In the empty land engulfed by an immense sense of bewilderment, the entire scene reconstruction taking place within Franz's Mana Visualization domain continued to play out. The transparent golden dome displayed past events with soundless precision, unraveling the time that had passed.
The scene reconstruction began by displaying the silhouette of the merchant guild leader stepping toward a man who, based on his posture and clothing, was believed to be the dean of the Astoria Academy.
The Guild Master was seen handing over a box filled with numerous pieces of jewelry to the man.
After the transaction was completed, the two figures were seen shaking hands with expressions of mutual benefit.
However, it was not that transaction that truly captured the attention of the King and the royal investigator, but rather another figure who suddenly entered their line of sight. Both of them widened their eyes slightly upon seeing the figure of a pink-haired youth.
Inside the reconstructed scene, the pink-haired youth was crouching in front of the shelter house, seemingly doing something.
What happened next was that the massive building was sucked in and effortlessly stored into a small magic bag hanging at his waist.
"Who is the creator of a magic bag capable of holding a house that large?" King Estadian muttered, his tone radiating an unconcealable mix of confusion and awe.
The scene continued to roll. The pink-haired youth was then approached by the Guild Master, who had just finished his transaction with the dean. They appeared to exchange a few words before the pink-haired youth finally raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction at the corner of the vast land.
When King Estadian and Franz's gazes automatically followed the direction pointed by the youth, both their hearts felt as if they stopped beating for a second.
There, in the designated corner of the land, they saw a bright white silhouette whose physical form could not be manifested within the domain.
The silhouette, which appeared busy doing something in front of a small shack, possessed the exact same form as what they had seen in the royal treasury and the palace library.
"Y-Your Majesty..." Franz's voice trembled violently. He pointed at the white silhouette with a shaking hand. "I-Is... that the person who infiltrated the palace last night?"
"Yes, looking at his form that absolutely cannot be read by your magic, it seems he is indeed that bastard infiltrator!"
The two of them continued to stand in tension, watching the reconstructed scene where the white silhouette finished his work of destroying the shack, then approached the Guild Master to conduct another transaction.
King Estadian became deeply curious about what kind of secret transaction was taking place before his eyes. However, the King realized that now was not the right time to ponder over merchant affairs. He had to immediately uncover the true identity of the infiltrator who had thoroughly looted the entire contents of his palace.
A few moments later, the reconstructed scene inside the Mana Visualization domain displayed a highly familiar moment. The Victoriaz Kingdom's royal carriage arrived and stopped perfectly on the empty land.
Shortly after, the silhouettes of King Estadian and his third son, Prince Lionias, were seen stepping out of the carriage.
And it was right at that crucial moment that the King's expression instantly changed. His previously tense face now displayed a burning fury. His eyes glared sharply, the veins on his neck bulging as he watched firsthand the white silhouette talking to his past silhouette.
There was only one person he had spoken to directly, face-to-face, that morning.
"Arvin Vedegra...." the King hissed, full of wrath.
At the same time, he also felt incredibly angry over the useless report previously given by his third son, who had confidently stated that Arvin Vedegra could not possibly be involved in the capital's chaos because he was currently proposing to a prince in the Flamort Kingdom.
However, in reality, this evidence right before his eyes was irrefutable. Arvin Vedegra was indeed the mastermind behind the looting that occurred inside the palace.
King Estadian's mind began piecing together the threads of all these events. His curiosity exploded. He desperately wanted to know the mastermind behind the disappearance of the slave tattoo on the back of the Larde tribe youth, the mass liberation of the prisoners from the underground prison, as well as the mysterious assassin who had killed his second son, Wiltan.
All of that chaos had to be interconnected, and Arvin Vedegra was also the person who must be held responsible for all the other matters.
King Estadian turned his body and looked at his investigator.
"Franz!"
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Stop your magic! We are returning to the palace right now!" King Estadian commanded. He then stepped toward the royal carriage. "There is another task you must carry out there!"
Franz's eyes widened unconsciously upon hearing the King's command. At this moment, he was already feeling exhausted. Using Mana Visualization to rewind time ten days into the past in such a vast area had drained a massive amount of mana from his body.
"B-But, Your Majesty...." Franz refused in a highly polite and cautious tone, trying his absolute best not to offend the King, who was consumed by anger. "...to be honest, the mana inside my core is almost entirely depleted. May I rest for a few hours to recover my mana first? If I force myself, I am not sure I will be able to maintain my consciousness."
Hearing the words of refusal coming from his best investigator's mouth, King Estadian's steps momentarily halted. Even though in his heart he desperately wanted to immediately uncover the identity of the mysterious assassin who had caused the death of his second son, the King suppressed his ego.
He could not force Franz to perform a high-level tracking task when the man was almost completely out of mana.
"Rest at the palace!" King Estadian finally decided, having no other choice. "Once your mana is recovered, you must immediately carry out your task to uncover the person who killed my second son!"
The decision given by the King allowed Franz to heave a long sigh of relief. The transparent golden dome surrounding them slowly faded and disappeared, returning the empty land to its original state. He now had precious time to rest and recover his mana before undertaking the next arduous task.
"Thank you very much for your understanding and generosity, Your Majesty." Franz said while bowing his body, paying his respects to the King.