Things about the female knight in black stockings

The legendary magic [Time Reversal] only shows the scene of the psychopathic killer discarding his leg, but every time the psychopathic killer discards his leg, he covers himself completely with a raincoat and mask.

The past recreated by [Time Rewind] is already of low clarity. If converted to a video of Valensa's past life, it would probably only be around 120p. In addition, with the deranged killer's cover-up, it is very difficult to determine his identity by visual inspection. The only thing that can be confirmed is that he is a man.

Apart from the leg where the crime scene was found, the primary crime scene of the more than 200 crimes committed over 9 years was never discovered... The Paladins could only roughly determine the scope of the crimes based on the time the victims disappeared.

The most outrageous and unbelievable incident was the murder of a wealthy young lady.

The rich young lady secretly went out at night to meet her lover in a relatively secluded villa in the north of the city.

At that time, the rich young lady's lover had already arrived at the villa. He saw her get off the carriage and walk towards the villa from the balcony. There was only a tree-lined path less than 100 meters long between them.

The path was paved entirely with cobblestones, making it very bumpy to ride in a carriage. So, the wealthy young lady would always walk across the path whenever she came.

Upon seeing the wealthy young lady arrive, her lover quickly went down from the balcony, grabbed flowers and gifts, and hid behind the villa door, intending to give her a surprise.

As a result, those flowers and gifts were never sent out... The man waited all night but his lover never showed up. When he saw the rich girl again, she was left with only her legs, still wearing the purple stockings she wore on their date.

After the incident, Aileen and the paladins ransacked the villa, capturing the rich young lady's driver and lover and interrogating them repeatedly. Of course, they used lie detector magic and even necromancy that could read parts of memories... They were practically turned into soul crystals and used as external hard drives to read the data.

However, no valuable findings were made... It was confirmed that the rich young lady's driver and lover were innocent, and no traces were found near the villa. The rich young lady, who was carrying many protective items, disappeared into thin air without even struggling or resisting.

"...This is just too outrageous!"

Valensa was stunned by the information and finally understood why Ellie disagreed with her wearing the stockings made by Ms. Na.

What is more terrifying than power is the unknown.

The methods employed by this legendary, deranged serial killer are now unimaginable and unknown.

Even if Valensa only possesses Star-level combat power for a short period of time, she would still be terrified if she encountered such an opponent, let alone break through to Star-level.

"Humph."

Irene seemed quite pleased with the look of shock on Valensa's face, and curled her lip:

"Don't underestimate me, Valensa... I've been a paladin captain for decades, and I've even personally captured two revelers."

I've been investigating this bastard for nine years and haven't found a single clue. It's not that I'm incompetent, it's just that this bastard is too cunning.

"Hey? Sister Aileen, you've caught two revelers? That's amazing!"

Valensa couldn't help but be surprised.

She personally witnessed three revelers.

They are her cheap senior sister, the phantom thief [Red Fox Mask], the cruel and crazy [Grey Rat] who has become Tia's external hard drive, and the most difficult and bizarre [Sin Angel].

These people are undoubtedly top-tier criminals. Like the time with "Grey Rat," even though Valensa had received a tip from her cheap senior sister and made ample preparations in advance, she almost failed. This is enough to prove how terrifying and cunning the revelers are.

To capture the Revelers, you can't rely on combat power alone... Back when they captured Gray Rat, there were six Radiant-rank experts lying in ambush with her, but they were still wiped out in one move by the Petrification Curse.

The fact that Ellie has captured two of these top-tier criminals proves that her abilities are definitely not weak, and may even be very strong.

"Hmph, what do you think? If I weren't somewhat capable, why would the church have specifically assigned me to Mosantina to handle that case of the deranged serial killer?"

Ereshkigal was initially quite pleased with herself, but then became dejected:

"I never imagined this place would become my place of utter defeat... It's been a full nine years, and I still haven't been able to find even a trace of that bastard."

"I see... Then it seems he might also have some kind of special ability. This special ability might not be strong in direct combat, but it's very suitable for committing crimes."

Valensa closed the documents she had almost finished reviewing, leaned over the edge of the bed with her buttocks raised, and swung one of her black-stockinged legs from side to side, asking:

"Sister Ailei, have you ever tried starting by tracking the victim? Instead of starting the investigation after the victim's leg is found, you could act immediately after someone goes missing, using divination magic or similar abilities to locate the victim and try to find her?"

