What did you do with the dice?

He and Custer arrived at the entrance to the barracks and found that there was indeed a team waiting at the gate, loaded with jars of wine. A group of soldiers, their eyes shining at the sight of the wine, had gathered around them. When they saw Lei Xiujia, they immediately shouted to him happily, "My lords, this way!"

The deliverymen also knew that Lei Xiukai and Custer were the ones in charge here, so they wiped the sweat off their face, took a shipping document with half of the Marquis's seal on it, and ran over to explain, "It's like this, my lords, we don't quite understand the rules here, but the military district in the Marquis's city sends some wine and drinks every month as a token of consolation and gift to relieve the boredom of the soldiers. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask around. We also follow the rules, and the procedures are all here.

It's okay if you don't drink it, can you please accept it so we can get the job done? Otherwise, if they find out later that we didn't entertain you well or embezzled it, I can't bear the consequences."

Custer: "Do you have the seal of approval from our Pearl Tear Territory?"

The other party was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "This... I really didn't. This is the order of the Marquis. How could I have thought of such things?"

Seeing that the other party had not informed his lord of this behavior, Caster was about to refuse righteously when he heard Lei Xiukai say with a smile: "No problem, there is an open space in the middle of the military camp, you can put the wine there."

The soldiers cheered after hearing this, but when Custer glanced over, the cheers dropped a little, and they only dared to stare at the wine jars with hungry eyes.

The other party hesitated for a moment and said, "There's actually a cellar in the barracks specifically for storing wine. We're very familiar with the location. Although it's cold now, leaving it outside won't be a problem, but if it gets exposed to the sun over the next couple of days, it might affect the taste."

Lei Xiujia: "Just do it. Do I need you to decide where to put it?"

The other party repeatedly said that they did not dare, so they asked the cooks to drive to the place designated by Lei Xiujia. In front of a group of soldiers, they put down more than a hundred wine jars one by one, stacked them up into two layers, and asked Custer to sign the list in person, stamp it, and go through the process. After saying thank you, he left.

Custer: "Aren't you afraid that Lord Sanita will come after you if you do this?"

Lei Xiukai replied with a grin, "Of course I'm afraid. If I drink a little, he'll just scold me at most, but if the whole army drinks, we'll lose our heads. I'm not used to following military discipline, but I still value my life. Besides, if this trip was truly safe, would the lord bring an entire army with him? If a fight breaks out later, we won't be able to escape if we get drunk."

Custer frowned, not knowing what he was thinking. "Do you think these soldiers can resist seeing this? In my opinion, refusing to accept it is the best way to refuse."

Lei Xiukai shook his finger and said, "Well, I have a plan. If you don't accept it, it will seem strange. It would be fine if no one knew about it, but now there are so many soldiers watching. If you reject it directly, how sad will they be?

They will then scold you behind your back for being stingy, secretly eating the food you prepared yourself, and now you don't give them a drink when you have the chance. They will then feel disrespectful to you. If this villain says too many bad things, even a wise Lord like Pearl Tears may remember one or two of his words, which will affect our status in his heart. It would be terrible if we were thrown into managing those places, as it is not easy to deal with the social relationships there.

And let's think of the worst case scenario. If they really have spiked the wine, not accepting it would only make them more desperate. Now that the adults are not here, how can we take such a risk? This is called a delaying tactic."

After escorting them out of the barracks, Lei Xiukai opened a jar of wine in front of a group of eager soldiers. The aroma immediately attracted everyone to rush over, wanting to get a bowl. At this moment, Lei Xiukai reached out to stop the crowd and took out a crystal. "Everyone, wait a moment. This is a magic prop given to me by the great wizard Sanita. It can test for toxicity."

He then placed the crystal into the wine, and it immediately turned green. Lei Xiukai was shocked and said, "How is this possible? There's poison in this wine! This might be a misjudgment. Let me take a look at the others."

After he wiped the crystal dry, it turned transparent again. Then he opened the next jar of wine and put the crystal in, and it turned green again.

"Ah? These despicable city dwellers!" A group of soldiers were immediately disappointed, then filled with fear. They began to angrily shout and demand the death of the person who poisoned them. "Damn it! We've fought all kinds of armies before. Let Lord Pearl Tear lead us to kill this damned Marquis!"

