Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir ruled out his suspicions with the village stewards, and at the same time offered to find out the murderer who killed the mill keeper Martin.

Some people in the village thought it was wrong, but it turned out that their previous deduction that Keir was the murderer was obviously wrong. Besides, they couldn't think of anyone who would kill a lonely watchman whose family was long dead?

Entering the village, Kiel explained to the village chief Corydon that he would bring some people from the village to bring back the remaining huge wild boar body tomorrow morning. Today, the village chief must prepare enough manpower and supplies to go back and forth.

The matter of finding the murderer must be done, but this is only a trivial matter, and the plan to deal with the sunfish cannot be stopped.

In this regard, Corydon finally let go of the possibility of suspecting Keir in the end. After he arranged for people who were interested in Kiel's search for the murderer to follow him, he took people to the village pier to find someone.

-

The left front leg of the huge wild boar had been taken away. Kiel first returned to the hostel and put down his belongings. He simply changed into a clean wolf fur cloak, but he dared not take off the armor on his body.

Even if some wild boar blood was stained on the armor, it didn't smell very good.

After all, the death of the caretaker Martin reminded him that the 'werewolf' Wolf really dared to kill a person who threatened him in the village.

Then, before setting out to retrieve the wild boar carcass tomorrow morning, during this period, there is no guarantee that some of the worst things for Keel will really happen.

When changing the cloak, Kiel took off his helmet and scratched his head irritably. Now the situation is not good. He is really afraid of fighting with the werewolves inside the village. Although he will definitely win with the help of the villagers and militiamen in the village, the casualties It might be serious.

This was not what Knight Lanisa, who had entrusted him with the task, expected.

If this was the result, then Knight Lanisa would send someone casually and mobilize all the forces in the village, and naturally they would be able to securely take down the werewolf Worf.

But in this way, not only would he owe the priests of the Lord of Rivers and Lakes a favor, but he might also reveal the relationship between the Wolf King and her father.

Keir put down the extra things on his body, tidied up his equipment, locked the door and went downstairs.

In the lobby of the hostel, some village stewards who wanted to follow Kiel to investigate the murder of the caretaker Martin were there. After a glance, Rufu Worf, who was in charge of dealing with foreign caravans, was also among them.

Not daring to look at each other too much, Keir called everyone and asked them to lead the way.

On the way, Keir followed the leader, thinking about things in his mind.

To avenge Martin, who was innocently killed, or to prevent a fight with the werewolf in the village, and to prevent the presence of outsiders in the battle to take down the werewolf, it is best to get rid of the opponent secretly.

Keel snapped his fingers and relaxed his palm.

He felt that it was best to find something about today's matter, but he couldn't point the clues to Worf himself. The people in the village knew that there was a killer lurking in the dark, but as to why and who killed people, it would be best to wait until he quietly killed the werewolf Worf before uncovering it.

In fact, Keir knew that throwing out the matter of the dozen or so corpses on the top of the mill would perfectly explain the reason why Martin was killed immediately, but this would definitely directly anger the werewolf Wolf who wanted to hide his identity.

And judging from the fact that the other party was so bold that he directly killed people in the village, the other party had no choice but to kill Martin, the mill keeper, in order to hide his identity.

In this way, Worf the werewolf should be at a stage where he is always worried about his identity being exposed.

Thinking of this, Keir once again felt that he couldn't throw out the identity of the werewolf Worf now, or even shift things towards the situation where the battle took place.

Sorry Martin, I will avenge you, but not now.

Thinking about what to do today, Keir was prepared. Then it came up how to use the current situation to secretly hang the werewolf Worf out of the village, and fight him somewhere outside the village?

It was not long before the relatives of the mill keeper Martin, who were temporarily staying, arrived.

-

Martin's relative's house is at the west end of the village near the west gate.

It is a very ordinary house, no different from the wooden houses of other villagers next to it.

There were village militiamen standing guard at the door of the house, and as they walked over, the doors of the surrounding houses were opened, and the villagers who were curious about this all hid at the door and looked at them.

Some bold ones walked out of the house and came over, but the village stewards had no intention of chasing them away, and greeted each other one after another.

