Chapter 70 : Imperial Borders (3)

Everyone except the perimeter guards gathered in the dining hall.

The soldiers who discovered the gruesome scene were horrified.

Some muttered that they, too, could have been among the victims.

“As you can see, nine soldiers were murdered last night.”

Hubert summarized the situation.

Based on multiple testimonies, the victims appeared to be those who had been drinking late into the night.

By the time everyone had gathered, Vincent arrived with the roster of those stationed on the castle walls.

His expression was grim.

“Captain, we have a serious problem.”

“Did you find something?”

Vincent whispered briefly with Hubert before stepping forward to address everyone.

“Last night, before the incident occurred, I reinforced the wall’s defenses to the maximum. I minimized guard shifts and ensured the gates remained closed afterward.”

“Are you saying there was no way for anyone to get in?”

“Exactly.”

Vincent nodded at Oliver’s question.

“The fortress is designed so that if the gates open, are destroyed, or even if someone sneaks in, it would be immediately detected. But last night, there were no such signs.”

“Then did someone slip in when we sent reinforcements or when I returned from the outer wall?”

“I considered that possibility… but it may or may not be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just in case, I counted the personnel. If someone had infiltrated from outside, the numbers wouldn’t match when compared with the records. But…”

Vincent lifted the roster for all to see, scanning our faces one by one.

“The numbers match exactly. Those inside the fortress, the deceased, those patrolling outside, and those stationed at posts… It all adds up perfectly.”

“Wait, does that mean…?”

“It means a demon is hiding among us, pretending to be human.”

Vincent and Oliver glanced around.

The gathered soldiers exchanged confused looks, while those quicker to grasp the situation subtly distanced themselves from others.

Could this really be the case?

While Vincent’s theory was plausible, I had a different thought.

A demon pretending to be human? Possible, but as far as I knew, the only one hiding their identity here was Victoria.

But would Victoria really commit murder?

If she wanted to, she could probably destroy the entire fortress effortlessly.

That made the situation even more complicated.

I decided to wait and observe for now.

Hubert was determined to find the culprit.

Since the gates had remained closed after the murders and no guard shifts had taken place, the killer was still among us.

As the unit commander, Hubert began cross-referencing everyone’s alibi to narrow down the suspects.

“I spent the evening with Vincent, discussing troop deployment and replenishing the soldiers lost on the outer wall.”

With their mutual testimonies aligning, Hubert and Vincent were ruled out as suspects.

Other soldiers also corroborated each other’s alibis, as they had been in pairs or groups.

Eventually, four individuals were left without a solid alibi.

The first was Oliver.

“I was listening to Wade’s stories about heroic battles. When everyone started dispersing, I went to my quarters alone. Maybe I’ve killed too many demons—I was exhausted and fell asleep immediately. When I woke up, I saw this mess and met up with Wade.”

The second was me.

“Same here. After dinner, I went up to the wall to look around, then returned to my quarters and slept.”

The third was Kalian.

“Uh… yeah, same. I had no duties or anything else to do, so after dinner, I just went straight to my quarters and… fell asleep.”

The fourth was Victoria.

“I did the same. The food was awful, and there was nothing else to eat, so I just went to my room and lay down.”

On the surface, any of the four could have been involved in the murders.

However, Hubert’s eyes immediately locked onto Kalian and Victoria.

Kalian’s excessive stammering suggested he was lying, while Victoria’s story felt hastily made up.

Victoria, in particular, was under heavy suspicion.

“Did anyone see you go to your room after dinner?”

“I wasn’t paying attention. Someone must have. If not, that’s just how it is.”

“You said you were lying down. So you didn’t sleep? Did you leave your room at any point?”

“I didn’t sleep. I didn’t go outside either.”

“Then what were you doing? There aren’t many forms of entertainment here.”

“Uh… I was just lying down.”

Victoria’s voice faltered.

Seeing this, Hubert placed a hand on his sword and took a step forward.

“Suspicious. Oliver mentioned that while they were fighting off demons at the outer wall, you did nothing. Do you have an explanation for that?”

Damn, this is bad.

If Hubert attacked Victoria now, it would lead to an irreversible disaster.

This needed to stop.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it, Wade?”