"Yes, they were the ones who tried to harm us first. We must kill them!"

Lei Xiukai signaled for everyone to be quiet and calm, then said to the messenger, "Go to the City Lord's Mansion immediately and tell Lord Sanitieta about this. Let him make the final decision. Everyone, please take turns guarding these things and spread the news to others. Don't let anyone who doesn't know about it touch them."

He then announced, "Although we can't eat the food from these cunning city dwellers, I met a few merchants from next door on the way. I bought a lot of live pigs for everyone out of my own pocket. Although we're out of wine, you can all enjoy a feast of meat tonight. These pigs were killed alive on the spot, and they're guaranteed to be poison-free!"

When the soldiers saw that there was something delicious to eat, they forgot about the poisoned wine and cheered:

"it is good!!!"

"Long live Lord Lei Xiujia!!!"

Even Custer found it unbelievable. He glanced at the stone in Lei Xiujia's hand that had turned transparent again and whispered, "It's just a fluorescent stone. It turns green when you input magic power into it. And they actually believed it?"

Lei Xiukai waved his hand and lowered his voice to Custer, "How could these soldiers know magic? How could someone who knows magic be a soldier? They've been standing right here with you and me for a long time. In their eyes, what Grand Mage Sanita says is absolute. How could they not believe it?"

Custer still felt this was inappropriate: "You are issuing orders in the name of Lord Sanitta. What if the Marquis really is just being kind? You are deliberately creating conflict between our two families."

Lei Xiujia: "Haha, even with good intentions, we can't let them drink. Besides, what's the point of these soldiers getting angry? The big guys are the key. Lord Pearl Tear has agreed to cooperate. Let alone these soldiers, even we can't disobey orders, right? Is it important whether there are conflicts or not?

As long as Lord Pearl Tear and Lord Sanitita don't give orders, they can only shout a few words here. But this is just right. How about we make a small bet on whether Lord Sanitita will publicly punish me after knowing this? I have a very good enchanted knife on hand.

Custer snorted coldly: "No bet."

Lei Xiukai shrugged his shoulders, thinking with regret that this guy Custer didn't fall for it.

----

Rusalka is indeed in big trouble.

The screams of the maid beside him made him a little distracted, and in front of him was the corpse of Marquis Dia, lying on the chair with a large charred hole running through his heart and the backrest. There were also several guards around him who were also dead, and even a mage with a terrified look on his face. These made up the tragic crime scene drawing of the office, which truly confirmed Sanita's ominous premonition.

Phoenix used black mist to cover the maid's mouth, which was like a pressure cooker making exploding sounds, and the world finally became quiet.

"Tsk tsk." Rusalka walked over to the crime scene without hesitation, pacing back and forth like a seasoned detective. He squatted down to examine each body carefully, then touched his beardless philtrum and expressed his opinion: "There's no doubt about it. This is definitely not suicide, but murder."

Sanita rolled his eyes and motioned Rusalka to move away: "If you can't see, just stand aside and don't block my view."

Sanitieta walked over and looked around for a while, then stole a lot of valuables from them. He stuffed them all into his clothes before standing up and saying, "These guards are definitely quite powerful. This mage still has two unused spell scrolls, one for blindness and the other for an unknown dark attribute spell. But they were all pierced through the vitals, killing them instantly."

Sanitieta pointed at the mage. "Except for him, it seems they wanted to be absolutely sure, or perhaps he had some special protective measures, so they didn't kill him in one go. Instead, they destroyed his protective robes and several life-saving barrier items, then used some means to inhale flames or high-temperature air into his lungs, preventing him from breathing normally and casting spells. Then they killed him with a single blow. That's why there are burn marks from his nose to his throat."

Rusalka: (Brother, I've never heard of someone who studied law becoming a forensic scientist? Did you awaken your professional abilities?)

Sanitieta: (Although forensic medicine has nothing to do with the law, I do know a little bit. I've thought about representing criminal cases in the future, and I'd need to have some understanding of the methods of crime to defend them. So I've read some books on this and learned a little bit.)

Rusalka: (I think you're just short of knowing how to do it... Oh, you really can, you're invincible, buddy. I think why don't you just stay at home and leave some food for your colleagues?)

