"I'm going back to sleep."
Riley went back to the couch as he ordered Ian not to disturb him again.
"We have searched every nook and cranny of this estate, even with our senses. He is the only invader."
The first son Ryan spoke while looking down on the corpse.
The second son Lloyd followed the conversation.
"To invade on his own, and without a weapon as well, he must have underestimated us quite a bit."
Count Stein, who had been listening to his sons, scanned the area for any evidence. He thought of another possibility.
"Or perhaps, there’s another accomplice within the mansion."
"..."
The body was found right in front of Lady Orelly's room, so she had no choice but to join in on the detective work.
'Impossible...'
She looked pale with worry, as if asking 'what's going on?', but what her mind was going through was the complete opposite.
The assassin she had called in secret has been killed instead, and placed in front of her room.
It was no small matter.
"Judging from the way he is dressed, he is likely a thief or someone from the Assassin's Guild. Should we start from there?"
"Of course! Search all the lands, starting from Iffa village! How dare they challenge us by setting foot in the Iphelleta mansion!"
Count Stein grinded his teeth and swore to catch the person responsible for this.
'Just how did this...'
Lady Orelly gulped in fear.
While she was afraid of her temperamental husband, the worst thing was that something was missing from the body.
A dagger with the Guild's seal on it.
The dagger which should have been on his waist had vanished.
'Just... who?'
It would have been convenient if the evidence was destroyed by the assassin himself, but there was little chance that had happened, judging from the state of his body.
Then who?
Who could have taken the dagger?