Zion and Lia sealed their lips and walked voluntarily with the group of elves. The scene of capture was so easy that the soldiers were doubtful for a full minute. According to those customers in the restaurant, the dhampir girl had a sword at hand that she used to suppress all the elves present at that time. There were about ten customers, five waiters, and a few human servants, and she overpowered all fifteen of them.

But now, when the soldiers looked at the submissive people standing in front of them, they narrowed their eyes. Did these two really create such havoc in the restaurant?

​​

Zion could see a doubtful look in most of these soldier's eyes, and that was the effect he wanted. He had deliberately asked Lia to curb her anger and pretend to be a meek and poor girl. So when they still hadn't gone outside the cave, the princess took mud from the ground and walls and rubbed it all over her dress to make it seem even more realistically poor. She even tore the corners of her clothes to make them seem more compelling.

Still, the soldiers didn't dare to let these two go. They knew that the village chief had a reason to capture these people. So he didn't delay it any longer.

But even though they all captured Zion and Lia, they didn't put up their guard as much. They could see that this dhampir girl didn't have a weapon at hand and looking at her exhausted face and a servant who was still injured, the soldiers didn't fear them. The latter even thought naively that even though these two travelers were found to be criminals, the dhampir girl couldn't possibly do anything without her sword. Even though the spiritual practices in different races were hidden, it was still a well-known fact that dhampirs couldn't breathe a single spark of magic without a weapon, specifically a sword.

Still, they rechecked her body, and when they found that no weapon was hidden in her clothes, they sighed in relief and tied their hands at their backs as they dragged Lia and Zion to the opposite side outside the forest. It took them more than an hour before they could reach the village chief's house—the same big house with two guards standing at either side of the front gate.

This time, when they all passed by, the guards didn't stop Lia and Zion from entering, but their expressions turned fiercer than before as they glared at the two travelers collectively.

Veins popped on Lia's forehead. She had been suppressing her anger all for her servant's 'grand plan' to work, but why the heck were these people glaring at her like this?! She wasn't a criminal, but from their expressions, it looked like they had already considered her the murderer!

Sure enough, she wasn't wrong to hate these vile creatures called elves!

Zion cleared his throat when he saw her face getting red from anger and secretly poked her arms. As he glanced around him, he found that no one was looking at him as he covered his mouth with his hand and whispered to Lia, "I've observed something about these elves."

Sure enough. That caught her attention. She glanced at him and raised her eyebrows as if arrogantly indicating to him to continue.

Zion coughed, thinking hard about what he should speak. Just now, he was bluffing that he had noticed something about these elves only to distract Lia, and now when she was thoroughly distracted, he didn't know what to say. He licked his lips and thought for a while.

What could he find in these people that even a dhampir like Princess Lia or the former eldest princess of the Vanne Kingdom might not know? He pursed his lips as his mind turned round and round until he reached an important conclusion:

"I think there might be a reason why the murderer is trying to manipulate these citizens."

"Why?"

"It might be because the murderer is afraid of getting exposed. Isn't that why he chose to make me his scapegoat that day hastily? He was worried that I'd expose him. Being an elf, he should have enough power to overcome a hurdle like me, but he didn't do that. Instead, he removed his silver mask and mingled into the crowd before pointing fingers at me."

Zion paused as if he just remembered something and continued. "It might also be the case that the killer might not be that famous because when he became one of the people in the crowd that night to 'expose' me as a murderer, others should have recognized him, but they didn't. It could be either that he was wearing a hoodie or….." A flash of memory appeared in his eyes. "There was someone! That person had his head covered with a blanket that seemed tattered. At that time, I had thought he was a beggar, but it turns out, he was the murderer!"

"And what do you mean by this?" Lia's brain definitely wasn't like the system's, as stupid as a clown. When Zion uttered those words, she could already tell he had found something. It wasn't as if she wasn't interested in this case, but she had been initially against solving this case because she didn't trust elves at all. But now, when they were already in deep water, she would have to bite the bullet and help her human servant to get out of this predicament faster. If they couldn't prove that they weren't the killers, they wouldn't be able to escape from this place!

Zion could tell that the girl had become serious, so he didn't waste more time and said, "What I meant to say is, this murderer might be a well-known figure, but he might not have much power to fight off so many people. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sneaked among the crowd in fear that I'll yell his whereabouts. You should already know how powerful those citizens were. They would have cornered the murderer in a second.

"And the reason why he's wearing the mask on his face every time he kills is that he doesn't want anyone to recognize him. Of course, we can't rule out that this murderer might also be a crazy killer who just likes to kill while wearing the mask. I've seen many of those. Lastly, the silver mask signifies that he's probably rich, although this fact cannot be claimed until we figure out whether the silver mask is really made out of actual metal. The point is, this killer can be an elf of high status who cannot use much magical power."

Lia had a thoughtful expression on her face as she contemplated his words. Zion didn't say anything anymore, but he didn't need to. He already did his part to shift the girl's attention somewhere else by providing her details about what he deducted until now.

If not, he feared that there would be another bloodbath here.

They entered the corridor and passed by many rooms.

Back when Lia and Zion were in the cave, the princess had quickly agreed to leave her weapons behind for one reason: she still had another one hidden in her body that no one could find.

The elves overestimated themselves. Did they really think she was weaponless? There was a belt on her waist that looked like an ordinary rugged cloth that even seemed tattered at the end. In fact, it was hiding a sword. This sword was especially enchanted with Qi and was so thin that it could be mistaken as a piece of stiff cloth or leather.

Just then, the soldiers took the prisoners inside a room, and they faced the village chief.