Sani Tieta: (I might not know how to cook after I go back. Besides, if I don’t know how to make pancakes, I’ll never be able to take over the future jobs of 80% of my classmates in the same major.)

Rusalka was very puzzled: (What does making pancakes have to do with studying law?)

Instead of explaining to Rusalka, Sanita posted a haha ​​in the PL channel, which confused Rusalka.

Forget it, let’s just look at the reality. Rusalka asked his brother: “What about the number of people on the other side?”

Sanita: "Based on the traces of violence at the scene, there was probably only one person, and the possibility of two cannot be ruled out. However, the key point is not the number of people, but the order of death. The Marquis must have died first because he was sitting on a chair, and the hole on the back of the chair fits the size of the wound, which means that the Marquis did not stand up until his death.

Then, the person who took action must be someone the Marquis trusted. After meeting the Marquis, he launched a surprise attack, and after the guards reacted, he killed them one by one."

Rusalka turned around and asked the maid who seemed to have calmed down a lot but still sat on the ground with weak legs: "After breakfast today, has anyone entered Marquis Dia's room?"

The maid replied tremblingly, "I...I don't know. I was just leading the way for you. I remember the Grand Duke asked me to lead the way. I went in and spoke to the Marquis for about ten minutes before coming out. But the Marquis was still fine at that time. He even told me to ask the kitchen to make some snacks and send them over after I sent the Grand Duke back. I don't know what happened after that. Ladies and gentlemen, you have to ask me to lead the way."

Rusalka was a little depressed: (Alas, this kind of investigation is my least favorite plot. You said that it would be better if Marquis Dia installed a camera in his office, or used a stand-in [Melancholy Blues] to review the case.)

Sanita: (It's the same with having two sentries at the door, but I don't think anyone would set up sentries at the door of their own office just to make it easier to find the murderer after their death. People usually leave guards inside the office, so our office is completely unguarded.)

Rusalka: (Because I'm the final boss, haha. Okay, so do you have any clues about the murderer?)

Sanita: (No, but we can inform others while communicating with the defenders and preparing for battle.)

Rusalka was secretly delighted: (Didn’t you say you wouldn’t fight? Why are you fighting again? Fine, fine, then I’ll just take this city with all my might. Tell me, where should we start?)

Sanita: (Are you okay? Who told you to attack the city? Defend the city! Just in case! Forget it, I'll send two elves to give instructions. Do you have your seal with you? Write a letter to the chief of staff of the city defense forces here, the eldest son of Marquis Dia, and have him seal off the city, issue martial law, and quickly search for any suspicious individuals in the city.)

Rusalka: (Will he listen to me?)

Sanita: (No.)

Rusalka: (Then why am I writing this?)

Sanitita: (I'm just taking precautions. If he's about to die, he might remember this letter.)

My brother started talking nonsense again, just like the black cat Hydra.

Forget it. Rusalka asked the servants to inform other people about the assassination of Marquis Dia. At the same time, she found the letter paper in the room, took out the pearl tear seal she carried with her, wrote a letter according to Sanitita's instructions, and handed it to Sanitita.

Sanita put the letter away and said, "I'll go back and find two elves to deliver it. You stay here and watch the crime scene. After all, most premeditated murderers will return to admire their handiwork. If you see servants or the like approaching, you can cooperate with Phoenix to capture them."

Rusalka made an OK gesture and said, "Go quickly and come back soon."

Sanita: "I'm not sure I'll be back soon. I need to find Rewi Alley again. It would be great if I could contact Theresa, but I don't think Theresa will tell the truth, or even be willing to show up."

Rusalka wanted to take the opportunity to say something naughty: "If Theresa is willing to come out, please also send a message for me, saying that if I don't see you for a day, if..."

Sanitta quickly said to the void beside him: "Does Phoenix have anything to say?"

Black mist emerged beside Rusalka, and Phoenix shook her head.

Phoenix's presence was extremely low the moment she entered the Shadow Plane. Her appearance frightened Rusalka so much that she broke out in a cold sweat and quickly changed her words, "It would be best if she could explain the situation clearly."

Sanita gave an OK gesture and turned away.

