Mr Vandinel left everyone speechless, as even the rage in Mr Faizo's eyes for a moment as surprise took its place.
Hal was at a loss for words, and so was everybody else in the room. Mr Vandinel reached into his cloak and extracted a sigil made from the gems that develop in the Juzo Glowing Caverns.
It was a beautiful purple, as its beauty was intensified by how it played with the light reflecting off it from the moon.
Within the gem was a piece of paper that, when shown to Mr Faizo, made him grit his teeth in anger
"So I can't even touch you now, good tactic, detective"
Mr Vandinel shook his head calmly
"That is not my intention. The reason I'm showing you this is to show you that the Kingdom of Haverfield is by your side in this. The king is currently on an expedition to the Satlavian sea to discuss political matters with the queen of the land, and left me in charge"
The voice of Duke Walter was shaky as he spoke. He rose from the sofa, revealing his now disorganised hair.
"But why would the king entrust a detective who isn't even in the upper ruling class, why you to rule Malentei, why you to be acting king?"
Duke Walter held his head as Mr Faizo struggled to break through the barrier, forcing Lyrrah to let down as the man ran to the duke to provide him with comfort.
The detective looked around at all the servants in the mansion before taking in a huge breath and letting it go. He grabbed his cane with both his hands and stood straight to portray his current state of authority.
"As I've stated, the kingdom will do all in its power to compensate you. We will repair this entire mansion, and this day shall be remembered in our history. Furthermore, all of you will be required to stay in the palace till then; that is an order. Besides, your family awaits you there, duke, wouldn't you want to meet them?"
"SHUT UP!! You lunatic, can't you see he's not in the state to travel?"
The detective shook his head.
"MR Faizo, I know I have cost this family a lot, but the greater good of the kingdom comes first. That is why I interrogated him, and it is this personality trait of mine that made the king select me as acting ruler, so just be patient, for I shall claim revenge for all who have died"
The duke did not waste any more time as he turned and walked back up the leaving the entire room shocked and confused.
Mr Vandinel paused for a moment as he turned to face the crowd once more
"The carriages will be here by dawn. I expect you to be ready by then. All those who have perished will have permission to be buried in the royal cemetery, but if their families wish, they can bury them themselves"
The detective threw a glance at Hal, causing him to pull back a little before he disappeared behind a corner
Hal turned as all eyes fell on him. There were mixed feelings among the audience, from disdain to fear. Tai and Lyrrah stayed the same, but Hal could see that Mt Faizo could no longer stand him
And so he turned, knowing that this may be the last time he ever talks to anyone from the Harleyclover Family
"Hey Hal"
Hal turned and saw Elizabeth, who had finally left her position at the wall.
"You, Tai and Lyrrah should follow me. We, members of the Silver Sword, have our own issues to settle"
Elizabeth gestured for each of them to follow, and as Hal walked through, he felt everything he had built in the Harleyclover Mansion fade from him; the people he had worked with could no longer even greet him, and the one who mentored him wanted him gone.
Hal froze next to Mr Faizo before turning to the head butler of the mansion.
"I did my best, Mr Faizo, I really did"
And with that, he strolled off to meet Elizabeth, who was waiting for him outside the mansion with Tai and Lyrrah.
Lyrrah stretched as her face turned suddenly sour.
"These people are just hypocrites; we are the only reason they still have their duke. In fact, they should be thanking us, but instead, they stare at us like we caused it"
Tai shook his head
"I kind of understand them. Bad things only started happening when we showed up, and you can't expect them to blame themselves, so they blame us. It's only human nature"
Lyrrah turned to Tai in surprise
"Wow, since when have you been a philosopher, Tai?"
Tai's face turned red, only for his comment to be halted when he glanced at Hal's sorry state. Lyrrah also caught on that the three of them fell extremely quiet.
"Huh, you kids are a handful, and I understand what all of you are going through. Lyrrah, you haven't been awake for long, so you wouldn't understand, and Tai spent most of his time with the duke. It was Hal who slowly grew close to the people of this mansion. Sadly, our mission in this place has come to a close"
All of them turned to Elizabeth in surprise, who folded her hands before turning to the blue moon in the sky.
"Our Job here was to protect the Duke of Harley clover Mr Walter, but that threat has now passed, so our mission in this place and any and all cult related mischief ends now"
Hal's eyes widened. It couldn't be the end of it. He wanted to know who those bustards were; he heard about all this destruction for the same beings that broke him, and here they were doing it again.
"I refuse to accept that, I want to see this through, I want to take down those bustards so please le…"
Hal stumbled back as a pebble sent flying by Elizabeth crushed into his head. He scratched the point of impact as he turned up and saw Elizabeth, who looked frustrated.
"Let me finish speaking first, you idiot, huh, we just received a new mission from the acting king. Lady Roxanne just sent me a letter saying that your decision decides if we accept or not, since you three have spent the most time investigating the cult"
Mr Vandinel sent a request for this mission from the silver sword. Did he predict that he would be forced to stop aiding him after the attack on the duke had been avoided?"
He turned to his two friends in front of him as he saw Tai place his hand forward with conviction rooted deep within his eyes.
"Count me in, I want to take these people down as well"
Lyrrah gently placed her hand on Tai's, and her face brightened with a smile
"I have to get these guys back for kidnapping me ten years ago"
The two of them turned their gaze to Hal, who smiled as he placed his hand on theirs
"And I want to stop their plans in their tracks and honour all those that fell to their schemes"
To their surprise, another hand joined their little circle, and it was none other than Elizabeth
"And for me, I want to get them back for ruining my life in a beautiful mansion. So now that your decision has been made, it seems the Silver Sword joins the Frey"
The selection was due to start the next day, and the disappearances were destined to start soon after. And now they were heading to the castle, and for some unknown reason, Hal felt a strong fear as he thought about it; unknowingly to him, he was now the prey of the King