I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 73: Who did it?

Once inside the demolished mansion, the general began to carefully examine his surroundings while studying the ground.

The general frowned when he noticed something.

"Sir, I think you’ll be interested in this. This place, I think, is what they’re referring to," said the general, handing Owen a morning newspaper.

On the front page was a headline that read:

"The Merchant Family of Merchant Tower found guilty of treason against the Kingdom of Linnava for participating in the Massacre of the Border Villages.

In a single night, they were exterminated by the kingdom’s forces, which have managed to trace the threads of a secret organization working for the Varhat Empire."

-

Owen frowned as he read the note and clenched the newspaper. ’We have a damn rat,’ he thought.

But this rat wasn’t just any rat. It was a cunning one, capable of using pre-set missions to its advantage.

’I issued this mission and it went to instructor Mervan, who gave it to student Edward and his group... The rat’s target must be among us.’

Was it him, and were they just trying to sabotage him?

Was it Mervan, and were they trying to frame him for something? Or maybe the rat was Mervan himself?

He couldn’t rule out that the rat was targeting Edward; he is a Lux, after all. Or that it was targeting Aurora, being so talented. But...

’Who do you work for, you piece of trash? You think you can hide from me? I’ll make you show yourself.’ Owen was furious and soon stopped snooping around.

"This mission was completed in a peculiar way, and the students don’t seem to have anything to do with it. Even so, they were involved in some way, so keep an eye on the group. I want to know who was responsible for demolishing this place."

"Under what orders did he do it? Demolishing a place that would serve as evidence is the stupidest decision he could have made," he said, though he revealed nothing about his thoughts.

"I’ll investigate and get to the bottom of the situation. I’ll let you know then."

"Very well. Let’s go back," Owen replied and started walking.

But suddenly he stopped and turned around, curious. He seemed to have heard the chirping sound of a strange bird.

"A small anomaly flying?" he asked, as he tried to find it.

"Hm? What is it, sir?" asked the general, looking up at the sky. "Was there something there?"

Owen couldn’t find it either, so he shook his head. "I must have imagined it," he replied and turned back the way he came.

--

It was 10 a.m. on a day off from school.

Edward usually got up early, but since he had come back late from training last night, preparing to go to a dungeon, he had no choice but to get up late.

As soon as he got up, he found Arnold in the same position as the first day they met.

"It’s weird for you to get up so late," Arnold said, reading his Batman book intently.

"Is there a new volume out?" Edward asked, going to make his breakfast.

"I went to buy it first thing this morning. This author is a genius. Can you believe I finally understood something that was in the first book? We’re on the sixth volume!" Arnold suddenly started talking about the novel.

He talked and talked without stopping, until Edward had finished eating... Even he was exhausted from talking so much.

"As always, you really like that story." Edward smiled and looked at the bookshelf. "When are you going to read the one I recommended? Even though it was written by an old classmate, once you read it you’ll know it’s not average. It’s professional level."

Arnold looked at the book he was referring to: The Pirate of the Night Ocean.

Arnold smiled. "I’ll read it as soon as I finish this volume."

"You’ve already said that with four novels..."

"Tsk, this one’s for real." Arnold complained.

Edward just shrugged. "Your loss."

Knock. Knock. Knock. The door rang at that moment. "Was Lander coming today?" Arnold asked, curious.

"It’s not Lander," Edward said, getting up.

’Why is Aurora coming here?’ he thought, and went to greet her. He knew because her scent reached him deep inside.

Recently, with the leveling up of his little caterpillars, he had developed an amazing sense of smell. The smells that were "recognizable" to him were easy to differentiate at certain distances.

Arnold stopped reading, curious.

Edward simply opened the door. "Aurora, I thought we’d meet in the dungeon," he said with a smile.

"Edward, something urgent has happened." She handed him a newspaper. "I came as soon as I heard."

Edward grabbed the newspaper. "What’s so urgent?" he wondered.

His body froze at that moment.

"Edward?" Arnold stood up when he saw that neither of them was speaking. "Has something happened?" he asked.

But neither of them answered him. Instead, Edward suddenly ran out, followed by Aurora.

He was perplexed.

"What the hell happened?" He couldn’t help but rush to get ready, and as if by divine miracle, he remembered exactly where his daggers were. In seconds, he was running after them...

--

The three of them stood stunned in front of the Merchant Mansion.

Edward quickly made his way through the rubble. The blood was already dry, but he knew this mansion very well, so he managed to make his way through the rubble to the approximate location of the main hall.

But he found nothing.

He froze in place, with a thousand questions in his mind.

What had happened? Why on earth had the entire family been found guilty and subsequently executed, along with the mansion? Was Mr. Silas dead? Was Miss Clara dead?

Who did it? Was it Mervan? Was it Owen?

"...Our investigation did not find them guilty." He felt a growing bitterness in his heart.

So did Aurora behind him.

"I’m sorry," she murmured. "My father told me that the men he sent were all killed. It wasn’t a simple raid."

"Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong," Edward replied.

"I promised to protect them, Ed," Aurora recalled. "...But I couldn’t even protect them for one day." Her voice broke as helplessness rose in her throat, and she handed him another newspaper.

"The first one is from yesterday. This one is from today."

Edward took it; it was a more elaborate newspaper. It obviously had no photographs, but it revealed the names of the traitors. There were many...

Scylas Merchant was named last.

Silas Merchant and Clara Merchant were named as the masterminds behind it all; according to the newspaper, both had been killed.

"Did we make a mistake?" Edward asked, but quickly shook his head. "No... the tools don’t lie."

They both understood. But what had happened?

"Did your father tell you anything about who did it?" Edward asked.

"No..." Aurora hadn’t lifted her head the whole time; she stared at a dried pool of blood on the floor as she answered.

Edward took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to calm down.

Just then...

Kiii

A soft but incessant sound reached his ears... For a brief moment, Edward thought it was his caterpillars trying to talk to him. But the sound came from above.

He looked up, curious. He had never heard such an intense screech before. What kind of bird was it?

As he looked up at the sky, he noticed a small bird descending toward him.

It was so tiny that he couldn’t help but wonder how such small animals could possibly exist.

The bird not only descended, but also landed on his shoulder and looked at him carefully. It seemed to want to scrutinize him...

"W-?" Just as he was about to ask, the bird disappeared from his shoulder and a scroll appeared in its place, falling into his hand.

In the distance, Arnold frowned. ’A small anomaly...’ he thought, and began to approach.