Chapter 712
Chapter 712
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 712
Chapter Title: The Witch of the Golden Coin (8)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Fatigue, hunger, pain.
Ominous foreboding, a sense of crisis, vigilance.
Such negative emotions and sensations are alarm mechanisms designed for human survival.
And Rinne, bearer of a cursed body, could detect threats and dangers more acutely than anyone else.
"......"
Olfactory detection is the process by which scent particles inhaled into the nasal mucosa are converted from chemical signals into electrical ones.
The key point being that scents are ultimately particles.
These particles linger longer when adsorbed onto something rather than floating freely in the air.
Rinne dropped flat to the ground like a hunting dog.
Closing her eyes, she followed the trail of the blood-scented particles tickling her nose.
Soon, she found a puddle of scent particles far denser than those drifting in the air—small droplets.
Sure enough, Si-woo's blood had been splattered across this floor.
But the amount wasn't much.
At most, like a nosebleed.
As Rinne crawled along the floor a bit further, she encountered another blood scent stimulating her olfactory nerves.
This time, it wasn't Si-woo's—it belonged to someone entirely different.
Almost certainly Logi's.
"......!"
Rinne's shoulders stiffened abruptly as she pressed herself flat against the floor, tracking the scent.
The spot was at the end of the wall.
Rinne slowly rose to her knees and examined the location like a forensic investigator surveying a crime scene.
A seasoned swordswoman like her could reconstruct the situation from how the blood droplets had spread.
Combining the data gleaned from her sense of smell and reviewing it in her mind's eye.
A vivid red floor and wall came into view.
Blood spatters radiating outward like a mushy tomato flung to the ground.
A pool of blood at the center.
The spray had been so forceful that droplets reached fairly high up the wall.
This pattern suggested not a bladed weapon, but a blunt one.
"......"
Assuming Si-woo's primary weapon was a spear, Rinne clenched her fist.
And mimicked slamming it down with full force.
This was it.
Whether Logi had been conscious at that moment was unknown, but she had likely been executed by Si-woo in this manner.
Comparing the blood volumes simply, Si-woo had suffered only minor injuries compared to Logi.
"...Why."
Rinne sank deep into thought.
She had already mentioned that acts of violence were forbidden in Hexennacht.
And that Clifford, who effectively held the city's administrative power, would intervene directly.
Contrary to his mild appearance, Si-woo wasn't a fool—she knew that from observation.
He distinguished between outward facade and inner intent, exercised sound judgment, and even employed cunning subtly.
So why would someone like him commit such an act without any countermeasures?
Two possibilities emerged here.
First, Si-woo had exploited a gap in the surveillance net to kill Logi and attempt to flee from under Rinne's watch.
In that case, erasing scents and disposing of the body would be attempts at evidence tampering.
Coldly assessing it, the first scenario had low probability.
The savage bloodstains splattered all the way to the wall proved it.
What Rinne read from those stains was two downward strikes fueled by extreme passion.
Yet Si-woo wasn't the type to lose reason to battle frenzy.
On the contrary, he possessed the temperament of a strategic warrior who grew calmer and more rational as adrenaline surged in his veins.
Even when clashing directly with Rinne of the 22nd Hierarchy, he had maintained perfect composure—would he overexcite against an easier opponent like Logi?
Unlikely.
If it had been premeditated murder from the start, he would have handled it far more coldly and cleanly.
Thus, the scales tipped toward the second possibility.
Second, an accidental conflict led to Logi's death, and upon grasping the severity, he fled.
In this case, assuming Rinne wouldn't cover for his mistake, he had run away.
This explanation carried far more persuasive weight.
Amid it all, Rinne felt an inexplicable sense of betrayal.
She thought they had built some bond.
They had trained together daily toward greater strength, even shared a bed.
She had never treated him harshly, and had even learned to cook for him.
If it meant escaping her cormorant-like life, she was prepared to devote her remaining days to him.
Yet Si-woo hadn't trusted Rinne at all.
Compared to the incidental murder in Hexennacht, that fact inflicted greater psychological damage.
Of course, such reasoning was unlike Rinne's usual self.
