Chapter 145: Another Invitation

Actually, Xia Duo's meaning was already very clear; if there were no surprises, this matter was the work of a Spellcaster. How could an ordinary person happen to cause that kind of trauma—

A rupture in the internal septum of the heart!

Even for Xia Duo, before today, he had never thought there would be such an exquisite method of murder.

Of course, due to the previous examinations by either a Mage or a Cleric, Xia Duo could not judge whether Feierbosi had died due to a Spell.

And based solely on this wound, Xia Duo could not even judge whether this damage was caused by toxins or by a Spell, but one thing was certain: it was inseparable from a Spellcaster.

Xia Duo could make such a deduction, so naturally Lady Patti could too, but what could she, an ordinary person, do? She grabbed Xia Duo and asked incessantly, "How was the wound caused?"

This could no longer be described as losing composure; it was simply as if she were crazy.

Under these circumstances, let alone catching the murderer or killing the murderer, even wanting to obtain the murderer's identity was not an easy thing.

Situated within the 【Soundproof Barrier】, Lady Patti's voice would not carry out, but her actions could be seen by those servants the moment they turned their heads.

A young woman who had just become a widow was tightly gripping the hand of a similarly young Mage, and yet there was no sound coming out—how could this not lead others to make associations!

Xia Duo didn't mind, but if Lady Patti refused to pay because of this, he would be annoyed. Moreover, being grabbed by the hand and tearfully pleaded with by a strange woman, even a beautiful one, made Xia Duo feel quite awkward.

If he let her keep grabbing him, would he still be able to maintain his "Great" Mage posture!

He only gently pushed the woman, but Lady Patti seemed to have been shaken heavily by someone; if Xia Duo hadn't also pulled her, she would have almost been pushed away by him.

"Lady Patti, shall we settle the task?"

"Lord Xia Duo, I'm sorry, I—" A woman with tears like rain always makes one unable to bear it. Xia Duo was also an ordinary man, and he would also make the mistakes all men make.

But the corpse of her husband was still lying in the room, so any thoughts were gone. At this moment, what occupied his brain entirely were the task, the remuneration, and the task indicators to complete his promotion in Permission Level as soon as possible.

"Lady Patti, please accept my condolences. I am powerless to continue searching for the murderer, so please settle the task as soon as possible."

"Yes, I will do it right away!" Lady Patti wiped her tears and apologized again, "I'm sorry! Please, Lord Xia Duo, go downstairs."

Xia Duo canceled the 【Soundproof Barrier】 and walked out of the Study, while Lady Patti followed closely behind Xia Duo.

"Hmph—"

In the first-floor living room, seeing Xia Duo appear, Kaili, who was drinking tea, let out a cold snort and turned his body to the side, not wanting to look at Xia Duo at all.

Xia Duo couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind. He handed the task voucher to Lady Patti and found a seat to sit down, watching Patti sway her body as she walked toward another room.

Only then did Xia Duo pick up the hot black drink the servant had just brought over and sniffed it lightly. It had a hint of tea, and looking at the expression on Mage Kaili's face as he drank his tea, it seemed quite delicious.

Xia Duo tentatively took a small sip, and a fresh aura rushed straight to his forehead, just like drinking a mouthful of iced cola in the scorching summer.

He actually felt the sensation of iced cola from a hot drink!

Taking another sip, the aura turned gentle. Only then did he feel it was truly a hot drink. Savoring it carefully, Xia Duo tasted the flavor of plants, but he was unclear as to which plant it was.

Perhaps it was another so-called Elf specialty.

Da, da, da—

Lady Patti came out holding that task voucher. Xia Duo downed the black hot drink in one gulp and stood up, while the aura of the hot drink lingered in his chest for a long time.

Refreshing!

The slight annoyance from the autopsy just now was swept away in an instant, and he knew that even more refreshing things were waiting for him next.

"Lord Xia Duo, this is the task voucher."

Xia Duo took it and looked; he saw that Lady Patti's name had already been signed on it, along with a marked number—400!

It was 150 more than the 250 Gold Coins previously agreed upon. Xia Duo immediately felt that trouble was coming. Sure enough, Lady Patti wanted to invite him to continue the investigation.

"My Lord, please help me!" Lady Patti's words were earnest; she was even about to kneel down in front of Kaili.

However, Xia Duo did not want to continue anymore because this was highly likely a futile effort, and he didn't have that much time to waste on it. So, he hurriedly supported the woman, "Lady Patti, I have already done everything I could!"

But his action of reaching out also showed that he was not as cold as he appeared on the surface. Lady Patti noticed this and immediately offered to increase the remuneration, accepting it even if no results could be found.

This woman is crazy! This was Xia Duo's first reaction. How foolish must one be to pin one's hopes on a stranger?

However, the increase in remuneration was still quite attractive to Xia Duo, especially since Lady Patti proposed that it didn't necessarily have to have a result; this kind of opportunity should be rare.

Just as he was about to agree, Kaili, who had been watching all of this from the side, suddenly shouted, "Lady Patti, have you been deceived by this Apprentice!"

At this moment, Kaili was both angry and resentful, as well as envious and jealous. Lady Patti had actually left him, an Official Mage, on the sidelines, yet was fawning over an Apprentice!

Hearing now that she was going to unconditionally increase the remuneration for Xia Duo, he could no longer hold back, "Xia Duo, I remember now, you are that Xia Duo from the Arcane Garden, right? Do you think that by pulling together a group of Ordinary Apprentices you can call yourself a Mage? You are delusional!"

Kaili was already incoherent. He had forgotten that even if Xia Duo were truly just a Mage Apprentice, or even just an ordinary person, if he hardened his heart and struck him once, it would be enough to cost him his life.

His so-called class Suppression of a Mage over an Apprentice was worth nothing in Xia Duo's eyes.

Furthermore, Xia Duo was also an Official Mage, just one who hadn't obtained the Permission Level of the Mage Tower.

However, his words did have an impact on Lady Patti. Although she was eager for revenge and still trusted Xia Duo, it did not prevent her from wanting to see more of Xia Duo's abilities.

A merchant's wife, or perhaps mistress, having seen and heard much, also knew the value of waiting and watching. Before, it was just hatred and sadness occupying her soul, but now that someone had already taken action, Lady Patti fell silent.

And upon seeing Lady Patti lower her head and remain silent, Xia Duo suddenly remembered that earlier upstairs, when Kaili wanted him to move aside, Lady Patti had the same demeanor.

It was only because she was frightened by Kaili's dissection tools that she let Xia Duo perform the check first.

Xia Duo even felt that once he left, this woman would immediately run upstairs to check if there was a secret compartment in the floor to verify Xia Duo's words.

Sure enough, being able to make Feierbosi choose to leave his property to her instead of his son before he died, this woman was not simple!

However, since Xia Duo had already prepared to agree, he couldn't let Kaili ruin it, and he couldn't ruin it anyway!

"Lady Patti, I accept your request, but let's go upstairs first to check that secret compartment. Perhaps there might be some clues inside."

Xia Duo saying this was, of course, not because he really wanted to find any clues, but just to respond to Kaili's questioning. No matter how he called himself a Mage or questioned that Xia Duo was inferior to him, if Xia Duo could discover the secret compartment, then the heart rupture could also be self-justified.

Kaili didn't understand what Xia Duo was talking about, but Lady Patti knew very well; just now upstairs, Xia Duo had told her that there was a secret compartment under the floor where the autopsy was performed.

Such confidence made the scales in Lady Patti's heart tilt again, but she also didn't want to give up on Kaili as a possible source of help, so she took the opportunity to invite Kaili to go upstairs to check together.