"Of course I've used this method; in fact, I've been using it all along."

Ai Lei nodded slightly, but her face was full of bitter smiles:

“My men are stationed in all the branches of the Commercial Union’s law enforcement teams throughout Mosantina. They will report to me immediately if any young women are reported missing.”

I personally investigate these disappearances almost every time, visiting the relatives and friends of the missing persons, asking the people at the Sage's Tower to help locate them with divination magic, and even trying the kind of evil magic that cultists use to locate and track people based on blood or other bodily residue.

As a result... I caught many rebellious girls who ran away from home, girls who eloped with their lovers, and girls who skipped school because they didn't want to go, but I never found a single victim.

"This……"

Valensa frowned:

"Sister Aileen, have you investigated the disappearance of every young girl in Mosantina?"

"We've investigated everything that could be investigated."

Eresh sighed:

“America is not like your Fran, Valensa. Your place is more traditional, and most boys and girls are still very obedient. Even if they have some rebellious thoughts, they will only think about them secretly in their hearts and will not act on them easily.”

But we're different... those rebellious and impulsive young people really dare to run away from home whenever they want, and elope whenever they want.

The registered population of the entire city of Mosantina exceeds 60, and this number is only higher when you add in the migrant workers and tourists.

The various business association enforcement teams receive missing person reports almost every day. Even if we only investigate cases where the missing persons are young women, I'm completely overwhelmed.

"Are there really that many missing persons cases in Mosantina?"

Valensa frowned, indicating her confusion.

For Valencia, who lived in a technologically advanced metropolis in her previous life, a permanent population of 60 was not particularly large.

Moreover, with the Church of the Sun in power, people in this world's major cities, as long as they abide by the law, do not need to worry about basic living security, and social order is even better than in the technologically advanced world.

How can a city like Mosantina have multiple disappearances every day? Even cities like Arante and Gondia, with populations exceeding one million like the capital of Fran, don't have this many cases.

"Well... the situation in Mosantina is rather special. The number of missing persons cases has remained high, which is probably one of the main reasons why that bastard has been able to commit crimes here for so long."

Seemingly noticing Valensa's confusion, Irene sighed and said:

"Valenza, do you know why Mosantina is the largest city, even the central city, in eastern America? Do you know why it's called the City of Mountains?"

"Yes, I know a little bit."

Valensa nodded slightly:

"Because the city of Mosantina is located on the only plain in the America Mountains... or rather, a basin, and there is a relatively wide road connecting it to the west and other cities, it has a unique geographical advantage."

"That's right, it's due to its unique geographical advantage."

Irene affirmed Valensa's answer and then added:

"The richest natural resources in our America Mountains are various minerals, so mining is naturally a pillar industry in our eastern region. In the entire eastern mountain region, it can be said that nearly 80% of families rely on mining or mining-related industries for their income, and the city of Mosantina is no exception."

"Yes, these are all quite obvious. Tia and I took a quick look around when we entered the city yesterday and we already noticed them."

Valensa nodded gently again and asked:

"But what does all this have to do with the frequent disappearances in Mosantina?"

"Of course it matters."

Ai Lei rested her chin on her hand, her two long, white legs, unstockinged, swaying gently behind her.

"What is the most numerous job in the mining industry? It's mining and prospecting. So most families in Mosantina are miner families."

Many of these families have parents who both work in the mines and are away from home for long periods of time, usually only returning home once every few months. Most of their children attend boarding schools from a young age.

Many boarding schools here are not like the ones your French aristocratic children attend. The fees aren't expensive, and ordinary families can afford them, but the conditions are much worse, and the environment is very chaotic.

Furthermore, given America's relatively free environment, can you imagine how rebellious and unruly those children, lacking parental guidance, would be at school?

"Well...maybe."

Valensa nodded, secretly guessing that the boarding school that Ellie mentioned was probably similar to the vocational schools she had in her previous life.

Teachers at school still teach what they're supposed to teach, but discipline is very lax, so few people study seriously; most are probably just having fun.

“These children have not experienced strict discipline since childhood and lack communication with their parents. When they reach adolescence, they are prone to rebellion. Running away from home and eloping are commonplace for them.”

At this point, Ai Lei couldn't help but give a wry smile:

“We once had a group of people here who called themselves… well, I think they were sociologists? They did some research and investigation. They found that among young people aged 12 to 18 in Mosantina, 7 out of 10 had run away from home, and 1 out of 3 young couples had eloped.”

