Chapter 37
Stuck in an inescapable situation, Kyle Leonard immersed himself in his thoughts which centered on the mystery behind Eleonora Asil’s death and the anonymous dragon egg thief.
Which case should be given utmost priority upon the investigator’s return to the capital — the witch’s puzzling death or the dragon egg’s sudden disappearance?
Certainly, these occurrences are not entirely separate, but possess a relation somehow. The sequence of events, however, must differ.
Numerous questions shrouded his mind. How and when did Eleonora Asil die? Who was it that stole the dragon egg from Laurent’s fortress? Was he an accomplice of the witch that he purposely sent it to her? Or was it intended for Park Noah? If so, how many are there who knew her true identity?
“We’re done now, sir. Get out.”
When Kyle Leonard returned to his senses, several shopping bags were hanging on his arm. Dumfounded, he forced a laugh. I was called to do this. An assistant.
Park Noah wandered around the streets for some time, hand in hand with the curly-haired child, after they have left Frill Happy Night’s Wardrobe. Kyle Leonard scoured the shopping bags, frowning as they weren’t much: two white robes, a handkerchief, a wide brim hat, and some snacks for Muell.
The winds blew in their faces as they meandered, their hairs disheveled. Suddenly, Park Noah stopped; they have reached the marketplace.
“Sir Leonard, here it is.” She pointed somewhere in the market.
“What?”
“Where I found Mu…”
“Oh, yes…” Kyle Leonard hesitated to answer. Park Noah beckoned to him, and he quickened his pace to the place where she pointed at. “I thought I was a butler today.” He turned to her, confused.
“If you leave tomorrow, you’ll have to take all the information you can get from Sorrento, and thank you for everything.”
Kyle Leonard was surprised, having taken seriously what Park Noah told him earlier. That’s right. The butler was only a joke then.
He examined the vicinity where Park Noah found the egg for any trace of mana collision or probable witnesses of the egg’s presence.
Kyle Leonard approached a merchant and asked, “Excuse me, have you seen an egg about this size around here?”
“No, sir.” The merchant returned to his work.
As expected, no one had seen an egg as big as a child’s head.
“Then, have there been any outsiders in Sorrent recently?” Kyle Leonard persisted for a clue.
The merchant paused, as if recalling something. “Hm… There might have been.”
The list of foreigners entering Sorrent has already been reviewed by Kyle Leonard upon his first arrival in the countryside. Fortunately, he was able to obtain essential information from the merchant.
“Have you come across foreign women?” He added.
“Foreign women? Well, I’ve seen women, um, a mother of a child and an old woman with gray hair…and a young lady?”
A young lady. Kyle Leonard immediately took his journal out and jotted everything the man said on it. A few more questions followed.
“Do you remember the woman’s appearance?”
“I wasn’t able to see her clearly because she was wearing a coat that almost covered her entire face.”
“Did you talk?”
“”Yes. I was just about to set up my stall, and she asked me what time the train was going to Tezeba.”
Kyle Leonard paused to write down the important notes. A woman from the capital.
“Well, when was it?” He continued, frowning.
The merchant scratched his head, trying hard to remember their encounter. “Well… I don’t know the date. I remember running in a hurry that time but I said the train to Tezeba was in an hour. There’s a train from this countryside to and from the capital once every four days, so…about a week ago.”
A week ago… Wasn’t that the time when I arrived in Sorrent? No way, did the criminal get on the same train to the capital?
Kyle Leonard clenched his jaw in agitation. If what the merchant said was true, then, he completely let the real culprit escape easily on his watch. The suspect had already ascended to the capital while he was dealing with Park Noah.
After a round of asking strangers around the marketplace, Kyle Leonard discovered that there were quite a few people who saw the woman from Tezeba: the owner the only inn in Sorrent, the chef on the first floor of the inn, and the owner of a teahouse across the alley where dragon egg was found.
“Wow, what… That’s really creepy.” Park Noah mumbled as she trailed behind him. “You mean, she might have been watching me pick up eggs…?” She asked in disbelief, the strands of hair on her skin erecting.
Kyle Leonard glanced down at the woman who barely reached his shoulders, a crease forming in his forehead upon hearing her comment; his violet eyes narrowed in suspicion.