Chapter 2139: Suspicion Increases, Traces Confirmed

Xia Duo had previously seen a Wisdom Gem in the hands of Aoruipusi of the Silver Leaf Family that was several sizes smaller than the one Aisite had just brought out; that one was something they had swindled from the hands of Cormanthor refugees at the time.

As it turned out, Aoruipusi wanted nothing else and had his heart set on that Wisdom Gem, so for the sake of maintaining the alliance, Xia Duo naturally yielded it to him, but he had kept it on his mind ever since.

It wasn't until he had manifested some from the Projection Plane a while ago that his long-held desire was finally fulfilled.

Even without an Inheritance Ritual, a Wisdom Gem still possesses a certain degree of inheritance effect; such gems are generally the ultimate weapons used by great Elven families to maintain their heritage and ensure that a Spellcaster is born in every generation.

In this day and age, when the Inheritance Ritual has all but been lost, the importance of a Wisdom Gem is absolutely no less than that of any War Magic Artifact.

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Taking the Wisdom Gem that Aisite had casually handed over, Xia Duo finally realized the true power, or perhaps the immense wealth, of Kaitemier.

In fact, these two descriptions often exist simultaneously.

Xia Duo did not need Aisite to teach him how to use a Wisdom Gem, as he already mastered several methods himself; of course, he only knew how to use one for now, and this was also his opportunity to demonstrate his own abilities to the Elves, thereby gaining their recognition for his investigation!

Seeing the scene of the incident with his own eyes, Xia Duo became even more certain of his previous speculation—there was a traitor among Prince Xisi's entourage or within Kaitemier providing information to the assassin!

At that time, the assassin had clearly extended that sword with a very confident posture, withdrawing it at the slightest touch, and then slit their own throat before anyone else could react.

A normal assassin, even if they weren't going all out or delivering a finishing blow, would at least need to confirm the target's life or death!

This is one of the most crucial factors concerning the success or failure of an assassination!

There is no such thing as stabbing once and immediately slitting one's own throat, unless the goal was never to kill from the start, but merely to provoke the Kaitemier side; yet if the Prince did not die, even if the two countries became hostile, it was highly unlikely that a war would break out.

There were too many suspicious points, and Xia Duo did not indulge himself in wild speculation, fearing he would be led toward the direction of investigation the assassin had intentionally guided; perhaps the assassin just had a grudge against Prince Xisi!

He still needed to synthesize other information, but generally speaking, he already had a suspect in mind.

……

"Mage Aisite, I need to know all the information regarding Prince Xisi's visit to Calimshan this time, including the purpose of this trip, who arranged it, the process of coordination with the Calimshan side, and even the investigation results of the accompanying personnel."

Regarding Prince Xisi's visit to Calimshan, Xia Duo had specifically asked Talafu, but the other party was unaware and only knew that Prince Xisi was coming; becoming a member of the reception staff was also an arrangement by Mairide Pasha.

As for Grand Executive Fahede, Xia Duo had hardly had any interaction with him and hadn't thought to ask at the time; after reading the intelligence provided by the Elves later, he would still have to find Jiabulile to ask, at least to cross-verify.

Regarding Xia Duo's request, Aisite did not refuse, as he had previously promised not to withhold any information related to the Prince's assassination.

"Prince Xisi's visit to Calimshan this time was at the behest of the Crown King to resolve the border conflict between the two countries. All itinerary arrangements, apart from the Prince's own entourage, were only known to the Calimshan side. Even the route through Mairide Pasha's territory was due to the other party's warm invitation. As for the investigation results of the Prince's entourage, no suspicion of betrayal has been discovered so far."

Aisite said this quite calmly, but both overtly and covertly, he was blaming the Calimshan side, especially Mairide Pasha; he almost pointed at the other party's nose to say they were the mastermind behind the scenes.

