Isekai: The Eight Soul Fragments

After a long discussion with Begona and Duke Elliot, Remuel had reached a temporary conclusion where the person who poisoned the king directly wasn't any single one of them but a shapeshifter. "I never thought that we have someone that can shapeshift within us... What do you think Duke Elliot?" Begona turned her gaze to Duke Elliot in the research room. "Yeah, but even if we have the assailant, we need to find the main culprit here." Remuel who got the thoughts of the two temporarily placed them in the safely suspicious group in his mind. "With the substances, we can narrow it down to a few people. Begona, do we have a person who has skills in chemistry?" Begona pondered for a bit before giving an answer. "No, there is none in my group. Are you saying that the idea came from me?" Remuel narrowed his eyes to the sudden defensive argument of Begona. "I only asked you one question, don't add unnecessary bullshit you hear me?" After unleashing a large amount of pressure, Begona and Duke Elliot shrunk down from Remuel's words. In his mind, he immediately guessed the target of the possible culprit. He cannot directly accuse them or do something reckless. "Anyways, first of all, why the royalty? We would never have expected Hydrochloric acid in our drinks. Is this something like an attempt to take over the royal family?" Remuel brought three questions which Begona, Duke Elliot, Harold, and Ulysses began pondering. "If the throne is the aim, then I would become suspicious." Duke Elliot raised his head and tried to process everything. "Where were you?" Remuel turned his sharp gaze at Duke Elliot. "I was with Begona most of the time before the incident, she was giving me words of comfort. Olivia's turned to love somebody else after all..." Remuel narrowed his eyes as Duke Elliot displayed sadness. In his mind, he was seeing that Duke couldn't accept the fact that Olivia fell for Draxus. However, seeing as he had many suspicious behaviors and even attempted to kill Draxus in the duel. "Jealousy huh? Are there that many people aiming for a marriage with the Princess?" Duke Elliot gave a proper answer. "Well, any guy would want a girl that has an elegant appearance with cuteness mixed in. Isn't that how Draxus fell for her?" Remuel nodded to Duke Elliots words and proposed an idea. "Let's get to the venue, we need to know how they are poisoned." Harold, Victorina, and the rest remained on the research room as to ensure the safety of royalty and the currently vulnerable Draxus.

"[Amalgam of Revelations]" Remuel erected an invisible barrier just in case without telling both Begona and Elliot what he just did. "What did you do?" Begona turned her gaze as Remuel used [Amalgam of Destiny] "I used some magic to prevent anyone from finding us here. It will be much easier to investigate that way." He lied completely without changing an expression. Duke Elliot began investigating the glasses that the royalty used to drink. "No poison is laced in them at all. Not even hydrochloric acid is found." Remuel became curious as to how they managed to lace something with hydrochloric acid and poison the king. "Then could it be the wine?" Duke Elliot gave a suggestion but it was immediately turned down. "I scanned the wine as well, we have no leads." Remuel then looked around to check if there are more ideas that they could bring in. "Duke Elliot, did you drink your glass as well? I think this is not aimed for just us but the entire group that dined here." Duke Elliot looked around to find his glass that was filled with a little bit of water. "Yeah, here's mine." He tried to raise the glass and drink the water but Remuel stopped him. "Hold! I got an idea." Remuel used the [Amalgam of Destiny ]on Duke Elliot's glass. "By the way, here's mine as well." Begona presented her glass to Remuel without drinking it. The glass also contained some water which gave Remuel premonitions that ended up being correct. "So it's frozen into cubes first huh? Pretty sure it will be harmful if put into the skin. Then that shapeshifter definitely changed into the poison checker or the waiter to serve it to the king." Remuel finally got the answer as he prepared the [Amalgam of Destiny for a higher level use of [Amalgam of Secrets] "[Amalgam of Secrets]! [Look for an oppressed waitress and poison checker]!" One word was shown on the box where the text will appear. "Dungeon, let's go you two!" The three of them dashed towards the dungeon to locate the two people.

