Could it be that Redford’s recent absence was… to obtain internal investigation authority over the police?

Surely, he would have had to convince the Redford marquis and the crown prince. If the Yant duke and the police found out in that process…

Sidney sighed deeply as she brushed her bangs back.

“Ha! So it was those police officers who did this to you back then?”

“…Lady Warden, please pretend you don’t know…”

Sidney grabbed Peter’s shoulders to make him face her. Then, looking into his eyes, she spit out each word carefully.

“Names. Those bastards must have called each other by name.”

“Sidney, what’s going on?”

Despite Walter Asner’s attempt to stop her, Sidney leaned in close to Peter’s face and lowered her voice.

“Peter, it’s already too late to turn back. If we don’t move first, we’ll be the ones getting hurt. Tell me even the smallest hint that can help us catch those bastards.”

If a mere police officer had found out, they needed to hurry. Logan could be in danger if they weren’t careful.

“…I heard them call each other Hamel, Dain, and Wayne.”

“Good job, Peter.”

Sidney gently patted Peter’s shoulder and turned around. Then she ordered Andy Spencer, who was standing there in a daze.

“Officer Spencer, discreetly obtain a list of police officers who use those names.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

A thud of the door closing was followed by silence.

First secure their identities, then get an arrest warrant. This actually worked out well.

Starting with the fact that police officers retaliated against Big Mouth Rick, tie it to their attempt to cover up the serial murder case and even implicate Earl Hamilton…

Sidney slowly turned around and opened her mouth.

“Peter, pack some light luggage and let’s go to my house.”

“Wait! Sidney, it seems like you might be in danger too now?”

Walter Asner grabbed Sidney’s shoulder and glared at Peter.

“I’m sorry. I’ve put Lady Warden in danger because of me…”

Peter trailed off and hung his head. Walter took a step back, quickly rubbing his face with both hands.

“Ah, bad feelings always come true… You, what on earth have you been up to?”

“Still, my house is safer than here.”

Sidney crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. Walter Asner gulped down the water in his glass, as if his throat was parched.

He set the glass down with a clack and rattled off words.

“From what I can see, you don’t seem to have a proper job… The military academy, want to work there as staff? Like a stable hand or janitor…”

Not bad. Who would search the military academy for a missing commoner?

Sidney immediately asked Peter a question.

“Peter, you can read and write, right?”

“Yes, I learned at the temple orphanage.”

“There you have it.”

To Walter’s look that seemed to ask what he was supposed to do with that, Sidney blinked silently. It was an unspoken pressure to offer a better job.

Walter looked down at Sidney intently and nodded slightly. As if willing to concede that much.

“I’ll look into administrative work.”

“Th-thank you.”

Peter bowed deeply with a dazed expression. Walter laughed awkwardly and got to the point.

“In return, a question! You know the noble man who often visited Miss Nora who died in July? You must have seen him a lot in the newspapers…”

Sidney added words to help Peter, who didn’t know what to do.

“I came knowing that Earl Hamilton was in an affair with both Nora and Marien. We need specific testimony that he frequented this building.”

“Can you really… make such a hi-high-ranking person… pay for their crimes?”

“That’s the plan. So that… Nora, Emma, Marien, and Big Mouth Rick can rest in peace.”

Peter nodded and wiped away tears with both hands. After taking a moment to collect himself, he breathed deeply and testified in a tearful voice.

“That… Earl Hamilton started coming to Nora’s house early last year. I called the police because of breaking sounds and screams, but… they said there was nothing they could do and just left. All we could do was… tell Nora to run away…”

Peter covered his mouth with a trembling fist and swallowed his sobs. Walter Asner, who had been looking up at the ceiling, let out a bitter laugh and asked accusingly.

“No. Why? Why didn’t you say anything when you knew who the culprit was? If you had, there wouldn’t have been any more victims.”

“Th-that’s… the investigator who came looked just like Earl Hamilton, said he was his older brother… So everyone…”

Was it guilt? Peter couldn’t finish his sentence and hung his head low.

What could they have done? When no one would listen. If they had rashly opened their mouths, not only themselves but their families would have been in danger… They had to close their eyes, shut their ears, and keep their mouths shut too.

Knowing all that… they still couldn’t say it was okay or that there was nothing they could do. That was for those who died unjustly.

Sidney quietly waited and waited for Peter to calm down. As the room that had been tinted crimson grew dark.

“Peter, before Marien died… did Earl Hamilton come here?”

“That morning, Marien said she had left the house she was living in with that man. Said she was going back to her hometown…”

That day must have been the day Marien died. All the questions seemed to be answered, and Sidney felt drained.

