Chapter 389

In Fontaine, there is a case with enormous influence; when they asked Nadilait about it, just a casual question yielded a precise answer.

"The Rose Thorn Society Kares murder case."

Nadilait directly spoke the name.

Regarding this case.

His impression of it was very deep.

On one hand, the case's main perpetrator, Kalais Kasapa, had extremely high prestige in Fontaine City; when Mimang Palace was constructing its waterways, the Rose Thorn Society led by Kalais contributed greatly and obtained naming rights for three of those waterways. At its peak, the Rose Thorn Society enjoyed tremendous prestige, having connections not only among Fontaine's upper society but also a strong popular base among its commoners.

On the other hand.

It was that Kalais Kasapa's case back then had too many doubts; he himself ultimately chose not to continue arguing, but instead embarked on the irreversible path of applying for a duel, ending up with his reputation ruined after death, and the Rose Thorn Society declined along with him.

Back then, this case caused a sensation in Fontaine, with almost everyone on the streets discussing it.

Those who believed Kalais Kasapa was guilty and those who thought he was wronged split into two factions, arguing endlessly.

Even until now.

This case still has considerable discussion.

"Sure enough, it's this case."

Before Mimang Palace, Luo De had already guessed Nadilait's answer.

"Sure enough."

Among Fontaine's wrongful cases over these years, this case still has the greatest influence.

"Sure enough?"

Nadilait, hearing him say that, asked: "Have you already heard of this case?"

"Hmm."

"You just said that there are still people in Fontaine City talking about this case."

Luo De stroked his chin and said: "That Kalais Kasapa is obviously innocent; he just didn't want to reveal the culprit for some reason."

Regarding the case's procedure.

Luo De still remembers some of it.

What he remembers most clearly is that in Bai Song Town, which Kalais Kasapa oversaw, an addictive illegal drug appeared; after some investigation, when Kalais Kasapa was about to find the culprit, his daughter was instead targeted as a murder victim by the other side to threaten him into dropping the investigation.

To protect his daughter.

Kalais Kasapa chose to use himself as bait to draw the attention of the mastermind killer, but one misstep led to his informant being murdered, and he himself was arrested as the killer.

In the end, it was still to protect his daughter.

Kalais Kasapa chose to seek death in a duel similar to suicide, bearing all the blame for the true mastermind killer.

Besides the case's procedure.

Luo De also knows how this case was overturned.

To be frank.

The case that caused an uproar throughout Fontaine actually has a simple core.

Overturning it is also simple.

As long as you find evidence that the mastermind is a murderer and convict him, that's enough.

Therefore, for Luo De's needs.

Overturning the case is not the most troublesome thing.

The real trouble is how to elevate this case to the level where all of Fontaine pays attention to it.

In response.

He had also made a proposal before coming.

"It's time to let Apep exert his strength."

Luo De gave a hehe laugh.

Having Apep serve as this special training captain is the correct choice.

Having her is convenient.

Many things that are inconvenient for you to handle personally can be first taken up by Apep.

Just like now.

He needs an opportunity to bring up the Kalais Kasapa case again.

If it were changed to before.

It would definitely be difficult.

Even if Nadilait wanted to overturn the case, he would still need to find a suitable reason.

But Apep is different.

As the newly appointed Special Patrol Captain, she discovered something suspicious in the old case while reviewing the files, and immediately launched a reinvestigation.

This is very reasonable.

There's nothing to fault about it.

In response.

Nadilait's only curiosity was: "Why did you suddenly bring this up? To be frank, the Kalais Kasapa case has been over for many years; the scene and evidence are not as complete as before, so even if we reopen the investigation, it's probably not easy to find any results."

"For that plan."

Luo De bluntly said: "What I promised you, I will definitely do."

"Oh?"

"Can this still involve so much?"

Nadilait was slightly surprised.

A Kareis case actually manages to drag in Fontaine's apocalyptic prophecy? "Hmm."

"It's not convenient to go into specific details with you."

