"Your Excellency, Sheriff! It's the courtyard in front! I saw a carriage go in with my own eyes, and there were two horse-riding attendants following beside it!"
"They're holding crossbows!"
On the dilapidated street, a skinny homeless man pointed at a yard not far away and said in a flattering tone.
In front of him were two teams of knights.
A team of people wearing black robes and holding silver swords, obviously the knights of the Demon Hunt, led by the second-level female knight Kara of Silver Moon and the Duke's son Laino, followed by the anxious-looking Quasimodo, the old servant of the Castel family.
The other team was dressed in leather armor. They were the city guards of Boulder City. They were led by a nobleman in a long robe and a mustache.
It was the nobleman in the robe who was talking to the tramp.
He pinched his mustache modestly, nodded slightly, and then looked at Lai Nuo on the other side flatteringly:
"Lord Lai Nuo, this should be it. This used to be the manor of Count Broglie. It was abandoned after the disaster ten years ago."
"We received a report about ten minutes ago that someone was riding a horse in the city at high speed. The description of the carriage was very similar to the Castel family's carriage. It was very likely the hijacker."
Lai Nuo nodded solemnly, then looked at Kara.
Kara didn't say anything, but rode straight in with the Demon Hunter.
Laino was stunned for a moment and subconsciously wanted to follow, but after glancing at the homeless man who looked eager to please, he stopped and reached into his pocket to search.
The tramp's eyes gradually brightened, full of hope.
But after Laino touched it for a while, he looked a little embarrassed.
He exchanged glances with the homeless man, coughed dryly, looked away unnaturally, and said to the others as if nothing had happened:
"Captain Kara has already gone in, let's follow him."
Having said that, he rode his horse and followed.
The tramp sighed and looked at the robed nobleman who was the sheriff.
Robe Noble: ...
"What are you still standing there for? Get out of the way! Can you afford to delay the Demon Hunting Office?!"
He frowned, whipped the air with a whip and shouted coldly.
Then, he rushed in with the remaining city guards.
Only the tramp was left cursing and eating ashes in the dust:
"Bah! You stingy old noble! I curse you to give birth to a child without an asshole!"
…
As the group entered the courtyard, a strong smell of blood hit them in the face.
Almost everyone's faces changed at the same time.
Kara's eyes swept over the bloodstains on the ground that looked like those of a wild beast. She turned over and got off the horse, knelt on one knee and grabbed a handful of blood-stained soil.
"The blood has coagulated not long ago, probably from fifteen minutes to half an hour ago. Judging from the traces of battle, it should be some kind of small monster, more like a human."
Laino also followed, looked around and said.
Kara glanced at him in surprise but didn't say anything.
She followed the blood trail and looked towards the broken carriage and hideous corpse not far away.
"Two servants had their hearts dug out, and one... hiss... looked a bit miserable. He looked like the first one to encounter the monster."
Lai Nuo clicked his tongue.
As he spoke, he pinched his chin, thinking:
"This killing method... is a bit like—"
"Blood demon."
Kara continued.
Her eyes kept wandering around, as if she was looking for something.
“Blood… Blood Demon?! Master Kara, are you saying that my master has encountered the Blood Demon again?!”
Quasimodo opened his eyes wide with a look of horror, and beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on his forehead almost instantly.
"Don't worry, your master is not here, which is a good thing."
Lai Nuo comforted.
After saying that, he walked forward to investigate, but was tripped by something under his feet.
Laino looked down and found that it was a crossbow.
He picked up the crossbow casually, looked at it for a few seconds and was about to throw it away, but suddenly his expression changed slightly.
He looked at the crossbow handle seriously for a while, and his expression became increasingly ugly.
After taking a quick look at the demon hunters and city guards who were searching the scene, he silently put away his crossbow.
The scene in the courtyard was horrific.
After some investigation, everyone has confirmed that the three people who kidnapped Countess Castel are all dead.
Even the cart's packhorse was found dead in the woods.
However, the kidnapped girl disappeared.
Quasimodo's expression became more and more anxious and worried, and the faces of the demon hunters gradually became solemn.
At this moment, a crazy roar suddenly came from deeper in the courtyard:
"Roar!"
The female knight Kara did not hesitate and rushed forward almost instantly, and the remaining demon hunting knights followed.
Laino hesitated for a moment, then chased after him with the sheriff and city guards.
The group walked around a forest and the view opened up.
What came into view was an abandoned garden. A silver cage of light was very eye-catching in the night, and a hunchbacked humanoid monster was trapped inside it.
It has a pair of sharp fangs and a long tongue dripping with mucus. It roars and struggles constantly in the cage.
Laino's eyes narrowed slightly, while Kara's eyes flashed with a cold light:
"It's a blood demon that's out of control."
"Hey! You guys are finally here, meow!"
A hoarse voice attracted everyone's attention.
Everyone looked over and saw a fat black cat lying lazily on the broken sculpture not far from the cage of light.
One of its front paws is holding its head in a human-like manner, while the other is yawning:
"Yawn... If you don't come soon, I will fall asleep."
"Lord Nice? Why are you here?"
The demon hunters were slightly stunned.
The female knight Kara was not surprised at all, and asked directly and concisely:
"What about her?"
"Yawn... In the carriage at the back!"
It pointed its mouth behind it.
There, there was a carriage parked intact.
The moonlight was like water, and the night breeze blew open the curtains of the carriage, revealing the scene inside.
In the carriage, a petite and beautiful girl was curled up in the corner, sleeping quietly.
Her breathing was steady, her white dress was very neat, her slightly raised chest rose and fell smoothly, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she would occasionally smack her lips, as if she was having a good dream.
"Owner!"
Quasimodo was surprised and delighted, and rushed forward immediately.
"Shh! Keep your voice down! He's still asleep!"
The black cat quickly raised a paw, put it in front of its mouth and blew it, then said with its cat eyes staring.
“Ugh… Ohhhh!”
Quasimodo was stunned for a moment, then quickly covered his mouth and nodded, his movements becoming slower and more careful than ever before.
The black cat finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, Kara looked at it, her voice as cold as ever:
"What happened?"
"Hey, what else could it be? It's just bad luck for those three idiots. They chose this yard as their base. Who knew there was an out-of-control blood demon hiding here!"
The black cat curled its lips.
Then, it said bitterly:
"What an ugly and cunning blood demon! So cruel! And so evil!"
"If Master Cat hadn't been following me secretly, Miss Caster would have been in trouble!"
"Okay, I'm glad you're here. Maintaining this orderly cage has exhausted me, Master Cat!"
"You? You saved my master?"
Quasimodo looked grateful.
The black cat's expression was a little unnatural.
It coughed dryly, glanced guiltily at the sleeping girl behind it, and then said proudly:
"Well, Master Cat was entrusted by someone to protect your young lady recently! If you want to thank someone...thank Raoul from the church hospital!"
When the name Raoul is spoken, it is almost with gnashing of teeth.
"Thank you! Thank you very much! The Castel family will never forget your kindness!"
Quasimodo kept thanking him.
The noise of the crowd seemed to wake up the sleeping girl, and a delicate groan came from the carriage.
Quasimodo was cheered up, and he hurried over and said in surprise:
"Master! Master, you're awake!"
Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and the girl slowly opened her sleepy eyes, her dreamy eyes filled with a little confusion.
Seeing Quasimodo's ugly and worried face, her sight gradually regained focus. Her delicate and lovely face revealed a sweet and innocent smile, and her crisp voice was very pleasant, like an angel:
"Oh! It's Quasimodo..."
"Are we home yet?"
Nice: …