AUTHOR'S NOTE: Lucius is back, baby! Your favorite arcane tracker is here to give us an update on his investigation of the King's murder.

LUCIUS

THE SUN was already up when Lucius opened his eyes. Its morning light permeated through the cracked windows and shone upon his untidy room. He only got a few hours of sleep, but that was not unusual for him. He already got used to it, especially when there was a case to be investigated. The more interesting the mystery was, the less he slept.

He spent the early hours of the morning—past midnight—checking all possible entry and exit points to the throne room. He wanted to know if the culprit was an insider or an outsider. He scattered magic dust almost everywhere, but there wasn't any reaction. No trace of magic usage anywhere. He even checked every door and window, but none could be pried open. He was leaning to believe that whoever murdered the king was already in the Palace before the crime happened.

After his thorough inspection of the area, he went to check the Palace guardsmen's quarters. He did not care if it was already late and if mostly everyone was asleep around this time. The truth would not wait for anyone anyway. Luckily, the two guardsmen who stood by the throne room's entrance were still awake, shaken by the king's murder. Those who learned of the incident would barely have any good night sleep at all.

"So no one entered the throne room except the king and his knight?" Lucius asked.

The taller guardsman shook his head. "I swear on my mother's grave that not a single person snuck past us during our watch."

"We also didn't feel sleepy or fall asleep at that time," the shorter guardsman added. "Well, we couldn't fall asleep even if we wanted to. They always make the night guardsmen drink a special tonic that can keep us awake at night, until the end of our duty."

"That's why we're still up and you're able to talk to us."

The arcane tracker sighed. It would make his job way easier if the guardsmen caught even just a glimpse of the royal murderer.

"Let me help you with your memory. Just to be sure that you remember things right," he said. "Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Think of what you were doing before the king and his knight entered the throne room."

The two guardsmen did exactly as they were told.

"Now hold your hands up in the air. Do not clench them. Just let them be. Relax. Focus on your thoughts. Continue inhaling and exhaling while recalling your memories."

The second Lucius saw their palms, he took out the vial of magic dust and sprinkled some on their hands. He kept on telling them to take deep breaths as he waited for any reaction. But there was none.

"Open your eyes." He pocketed the vial quickly. "Now, did any of your recollections change?"

They shook their heads slowly as they put their hands down.

"Well, just let me know if you remember anything of significance. Good day!"

With nothing else to work with, Lucius called it a day and left the Palace with Isabella. When he got to his rundown apartment, he went straight to sleep.

Lucius thought he was lying comfortably in his bed, so he tossed himself around. He created a loud thud when his body dropped to the wooden floor. He groaned, caressing the back of his head. He pulled himself up and noticed the leather couch where he was sleeping in. He was not in his room. He was in their office.

His hand searched briskly underneath a maroon throw pillow. He let out a sigh of relief as he pulled out his favorite silver revolver. Whenever he slept or took a nap, he would always put his trusty firearm under the pillow. Just a security precaution. It had become a habit since an attempt on his life two years ago. Being an arcane tracker was not the most comfortable job in the world. He had already sent a dozen of rogue arcasters to jail, and if they would be set free by whatever means, they would surely come after him. If not them, then their family or friends.

Lucius checked the bullets in his revolver's cylinders. All six bullets still loaded. Those were not ordinary metal projectiles. They had been infused with an element called antiarcanium that could poison an arcaster's blood and disrupt their ability to use magic. That's what he had been using since he became an arcane hunter. With just one shot, the hit arcaster would bleed profusely, rendering them unable to put up a decent fight.

He got to his feet and slid the revolver back into the holster. His eyes roamed around. No one else was in his office. It must be too early for clients to come in. And even if there were clients today, he would turn down their requests because he already got his hands full with the royal case. His trench coat was resting on the couch's armrest, his leather boots placed on the side. The dust particles floated around the room. The light passed through the windows.

This was the place where they conducted business. Thanks to him being always featured on Arcerean Archive—the only newspaper circulating in the capital city—his name rose to fame. His clients were mostly from the Capitol Constabulary or noble families being bothered by delinquent arcasters. His last client was the Marchadesch baron.

