World of Karik: A Game of Villains 67 The Investigation

The silence was immediately broken by fierce whispering, so I paused and patiently waited for them to fall silent.

"All of you now know how my geas works, so you know I have told you the truth. Right?" There was no response so I took it for consent. "Let's start then. I'll come up to you and ask if you have broken the tombstone and you will simply say yes or no. Any other response will be considered a voluntary confession. Then you will ask me for my name. You can all see it, so if I lie, it will mean that my interlocutor lied as well. In the end, either someone will confess or we will understand who is guilty without their help. Petrovich, who shall we start with?"

My throat dried up, but I believed that my plan would work. More importantly, I could avoid dangerous topics as I had specified the question I would be asked in advance. Well, at least I hoped so.

"Let me be the first one," the lancer suggested. "And then we'll go in a circle."

"Great. Have you destroyed Innokenty's tombstone?"

"No," he said truthfully.
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"What's your name?" To be honest, I was afraid that Petrovich would take advantage of the opportunity to ask me a different question, but, as I thought, his desire to deal with the incident was stronger.

"Vasily. Petrovich is innocent. Next!"

I made a step to the right where Vlada was standing.

"Well, I wouldn't say he is innocent," the redhead cleared his throat. I didn't expect that. Was this the beginning of a new rebellion? Petrovich got nervous as well. "Your method guarantees that an innocent person will not be accused. That's true. But what can prevent you from saying your name even if someone tells a lie? Nothing, I believe. Especially if you're accomplices."

"I told you it was Cat..." Dasha chimed in. Why couldn't she just be quiet? She knew that I had nothing to do with the crime.

"Shut up!" Petrovich roared, unable to stand it anymore. There were some advantages to an authoritarian system of government. Everybody immediately obeyed his order. "Since we don't have an innocent person, we'll look for an absolutely guilty one."

No one could object to that, so I went on.

Vlada, who looked secure and patient, was innocent.

Semyon was very nervous and even I wondered why the former cop was so mistrustful. He turned out to be innocent as well.

Innokenty had no idea that he would be asked too. As for me, I wasn't ready to bet that he hadn't pulled himself. Me being unable to come up with a motive didn't mean that there wasn't one. Anyway, he was innocent.

For some reason, I didn't suspect Major at all. However, when he hastily said "no" I felt that he was lying.

"My name is the Great Chaos," I remembered the first time I had met the God of Deception.

Everyone froze. Some tried to make sense of my statement, while others didn't know what to do. It seemed that Major refused to believe that it was over for him even though Petrovich, Vlada and I surrounded him.

"Drop your sword." A scythe, a lance, and a pair of blades were aimed at his face and neck.

"You can't possibly believe that what his claims is true," he said, all confused.

"Geas doesn't lie," the blacksmith jumped up and interrupted him.

"He is a stranger. He doesn't belong with us, but he still tried to get ahead of everyone. He deserved that. I just destroyed his tombstone, I didn't kill anybody!" The Major raised his voice with every word until he burst into a shout.

"He was one of my men, and you deprived me of a fighter. Weakening the detachment is a betrayal that can't be forgiven," Petrovich said, ignoring his objections. "Now we have to determine the murderer's fate."

"He isn't a killer!" As always, Dasha wedged herself into the conversation. "Mikhail made a mistake, but no one was really hurt."

What the fuck?! With a capital F! I was declared guilty without evidence, but "Mikhail simply made a minor mistake"?! I didn't get Dasha at all. Although, she did admit being, voluntary or involuntary, involved in the deadly crime, so perhaps her behavior was explicable. I should find out what exactly she had done. Besides, I had promised to tell about her involvement while I was under the influence of the geas. I must keep my word.

"Before you get to the point where Mikhail's crime would turn out to be a noble action, tell us about your role in this crime that you are trying to pass as a good deed." I had to provide those who were in the dark with an explanation, "Before carrying out the general inquiry, I did an experiment with Dasha and she confirmed that she was related to this incident."

Innokenty, who was passionately hugging the girl, moved away from her in confusion. Good. That meant that he believed my words even without concrete evidence.

"Then test me!" Dasha instantly jumped up.

Too bad that she didn't want to confess. As she hadn't participated in the crime directly she was able to give a negative answer to my question and recover some of her reputation. But not all of it. Innokenty had no intention of coming back to her, and the other girls cast gazes full of contempt they didn't try to conceal. What did they know that I didn't?

"Well, if no one has any more suggestions, I'll make a decision," Petrovich said confidently. The old man did as he wanted despite everything. Well done. On one hand, we didn't learn enough to figure everything out; on the other, he had achieved his goals. He cleared up the situation with the tombstone and, with my assistance, demonstrated that those who are found guilty of similar incidents won't go unpunished. Most importantly, he secured his status of the one with supreme power. I wondered how Andrei would have behaved under these circumstances. "Mikhail, you are banished from the settlement and all of your attributes will be taken away. Cat will get ten of them for finding out the truth. Innokenty will get the other thirty-six as compensation. Let's hope that that will be enough to keep you alive as long as possible." Innokenty's spirits seemed to have been somewhat lifted.

The lancer kept amazing me. He didn't take any points for himself, and he worked for the common good. I must admit that I was pleased with his decision. This was enough to cover for the necklace and return my endurance to its maximum. As for the Major, even though he was spared, his chances of surviving outside the camp were small due to his basic stats and having a tombstone strapped to his back.

"Do you really believe that I'll let you take them away just like that?" The guy tried to grin.

"If you don't cooperate, we'll break your tombstone," Petrovich immediately put him in his place and the tension finally disappeared from the air. The problem was solved and we could all sleep peacefully, or rather, have breakfast as it had been postponed due to this "trial".

"Is it really over?" I heard Ravhsana's faint whisper.

"Yeah, I've almost forgotten," I wasn't about to let Olga and Dasha neglect their duties. "Since everything has been settled and the ban on leaving has been removed," I made a short dramatic pause, "don't forget about the herbs."

Olga nodded, trying to stay away from her former friend. But the archer widened her eyes in surprise. Did she really think that I would be offended enough to let her avoid work? How naive. Someone's hate was not a reason to stop my research.

Chapter end