Keir clicked his mouth. Looking at the situation, he felt that it might be difficult for him to find out anything.

And anything discovered here today, it is estimated that everyone in the whole village will know it before the next day.

Martin's family of relatives still lived at home after the incident, but they were just not allowed to go out. Firstly, they were worried that someone in the family might have killed Martin, and secondly, it was a measure to protect them.

The small cellar where Martin lives temporarily is in the backyard of every villager's house, and it is a place for storing things that the family has not dug for a long time.

Passing through the house, Keir didn't ask Martin's relatives first, but went directly through the house, entered through the front door, then walked through the narrow passage inside the house, opened the wooden door leading to the backyard, and came into the backyard.

There was also a militiaman guarding the gate in the backyard. When he saw the village stewards coming, he immediately puffed up his chest.

The backyard of this family is not big, and like other neighbors, they are divided by simple wooden fences. Keel first checked around the entire backyard to confirm that there were no new damages to these simple wooden fences other than those caused by daily use.

If ordinary people climb over the simple wooden fence that is nearly one person high, it is impossible not to damage these shabby things. According to Kiel's inspection, although these things are a bit worn out, there are no signs of recent damage.

The person who could obviously kill Martin would either have walked straight in through the family's front door, and then figured out a way not to disturb the whole house, and then walked through the house and opened the back door into the backyard to kill. Or, the opponent jumped directly into the backyard from the field inside the village next to the backyard.

The former can only be done by Martin’s relatives. It is basically impossible for outsiders to quietly walk through the narrow corridors of the house with creaking floors.

As for the latter, only werewolves whose height and ability surpassed ordinary people could do it.

Keel crossed his chest and looked at the village field separated by the simple wooden fence, thinking that Worf probably transformed from here, and then jumped in to kill. In order not to make Wolf suspicious, he quickly lowered his head and wandered around the yard.

Since the incident happened, too many outsiders have come here, and there are footprints everywhere on the ground. The snow in the backyard has been trampled by people coming and going.

It is probably impossible to find it from the footprints.

Keel then went to the middle of the back yard, where the small cellar the family had dug.

The entrance to the cellar is still quite open, and a frame is repaired with wood, with wooden boards on it as the door. At this time, the wooden board has been opened, and candlelight can be faintly illuminated under the simple earthen stairs.

Kiel carefully put away the wolf fur cloak he was wearing, put the cloak in his hands, and walked straight down a little bit.

When he was going downstairs, Keir realized that it was impossible for Worf to go down into the cellar if he was still a werewolf due to the difficulty of going up and down in this small cellar.

Thinking about it this way, Worf first turned into a werewolf outside, then jumped over the wooden fence into the backyard, and then turned back into a human before going down into the cellar.

Then, considering the risk of murder, it is impossible for the other party to transform slowly. In this way, Worf's transformation from a human body to a werewolf is not only quiet, but also very fast.

Keir felt more and more that the other party was difficult to deal with.

The stairs dug out of the soil were only two meters long, and the entire cellar was just two meters underground.

As soon as he entered, Kiel could feel that the cellar was warmer than outside.

A row of wooden shelves was placed on one side of the cellar, on which were placed some scattered root plants, as well as sealed grains packed in wooden barrels. On the other side of the cellar, a simple wooden bed was arranged. Next to the bed was a wooden barrel for defecation. On one side of the mud wall, there was an oil lamp that was on.

Some scattered luggage was still scattered on the wooden bed, and on the surface of the wooden bed and these Martin's luggage, there were dots of red blood traces.

Keel could tell at a glance that the blood was dripping from the mouth and nose on the bed after being beaten.

It's not the appearance of a large amount of blood splattered after being torn apart by a weapon.

What does this mean? It means that Martin must have been beaten by Wolfe before his death.

Maybe torture?

What does he want to know?

Keir gave way to the others who continued behind him, and leaned against the dirt wall to think silently.

He put himself in the shoes of Worf the murderer.

Why beat Martin?

Didn't they come to kill people? Why didn't they just kill people, instead?

"By the way, looking at the bloodstains, Martin was beaten before he died, right?" Keel asked about the son of the village chief Corydon who had been following him.