He had been thinking of renovating his office for quite some time. The space was too small and the furniture were worn out. The mahogany desk, leather couch and wooden chairs had already undergone a number of repairs. The flatweave rug was too dusty, a person with allergy would die by sneezing. He could not find the time to clean because he was always outside, investigating and chasing after arcasters. Or he was just lazy.

If he could solve the king's murder, he would finally have enough mercs to buy a larger room in the uptown district of Polarcus. He could even buy an entire building for himself! That's why the case was so important to him. Not only was his reputation on the line, his fortune also depended on it.

"Had enough sleep?"

Lucius turned to the door as it creaked open. He did not have to draw his revolver since the person who came in was not an enemy. Isabella held two cups of what smelled like coffee. She also brought sheets of paper.

"Enough to recharge me for the day." He grabbed one cup from his partner. He blew the steam off the coffee and tried to sip from it, but he flinched at the hotness. It almost burnt his tongue. "How about you?"

"Do I look well rested?" Isabella sat on the edge of the desk that creaked. Circles under her eyes got darker. "Anyway, I've collected what you want to get your hands on first thing in the morning." She waved the sheets of paper and slammed them on the table.

"Land title of my castle in the countryside?" He took a seat and crossed his legs. "The crown prince's too generous to give us an initial payment—"

She threw the sheets at his face. "The king's autopsy report from the royal medical examiner. You asked me to get it as soon as I woke up, remember?"

Isabella had been working as Lucius' partner for five years already, since his days as an arcane hunter. She's an extremely curious woman who devoted his student life in the pursuit of science. One of the fruits of her curiosity was the magic dust, which proved helpful in tracking arcasters. She was also part of the team that created the formula for the anti-arcane bullets.

"Oh, that?" Lucius let out a stream of air at his cup. He picked up a piece of paper on the floor and held it at eye level. He squinted as he read the text. Then he tossed it aside nonchalantly. "There's so many words! I just opened my eyes and I'm not yet in the mood to read walls of text. Can you summarize the report to me? Real quick, please."

His partner rolled her eyes. "The king didn't sustain any injuries other than the large hole in his chest. The cause of death is suspected to be heart explosion. It's the most severely damaged organ in his body. There's little to none that remained."

"His heart exploded? From the inside?" Lucius' eyebrows furrowed. Now that's curious. "No external force could have caused it?"

"The direction by which his organs and entrails splattered indicates an outward explosion from the inside."

Lucius reclined in his seat as his eyes looked up at the ceiling. It was impossible for any ordinary human being to have committed this way of murder. If they forced a dynamite down the king's throat, it would be a different story. But the possibility was very, very slim. His Majesty was more likely to die from slipping on a banana peel.

So an arcaster it was. But what type of arcaster could have done such a thing?

He placed his cup on the shaky table and rose from the couch. He grabbed a chalk and turned to the board on the wall. Its corners had been chewed off, but the surface could still be written on.

Lucius drew a circle with a t-cross at the center. "Luminocasters aren't capable, are they?" He remembered being almost blinded by them in one of the raids.

"They can't make light explode, so no."

I'll be surprised if they could. Lucius crossed that symbol out, then drew an octagon on the board. "How about geocasters?"

Isabella sprang from her seat and stood beside him. She held her cup of coffee in her right hand. "There's iron in human blood. Iron is metal, and metal is from earth. So theoretically, yes. A geocaster can, but it's extremely difficult. Why? Because there's only three to four grams of iron in the human body."

Not enough to make that amount of damage. He crossed out the earth symbol and proceeded to draw a spiral. "Aerocasters? Seems unlikely, no?"

"They can inflate a person with air through the lungs and stomach, and make the body explode. Like popping a balloon. But in the king's case, it's his heart that exploded. So no."

So not wind magic users, huh? He put an X on the spiral and drew a triangle next to it. "Pyrocasters?"

