The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 177: The Golden Mean

"Oh? Does Your Highness doubt the results investigated by the New Party? After all, the evidence at the scene has already indicated that it was the Witch Research Society that planned this attack, and Your Highness has also directed the Occult Bureau to conduct a sweeping operation against the Witch Research Society within the nation's borders..."

Fisher was extremely cautious, not revealing the clues he had currently learned, because he was unsure exactly what the prince in front of him intended by coming over right now.

If Godolin IX and the mastermind behind the Pink Pavilion, Black, were both members of the Pioneering Faction and inextricably linked with each other, then what kind of stance did the prince in front of him take in all this?

As the prince most likely to inherit the throne, Prince Dexter had always acted extremely moderately in the past. Many of his decisions and actions were like copying, searching through past decision-making history for methods that could be adopted against the current situation, just like how he frequently invited subordinates to eat breakfast to reflect the same affability as Godolin II.

The New Party and the Gryphon Party held nearly identical evaluations of this prince in front of them: moderate.

But moderation simultaneously meant stability and maintaining the status quo. Godolin IX's pioneering policies had brought glory to Naris in the past few decades, so Prince Dexter trusted the Pioneer Party very much functionally in terms of policy, otherwise he wouldn't have handed so many matters to them to handle previously.

Therefore, facing Prince Dexter's inquiry, Fisher merely smiled slightly, made a smooth transition, and threw the question back.

"Sir Fisher, please look at this..."

Dexter cast a glance at Fisher, and subsequently used his fingers to twist a golden cufflink on his sleeve. In Fisher's line of sight, layers of thick dark shadows gradually surged out from that cufflink. The dark shadows followed like a shadow, wrapping around the position where Fisher and Prince Dexter were sitting.

Fisher's gaze surged. Just as he was about to make a move, he heard Prince Dexter's steady voice of comfort."Calm down, Sir Fisher. This is the relic [Illusion Record Artifact] I carry with me to record some of the things I see and hear. All of it is a true projection from my memory."

His words had barely fallen when his figure gradually disappeared into a swath of illusory dark shadows. The next second, in the center of that swath of black mist, a scene gradually emerged, just like a lake illuminated by moonlight at night.

Fisher cast his gaze toward that scene. Inside the scene was a corridor passage bathed in moonlight. Looking outward toward the corridor was a courtyard meticulously pruned by royal gardeners.

The moonlight was concentrated. In the corridor, countless complicated patterns were engraved on the adjacent walls and pillars. The golden three-ring circular pattern indicated that this was exactly the Golden Palace where the Naris royal family resided.

And right at this moment, a man wearing a short robe leaned exactly in the middle of that corridor, looking down at the moonlit courtyard outside.

That man had a head of long golden hair and an rather handsome appearance; it was just that his face was far too pale, making people suspect whether he had done something to overdraw his body. He was none other than the previously mentioned Second Prince, Lensis Godolin.

The perspective of the black mist was extremely hidden, stealthily observing from the corner of the corridor very far behind Prince Lensis. One look and it was obvious that Dexter was hiding behind the corridor eavesdropping.

Before many seconds passed, from over there, Prince Lensis's voice intermittently transmitted over. Fortunately, Fisher could roughly hear the meaning of his words clearly.

"Just what exactly is going on with you people? You still haven't caught her? Are you people unclear about Royal Father's condition?!"

Fisher's brow furrowed slightly, focusing his full attention on watching the scene within the black mist.

Ever since Lensis spoke, the courtyard had been completely quiet without any reply. However, as if he had received a response, Lensis continued to say the next sentence.

"Don't say anything like he needs to rest this week. Dragging it out for another second, another day, another week, the situation could all worsen! You people botched the matter of Schwari's visit we had previously agreed upon. There absolutely cannot be any mistakes in this matter, understand?!"

Lensis's pale side profile was somewhat ferocious, a far cry from his usually reticent image.

After finishing this sentence, he panted heavily towards the quiet courtyard for quite a while. It seemed that only after waiting for the other party to stop replying did he resentfully sweep a glance at his surroundings and walk towards the other end of the corridor, leaving only the quiet courtyard and the moonlight behind.

The image within the black mist gradually disappeared, and the swirling black mist also slowly retracted tightly like a whirlpool, eventually returning to the cufflink on Dexter's sleeve.

"Lensis frequently goes there to communicate with others. Previously, I also took pictures of him hiding his identity to communicate with others on Nateon Street."

