easier to digest, gentler on the gut. Cats aren't stupid; they know a good thing when they taste it.

Sheriff cocked its head to the left—adorably.

That meant: Roasted, please.

Without the Soul Control Seal, Cael would never have understood. But these days, he found his cat's "language" increasingly fascinating.

He added with a grin, "I'll boil a few eggs for you too—add some greens and a spoonful of rice. Balanced nutrition. Sound good?"

Sheriff flicked its tail in reply: "Meow~"

Cael chuckled and got to work.

He poured a splash of brown oil into the stove, activated the True Flame Seal, and flicked a finger—snap!—a spark jumped into the burner.

Whoosh!

Flames surged forth.

A piece of honeycomb fuel went in, and the stove lit quickly.

Cael whistled, "Having supernatural powers really does make life easier."

After a flurry of activity, he laid out four dishes: mushrooms stir-fried with bird eggs, a plate of boiled eggs, two perfectly roasted golden birds, and a side of sautéed greens.

By common standards? A feast.

Most families in this world only had meat once every few days. His body's predecessor had only tasted meat in the school cafeteria.

He set a portion in front of Sheriff. "Dig in."

The cat rubbed against his leg before happily chowing down.

From its flicking tail and purring throat, it was clear this dinner was a hit.

Cael took a bite of bird leg himself—crispy skin, juicy meat. He nodded in satisfaction.

Delicious.

About an hour and a half later.

Cael woke from a deep nap and stretched with a yawn.

He walked into the living room, opened his backpack, and pulled out a single green leaf.

It had come from the grass hound he'd slain earlier.

He'd brought it home out of curiosity—who wouldn't be intrigued by a vine turning into a creature? He figured it might yield new insight through the Eye of All-Knowing and help him earn more proficiency.

And hey—maybe it'd even result in another remnant seal.

Sheriff heard him stirring and padded out from under the wardrobe, plopping down in front of him and staring intently at the leaf.

Cael rubbed its head, then focused. "Analyze the birth mechanism of the grass hound."

Since the leaf was a part of the creature, the connection was strong—and the deduction succeeded instantly.

Cool tingles danced across his scalp.

An illusion took shape:

In a lush green field, a figure walked up to a vine and quickly brushed its stem... then turned and walked away.

The stem quivered faintly—then fell still.

But the image was oddly blurry, like looking through frosted glass. He couldn't make out the figure's face at all.

A moment later, the vision vanished.

A prompt followed:"Proficiency +6. Current: 76/1000. Spirit Value: 6.3/13.8."

Cael's expression turned serious.

"I thought the grass hound was some kind of rare anomaly. But someone deliberately tampered with it…"

He paused. "That deduction gave six proficiency points and drained 5.4 spirit points—more than expected. Something's definitely off."

Then came a sigh. "But the illusion was too vague… what a pain."

Most past visions were hazy but still legible. This one was like a bad transmission—impossible to ID the person.

All signs pointed to something unusual.

Cael frowned. "How do I catch this guy?"

After thinking it over, he settled on a simple, if slow, strategy.

"Several hundred students have gone to the botanical garden in the past few days. That gives me a range.

"If I eliminate those who couldn't be the culprit, the one who's left must be the one who tampered with the vine."

He replayed the illusion in his mind, then sketched out a rough profile and made notes.

First, based on build and hairstyle: definitely a boy.

Second, slightly taller than me.

Third, not skinny, not fat—well-fed. That suggests a middle-class background.

He ended up listing six key traits.

"Not many boys match all that," he reasoned. "With help from the Eye of All-Knowing, narrowing it down won't be hard."

After a brief rest, he began phase one. "Deduce which class visited the garden yesterday."

A simple deduction. The result popped up instantly:

Grade 3, Class 5.

He jotted it down and continued: "Deduce which class visited the day before yesterday."

Five more deductions followed, identifying every class that had attended plant practice over the past five days.

Seven classes in total.

Assuming around fifty students per class, that meant about 350 people.

His next step: observe students from those classes and zero in on the target.

Cael smirked as he looked at the list.

"No matter what kind of monster you are... you won't escape these eyes of mine."