Second World

"I understand, Governor Lance," Jack replied, telling everyone to be at ease. "Tell me about the situation."

"We have implemented a curfew," Lance informed. "We sent out a call to every orc who is still in town to move to the inns of our choosing, which are close to the guard station. Unfortunately, some of the orcs are stubborn and refuse to follow our request. We have no choice but to have a couple of soldiers follow these orcs, which turns out to be the right decision. Some of these orcs got into arguments with the townsfolks. If not for the presence of the soldiers, things would have heated up to a fistfight. I wish very much to just drag these stubborn orcs to a safe place, but I assume you will not be happy about that, will you?"

"You have done the right thing," Jack replied.

"Also, I have barred entry for more orcs into this town," Lance continued. "If more orcs come and they also don't want to follow instructions, I won't have enough manpower to manage them."

It was not ideal, but Jack thought it couldn't be helped. It was already good that Lance didn't decide to chase out the orcs inside the town or use force to compel them to gather.

"How about Hans Orline?" Jack asked.

"Well… He gathered a mob recently and was marching toward the inns I had designated to safeguard the orcs. It's a good thing I intercepted him. He was currently on house arrest."

"Good job, Governor Lance," Jack praised.

"Just for the record, Hans is a good friend of mine," Lance said. "It gives me a bad taste for detaining him, and to tell you the truth, I don't share any love for these orcs. I had a cousin who was killed during Verremor's occupation when they invaded us half a year ago. I understand it serves the kingdom's interest to form peace with Verremor. That's why I go along with the order, but I'm afraid we are walking on thin ice. I can stop Hans because the mob that follows him is small, but this mob is growing, even as we speak. I'm afraid things will get out of hand sooner or later unless we catch the one who murdered Hans' son and bring that orc to justice."

"You are certain the murderer is an orc?" Jack asked.

"We have eyewitnesses who confirmed that," Lance answered.

"Can I meet these eyewitnesses?"

"We have already gathered them. They are currently talking with Your Majesty's guild members."

'That must be one of the investigative teams John sent,' Jack thought.

"Take me to them please," Jack said.

"Right this way, Your Majesty," Lance ushered Jack to a carriage.

The squad of soldiers followed their carriage on foot. Jack looked at the town from the carriage's window. It was still daylight but very few people walked the street. Many of the shops were also closed. The curfew had limited the town's activities. It would hurt the town's economy and happiness, but it was necessary under the circumstances.

They arrived at the guard station, which was where the eyewitnesses had been gathered. Jack saw a bunch of people leave just as they arrived.

"Those were the eyewitnesses," Lance told Jack. "The interrogation must have been concluded. Should I call them back so Your Majesty can question them?"

"No need," Jack said. The investigative teams were comprised of professionals. Anything he could think to ask would have been asked by the team. Aside from those eyewitnesses, Jack saw two people who walked toward them after sighting them. A young woman and a middle-aged man.

"Your Majesty," The young woman greeted.

"Sire," The man also greeted.

"Sherly, Canon," Jack addressed the two.

Jack knew the two from the investigative teams. The young woman's name was Sherly Homes. She was a famous detective in their past life who had solved many difficult cases even when she was still in high school. The middle-aged name was Canon Dole, a famous mystery author who also had a side occupation as a special consultant to the police department on many high-profile cases.

These two were as good as he could hope to handle the current sensitive case.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked.

"The eyewitnesses gave matching statements," Canon answered. "We have checked their backgrounds. They aren't related to each other. The details in their explanation also don't seem fabricated, so we can rule out false evidence here."

"You mean…"

"The murderer is indeed an orc," Sherly answered before Jack completed his question.

Jack's forehead creased. If this was true, it was the worst thing to happen.

"Then one of the orcs in this city should be the perpetrator," Lance said. "I will gather all the orcs for the eyewitnesses to…"

"There is no need," Sherly cut Lance's speech. "I believe the murderer has left the town."

"How can you be so sure?" Lance asked.

"These murders happened in different towns at almost the same time. We can rule out crimes of passion as their causes. They were most likely planned. What happened should be similar to the murder two days ago. We have investigated that murder thoroughly. The orc that fit the eyewitnesses' description was seen leaving town not long from when the time of death was estimated. I believe the one here is the same."

"You didn't block orcs from leaving town, do you?" Canon asked Lance.

"No… we prevent additional orcs from entering. We didn't stop them from leaving."

"Because you consider the orcs who leave as good riddance," Sherly said.

"What are you implying?" Lance wasn't happy with Sherly's words.

"Please don't be offended, governor," Sherly said. "I wasn't criticizing your reasons. I was simply saying that it is a pity because we won't be able to capture the perpetrator."

"Perpetrators, if you consider the murderers in the other towns," Canon said.

"I believe the governors in the other towns did the same as you," Sherly added. She then turned to Jack, "Your Majesty, if you will. Please instruct all the border towns to start applying checks on all the orcs entering and exiting the town. If a murder happens again, the town should be in lockdown. No orc should be permitted to leave until we capture the murderer."

"… I prefer there to be no more murder," Jack uttered.