Investigation.
Investigation.
“Are you here?”
A fine face that doesn’t match the muscular body at all. Dilgent welcomed us from early morning. My mother was the only one who followed me to Dilgent.
Although it felt somewhat biased, Jamel and Giselle did not like to face Dilgent, and Tergio and Dacia followed suit to protect the two who could not openly use their powers in the city.
‘Kill and kill.’
Despite Dilgent’s greeting, my mother didn’t pretend to see his greeting and was seriously contemplating what to ask me to buy on the way home from work today.
I quickly greeted him in order to correct the awkward atmosphere from the morning.
“good morning.”
“haha. yes. good morning.”
He looked back and forth between me and my mother and smiled kindly.
“Then, shall we begin the search soon?”
“I came to this city yesterday, so I honestly have no idea where to start my search. Did Priest Dilgent have anything else on his mind?”
“I knew you would. Follow me. I will explain as we go.”
Dilgent walked out first, and I followed after him. My mother followed my steps and stood shoulder to shoulder with me.
“First of all, I got some information yesterday, so I’m going to go there.”
“which…?”
“From now on, the place we will go to is the loading warehouse at the top of Romero. Yesterday I heard that the food stored in the warehouse recently often goes missing.”
“Do you think that hunchbacked man named Catus did the stealing?”
Dilgent touched his chin.
“That’s right. No matter how much you made a contract with the devil, wouldn’t you be able to live by eating something with your mouth? Even if Katus can live without eating, if the lord’s son is still alive, he will definitely need food to feed the lord’s son.”
Yes, there was a son of a captured lord. I heard that the child is about 7 years old, but is he still alive? To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever be alive. Anyway, I didn’t even come out with an answer because I was worried here anyway.
“Let’s go and see.”
“yes.”
A building built with an extremely monotonous structure, as if it were built for the purpose of storing goods. At the place where we arrived at a brisk pace, the guards who had contracted with the guild stood guard.
They let out a drowsy yawn, but when they saw us approaching them, they looked wary for a moment.
“Isn’t it Priest Dilgent? I heard that you are coming today.”
When the guards confirmed Dilgent’s face, they spoke to him in a very friendly manner.
“Then what did you come for?”
“Recently, I heard rumors that the food stored in the warehouse keeps disappearing. Would you mind if we check the warehouse?”
The guard waved his hands and smiled broadly.
“You have already obtained permission, so there is no need to ask me again. By the way, the priest and the lady over here…?”
“Ah, this is Priest Marnak, and he is the one who decided to pursue the culprit with me. And this way…”
Dilgent glanced at his mother, then paused. He didn’t even know his mother’s name. And I haven’t decided on a pseudonym for my mother yet.
“… I am the companion of Priest Marnak. I will guarantee the identity of both of you, so could you let them in together?”
“Ah…”
The gazes of the guards were fixed on her mother’s face, and she did not intend to leave them easily. Sensing the gaze directed at her, my mother slightly frowned, moved slightly, hid behind my back, and grumbled.
‘Kill and kill.’
The mother’s face was covered, and the guards, who finally came to their senses, nodded belatedly.
“I can let you in as long as Priest Dilgent guarantees your identity. The branch manager gave us a separate word to actively cooperate with whatever priest Dilgent is trying to do.”
“thank you. Now, let’s go in.”
My mother and I followed behind Dilgent, who took the lead. Upon entering the huge warehouse, various products were loaded according to randomly divided zones inside. Of course, the expensive-looking products were packaged and I couldn’t tell what they were from the outside.
‘killing!’
However, no matter how many layers of wrapping, there was no way Mother could miss the subtle divinity emanating from the holy relics. Mother shouted that there were relics over there, said that she would examine the relics, and then moved to the corner of the storage room.
Dilgent asked me with a gentle smile if my mother was willing to cooperate.
“Then it would be better for us to split up and search. Wouldn’t it be something you don’t know what traces will remain?”
“I see.”
box box box. As I passed the feast of all kinds of boxes and headed to the place where the groceries were piled up, the smell of dried meat and all kinds of ingredients stimulated my nose.
I looked around, but didn’t see anything in particular. If there were any special traces left in the first place, the upper class would have taken action first.
‘Murder…’
My mother, who came to my side before I knew it, shrugged and grumbled that all the relics stored here were ordinary relics.
First of all, is this a complete joke?
“Have you not seen any signs of the devil?”
At my question, my mother shook her head and shook her long hair. If he ever met Hunchback again, he brought his mother to see if he had completely surrendered himself to the devil, but now it was unclear whether he would ever meet the real Catus.
“Would you like to come over here for a second?”
Dilgent called us. My mother and I followed his call and headed to a corner of the warehouse. The place Dilgent was searching was full of items that had been stored for quite some time, so there was a lot of dust sitting here and there.
“Have you got anything?”
“Look at this, please.”
He pointed to one of the footprints here and there in the dust pit. He took a handful of powder from his pocket and sprinkled it over it. As the scattered white powder settled to the floor, the footprints drawn on the dust were more clearly visible.
I looked at the footprints and tilted my head.
“You are using a mysterious powder.”
