LUCIUS

THE TRUTH would always come out. That's what Lucius had believed in his entire life. No matter how hard people tried to hide it, no matter how clever people thought they were, there was no way that they could bury the truth six feet underneath the pile of lies and expect no one to unearth it.

The past month, Lucius had been preoccupied with his search for one truth: who killed the late King Bennett the Benevolent? Other mind-boggling questions had surfaced, of course, such as what the motive was behind his death and why he did not use magic to fight back. But these little curiosities were not as significant as the biggest question of them all. Or so, Lucius thought.

After following an invisible scarlet thread of murder, Lucius and Isabella found themselves in the grand Arcerean Palace. They had been here once. The former arcane tracker always marveled at the architecture of this place—the very heart of the kingdom. But today, he did not come here to walk around and appreciate the beauty of this edifice. He came here to pursue the truth that had eluded him and the capitol constabulary for weeks.

"Captain!" Lucius called as he stepped out of the carriage. Isabella followed him next. They stood in front of the fountain on the base of the Palace. "Are we all set for today's hunt?"

"I've secured permission from the royal household to allow us entry into the Palace grounds," the captain told him after shaking hands with them. "We won't be entering the Palace anymore. We'll be meeting the suspects in the barracks."

Lucius darted his gaze around. He saw a couple of capitol constables marching the perimeter. "It seems that you've mobilized your unit for this arrest."

"I have assigned constables in every entrance and exit of the Palace premises. The captain of the Palace guardsmen is pissed that my men are marching around instead of his."

"He'll understand why once he realizes the gravity of the situation," Lucius replied. "Did you tell him anything about the—"

The captain shook his head. "Not yet. If you're right that two guardsmen conspired to murder the late king, we need to be careful and discreet about our next move. We don't know who else is part of this conspiracy. If I told the other captain, he might blurt it out among his men and tip the suspects off. Shall we?"

The three of them walked toward another building adjacent to the Palace. The constables saluted them as they passed by. Lucius returned their salutes even if they were meant for the captain, not him.

"I hope that you two are right about your theory," the Captain muttered, glancing at his two consultants. He seemed uneasy about it. "I've pulled all the strings that I can to make this arrest possible. If you're wrong, then I'd be embarrassed not only to the guardsmen captain, but also to the royal household. It might even cost me my job—"

"Or give you the recognition that you well deserved," Lucius added in a joyful tone. "Don't worry, Captain. We're confident that we're right. We spent the past few days finding the pieces of the puzzle. There are a few pieces missing, of course, but we got the picture it's trying to convey."

"I have a copy of the record from one of the illegal magic shops in the capital," Isabella joined in the conversation. She managed to keep up with the same pace as the two men. "One of the guardsmen in question signed his name in it. The owner is also willing to testify just in case that suspect denies ever going to that shop and buying an explosive vial."

"Good." The captain nodded. A hint of relief flashed across his face. "All we need to do now is to arrest him and get a confession straight out of his mouth. Then this case will be considered solved."

"And I'll be able to claim the promised reward by the king. Long may he reign!" Lucius mused. The case was not closed yet, but he was already imagining what he could buy with tons of mercs. His partner nudged him on the ribs to stop his daydreaming.

"The two guardsmen will be off duty around this time," the captain said as they entered the barracks. A couple of constables stood guard at the entrance. "If they resist, we have the authority to use a necessary amount of force to restrain them. But if possible, we must deal with them as quietly as we can. We don't want to create any commotion here."

"That entirely depends on them." Whatever would happen in the next couple of minutes, Lucius was ready to deal with it. His beloved revolver was in its holster, its cartridge filled with bullets. Isabella was also with him, her vials would come in handy. They could neutralize any threats that would greet them.

The three walked down the hallway and halted in front of the door to the guardsmen's quarters. The captain knocked twice, and the door swung inward. A man in late thirties peeked through the gap.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I'm the captain of the capitol constabulary. This is Lucius and this is Isabella, our consultants. We're looking for Kevan Lanigan and Stewart Tylers."

The door was swung wide open, allowing the three to enter the quarters. Half a dozen guardsmen stood and sat around the oval table at the center, playing card games.

"Kevan? Stewart?" the off-duty guardsman called. "You've got some visitors."

Two of the guardsmen threw their cards on the table and rose from their seats.

"I'm Kevan," the guardsman with black hair introduced himself. He then jerked his thumb toward the brown-haired guy who stood beside him. "This is Stewart. What can we do for you?"

