Chapter 253: Extra 15 - The Suspicious Town (1)
The child’s round cheeks were adorable.
His eyes moved from side to side, following the movents of Kihano’s hand.
Even Kihano, who was trying to attract the boy’s attention by waving a candy, couldn’t help but laugh at that innocent expression.
"So, you say that lately, you’ve been hearing strange noises at night?"
"...Yes."
"Noises that the adults can’t hear, but you and your friends can?"
"Uh-huh."
The boy’s eyes remained fixed on the candy Kihano was holding, but his outstretched fingers pointed toward the hill.
With his arm extended, he indicated the windmills that stood on the town’s hill.
"That windmill. Soone cries from there."
"...Cries?"
"Yes. Cries. The windmill cries every night."
When the boy said that the windmills cried, Yan, standing beside him, began tilting his head as if he couldn’t understand.
However, Kihano’s eyes remained calm and serious.
"I’ve told you everything... Can I have the candy now?"
After finishing his story, the boy held out both hands toward Kihano, as if asking for a reward.
Moved by the endearing gesture, Kihano gave him the candy.
The boy smiled broadly upon seeing the sweet in his hand, while Kihano slowly stood up.
"A windmill that cries."
The rumor that a windmill cried at night.
Only the children had heard it, so the adults dismissed it as nonsense.
But now, Kihano’s eyes reflected a different kind of seriousness.
"...Five children have said the sa thing."
It was strange for five children to give the exact sa testimony.
Even coming from children, hearing the sa account five tis deserved to be taken seriously.
’And that mage told
not to go near the windmill.’
Yesterday, the grim-looking mage had warned him not to go near the windmill.
It wasn’t clear whether it was a warning or a threat.
Recalling that mont, Kihano chewed the last candy with a thoughtful expression.
***
"In any case, I would prefer you not to go near the windmill."
For a quiet town, the mayor’s house was surprisingly luxurious.
Building a house of that size could only an the mayor had a good reputation or had embezzled a lot of money.
"Investigating the witch is fine, but it would be better to avoid that place."
However, the one receiving him wasn’t the mayor, but a completely different man.
A middle-aged man in an embroidered robe with a stern expression.
His refined deanor and expensive robe made it clear that he was a mage.
"I am conducting experints that require a certain degree of privacy. I hope you understand."
His tone reflected a distinguished education.
And with that robe that looked so expensive, no one would doubt his position.
If it weren’t for his feet on the table, Kihano would have thought he was a respectable person.
"Well... As long as you let
investigate without interference, I don’t mind."
Although the man’s behavior was disrespectful, the tax collector beside him seed too nervous to say anything.
The man, who had introduced himself as Samonte, acted as if the place belonged to him.
"It’s an experint supervised directly by the Dragulia family. It can’t be helped."
"A very understanding young man."
No matter how disrespectful Samonte was, the na Dragulia demanded respect.
Even if he wasn’t a dragon, no one dared challenge soone who represented that family.
"I wonder what kind of experint is being conducted in this small town, but that’s all I need to cooperate with."
"Yes."
However, the man now standing in front of Samonte was the infamous bastard of the Frausen family.
Perhaps, if he had been careful with his actions until now, the word "bastard" wouldn’t have been attached to Kihano’s na.
"It’s curious, isn’t it? That in a town supervised by the Dragulia family, a witch appears — sothing so rare to see."
"..."
"If this is all just a coincidence, it would truly be sothing curious."
Kihano was smiling, but his eyes showed no joy.
Samonte maintained his serious expression.
The tension between them made Yan feel suffocated.
***
"I think I shouldn’t have followed Kihano..."
On the way back to the inn from the mayor’s house, Yan was pulling a small donkey while speaking with a worried voice.
"Won’t I end up being marked too? After all, he’s soone from the Dragulia family."
Yan seed quite nervous about what had happened recently.
For a boy who had lived his whole life in a rural village, what he had seen was sothing completely out of the ordinary.
"...Yes, the Dragulia family."
"Huh?"
"But why would the Dragulia family use an expelled mage?"
However, Kihano, walking ahead, didn’t seem to hear Yan’s voice. He was lost in his own thoughts.
"And besides, a mage from a fallen family in the south. Were they that desperate for soone?"
"...Kihano, what are you saying now?"
Kihano’s tone was unusual, murmuring non-stop as if trapped in another world.
Yan found his behavior strange; he had never seen Kihano like this.