"They can make the blood boil, which may lead to an explosion. But if that were the case, the royal medical examiner should have seen signs that there's a drastic increase of temperature in the king's body. Remember, there are no other injuries than the exploded heart."

Not that one too. He doodled a series of four concentric circles that resembled a water ripple. "Hydrocasters?"

Isabella touched her chin, eyes looking down. "An average adult human body is fifty to sixty-five percent water, much of which is in blood plasma. A hydrocaster with a mastery level can manipulate the water in the blood . . . and make any organ of the body explode."

"Blood goes through the heart too," he muttered.

The discussion somewhat frightened Lucius. He was lucky enough to not have encountered an hydrocaster with superior abilities before. If he had, his head would have probably popped, his body buried six feet under. And he would not be this close to owning a castle.

"So . . ." He took a step back and stared at his awe-inspiring illustrations on the board. Definitely not his masterpiece, but probably the best so far. "Among the five basic elements that we know of, only hydrocasters could have murdered the king in that graphic fashion."

"Not just any hydrocaster," Isabella added. "Someone with mastery level. Someone who has probably done this before. There are only a handful of hydrocasters who could have pulled this off."

"And how many of them were inside or within the Palace vicinity last night?" He glanced sideways to his partner. That could eliminate dozens of suspects in their list, even though they had not gotten one yet.

"We can check the list of registered arcasters. You know, the ones in the Order of Arcana. It won't be surprising if one of them is behind the king's murder. They're the most talented of all arcasters."

Lucius had already heard of the Order before. As his partner described them, they were the most elite of the arcasters. Most of them were members of the nobility. A few were descendants of the bastards who won in that yearly arcane tournament. Speaking of which, a new one was to be held soon.

"To whom shall we address the request?" he asked.

"To His Eminence Lord Gillespie Grandois, spiritual advisor of the king and leader of the Order."

Oh, that man from last night? Lucius recalled the guy with chiselled face. He had no personal issue with that person, but he felt uncomfortable around him. There was something arcane about that advisor.

"Anyway, you should take a shower and get changed." Isabella sniffed. "A constable will fetch us here and escort us to their headquarters. The Captain has arranged our meeting with the Royal Knight on duty last night."

"Can't it wait until later this afternoon?" Lucius returned to the couch and made himself fall sideways. He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temple. "I wanna get more sleep."

"I thought you want to interview that knight in the earliest time possible? The Captain has already granted your request." Isabella pulled the pillow underneath his head. He got a sudden feeling of falling that snapped him out of his sleepiness. "Get up and get dressed."

"Fine!" Lucius had no choice but to follow.

IN FIFTEEN minutes, Lucius heard the stomping hoofs and the long neighs of horses outside. He picked up his dark trench coat from the couch, hurriedly put it on, and signalled to his partner. He and Isabella dashed out of their office, greeted the constable waiting for them at the front steps, and let themselves inside the carriage.

"What do we have here today?" Lucius grabbed a copy of the Arcerean Archive beside the constable. The front page bore the headline in bold letters: THE KING IS DEAD. He already knew the details so he did not bother reading the article anymore. He turned the page and read the second most important news of the day.

CROWN PRINCE TO APPEAR BEFORE THE SENATE
POLARCUS CITY — Crown Prince Alphonse de Arcerea, next in line to the throne, will appear before the Senate as early as this week regarding his accession, according to sources in the august chamber.

"I thought you're not interested in politics?" Isabella glanced at him sideways. "Why are you reading about the soon-to-be king?"

"I still am not." Lucius lowered the newspaper as he turned to another page. The headline and the lead were enough for him to know what the story was about. "I'm just curious as to how the late king's passing and the prince's accession will impact the Kingdom domestically . . . and internationally too. It might hold some connection with the case."

"That's what we'll find out in the coming days." Isabella looked out of the window. The carriage went on an incline, a sign that they were on their way to the uptown district. "We'll know if the prince will be like his father, or if he'll be different. The Senate republicans will surely take advantage of the chaos. They've been wanting to get rid of the King and the monarchy for quite some time."

