The female waitress hesitated for a few seconds, then quickly glanced around, as if checking the nearby situation.
Then, she swiftly picked up the documents and skimmed through them. After confirming the credentials were valid, she looked at Jiang Yuening, Sapphire.
“If you go to investigate… could you please show some leniency towards our Nine Dragons Hotel? Just say those guests went missing while out playing at night on their own, and it has nothing to do with our Nine Dragons Hotel.”
“If it truly has nothing to do with you, we naturally won’t wrongfully accuse you. On the contrary, we’ll prove your innocence.”
“Th-thank you. The room numbers where the incidents occurred are 303, 505, and 606. Here are three keys. Please check them. We’ve already sealed off the scenes in advance and haven’t let anyone in…”
“Thank you for your cooperation, ma’am.”
Although the waitress nodded and thanked her, the smile on her face looked uglier than crying.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Yuening vaguely felt she might know something, but didn’t press her.
Because she knew even if she questioned her further, she’d probably only get some rumors or the like, which wouldn’t be much help for her work.
However, judging from the other party’s expression…
Caesar Grand Hotel?
After receiving the keys, she didn’t take the elevator. As she walked up from the stairwell, Jiang Yuening suddenly thought of another place she had once visited.
When she first arrived at that place, she also felt an extremely strong sense of incongruity.
But since Blazing Flame had already told her in advance that their mission that time was to exterminate Shadow Beasts, she thought feeling a sense of incongruity was normal then.
But this time, she knew nothing in advance, only that those missing individuals had problematic thinking, yet she inexplicably felt the hotel was also problematic.
Could this be…
Upon reaching the second-floor great hall, Jiang Yuening stopped and looked at the buffet restaurant operating before her, recalling the similarities and differences between the two hotels.
Gradually, as her impression of the Caesar Grand Hotel in her mind became clearer, Jiang Yuening found the answer to the strangeness of the Nine Dragons Hotel.
Without a doubt, there was definitely a connection between the Nine Dragons Hotel and Shadow Beasts.
But the extent of this connection, whether it could compare to the Caesar Grand Hotel, whether the people here knew of the existence of Shadow Beasts, and other such questions, she would have to investigate one by one herself.
Anyway, judging solely from the current situation, the problems at the Nine Dragons Hotel shouldn’t be as severe as those at the Caesar Grand Hotel, and the disgusting aura she felt wasn’t as intense.
There was no need to worry about swarms of Shadow Beasts.
After making this initial judgment in her heart, Jiang Yuening glanced at the people eating in the buffet restaurant. Seeing nothing unusual, she headed straight for room 606.
Walking on the spacious stairwell, Jiang Yuening couldn’t hear any sounds from the various rooms at all, nor did she sense any strange noises from upstairs or downstairs.
The soundproofing in this hotel was excellent, so good it made Jiang Yuening feel somewhat lost, reminding her of her former home.
Before she became a Magic Girl, she had also experienced this kind of luxurious and comfortable feeling.
…and remembered the ugly faces of her parents.
Speaking of which, the reason she chose to help Director Xu with this task wasn’t because her sense of justice was overflowing, nor because she had nothing better to do recently.
It was because she saw a familiar name in the missing persons case progress report.
“Tianjiao Elite Training Course.”
Her parents had been connected to this training course, deeply believed in its content, and had even asked her if she wanted to go with them.
At the time, she felt her studies were more important, so she shook her head and refused.
Her older brother and second sister were more curious, so they went with them for a few days, and after returning, they received their parents’ doting affection.
The report stated that the several individuals in this missing persons case had all stayed at the Nine Dragons Hotel and had all participated in this so-called Tianjiao Elite Course.
When she first received the report, she had initially wanted to talk a bit more with Director Xu, to ask him why he was dumping this kind of commission on her.
But when she saw the contents of the report, she didn’t hesitate at all and accepted this commission.
Jiang Yuening really wanted to know, just what kind of course could make her parents so obsessed.
She was really, really curious.
“Haa.”
Arriving at the door of room 303, Jiang Yuening let out a breath, shook her head, and temporarily pushed those thoughts unsuitable for the investigation out of her mind.
She took out the key, turned it, opened the door, and walked in.
Instantly, a faint fishy smell assailed her nostrils.
Jiang Yuening frowned, sniffed carefully, and found the smell came from the restroom.
‘That’s strange. According to the report, these three missing men had only stayed at the Nine Dragons Hotel for two days. How could there already be a fishy, foul smell?’
‘They should be very particular about hygiene.’
And this smell…
‘They shouldn’t have brought women back to their room overnight. It’s purely from using the toilet too many times.’
‘Didn’t they flush after using the toilet? Such low manners?’
Puzzled, Jiang Yuening walked into the bathroom. Looking at the resplendent washroom and toilet, smelling the increasingly obvious fishy odor, she casually glanced around inside. Finding nothing unusual, she stepped back out.
There was nothing special inside, just the other party not flushing the toilet.
‘Better look at the room.’
After leaving the bathroom, Jiang Yuening returned to the living room, looking around at the room’s condition.
The room was very tidy. Although the bedding showed signs of being moved, it was folded neatly, like a block of tofu.
The hotel-provided slippers hadn’t been used. The missing person staying in 303 had brought his own slippers.
The bedside table wasn’t special either, just holding a row of beverages…
Huh? Beverages?
Looking at the beverages placed together, Jiang Yuening grew curious and walked over.
First to catch her eye were electrolyte drinks, then an unfamiliar brand of green tea and coffee, and finally orange juice with just a simple label.
‘What kind of mix is this?’
Looking at these beverages, all opened and nearly half-drunk, Sapphire felt puzzled, yet couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.
After all, what was placed before her were all five-hundred-milliliter bottles of drinks. What could be different?
“Completely clueless…”
Jiang Yuening thought for a while but couldn’t figure out what use these drinks had.
Although logically, these beverages should be sent for testing, to check if they contained any special ingredients.
However, Sapphire believed these were just ordinary drinks, absolutely nothing special about them.
But just in case, she still took several photos of the drink bottles.
Then she prepared photos of various places in the room, even the restroom, sent them to Director Xu, and gave her current investigation results.
A mere minute later, Director Xu sent a reply.
“I’ll have Ning Fan take these drinks back for testing. You go check room 404 first. Sorry for the trouble, Sapphire.”
“It’s fine.”
After replying to Director Xu, Jiang Yuening sighed, shook her head, walked out of the room, and casually closed the door behind her.
Next, she should go investigate room 404.