Chapter 159 - What Were They Saying?

"I'm not lying," LeiLei confirmed firmly, "I have met the great Edler before this but that was only once. You can believe me if you want to and it doesn't matter even if you don't believe me because it would still be the truth even if you don't believe me." 

Hecathe pursed his lips into a thin line as he heard this and he couldn't help but feel that the girl was really not lying this time. 

"You said you were eleven years old?" Marvin questioned suspiciously and the girl nodded her head as she confirmed it. 

"Then how come you keep saying that you don't remember anything?" Marvin asked without missing a beat, "If you were eleven then you should have been able to remember it." 

LeiLei looked as if she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry as she heard this. It took a few minutes for the girl to respond to his question as she scoffed and asked back, "Do you think you would have been able to remember anything after having gone through the trauma of losing your parents and being thrown on the street where you had to fight dogs for food...?!" 

She sounded a bit pissed off and it was enough to intimidate Marvin a little as he didn't dare question the girl further. 

"I don't remember everything clearly but there are still bits and pieces of memories that I randomly recall here and there," LeiLei sighed as she continued, "Today, I heard that masked man talking and I remembered an incident from my childhood." 

Hecathe eye's widened a bit as he heard this and he immediately asked with a bit of shock, "You were talking to him?" 

LeiLei shook her head and Hecathe sighed in relief as he saw this response. 

"It wasn't like that. I was merely eavesdropping because I felt like the voice was familiar," The girl explained and both Hecathe and Marvin looked to be interested in this topic as they attentively listened to the girl and patiently waited to let her complete. 

"When my father first introduced the man to me, I remember seeing a smile on his face but that was only in front of my father. The moment my father turned around, his smile also did and the evil glare in his eyes was enough to haunt me as a child. I didn't like it... I didn't like it at all..." LeiLei still looked a little horrified and worried as she continued, "I tried to warn my father about it but he said that I was mistaken... And I stupidly believed him." 

"Over time, I started to forget about it but when I saw that man being angry once again, I couldn't help but remember the unpleasant memory that used to haunt me," LeiLei looked up at the two as she spoke and from the honest look in her eyes, they were sure that the girl was not lying. 

LeiLei was a good actress but her acting was still not enough to fool Hecathe and if Hecathe was saying that the girl was not lying at the moment, she was certainly not lying at the moment. 

"LeiLei, what were they talking about?" Hecathe asked as his eyes narrowed down on the girl. 

"Eh...?" LeiLei was a bit taken back by the sudden change of topic and it took her an entire minute to seriously respond as she thought about it, "Well, I think they were talking about someone...?" 

Hecathe's frown deepened as he clicked his tongue and impatiently asked, "Who?" 

LeiLei gulped as she tried to recall the conversation, "I guess it was something about Alphius and some pest. He didn't know who the pest was but it seemed like the man that he was talking to was actually helping him find that so-called pest." 

Hecathe and Marvin shared a glance as they heard this and nodded in unison as they understood the situation. 

There was no doubt about it. Asgarian was certainly referring to Hecathe as the unknown pest. 

"So he not only wants the help of the guild but also turned to the auction house for help...? What a cunning man," Hecathe scoffed as he commented. 

The auction house was famous for the items it sold but if there was one more thing that was well-known about the place, it would certainly be the fact that the auction house helped spread rumors as well as find the root of rumors.

Asgarian probably didn't trust the guild too much and this was to be expected considering that he was a cautious man. 

"Hecathe, are you sure that you won't get caught?" Marvin asked with his eyebrows creased together in worry. 

The auction house was pretty good at its job so it was certainly easy for them to check whether a rumor was really true or not. 

Hecathe's lips curled up in a smirk as he heard this question and he couldn't help but be confident as he nodded his head and replied, "You don't need to worry about me. The auction house may be good but I chose someone even better to do my job. This rumor is good enough to be true even if it is not true." 

"It was Zather, wasn't it?" Marvin clicked his tongue as he asked and Hecathe was a bit surprised to know that Marvin also knew the woman. 

"How did-" 

"It's not a surprise," Marvin sighed as he didn't even let Hecathe complete the question, "She is always enthusiastic to help Alphius and she is the best at this job."

Hecathe nodded his head as he agreed with him. 

She really was the only one who'd be enthusiastic to help Alphius no matter what request it was. 

"Who is this Zather?" LeiLei blinked innocently as she tilted her head and asked. 

Marvin shrugged his shoulders as he casually answered, "Just someone who used to idolize the great Edler." 

"..." 

"LeiLei, I'm willing to believe you," Hecathe sighed as he got back to the main topic and spoke, "If what you said is right then this Asgarian surely has something to do with your father's death as well and if that is the case then we'll help you." 

"Is he really the one...?" LeiLei gulped as she asked with much reluctance. 

Hecathe, "We can't be sure right now but he is certainly a suspect. If everything you've told me till now is the truth then he is really a suspicious person."

Marvin nodded his head as he agreed with the man. 

"Marvin's father was also killed by a mecha-suit just like your father but no mecha-suits actually committed the murder. This is nothing more than a case of an imposter," Hecathe clicked his tongue as he spoke up and informed, "In Marvin's case, Alphius was blamed because his suit was the one that had been stolen to commit the murder, but in your father's case, I can't be sure about this, however, there is still one thing that we can conclude from both the cases. The murderer wanted to frame the mecha-suits for some reason." 

"How can the two cases be connected?" LeiLei asked with a frown, "My father died six years ago while his father died only recently. If the cases were related, would there have been such a gap between the two cases?" 

Hecathe nodded his head as he heard this and explained, "When you consider the time gap then it certainly seems unrelated but maybe that's the exact reason why there is a time gap in the first place. If the two murders had taken place at the same time then it would have looked suspicious." 

LeiLei's frown deepened as she heard this but when she thought about it, she couldn't help but believe the man whose words made some sense. 

"There are a lot of things alike about the two cases. Nobody ever found the details of the murder and the only thing revealed was that they were both killed by mecha-suits. If LeiLei's father had the same ability as her then he could surely have been considered powerful and this creates another similarity between the two cases," Hecathe sighed as he spoke, "I'm not saying that I'm right but there is a high chance that the two murders are connected and if that is the case then it makes things easier for us because we'll only have one culprit to catch." 

Marvin had the feeling that it won't be as easy as Hecathe said it was. 

"Even if it is just a single culprit, if the culprit is Asgarian then it is surely not going to be as easy as you say it is," Marvin sighed as he spoke with disbelief. 

"LeiLei, when you said that he talked about a pest, did he have any idea who the pest was or any leads at all?" 

LeiLei shook her head as she thought about it and spoke, "That may not be the case. He looked a bit angry at the man for being useless." 

Hecathe couldn't help but chuckle as he heard this.