The captain glanced sideways at Lucius, giving him permission to drive the conversation.

"We've already met before, haven't we?" Lucius asked. "First, at the throne room when we came in to inspect the crime scene. Then, at the quarters when we asked you some questions?"

"Ah, yes!" A hint of recognition dawned on Kevan's face, his finger pointing at the arcane tracker. "You're the one investigating His Majesty's murder."

"Yeah, that's right. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Lucius placed his right hand on his waist where his holster was attached. His revolver might come in handy should there be a confrontation right then and there. "We kinda hit some sort of a dead end here, so we wanna ask you some questions again to enlighten us."

The two guardsmen exchanged glances before returning their gazes to the partners. "Sure. We'll be glad to help you. What do you wanna know?"

"So . . ." He pointed a finger at them alternately. "Which one of you stood guard outside the throne room while the late king was being murdered by the other?"

Slack-jawed, the other guardsmen in the quarters turned to them. They dropped their cards and stared at their comrades in disbelief.

"W-What are you talking about?" Kevan chuckled nervously. "You're accusing us of murdering the late king? Is this some sort of a sick joke?"

"And you think that we did it together?" Stewart laughed it off. "You must be that desperate to hurl those baseless accusations at us!"

"On the night of the king's murder, no one else was in the vicinity of the throne room except you two," Lucius explained as he walked around them. "No one could have done it except one of you, or both of you."

"But the king was accompanied by a royal knight!" Kevan insisted. "He could have murdered the very man he swore to protect. Isn't that why the constabulary suspected him in the first place—"

"If you haven't read the papers, he's been set free," the Captain chimed in. "He didn't do it."

"I was the one who cleared him of the regicide charge." Lucius raised his left hand, proudly taking credit. "So if it's not the person who was with the king inside the throne room, then it must be the people outside who happened to be you two."

"This is absurd!" Stewart shook his head. "The king was murdered by an arcaster. That's what the initial investigation revealed. Neither of us has the gift of Arcanus. We couldn't have done it. If you want, you can have us tested to see if we're lying or not."

"Murdered by an arcaster . . . That's exactly what you wanted us to think." Lucius had his back on them, then he made an about-face turn. "You wanted to throw off any suspicions on you two. To get us off your scent, you had to make it look like an arcaster did it. You had to make it look like that magic did it. But the opposite is true."

"You can mimic the effect of arcane powers by purchasing items with manufactured magic. I know that very well because I was trained in the Royal Alchemy Lab," Isabella explained. She lifted her black coat, showing vials stuck on the inside. "Kevan, you bought a couple of vials from an illegal shop in the downtown district, didn't you? We found your name and signature in the record."

"We can't help but ask ourselves: Why would a royal guardsman buy those stuff? Where would he be using them?" Lucius resumed pacing around the suspects. "We learned that there's a manufactured magic that can create the same effect as the natural magic alleged to have been used to kill the king. Here's how it went down: You knocked down the royal knight, you stabbed the king with your spear, then you made his guts explode to hide the stab wound. Am I correct?"

The two offered no explanation, either they were guilty or the theory was too absurd for them to comprehend. Lucius kept an eye on them.

"We'd like you two to come down to our headquarters peacefully," the Captain approached the two. "You're being accused of regicide—"

Before the captain could cuff them, Stewart tackled him to the ground while Kevan went for the door. Stewart then stole the gun from captain's holster, but Lucius was quick to draw his revolver.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" Lucius' hand had never been this steady. He was aiming the gun at rogue guardsman's hand. He had no intention of killing any of the suspects. Them being alive would benefit the investigation more. He also got a couple of question for them.

"Please do not resist!" Isabella pleaded. "The Palace grounds is surrounded with constables. There's no way out for you and your co-conspirator. Just surrender peacefully!"

"We did what we did for the good of this nation! We saved those bastards!" Stewart pointed the gun up his chin, then shot himself in the head. Blood and grey matter splattered on the wall and on the floor as his body went limp.

"Darn!" Lucius cursed. But there was no time for him to whine around. He still got one last chance to know the truth and what-nots of the king's murder.

He dashed out of the quarters and chased after the remaining suspect. Isabella followed behind him. Just a couple of meters ahead, Kevan was seen struggling with three constables. He was able to pacify them in just a few twirls of his spear. Nothing less could be expected from a highly trained Palace guardsman.

"Halt!" Lucius yelled as he inched closer to the suspect. But the latter did not heed his call. He had no choice but to keep on chasing after him. They left the barracks and were on the Palace courtyard. "I said halt!"

