Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 459 The Headless King's Wine Jar

Chapter 461 The Headless King's Wine Jar

While Lantau was playing the role of a detective in front of Hugo's corpse, the warrior monk Cattleya was following her "inspiration" and wandering around the vast capital.

This series of so-called investigations led her astray into a secret meeting of a heretical cult in an abandoned mill, where she nearly got into a fight with masked fanatics who worshipped the symbolic bird. While investigating the sewer outlet, she was attacked by a mob of rodents led by a giant Rada. Without any superpowers, she barely managed to escape the predicament, only to stumble upon a sudden incident where noble guards were chasing a fugitive.

Each event seemed suspicious at first glance, like scattered pearls, with no connecting thread, and even less connection to the missing head.

Besides discovering and rescuing a creature that had fallen into a dry well while exploring one that appeared to contain accumulated energy,

Aside from the Daruma baboon that turned to stone, Cattleya decisively skipped these side quests that were clearly deliberately set up by a narrator to tempt her into wasting her time.

However, even after avoiding all the traps, the female monk still couldn't find any clues about the head.

After being led by [inspiration] almost around the entire capital, she looked up and suddenly found herself standing in front of that familiar wooden door again, the sign of the Black Crocodile Tavern swaying gently in the evening breeze.

It felt like everything had returned to square one.

At this moment, the guards who had surrounded the tavern yesterday had naturally already retreated to the palace. From beginning to end, no one had figured out whose orders they had followed.

Based on the timeline, these guards, who were loyal only to the king, should have received their orders when the travelers first met him. However, judging from Hugo XVI's words and actions before and after his death, the late emperor seemed unconcerned about the rumors and did not appear to be the type to engage in such underhanded tactics.

Count Leclerc of the Black Moon also couldn't explain it.

It's not that he lacked the ability to deploy guards—although the king claimed that the Earl of Black Moon needed his approval to mobilize troops, considering His Majesty's near-puppet status during his lifetime, there might have been considerable room for maneuver.

But then again, if there wasn't a sufficiently compelling ulterior motive, why would that powerful earl bother a humble tavern?

"Ah! It's Master Catharia!"

Upon merely catching a glimpse of the monk's plain robes from afar, the tavern waitress waved enthusiastically. Unlike the travelers, this witness, who had also seen the king's final moments, was not imprisoned by Count Leclerc.

"Thanks to everyone's help yesterday, the crisis at our Black Crocodile Tavern has finally been resolved—ah, because of the previous lockdown, the place is still a bit messy. If you would like to have a meal, I can take you to a nearby restaurant—of course, as promised, we will cover the cost."

"No need." Cattleya hadn't expended much energy on the journey and now only wanted to find Hugo's head as quickly as possible. She looked at the waitress in front of her, "Have you heard about the King?"

"Are you referring to His Majesty's passing? Well—" The receptionist looked troubled, leaned close to the monk's ear and whispered, "This morning a stranger came to warn me not to talk about it with anyone."

Those are most likely the Black Moon Earl's men—

The monks were not surprised by this. Even three travelers, each with their own unique skills, could be dragged into the palace's torture chamber in their sleep. Naturally, the waitress who had also met Hugo XVI was not entirely unaffected.

However, the difference in treatment between this young lady and the travelers was far too great, wasn't it? It seemed that they hadn't considered the possibility that this waitress was involved in the regicide at all.

No—not just waitresses.

Cattleya suddenly realized that the reason why Leclerc was able to release her and her companions so easily was not entirely due to the magician's clever words.

The fundamental reason is that the count also believed that the travelers could not possibly be the real murderers of the king, which is why he so generously allowed them to escape imprisonment and even participate in the investigation.

As the parties involved, they naturally felt that this judgment was reasonable, but—how did the count rule out the suspicion of the traveler and the waitress?

Could it be related to the missing Luna? Where is that guy now?

While pondering, Gadriya subconsciously went through another "inspiration" moment, and her gaze swept over the scene inside the tavern. She couldn't help but be stunned to see that the interior of the Black-Eyed Crocodile Tavern had now become half a construction site.

The oak tables that had been placed side by side were pushed against the wall, covered with dust-proof linen. Several porters were carrying freshly sawn planks among them, and the air was filled with the fresh smell of sawdust. Several bags of cement were piled in the corner, and a loach was lazily curled up on one of the bags, dozing off. The original bar counter had been half dismantled, revealing the brick and stone structure underneath, and the workers were discussing how to reinforce it.

"This is a bit chaotic, has it been robbed?"

"No, no, no, that's not true. The tavern is just taking advantage of the situation to renovate." The waitress quickly explained, "My father was worried that the guards' visit would affect the tavern's business recently, so he simply decided to take advantage of this downturn to renovate the tavern. You see, the king recently passed away, and there might be some kind of short-term alcohol ban soon. It's good to lay low for a while. As for the guards, they did cause some damage to the tavern, but the damage was still within an acceptable range. The interior was a mess, some furniture was damaged, and supplies needed to be replenished. Plus, the renovation will take time, so it seems that Crocodile Eye won't be able to open for business normally until next month."

The female monk frowned, noticing the details: "Investigating a royal scandal—it shouldn't be necessary to ransack the place, right? Are they looking for something else?"

"Perhaps they're looking for some kind of evidence—," the tavern owner's daughter said presumptuously.

"That's impossible," Cattleya interrupted crisply.

"When the guards surrounded the Black Crocodile Tavern, the king's murder had not yet occurred. At that time, the only issue on the surface was the royal rumor of 'possession by an evil dragon,' and that's exactly the reason the guards surrounded the tavern—and rumors are precisely the least likely thing to leave physical evidence."

Although the monk is accustomed to relying on her intuitive, innate abilities, this does not mean that she is not good at thinking.

On the contrary, as the first of the three travelers to meet a certain detective, she was the most familiar with this framework of logical deduction.

"Does your tavern have anything you're hiding that you can't disclose?"

"I'm not quite sure—probably not." The waitress opened her eyes wide in bewilderment, more out of ignorance than guilt. "Maybe the guards thought we had some valuables hidden in our tavern and wanted to take this opportunity to rob us."

Cattleya shook her head, relentlessly pursuing the question: "Let me rephrase it. When the guards withdrew from the tavern yesterday and you started taking stock of the losses, did you notice any stolen property? Did your parents, who run the tavern, behave anything unusual?"

"No, really no."

The waitress replied earnestly, "When we were surrounded by guards yesterday, my father immediately grabbed the money from the counter and moved it. After all, a tavern is a place with many people coming and going, and we wouldn't hide our valuables here—there was nothing unusual at all. However, my parents had a heated discussion when deciding on the renovation plan."

"It doesn't seem like we've suffered a huge loss, nor is there any tension from the suspicion that our secrets have been exposed."

Cattleya nodded thoughtfully. "This suggests that the order to surround the tavern was most likely not directed at the tavern itself, but for some other purpose. In that case, the fact that a large number of guards were transferred from the palace on the day of the king's assassination may not be a coincidence. It is necessary to confirm with Leclerc to see if those transferred troops created an opportunity for the palace assassination."

"Oh—right, waitress."

Upon hearing the mention of the murder case, the monk suddenly remembered the primary task at hand.

She lightly clapped her hands together, her gaze suddenly locking onto the waitress's eyes. Under the waitress's surprised gaze, she solemnly asked...

"Have you seen the head that the king didn't lose in the two days since you returned from the palace?"

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