Supreme Magus novel Chapter 41

Later, that day, when Solus returned with the identity of the culprit, a sample of the poison and the hilarious new gossip as prizes, she had expected Lith to be excited or at least relieved.

Instead he was brooding, with the same annoyed face he had when he was forced to spend quality time with Trion.

"Why so gloomy? We did it, we can take her out anytime we want. Smile a little."

"I would indeed smile if we managed to find her at the first or maybe fifth attempt.

Unless math has become an opinion the last time I slept, searching thirteen rooms out of eighteen, means you have searched thirty-nine persons, more than two-thirds of the staff members.

At this point we can as swell sweep the remaining five to verify if she has accomplices. Not to mention that this maid wasn’t even on my list, the psycho wife would have bested me if not for your new ability."

Lith started pacing, his mind analysing the choices at his hand.

"You are a real party pooper, you know?" Solus pouted.

"Sorry, you did a great job, but put yourself in my shoes. First, it took us so long to find her that I am pretty sure the Countess has already noticed that something is wrong. The Count and his heirs have been poisoned daily, yet they are perfectly fine.

It’s safe to assume that soon she will resort to a more direct approach. We need to move fast, before her pawn flees from the scene.

Second and most important, this new piece of gossip you brought me is a nightmare! Sure, is all fun and laugh, until you realize that if the rumour reaches the Countess’ ears, she may even believe it.

And while I don’t care being a target, the same can’t be said about my mother! We must wrap this up quickly, and try to get as much evidence as we can, so whoever is handling the annulment process will be forced to speed his bureaucrat a*s up.

Then, I can ask the Count to bring my family here as soon as possible. When those blabbering fools see that I am the spitting image of my father, that stupid rumour will die out. Only then I will be able to focus on protecting the Count again."

"Well, yeah." Solus shrugged. "But you are forgetting about the bright side. If the Countess falls for this rumour, she will get really angry. And when she’s angry she makes really stupid mistakes. Always such a pessimist. And you even dare to question why you look like cr*p in a mirror."

Ever since Solus had started following the suspects, Lith hadn’t been sitting idly either. To make use of whatever she would find, he needed a plausible excuse.

At random times during the day, he would pretend to go investigating on his own, leaving the three nobles with the guards, while he would actually always remain in the vicinity, ready to intervene if necessity arose.

Also, he had asked the Count to give him a tour of his magical library, getting the opportunity to borrow some tier four books and store them inside Soluspedia.

Even when they were apart, Lith could still access both the dimensional storages, it would just take some effort to operate them.

That allowed him to further expand his knowledge about the possibilities of magic, and gave him several new ideas.

The next day, after Solus identified at least one of the Countess’ agents, Lith started to prepare the final steps for his new plan, while Solus searched the remaining seven rooms.

It turned out they miscalculated, since both the butler and the head of kitchen had their private rooms, because of their status and seniority. Her task was made faster and easier by the fact that she had not to tail a target for a whole day anymore.

Solus could just get inside and search for evidence as soon the coast was clear. On Lith’s side things were a bit trickier. First, he had to identify the poison from the sample Solus brought back. It was a colourless and odourless liquid.

He spreaded a small drop of it on his finger and another on his tongue, without swallowing it. It tasted sweet and acidic at the same time.

"What the f*ck? A pineapple pizza flavoured poison? This is disgusting! And here I hoped to have left that cr*p on Earth."

While his stomach was turning at those horrible memories, the areas where he had spreaded the poison became numb. After a while they became red and swollen. Since breathing was getting harder, Lith immediately neutralized the poison, before looking for it in the Count’s books he had stored in Soluspedia.

"Thankfully, in this world they shouldn’t have synthetic poisons outside the magical varieties. It shouldn’t be hard to find the right one."

It turned out to be an extract from a rare type of blackberries-like fruit that usually grew in marshlands. The whiteberries, more commonly known as doomberries, in their natural state simply had a sweet smell and disgusting taste, but their juice if properly distilled and condensed was highly toxic.

Its low dosage symptoms matched the Count’s story, like the effects Lith had experienced fitted the description of its concentrated form.

At that point, the final issue lied in finding a way to get a full confession without destroying the good image Count Lark had of him. Lith didn’t miss how disgusted the Count had reacted at the mention of tortures.

Lith had no interest in arts, but from the way the Count had painted him, it was clear that in his mind the young magico was valiant and righteous, rather than a cold -blooded schemer with a penchant for inflicting pain.

"This is so stupid. Not only I have to save him, but I also have to do it in a way of his liking. Having a good man as a backer is both a blessing and a curse. I need to get creative."

Having almost run out of options, Lith needed check out books he had never thought could have any use to him, before going to the Count and explain to him the only plan crazy enough to have a ghost of a chance.

*****

A few days later, Lynna Crestwick was at her rope’s end. The Countess was sick and tired of her failures, and had clearly told her to either get to job done or start running for her life.

Also, she was starting to realize that she had actually killed a man, and a good one too. She tried to ease her guilty conscience by thinking of her future wealth and happiness, but instead she ended up second thinking everything she did so far. _{freēwēbηovel.c૦m}