Chapter 201 The Devil’s Feast (3)

After using [Knocking Magic] to easily pry open the doors of the two elves' rooms, Sanita ignored the fact that they were pointing at the Fireball Scroll and the arrow, and coughed dryly.

The voice startled the two girls who were happily discussing something. They jumped up from the bed like two grasshoppers. Sanitieta didn't pay any attention to them. He said to them who were busy sorting their clothes, "I have a task for you two."

Shana quickly put away the arrow hidden behind her back, blushing slightly and pretending to be angry at Sanitieta: "Teacher Sanitieta, how can you just walk into the room of the opposite sex? Are all humans that casual? Besides... I haven't hung this arrow outside yet. Of course, if you agree, I will forgive your disrespectful behavior."

Alice didn't care about her best friend's arrogance. She was surprised by Sanita's sudden opening of the door. "What kind of lock picking magic is this? Can you teach me?"

"This is an emergency. We'll talk later." Sanitita took out a letter and said, "One person should deliver this letter to the leader of the East Wall City Guard and tell him to contact Lord Pearl Tear if needed. Another person should return to our camp and have Custer immediately issue a Level 1 war preparation order, prioritizing the deployment of defenses within the camp."

The two elves suddenly showed a dejected expression. "Why are we going to war again? You humans are really belligerent. Even the El Empire can't be defeated by you."

Well, regarding the two elves' complaints on this point, it was a rare point that Sanita couldn't refute - this Rusalka really would fight wherever he went, even he himself found it outrageous.

Sanita didn't say anything too definite: "It's not certain that there will be a war, but we're just in case."

The two elves just complained, but the task still had to be done, so they started playing rock-paper-scissors in front of Sanita to decide the division of labor.

In the end, the victor Shana happily went to the military camp to deliver the message, while Alice came dejectedly to get the letter - it seemed that both of them wanted to take the opportunity to command the human army for fun.

The two of them decided the outcome in one game and were willing to accept the loss. If it were Rusalka, she would definitely clamor for a best-of-three game if she lost.

"By the way, where's Ai Li? Is he in the next room?"

Shana had already run out, so Alice, who hadn't left yet, turned around and replied, "I saw her out for a walk. It seems she went to the small pavilion by the pond to chat with the old man from the Holy Light Kingdom. She said she wanted him to send a letter to her hometown when he returned, to let the neighbors know she was safe, and to give her some local specialties."

Sanita nodded: "I understand."

Alice didn't leave, but asked, "Are all of you humans like this?"

Sanita: "What do you mean?"

Alice: "Wanting to go home, and writing to a neighbor who has nothing to do with you, just living in the tree hole next door, this behavior is very strange. Maybe she doesn't care about you at all. If she really cares about you, according to our elves, she would have set out here to find her.

Besides, going back to the forest is just waiting for Her Majesty the Queen to assign me new missions. It's better to be free and fun outside. I really want to live in Silver City forever, with food, drinks, and fun, and I don't even have to go on dangerous missions. There are so many people in the castle, everyone is different, and they will spend a lot of time cooking delicious food. I envy you humans' lives so much, haha."

Sanitta thought she just liked the "noble" life. Who wouldn't like to be a superior person? In fact, most of the common people in Sinidi envied the life of the elves - they didn't have to work hard every day to survive.

However, he was silent for a moment about her question, then replied, "Do you miss home? Of course I do. Everyone misses home. Maybe for you elves, it's just a place to live, but for humans, home is home. No matter how good life is outside, you have to go back home eventually, just like fallen leaves, you have to return to your roots."

Alice wanted to tease Sunita, but seeing the latter's serious expression, some reason seemed to make her jokes stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them. In the end, she could only nod, say "OK", and hurried away.

If she didn't leave now, she felt that she might be suffocated by Sanita's words and the oppressive aura emanating from him.

But Alice still didn't quite understand. It had only been less than half a month since she left Silver City. Why did she have to say it so seriously?

----

Rusalka finally waited until everyone arrived, and after the body was carried into the coffin, she didn't see any suspicious people.

Instead, he waited for a military messenger who said that the wine sent by the Marquis was poisoned. He thought to himself what a mess this was. Did Marquis Dia want to harm him before?

So he told this to Sanita, not caring whether it was true or not, or he might as well rebel.