Dexter in front of him had a complex expression. Reaching out to take the documents handed over by the etiquette official beside him, he tossed those documents to Fisher. At the same time, he pushed the cup in front of him to the etiquette official behind him, indicating for him to pour another cup of milk for himself.

Fisher sized up those documents; all of them were the Occult Bureau's reports regarding that attack, as well as a pile of photographs taken from tricky angles or magic recordings. As long as the prince wanted to, he could track anyone without blowing away the dust.

"Sir Fisher, let's stop hiding and covering up. Lensis participated in the terrorist action related to the attack on the Schwari delegation. I'm guessing that Sir Fisher has a lead regarding this matter, right?"

Fisher raised an eyebrow, not immediately responding to Dexter's question. On the contrary, he smiled and said.

"Since Your Highness the Prince has already confirmed that your younger brother participated in the terrorist action, you can totally place him under house arrest and interrogate the person directly to obtain more clues, can't you?"

However, after hearing this, Dexter sighed, leaned his body against the back of the chair, and pointed a finger at Fisher.

"Sir Fisher, let me talk to you about the current situation within the Golden Palace. First of all, Royal Father's health is extremely poor and he basically ignores political affairs. But after all, as long as he hasn't departed from this world for a single day, he remains His Majesty King Godolin IX of the Naris Empire, and simultaneously my biological father."

"Royal Father's recent state is very strange. Approaching the end of his life has made his temperament change drastically. Every day he shows zero interest in the political affairs I report, merely staying inside his bedchamber behind closed doors. Previously he could still come out to enjoy dinner together with us, but now one simply can't see his old self all day long, not knowing exactly what he's doing inside the bedchamber..."

"Elizabeth cannot participate in political affairs. Although I don't communicate with her much, she is also loyal to her duties; Isabel and Serect are still young, and their influence on political affairs can be neglected; only Lensis actually dares to forge a different path and pin his hopes of obtaining the throne on this kind of illegitimate method. Although the financial power is entirely in my hands right now, and when the gears of the future continue turning I will still be the one to inherit the grand lineage, but after all, Royal Father has not yet departed from this world..."

Dexter sighed, propping his chin up with his hand and lamenting to Fisher in front of him.

"People often say a hero's story ends in his middle age, because once he reaches his later years, illness and death will surround him like maggots on the bone, distorting whatever noble will the hero once had, and turning him into the appearance he himself used to hate the most... Without Royal Father's will instructing from behind the scenes, I definitely wouldn't believe Lensis acting like this. You also heard the content of his dialogue just now. Sir Fisher, I don't want to be an unfilial son, so settling Lensis's matter in private is naturally the best."

"On the night before you resigned, the Occult Bureau actually discovered that someone else had invaded Saint-Nazareth University at the time. That fleeing demi-human female student was actually not the true reason for your resignation; the person who launched the attack that night was the catalyst that led to your resignation... How about it, Sir Fisher? After hearing all this, you can now tell me exactly who the person colluding with Lensis to attack the Schwari delegation is, right?"

After listening to Dexter's words, Fisher pondered for a moment, reached out to dab some milk in his own cup, and wrote the name "Pink Pavilion" on the table.

He didn't directly write out that the true mastermind behind the scenes was Black. If the other party was colluding with Black, they could only infer that Fisher actually only knew the first layer of information and completely didn't know about the Healing House and Black manipulating the Development Company from behind.

But Dexter only took one glance at that name, and he gently waved his hand toward the tabletop. This time, that ring on his ring finger lit up with a profound radiance, instantly swallowing the traces on the table, turning it into a wisp of white mist that vanished on the spot.

And concurrently, his expression also became extremely severe. Evidently, from the single vocabulary word "Pink Pavilion" written by Fisher, he saw the massive network behind it. He raised his head, looked at Fisher, and asked.

"Sir Fisher, do you know who the person standing behind this entertainment venue is?"

Fisher didn't answer him, merely raising his eyes to look at him and asked in return.

"Could it be that Prince Dexter is afraid?"

"...Haha, it hasn't reached that point. It's just to confirm whether Sir Fisher understands the specific reasons within it."

Upon seeing Fisher's expression, Dexter let out a long breath, reached out to pick up the cup beside him, and downed the somewhat cooled milk inside in one gulp, sequentially saying.

"In his youth, he and my Royal Father together forged this empire that is now advancing forward wrapped up in pioneering. Back then, they were close friends who talked about everything, and when I was little I also saw him many times... I just never expected that in the end, he chose Lensis instead of me."

"Perhaps he doesn't care at all about who he chooses; he merely wants to achieve his own goals."

