Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery

Those noble scions who attended this salon knew that the arena at 155 King's Avenue occasionally featured matches with seemingly magical abilities, but the arena explained them away as mere magic tricks and illusions.

Few people doubted this explanation, as everyone knew that the arena's matches prioritized entertainment value.

Only now did some people wonder if there might be Beyonders among those fighters.

But they quickly dismissed the thought, reasoning that mysterious Beyonders would never participate in such matches for others to watch.

The noble scions present were still under their families' protection, able to glean the existence of mysticism and Beyonders only through subtle clues, lacking a true understanding of the Beyonder community and remaining largely untouched by Backlund's dark underbelly.

The discussion about the Riverbend Avenue Beyonder case continued, with Theodore answering Joles' question: "Lelouch is very likely a Beyonder."

Then, he smiled and said, "This week's matches will be very exciting because my cousin has arranged for Lelouch's opponents to be two close friends of the deceased veteran fighter."

Viscount Thomas' daughter, Edith, asked, "Won't the police arrest this Lelouch fighter?"

"The arena has always had this understanding with the police," Theodore explained. "When a fighter is a criminal and still participates in the scheduled match, the police, even when present, will allow the fighter to compete one last time.

"If the fighter dies in the arena, it's considered suicide to atone for their crimes.

"If they win the match, the fighter will receive a large commission, which will be delivered to their designated person before the police take them away to handle the case.

"Moreover, the arena occasionally bails out promising fighters, but the specific arrangements depend on the fighter's abilities and their choices."

Theodore paused and then smiled again, "So, if Lelouch appears on Sunday, this week's matches will definitely be very exciting!"

Joles, the organizer of this salon, said, "Are there any seats left? I want to see this week's matches."

"Me too!"

Several noble scions expressed their willingness to attend the matches, including Audrey. At this moment, her mood was somewhat complicated, as she hoped to observe Lelouch again to see if he was a bloodthirsty demon.

Theodore said, "No problem, I'll take care of it."

… …

Afternoon, 51 Henry Street, Gar's Herbal Shop.

Odyss was continuing to write 'The Fighter's Compendium' in the backyard when Max, the captain of the 'Mechanical Heart' squad, suddenly arrived.

Odyss poured tea while feigning ignorance, "What brings you here?"

"Captain Ikanas sent me to warn you that he can pretend not to know about the Riverbend Avenue case, but he doesn't want anything similar to happen again," Max said seriously.

Back when Odyss ran 176 Riverbend Avenue, he was under the close surveillance of the 'Mechanical Heart,' so they naturally knew that Odyss had made some arrangements there.

However, they had never been clear about the specifics of those arrangements.

This was the attitude of the 'Mechanical Heart,' and even the entire Church of Steam and Machinery, towards Odyss' research, considering them to be just small gadgets made using spirituality, and not paying too much attention.

Max had once provided the church with some of Odyss' research, wanting to see if Odyss was researching how to revive his family.

The church's scholars gave a negative answer, and Max stopped paying attention to Odyss' research.

At the time, both the church's scholars and Max felt that Odyss' research was too novel, but also somewhat absurd and impossible to achieve.

They didn't know that it was just the theoretical part of Odyss' research, and only a very small part at that.

After the Riverbend Avenue case happened late last night, the 'Mechanical Heart' squad remembered that it used to be Odyss' base, so they speculated that the culprit in yesterday's case was likely Odyss.

But because Odyss had provided information about the 3N party a long time ago, and they were very clear about what kind of people the 3N party were, Ikanas chose to turn a blind eye.

Odyss smiled and said, "They suddenly came to my door at the time, and I didn't have time to seek your help, so I had to do this."

After a brief explanation, he asked, "Which official Beyonder organization took on this case?"

"The Nighthawks," Max didn't hide anything.

"I understand," Odyss said. "The character Lelouch will soon disappear."

Then, he skipped over this topic, "I contacted the 'Rose School's' Temperance faction through some channels, and it wasn't them who sent someone to remind us of that 'werewolf's' address."

Max pinched his forehead, sat down on the chair, and then asked, "Is the information reliable?"

"Reliable," Odyss believed that Miss Sharon had no reason to deceive the 'Mysterious Queen.'

Max sighed, "The clue is broken."

"Don't worry," Odyss sat opposite Max and smiled, "We can also start with the motive.

