A few days later.
Karl was sitting in front of Richard's grave. His bodyguards, who had been protecting him this whole time, noticed the change in Karl. This might be the first time they saw the prince being this sad after losing someone.
It was truly a lot to take that day. After finding Richard getting killed, the base was in chaos. Richard was the hope that could strengthen them, yet, someone actually killed him brutally.
After that day, the prince asked them to investigate the matter. And there was only one living witness who didn't die in that attack. She was Richard's bodyguard.
The prince was so mad that he wanted to kill her, but she was the only one who knew about the murderer. Even when he tried to investigate the cause, there was no clue or whatsoever. All the surveillance cameras actually didn't pick anything.
Hence, he had to keep Richard's bodyguard alive and ask her as soon as she woke up.
Still, this sadness and anger kept welling up in Karl's heart. He couldn't help but remember how Richard was buried. He buried Richard with the case that he held back then. His pale, lifeless face would always remind him of this day.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtSuddenly, someone rushed into the grave while shouting. "Your Highness, Your Highness!"
The bodyguards tried to block him, but the other person immediately stated his business. "She's woken up!"
"!!!" Karl widened his eyes in shock. He immediately said while turning around, "Let's go then. Does anyone know about her being alive?"
"No. I haven't told anyone about her."
"Good. Let's go to her." Karl nodded. After that incident, he hid the fact by telling everyone that Richard and his bodyguard were killed. Meanwhile, the real bodyguard had been transferred to a secret room where she got the priority of treatment without anyone knowing. Even the doctor couldn't leave that place until everything was finished.
Knowing that she had woken up, Karl knew that the moment of truth would finally come.
When he entered the secret room, he saw her lying on the bed helplessly. There was a trace of regret reflected in her eyes as if she had failed him. She seemed to be saddened as well by Richard's death.
"What happened that day? Who attacked you?" Karl didn't hesitate to ask.
"Your Highness. She's still too weak. I'm afraid that she can't answer you." The doctor in charge of her warned him. "In fact, if she has some strength left, I'm afraid she's going to commit suicide."
Karl gritted his teeth. If Richard was still alive, he didn't care whether this woman died or not. But now that Richard was dead and the only one who knew about it was her, she had to survive no matter what.
"I understand. Make sure she's alive. I won't forgive you if she's dead."
"Her vital is weak, but it's quite stable. So, if she continues the treatment, she will be able to recover sooner or later." The doctor nodded with a serious expression, assuring the prince.
However, it might be because of her failure or her determination that she weakly opened her mouth, saying something.
"Masked… Punch… Torrential… Magic… Power…"
Those were the five words that she uttered with the last strength in her body before her consciousness became fuzzy again.
"What do you mean by those words?" Karl tried to ask her, but she ended up passing out.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Masked, Punch, Torrential, Magic, Power? No, it should be Torrential Magic Power…" Karl looked down with a serious expression, contemplating. "Punch, a punch that can let out a torrential magic power? And a masked man?
"But there is no record of the attack, no wait… There is no record? The fact that it has no record shows something else." Karl dropped his jaw to the ground, never expecting this to be the case.
He turned around and asked the guy who had informed him earlier. "Tell me, how many people Griffith Family managed to rank up their skills?"
"Eh? Ah?!" The guy was confused for a moment but immediately took out his Skylink to check the data. "There were a total of 12 people asking for ranking up from the Griffith Family and only one person managed to rank up. Ah!"
It seemed that he had realized it as well.
"Griffith Family, you bastard!" The prince roared in anger.
The guy was startled. His back was drenched in sweat because they finally realized what had happened. He muttered inwardly, "A punch that can cause a torrential magic power, there is one punch that is strong enough to do that. It was the Griffith Family's Magic Saint Fist Style.
"The fact that there was no record means this was the work of the Griffith Family, who is the number one family in espionage. Removing themselves in this situation is their forte, so there was only one influence who would do that.
"They took out their anger on Richard, who couldn't upgrade their skills. This was the scenario of the murder. Also, the expert from the Griffith Family is above average, so it's not surprising to be this way. But since even a Mythical Rank Expert couldn't even hold a candle against this masked man or even cause a little ruckus to alarm the other, it means the enemy was extremely powerful.
"That's why the suspect couldn't be any clearer. The Griffith Family was the culprit. It's also said that Mason Griffith has taken a liking to him and asked him to go to the Griffith Family but got rejected… This must be his retaliation.
"To think the situation is like this…" He looked at Richard's bodyguard. "In fact, back then, her situation was very severe. If not for the fact that she had the new S Rank Skill which focused on defense, she would have died back then. No, she was supposed to die and the Griffith Family didn't realize that she had that S Rank Skill and managed to keep her alive.
"This…" He realized what the prince was planning to do.