"Which makes them perfect suspects," Lucius muttered. "I wonder if one of them is a member of the Order and an expert hydrocaster."

Two types of politicians existed in the Arcerean Senate: the monarchists and the republicans. Monarchists wanted to preserve the prestige, customs and traditions of the royalty while the republicans wanted to abolish the monarchy and give the sovereignty to the people, not just to a single person or a family.

Growing up in the capital city, Lucius was not fond of the monarchy and the nobility. He had seen how the system failed him and his family. When he was young, a contagious virus infected the slums where he grew up, killing dozens of its inhabitants. The authorities dismissed it just as a severe flu. While the royals and the nobles were partying, the death toll was increasing day by day.

A young Lucius and his fellow slum dwellers marched to the Senate and called for immediate action. But they were not heard. The government only responded when the deaths reached hundreds and the other districts began to be infected. They even blamed it to the bastards' descendants who allegedly unleashed a curse on the capital city in retaliation of the hunt. Whether that was true or not, it did not matter to Lucius. The virus had already claimed his parents' lives. He blamed both the descendants for the curse and the Arcerean government for inaction.

When he became a young adult, he thought of joining the republican movement. But he quickly got disillusioned by the idea. All the republicans wanted was to replace the royal family with another set of opportunistic leaders detached from reality. They claimed that they wanted power to reside in the people. But Lucius saw through it just as a campaign to gain popular support from the citizens.

The monarchists might not be saints, but neither were the republicans. Same rotten system, just different person at the wheel.

Now that he's a grown up, Lucius did not care that much about politics anymore. Nothing will fundamentally change. He focused his energy and attention in working his way up. As long as his job was not affected by politics, he would no longer give a shit about it.

The carriage stopped in front of an old building. On its facade, the crimson banners of the Kingdom were flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning for the death of the monarch. Somber mood was everywhere.

Lucius and Isabella disembarked. The Captain greeted them as soon as they entered the Capitol Constabulary headquarters. They had been here before many times, almost every constable got familiar with them.

"How's the investigation going?" the Captain asked, shooting them with sidelong glances. "The crown prince will want to hear an update today. You better give him something."

"We have a theory on who could have probably murdered the king." Lucius turned to him momentarily. "But it's still premature. We need more details to back it up."

"As long as you don't appear empty-handed before His Royal Highness."

The duo was escorted to a room where a man around the same age as them sat silent and cuffed to the table. Lucius used to seeing him in an armor with intricate designs and royal blue flowing cape. Now, he was just wearing plain clothes, looking extremely distraught.

"His name's Lanzelet, the youngest of the Royal Knights." The Captain patted Lucius' right shoulder twice. "He's all yours."

They took their seats across the knight. His head remained in a bow as if he did not hear someone or some people entering the room.

"You'll go down in history as the king slayer," Lucius began, reclining in his seat and crossing his legs. "The man who robbed this Kingdom of our beloved monarch. I would have sympathized with you if the late king was a tyrant, but he wasn't. He was a good man, according to almost everyone."

Lanzelet, the disgraced Royal Knight with blond hair, raised his head slowly. The dark circles under his eyes and his dry lips were hard not to notice. "I did not kill His Majesty. . . I swear."

"Really?" Lucius leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Only you two were in the throne room. It's fairly logical to think that the person with him at the time of his death is the murderer. And that happened to be—guess who?—you."

The truth was, Lucius got no solid opinion on whether the knight could have done it or not. He was leaning to "no" since he had already gotten a much more credible lead. But some pieces were missing. The man before him might have the answers. He thought of provoking the constabulary's primary suspect to make him talk and reveal more information more quickly. He wanted to get this over with so he could take a nap in his office.

"But I didn't do anything!" the knight cried, slamming his fists on the table. Isabella flinched. "Even if I had the slightest malice against His Majesty, I wouldn't have killed him in a place where I'd be easily caught!"

He had a point. No matter what angle, it seemed too foolish for anyone to murder the king in a prominent place in the Palace. The crime would have been more seamless if it was committed in a more discreet place.

