Shinji Matou at Your Service

Sensing Waver's powerful aura, seeing the confidence radiating from his face, and hearing the mockery in his words, Byron's already grim expression due to his daughter's passing grew even darker, and his voice carried more anger.

"Professor Velvet, what do you mean? Everyone is just suspicious. If you have any questions, you can speak directly. There's no need for such sarcasm."

"Oh? You want me to speak directly?"

Waver pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, the playful look in his eyes making Byron involuntarily take a step back.

"Professor Velvet, please speak plainly. Did my sister say something to you last night?"

Silver Princess's voice eased the atmosphere slightly, though there was a hint of trembling in her beautiful voice, perhaps due to Waver's overwhelming presence among the crowd.

"Your sister?"

A strange smile appeared at the corner of Waver's mouth.

"You mean the one on the bed?"

"Professor, why ask when you already know?"

Silver Princess replied discontentedly. Others also felt Waver's words were too much.

Not giving others a chance to reproach him, Waver shook his head first: "If I've caused you any harm, I apologize. But if you're referring to the lady on the bed, I'm sorry, but I didn't see her last night."

"But my sister went to your room last night. Carina can testify, and Miss Reines also admitted it."

"I did see Golden Princess last night, but that shouldn't have been your sister."

At this point, even the slowest person could hear the problem.

"Professor, are you saying someone impersonated my sister? How is that possible?"

"Yeah, pretending to be someone else is one thing, but Golden Princess? This joke isn't funny."

"Even sophistry should follow basic logic."

...

Silver Princess's doubt was shared by everyone. In the mystical world, there were many ways to disguise oneself as others, and some could even fool people completely. However, Golden Princess and Silver Princess were different. Their beauty had surpassed human limits, being the crystallization of generations of Iselma's accumulation, a gateway to the Root. Impersonating them would be equivalent to fully mastering Iselma's secrets and recreating them, something even Iselma themselves couldn't do overnight.

Waver wasn't shaken by the doubts. He just calmly and confidently stood in the center of the room, as if he were lecturing students from a podium.

"You find it hard to believe?"

No one answered, but Waver already knew the answer.

"I also found it hard to believe. Before seeing Golden Princess's corpse, I didn't believe last night's Golden Princess was someone else in disguise, because that beauty wasn't fake. However now, I have no choice but to believe it!"

"Why?"

Byron stood his ground and asked through gritted teeth.

"Because the time of death for the corpse on the bed isn't last night, but earlier. This is the decisive evidence that clears my suspicion!"

"Nonsense!"

Byron's cane repeatedly struck the ground, making angry thudding sounds.

"Look at the blood, look at her appearance. If she had died earlier as you say, how could her corpse show no signs of decay?"

"That's a question for you, Head of the Iselma family," Waver remained calm.

"Your Iselma family is quite skilled at preserving corpses, maintaining the luster and vitality of skin, muscles, and blood, aren't you?"

"Hmph, I don't see any traces of magic being used anyway."

"I don't see it either. It's not surprising that those skilled in preservation have ways to erase magical traces. However, while magical traces can be erased, another fatal flaw cannot be concealed."

"What flaw!"

Byron's body trembled imperceptibly.

"Scientific traces. If I can see that the corpse's time of death is over 24 hours ago, it shouldn't be difficult for police forensic experts or Clock Tower professionals to verify. Invite them to examine it, and they can easily determine the exact time of death. Of course, this includes the fact that the person who appeared last night wasn't Golden Princess herself."

Waver's words were like sharp arrows, one after another striking Byron's vital points, leaving him bloodied and speechless, only able to desperately cling to one point.

"...Um, you, can you produce evidence right now? If you can't, stop using your boring delusions to slander our reputation."

"Such evidence is indeed hard to produce at a moment's notice."

Waverr shrugged somewhat helplessly.

"Then—"

Just as Byron was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he heard someone chuckle.

"Want evidence? That's easy."

Looking at the voice, it was Levi (Shinji) behind Wavver. He was now holding a phone, his thumb hovering over the speaker button.

"Flat, I remember the emergency number in England is 999, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Flat nodded.

"Are you going to call the police?"

"When in trouble, call the police. It's such a simple principle. Do you want evidence? I'll let the police give you evidence. Everyone stay here and don't move. We can't give certain ill-intentioned people a chance to tamper with the scene."

Seeing Shinji's thumb move to the number 9, Byron immediately became agitated.

"How can police solve matters of magus? This is ridiculous!"

"Then we'll call the Department of Policies. What's their number again?"

"I was talking to Professor Velvet. It's not your place to interrupt!"

"Hmph, sophistry won't work. Now you're pulling rank? Can't you come up with something new? Oh, I forgot, an old fossil who doesn't even know about scientific autopsies can't possibly have any new ideas."

"You—!!!"

Byron was driven nearly mad by Shinji's insults. He had thought Waver's words were too much, but he never expected his students to be even worse.

"That's enough, say less," Waver turned his head to give Shinji a look, then apologized embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, it's my fault for not teaching him properly. I'll discipline him strictly when we get back."

Byron coldly snorted, pretending to take the high ground: "In any case, this matter cannot be spread. You must produce evidence, otherwise, it's slander."

"Lord Byron," Reines walked to Waver's side and spoke, "Please don't misunderstand. We've already stated our assertion and method of proof. We all know in our hearts whether it's true or not. We now have reason to suspect this is a conspiracy against the El-Melloi classroom. To dispel our doubts, please provide evidence. If you can't, we will request arbitration from the Department of Policies or consider this a declaration of war by Iselma against us. Please remember, although the Department of Modern Magecraft doesn't have a lord, it doesn't mean we can be bullied at will. The El-Melloi classroom may be small, but we have our pride. We don't start trouble, but we're certainly not afraid of it!!!"

With Reines's words, the young men and women's spirits immediately soared.

Flat extended a finger, magical energy dissipating from its tip, ready to interfere with the Moon Tower's bounded field at any moment.

Svin cracked his knuckles, the human intellect in his eyes gradually fading away, replaced by a dangerous beastial aura.

Shinji smilingly pulled out a handgun from his bosom, a Thompson Contender he had managed to acquire from America with great difficulty, the same model as Kiritsugu's beloved gun that had left a shadow on Kayneth.

Even the quietest Gray clenched her fists somewhat eagerly, ready to deploy Add at any moment.

Reines raised her head. Despite being the shortest in the room, she gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.

"Lord Byron, make your choice. Peace or war!"