Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1558: Infighting Flockers: Suspects

Now understanding that touching the axe in Baron Felipe's head was probably a bad idea, he made sure to keep his hands to his side and try to limit any investigations he could make by using nothing but his innate aether sense.

"I'm not really detecting anything weird…but maybe that means he's been dead for a lot longer than anticipated?"

"You're not wrong, but there are some clues that can't be found with aether…give me a minute."

The scene of the crime was none other than the wooden cabin that Baron Felipe built with his own two hands. As such, the only way in or out of the place was the front doors, which led directly to the main area of the cabin, and possibly the windows.

The interior of the cabin consisted of a large chair situated in front of a fireplace, a small dining area, a small study, and a hallway leading to a bedroom. In other words, a bachelor pad in all but name.

For all intents and purposes, this appeared to be a straightforward crime.

Baron Felipe was seated on his chair, probably relaxing after doing heaven knows what…until someone snuck up from behind and gave him impromptu brain surgery.

Zhen Yue was going to do the same thing as her beloved, investigate the death before her, but she was not as limited as her beloved. Thanks to her formula and the strange collection of aether arts that only she had access to due to her formula's affinity to the moon, Zhen Yue's perception of reality was a little…different.

In fact, the moment she had noticed the body, she had begun using an aether art that amped up her senses to the point that the only beings that could rival her ability to smell, see, and hear were snakes, owls, and bats, respectively.

Once this art had fully activated, a whole new layer to the scene revealed itself to Zhen Yue's perception. A layer that revealed that this murder wasn't an assassination but a setup.

Just as Zhen Yue anticipated.

"This body…is way too cold," Zhen Yue noted as her snake-like tongue licked the air and noticed the chill surrounding the Baron's body. "And the blood splattering around the axe wound is way too dry. It seems like he wasn't killed today…"

She had found it incredibly weird how the Baron was set up in such a neat manner and that there was a severe lack of blood anywhere in the room aside from where the axe met the man's skull.

As a member of the Zhen Clan, Zhen Yue had undergone aether beast butchering training just like her cousins, and knew her way around how an axe could be used to either dismantle or dispatch a beast when swung with enough force.

Blood and gore would splatter everywhere like dark red mud and would be an absolute bitch to remove, and not just in a physical sense.

The dead man before her and the surrounding area that should've been the site of his murder were a little too clean.

In her eyes, Zhen Yue could see that there was an attempt to clean and even an attempt to hide traces of movement. Fortunately, nobody could move perfectly without leaving little traces, not even ghosts.

"There are no sign of any footsteps in here leading in or out of the building. Which is impossible unless the person in question was hovering, but that kind of flight should usually leave traces of aether behind. Unless they're an Anima wielder of a sufficient lock level..."

"That can't be the case," Santiago interjected with a firm voice. "I'm not as good as you when it comes to detect physical changes, but I do know a trick to detect anima in the air. I haven't sensed anything in the slightest."

"Then that means...aha! There is something here."

Kneeling to the ground, Zhen Yue finally found traces of environmental tampering.

It was subtle, but she could see traces of swept away dirt and mud, a sign that whomever set up the body in this way made sure to clean up after themselves as a means of messing with evidence.

Shoeprints weren't always unique, but they did help narrow down a suspect list.

"Darling, I just realized that merely determining that Baron Felipe was murdered and left here in such a manner is only the tip of a rather large iceberg. You're more familiar with the political landscape of your own kingdom, do you know anyone in particular for could leave Baron Felipe in such a state? Who would benefit?"

Occam's razor dictates that the most obvious explanation was usually the correct one. In this case the razor dictates that the person who killed Baron Felipe was probably a member of an opposing faction, who was looking to get into their good graces. However, there was also the very real possibility that whomever did this, was trying to move up the social ladder in Prince Alder's circle.

"Well...off the top of my head, I know that he and Baron Maxim had been bitter rivals since they were both elevated to the current status by the previous king," Santiago stated as he dug into his memories of likely suspects.

Baron Maxim was, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of Baron Felipe in almost every way.

Baron Felipe preferred a simple life, Baron Maxim preferred extravagance.

Baron Felipe made himself a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, Baron Maxim bought the biggest mansion in the biggest city in all of the kingdom.

Baron Felipe had no servants assisting him, Baron Maxim had multiple servants and was even rumored to have illegal slaves.

And whereas Baron Felipe was supporting Prince Alder because he believed that the young man was the one who was the most worthy of the title of king, Baron Maxim threw his lot in on Princess Santana because he believed she was the most suitable one for the crown. That, and because he would massively benefit in a financial way if she became Queen, but those discussions were too lengthy to explain right now.

Either way, he was the most likely suspect.

"There's also this former wandering warrior known as Greataxe Holden, who has recently joined up with Prince Dolma," Santiago said after explaining about Baron Maxim. "Given the murder weapon of choice, it seems possible."

Greataxe Hold was, and still is, an aether warrior famous for using a specially made battle-axe in battle.

Decades ago, Holden and Felipe had gotten into a fight over a rare piece of aether mineral that both were aiming to use to make themselves a powerful aether treasure.

Felipe managed to win that fight because of his counteroffensive fighting style, but it was an incredibly close fight due to Holden's powerful axe strikes.

As for the royal that Holden had pledged his allegiance to, Prince Dolma, there was... actually a lot to say.

Prince Dolma was the most militant of the contenders for the throne, and he was considered the most dangerous due to not only his brilliant mind for tactics, but his personal strength as well.

However, Prince Dolma was known to be the honest to a fault type. As in, he wouldn't perform any underhanded tactics if he wanted you dead, he would just straight up shove a spear down your throat. Then again, the same could not be said for some of his recent allies.

Dolma had taken in warriors from all walks of life into his faction, and some of those warriors were...less than honorable, it put it politely.

"And if we are going down the route of betrayal...Baron Felipe actually has an estranged son."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, it's a...long story, and he might not actually be his son."

Baron Felipe, despite the bachelor pad, was actually married for a number of years to a lovely Baroness by the name of Constantina.

However, Constantina was known to be a touch unfaithful...with permission and assistance from Felipe.

To make a very long story short, Constantina and Felipe once participated in an orgy that led to the former getting impregnated and nobody could determine who the father was due to the nature of the aforementioned gathering.

Regardless, both Felipe and Constantina raised their son, Bastion, with all the love they could muster.

Unfortunately, Bastion grew up to be a little shit head, who then became the aether warrior equivalent of a crackhead, only to miraculously end up the leader of an underworld group known as the Fangs of the Deep Wolves.

This incident was too much for Constantina to bear, so she ended up dying of a broken heart, while Baron Felipe himself denounced his son and basically left his inheritance to the wind.

At least, that's the official story.

Nobody knows that actual machinations between Felipe and Bastion, but it had been reported that this estranged son had been spotted working with Prince Alder in a more clandestine fashion.

"And thus...we have our suspect list," Zhen Yue concluded.

Evidently, it was just in time too. By the time they finished cooking up their hypothesis, their aether senses went off like crazy.