“Shouldn’t we hear Kalian’s side? He looks like he has something to say.”

I pointed at Kalian.

After hesitating for a long time, Kalian met Hubert’s gaze and cautiously spoke.

“Actually… Victoria wasn’t alone last night.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was with her.”

Hubert frowned deeply.

“You were with Victoria…? Why did she hide that? Or don’t tell me, are you covering for her out of pity?”

“That’s not it. The reason she said she was alone… was because I asked her to keep yesterday’s events a secret. She was just keeping that promise.”

“Is that really all?”

Hubert turned to Victoria, and only then did she nod.

Whatever Victoria and Kalian did last night was a crucial matter, but Hubert didn’t seem to care.

That left two suspects.

Me or Oliver.

Oliver spoke to Hubert.

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“Given the circumstances, you two are the most suspicious.”

“Captain, seriously, this is ridiculous. Wade and I were the ones who fought harder than anyone against the demons last night. And now you’re saying we’re demons disguised as humans?”

“If you’re really human, I understand why you’d feel wronged. But it can’t be helped. We don’t know which of you is a demon, so it’s best for both of you to be locked up first. We can verify with the purification stone later.”

“Ah, wait, wait. Hold on… I really don’t want to get thrown into a cell like this.”

Oliver reached into his pocket.

Immediately, Hubert, Vincent, and all the soldiers drew their swords.

“Take your hand out, Oliver.”

“Come on, we’ve fought side by side for years, and now you’re treating me like this?”

“I’m not saying it again.”

“I’m not pulling out a bomb or anything, relax. I brought this just in case something like this happened.”

Oliver slowly, carefully pulled something out.

It was a purification stone.

“I thought it might come in handy, so I took one from the storage. If Wade and I are demons, this should react to us, right?”

“If it shows we’re demons, then you can just kill us then and there. Fair enough?”

“That’s… true.”

Hubert and the soldiers lowered their swords.

Oliver pointed the purification stone at himself.

A white light glowed from it.

That meant he was human.

I did the same, and the stone confirmed that I, too, was human.

Someone muttered, “What… how is this possible?”

Everyone had assumed that one of us had to be a demon.

But now that both of us were confirmed as human, things didn’t add up.

The soldiers were confused, but Oliver, now proven innocent, raised his voice.

“If that’s the case, why don’t we test everyone here with the purification stone? Testimonies aren’t always perfect, after all.”

“And what if everyone turns out to be human?”

“Then we’ll figure it out from there.”

“Hmm… fine. It wouldn’t hurt to confirm. I’ll go first.”

Hubert agreed with Oliver’s logic and held up the purification stone in front of everyone.

He was human.

Having confirmed his innocence, Hubert handed the stone to Vincent next.

“This is unsettling. If this keeps up and everyone turns out to be human… that would mean we have a traitor among us.”

“Then we just find that bastard and kill him too. What’s the big deal?”

“Oliver, this is a serious problem. There’s no guarantee that there’s only one traitor. For all we know, one of those nine corpses could be a demon infiltrator.”

“Ah, now that’s a headache.”

Hubert and Oliver turned to look at the nine dead bodies.

Just then, the soldiers observing the purification test began murmuring.

Some stepped back in alarm, while others drew their swords again.

Then, one of them shouted loud enough for everyone to hear:

“A demon!”

All eyes turned to one person.

Vincent.

The man who had been leading the investigation was holding a purification stone glowing red.

Was there some kind of mistake?

Hubert, Oliver, and the soldiers quickly drew their swords, but they hesitated.

This was their comrade, their vice-captain.

Their minds raced, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Vincent stared down at the purification stone and finally spoke.

“Ah… I didn’t think I’d actually have to use this.”

That one sentence explained everything.

Hubert and Oliver lunged at Vincent.

Vincent shed his human guise, revealing his sharp claws as he slashed at them.

The fight didn’t last long.

Whether he had been posing as Vincent all along or had replaced him recently, it didn’t matter. The demon was dead.

Kalian and I didn’t even need to step in.

Still, despite eliminating a traitor, Hubert and Oliver didn’t look happy.

I wasn’t at ease either.

That bastard… he was definitely human before.

For a demon to cast an illusion strong enough to fool my eyes—this wasn’t something we could just brush off after killing one of them.