Wilson Town

Lynch was not arrogant enough to take on an event related to a manifestation-grade mystery relic with just two people. He only wanted to assess the situation first based on the clues; too many people would draw too much attention.

Therefore, he only went to Miss Valente's home to borrow Karina's Exquisite Makeup. To gather news about the royal capital, that young lady had been leaving early and returning late every day recently. She wasn't home at the moment, but she had left several mystery relics at home for her family to use in case of emergencies.

Hmm? What did she mean by “family”?

Although seeing Lynch bring another girl over the very next day made old Louis probably want to search the warehouse for coastal defense artillery shells, he ultimately handed the mystery relic over to Lynch. He even threw in a carriage with its family crest removed and two horses.

This was far too generous. And what did he mean by muttering under his breath about not letting the Eldest Miss be outshone? I think you have some sort of misunderstanding.

Besides, what's the use of lending us a carriage? Neither of us knows how to drive one.

“I do.”

Officer Natalie pulled the brim of her hat down, her movements as precise as a professional coachman. The disguised Lynch looked a bit more mature, appearing to be in his thirties or forties. In their new guises, the two of them charged straight out of the city's East Gate.

Target: Wilson Town.

Wilson Town was a small town affiliated with Rhine City. It wasn't very large, with a population of just over two hundred, and primarily focused on raising beef cattle. A quarter of Rhine City's daily beef consumption came from this town.

It could be considered one of Rhine City's key supply towns.

It was a little over an hour's drive from Rhine City's East Gate, and the journey along the country highway was very smooth. Just after two o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them spotted the entrance sign of Wilson Town.

Two bull heads impaled on top of stone pillars.

Whatever, let them have their fun.

Only after entering did they realize that the town was actually quite large in terms of land area. Every household had a vast amount of space—after all, livestock farming required land. Consequently, there were only a few streets in the entire town, and one had to travel a long distance before seeing a single household. Only the town center was slightly lively.

In the exact center of the town stood a bell tower over ten meters tall, which emitted a constant click-clack sound of grinding gears all year round. The town hall and commercial facilities were built around the bell tower, forming the town center.

Their luck wasn't bad; today seemed to be some sort of festival. As the two approached the town center, they noticed a large crowd gathered in the square beneath the bell tower, their clamor drifting far into the distance.

A man was standing on the platform at the top of the bell tower, waving his arms and speaking to the crowd below.

It looked like the town was holding some sort of event.

Natalie, acting as the coachman, looked back. The two exchanged glances, both feeling a bit pleased.

This would be the perfect opportunity to gather some information, though she didn't actually know what they were looking for.

“I know you have your difficulties, so you don't need to explain anything to me. I'll follow you, and you just tell me what to do.” The female officer suddenly squinted at him with a disdainful look. “If you do a poor job, I'll mock you when we get back, Mr. Detective.”

What else could he say? Lynch spread his hands inside the carriage. “Do you think I'd give you that chance? Hehehe, let's go over and see what they're up to.”

It was indeed quite lively. As they drew closer, the noise grew louder, and the faces of the people in the square became clear. It was a crowd of farmers dressed in coarse cloth coats, with a few neatly dressed gentlemen in formal wear standing in the front row. They were all looking up at the top of the bell tower. As for the man speaking on the bell tower...

He suddenly leaped off the bell tower, falling to his death right in the square.

“...I will never forgive...” Splat.

His head slammed onto the hard stone pavement and deformed instantly. Red, white, and black fluids immediately painted the ground.

The square fell dead silent for an instant, followed by a sudden eruption of screams.

“Another death!”

Whoosh. The female officer whipped her head around, her burning gaze locking onto Lynch's face.

“Don't look at me, watch the road. Truen was just talking nonsense yesterday. This is pure coincidence. This death has nothing to do with me, seriously.”

A farmwoman immediately collapsed beside the corpse with her two children, weeping uncontrollably. The gentlemen who had been in the front row also stepped forward to comfort her. Dozens of people gathered around the body, sighing and muttering, and the surroundings fell into chaos.

Officer Natalie had already pulled the carriage to a halt. “Did they just say 'another'?”

“Yeah, I...” Lynch was about to speak when he suddenly realized the underlying meaning of the female officer's question. She was clearly worried that this place was being affected by a mysterious event, which could lead to more deaths. After a moment's hesitation, Lynch changed his tune. “With consecutive deaths occurring within a short period, we cannot rule out the possibility of a mysterious event. We can ask around. Perhaps we can find an entry point through this.”