"You said you can't remember what happened in the throne room," Isabella asked. "Is that true?"

Lanzelet gave a slow nod.

"Can you tell us what happened before you and the king went in that room?"

"His Majesty wanted some air, so I escorted him to the Evergreen Gardens. He mumbled something about the Kingdom finally knowing true peace very soon. Then he reentered the Palace and walked straight to the throne room. Of course, I followed. The two guardsmen let us in. Once inside, I heard some strange noises behind me. And then . . . I blacked out. When I woke up, I found him seated on the throne, dead with blood all over his body."

Lucius listened to the knight's account intently, and he found some points in the narrative interesting—the king talking about peace and the noise that was heard.

"I deserve to be punished for failing in my duty," Lanzelet muttered, lowering his head, "but I cannot let myself pay for a crime that I didn't and couldn't have committed."

Lucius tried to fight off his yawn. The narrative was interesting, but his lack of sleep was getting in the way. He had to finish this interrogation as soon as he could before he lost his focus. "As a Royal Knight, can you wield the power of the arcane? If yes, what element can you control?"

"Fire and wind."

"Two elements?"

"Every Royal Knight has to master at least two elements before serving."

"Does any of you have control over water?"

"Two other Royal Knights can harness the power of that element."

"Where were they at the time of the king's murder?"

"As far as I can remember, one was stationed at the king's bedchamber, waiting for him to retire. The other was patrolling the Palace grounds. Each of them was with another Royal Knight."

"Do you really swear not remembering what transpired in the throne room?"

"There's no reason why I'd pretend to not remember! I swear to Arcanus! May his righteous thunder strike me if I'm lying."

"Do you know me?" Lucius jerked his thumb toward himself. "I'm an arcane tracker. It's my job to catch bad arcasters. In the course of my career, I have caught eleven people lying, thanks to our secret weapon."

Let's get this over with already. He motioned to Isabella, who opened her bag and pulled out a vial of transparent liquid. This was not the first time he would use this trick.

"Do you see this?" He showed the vial up-close to the knight. "This is a truth serum concocted by my partner here. If you're lying, we'd know. So you better tell us the truth now."

The knight stared at the small cylindrical container, then at the arcane tracker. "You want me to drink that?"

"Don't worry, it's not poison." Lucius forced a smile, shaking the vial gently. "If you have nothing to hide, it's perfectly fine, right? Unless . . . you have serious objections?"

"I'll drink it." The knight took the vial from him. "You can ask me those questions again. I assure you, I will only give you the same answers."

Lanzelet pulled the cork and drank the contents straight. He stared at the man across him right in the eye, ready for a much more intense interrogation.

Lucius locked his eyes into a staring contest with the knight. None of them spoke a word for a minute. Isabella glanced awkwardly at her partner.

A chair made a screech. Lucius stood. Isabella also did. Lanzelet was left confused on his seat, wondering what happened.

"He didn't do it," the arcane tracker declared the second he turned around to the Captain. "He's innocent."

"What?!" The Captain, who was watching at the back of the room, knitted his brows. "How did you know? He hasn't said anything yet!"

Lucius stood face to face with him. "We lied about the vial containing truth serum. Isabella is yet to perfect the formula."

"Then what did he drink—"

"Plain water. It's a psychological trick," Lucius answered before the Captain could finish. "He knew that all of his lies would be exposed by taking in the so-called truth serum. Yet he still did. By drinking that liquid, he has proven his innocence. He has nothing to hide. He has told us the truth."

"But that's still up to the courts—"

"You can keep him locked in here, but you'll only be wasting your resources. Again, he's not your man."

Lucius and Isabella badefarewell and left the room promptly, leaving the Captain dumbfounded.

For those who read the first version in 2021-2022, the language of the entire chapter (except a few lines) has been translated to English. A clue to the royal murder was also omitted in this updated version.

In the next chapter, prepare to meet MAEVE, the republican senator and the protagonist of "New Era" storyline.

What can you say about this update? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter by using the hashtag #ArcaneWP! Share this story too, so more readers will be lured into the world of Alterra!