“I learned it while serving as a Ranger. Like Priest Marnak, I was not a priest from birth. Could you please look here and here rather than that?”
He stretched out his finger and pointed to two footprints. The two footprints were very different in shape.
“The shape of the footprints is different.”
“you’re right. Priest Marnak. Can you remember when you saw Katus? I heard that he lost a leg not too long ago and was walking around with a prosthetic leg.”
Dillgent was right. The left leg of the hunchbacked man I saw was a crude artificial leg.
“Priest Dilgent is right. One of his legs was prosthetic. A prosthetic leg in a rather crude form.”
Dilgent nodded heavily.
“also. Apparently, it was Katus who stole the food.”
“By the way, isn’t there any possibility that they just took different footprints?”
At my question, Dilgent smiled quietly.
“Take a good look. There are a lot of footprints in a mess, but if you look closely, these shoe prints all have a partner.”
He skillfully erased the same shoe marks one by one. After all matching was completed, only one pair of footprints remained on the floor. He pointed to the mismatched mark and said.
“Now do you understand why I was so sure these were the footprints of a single person?”
His kind explanation reminded me of how sharp Rangers are. He’d even sorted out the hunchback’s footprints before sprinkling the unknown powder on me and my mother.
“You are amazing.”
“It is a minor trick. For now, let’s follow where these footprints are headed. If we figure out the rough route of Katus, wouldn’t it be possible to prepare for the next time he comes here?”
Dilgent led the way, and my mother and I followed carefully behind him. Dilgent carefully followed the steps that only he could see clearly.
The traces of Katus that followed were accurately passing through the food stored here and there. Dilgent slowly followed the trail and opened his mouth.
“It seems like you didn’t just take one thing, but a little bit at a time. And I don’t touch any valuables that could cause any trouble. It is a very positive sign.”
“Why?”
He smiled and answered me.
“Looking at the marks, it seems that Katus didn’t hit this place once or twice.”
“That means that if the food you brought runs out soon, you might be able to reappear here to replenish it.”
“That’s right…”
Dilgent was about to say something, but stopped in place. It was the end of this long trail and in front of the solid wall.
“Is there something?”
At my question, he quickly took a pouch out of his pocket and scattered courtesy powder on the floor. As the white powder settled on the floor, I immediately understood why Dilgent had stopped.
Footprints that are not human. White powder landed along the huge footprints that resembled those of a beast.
Dilgent looked down at the gigantic footprints with an honest look.
“It seems that Katus really made a contract with the devil.”
“Hmm.”
But footprints are footprints, but how the hell did you get out of this building with these huge feet?
Somehow, it seemed necessary to develop a sense of vigilance against Katus’ abilities.
Dilgent took out a few more powders and compared the various traces scattered around, then stood still and thought. Then he turned his head towards me and opened his mouth.
“Comparing the duration of the past traces, Katus visits this place at least once every three to four days. The last trace seems to have been two days old, so if you hide here for roughly two days, you will be able to run into him. Priest Marnak.”
“yes.”
“Would you like to go undercover with me? I would be very happy if someone I could trust was with me.”
You might want to trust me so much just because you saw it, but it was an understandable action for me, who pretended to be a priest. Besides, he seemed to think, of course, that I would say I would help him.
“All right. Let’s do it.”
“thank you!”
The reason he was so eager to pursue the criminal was very simple. Dilgent smiled broadly.
“This should give the devil a good shot!”
Priests were meant to hate demons as much as worshipers of demons. Enough to risk anything to interfere with the devil’s event.
The moment my identity was discovered, the idea that that close hatred of madness would turn toward me made me slightly goosebumps.
I made a serious commitment once again to hide my real identity well.
“Then, when it starts to get dark, let’s meet here again. I have something to prepare for you, so I will go.”
“yes.”
“then.”
After a short greeting, Dilgent walked away briskly. Coming out of the warehouse, my mother coughed a few times, then shook her head and glanced up at me.
‘Murder…’
A subtle suggestion that it’s really okay to eat grilled meat because you ate too much dust today. I smiled and nodded.
“Then, since we still have time, it would be better to go eat meat first.”
‘killing!!!’
“By the way, don’t you want to eat meat and go to the inn for a while? There is no need for your mother to have a hard time staying up all night, is there?”
As much as a battle might break out, I was worried that my mother might get hurt.
‘Kill kill!’
My mother showed her thin arms and told me that if a fight broke out, she would quickly step back and watch it, and that she would never want to leave.
“Then how about turning into a hand and putting it in my pocket? I will tell Dilgent that I have returned to my lodgings.”
‘Kill and kill.’
My mother didn’t like it very much that it was turned into a hand and was only in my pocket. You much preferred walking shoulder to shoulder with me.
Seeing my mother’s visibly drooping shoulders made me feel a little sorry for her, and finally let out a deep sigh.
“Haa, if a real battle takes place, you have to run away without even looking back. As long as Dilgent is with you, you won’t be able to turn into a hand in the middle.”
‘killing!!!’
***
My mother, who ate a lot of grilled meat, stayed up all night in bed and eventually dozed off in the middle of the night.
On the first day of the incubation that began, Katus did not come to the warehouse.
