Sponsor, located at the foot of Mahakan Mountain, has no more than 200 households in total. Most of the young and middle-aged people are not engaged in farming-related occupations, and instead join the mountain mines run by dwarves as workers.
Generation after generation, this has continued for more than fifty years.
The buildings in the village are not like the civil structures in ordinary villages, but are made of various rich mineral stones, which are more sturdy and beautiful.
Roy sat on the carpet of the village chief's house, drank a bowl of thick soup stewed with shriveled vegetables, and touched his smooth chin.
"The witcher's business is too good. As soon as he left Edsberg, someone came to the door before he could catch his breath."
"Village Kasili, according to what you said, there have been four consecutive murders in the village in the past three months?"
The rosacea man who was smiling at the side nodded solemnly, "Three unmarried young guys who have been dead for a while. The most recent deceased, Brady, was found dead a few days ago. He left two A child and a widow, I can only live on the village's aid in the future."
He sighed,
"Since the establishment of Spencer, it has been more than 20 years that such a vicious murder incident has not happened. The village was panicked, everyone said that it was the ghosts in the mountains, and everyone was worried, even if it was their turn one day. My family. Please help us catch the real murderer, and the remuneration is easy to discuss."
The witcher waved his hand, "I don't need to worry about the pay. First of all, I need to know more information. Why is the village almost filled with old and weak women and children when I entered the village just now? Where do the men go?"
Cassilli pointed to the sun outside the window, "At this time, everyone is still working in the mines in the mountains, and there are still four or five hours before get off work."
"With such a big thing happening in the village, you don't have to stay at home to take care of your mother-in-law and children and still have the heart to work?"
Roy said in surprise, "Aren't men afraid of family accidents?"
The village head touched his huge nose and smiled bitterly, "I can't help it. I have already communicated with the adults in the mountains about the situation you mentioned. They have slightly reduced the daily working hours of the villagers, so that everyone can come home before night falls. And, they promised to catch the killer."
"But after all, I am not a professional. Three months have passed, and there is still no progress in catching the murderer. Now it seems that monsters must be solved by witchers."
Saying that, he was full of anticipation, and then looked at Leto cautiously.
"The adults in the mountains?"
Roy savored this sentence, quite novel.
As far as he knew, in the current social context, the ancient races such as dwarves and elves were in an absolutely weak position compared to humans, but in Mahakam, the status of the two seemed to be reversed.
Humans work in dwarf mines and call dwarves adults.
He could feel the heartfelt awe when the village chief Casili mentioned the dwarves.
"Could it be that Grand Elder Brovar Hogg of Mahakam is a tyrant?"
On the other side, Lesso continued the words of the village chief and asked without hesitation, "Now let's get to the point, we need to understand the general situation of these four deaths. For example, the cause of death..."
Cassilli said with grief and indignation, "As the mayor of Spencer, I rushed to the scene as soon as possible, and saw their death clearly, and I will never forget it for the rest of my life. The ghosts are a group of ferocious beasts!"
The man stated the results of his observations,
The witcher and Roy were lost in thought.
"Died in the mountains and forests, all of them have their abdomens cut open, high branches are placed facing the ground, their bodies are eaten by birds, and animals are bitten..."
The witcher threw a look at his partner, Roy understood what he meant tacitly, and expressed his judgment,
"According to what you said, I can almost be sure that they did not die at the hands of demons as the villagers said!"
"I tell you clearly, under normal circumstances, demons don't roam around and hurt people at will. They hate open mountains and forests, and prefer to stay in dark and narrow places such as tombs. The situation you describe seems to be... some kind of ancient sacrifice, More clues... We need to examine the dead body in person."
Roy looked at the village chief with bright eyes.
"It wasn't made by ghosts... What is it?" He looked apologetic, "I'm afraid it won't work to examine the corpses. Because I was afraid that the boys would be infected by ghosts... and become dirty, the village burned their corpses... burnt... Although it was a bit of a practice to do so. Desecrate the dead, but there is no way, this is for more living people."
Roy was speechless now, feeling a little strange. After a while, he said with a complicated expression,
"Who told you that ghosts can infect people? This thing is not a virus or a plague, how could it be contagious? You have burned all the bodies, and the investigation will be difficult to continue."
Cassili's face froze when he was said.
"Who told you in the beginning that everything was caused by ghosts?"
"The adults in the mountains."
Roy was thoughtful.
Leto clapped his hands and stood up.
"Ordinary people don't know about monsters, so you don't have to criticize the kid. Come on, Village Chief Kasili, take us around the village and collect clues by the way."
"Then this commission..."
"Need to know more before deciding whether to take over."
…
When the two walked out of the village chief's gate, a group of village women and children outside the house who were closely monitoring the situation immediately looked away like frightened rabbits, and pretended to be busy clumsily and panicked.
"Is this case very troublesome, Leto, even you dare not take it?" Roy noticed the serious attitude of the witcher, and obviously felt that the commission might be difficult.
"Little devil, I didn't tell you, don't meddle in commissions beyond your ability, especially a guy like you who is careless after learning a little bit." The witcher emphasized in a deep voice.
"First find out which level your opponent is at, otherwise, you may not even know how you died..."
…
The two were led by the village chief to the house of Brady, who had recently died. A plainly dressed woman with a flushed face was waiting at the door early.
After revealing his identity to the woman, the witcher asked bluntly,
"Is your husband's behavior normal recently, is there any strange behavior or special instructions?"
The woman pondered for a moment with sad eyes, and shook her head dully.
"Then how is your husband popular in the village?"
"Brady's reputation has always been very good. No matter who has something wrong, he will definitely rush to the front to help. Besides working in the mine, Brady is also good at hunting. Every time he hunts game and returns to the village, he will give everyone a point."
The village chief, Cassilli, added, "I can attest to this, her husband is well-liked in the village. The three dead boys were young and energetic and had some disputes with some of the villagers, but Brady was mild-mannered and never argued with anyone. , the guy everyone compliments on."
When the village woman heard this, she seemed to remember her husband's benefits, and immediately covered her face and wept.
"Ugh... Brady stayed in the mine for half a month and didn't go home. I didn't expect the last time to say goodbye. I... I didn't even save his body!"
In the cry, two fleshy little guys suddenly rushed out of the door behind her. The little guys rushed over and hugged the woman's thigh tightly, and followed her to cry with a deflated mouth.
"Alas, poor Tina, Jim, lost his father at the age of five this year, how will we live in the future..."
The village chief couldn't help but reached out and gently stroked the boy's hair, the latter suddenly raised his face, wiped the tears with his dirty hands, stared at Roy with misty eyes and said, "You... you... you will Did you catch the murderer?"
At the same time, the mother and daughter also turned their attention to it.
Roy glanced at the witcher, who couldn't see any change on the latter's face, he could only take a deep breath to suppress the throbbing in his heart, and stopped looking at the little cat-like face.
"Village Chief, let's go to the other deceased's houses..."
"The villagers often don't go home for ten days and a half months in the mountains?"
"Only Brady worked so hard. He wanted to save up some money to send Jim to Edsberg's school."
"Is that so..."
There were no surprises in the following visits. The remaining three young deceased people had simple relationships. Even if they had a little trouble with the villagers on weekdays, it was completely out of their reach to kill people.
The witcher didn't even use the Axe Sign.
Roy also had a very strong feeling that the murderer should not be human.
"Then take us to the nearest crime scene."