"Hah, makes sense. I shouldn't care about this... If it's Black, let me think. This weekend the Healing House will have a charity event, and Lensis will be participating then, oh. It seems this makes sense now..."

Dexter's voice was steady. Without needing Fisher to say too much, he could smoothly deduce many things on his own.

"I understand. It looks like this weekend's charity banquet will become very lively... One last question, Sir Fisher. After asking, I will leave and won't interfere with your good deeds. Better yet, in some sense it might even help you quite a bit. After all, after this weekend, perhaps Lensis will no longer take another step out of the Golden Palace."

"Please speak."

"Is the person Lensis currently looking for that fleeing demi-human girl from Saint-Nazareth University?"

After hearing Dexter's inquiry, Fisher didn't immediately answer. Instead, as if suddenly recalling something, he asked back.

"I heard that not long ago Prince Dexter once received an anonymous letter. The content was congratulating you on your thirty-fourth birthday, and I heard it was even gifted to you by a demi-human..."

Dexter was slightly stunned. He casually reached into his embrace, and abruptly pulled out a letter enveloped in a white envelope.

He opened the envelope right in front of Fisher's face, and then took out the letter inside and handed it to Fisher, smilingly saying at the same time.

"Sir Fisher's information is very well-informed. There is indeed such a matter. However, that letter was not meant for me. I even thought it was some prank by one of my younger brothers or sisters..."

Having interacted for less than half an hour now, Fisher already had a rough understanding of the personality of this prince he had never met before. While treating his subordinates, he very much liked speaking from the heart. No wonder when Elizabeth was in the Royal Academy, she said her elder brother's idol was Godolin II, that "Wise King."

He unfolded the letter, only to see it was written crookedly in the language of Naris.

"Congratulations, happy thirty-fourth birthday, wishing you all the best. Still one year left until the agreed return date."

"Sender: Sea Child."

There were only these two simple sentences, nothing else.

"What agreement, what happy birthday, I'm completely unaware of it all. Moreover, there's still three months until my birthday. Although both are thirty-four years old, would anyone really send a congratulatory letter this far in advance?"

Listening to Dexter's words, Fisher looked at the letter in front of him. His intuition told him that this letter was indeed not written to Dexter. As for who it was written to...

Fisher folded the letter up and handed it back to Prince Dexter in front of him, subsequently opening his mouth and saying.

"The matter at Saint-Nazareth University is a scandal. Lensis was borrowing the power of the subordinates under your hand to help him find the person he was looking for, and you know the methods of the Healing House. If there was truly concrete evidence, I wouldn't have resigned from Saint-Nazareth University."

"Although evidence regarding the Healing House is very hard to find, this naughty younger brother Lensis solidly appeared in front of me..."

Dexter already understood what Fisher meant. He straightened his suit and subsequently stood up. A steady voice emanated from his mouth. Concurrently, he was also almost at the door of the breakfast shop.

"The charity gala over the weekend should be extremely lively. Sir Fisher should also be participating, right? With me getting involved when the time comes, whatever you want to do should also become a bit smoother..."

Fisher neither agreed nor disagreed, also standing up from his seat at the table. He understood Dexter's intent to likewise make a move against Lensis at the charity banquet. And for him to make a move against Lensis, he evidently was no longer preparing to pretend. Regardless of whether he had Godolin IX's support behind him, he would place Lensis under house arrest.

In Fisher's view, Dexter had actually obtained quite a lot of speculations regarding this matter already. Him coming over to ask Fisher in the end was merely wanting to obtain an affirmative answer.

As ordinary people said, the evaluation of Dexter as "moderate" didn't seem to be worthy of the name, at least that was how Fisher felt.

"Thanks to Your Highness's blessing."

Dexter stood at the door of the breakfast shop, smiled slightly at Fisher behind him, left behind a sentence, and departed from the breakfast shop.

"I'll treat you to breakfast again after everything is done, Sir Fisher."

Fisher looked at his departing back, lost in thought. Just as he was preparing to leave, he was abruptly grabbed by the shoulder by the shop owner behind him. When Fisher turned his head in confusion, that shop owner's expression was somewhat nervous, but he still extended a few fingers toward Fisher.

"Mister, Mister, you and the Prince haven't paid for your breakfast yet!"

"??"

Fisher turned his head to look at the etiquette officials and that steady Prince Highness who had already left this street, as if only then understanding the words he had just spoken.

It seemed this prince's personality was even more interesting than he had imagined, especially on the matter of being stingy. This was the first time Fisher had found a gentleman in Saint-Nazareth who was even more formidable than himself.