Sidney told Peter to pack his things and come down, then went out into the hallway. Walter Asner, who had followed her out, angrily turned Sidney around.

“Sidney, did the commander hand over investigative authority and put you in charge of the internal police investigation?”

“I wanted it.”

Walter pushed Sidney against the wall and gestured as he pressed her.

“Don’t you still get it? That bastard doesn’t care if you’re in danger or not. So, he’s letting you stir up the police on your own…”

“It’s the opposite. He noticed that I was secretly trying to help Peter and Marien… The commander said he would formally obtain investigative authority.”

“Either way, the ones who benefit from this are… the crown prince and that bastard, right?”

Walter, agitated, blindly criticized Logan Redford as he huffed and puffed.

I knew he didn’t have good feelings from the start, but to this extent… After checking that there was no one in the hallway, Sidney calmly asked back.

“Walter Asner, do you really think that?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’re not stupid. You know how dangerous it is to rashly provoke that side right now, that we’re not ready yet… You know that well, don’t you?”

The Asner ducal family is the leader of the neutral faction. To politically lead the neutral forces, they needed to properly grasp the situation of both the imperial and noble factions.

For that reason, Walter Asner, who had participated in numerous social gatherings, couldn’t be unaware of the situation.

After thinking for a moment, he frowned and stepped back.

“You’re putting yourself in danger. Why on earth didn’t you say anything?”

Because I knew this would happen. That you’d blindly oppose it because it’s dangerous, and rush to help recklessly…

Sidney swallowed the words she wanted to spill out and shook her head weakly.

“I was trying to handle it quietly on my own. The commander noticed that and is helping.”

“Now that I know too…”

Sidney raised her hand to stop him, and Walter glared as if about to demand why she was refusing his help.

“You’ve already taken Peter in.”

“Yeah, but there must be more I can do to help…”

Peter is an important witness.

Walter Asner must know what it means to hide him, that the Asner family, who have maintained neutrality, could be in trouble… Yet he willingly reached out to help.

No more. Sidney cut off Walter’s words.

“Nothing has progressed yet. I’ll ask for your help like today if I need it.”

Just then, Peter came out with some light luggage. Sidney said let’s go and started walking. As they left the building, Sidney spoke in front of the carriage.

“Let’s part ways here. I have somewhere to go.”

“If we take the carriage…”

“I want to walk for a bit.”

Even as he was pushed away, Walter earnestly implored.

“You… ‘must.’ You ‘must’ ask me, not the commander.”

“Alright.”

Sidney closed the carriage door with a sound and ordered the coachman to ‘depart.’ With the coachman’s shout and a long neigh from the horse, the carriage moved.

The carriage receded down the bare tree-lined street lit by streetlamps. In the gloomy weather, Sidney turned up her coat collar and headed towards the square.

In the Imperial Army Headquarters on Wall Garden Avenue, Logan Redford’s hand moved constantly at the desk in the office.

Due to increased external activities, he had to process reports all at once like this every evening.

After signing the last document, Logan crossed his legs and sank into the chair. Then he raised his gaze obliquely to look at the man standing beyond the desk.

“I will be assisting Lord Logan from now on.”

Raon Lind, the most trusted by his grandfather, the Redford marquis. Sending him meant pressure to immediately succeed as the family heir.

“We clearly agreed to start the succession process from April.”

“The Redford marquis said if you want the investigation permit, start the succession process. Also, if you want to fill out the full three months, he said to behave moderately.”

It seemed that Crown Prince Edward, who had been putting off answering about the police corruption investigation, had met with the Redford marquis. But it was right after meeting with his vassals and pro-imperial nobles.

So the words he told Raon Lind to deliver… were just the Redford marquis’ spite at having to support his grandson one way or another.

Trying to subtly pass on troublesome businesses while at it? Not a chance.

Logan Redford took out an envelope from the drawer.

9:10. After checking the wall clock, Logan walked over to Raon Lind and held out the envelope.

“Go to grandfather and tell him. I plan to be recognized for a new business, not the existing ones. And… if he wants to see his grandson’s wife, he’ll have to wait the full three months.”

“What is this?”

Raon Lind received the envelope and turned to follow Logan as he passed by. Logan draped his coat over his arm from the coat rack and walked towards the door.

As Raon Lind took a step forward, Logan showed his side profile and turned the doorknob.

“A business plan. Come back if you think you can handle it. By the way, I… want my own person, not a watchdog.”

Amateur spies need not apply. Logan mocked the serious-faced Raon Lind and turned around, then startled.

“I heard a sound… I’m sorry.”

Could this be another hallucination of Sidney Warden? But her scent and flustered expression were too vivid to be just that.