"It's very likely that it's a wild Beyonder who has a grudge against the 'Rose School,' or simply a Beyonder who has a grudge against that 'werewolf,' and because they knew they weren't a match, they used this method to inform the official Beyonders about the 'werewolf.'"

Max nodded slowly and said, "I will continue to investigate the area around the 'werewolf's' residence and continue to investigate that person named Barney to see if I can find new clues."

Then, he said, "Have you ever thought that the other party might be coming for you?"

"I did think about this," Odyss said. "But… but I'm just an informant for the 'Mechanical Heart,' and besides this house of herbs, there's nothing valuable, so there's no reason to test me with such a cautious method."

Max thought that made sense. The two were silent for a while, and then Max said, "We should all pay attention to collecting clues about this case."

With Max's experience, that person named Barney might never be found.

Fortunately, this case has already killed a member of the 'Rose School,' so if it's closed like this, no one will say anything.

After talking about the case, Odyss said again, "Help me check someone, he's a subordinate of Dunn Smith of Military Intelligence Section 9."

As he spoke, he took out a portrait of a man in his thirties with short hair and a high Adam's apple, as if he had an egg stuck in his throat.

When Odyss negotiated with Dunn Smith before, he noticed that this subordinate's eyes were a little strange when he looked at him, but it was very dangerous for Odyss to investigate people from Military Intelligence Section 9, so it was better to entrust a member of the 'Mechanical Heart' to check the files under some pretext.

Max asked, "Why do you want to check him?"

"There's no specific reason, I just feel like he's not right."

Max nodded, "I'll help you check, but I need an opportunity."

"Okay, I know."

The two chatted for a while, and Max said goodbye.

Odyss had just sat down when, unsurprisingly, Simon arrived.

Today's matter involved some confidential content, so the two talked directly in the lounge in the backyard.

Simon, with a fierce face, now had a somewhat flattering smile, "Your plan is really meticulous and perfect. A few days ago, I was still worried about offending the 3N party, but today I realized that you must have deliberately provoked them."

Odyss smiled slightly, without making any comment on Simon's guess.

Simon seemed to feel great encouragement, and he continued, "I should have thought of it earlier, you can investigate my background, of course, you can also check the 3N party's background.

"You must know that the 3N party has a rule that whoever can kill their leader can become their new leader, so you provoked them and asked me to reveal the address of the South Bridge district, setting up an ambush there and killing one of the 3N party's leaders."

Simon said with a smile, "I've been hiding since last night, and the police haven't been able to find me, let alone find you here.

"But I still went to the arena on King's Avenue to check if you had any matches this week. The arena's manager, Mr. Bishop, actually greeted me personally.

"And told me that the police will also appear at the arena on Sunday. As long as you are willing to become the leader of the 3N party, he will come forward to guarantee that the police will never arrest you.

"But you have two matches that day, both of which are in the evening, one at seven o'clock and one at nine o'clock.

"The first match is a pure fighting match, and the second match is a completely unregulated match. You can use any weapon, and even if you kill someone inside, you don't have to worry about bearing any guilt."

He exclaimed, "Only at this time did I understand that your purpose is to become the leader of the 3N party!

"Although I heard that the 3N party has a bad reputation, it can serve the nobles and get to know many of Backlund's upper-class figures.

"In a few years, you can also become a person who can influence Backlund."

Odyss kept smiling, still without making any comment. He suddenly took out his wallet, counted out six 10-pound banknotes, and handed them to Simon, "Hide for the next two days, and you won't have to hide on Sunday."

"Thank you, Mr. Lelouch," Simon took the money with a smile, "Yes, yes, the police won't investigate you on Sunday, so you don't have to hide."

Odyss suddenly said seriously, "At least half of these 60 pounds must go to your wife, don't let them live under someone else's roof anymore."

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Lelouch. I will give her 30 pounds, no, I will give her all 60 pounds," Simon laughed, "After becoming your subordinate, I will definitely earn a lot of money, and they won't have to live so poorly."

Audiss simply nodded. After a few more words, he saw Simon to the door, watching until the hired carriage disappeared from sight. Then, he chuckled coldly, "If I really wanted the favor of the nobility, would I need to go through so much trouble?"

With that, he signaled to another hired carriage on the street.

That carriage quickly followed. The driver and the person inside were both Enoch's subordinates. Audiss had stationed them there that morning, waiting for Simon.