[DCI] Chapter 54 - The Trail of Suspicion (Patreon)

Levia wandered off to her workshop to begin the process of analyzing the blood immediately. It would take a moment to prepare everything and the examination wasn’t instantaneous either. As she disappeared into the other room, Aisha expressed her need for a quick shower and dragged me into the bathroom with her. I didn’t resist this idea too much and we both jumped under the hot stream after shedding off all our clothing and gear.

Thankfully, she didn’t have anything too mischievous on her mind this time and we just casually washed each other’s bodies while enjoying the brief, intimate moment. I could never miss a chance to take care of Aisha’s incredible tail or horns after she’d given me permission to touch them in the past. The faces she made as my fingers brushed over those sharp spikes were just so captivating and alluring.

Well, in turn, she always insisted on taking care of my horn to pay back the favor and relished in my own reactions to her touch. I guess it was a somewhat fair trade, in the end. A drakan’s horns were even more intimate to them than their nether regions and it certainly showed.

After learning so much about my draconic mate, I started to wonder if perhaps Levia’s race had a thing like that too. There wasn’t much that could serve a similar purpose or function in their society but maybe her slightly sharper ears counted. But, to be honest, I didn’t think I would get a chance to verify that anytime soon, as much as Aisha seemed to bring us together with her sly tricks.

In any way, things didn’t escalate anywhere too far during our pleasant shower and we jumped out to dry ourselves up. As usual, Aisha nonchalantly walked out into the open while flashing her bare ass and proud chest for everyone to see and admire. If the apartment block on the other side of the road had any improper peepers with binoculars or even just smartphones with how amazing the zoom was in those in the current century, they had a great show every other day for sure.

Granted, the magical, sealed space in which we were located actually allowed anyone to peek inside while we weren’t doing anything related to magic and our very special job. The whole perception-altering network might actually work on this too. If so, would they see just a nude, sexy bombshell of a woman drying her hair with a towel while missing all the otherworldly features, or would they just see an empty room?

I guess we could test that out one day with Zeke’s help maybe.

Landing a light slap on Aisha’s sweet ass, I gave her a hand with her hair as she switched her attention to her skin. We were done in a flash and hopped into some casual clothes before heading to Levia’s workshop together. We found our blue-skinned friend in front of one of the counters with a row of various appliances set up on top of it, ranging from burners with flames of different colors to test tubes encased in magically created ice. Most if not all of them contained a bit of blood we’d gathered earlier from our fallen comrade.

“What exactly are you doing?” I asked curiously after Levia noticed our arrival.

“I am going to test the man’s blood for the presence of possible poisonous substances and toxic elements. It might help us narrow the suspicions down even more if we learn the exact cause of his death. The wound came from a dagger but it did not look like the victim struggled a lot against the culprit. An experienced Defender such as him, specializing in sneak attacks, should be at least somewhat proficient in dealing with receiving such blows too, or at least putting up a fight before the inevitable end,” the Witch explained calmly.

“Right. Both of the victims received a wound from a dagger. Only one of them survived. You took a look at the Priest’s wound back then. Did you see any traces of poison or anything like that?” Aisha rubbed her chin while wrinkling her nose.

“There were no signs of such on the outside of the wound.” Levia shook her head.

“It’s possible that he took care of it with his magic. But, at the same time, he was greatly spent from the fight, at least from what he told us. The culprit might have also decided to reach for poison after his first attempt failed, to make sure that it wouldn’t happen again,” I wondered out loud.

“In any way, we should recount everything from the very beginning,” Aisha suggested.

“Right. After we cleared a chamber out of Skeletons, we heard someone’s moans from behind the door to the side. We found the wounded Priest hiding in a storage room,” I began.

“He said he was stabbed in the gut with a dagger by a person that seemed to merge with the shadows. Those two qualities were a strong lead toward the Assassin guy we met during our first delve, when Levia wasn’t part of the team yet. We certainly saw him pretty much disappear from our sight after stepping out of the light cast by the blue crystals,” Aisha continued after me.