The other party looked at Keir with a little surprise: "Yes, his face was smashed, and a lot of his teeth fell out in his mouth."

Keir narrowed his eyes: "If I'm not mistaken, Martin was strangled to death, or his neck was twisted to death?"

"How do you know?" Worf walked down, looked up at Keel and asked.

Waving his hand, Keir explained: "There is only blood dripping from the beating on the bed, and there is no other blood. It is obvious that he was killed with bare hands."

Then he went on to say: "Martin is a middle-aged man. He can be subdued, beaten and killed by the opponent with his bare hands. Obviously, the opponent's strength is good, which is not something ordinary people can do. If it is a murderer of similar level, Martin can at least try to fight in a scuffle. Running out of the cellar for help."

Kiel didn't speak to Worf when he spoke, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Worf gulping.

Hmph, you didn't think that much when you killed someone, did you?

You might think of putting the suspicion on me, maybe you will find an opportunity to quietly kill me in the wild, so that the blame will be pinned on me.

Kiel thought of the caravan stranded in the village. It is estimated that the caravan was stranded, so Worf, who was in charge of contacting the caravan, could not spare time to go out and kill him.

In this way, things will probably be clear after Martin was killed.

As for why Martin was killed, Keel looked at a container that used to hold wine next to the wooden bed in the cellar, and sighed deeply.

Hey, didn't you say that you should stop drinking these days, why do you still drink? It's because he couldn't control his mouth after drinking, and he missed what he found on the top of the mill that day, right?

That's right, it's all my fault, why didn't you take away the bad wine before you left?

Clenching his fists secretly, Keel closed his eyes for a moment.

"Huh. Everyone." He said.

At this time, the others who went down to the cellar looked at Keir to see what he had to say.

"Have you ever considered a question. The caretaker Martin Puth, whose family members have been dead for several years, has no grudges or enmities with others. What caused him to be killed like this?"

The others looked at each other, and someone wanted to say something just now, but Keir interrupted the other person's words with a wave of his hand: "First of all, although the wooden fence in the backyard is old and can be kicked down, why is the old thing intact? ?”

He pointed to his feet: "Martin is in the backyard, how did the other party come in? And if he wanted to kill someone, why didn't he kick over the wooden fence in the backyard that was in the way, force his way in and kill him, and then run away? "

"Secondly, Martin was beaten first and then killed, and he was unarmed! Attention, it was unarmed!"

Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, Keir explained, "If you wanted to kill someone, how would you choose between a dagger and your bare hands?"

"Does this mean that the other party didn't come to kill people in the first place?" Someone responded and shouted loudly.

Keel thought to himself: Maybe for Worf, being unarmed is no different from holding a weapon like a dagger? Too.

"Perhaps, there is a possibility." Kiel responded vaguely.

You can't do nothing, but you can't just force the werewolf Worf out at this moment.

Keir considered the extent of this, and said selectively: "I actually asked Martin to return to the village from the mill."

"What?"

"Is it you, Kiel warrior?"

"Have you met each other? That's right, it took you one day to leave the village and return to the village with Martin. It seems that you have crossed paths before!"

Keir nodded generously, glanced at everyone present, but didn't pay attention to Worf: "Yes, I heard about Martin in the village and found it interesting. When I went out to hunt in the village, first Went to find him at the mill."

"Martin told me about his fear and distress. I found it quite challenging, so I agreed to him and solved the matter for him. You may not know that when I was in Kendall City, I used to hunt monsters, Only then did I get the reward of the sixth-class guard badge of the Saturnalia Church from the Saturnalia Church." After speaking, Kiel pulled out a gap between the helmet and the breastplate, and took out the Saturnalia Church that was emitting blue light. The badge was slightly pulled out to light up.

Before, he was talking in plain language and without proof, but Kiel showed this thing and won everyone's approval.

"I accepted his entrustment, and the price was his guard's salary for the next year. For his own safety, I let him return to the relatives' house in the village to stay. After all, the mill outside the village is not safe. I can't say for sure. Will fight the monsters that haunt there."

"Of course, I still have the important task of cleaning up the sunken fish, so I put it aside for now. I will go to the wilderness to hunt prey first. Who would have thought that Martin would be killed in this way after only a few days? In the cellar of a relative's house."

