Chapter 286 Swamp People
"Jacob..."
The one-eyed old man leaned on his cane and murmured softly, "It's been a long time since I heard your name..."
The man sitting on the sofa and chatting with Aiwass was an old man who looked short and thin.
His cheeks were sunken, and his pursed lips gave him a mean look. His long, horse-like face had become withered, and his left eye was inlaid with a prosthetic eye that looked like a gray glass bead... the same style used by old Inspector William.
His hunched body looked shaky, and even his gait was staggering. His skinny arms were even thinner than the crutches he was leaning on, making him look like a skeleton covered in human skin.
The squire of Eagle Point Village is the richest man here and perhaps one of the most educated.
Although Aiwass had no idea where his money came from or why he lived in Eagle Point Village, a remote area where even newspapers couldn't be delivered in time...
But judging from the carpet in his room, the paintings on the wall, and the few antiques and handicrafts in the room, his wealth was at least equivalent to that of a well-off businessman on Glass Island.
John Eden, a classmate of Aiwass, came from an antique dealer family. This country gentleman was roughly at this level.
What surprised Lily the most was that... there was not a single servant in this country gentleman's house.
Even without the professional male and female servants, there was not even a butler or hired maids to clean and cook.
You know, this old man looks to be in his early eighties and even has to use a crutch to walk! Let alone taking care of the house, I'm afraid he can't even take care of himself.
But when Lily scanned the room with her professional eyes, she found that there was surprisingly little dust in the empty house.
It's impossible that there weren't any, but there weren't many either. It looked like someone had cleaned it carefully yesterday.
—Did they just miss it when they arrived? Lily thought.
The squire thought for a long time before slowly speaking, "You are Jacob's grandson... right? Although you are not an Alexander, you... do look alike..."
"Yes."
Aiwass nodded slightly, turned his body sideways, and got closer to the old man: "This time I also want to follow in my grandfather's footsteps and seek memories of the past.
"My grandfather left me too many secrets... I have to go there in person. Otherwise, I will be worried."
At this point, Aiwass changed the subject: "I heard that Grandfather came here more than ten or twenty years ago?"
"Who told you that?"
But the squire asked, "William? Or Haena?"
"Isn't it?"
"Of course not."
The squire replied, "Old Jacob was the first stranger to come here."
“…The first one?”
"That's right. The first time he came here... I've forgotten the exact time. But it should have been sixty years ago... Anyway, it was a few days earlier than William came here."
The squire thought for a moment and then confirmed, "Yes, I remember correctly. He was the first to arrive, and William arrived shortly after he left."
Aiwass inquired, "Did Grandfather also come through that swamp?"
"No, it's a forest path."
The squire answered simply, "He entered twice, both times by the little path."
"...But I heard that outsiders all come in through the swamp."
"What about you?"
The old squire asked in return, "Didn't you also come in through the main gate?"
"We are because..."
Aiwass was halfway through his speech when he had an epiphany.
Why were they able to enter through the main gate? It was because of Haena's guidance and the enthusiastic townspeople of Bagpipe Town who showed them the way.
So, that’s how Jacob got in back then?
But why did he emphasize that it didn't come from the swamp?
Aiwass suddenly realized: "Is it after Grandfather came that people started to enter the swamp?"
The old man looked at Aiwass deeply with his sunken eyes.
"You don't have to test me. I'll tell you what I can, kid."
The old man paused with his cane, lowered his head and fell into deep memories.
He was silent for a moment before he spoke, "To be more precise... it's not that outsiders can't enter through the main gate. It's that those who come in through the swamp can't leave."
"……Why?"
Aiwass had a vague premonition of the truth.
"Because they've all died once."
The old squire said bluntly: "They are all dead souls resurrected from the swamp."
On the other hand, Sherlock and Haina also encountered difficulties in their inquiries.
They went to another blacksmith shop in the village.
Unlike Haina's father's closed blacksmith shop... the furnace here is operating normally and there are some customers coming and going.
When Haina walked in, there was a guest talking to the blacksmith inside.
"I want to give the scythe a new head."
"Your head is okay... I'll have someone help you polish it again, don't change it."
"Okay, I'll treat you to a drink tomorrow."
The blacksmith was leaning his elbows on the table, chatting happily with a customer.
He was wearing thin clothes, but he was still sweating. The air was thick with heat and the sound of the apprentice swinging hammers.
The middle-aged blacksmith, who was about forty or fifty years old, was wearing a coat that looked like an old women's apron, which made him look a little funny.
Seeing Haina push the door open, the blacksmith and the guest turned around.
"Yo, little Haena!"
The blacksmith greeted him warmly: "I heard you were back - why did you come to see me just now?"
The guest also greeted Haina cheerfully: "Graduated? Are you leaving again this time? Are you married? Have you found a boyfriend? You're already 22, a grown-up girl. You can't put it off any longer."
"You're right. I just came back a day ago! I came here just to take a break."
Haina couldn't handle the sudden and direct pressure to get married. She could only hold her hand to her forehead in a nagging pain. "If I'm leaving... of course I have to leave. I just came back to see you... what's wrong with you, old man?! I'm in the ascendant of my career right now. How can I have the time for a relationship? By the way, have you seen my griffin? She's super cute! How about I bring her out to show you?"
"Oh, I see it, it's so big, how could I not see it? You're like William who caught a big fish and is walking around the village with it..."
Suddenly, laughter and joy were heard in the blacksmith shop.
But when the old man who was leaving with the sharpened sickle head passed by Haina and the others, his expression suddenly changed.
"...Are you guys going to the swamp?"
The old man lowered his voice, glanced at Sherlock, and his expression suddenly became serious: "Did you bring it back from the swamp?"
"I did go there... to reminisce about my childhood. But it got foggy inside, and it felt a bit dangerous, so I turned back."
Haena explained and lied at the same time.
——If it were in the past, she would never lie so fluently.
It's all Mr. Aiwass' fault for leading me astray...
Haina muttered to herself.
Aiwass was particularly good at telling lies without changing his expression or heartbeat.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s so handsome… but Haina thinks this is very handsome!
So she would subconsciously think and imitate in private, wondering how she would respond if she were in the same situation. As a result, over time, she could now lie without blinking.
...This can probably be considered a kind of growth gained in a big city.
When the old man heard what Haina said, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh, you went together? Then it's okay... Did you encounter any other undead?"
--Um?
Sherlock raised an eyebrow, realizing something.
What's the meaning?
Does this mean that only locals can encounter "swamp people" when they go there?
And what are the Swamp People?
But he did not say anything, but listened quietly.
“I encountered it, but I killed it.”
"Oh, little Haina has grown up... She can even kill such a powerful undead by herself..."
The old man happily started chatting with Haina again.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