In the meantime, back in the research room, Prince Oswald finally woke up with sudden movement. "Oswald!" Ulysses called out to him which made Oswald turn his gaze to Ulysses. "What happened?!" Prince Oswald looked around and saw his father completely unconscious. "Father is!" Ulysses placed both his hands on Oswald's shoulders and calmed him down. "He's fine, Remuel called for Draxus to get you both healed." Prince Oswald who heard the name [Draxus] and [Heal] in one sentence immediately made him ask where he is. "He's over there, Olivia and two more friends are attending to him while unconscious... He..." Prince Oswald got a very bad premonition as to what method Draxus use. When he found Olivia with tears on her eyes, he immediately found out what Draxus used. "No way..." Prince Oswald walked slowly and placed his hand on the barrier Harold made. "Why did you do this...?" In front of him, were Olivia, Lily, and Julie waiting for Draxus to wake up inside the barrier. There was a lot of dried blood in Olivia's hands and the handkerchief she used to clean the tears of blood. "Ulysses... Where's Remuel...?" Without turning around, he asked Ulysses a question. "He went to the dining hall with Begona and Elliot. There seems to be an impostor moving around so be careful." Prince Oswald sat down for a while and waited for his father to wake up. He then tried to recall the moments before everything happened.

"Everyone drank their wine immediately... Harold's group was somewhat reserved while Begona said she had a guest with her that's coming... She was talking happily to Elliot as she tried to comfort him from the loss..." Ulysses moved near Prince Oswald and started pondering as well. "Their presences were genuine. The only presence I found different was the waitress, but I couldn't stop it since Begona called out to me for a drink forcefully." Prince Oswald continued to process the information and try to find who the culprit is. "Begona and Duke Elliot refused to get refills for their glasses. Her guest arrived late as I was about to drink wine with my father." Ulysses then realized who the direct culprit is. "The direct culprit is Begona's guest! He had the same presence as the waitress and smiled when the king drank the wine!" Ulysses tried to run out of the room but was stopped by Harold. "Hold on, what will happen if you leave them all here? The king and the princess will be left unguarded since I'm making a barrier." Victorina who also remained in the room added up. "Just the guards alone finding this place will be bad news for us. If you leave, we'll be killed here, Draxus as well." Ulysses grit his teeth and remained standing. "Why can't you guys drop the barrier?" Prince Oswald asked the two who are busy maintaining the barrier. Victorina answered first. "The second I drop this barrier, the guards will flock here and swarm us. You don't want your own people to die by us." Harold then gave out his answer. "The second I drop the barrier, Draxus will enter comatose state. Which will make him remain unconscious for months. He overexerted himself to heal both of you." Harold turned his gaze at Prince Oswald and told him the important clue. "That guest of Begona. Did she bring him here to poison the king? If you can see deep into them, she's a great actor. While Duke Elliot covered most of it with his sadness and jealousy." Prince Oswald finally got Harold's words who had already solved the mystery. He stood up and told everyone to be careful, he then went towards the dining hall to find Remuel.

Remuel, Begona, and Duke Elliot arrived to the dungeon and looked for the poison checker and waitress. "Prince Oswald has awoken and is on the move to find me." He noticed the presence of Prince Oswald that had started moving around the castle, but he remained focused on finding the two so those words never came out of his mouth. They took a lantern each as it was somewhat dark in the area. After some time walking, they found a pair of girls who are tied up and gagged. Both girls had maid uniforms which Remuel recognized. "It's them." The two maids that saw Begona and Duke Elliot tried to shout something to Remuel, but the gag on their mouth prevented them from that. "Signs of fear?" Remuel opened the jail cell and as he was about to remove the gag on their mouths, a loud voice came down the hall. "Begona! Duke Elliot!" It was the voice of Prince Oswald. Remuel stood up and went out of the room for a bit after taking off the gags. "Sir Baphomet! Run away!" As one of the maids shouted, three of his twelve invisible barriers were broken, the cause of that was Begona. He turned his gaze towards her who has glowing arms. "What do you think you're doi-" Another three barriers were broken which interrupted Remuel. "Seems like Duke Elliot too." Then, the prince dashed forward and brought out a bright sword and shattered the remaining barriers while dealing damage to Remuel. Blood dripped down from his back but he remained standing. Begona's glowing fist and Duke Elliot's water sword were moving in close to pierce him. "[Amalgam of Shadows]!" A visible barrier was formed which blocked their attacks completely. "Looks like, I hit the jackpot."