Keel noticed that Worf's mood was up and down, but deliberately pretended not to see it. Then he clapped his hands and led everyone out of the cellar.

"Everyone, I'm going to look at Martin's body next. I hope that in the process, everyone can find a way to find out where Martin has been and who he has spoken to since he returned to the village from the mill. I believe that the murderer must have killed him. There is a reason, and this is obviously a murder for which we don't know the reason. If you find out the reason for Martin's murder, you will naturally find the murderer."

Keir was also a little puzzled, how did Worf find the caretaker Martin, and how did he know what happened in the mill from Martin, who was drunk again.

There is a missing link here.

Is it by chance? Worf accidentally heard Martin return to the village from so-and-so, and then went to eavesdrop and observe Martin. After Martin uttered Keir's name while drunk, he forcibly beat and killed him?

Or, not by chance. Wolf the werewolf may have been relaxed on the surface since Kiel came to Umi Lake Village, but he became nervous secretly. Perhaps Keel has been watched by Worf in the dark since he came to the village, and only then did he discover Martin who had talked to Keel in the mill.

Both scenarios, Keel considered, were possible. But he is not Wolf himself, so naturally he cannot know what the other party thinks and how he does it.

Originally, Keir planned to ask Martin's relatives about when Martin got drunk after he came back. But it is naturally impossible to ask this kind of question in front of so many people. As soon as this question is asked, the progress of "solving the case" deliberately entangled by Kiel will immediately speed up.

Although the answer to this question is considered important to Kiel, it is impossible to ask now, so he might as well give up.

Immediately afterwards, some of the village managers who were idle went to find out who Martin had been in contact with after returning to the village according to Kiel's previous question.

But two or three others stayed with Kiel.

Among them was Worf the werewolf.

With his back to Worf, Keir sneered.

He knew it was surveillance.

Keel knew that Worf was a werewolf, and Wolf didn't know the fact that Keel knew he was a werewolf, and Keel pretended not to know the fact that Worf was a werewolf.

Keir doesn't like this kind of game of hiding his attitude, but he feels that he is relatively handy, as long as he masters it to a certain degree.

He couldn't do nothing, but he couldn't try so hard that Worf the werewolf had nowhere to hide. To a certain extent, he wanted Worf to feel that Keir was a threat, but not a threat that had to be done on the spot.

It cannot be left alone, but Kirsch cannot be left alone.

To what extent?

Keel thought, it would be best if he had to kill me, but he had to do it outside the village to the extent that Worf could hide himself in the village without being exposed.

However, Worf didn't go directly to the wilderness to kill Kiel after killing Martin before. Junwharf didn't even have time to go to the mill.

If the other party really went, then the werewolf Wolf would definitely find that someone had recently been to his 'secret eating base'.

His little secret was exposed.

Martin knew what Kiel found at the mill that day. Although he didn't say it clearly, normal people could guess it.

Thinking of this, Keir finally understood why Martin was killed. Worf came to the cellar to beat and question Martin, maybe he was hiding his identity, but he didn't find anything from Martin, maybe that was the reason why Martin was killed?

"Hey." Kiel came to the place where Martin's body was stored. It was a slightly dilapidated house. Looking at the shape of the house, it was obviously a village church remodeled from a house.

Kiel knew from the runes on the dilapidated church that it was a small church of the Saturnalia Church that had not been used for a long time.

"Where is the shepherd of Saturn here?" Keel looked at the empty chapel, there were no common tables, chairs and altar tapestry, only an empty room, and a stone coffin blackened by flames in the corner of the room.

Corydon's son, who had been following Kiel, explained: "Since the village was unable to plow the fields outside and could only work hard around this small area in the village, the Saturnian priest in the original village returned to Kendall City. .”

He shrugged his shoulders: "It was agreed to deal with the northern land wolf before returning, and the farmers and fields in other places also need his care. Huh, isn't it right to share weal and woe with everyone in difficult times?"

Keir said indifferently: "This kind of thing can't be sure, and the shepherd can't make a decision."

"It's okay, since spring is coming, the other party will definitely come back."