Free Web NovelChapter 6: A Strange Coincidence
A few minutes later, Percy came back with a large book in his hand, and he asked Rita to help James check it out before he explained what it was to James. The title of the book was [Encyclopedia Potiona [Revised Edition]], and it was so large that James had to hold it with both hands or it would fall!
"That book has descriptions for all the terms and ingredients you’ll find in any modern potions book. It’s usually reserved for the fifth years, but none of them have ever come asking for it, so I don’t think they’ll need it. Rather than coming all the way down here from your dorms, you can look through that and try to figure it out for yourself first, okay?"
James’ eyes lit up when he heard this, and he looked at the book like it was gold!
"Are you sure, Mr. Percy? Isn’t this really important?"
"It’s just another book, James. And out of all the students in this school, I think you’re the most qualified to have it. If there’s anything you can’t find in there, then you’re more than welcome to come back and ask me." freewebnøvel.com
James grinned happily as he felt a surge of gratitude filling his heart, and he bowed thankfully to Percy! Percy pat him on the head with a smile, and James grinned as he finally waved goodbye to Percy while muttering a shy ’bye-bye’ to Rita before he ran out of the building. Percy smiled as he left, and he turned to Rita as she spoke up.
"He’s a nice boy. Reminds me of when my little brother was alive."
Rita had a sad smile on her face as she gazed at the door, and Percy reached out and pat her hand calmly as another student began heading towards the librarian’s desk.
Ka-Cha!
But at the same time, the door leading into the library opened, and Percy’s eyes twitched as Officer Viva walked into the building. Officer Viva had a scowl on her face as she approached Percy, and Percy let out a calm sigh and turned to the student waiting for him.
"What can I help you with?"
"Uh, I want to borrow a book on fire-based runes, but I can’t find it."
The student noticed Officer Viva heading towards them, and she wanted to wait so that the officer could talk to Percy, but Percy didn’t look like he cared, and he continued talking to the student.
"Did you look on the second floor? The third section should have all the rune-based textbooks."
"I did, but I think—"
"Librarian Percy, I need to talk to you."
Viva didn’t bother waiting for Percy to finish his conversation, and she spoke up once she was close enough. Percy sighed to the side in exasperation, and Rita laughed softly from behind as she walked up and gave Percy a kiss on the cheek.
"See what the scary city guard wants, Mr. Percy. I’ll help the student find what he’s looking for."
The student at the side blushed when Rita smiled at him, and he ducked his head and followed behind her obediently when she began walking towards the shelves. Once they were gone, Percy turned to Officer Viva and said.
"Did you do what I asked you to?"
Officer Viva scowled, and she nodded reluctantly. After their meeting with the headmaster last night, Percy had agreed to help the city guards figure out what exactly had happened with the dead girl. Officer Viva still believed that this was a pointless endeavour because it was obvious that the friend had killed the girl, but Percy simply did not want to let go of the case, and at the end of the day, the headmaster managed to convince Viva to work with Percy so that they could find out what really happened.
After the suspect was taken away, Percy told Viva to help him search through the city database for any cases of murder or homicide where the suspect claimed that they were not responsible for the death, even though there were many eyewitnesses around who obviously saw them kill the victim. Viva had been completely confused by this order! What in the world could Percy be trying to find by digging through old city records? Weren’t they meant to be focusing on the girl rather than other cases?
But Percy had been adamant, and he refused to do anything else with Viva until she brought him the information that he needed. Viva reluctantly went to look through the databases to see if she could get any information, and the more she found, the more confused she was.
Viva put the documents on the table in front of her and spoke with a confused frown.
"There were fifty different cases like this across the kingdom in the past year. Most of them were handled quickly since the suspects were obviously guilty, and they were closed immediately after. But all the suspects claimed that they weren’t responsible for the murder, even though they were obviously the ones who did it. I don’t understand what’s going on."
Percy hummed as he took one of the folders and looked through it. The folder had the image of the victim, a young man with red hair and black eyes, and beside it was an image of a young woman with long black hair who was responsible for his death. The next folder had a similar arrangement with the victim’s picture put beside the picture of the criminal, and after a while, Percy realized a pattern that he pointed out immediately.
"The victims are all humans. Did you notice this?"
Viva grimaced slightly when she heard this, and her cat ears drooped slightly as she nodded.
"Yes, I noticed. It was hard not to. I tried not to think about it, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that so many humans would be killed in the same way."
Percy hummed once again, and he put the document away. So that was why the city guards didn’t bother connecting all these murders together. The fact that only humans had been killed in these cases was a lot more serious than it looked on the surface, and if the guards started announcing that there was a series of murders that targeted only humans, then it could spark an entirely new war between the humans and demihumans.
Percy narrowed his eyes as he drummed his fingers against the table, and then he stood and clapped!
WOOSH!
A gust of wind blew across the air, and in the next moment, Lana appeared!
"Lana is reporting for duty, Master!"
Lana saluted excitedly, and Percy reached out and pet her head with a smile before he asked her if she was done with her tasks that morning.
"Lana just finished organizing the storage room, and Lana was about to go help Madam Rita with breakfast for Henry!"
Lana answered with a playful smile as she enjoyed Percy’s petting, and Percy told Lana that he needed her to stay here.
"Help me handle the desk while I’m gone. I’ll be in Tartarus for a few hours, but I should be back before dinner, okay."
Lana nodded quickly, and Percy ruffled her hair again before he started walking out of the room.
"Grab your things and come along."
Percy called back to Viva without bothering to turn around, and Viva made a sound of surprise before she quickly hurried to grab her folders from the table! Some of the folders fell to the floor, and Viva glared at Lana when Lana laughed at her! Viva grabbed the folders, and she quickly jogged after Percy!
"Librarian! Where are you going!?"
"Don’t ask too many questions. Just follow me for now, I’ll explain as we walk."
Percy headed towards the magic elevator at the side, and he walked in with Viva following behind him. Viva was obviously still skeptical about what was going on, but she simply held her folder in her hand and waited for the elevator to head up.
Creak!
’Wait, we’re going down!?’
Viva felt her eyes widen when she felt the elevator moving downwards, and in the next moment, her vision was obstructed by blackness as they began moving through a dark tunnel!
"Librarian! Are you there!?"
"You don’t need to shout, I’m right beside you."
"What’s going on!? Where are we going?"
"We’re going to Tartarus."