While running backwards, Kevan turned to face him. Lucius pulled the trigger, but the rogue guardsman only deflected it with his spear. The arcane tracker fired another shot, but it only bounced off.

"Hey, you there!" Lucius called someone ahead of them. "Stop that guardsman! Quick!"

Kevan turned in the direction his pursuer shouted at, which proved to be a mistake.

Bang!

He stumbled on the ground as his right leg was pierced by a bullet. The shouting was meant as a distraction. No one was ahead of them. Lucius aimed the revolver carefully at one of Kevan's limbs. If the guardsman would go on, he would not think twice of shooting the other to disable him.

"Argh!" Kevan groaned, touching his wounded leg. His hand dropped his spear. "Darn it!"

Lucius finally caught up with him. He stepped on the guardsman's other leg and stared down on him. His revolver was ready. "If only you halted when I said halt, I wouldn't have shot you. Don't resist anymore, Kevan. Just submit yourself to the constabulary."

"And let myself get killed?" He chuckled even if his face was crumpling in pain. "I'd rather kill myself right now."

"You murdered a king," Lucius reminded him. "You'll be punished according to the laws of this Kingdom. Justice will be served. It may come late, but it will be served."

"Justice?" he spat. "I brought the king to justice when I stabbed him with my own spear. You may not appreciate what we've done. But those people? They might, if only they know what we did for them."

Those people? Lucius repeated in his mind. "You're lucky that the king didn't use his magic on you when you attacked him. You would have been blown to smithereens right there and then."

Kevan laughed maniacally as if he heard a joke. "He didn't use his magic because he couldn't!"

What? Lucius furrowed his brow. That did not make any sense. The king could surely conjure magic. Even if the spear used to stab him was made of antiarcanium, he could have put up a half decent fight.

But Kevan only laughed at him, his face twitching in pain. "You and everyone else in this kingdom . . . you've been fooled! You thought he's the most powerful arcaster. You thought he's truly a benevolent king. But he's not!"

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, brows furrowing deeper. "What do you know?"

"I've been guarding the door to the throne room for years," Kevan said in between breaths. "I heard a lot of stuff that can shock this nation to the core. This Kingdom would have been in chaos if I let my tongue slip."

"Your tongue didn't slip, but your hand did, therefore killing the king," Lucius said. "You almost plunged this Kingdom into chaos."

The guardsman smirked. "You have no idea how many lives I've saved when I drove my spear into that old fool. I prevented blood from being spilled across the Kingdom. I prevented the massacre of the—ARGH!"

Confused, Lucius leapt back as Kevan began pulling his own hair. The guardman's eyes protruded to the point that they might pop off the sockets. He writhed in pain, rolling over the ground repeatedly. His chilling screams filled the air.

Pop!

His head exploded and his body became limp. Blood spurted all over the ground, putting red stains on Lucius' cloak. Thanks to its dark color, the deep red liquid would not look so obvious.

"What a mentally deranged man."

His Eminence Gillespie Grandois, the leader of the Order of Arcana, appeared out of thin air beside Lucius, startling the latter. He did not sense him coming.

"Did you do that?" Lucius asked when he recovered. "He's one of the two suspects in the king's murder. We don't know his true motive yet or if he's part of a conspiracy in the Palace. We could have gotten more information from him if he were captured alive."

"He murdered the king, didn't he?" Gillespie regarded him coldly. "The punishment for regicide is death. I merely delivered his sentence earlier. Do you have any objections to my decision?"

Lucius stared at him. He was not afraid of anything or anyone. But this Gillespie . . . there was something about the king's spiritual advisor that terrified him. He and Isabella almost lost their lives when he mocked Arcanus in the cathedral.

"Good," Gillespie said. His body began to disintegrate. "You've done a great job, tracker. Tread carefully."

His Eminence disappeared, leaving Lucius alone in the courtyard. Isabella and the captain caught up to him, as well as the other constables. Everyone stood frozen when they saw the bloody and messy scene there.

"W-What happened?" Isabella asked.

"That Gillespie made his head explode," Lucius explained. "He said the suspect's gonna be sentenced with death anyway, so he chose not to prolong the judicial process."

He had seen enough blood and death for a lifetime, that he became desensitized to it. But today was different. He once again felt his stomach turning.

"So this case is over, huh?" Isabella averted her gaze from the headless body. "Our two suspects are dead."

"Case closed? I don't think so." Lucius shook his head. "All I'm certain of is that there's more to the king's murder than meets the eye."

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