"After I finish talking with Apep about this, you can spread the word that the Judicial Court will restart the investigation into the Kareis case."

After saying that, Luo De prepared to leave, took two steps, then turned back and said: "Oh, right, remember to make it clear that the one responsible for reopening this case is the new Special Patrol Captain, Apep."

"Hmm?"

Luo De's earlier words were still understandable to Nahida, but what he said later left Nahida a bit confused.

Why must Apep's name be added?

If this case truly has another culprit, wouldn't that mean letting the killer set their sights on Apep?

Wait, Nahida suddenly understood: "You're planning to let that killer lose restraint, act like Senior Apep, thereby exposing themselves?"

Pretty much that's the idea.

Luo De nodded, then stopped discussing further details with Nahida, turned around, and went to find Apep, who was on patrol.

Soon.

Word spread that the Judicial Court had restarted the investigation into the Kareis case.

This news came without any prior warning.

No one had known in advance when the Fontaine authorities made this decision.

And what's even more puzzling is that

the person in charge of leading this retrial is

a newly appointed Special Patrol Captain named Apep.

The only thing the various factions in Fontaine City could find out was that this Apep had been directly appointed by the Chief Judge, Nahida.

Thus, under the prompting of those with ulterior motives,

those who truly wanted to investigate this case became the Chief Judge of the Palace of Mercy themselves, and this Captain Apep is merely their spokesperson.

At the same time,

Fontaine authorities were also heavily promoting the restart of this case.

They not only informed Kareis's former business partners, subordinates, relatives, and so on, but also notified other towns, even the underwater prison of Melopetersburg received the notice.

Such a grand operation.

This also left many people wondering what Nahida actually intended to do.

But this had nothing to do with the lower-class Fontaine civilians. They only knew that the old case was fishy, and those who had always believed Kareis was innocent immediately took to the streets and alleys to promote their theories, while those who were convinced Kareis was the criminal argued from morning till night without cease.

Amidst this bustle,

Kareis's daughter, Navia, carefully dressed herself up, then accompanied by her two most loyal subordinates, went to the Special Patrol and explicitly requested to see Captain Apep by name.

This was the first official since her father's death who was willing to step forward and seek a retrial for him.

Regardless of the reason.

Navia felt she had to observe all the proper etiquette in order to better express her gratitude.

However, upon arriving at the Special Patrol,

she was told that the captain had left early that morning and was not at the Special Patrol.

Left with no choice,

Navia had no choice but to follow the directions of the gatekeeping Special Patrol officers and go to the place where Apep usually patrols to find her.

Her luck was still pretty good.

Upon reaching the commercial district, she soon found Apep.

However,

When she saw Apep, the green-haired woman in uniform was in the process of arresting her friend.

The owner of Chioriya, Chiori.

She is a renowned Inazuma designer in Fontaine, and the Chioriya she opened also carries significant weight in Fontaine's fashion scene.

The clothes Navia wears, for example, were designed with her help.

There is just one thing.

Chiori has a very bad temper.

Smoking and drinking are strictly prohibited in Chioriya, and causing trouble is forbidden.

The motto "the customer is god," which other shops uphold as truth and advertise, does not apply here at Chiori's.

In her words,

Even if the visitor truly is a god, as long as they don't follow Chioriya's rules, they will still be thrown out.

Her independent and radical conduct naturally makes it inevitable that she will offend many people.

Moreover, Chiori doesn't know what tact is; her manner of speaking is extremely direct.

For example, if a customer takes a liking to a piece of clothing, she will directly say, "You don't look good in this outfit," or "This style doesn't suit you; switch to this better one."

With such a stern attitude and expectation, some customers who enter the shop always find themselves unaccustomed to her way of speaking.

However, because Chioriya's designs always satisfy, those customers who leave in a huff after angering Chiori will still come back for clothing designs after a few days.

In short,

Chiori is someone people both love and hate; those who know her feel indifferent, while those who don't know her often find their first impression upon meeting her likely to lead to conflict.

Unfortunately,

Apep appears to be exactly the sort of person who would clash with her.