Xia Duo could understand the other party's feelings, but an investigation cannot be driven by emotion, so he continued to press: "Are you sure that the entire experience of every member of Prince Xisi's entourage from departure until now has been investigated?"

"Lord Xia Duo, what do you mean by this?!"

Aisite immediately raised his eyebrows, "Could it be that the people of my Kaitemier would harm their own Prince? Furthermore, they are all followers of Prince Xisi; what benefit would there be in harming their own master?"

"Then let me change the question: what is Prince Xisi's reputation like within Kaitemier? Does he have any enemies?"

"Lord Xia Duo, please mind the direction of your investigation! You should focus your main energy on the incident itself, rather than suspecting the Prince!"

Aisite's reaction was inexplicably intense, but what Xia Duo asked was a very ordinary question; generally, heinous incidents rarely escape elements like hatred or jealousy. Isn't it appropriate to ask what enemies the Prince might have?

Or was it that, deep down, Aisite actually hoped the Prince had been killed by the Calimshan people?

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo decided to temporarily set aside the questions for the Elves and go look at the investigation process and results from the Calimshan side first.

Originally, in a situation that did not involve the scene and only had humans present, it stood to reason that Aisite did not need to follow, just as when Xia Duo was at the Elven camp earlier, the accompanying Jiabulile had remained outside.

But Aisite had followed Xia Duo all the way into the Calimshan camp on the south side of the plaza, which planted a seed of suspicion in Xia Duo's heart.

If Aisite had a problem, then would Special Envoy Yilatite, who sent him, also have a problem? Or, going a step further, could the death of Prince Xisi have been orchestrated by Kaitemier itself?

This was vastly different from Xia Duo's previous direction of suspicion.

……

Inside the Calimshan camp.

Under the introduction of Jiabulile, a general of Calimshan met with Xia Duo's party. When he heard that Xia Duo wanted to obtain the investigation report on Prince Xisi's assassination, the general did not say a word and had his subordinate Scholar hand over the materials that had already been prepared to Xia Duo, while also mentioning—

"Scholar Bolin is one of the scholars who participated in the investigation previously. If Lord Xia Duo only looks at the report, there will inevitably be some unclear points. If you have any questions, you can ask him at any time."

"Hmm, thank you, General Hashimu, and Scholar Bolin!"

Subsequently, Xia Duo opened the thick stack of investigation reports made of Elven Paper in his hand. Only on the first page did he see that the Calimshan scholars shared his suspicion regarding the assassin's abnormal behavior, which led them to suspect the interior of Kaitemier.

But this was merely a suspicion, without any actual evidence to prove it, while Talibu, the second son of Mairide Pasha's heir, had assassinated Prince Xisi in public.

Although some suspected that Talibu had long been replaced by the real assassin, there was likewise no actual evidence to prove this; what the people saw was simply—Talibu followed his father to welcome Prince Xisi, and then assassinated the Prince at close range!

As the report went deeper, Xia Duo's brows gradually furrowed. The report indeed contained many suspicions pointing outside the Mairide Family, but the suspicion on the Mairide Family itself was also hard to clear.

The first point was, why would Mairide Pasha insist on inviting a Prince of an enemy country who had nothing to do with him? Even if it were a visiting Prince of an enemy country, shouldn't one avoid him at all costs at a time like this?

According to the explanation in the investigation report, Mairide Pasha received an order from Syl Pasha the day before Prince Xisi arrived, and the person who relayed the order was Talibu, who had ostensibly assassinated Prince Xisi and then committed suicide.

As for Syl Pasha's explanation of this matter, obviously, even if there really were an order, it would be impossible to admit it under these circumstances!

Xia Duo searched through the entire report and found no statement from Syl Pasha regarding this matter, let alone an explanation.

Only Fahede, in his capacity as Grand Vizier, represented Syl Pasha in demanding that the true culprit be identified as soon as possible to give the Kaitemier side an acceptable explanation.

It seems, it seems that the Calimshan side also has suspicions!

"Sigh—"