infodatos Chapter 26 Victims
Chapter 26 Victims
The association's office is open 24/7, with staff on duty even at midnight, in order to prevent accidents and unforeseen events.
But the fact that Zag showed up at the association’s headquarters carrying a werewolf was itself a huge surprise.
The investigator on duty rushed out of the station immediately, and only when he got close and found that Zag was indeed carrying a dead werewolf did he feel relieved.
"What happened, Sentry!?"
Even so, he was extremely nervous.
As far as he knew, the Sentinels were just ordinary civilians and had no chance against werewolves!
"This matter is complicated, and I'm afraid you'll have to write a letter or send someone to inform the lord and the Golden Palace immediately..." Zag summarized simply: "An alchemist who claims to be from the Dawn Mage Tower has concocted a potion that can turn people into werewolves, and these are the victims who have been turned into werewolves."
The investigator stared at Zag with an expression as if he were an idiot, and asked, "Sentinel, if I may be so bold, are you sure you're awake? An alchemical potion that turns people into werewolves?"
Snowball muttered to himself, in a voice only Zag could hear: "See? I told you so! You can't count on the Black Hounds as much as the Northrends!"
“I know this sounds unbelievable, but it really happened,” Zag ignored Snowball’s sarcasm and instead threw Lanmir on the ground, pointing to the werewolf still wrapped in tattered rags and explaining, “It’s Lanmir, the drunkard from the tavern. Look at him, he’s still wearing Lanmir’s clothes. He drowned himself in Fairy River and even wrote a suicide note, which is right here.”
As he spoke, he took out a note from his pocket, but the surrounding light was too dim to make out the handwriting. Most importantly, the investigator himself didn't seem to intend to look at the note; he only glanced at it briefly before refocusing his attention on the werewolf.
The investigator said, "I'm more inclined to believe that Ranmir himself was a werewolf."
Xueqiu unusually made an objective statement: "Actually, if I didn't know all the details, I would have shared the same viewpoint as him."
Zag tried to persuade the association's investigators: "I wish I could, at least to make things less complicated, but unfortunately, besides Ranmir, the victim is Rosa's father, the farmer on the west side of town. He sometimes does odd jobs in town; I guess you might remember him."
Where is he?
"He's still alive, in the eastern part of the redcurrant forest. I caught a glimpse of him from afar, but you know, I'm just an ordinary person and don't dare to do anything. I can only come to you for help."
Faced with the information provided by Zag, the investigator had many excuses, and they were quite convincing: "You know, normally, if you want the association to get involved, at least the Golden Palace or the lord needs to issue a decree, and tonight I'm the only one on duty. It won't work if no one is on duty here."
Snowball sneered, flew to Zag's ear, and loudly uttered the obvious nonsense everyone knew: "In plain terms, he doesn't want to get involved in this mess unless the Golden Palace or the Lord issues a clear order!"
"Sir, I know this is against the rules, but what I can say is that the two victims drank that damned alchemist's potion on almost the same day before they died. Felix in the tavern can testify to this, and quite a few people know about it."
"What's worse, this alchemist supplied Mrs. Weyland's Aphrodisiac Shop with a large quantity of alchemical potions. I'm not sure if those potions were the ones the two victims drank, but they were touted as having effects comparable to the Healing Hand, and for a mere 1 shilling!"
"You know, one shilling can't even buy a glass bottle, yet that's its price! What is this alchemist up to? I have reason to suspect he might be planning something truly terrifying!"
"If, and I mean if, all those alchemical potions were like the ones these two victims drank, capable of turning people into werewolves, just think how many people in the town would drink a 1-shilling healing potion? That's cheaper than having monks perform a mass ritual at the Meretla statue!"
People only become proactive when their own interests are involved.
This investigator might be able to handle one werewolf, but he can't handle a pack of werewolves.
Of course, he was still skeptical of Zag's words, so he hesitated whether to help or not—especially since he didn't have a penny to his name, which would be a thankless task!
Seeing that the other party was wavering, Zag quickly pressed on, saying, "If we control the situation as soon as possible, we might have an advantage when reporting to our superiors. And as you can tell, this is not something I made up. There are quite a few witnesses in the town, and Rosa herself can testify to it. She saw her father grow body hair like wolf fur."
Perhaps the suggestion of "taking credit" convinced the investigator, who finally nodded and directed Zag to move Ranmir to the storeroom behind the camp for temporary storage, asking, "Where is that alchemist?"
Zag replied, "He ran away. He ran away this afternoon. Felix said that man hired a Seastone Warrior and went to East Harbor. I'm worried that he'll cause even more trouble there. Besides, he said his name was Peter, which I think is a pseudonym, since there are five or six 'Peters' in town alone!"
"..."
The investigator picked up the key, locked the door behind him, and after a long pause said, "Let's go check on the victim who turned into a werewolf."
With the snowball's guidance, the two quickly found the place.
The tree spirits had already hidden themselves away and dispersed much of the fog—this was something Zag had instructed Snowball to do in advance.
Because if the investigators find that the fog in the woods is abnormally thick, it could cause trouble for no reason.
The werewolf wandered aimlessly through the woods. It looked much better than Lanmir. Apart from being a little listless, it was not injured. However, its clothes were torn to shreds, so apart from being a bit smaller, it looked no different from a normal werewolf.
As the investigator observed the surroundings, Zag whispered a suggestion: "If he really is a victim, my advice is not to kill him. Perhaps the consultant or the Golden Palace has some way to restore him, which would further prove the credibility of this matter."
The suggestion worked. The investigator nodded and then walked towards the werewolf very naturally, without making any attempt to hide himself.
Then, Zag stared wide-eyed as the other man tore apart the parchment scroll he had prepared beforehand the instant the werewolf turned to pounce.
A flash of green light streaked past, and the howling werewolf froze in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground with a loud thud.
"This is……"
"Paralysis reel, these things aren't cheap, I hope the higher-ups will reimburse me..."
The investigator muttered something, then directed Zag to carry the paralyzed werewolf.
Half an hour later, it was locked in a cramped cage with a muzzle tied around its mouth, panting heavily.
"He is indeed smaller than a normal werewolf, but that doesn't prove anything. Perhaps Mr. Liam will be able to tell something when he gets up tomorrow morning."
Liam is an advisor at the Cabbage Town Anomaly Handling Association's office. He comes from the Golden Palace Mage Research Institute and is a newly promoted intermediate-level mage. He's likely working at the Cabbage Town office just to build up his resume; after a year or two, he'll be transferred to a better town. This is the typical process for mages from the Golden Palace with some connections.
After all, association offices in remote and impoverished places like Cabbage Town have always had high turnover rates. Nobody wants to live and work in such a godforsaken place, especially since it's right next to Kurogei, which has become a heavily polluted area.
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【Dawn Magic Encyclopedia】Dragons, a large and highly intelligent magical race, were once the rulers of the Dawn continent. Even the elves lived in fear under the shadow of the dragons' rule. They enslaved all other intelligent life, including humans, whether they were Norse or Gore.
It wasn't until the War of the Dragon Slayers that humanity, with the help of the Nine Holy Spirits, rebelled against the dragons' enslavement and drove them out of the Dawn Continent.
Now, perhaps only on Dragon Island, which is said to be forever shrouded in storms, can one see the dragon.