For the first time, she had found someone who provided stability without the need to pursue strength alone, plunging her into extreme excitement and obsessive thinking.
Her resolve to marry him, and learning to cook under the guise of bridal training, stemmed from the same impulse.
Yet Rinne refused to face the truth she could see if she just calmed down a little.
Once fixated, her concentration excluded even the cold inner voice of reason.
The reason was simple.
Rinne's life had always been directed toward a single point.
Multitasking—doing two things at once—had always been an extravagance beyond her grasp.
Her hazy goal sharpened into clarity.
"I must find him."
The situation was far from ordinary.
Circumstances before and after didn't matter.
He had committed murder in Hexennacht.
If it had been inside the mansion, that would be one thing, but surveillance devices dotted the outer areas, so his entry into Logi's mansion had likely been observed.
Logi was a witch with frequent external activities; within a day or two, someone would question her sudden disappearance.
She had to find and protect him before then.
If Rinne had done the same, she would have at least faced a fair trial.
There would be a chance to argue who struck first, the reasons for the fight, and why blood was unavoidable.
But Rinne had long navigated the intricacies of public factions and knew their ways.
Si-woo was a male witch—a prize anyone would covet.
In the scramble to claim him, they'd fabricate crimes where none existed; a fair trial was out of the question.
Especially now, with Hexennacht turned into a battleground between moderates and hardliners.
Unless a Grand Witch pursued him personally, an organized force—at minimum, dozens of elite Grand Witches—would be mobilized for the search.
"......"
After a final sweep of the mansion just in case, Rinne found nothing and stepped out, chewing over an inexplicable unease.
A gut feeling that she had overlooked something nagged at her mind.
This intuition, filtering unconsciously missed information to issue warnings, was one of the sixth senses she trusted deeply.
She reviewed the situation once more.
"Something's off."
Inconsistencies stood out.
If Si-woo had cleaned the scene, it was to delay pursuit.
Erasing footprints, removing the body, using purification magic—it was evident.
Purification magic couldn't perfectly eliminate all scent particles, to reiterate.
But a Grand Witch of his caliber could manage countermeasures.
To overlook particles at the spot where the body had lain?
It felt sloppy somewhere.
Less like measures to conceal the incident and more...
Like something deliberately left on display.
Then why would Si-woo leave subtle evidence of murdering Logi?
No.
Was it really left by Si-woo?
Rinne considered the possibility of a third party intervening.
"......"
At that realization, Rinne became aware she was trapped in confirmation bias.
She simply wanted to believe Si-woo hadn't fled because he didn't trust her.
Ignoring that inner whisper.
Judging rationally by visible evidence alone yielded impossible conclusions.
- Si-woo killed Logi.
- But his disappearance wasn't flight from lack of trust in Rinne.
- A third party intervened and hid Si-woo.
- To sow confusion in the deductions up to this point, they left manipulated evidence instead of perfect concealment.
No matter how much she trusted her instincts, this scenario was no deduction—it was the ranting of a shaman on a stage.
Nothing but foolish blind faith abandoning reason.
Yet.
Rinne would believe in Si-woo.
No matter how irrational.
Even if it was just a lump of absurd delusions.
The virtues of a wise wife extended beyond serving warm, delicious meals.
The most crucial was trust.
A prudent spouse must offer her husband boundless faith, no matter how suspicious the circumstances.
Rinne's wavering goal realigned sharply.
Not that her husband had caused trouble and fled in fear of reprimand,
But that he was ensnared in some vile scheme and seeking aid—she resolved to act on that conviction.
In that case, the most likely culprits holding him were the moderates or hardliners.
The hardliners had no need for the hassle of secretly spiriting away a criminal.
Under the banner of upholding Hexennacht's order, they could execute him and provoke Tiferet Duke's wrath to ignite war.
Based on this belief, the moderates—namely, the Solidus Trading Company—were the prime suspects.
Rinne moved.
Saving Si-woo, who had committed a crime in Hexennacht, was tantamount to turning against Hexennacht itself.
But no matter.
Even if it meant making the entire city her enemy, she would rescue Si-woo.
That was her sole focus now.
======