“Since that's what you want, let's take a look first.” Officer Natalie turned her head away and hummed softly, “Thank you.”

“Heh. That night when someone suddenly kicked open my door and pinned me to the ground, it was actually out of the same concern. I haven't even said thank you yet.”

“I wasn't worried about you. I was worried that the mystery relic would pose a greater threat and disrupt the order of Rhine City.”

The female officer let out a cold snort, drove the carriage to the side of the road to park, and then questioned Lynch with her eyes.

Lynch scanned the crowd. Bypassing the spectating farmers, he selected an elderly gentleman.

It wasn't out of discrimination against the lower class, but rather because in this era of limited resources, most commoners had received no education. Their logical reasoning and ability to grasp key points were far too lacking, making in-depth communication difficult. This was precisely why universal education was so important. Thus, he directly chose a decent, educated person—and a more worldly elderly man at that.

The elderly gentleman was currently comforting the weeping farmwoman alongside others. He was startled when he saw Lynch approach.

Lynch was dressed in plain clothes today, looking like an ordinary commoner. However, the carriage he had stepped out of was clearly made of high-quality materials, suggesting a prominent figure traveling incognito. Consequently, a respectful smile immediately surfaced on the elderly gentleman's face.

“I am from the Rhine Governor's Mansion, passing through on official business.” Lynch pulled the elderly gentleman aside, flashed a badge, and whispered, “What happened here?”

“I am Thomas, the town's financial officer. My greetings to you, sir,” the elderly gentleman replied with a polite smile. “For the past three days, the town has been plagued by a cattle murrain, and already the cattle of four families have died out completely, and the cattle of other families aren't doing well either. Mick's family is truly pitiful; they worked so hard to raise dozens of cattle, only for all of them to die overnight. His family borrowed a lot of money from the town's bank for these cattle, even mortgaging their land. Once the cattle died, everything was ruined. He couldn't see a way out, so he jumped. Sigh.”

It was rather tragic, but it seemed normal enough.

Lynch frowned and pondered. “But I heard he isn't the only one who died.”

“Yes, this cattle murrain is extremely severe. A few days ago, old Witt also acted on impulse and hanged himself here.”

“Was he in debt too?”

“Yes, most families in town owe loans to Wilson Bank.” The elderly gentleman sighed. “Actually, the town didn't used to be like this. But over the past two years, the city raised the purchase price of beef. To earn more, everyone took out loans to expand their farms. As a result, the farms of those four families are now about to be repossessed by the bank.”

Lynch's lips twitched. This was too obvious. “Are you sure it's a cattle murrain?”

“We've been raising cattle here for decades. We can tell whether they died of disease or poisoning,” the elderly gentleman said with a bitter face. “It really wasn't poisoning, otherwise Mick and the others wouldn't have chosen suicide.”

Well, perhaps it really was a coincidence. Although there were no coincidences in the world of mystery, nobody said the normal world couldn't have them. Thus, Lynch nodded. “So when Mick shouted that he would never forgive them as he jumped, was he referring to Wilson Bank?”

“No, he was referring to another family in town. Over the past few decades, the town has experienced several cattle diseases and lost a lot of livestock. Whenever things got out of hand, that family would step in to help control it, which prevented the cattle plague from spreading on a large scale. Over the last couple of days, the affected families went to beg that family, but they resolutely refused to help this time. That's why Mick shouted that at the end.”

“But... helping out with this kind of thing isn't an obligation,” Lynch frowned. “How can people hate others just because they refuse to do them a favor?”

The elderly gentleman froze for a moment, then explained helplessly, “Sir, your logic is correct, but you cannot apply common sense to people who have fallen into despair. They...”

“Yes, it's all their fault! It's because they refused to help that Mick and old Witt were driven to death! They want to kill us all!”

A sudden shout interrupted their conversation. Lynch noticed that while they were talking, the farmers in the square had already banded together, each of them wearing a fierce expression.

“Let's go to the Milt residence together! If they dare refuse us again this time, we'll tear down their weird house!”

“Yes! Let's go get them!”

The crowd quickly swarmed together, noisily surging in the same direction.

“Wait, whose house?”

“The Milt family,” the elderly gentleman explained. “They are also a household in town, but they live in a rather secluded area and rarely interact with the other townspeople.”

Lynch narrowed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully.