After today’s examination ended, Lita heard someone say, “No wonder he didn’t show up today, it turns out he’s dead,” and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
Whether it was the Dark Elf Keluoyi or that Tower Shield Warrior Tasding, their backgrounds were probably not simple. One misstep and it could turn into a major incident. Lita had wanted to keep a close eye on those two, but now someone had already died. If she didn’t look into it a little, she definitely wouldn’t be able to rest easy.
Lowering her voice, Lita relayed what she had heard to Cecilia and asked for her opinion.
“Lady Cecilia, should we go take a look?”
“Alright. Protect me.” Cecilia knew better than Lita how serious this was, answering in a low voice.
According to the guards’ report, the bodies were a few miles outside the Royal City.
Cecilia and Lita hurried over in a carriage. They made good time, but by the time they arrived at the scene, it was already surrounded by people.
Lita stopped the carriage at a distance, and the two walked forward. The discussion of the onlookers filled their ears.
But everyone had a different opinion, and no one could really say anything definitive. Lita quickened her pace, letting the meaningless chatter slip past her.
At the front of the crowd, a small circle had been cordoned off by the guards. Two bodies lay there.
Yes, two bodies.
Lita noticed she didn’t recognize either of them, and she actually breathed a sigh of relief.
She also felt Cecilia relax a bit in the hand that was holding hers.
As long as it wasn’t one of the more important examinees, things would be easier to handle. But dead was dead. Life shouldn’t be compared like that. Still, Lita was very curious about who this person was.
Just as Lita was craning her neck to look inside, a soldier with a furrowed brow approached, intending to push aside this curious onlooker who had squeezed through the crowd. But when he saw Lita’s face and the blonde hair of Cecilia holding her hand, his pace slowed considerably.
He was immensely grateful he hadn’t actually pushed her roughly. Reaching the two, the soldier had already thought of a way to handle the situation—a respectful bow.
“Your Royal Highness the Fourth Princess, Lady Lita. This subordinate did not expect you to come in person. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“We just came to take a casual look.” Cecilia stared at the two bodies for a while before speaking. “What happened here? What progress has been made?”
The soldier immediately replied, “A merchant entering the city today smelled blood. He thought some animal had been attacked by a beast. There have been Blue Bear Beasts causing trouble recently, and Steelback Beasts attacking villages… Ah, back to the point. He got curious and came over to look, only to find two living corpses.”
“Living corpses”? What a peculiar phrase. But considering Corpse Ghosts exist, it wasn’t impossible.
“Did they turn into Corpse Ghosts?” Cecilia asked very seriously.
“No, no. They were just lying there, already dead. The merchant is being taken in for questioning right now, but the possibility of him being the killer is minuscule. Anyone can see that just by looking at the bodies, right?”
Lita glanced at the bodies on the ground. One was dressed in a butler’s outfit, his white shirt torn to shreds, his body a gruesome mess—as if his stomach had been ripped open by claws.
The other had similar injuries, but he looked quite young, maybe just over twenty. He carried a sword, but it had never left its scabbard even in death.
Wasn’t this the mark of a beast attack? A human probably couldn’t do something like this, right?
Probably not. Even though many of the Demon Race have claws, judging by the chest wounds, Lita’s own claws would need to be four or five times thicker to make such gashes.
The soldier noticed Lita’s gaze lingering on the bodies and quickly explained.
“This one’s name is Yuber. He’s the butler of the Finance Minister,” he said, pointing to the man in the butler’s uniform.
“And this one is the third son of the Muer family, also one of the examinees for this Holy Knight Examination. They died right here. A few miles away, we found their horses. They had run off, but both horses were unharmed.”
“What about the money?” Cecilia asked.
A butler of the Finance Minister and a young master taking the exam—what else could they be doing here?
The soldier was taken aback and didn’t dare hide anything from the Princess. He quickly answered, “Both money pouches are still there. No one touched the money. That’s why we think they were attacked by a beast while they were… meeting here. The time of death was last night. Master Muer had reported his son missing during the day, but with official business so busy lately, we could only keep an eye out. Never thought he’d end up dead here. What a cruel twist of fate.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Please continue.” Cecilia gave a brief greeting and then stood aside with Lita to wait.
Before long, another carriage rushed over. An old man jumped out, shoved his way through the crowd on both sides, and ran all the way to the area cordoned off by the soldiers. When he tried to push past the soldiers, they stopped him.
He cried and said something to the soldiers, and they let him through. The old man then collapsed in front of the young man, sobbing over the body, even convulsing a few times, nearly fainting.
Needless to say, this was the young man’s father. Cases like this usually came to nothing. It wasn’t like they could go to great lengths to catch the beast, kill it again, and then use its blood and entrails to appease the dead’s spirit, could they?
Apparently, that wasn’t common in this other world either.
“Lady Cecilia, should we head back?” Lita looked up at the darkening sky and asked softly.
“Not yet. Something feels off here.” Cecilia replied.
“Where?”
“Look at these claw marks and injuries. This wasn’t done by wolves or hyenas. It couldn’t be a wild boar or a Steelback Beast either. So it must be a large beast or a Demon Beast with giant claws.”
“Right. A tiger, bear, or lion seems more likely.”
“But there are almost no bite marks on the body. Just clean claw wounds. Hmm, and some blunt impact damage. It doesn’t add up.”
“I’m not sure I understand. What’s so strange about someone being killed by a paw strike?”
“Of course it’s strange. There are only two reasons a beast attacks a human: either for food or for self-defense. Look—they didn’t even draw their weapons. And this place can’t be some beast’s territory, so the possibility of it attacking in self-defense because its territory was invaded is extremely low.”
“Oh, and there are no bite marks on them at all. That means the beast wasn’t attacking for food either, right?”
“Exactly. That’s what makes it so strange. The two horses were found completely unharmed! Think about it—whether it was the Blue Bear Beast or the Steelback Beast before, you and Aierteer took care of them. Even if a straggler was nearby, it would be struggling for food. Not even taking a bite is highly suspicious. And there were not only people here but also two horses.”
The attacker’s unreasonable location, the victims’ unreasonable manner of being attacked—it was full of suspicious points. But this case would be hard to investigate. Whether considering the special timing of the Holy Knight Examination or the fact that the Royal Capital was a place where major and minor events happened daily, this would be difficult to get to the bottom of.
After all, the Royal Capital didn’t revolve around these two bodies. No one would invest so much effort into a case that looked like a simple beast attack.
The old man was still crying, his wrinkled face full of grief.
Lita suddenly thought it was a little pitiful.
But someone didn’t think so.
“Tch. Is it really worth crying like that over a dead freeloader?”
A low, inappropriate remark came from the crowd, the deep voice standing out even in the crowd.
“Who! Who said that! Who said that!”
The old man’s bloodshot eyes reddened further, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
The crowd parted with a rustle, revealing a tall man standing with his arms crossed. He was now looking around with some dissatisfaction at the onlookers who had scattered.
Noticing the old man staring at him, the man strode over. His frame, like an iron pillar, made the old man involuntarily step back in fear.
He was a Holy Knight, and one Lita vaguely recognized.
Lita furrowed her brow slightly and silently placed her hand on her sword hilt.
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