Frick stayed quietly in a corner of the room, scanning the blood-stained corners with his peripheral vision, hoping to find something related to his specialty in the scattered wreckage. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In fact, he had wanted to assist the security officers in their investigation of the scene, as there were scattered shredded pieces of paper among the garbage scraps that had piled up in the corners of the room. But before he could reach for the scattered paper, he was stopped by the security officers in charge of the scene investigation, who told him to "try" not to touch anything left at the scene.

He could tell that even if Lester wanted him to help investigate the contents of the room, the other security officers present didn't trust him so easily. They continue to inspect the room that has been ragged by the killer, while keeping an eye on Flick's every move and telling him not to disrupt the scene.

In fact, they were the ones who were the most damaging to the "scene", strolling in pools of blood in their boots, leaving footprints of varying sizes on the floor. Not only that, but they also move objects around at will, separating items that they think are "valuable" and "worthless".

According to their investigation of the occupancy records, all information proves that it was once a private bookseller's room, and that the residents of the mixed building knew him. According to them, the bookseller used to have a good business, dealing with some of the magicians, but recently he has been uncharacteristically staying at home and not having any business.

The officers assumed that the bookseller had been killed by an uninvited visitor the previous night, but all the residents of the building claimed that they had not heard any noise. Even the first discoverer, who lived in the nearest place, saw this messy house when he went out this morning, and finally discovered the tragic end of the bookseller.

In other words, the murderer who destroyed the house used some kind of "technology" to cut off the house from the outside world and destroy everything that could be seen.

As for the shredded paper that remained in the pool of blood, it was actually a recent receipt, but it was almost unrecognizable to the extent of blood. There wasn't a lot of space in this room, so it didn't seem like his inventory was stacked here, but had a separate warehouse elsewhere.

In previous investigations, Lester had already learned the location of some of the slain folk booksellers through Frick, and had also found their warehouses. However, the people who killed the booksellers showed no interest in the cheap titles, and the warehouses were not attacked in any way.

Their purpose is obviously not those books that can be bought casually, but some rare and rare private printed books with special value. The bookseller's own personal collection has been looted by the killers, leaving not even a single page behind.

However, Frick soon noticed that the group was probably collecting the books not to decipher their contents, but to destroy their existence. He still remembers the "dust" he found at the previous site, the pages of the book that had been burned out.

William Coulter left behind not only the books he and Akuli had, but also the ones that contained ciphertext. Although Dr. Kurt claimed to have resisted a little in anticipation of his death, the "organization" of the spirit world that he had studied for longer should have found clues.

They wanted to hide the sorcerer's research at all costs, as they needed to secure their dominance in the field of Theosophy. If Dr. Kurt had really used ciphertext to hide something in the books, they would have recovered all of the books in their entirety.

It was for this reason that the "Sandalwood Bookshelf," which published a handful of William Coulter's hardcover complete works, became the target of their attack. They also knew that they didn't need to destroy the entire publishing house, because the only books that Coulter could manipulate were the few books he had touched while he was alive.

Frick didn't know how they were able to locate the books that had been ciphered by William Coulter, but it was certain that this was how they found the victims. Hitmen affiliated with the Order infiltrated the Gates of the Dead North, retrieving the books and killing their holders.

But they apparently did not take care to hide their whereabouts - rather, they made a perverse fanfare, as they had done in Lemongrass. Even the garrisons, which have been criticized for being "unresponsive", have already determined their course of action, and they are still operating under the noses of the garrison.

If they are not absolutely confident that they will not be caught by the guards, they have the ability to easily destroy those who dare to stand in their way. At least judging by the series of tragic events that have occurred so far, the power and technology of this organization have allowed them to stay in an advantageous position.

Despite their efforts to maintain secrecy as much as possible, no one has been aware of the impossibility of their existence during the years of the Order's existence. There is no doubt that their hands are already stained with blood, which will only grow more and more if no one stops them.

"Actually, I don't need to hide it from you, there are too many incidents that the garrison has failed to solve in the past, and we all know that some dangerous organizations are active in the shadows. ”

Lester sighed: "These words may be inappropriate for me as a member of the garrison, but I can only admit that this is true - the 'peace' maintained by the Gate of the End of the North is a disguise. The adventurers and speculators who came here from all over the empire have indeed made the once small town of the Gate of the North a leap forward, and many of the problems they have caused have taken root in the land - the people who are supposed to be responsible for controlling the spread of these 'poisons' are more interested in their own interests than their jobs. ”

Even a good medicine can be toxic, and the forces that allow the city to grow so quickly can also have some kind of sluggish after-effects. As the city grows, it is not only adventurers and merchants who come to the Gate of the North, but also gangs and criminals...... The names of more dangerous "organizations" are now to be added to the list.

In just one month, they have created several vicious killings one after another, and their actions are simply a war letter to the North Gate Garrison. However, this war letter may not be accepted, on the contrary, if it is only to maintain the "peace" of the city, it is actually more likely to become a warning letter.

As he said, except for a few strange tales that have been reduced to "urban legends", what remains is a permanent unsolved case that no one knows. The vast majority of them are theft cases that have little investigative value, and only a few are troublesome cases that have been forcibly suppressed by the upper echelons using their influence.

If the investigation of a case could lead to a worse outcome than allowing the killer to go unpunished, then the garrison is likely to choose a less harmful solution. Just like every time they've dealt with it in the past...... These appalling cases have "never" occurred.

After all, the other side is a crazy organization, and they obviously don't care if they just use killers to deal with some security officers - in fact, that's exactly what Frick is worried about. While the garrison does not want to see the citizens it has to protect die, it does not necessarily sacrifice their lives for them.

I am afraid that even if the security officers who are investigating this series of cases are attacked by the enemy, and everyone present is made into pieces of meat like those who were killed, the security team will try their best to deal with this matter "harmlessly". After all, there are gangs from all over the world under the Gate of the North, and some of the security officers who were killed during the investigation will not attract the attention of the general public.

"But this is at best an occasion where 'several people are killed'. ”

Perhaps seeing Frick's slander, Lester said with a note not to be discovered by others: "It is true that some of the guards' past records have been recorded in the investigation of certain gang organizations, but no gangs have dared to directly attack the headquarters of the guard. Maybe those guys see the law as nothing, but even if they have a little common sense, they won't provoke a conflict with the government head-on. ”

In other words, if it does come to the last minute, they have one last hole card to play - and that is to drag a strong enemy that the enemy didn't want to face into a vortex of chaos. When they are dangerous enough to attract the attention of higher beings, the war will be in full swing.

Frick didn't think the other side would fall out of the nest and compete head-on with the government of the Northgate, which represented the imperial order, because it would bring to the surface the forces they had painstakingly managed for years. That organization was supposed to do everything it could to avoid the worst-case scenario, and that was where Flick and the others could take advantage of it.

Even the kind of outlaw group with a huge sphere of influence and excellent talent would not be stupid enough to directly provoke an entire country, because it would undoubtedly be self-defeating. While they may have some kind of special technology, they are clearly not strong enough to compete with the Empire in other aspects.

This is also a force they can rely on, and Lester is prepared for the worst, and may even sacrifice himself in order to lead the enemy into a trap. Frick is hard to pinpoint his purpose, and if it's just a matter of pride in being a "citizen guardian", he's a different person than the other security officers.

As for himself, if he had knowledge of William Coulter's research that would have been targeted, Flick could not have imagined that he would be spared. Not only that, but I'm afraid that even Akuli, who is investigating the strange letters associated with ciphertext in the library, could be attacked by the group, though Frick thinks she's capable enough to protect herself.