When Navia arrived,

she just happened to witness Apep arresting Chiori.

Just heard Apepu chuckle and scoff: 'You just said, even if it's a god, if they come to your shop and don't follow the rules, they'll get kicked out butt‑first.'

So what?

Consistently domineering, Qianzhi wasn't intimidated by Apepu's aura; instead, she kept her neck stiff and continued arguing with her.

However, Apepu wasn't angry either; instead, she strode over to Qianzhi and provoked: 'Come on, I'll give you a chance—throw me out, and today's incident is over. If you can't throw me out, I won't be lenient about your assault on a customer.'

Assault a customer?

Naweiya's heart jumped, and she hurriedly looked around.

It's no news that Qianzhi beats up customers who break the rules.

But lately she's restrained herself a lot; basically she just scares people into fleeing and calls it a day.

How did she hit a customer again today? Soon.

Naweiya then found the person she was looking for.

Xiawolei!

While the standoff inside hadn't yet escalated beyond control, Naweiya hurried to the side of a uniformed woman wearing an eyepatch and asked: 'What's going on with Qianzhi? How did she start arguing with Captain Apepu?'

Arguing?

The one answering Naweiya wasn't the other Special Patrol Squad captain, Xiawolei, but a man standing beside him, who laughed: 'Apepu is just following Fontaine law—how could that be considered an argument? It's more like Miss Qianzhi is being overly free.'

Who are you?

Naweiya had never seen this person before, but seeing how familiar he seemed with Apepu, she instinctively asked.

Luo De.

Luo De raised an eyebrow and continued: 'Qianzhi's past record isn't very friendly—there are dozens of complaints about her assaulting customers. Running into Apepu means not only will she be out of luck, but whoever's been shielding her will also be held accountable.'

I haven't been shielding her.

Xiawolei, upon hearing this, spoke up in her defense: 'Qianzhi didn't actually assault those customers; she just spoke a bit sharply, and those customers ended up smashing the glass and fleeing on their own.'

Heh—

Anything else can wait until we get to the Trial Court.

Luo De wouldn't listen to Xiawolei's explanation.

Given Qianzhi's behavior, if she didn't have a protector in the city, how could she dare act so recklessly with her own way?

Fontaine City isn't like Inazuma City, where morals are corrupt and one can break the law at will.

Luo De has read Fontaine's laws.

Under normal circumstances.

Assaulting a customer is against both law and reason; even if the customer is at fault, as long as they didn't strike first, the most you can do is verbally drive them away—physically attacking them, even just throwing them out of the shop, would earn a warning from the Judicial Court.

Yet Qianzhi has never received such punishment.

She's even made a name for herself in Fontaine City as a shop owner not to be provoked.

That's not right.

This means someone must be wiping her butt and turning a blind eye after each of her incidents, preventing the Judicial Court from punishing her.

Originally, this had nothing to do with Luo De and his group.

But who let Qianzhi, when she moved to discipline a customer today, run into the mischievous Apepu?

Xiawolei ended up unlucky as well.

Even if she tried to defend herself and Qianzhi.

Before the unreasonable Apepu, everything is so pale.

After listening for a while, once Naweiya figured out the cause and effect, she couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.

What Luo De said makes sense.

What Xiawolei said also makes sense.

For a moment she actually didn't know which side to help.

And just then.

The standoff inside Qianzhi's place had already ended.

Apepu easily brought Qianzhi out, then, feeling pleased, she hooked a finger at Xiawolei and said: 'You, come along with us.'

Sigh—

From the first day Apepu joined the Special Patrol Squad, she'd beaten everyone into submission; Xiawolei, who had long expected this outcome, let out a long sigh and followed obediently behind.

But she still played a little trick.

Namely, she stood a bit forward, and with her uniform, at a glance she looked like she was there to catch criminals alongside Apepu, not like she herself was also destined to stand trial.

Gazing at Apepu dragging two people behind her.

Naweiya's mouth slightly opened, she had many things to say but didn't know where to start.

(End of chapter)