Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 92 - Seals

Lumi soon came over. "The young animals told me they’ve been treated with nothing but kindness and nourishment. Nothing suspicious."

Valeria gave a gesture for the others, and Susie and Elara explained what they found to him.

After a moment, Zara finally made her appearance, walking out of the shadows. "No evidence of wrongdoing. Let me explain..."

Marcus had reappeared at some point, adding his own notes after.

"I see." After taking in all the information, Lumi bowed to Mika. "I apologize for the intrusive investigation." With that, Valeria sheathed her sword and bowed as well.

Following them, the rest of the Knights bowed.

Mika sighed then shook her head. "Oh, don’t bow, don’t bow." She waved it away. "You all were infuriating at first, but I understand, I understand. This is important, you can’t afford excessive niceties."

After Lumi straightened his back, he directly stated. "You are being framed."

"You said what?" Mika’s eyes widened. "What?"

Lumi restated, "You are being framed." He let a small pause of silence ring out before he continued. "We didn’t come here due to merely your reputation. First off, there’s the massive ring of corruption around this island, though that was your doing."

He continued. "Then there’s the intersection of sea currents. Three are accessible from your little island here. From all of those, there have been attacks. Not to mention the young seals and otters disappearing here, though now we see why. And even more."

"Ah." Mika looked down and gave yet another sigh. "I guess a good amount of the suspicion is really my own fault. Still. Looks like I’ve really been framed."

"But why would they frame her?" Marcus asked.

Lumi’s smile was bitter. "Because she’s the perfect scapegoat. The mysterious witch living alone, practicing dark magic. When the corruption was discovered, who else would they blame? And while everyone’s focused on her..."

"The real culprit continues their work unopposed." Marucs finished. "I see."

Lumi turned to Mika. "Do you have any idea where they are?"

"Theories only." Mika admitted. "But just that. I have no evidence that points towards any specific group. It’s written in my notes."

Lumi replied. "It should be the Wings of Darkness."

Susie spoke up to inform Lumi. "According to what she has written here, much of this suggests suspicious movements within seal territory, and unlogged shipments."

"Hm?" Lumi looked over to Susie. "How does she know the shipments were unlogged?"

"She doesn’t." Susie explained, approaching Valeria and pointing out various points of information. "It’s just what’s suggested here. Might be the case. Might not. Look here." She pointed over to another point. "Some local shipments were denied months earlier due to safety concerns. To protect themselves."

"But maybe they’re protecting something else," Lumi suggested, playing into the next phase of the investigation.

Mika nodded gravely. "I hate to cast suspicion on anyone without proof. After all, you all even came for me. Even if what I have noted is right, that doesn’t mean the seals are responsible."

"This changes our approach." Lumi decided. "We need to look elsewhere for our culprit."

"Thank you for listening," Mika said softly. "I’ve been so alone here, fighting this corruption by myself. I... I’m glad the Aria Knights are here..." She wiped at her eyes quickly.

"You won’t be alone anymore." Marcus promised. "We’ll clear your name and find the real source of this corruption."

"And maybe," Jin added, gently petting a sleeping seal pup, "we can help with the animal rescue too. Bet Johno doesn’t know you’ve been saving his people’s children."

"Johno?" Mika asked. "Who is that?"

"You... don’t know Johno?" Valeria was confused, even more so when Mika shook her head. "He’s the seal that’s been leading the efforts against the corruption."

"Ah." Mika accepted the explanation. "I don’t leave home here often. Or at all, really."

As they continued their conversation, collecting information, evidence, and Susie making copies of the research and notes...

[Quest Complete: Corrupted Waters Investigation - Part 4]

[EXP +15,000]

[Level Up! 27 -> 28]

"Mn." It was a small thing, but enough to draw a reaction out of Lumi. It was a thousand more EXP than he had expected.

Given Mana Well at 17/20, he put three skill points into it, maxing it out.

[Mana Well: 20/20]

[Increases your Max MP.]

[Max MP +30%]

Lumi pursed his lips. He knew that there was only one skill left that mattered. He inputted his three points into it.

[Break Down: 3/3]

[Ignore a portion of enemy defenses.]

[Defense Pierce +20%]

While it seemed like an essential, and it was, Lumi kept it for last for a reason.

What was ’Defense’ or not wasn’t exceedingly obvious to a player. One would imagine steel armor or the stone body of a golem, but natural toughness was not Defense. Defense was specifically a special force, a property of special items. That was the stat counted by equipment. The vast majority of monsters, then, had zero defense at all.

Therefore, to be able to pierce defense did nothing against most enemies.

...

Back at the Glacial Observatory, their report caused quite a stir. Johno listened with growing dismay as they explained Mika’s actual activities and her theories about the corruption’s source.

"The seal territories?" Johno’s voice was troubled. "That’s a serious accusation. The seals have been part of our unified response from the beginning."

"Which would make them perfectly positioned to hide illegal activities." Lumi pointed out. "Who questions the investigators?"

"But to use her word, Mika..." Johno shook his head. "That’s suspicious. Her word is untrustworthy."

"Indeed it is." Lumi agreed. "We may have cleared her from direct suspicion, because no one’s word is a hundred percent accurate just because they say so. That’s why we’d like to investigate."

"The best place to control an investigation is from within," Elara observed. "We’ve seen it before in criminal cases. The guilty party volunteers to help, then misdirects efforts away from themselves. If there is some corruption there, then this could explain it."

Johno was quiet for a long moment, clearly wrestling with the implications. Around him, other researchers, penguins, humans, and seals, watched with varying expressions. Some looked skeptical, others thoughtful. A few of the seals appeared distinctly uncomfortable.

Johno growled, more to himself than to anyone. He looked up with conviction suddenly appearing on his face. "I’ll tell you everything."