What's even more outrageous is that a large portion of these young people who run away from home and elope are not doing so because of conflicts with their families. They simply think it's cool and treat running away from home and eloping as a game, completely unaware of how worried their parents are.

Indeed, running away from home and eloping have even become trends among young people. Many young people who haven't tried running away from home or eloping with their lovers are ridiculed by their classmates at school and may even suffer bullying.

"Ah this..."

Valensa was stunned.

Valensa was already amazed by the bizarre behavior of the Blood God Society's spiritual vampires in Gangdia and Arant. She didn't expect that the young people in Mosantina's group would be just as outrageous. They actually made running away from home and eloping a trend. Even though they had no conflicts with their families, they still ran away from home and eloped, just to be cool and have fun!

America, that's really amazing.

Suppressing the urge to unleash a torrent of criticism, Valensa countered with:

"So the reason why there are so many disappearances in Mosantina is because these rebellious young people have made running away from home and eloping a trend?"

"Yes, that's one of the main reasons."

Ai Lei nodded, then remained silent for almost half a minute before softly saying:

"Another major reason is that even the brightest sunlight has places it can't reach... In the mountains of America, besides the officially operated mines, there are many illegal mines that are operated without authorization."

These illegal mines also require a large number of workers, but since they cannot recruit miners through legitimate channels, they have to resort to illegal means... Many underground gangs in Mosantina are involved in supplying workers to these illegal mines.

Of those who disappear from Mosantina each year, aside from the fools who soon run home or are found by their families, a large portion end up working in those illegal mines.

"Such a thing exists? Isn't this human trafficking? And on a large scale?"

Valensa exclaimed in surprise:

"Sister Ai Lei, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"Of course I was in charge, otherwise how would I know so much? Back then, I spent almost half a year working with my team to thoroughly investigate the profit chain related to black mines."

Irene rolled her eyes at Valensa, then gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"But I can't control that... You should know that our Sun Church has strict rules prohibiting interference in the internal affairs of human regimes in any way. We will only help believers resist natural disasters, fight highly dangerous monsters, or deal with vicious criminals."

"They're involved in large-scale human trafficking, aren't they heinous criminals?"

Valensa's eyes widened as she said:

"Scum like this can be eliminated without interrogation, right?"

"...They are indeed scum, but whether they are truly heinous criminals is not up to you or me to decide; only the laws enacted by the America Merchants Association will determine that."

At this point, Ai Lei couldn't help but grit her teeth:

"Initially, I did take down several underground gangs involved in human trafficking, and I also shut down several illegal mines that had dealings with them."

But not long after, the illegal mines resumed operations, and many young people became miners again.

I was just about to lead another thorough cleanup when I was blocked at the church entrance… These people claimed to be the legal team of some labor dispatch company. They showed me various documents and certificates, claiming that their actions were legal and that the Sun Church had no right to interfere.

Chapters 94-96: Clues Found on the Stockings

"Is this okay?"

Valensa was even more surprised. The two small black-stockinged feet swaying behind her clapped together with a loud thud before she said:

"So, Sister Ellie, you're just going to accept this?"

"What can I do if I don't acknowledge it?"

Aileen's tone was helpless:

"Although anyone with eyes can see at a glance that those documents are just high-sounding excuses, and the essence is still illegally hiring workers to mine, those high-sounding things are indeed very well done, and can be explained by the laws of the Commercial Federation... I have no right to interfere with legitimate business activities."

"There's such a thing... How did they manage to do that?"

Valensa was amazed, and even a little impressed and curious.

"They mainly took advantage of a point in the Commercial Law called the third party's innocence due to lack of knowledge, or the bona fide third party."

Aileen sighed and explained:

"Simply put, those intermediary agencies will sign a labor dispatch contract with the workers to prove that they are only helping to recruit people, but do not know the purpose of the recruitment, so it is not illegal."

Of course, this is all just an act. In reality, those agencies definitely know where the workers they recruit end up, and we know where those workers go. They also know that we know where those workers go… But as long as they deny it, there's nothing we can do, because this does indeed comply with those damned commercial association laws.”

"Damn the laws of the Commercial Federation... So, does this mean the Commercial Federation, or rather the powerful families behind it, are very aware of the existence of the black market mines, and that they are even the true owners of them?"

Valensa hesitated for a moment, then asked: