Chapter 28: Tracking Clues
"Then let's go now!" Ram said impatiently.
"Let's go too!" Felt grabbed Rom's hand, "Even though we've only known each other for a few days, Rem has been taking care of us during this time, so I want to help too!"
Listening to her words, Ayanokouji felt that such a reason was clearly not enough for him. In his eyes, unless it was beneficial, there was no need to pay for someone you have only known for less than five days, whether it was five months or five years.
"Go ahead, I must stay at the mansion." Roswaal said slowly. "My beloved maid had an accident, which means we might be targeted by someone else. If we all leave, it means the mansion will be unguarded. While you go out to search, we might be able to get some important information from Elsa."
Ayanokouji turned and focused his gaze on Roswaal.
His clown-like makeup made it impossible to sense any sad emotions from Roswaal, as if Rem was just a replaceable human to him, but there was no problem with his words. Someone had to guard the mansion. Otherwise, not only could the mansion be taken advantage of, but Elsa could also escape.
The most efficient way now was to act separately.
"Then let Lia stay here." Puck said before Emilia could speak.
"Huh!" Emilia was a bit surprised. She wanted to go to the village with Ayanokouji to help him.
"There are already enough people going to the village." Puck immediately explained, "If Emilia goes, it won't help much. It's better to stay at the mansion to prevent any possible sneak attacks!"
Obviously, he was worried that Emilia would be in danger if she went to the village.
Emilia couldn't refuse Puck, so she nodded and agreed to stay at the mansion.
"Stay safe!" Emilia said to Ayanokouji and the others.
The scene changed, and Ayanokouji, Ram, Felt, and Rom arrived at the village.
"Although the village isn't big, there should be a lot of people..."
Felt's eyes swept over the crowd coming and going in the village, looking a bit puzzled. With the four of them, it would be difficult to investigate the entire village.
"No, there's no need to investigate the whole village." Ayanokouji said calmly, "Now we know that the curse requires the touch of a Mage, we can narrow it down, because when Rem and I acted yesterday, fewer than twenty people had close contact."
"Ayanokouji-sama... do you remember their faces?" Felt asked in surprise, and Ayanokouji just nodded lightly, it was a trivial matter for him.
Because yesterday, Ayanokouji was preparing to gather intelligence in the village, and he felt that this village had very strategic importance. They were an indispensable supply station for Roswaal's mansion, and if they wanted to support Emily joining the fight for the throne, he needed to gain the support of the people in his territory first. He might frequently come to this village for activities in the future.
So he valued this village highly. He had memorized the faces and names of many people when he first came here, so he remembered the people he and Rem encountered yesterday.
At the same time, he thought about how he and Rem went to the village together yesterday. Why was Rem cursed but he wasn't hurt?
Was it because the target was Rem, not him?
Or in the village, the Mage only had contact with Rem but not with him...
Ayanokouji started recalling when he was in the village, there were people who only contacted Rem but not him.
It seemed there was only the owner and employees of the grocery store—no, there was also a dog.
Ayanokouji remembered Rem being bitten by a puppy yesterday, but he didn't touch the dog.
'Could the dog be the source of the curse?'
He pondered this seriously, because when he heard the term Mage, he unconsciously assumed that the other party was human. However, this world was very different from the world he lived in before and couldn't be understood according to common sense.
In hindsight, the little girl named Meili holding the puppy was indeed suspicious. Even though she was very close, her clothes were somewhat different from the other children in the village, as if they were intentionally made to look old.
But this was just speculation, with no evidence at all. Ayanokouji needed to explore further in the village.
"Brother Ayanokouji!"
After seeing Ayanokouji and the others arrive, the children immediately rushed over and surrounded them, "Where's sister Rem?"
Upon hearing Rem's name, Ram's face immediately turned ugly, and the corner of her eyes started twitching uncontrollably.
On the way to the village, Ram finally stopped crying. The original sadness in her eyes was replaced by a kind of anger. She couldn't wait to find Rem's killer and chop them into pieces in front of these children.
But when Ram lost her patience and was about to drive the children away, Ayanokouji took the lead and said, "Rem has some matters to attend to and can't come."
At the same time, he noticed something wrong. There were seven children yesterday, but today there were only six.
"By the way, have you seen Meili?" Ayanokouji asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen her since yesterday." a girl named Petra immediately replied.
After hearing Petra's words, Ayanokouji's eyebrows twitched slightly. There was no doubt that the girl named Meili was even more suspicious: "Do you know where she lives?"
"Yes!" The children immediately led Ayanokouji and the others to Meili's address.
He knocked on the door, but Ram beside him had no patience and directly raised her hand, smashing it, instantly breaking the door.
Seeing her actions, Ayanokouji shook his head slightly. Such behavior was too reckless, because if the girl named Meili was really the killer, it couldn't be ruled out that there might be hidden weapon traps in her room, and reckless actions were very dangerous.
He knew that because of Rem's death, Ram was anxious. It was precisely these so-called feelings that made Ram act so recklessly and hastily. This is why Ayanokouji always believed that these so-called feelings were useless and meaningless, only affecting actions at critical moments.
Nothing strange happened after Ram entered the room, and Ayanokouji and the others also confidently went in.
He looked around. The ground was full of dust. No one had lived here for at least a month.
—No one had ever lived here.
This made him even more certain that the little girl named Meili was probably Rem's killer.
At the same time, Ayanokouji remembered the conversation with the children yesterday. Meili moved to Arlam Village last month.
If Meili was really the killer, why didn't she choose to act within a month, but at this time?
And why was the target not Emilia but Rem?
Ayanokouji's mind was full of questions, but he couldn't think of the answers now. Maybe he could find the answers after catching Meili.
"Although she may have left the village, to be conservative, Felt and Rom, you both should conduct a search in the village." He said, then described Meili's appearance and characteristics to the others.
"Yes!" Felt and Rom nodded.
To them, Ayanokouji was their savior. Without him, they would have died with Elsa, so they obeyed him.
"Also, Ram, if the killer wanted to leave the village, is there an exit other than the main road?" Ayanokouji turned and asked Ram.
"There is also a forest in the back... But it's Demon Beast territory, and generally, no one would leave through there!" Ram immediately said.
"Demon Beast?" Ayanokouji got another strange name, "A beast with magi power?"
"It can be understood like this, but Demon Beasts cannot be tamed like ordinary beasts, and will attack humans, which is very dangerous." Ram explained, "Precisely to avoid Demon Beast invasions, Roswaal-sama set up a barrier at the edge of the forest to prevent Demon Beasts from attacking."
"So is it possible for Demon Beasts to cast curses?"
"It is possible."
After hearing her words, Ayanokouji was basically sure that the puppy that bit Rem earlier was a Demon Beast, and it cursed Rem, causing her death.
But Ayanokouji was also curious, Ram said Demon Beasts couldn't be tamed, but how could a girl named Meili control it?
But there was no doubt that this Meili was truly extraordinary, and she might even have the ability to control Demon Beasts.
"It's impossible for her to escape from the forest. If she enters the forest, she will likely become food for the Demon Beasts immediately."
"We can't overlook any possibilities. The other party may have some way to control the Demon Beasts. If that's true, then it's not impossible for her to escape through the forest." Ayanokouji said calmly, "We are now going to the forest to see if there's anything unusual."
His tone was very calm, but his words sounded like a standard answer.
Ram looked at him. Because of Rem's death, she had lost her sense for a moment, and the entire mansion should have been in chaos. Felt and Rom had just arrived at the mansion, in a state of confusion.
But Ayanokouji seemed unfazed, standing at this critical moment and immediately stabilizing the situation. Even when questioned and blamed by Ram, he didn't change his mood at all, making the most efficient and appropriate choices.
Although Ram still didn't trust Ayanokouji, in this situation, he was the only one who could resolve the issue.
"I understand." Ram suppressed the sadness and anger in her heart, nodded, and immediately ran toward the forest with Ayanokouji.
It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the edge of the forest. In front of them, the magic stone that was originally used to maintain the forest barrier was broken, which meant the barrier had failed.
At this moment, Ram's eyes widened in shock: "How could this be? The barrier is broken! When exactly..."
This type of magic stone was very hard, and it was impossible for a Demon Beast to approach it.
"It was probably destroyed not long ago." Ayanokouji said slowly. "You said that Demon Beasts would take the initiative to attack humans. If the barrier had been broken for a long time, the village should have been attacked by now, so this means the barrier was broken in the last few days."
At the same time, he bent down and carefully examined the ground.
"Ayanokouji-sama, what are you doing?" Ram asked in confusion.
"Look for footprints." Ayanokouji said slowly. "The ground around here is soft, so it would be easy to leave footprints, and the villagers generally wouldn't come here. If there are footprints here, it's highly likely that she is the killer."
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