"I wouldn't mind fighting you."
Anyway, I didn't like him much, so I might as well beat him up so it would be easier to communicate with him later.
But the man refused: "I don't have much fighting power, and besides, meeting you wasn't my intention, so there's no need to invite trouble." He paused, then muttered to himself, "I thought hiding here would prevent any accidents."
This guy was definitely avoiding me; no wonder he ran away so quickly before.
"So, you told the person who was looking for me about my presence here?"
“I’m not stupid, why would I do something so thankless?” he scoffed. “I just want to do the necessary things in peace. Everything else is outside my jurisdiction, and I don’t have the ability to interfere.”
"I haven't forgotten you at the Sacred Tree Fortress..."
"That was just an accident! And I originally intended to stop that guy from doing that kind of thing, but I failed in the end."
"Then tell me about the person you're talking about."
I deliberately made the suggestion in a strong tone, and also to confirm whether I was some "acquaintance" who had been overlooked.
Surprisingly, Stanley, who was expected to engage in some back and forth before relenting, revealed information about the other party with unexpected ease. He even added at the end: "Although we have lost contact with them since that incident and are unsure whether [Snake] and [Bone Hand] are planning something again, we have indeed not seen them for quite some time, including another group of people who are close to them."
"It's as if it vanished into thin air, completely clean, leaving no trace whatsoever."
That's a really strange narrative. Is it because their facade of concealment, the [Mage Mutual Aid Association] and the [Arcane Research Center], are poorly managed? I don't think it's that simple.
I thought of those doomsday cultists again. Although I always felt it was impossible, I still asked them a question. After all, I had felt the same kind of madness as that lunatic in another Star Cult member.
The man remained silent for a long time with his head down, until Miyuki, who had just said she was going out to exercise, returned with the blind saintess. Only then did he finally let out a long sigh.
After settling Leticia in for a rest, Stanley suddenly appeared in the room, carrying Alice on my shoulders and head to rest, and sent her to sit down. Then, seeing that the door was closed and a soundproof barrier was in place, Stanley solemnly began to tell a secret they had not yet verified: "This is probably something that happened before [Snake] and [Bone Hand] disappeared into thin air."
"Several of our men stationed in a village near Qingyuan City were suddenly murdered on the same day."
Although it was something unrelated to the issue, I listened patiently nonetheless.
Up to this point, all of these events are still considered normal accidents.
It could be a revenge killing, or an accidental injury. Of course, there are also factors such as drunkenness or disputes, and it cannot be ruled out that it was an ambush by bandits who have not been seen for a long time.
But what followed made my expectation that this was just a minor incident plummet: "We learned about this and sent another team to investigate, but not only did we fail several times in a row, the mercenary guild's team sent to confirm the situation was also almost completely wiped out, and even the people who went to investigate went crazy."
"In the end, we sent some highly skilled people to confirm the perpetrator's identity from afar, only to find that he was just an ordinary hunter."
"Ordinary hunters?" Miyuki, who had been silent all along, frowned. "Are your people so weak?"
The man's expression changed instantly, and he remained silent for a while before continuing the previous topic: "I didn't see the scene with my own eyes, but I heard that the land of that small village was completely stained black by some kind of liquid, and it also emitted illusory black smoke from time to time. The hunter who committed this atrocity stood at the entrance to the village, and once he discovered someone approaching, unless they escaped from his sight, he would relentlessly pursue them to the death."
He subconsciously swallowed: "It's not even about killing them outright, but about crippling them so that they can't resist at all, then tying them up and taking them back to the village, where they're sliced off piece by piece with a hunting knife."
"...It sounds like some kind of wicked ritual." I frowned subconsciously. "And then? Someone'll probably come to punish him, right?"
At that time, the vanguard of the beast tide had not yet begun, and it was near Qingyuan City, far from the front line. It was likely that many mercenaries hoping to make a name for themselves would go to hunt down these vicious beasts.
The man glanced at Till, who sat quietly with his eyes down, and shook his head: "In fact, no one succeeded. On the contrary, those guys who came back by luck but went mad suddenly came to their senses one day and have been chanting 'to dedicate everything to the end of the end.'"
"To prevent any accidents, we neutralized them all and placed them in one place under strict guard." He paused, then added, "But starting one day, like [the snakes], those guys will suddenly all disappear."
It's not that I don't believe what he said, but it's just too outrageous.
And in conjunction with my earlier question: "So, you think those guys were suddenly brainwashed by some external force and turned into believers in the impending doom?"
He shrugged. "I can't say for sure. It's just a guess."
How can I be sure you're not lying?
There's been no word from the academic community either. While some speculate that the danger level of the incident is too high to be disclosed to students, it's impossible to keep it completely from the professor, right? And the professor, being the kind of person who loves to make fun of things, would most likely tell me or arrange related tasks or trials once they find out. In short, it's impossible for things to remain as quiet as they are now.
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