“The thrust was very clean and precise, though it managed to miss all the crucial organs in the Priest’s stomach. Thanks to that, the wound was not that difficult to apply pressure onto when compared to what could have been. As I said earlier, I did not notice anything special about it other than the points I just presented,” Levia took a turn to fill our story in too.

“And then, the next interaction we had with the other Defenders was when we stumbled on Ashmel and Lulu together. That was when we learned that the Priest’s description could technically fit them both since he hadn’t really specified his assailant’s looks. He wanted to escape quickly and rushed into the storage without paying attention to anything else, hoping that the Skeletons in the room were enough to deter the killer,” Aisha said next.

“That’s extremely unlucky. There’s a huge difference between Lulu and Ashmel when it comes to their general stature, frame, height, and so on. Just one detail would shine a lot of light on the potential suspect. All the vague things about this entire thing don’t really clear him of suspicion too. Perhaps we should ask him about this whenever we meet again and see what his response is,” I suggested.

“Every Defender assigned to this Dungeon is stinky. I think Ashmel was the least probable culprit but I might be biased after our experiences with him. He seemed like a decent guy and even showed us his Stigma. But then, he did reveal himself as a different Class.” Aisha sighed.

“You are unfortunately right. Even the female imp seemed unnaturally interested in Lucas during the time we spent together.” Levia nodded faintly. “It did not feel like the kind of attention one gets for being the subject of someone’s desire.”

“And then we get to the recent incident.” I rub my forehead. “She ran straight to us to report Ashmel’s death, without us showing her where we live, which revealed that she was spying on us, or on everyone. She seemed not to think even for a second that we could be the murderers, which again doesn’t look that great for her. Then finally, she wanted to leave our presence as soon as possible from that very moment.”

“We can’t rule out the possibility of her being just a dumb slut with nothing but cocks on her mind.” Aisha snorted. “One of the two is obviously lying. Unless this Dungeon is inhabited by an extremely crafty and sneaky monster that is intentionally disturbing our clear. If that were true, it would have to be a Boss Monster or a Dungeon Master for sure. We would be extremely unlucky for it to be so aggressive on the very first floor since we did see the stairs leading further below.”

“The pylons. They might be their doing. It wouldn’t be that unexpected for them to protect those structures,” I pointed out.

“Yet, we destroyed at least two of them as of now and they did not make use of any opportunity we might have created for it while fighting hordes of skeletal monsters,” Levia commented. “If it specializes in sneak attacks from shadows, there should have been multiple chances to wound one or more of us critically. In battle, such an ailment could turn its tides in a blink.”

“There’s just way too much chaos around. We might be chasing after fake leads. Let’s try to be smart about it and work with what we have.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Assuming that either of the two is the culprit, who is going to be the next target?”

“You,” both Levia and Aisha answered unanimously, sharing a glance afterward.

“Yeah. I think so too.” I nodded. “If they left us for the last, that would definitely make us extremely wary of them, or even straight up hostile. The killer has to keep that in mind. Our numbers might be a problem for them. Right now, they can work with the assumption that we aren’t sure who to blame for the evil deeds, which makes it the prime time for them to approach us and try their luck before we get more certain.”

“Our best move would be to continue exploring and see who approaches us first,” Aisha continued. “Lulu is supposedly scared of us right now so going out of her comfort zone to join forces with us could be a sign. The Priest doesn’t have any reasons to fear us, theoretically speaking, so he might plan to do it as soon as possible if he wants to capitalize on that belief. We can use that to investigate him a little more and maybe try to make him slip up and contradict himself.”

“No matter what we choose to do, it will be dangerous.” I sighed tiredly. “Let’s give it some time first and see what Levia’s research brings to the table. How is it going, by the way?”

The composed Witch switched her attention to the multiple appliances. She tweaked a few of them, observed a bunch of the test tubes from up close, and returned her gaze to us.

“It will take a moment longer for everything to finish properly. I plan to examine all the samples one after another to have an easier time coming up with my conclusions,” Levia replied.

“Alright. If this doesn’t require your constant attention, you can go and refresh yourself a little if you would like,” I said, pointing behind me with my thumb. “We’ll keep an eye on things here and perhaps get in touch with the person preparing the files for our arcanas to finalize the deal and send them more pictures.”