Sanitieta said this was pure nonsense. "If a human marquis wanted to control us in his own territory, would he really need to poison the wine?" He thought it was probably just some trickery done by Lei Xiujia. But since we were already on level one combat readiness and the person was dead, there was no point in spreading rumors.

The death of Marquis Dia made the atmosphere in the City Lord's Mansion very depressing. The shadow of the murderer hung over everyone's head. Having lost its backbone, the entire City Lord's Mansion seemed a little leaderless at first. The servants put down their work and began to discuss the murder that occurred in the mansion in twos and threes. For a time, rumors spread and everyone was in danger.

Fortunately, the old nobleman Grand Duke De Lai was in charge here, and the eldest son of the Marquis rushed back quickly after hearing the news, and a crying little daughter. They jointly ordered the servants to keep their mouths shut and everything remained as usual, and only then did the entire city lord's mansion return to normal operation.

Henda Chris, the youngest daughter who preferred to live alone in a small garden villa in the city's wealthy district, and the first direct descendant to arrive upon hearing the tragic news, was now wiping tears with a handkerchief, choking with sobs as she gazed at the coffin and said, "How could my father have suffered such a thing? My Lords, please find the murderer and avenge my father."

There are only two things that give Rusalka the most headaches in his life. The first is mathematics, and the second is seeing women cry. He really wants to stop the girl from crying, but he feels that the words that pop up in his mind will probably not be convincing: What's the point of crying, woman? Can you cry the murderer to death by crying day and night?

Compared to his youngest daughter, the Marquis's eldest son is calmer. This may be because he has been practicing martial arts and studying since he was a child, and has also served as a staff member of the city defense army. Therefore, his personality is very stable. Of course, it is not ruled out that he is secretly happy when he thinks that it will soon be his turn to become a marquis.

But regardless, he was the only one who offered any useful advice. "Thank you very much for Lord Pearl Tear's reminder. Before coming here, I ordered the entire city to be sealed off for investigation. I also ask that you keep the news of my father's death a secret to prevent anyone from disrupting the city's security. I will take over my father's duties for the time being and continue to entertain you."

He paused, then continued, "Also, I'm very sorry, but could you please stay in the city until the murderer is identified?"

The old man from Esdi definitely had no objection, and Grand Duke Delei also nodded to show his understanding. As for Rusalka, he asked his brothers what they thought. Sanita thought there was no need to sing a different tune unless Rusalka was scared.

Rusalka was of course filled with fear: (Afraid? Brother, are you kidding? Even if I am afraid, I am only afraid of accidentally taking another city.)

Of course, the result was that nothing was found after a day of intensive interrogation. As expected by Sanitieta, this was a natural result. The murderer dared to kill a marquis and his guards in the marquis's house without anyone noticing. How could his true identity be discovered by the search of ordinary soldiers?

The rune that had deliberately used the Marquis's words before killing him was nothing more than a clumsy delaying tactic. It was a pity that he was just a guest after all and had no control over the overall situation. He could only take care of himself.

After lunch, Sanita also found Ai Li, but Ai Li said she didn't know when Theresa would convey her instructions.

Since Theresa did not show up to control Rewi Alley after Sanita asked him directly, it was probably because she did not want to see him, or there was some other reason why she could not control Rewi Alley. The plan to ask her had to be declared aborted.

Just when Sanitta was about to return to his room, he suddenly saw a person observing this side at the stairs. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the young man who followed Grand Duke Delei.

The young man was still a little hesitant, as if considering whether to come over and knock on the door, but when he saw Sani Tieta walking in the corridor, his face suddenly showed joy.

But when he saw Sanita slapping Mage Armor on him, acting as if he were an enemy and on guard, he revealed a somewhat amusing expression, raised his hands, and said in a low voice, "I actually want to see the Lord of Pearl Tears. Is he available now?"

Sanitieta frowned and asked, "Sir, I think our Zhulei family and the Delai family are not close enough to have a private conversation, right?"

The young man touched his nose, a look of helplessness on his face. "You are indeed right, but as the eldest son of Grand Duke Delai, I also want to improve the current situation for the sake of my family. I would like to put aside some of the differences and have a frank conversation with Lord Pearl Tear. I hope that Your Excellency the Mage can introduce me to someone like him."