"Let me out! I cannot miss the important event to send my children to a prestigious academy."

  "Please inform the Seventh Order that I wished to seek their leniency. I'm willing to pay for the guarantee."

  "With my noble status, why would I do something as lowly as committing murder? Their dirty love affair that resulted in three deaths has nothing to do with me."

  Just when the situation was starting to get out of hand and the uniformed officers were unable to contain the crowd, a loud voice suddenly echoed, causing the crowd to turn silent.

  "I have the pass to legally leave the city. So who wishes to rent my carriage?"

  The crowd was stupefied by the person's shout. Aside from their nonsensical claim to be able to leave the city, they were trying to search for customers to rent their carriage.

  "Just who is this crazy lunatic?"

  "Does he take us for a fool?

  Although the nobles were desperate to leave, they weren't foolish enough to be swindled by a lowly Coachman—much less a lunatic one.

  If there was a legal pass, then why would they be sitting ducks here for a long time? They would have used the legal pass to make their exit from the beginning.

  "Officers, why haven't you arrested the lunatic?" Among the crowd, someone suddenly suggested arresting the latter. It appeared that they were genuinely annoyed by the Coachman, but the officers knew they were simply trying to lessen their manpower.

  With fewer officers around, there could be an opportunity to possibly slip through the crack to exit. After all, there were no TIs present. Even if caught in the future, they could simply pay a large fee as compensation.

  However, it remained true that the Coachman's words were quite disruptive and could easily cause the crowd to start spouting more nonsense.

  "Uh, just get the Coachman off the top of his carriage, Gilbert." Frustrated by the crowd, one of the uniformed officers had no choice but to comply a little bit. They told his other colleague to do the job while he maintained the crowd here.

  Gilbert knitted their brows slightly upon being told to do the job. 'Why do I always get picked to deal with the crazy one?'

  Despite being very reluctant, Gilbert flashed a smile and nodded his head. He obeyed the order and swiftly made his way to the carriage.

  Upon arriving at the carriage, he raised his hand and pointed at them.

  "You, get down from there—"

  Suddenly, Gilbert found his voice being cut short. It wasn't that he lost his voice or anything, but it was the fact that he saw an insignia being flashed by the Coachman.

  'A Seventh TI insignia?' Startled and alarmed Gilbert swallowed a mouthful of saliva nervously. He was positive that the Coachman was definitely not a TI, but definitely had some connection with the Seventh Order.

  An insignia was one-of-a-kind, specifically designed and crafted for the TI. There was no way a TI would allow their insignia to be snatched away—it was impossible.

  Thus, the only conclusion Gilbert came up with was that the Coachman was under Seventh's order.

  To confirm his speculation, Gilbert purposely lowered his voice and asked, "Are you perhaps under order by the Seventh?"

  Upon being asked such a question, Karl's face was somewhat gleeful. When had there ever been an opportunity or day where a uniformed officer would be that polite to him?

  Usually, he would have just been scooted to the side or forced to answer unless he wanted to be detained under suspicion.

  Taking a deep breath, Karl smiled at Gilbert and gently rubbed the insignia.

  "What else? Or did you think I'm capable of snatching it from the Seventh?" He jeered.

  Let's not even mention that the crime of stealing an insignia was punishable by death. The mere fact that a Seventh could lose their insignia to someone like him was beyond impossible.

  Therefore, Karl was essentially calling Gilbert foolish for raising such a question.

  Gilbert also realized the opposing party must have been speaking the truth.

  'A Coachman who dared to jeer at an officer must have some backing.' He thought to himself. Now that he realized Karl was acting under the Seventh's order, he could only allow him to do whatever he was doing initially and return to his original position.

  When the crowd noticed how Karl continued to chant loudly about auctioning off his carriage for a ride outside the city, they became startled.

  "Huh, the officer didn't detain or stop him?"

  "Could it be true then?"

  The crowd quickly came up with their own speculation, but most of them aligned with how Karl got permission and could really bring them out of the city despite the lockdown.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Meanwhile, Gilbert's colleague, Jackson, was dumbfounded by the situation.

  "Why did you return like that?" Jackson raised his voice and held a look of dissatisfaction. "Do you know how the crowd would become uncontrollable?"

  Gilbert understood Jackson's frustration, given he would have reacted the same if he had been unaware of Karl's situation. Thus, he hurriedly over and whispered to his ear.

  A few moments later, Jackson's eyes widened in complete shock and surprise. He darted his eyes left and right to check the surroundings. And through some luck, Jackson spotted two individuals from afar.

  'Detective Dexter and another person?' Stunned, Jackson noticed how Dexter was being polite and somewhat submissive toward the other person. Since the other person wasn't a Sergeant and was unfamiliar to him, there could only be one conclusion: the Seventh Order TI.

  'Damn, so Gilbert's words are true. The Seventh is present and allowing the commotion to happen.'

  In the blink of an eye, Jackson subtly paved the way away and directed the crowd to focus more on Karl.

  "Auctioning a Pass to leave Velgrave City. Highest money comes first, so feel free to bid." Karl shouted loudly. His shout immediately attracted attention—unlike before, this time, he was taken seriously.

  The crowd wasn't blind and ignorant to not notice the officers silent approval of the action. In the next instance, numerous shouting of bidding commenced.