“If so, then I have some cards ready. Please, give me a moment.” Levia trotted to one of the drawers and brought out two small stacks of cards, handing them to me after returning. “You can scan these with that image reading device. I am satisfied with the patterns I created on them. We can work on more later together.”

“Great. I’ll do exactly that. The bathroom is yours. Come to us after you are done. And, take your time.” I smiled at the short lady and Levia responded with a gentle nod.

She slowly left the workshop, leaving us alone in the fragrant chamber with the alchemical appliances quietly sizzling in the background.

Aisha grinned at me impishly. “You should have suggested giving her a hand with her hair.”

“Stop it. You are being too pushy. It will make me look like a thirsty horndog that immediately goes after beautiful girls.” I bonked her on the head.

“So you admit that she is pretty alluring.” The sly smirk didn’t leave her plump lips.

“Yes, and I don’t have a problem with that. On the other hand, you are the problem here.” I squinted at her.

“Fine.” Aisha snorted. “You are doing quite well on your own anyway.”

“What?” I raised a brow at her.

“Nothing.” She snickered lightly and spun around, smacking my butt with the tip of her tail as she began roaming around the workshop.

I shook my head and went outside with the cards Levia had handed to me. While Aisha kept an eye on the samples, I sat down in front of my PC and began scanning them just as we’d discussed earlier. While the scanner was doing its job, I reached out to the vector designer via the phone number that he’d attached to the email with the previous files he’d sent to me.

We talked a little bit about the work and the pay to cover all the little details about it and easily found common ground. He seemed like a cool guy who treated his clients with respect as long as they did the same. It certainly felt like he would be willing to put even more effort into his tasks when met with proper appreciation and understanding for it. Since money wasn’t that much of an issue, I was able to suggest a more than fair commission fee that made us both very happy men.

While Levia took a relaxing shower, I sent him the scanned arcanas in batches of ten and he started working on them almost immediately. Then, as I decided to take care of all the technicalities necessary for us to put the cards up for sale on the D-Market, I sensed a faint ping in my mind, understanding its meaning pretty much instantly.

I got up from my desk and walked to the entrance, opening the door. Rose zoomed inside and circled me happily for a little while as I chuckled at her enthusiasm. She then conveyed to me everything she had done since our parting as well as she could. Our sneaky Pixie had managed to find out where Lulu lived and monitored the pink imp for a little bit. It looked like our second suspect hadn’t left her home for the duration of Rose’s observation.

To show Rose some proper appreciation for her hard work, I played with the energetic Pixie for a little while, showering her in pats and scratches. I’d learned how to decently focus mana in my palm and fingers, making her actually experience a pleasant sensation. She glowed stronger whenever I did so, flashing rapidly, which I assumed was her giggling from being tickled with spiritual energy.

As we fooled around, Levia came out of the bath, of course, just in her underwear. At least she had enough decency not to walk around naked like Aisha did all the time. Rose bolted to the delicate Witch and hovered around her happily, bringing up a barely noticeable smile onto Levia’s gentle lips. She really was stunning when she showed just a little bit more of her emotions.

“Would you like some help with your hair?” I asked after noticing that it didn’t look like her hair was completely dry.

Levia glanced my way and softly shook her head. “Thank you for the offer but I prefer to leave my hair to dry naturally over time after removing the excessive water. If I use towels, it curls way too much and becomes too tangled. I am pretty sure I wiped it off enough not to drip onto the floor so there should be no problems with that.”

“Ah. I see. If towels aren’t good, would a hair dryer be fine?” I wondered.

“Hair dryer?” Her brows knitted together lightly.

“I guess Aisha didn’t exactly show you how to use it since she usually enjoys towels more.” I nodded to myself. “It’s a simple device that blows hot air at your hair to speed up the process. I can show you if you would like. It’s simple enough for you to even use it on your own.”

“If you offer, I will kindly oblige,” Levia agreed and turned around to walk back into the bathroom.