"From the south and from a fallen family? What does all that an?"
"What?"
"I an what you just ntioned. You said sothing about soone being expelled."
Kihano, who was absorbed in his thoughts, seed to snap back to reality when he saw Yan’s wide eyes.
His expression finally regained so vitality.
"It was Samonte who was expelled."
"...Huh?"
Yan was visibly confused by Kihano’s unexpected words.
"That guy was expelled? Did soone ntion that before?"
"Does it need to be said? Just looking at him, you can tell."
Yan was perplexed. How could Kihano gather all that information just by looking? That Samonte was from the south, from a fallen family, and expelled seed impossible to deduce without being told.
"...I don’t understand anything you’re saying, Kihano."
"You saw it too. The robe Samonte was wearing."
"What about his robe?"
Yan still didn’t understand, which made Kihano frown, as if wondering why he couldn’t see sothing so obvious.
"It had elaborate embroidery. Those patterns are typical of the south."
"Ah."
"Also, did you see his shiny boots? That ans they were treated to be waterproof. Only people from the swampy regions of the south care that much about their boots."
"Oh..."
Although they had been in the sa place and seen the sa person, the information they gathered was very different. That was the difference made by Kihano’s sharp powers of observation.
"So, it seems he’s from the south. But what does it an that he’s from a fallen family?"
"He was wearing a ring with a noble family’s seal. But the emblem was unknown to , so it must be from a family that fell at least a generation ago."
Yan was amazed. When had Kihano found ti to notice the ring during that brief eting? Yan only rembered cowering before Samonte’s intimidating presence.
"And besides, his clothes were worn. It looks like he takes care of his clothing carefully, but even so, it was worn out. That ans he doesn’t have much money."
"...Then why do you say he’s an expelled mage?"
Each of Kihano’s deductions seed to fit perfectly, and Yan’s eyes shone with admiration.
Now he was curious to know how Kihano had concluded that Samonte was expelled. Kihano shrugged, as if he didn’t have a clear answer.
"...I didn’t know that."
"Huh?"
Even though he had claid Samonte was an expelled mage, he now admitted he didn’t know the reason.
Yan looked at him confused, but the answer ca from another source.
"He slled horrible."
A coarse, old voice ca from inside Kihano’s coat.
It was a frog blinking impatiently, as if it felt uncomfortable after being hidden.
"There were many forbidden energies clustered around him. The stench was so strong it made
dizzy."
The small frog, which wore a pointed hat, climbed onto Kihano’s shoulder. When he was still human, he had been nad Andrew. Now, he scratched his head with a hind leg, clearly disgusted.
"It must be black magic, the kind spreading among mages lately. If his powers are that rotten, he was surely expelled a long ti ago."
Yan had never heard of black magic, but the term gave him chills. The word "black" alone was enough to convey sothing sinister.
"What’s going on in this town...? I hope I haven’t gotten into sothing dangerous."
At first, the journey’s goal had only been to atone for a mistake.
But now, they were in a town where witches appeared and suspicious mages road.
As he walked through the town, Kihano looked at the darkening sky of Consuegra and clicked his tongue softly.
***
Night had fallen completely, and the hill where the windmill stood was shrouded in shadows.
In the newest windmill, a faint light filtered through the window while more than a dozen mages worked hurriedly.
"...It seems Baron Turrek made a mistake in selecting the staff."
In the highest level of the windmill, in the room just below the blades, Samonte reflected on what had happened while frowning. The insolent attitude of that young man called Kihano still bothered him.
"Or maybe the Frausen family sent him here by force?"
The situation was frustrating. An unknown woman was constantly interfering, delaying the experint. They had requested a competent knight to capture her, but instead, an irresponsible brat from the Frausen family had arrived.
"This is a headache. There’s still so much work to do."
Pressing his temples with his fingers, Samonte let out a small groan. He had received support from the Dragulia family to restore his fallen family and complete his experint. But the mont to show results was approaching, and anxiety was starting to weigh on him.
"...Co on, cry already, you cursed creature."
His only hope left was the small snake in the jar he was holding.
-······!, ······!
Inside the jar Samonte held, a tiny snake hissed incessantly, showing its small, sharp fangs.
A snake so small it wouldn’t even fit in the palm of an adult’s hand.
The snake kept hissing as if telling Samonte to release it, while staring at him.
The young snake, which had not yet grown and had sharp teeth, was entirely white like the moon rising in the night sky.
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