Just as Roger was about to explain what had happened, the man glanced at the corpse once more, sheathed his sword, and spoke in a softened tone:
“I believe you didn't kill him intentionally, but you still need to come with me. Don't worry, as long as you tell the truth about what happened, we won't make things difficult for you.”
The shift in attitude was incredibly fast, catching Roger off guard. He also looked down at the corpse, and when his eyes caught the bone chain around the wrist, he got a general idea of what was going on.
“Alright. As long as you don't go looking for trouble, I'll tell you exactly what happened,” Roger said, placing the blood-stained spear back onto the rack.
Since all his equipment was stored in his system inventory, he appeared completely empty-handed to others, making him look quite cooperative.
Before long, the corpse was placed on a stretcher, and Roger, along with the blacksmith, followed the man toward the castle located in the center of the city.
Along the way, Roger remained outwardly calm while quietly opening the system shop to search for keywords like “teleportation” and “displacement.”
The patrol captain's words sounded reassuring, but in times like these, one couldn't afford to be too trusting. In a completely unfamiliar otherworld, it was always best to have a backup plan.
The search results popped up quickly, and the icon of a small amulet appeared on the holographic interface:
【Name: Short-Range Teleportation Amulet】
【Description: A palm-sized amulet with a ring of miniature teleportation runes engraved on its surface. The spell has been solidified into a fixed formula, allowing activation without casting. The user only needs to designate a direction to instantly teleport to any unoccupied space between ten to twenty meters away. The amulet becomes useless after a single use and is a one-time consumable.】
【Exchange Points: 120】
Without hesitation, Roger chose to redeem it and stored it in his system inventory, feeling a wave of relief wash over him.
Upon entering the castle, Roger and Old Sam were led in two different directions.
Roger was led into a small, cramped room. He sat on a chair against the wall, facing a middle-aged man in robes who sat behind a desk. A sheet of parchment and a quill pen lay spread out on the desk.
“Name?”
Roger gave his name. The man recorded it quickly, then said, “Tell me everything you know. Do not leave out a single detail.”
The matter itself was not complicated, and the entire incident had been brief. Roger started from when he entered the shop to browse the merchandise, moved on to how the customer suddenly drew his sword to attack, how he grabbed a spear in self-defense, and finally, how he noticed the bone chain on the man's wrist after stabbing him to death.
He did not intentionally hide any details during his narration, though he kept entirely silent about the system.
The scribe wrote everything down on the parchment, then asked a series of questions in succession:
“Did you know the deceased beforehand? Did you provoke him in any way? Why did you choose to stab him in the neck instead of somewhere else?”
Roger answered fluently and logically, without hesitation.
Just then, a guard pushed the door open and handed a piece of parchment to the desk. The man quickly picked it up, scanned a few lines, and then looked at Roger.
“You may leave. The blacksmith also confirmed that you did not kill him intentionally.”
Roger immediately stood up and walked toward the door, half-fearing that the man might change his mind the next second.
Before he could even step over the threshold, the man's voice came from behind him: “To avoid panic, remember not to spread word of this.”
When he returned to the barracks, Roger saw Knight Stine and the other knights training the soldiers they had recruited along the way. But this time, he did not join the drills and went straight back to his quarters.
He lay down on his bunk and closed his eyes, mentally replaying the sudden attack in the blacksmith shop.
Was that man truly driven mad by the bone chain, or was there some other reason?
He rolled over, pushing these questions aside for the moment, and forced himself to sleep.
Since he hadn't used the short-range teleportation amulet he redeemed from the shop, Roger decided to keep it for now.
...
Meanwhile, inside the castle's council chamber, the meeting of the nobles was still underway.
Both sides of the long table were packed with people. The candles on the candelabras had burned down past the halfway mark, and everyone's face showed signs of exhaustion from the prolonged debate.
“Baron Raymond, I received your letter the day before yesterday. Are you certain these bone chains were all found on the goblin corpses?” Count Nigel placed several bone chains onto the conference table and looked toward Raymond, who sat at the far end.
“Absolutely certain, my Lord,” Raymond said, bowing slightly before recounting the experience of his knights in Salard Village.
When he finished speaking, a solemn expression washed over the faces of everyone present.
“My Lord, if the abnormal behavior of the goblins is indeed related to cultists, it would be best to report this to Duke Morgan and the Church as soon as possible,” said the noble sitting to Count Nigel's left.
“The cake isn't even that big to begin with, and you want to invite the King and the Church to share it with us?” the noble on the right snorted disdainfully.
“With cults pulling the strings behind the scenes, whether we can even eat this cake is still unknown. At a critical juncture like this, you're worried about profit and loss?” The noble on the left glared at him. “Have you forgotten how they ran rampant in the kingdom fifty years ago?”
“If you have the confidence to pay for the reinforcements from Duke Morgan and the Church, and then rebuild your territory with whatever scraps of loot they leave behind, then I respect your choice... but I can't. Several of my manors have already been burned down by goblins, and more than half of my subjects and serfs have been killed. I simply don't have that kind of money.”
“We can figure out the money issue slowly, but right now, we must report the situation here to Duke Morgan and the Church.”
The noble on the right sneered. “Do you honestly think they will come to help us? You are far too naive. They would love nothing more than to watch us bleed ourselves dry against the goblins, only to step in at the end and reap the benefits.”
Sitting at the far end of the table, Raymond watched the two nobles, both of whom held higher ranks than himself, argue endlessly. He wished nothing more than for this meeting to end this very second.
Ever since arriving in Orland City, he had been summoned to this council chamber by Count Nigel, listening to these people debate various matters over and over again.
Such arguments had occurred more than once.
Though he was a baron, the lowest noble rank present, Raymond was one of the few extraordinary Awakened among them, which gave him a certain degree of influence in these meetings.
Yet, what he cared about most right now was whether the knights under his command were training the recruited recruits as he had ordered.
Although doing so was akin to sharpening spears only when the battle was already upon them, it at least brought some peace of mind.
Just then, a knock on the door interrupted the bickering in the council chamber.
“Come in.”
As soon as Count Nigel spoke, a scholar pushed open the door and entered. He walked straight to the Count's side and handed him several sheets of parchment.
The council chamber instantly fell quiet, with only the faint sound of the Count and the scholar whispering to each other in hushed tones.
From Raymond's current position, it was impossible to make out their conversation. He only saw the Count's nearly fifty-year-old face wrinkle into a frown, his expression turning solemn. The scholar then handed the parchment and an object to the Count, before turning to leave the chamber.
After the scholar left, Count Nigel cleared his throat and held the object in his hand up to the candlelight:
“Now, I have an extremely important matter to inform you all: another murder has occurred in the city, and this time, we found this on the perpetrator's corpse.”
In his hand, a bone necklace swayed slightly.
The whispering in the council chamber suddenly intensified.
Count Nigel paused briefly before continuing:
“Over this past period, bloodshed has frequently occurred within the city, and we have found similar objects on those who committed the acts. This is enough to show that cultists have already infiltrated this city. It is highly likely that their infiltration began long ago, and their methods are far more secretive than we anticipated.”
As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the bone chains on the table.
“It will take about ten days for the remaining forces to arrive. We can use this time to purge the cultists hiding in the city, ensuring the stability of our rear when we march out. As for whether to seek aid from Duke Morgan and the Church, we will put that matter aside for now. Things have not reached the point of no return; we still have a chance.”
Hearing this, Raymond began to weigh the pros and cons of this plan in his mind. Purging the cultists would inevitably impact the city's trade and public order, but leaving them alone would remain a constant, unstable factor.
It would all depend on how the Count would reassure the populace once the deed was done.
With that, Count Nigel stood up, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present. “After this meeting, each of you will organize your men and prepare to purge the cultists.”
“Meeting adjourned.”
Raymond let out a sigh of relief. The meeting was finally over.
But at the same time, a new worry weighed heavily on his mind.
Purging the cultists sounded simple, but it involved processes like investigation, screening, arrest, and interrogation—none of which were easy to handle. Moreover, it had to be completed within ten days, a deadline so tight it was suffocating.
He stood up and walked out of the council chamber, already calculating in his mind how to assign this sudden task to his men once he returned.
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