When Lynn arrived at the harbor dock, a group of people were gathered in a dark alley next to the Broad Axe Tavern. After squeezing in, he saw a short and fat corpse lying on the ground.

Ralph was only about 1.3 meters tall and looked very strong, but his entire upper body was a bloody mess, and half of his neck was missing. His eyes were wide open, his face was full of fear, and he was holding an iron wrench tightly in his hand.

"Oh my God, poor Ralph, who could be so cruel to him? If he dies like this, what will happen to little Dimi?" A female halfling covered her face with a handkerchief and sobbed, her voice choking.

"Damn bastard, if I knew who did it, I would smash his head with a hammer."

The halflings present were also filled with righteous indignation, and angrily pounded the earthen walls of the street with their rough, calloused fists.

Even the usually cheerful and lively Lydia was furious at this moment, clenching her fists tightly...

Suddenly, Lynn frowned, squatted down and placed his hand on top of Ralph's robe. Under the effect of the [Magic Hand], some white powder stuck on the other's body was absorbed out.

After using [Elementary Material Analysis Technique] to decompose it, Lin En discovered that this was not anything that had been recorded in the system database...

"This is the powder of the rhizome of withered grass. It is usually used to assist in the release of the first-level magic [Sleepy Mist]..."

A voice sounded behind him. Lin En turned around and saw that the person who spoke was a middle-aged wizard.

The other person was wearing a standard robe, and the medal hanging on his chest was inlaid with three dazzling gems and had a silver eagle-like mark.

Without waiting for Lin En to ask, the man took the initiative to introduce himself.

"I'm the sheriff of Yieta Harbor. You can call me Leia!"

Lynn nodded and asked, "Hello, Your Excellency the Sheriff, I want to know why Ralph died here. Have you found anything else?"

"I just asked the staff at the Broadaxe Tavern. This halfling came here early in the morning and got drunk. Then he went out alone. About ten minutes later, someone heard a fight and cries for help in this alley. When we arrived, the halfling's body was already severely corroded and there was no possibility of saving him."

Leia succinctly recounted the incident, and after a pause, he continued, "I think it is most likely a wizard apprentice who did it. As for the reason, I cannot confirm it yet. Anyway, I have asked the security team to investigate..."

Lynn nodded, agreeing with Leia's guess. If the one who did it was a formal wizard, then Ralph would have no ability to resist at all.

Only apprentices need to use magic materials when casting low-level magic.

Lin En looked down at the yellowish powder floating in his hand. The other party should have used [Sleepy Mist] first.

So you want to capture Ralph alive?

But it was obvious that the wizard apprentice underestimated the physical fitness of the halflings. [Sleepy Mist] did not have much effect and even provoked Ralph's resistance...

Given the opponent's strength, if he uses a wrench to hit any part of the body, it will inevitably cause considerable damage.

As for what ended Ralph in the end, it should be the first-level magic [Corrosion]...

"Ralph has been making airships in the workshop for the past half month, staying with us, and has not gone anywhere... Yesterday afternoon, he even drove the airship for a while on behalf of Lydia..." Darren said with a sob. "Last night, only last night, we went out to celebrate with a drink, and asked Ralph to be in charge of watching the airship to prevent anyone from sneaking in and doing bad things on the airship..."

"It's all my fault... If I hadn't arranged for him to keep watch, he wouldn't have waited until early in the morning to go to the pub and drink to his heart's content..." Darren said with sobs, tears as big as beans kept sliding down from the corners of his eyes and his nose twitching.

Lynn thought about it and remembered that he had met Ralph several times when he went to the workshop. He was one of the halflings responsible for making the airship cabin.

So was he here for the airship design? Lin En couldn't help but think of this possibility, because the timing of Ralph's death was too coincidental.

He had just conducted a flight experiment in the square yesterday morning, and today one of the core builders of the airship died. Moreover, the person who did it initially used non-lethal magic such as [Sleepy Mist], and it was obvious that he was planning to take the person away for interrogation.

Despite this guess, Lynn still asked Ralph as usual if he had any strange behavior recently. He then called over several people who first heard the cries for help and asked them to recount in detail the entire process from hearing the cries for help to entering the alley and discovering the body.

Unfortunately, after some questioning, Lin En helplessly discovered that the clues he got were too few, because after hearing the noise in the alley, the townspeople's first reaction was not to go in and check, but to run away quickly. Being able to notify the guards and the sheriff was the best they could do.

No one saw the murderer's appearance...

Lin En understood this behavior very well. Even if it was a wizard apprentice, he could cause terrible damage by using fireball. In such a situation, no one would take the initiative to go to a dangerous place.

Considering this, Lynn looked at the sheriff helplessly and spoke.

"Sir Leia, please keep an eye out these days and find someone who is about 1.7 to 1.75 meters tall and may have injured his legs, arms, waist or abdomen..."

"I can understand that he was injured, but why is he only 1.7 meters tall? Could it be that Professor Lin En has seen the murderer?" Leia questioned in confusion.

"Shoe size!" Lynn pointed to the ground in front of Ralph's body and responded directly.

Darren, Lydia and others immediately looked in the direction Linn pointed, but their eyes were blank because they saw nothing.

Leia was different. She walked directly to where Linn had just stood. Through her perception, she could see footprints made up of some residual dust on the ground.

"Generally speaking, height is about seven times the length of the feet. Of course, what I mean is... if the person doing it is a normal human!" Lin En explained. For example, the ratio of his own height and foot length is very consistent with this standard. However, if the person doing it is some strange creature like an orc or an elf, it may not be the case.

At least it can serve as a useful clue.

As for following the footprints? That's simply a fantasy.

The entire alley was trampled into a mess by the crowd of onlookers, and only the area near the corpse was slightly cleaner, with some traces left.

(End of this chapter)