“You can make yourself comfortable on the bed. I’ll bring it here since you don’t have to use it only in there.” I passed by her side and patted her shoulder on my way.

Quickly locating the dryer exactly where it always was, I fished out a fresh, unopened comb from the bottommost drawer under the sink. It would certainly come in useful and Levia could use some more personal belongings. Grabbing everything I needed, I got back into the apartment and found the pretty Witch sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, with my lovely Pixie familiar hovering around her.

I connected the plug to the socket by the edge of the headboard and crawled to Levia on my knees.

“This is it. I’ll turn it on first so that you don’t get startled. It does make some noise, depending on how hard you want it to go,” I explained and flipped the switch to the lowest mode.

Even though I’d warned her, Levia still jumped a little when the device began buzzing and whooshing. I couldn’t stop a small smirk from creeping onto my lips but tried my best to remain collected and respectful.

“See? It’s like this.” I directed the air outlet at her face and slowly twirled my wrist around to target more than just one point.

“It truly is warm.” Levia closed her eyes as I kept bathing her in the heated wind. “Such a pleasant sensation.”

The corners of her mouth rose into a tiny smile again and I admired her relaxed expression for a little while. It was hard to break that peaceful scene but I turned the dryer off to bring the calm Witch back to me.

“Turn around and I’ll dry your hair for you. I got you a new comb too. Later, you can use both to get it done by yourself. I’ll show you how,” I instructed her.

Levia listened obediently and turned her back to me. I switched the dryer on again, this time without spooking her. I took my time to gently brush through her hair with my fingers first, directing the flow of warm air at the white strands from a safe distance. Then, after most of the hidden moisture was dealt with, I made use of the comb I’d brought with me. Levia remained still during my careful caresses and I was fairly sure a faint smile decorated her adorable face the entire time.

At one point, I heard the door closing behind my back and saw Aisha creeping out of the workshop, heading for the toilet, most likely. Noticing me, she sent thumbs up my way and disappeared into the bathroom. I shook my head and chose to ignore her since I knew she wouldn’t let go of the fact that I’d technically done exactly what she’d suggested earlier, just in a slightly different manner. It was obvious that her version required me to join our silent friend under the shower.

Soon, we were finished, and I turned the dryer off. “Alright. That should be all. How does it feel? I hope I didn’t ruin your hair.”

Levia pulled a bigger lock of her dazzling white hair to the front and brushed through it with her fingers. “No, you have not. Thank you for your assistance, Lucas. It feels amazing. My hair is so smooth and fine.”

“Glad to hear that. Humans in this realm have this old misconception that blow drying your hair is much worse than air drying it, which is what you were doing, but it’s not like that. It actually can be a bit worse to air dry a lot since you let the moisture sit on your head for a long time. But, in the end, both methods are more or less equally good and bad, depending on how you do it,” I replied with a smile.

“I was unaware of that fact. I appreciate you sharing this information with me. I might start making use of this hair dryer from now on if you do not mind.” She glanced at me over her shoulder.

“Naturally. Come. We will do a dry test for the future.” I snickered. “Get it?”

And once more, I was blessed with that vague curve of her dainty lips, announcing that she had in fact gotten it. I reached out to assist Levia in stepping off the bed and we went to the bathroom, already freed by the previous visitor. Giving the dryer to her, I positioned Levia in front of a mirror and started the tutorial, sharing my experience of using this very useful tool. In a flash, she mastered it even better than I had and I was certain that she would have no issues further ahead.

Afterward, we returned both the dryer and the comb to their respective places and walked back into the apartment. Levia dressed up into comfy shorts, a t-shirt, and threw one of my hoodies onto herself, which naturally, was at least partially oversized for her. It was the same one I had lent her some time ago.

It seemed like she found it very cozy and perhaps her preference for clothing was showing more. If so, I guess I had to get us to shop together a bit soon so she would pick up a few pieces on her own without being influenced by Aisha. I would lie if I said that I didn’t want Levia to keep using these hoodies. She looked great in them.

In any case, we headed back to the workshop to check the results of Levia’s examination and maybe set everything up for production before we attempted to lure the killer into our grasp.