System vs Rebirth - Chapter 1365

"There are a lot of questions actually." Noel crossed his arms. "Since we're going to identify the traitor amidst our ranks, we need to figure out which one is actually the traitor."

[…]

Ardagan fell silent. He had told him that Spencer was the most suspicious, yet Noel hadn't mentioned him the whole time.

Noel raised his finger. "First of all, there's a chance that Spencer wasn't the traitor."

[Do you have any explanation?]

"In the letter my ancestor left behind, he only told us that there was a traitor in their rank. However, he didn't mention a single name.

"Although I don't wish to insult my ancestor, his wife was smarter than him, right? So, with that information in mind, didn't my ancestor investigate him since he was the most obvious?"

[That's true. Your ancestor did investigate him. While he did find him suspicious, there was no key evidence that proved him to be the traitor.]

"Exactly. That's why I think it's weird. It might be because I don't live in that era that I can make a judgment like this. But after losing his daughter, had Spencer left the rank even once?"

[No. I don't have any memory about him leaving the group.]

"As expected…" Noel crossed his arms. "By the way, did you know who was the one that killed his daughter?"

[His name was Regold. He was a wealthy person in the past. Once settled down, he climbed back with his brain and eventually got a certain amount of power as a merchant. The noble had yet to be established back then.]

[According to the information, he accidentally met his daughter on the street and wanted her.]

[He tried to bring her to his place, but because she kept resisting and ultimately tried to pick up a knife to fight back, one of his guards killed her.]

[After that incident, Alex and Spencer eliminated the entire group ruthlessly and left no one behind.]

"That's where I find it weird. How do I put this?" Noel paused for a moment. "With how furious they were, I could see there was a certain level of relationship between them.

"That might be the reason he hadn't left the group. In the end, my ancestor saved him, so he might stay around just to repay him before finally reuniting with his wife and daughter."

[Like fighting for him while searching for a place to die?]

"Yes."

[Now that I think about it, he took on a lot of high-difficulty missions after that incident.]

"Someone like that would probably not try to betray the group. How about the divine artifacts? Did they know about these artifacts?"

[Yes.]

"Then, the jade of immortality could be ruled out unless this gem could actually be used to revive someone."

[Fair point.]

Noel raised one finger. "And there's another area that I find suspicious. Why would this merchant fancy this daughter? Even beauty was not enough to justify his action.

"After all, unlike the tenth commandant, Spencer should be quite famous due to his gloomy appearance and power. No. He should be quite feared.

"Yet why would this guy, who was supposed to have a good brain to claim back the social ladder, not recognize her or know about her relationship with Spencer?

"Last but not least, his bodyguard killed her. That was the most suspicious. Did she have some kind of power, like her father?"

[No. Because of their story, after losing her mother, her father became overprotective. It also meant he didn't let her get hurt by training or other things.]

"Now that's weird, right? If she was fancied by this merchant, why would the guard kill a weak woman? They should have enough strength to only restrain her. They should know what their leader wants.

"To enjoy the woman, they shouldn't hurt her too much. Instead, they should tie her instead."

[Fair point. But what are you trying to say?]

"What I'm trying to say is that… the traitor was someone else. This traitor might use the merchant and the guard to kill her, hoping for a fallout between my ancestor and Spencer."

[That's indeed a new possibility we've never considered before.]

"After that, the demon king attacked, right?"

[Two years after that, the demon king attacked.]

Noel nodded in understanding. "In that case, can you tell me about their spirits? I want to know about their exact power or if they had outside help."

[Dole has Plant Spirit. Balford had the same spirit as your wife. On the other hand, William had a similar power to Rui's.]

[I have told you about Spencer's spirit, which is related to curses. Lila's spirit was the exact same as Dimitri's. Vivi had a water spirit she barely used, unlike Incetta. It was probably the water spirit was weaker than hers, but either way, she focused on using her unique weapon to climb the ranks.]

[The seventh commandant, Julius, had a wind spirit. For some reason, he kept using that power to make his appearance look graceful or glorious. Ihui had a magma spirit.]

[Lucas received the help of Alex, so he managed to get a spirit despite being a demihuman. His power was related to space. It allowed him to actually work for Alex and help the people of the beast kingdom at the same time.]

[Last but not least, Andre had a metal spirit. He could do basically anything. Becoming the vanguard or whatever.]

Noel squinted his eyes. "There doesn't seem to be someone who can manipulate someone's mind."

[That's true.]

"Did this traitor get outside help?" Noel scratched the back of his head. "It's quite hard to deduce the traitor with this amount of information. In that case, do you know anyone who is close to Margareth?"

[Margaretha. You can't forget the 'a' in her name, even though it was easier to call her that. She would be furious. Your ancestor ended up sleeping on a couch for a week when he accidentally forgot about it.]

"…" Noel smiled wryly. It seemed this ancestor of his was quite scary to even traumatize Ardagan. "Ehm. Margaretha. Do you know anyone close to her?"