  Amidst the commotion, from afar, Damien's eyes scanned around the crowd. He wasn't interested in the loudest bidder whatsoever.

  Instead, he was focused on those who were more quiet and inconspicuous.

  'Come on, drop a high bid or you'll lose this Pass.' Damien sneered inwardly.

  ...

  "I bid 1 gold coin."

  "You have the face to bid that low? I bid 3 gold coins. That pass is mine."

  "Tsk, you might as well give up on the event and stay coop up at Velgrave. I'll bid 5 gold coins."

  As the commotion from the crowd intensified, bidding voices overlapped and overwhelmed one another. Each of the nobles hoped to bid and win the pass from Karl.

  However, they were also unwilling to bid too high. After all, there was a possibility that by the time they obtained the pass, the lockdown would already be lifted.

  They were desperate, but not desperate to lose their mind and rationality to make wise decisions.

  'These nobles are really not easy to swindle.' Karl also understood the shrewd nobles were being cautious. He wanted to do something to raise the price further but was afraid of making a mistake as well.

  'Master said all the bidding money would go to my pocket, but I need to lure out the rat.' He was worried about the latter.

  Fattening his pocket was definitely nice, but his main mission was to lure the culprit out. Without catching the culprit, the trap that Damien set up would be futile.

  As Karl struggled to maintain the intensity and give them a sense of urgency, Damien also realized the former was lacking experience.

  Karl certainly had the desire and some wits to achieve decent results. Alas, it wasn't enough to complete the big picture.

  'Seems like I'll need to orchestrate something more.' Damien pursed his lips.

  He turned to Dexter and said, "Go over there and announce the lockdown would remain indefinitely. Say that we've discovered a Slavrok in the sewer and the danger level has increased. The pass that Karl is offering is the only ticket to leave."

  Startled, Dexter didn't expect he would one day become a pauper at work.

  'I'll have to help the Coachman to reel in more money…' If Dexter were told he would have to do such a task before being deployed today, then he would have scoffed at them.

  After all, what kind of detective would resort to such means and stoop so low for some gold coins?

  Yet that kind of situation was precisely happening to him. It was also an order from the Seventh, meaning he couldn't refuse the request.

  "I understand." In the end, Dexter flashed an awkward smile and complied with the command.

  He made sure to exude a detective aura as he approached the crowd.

  "Make way people. Otherwise, I'll detain you on suspicion that you are related to the case." Dexter exclaimed loudly.

  Almost immediately, the crowd turned around and checked who had the audacity to shout like that. When they came to a realization that it was a Detective, they soon became wary.

  A detective was indeed superior to the uniformed officers in rank, but it wasn't by much. Yet the fact that Dexter still had the courage to talk about detainment without hesitation meant that he got the backer.

  Sure enough, their speculation was confirmed when Dexter got the attention and declared, "The Seventh has given me an order that the lockdown would remain indefinitely until the crisis is resolved."

  "What? It's just a murder case of someone who's not even a noble!"

  "Is there really a need to go to that extreme?"

  "I don't have any ill will toward the Seventh Order TI but this is too much. If every murder case results in the city lockdown then Velgrave is done."

  Without a doubt, many began voicing their complaints and frustrations toward Dexter. Although they still tried to remain respectful toward the TI, it was clear that their patience was running thin.

  Even a TI had a limit to how far they could behave and act. The city lockdown had already been ongoing for more than half an hour. That alone should have been enough for them to stop the lockdown.

  Naturally, Dexter understood where they were coming from and had no choice but to admit Damien was impressive.

  "Apologies, but this is no longer referring to a murder case. Just earlier, the Seventh was investigating and discovered a Slavrok in the sewer. Though the Slavrok was easily resolved by the Seventh, a monster has inevitably been found in Velgrave." Dexter announced loudly.

  Instantly, the crowd turned silent. Disbelief colored their eyes when they were informed a monster was actually lurking in the sewer.

  A sewer was dirty and almost no one of their status would care about it.

  However, even they knew the sewer was connected with many things. If the monster somehow made their way to the surface and stumbled across their home, then it goes without saying what the outcome would be.

  "Isn't that more of a reason to let us out of the city until you all clear out any lurking monsters?" Suddenly, someone from the crowd raised a valid point. Since Velgrave had unknown danger, locking the city down was essentially trapping them with the danger.

  Dexter paused for a moment before recollecting his thought process. He hadn't expected anyone in the crowd to be sharp enough to grasp the key point and question him.

  Nevertheless, he was prepared for an unexpected moment and promptly explained in a roundabout manner.

  "Indeed, but this is the Seventh's command. I'm sure everyone would respect the Seventh's decision, right?" Dexter said calmly. The crowd naturally wouldn't dare to disagree with the judgment and decision made by a TI—especially a Seventh Order.

  Seeing that the crowd had subsided slightly, Dexter made sure to strike the iron when it was hot.

  "Anyway, the Coachman over there has assisted the Seventh in the case. Therefore, he was granted a Pass to leave the city. Anyone who managed to win the bid of the Pass could leave the city with him."

  As if on cue, Karl noticed Damien's signal from afar and understood it was time for the finale.

  He jumped down from the carriage and took the center of attention. "That's right, people. I hold the only pass to bypass the city lockdown. Once you miss this chance, then you'll regret it for life."

  Thanks to Dexter's declaration and Karl's temptation, the crowd was finally hooked—particularly one group of people.