The Dagger and the Gravekeeper's Testimony
Episode 150
This time, it was Robert's daughter who handed over the information. She rummaged through a chest and passed something to Ian. It was a dagger.
"What's this?"
"...It's my brother's. That woman gave it to him."
'That woman' was, of course, Maria.
"Maria gave it to your brother?"
She twisted her face in disgust, her voice dripping with malice.
"That bitch is a sneaky whore. She gave him this to seduce him."
A dagger as a gift to a man. The recipient must have been thrilled.
"That woman tried to seduce my brother to become part of our family. Thinking back on it now makes me want to puke! But my brother... he seemed to think she really loved him."
Ian pocketed the dagger and exchanged a few more words with Robert.
"Thanks for your cooperation."
"No problem at all! Please hang that bitch by the neck! Mage sir!"
Ian walked through the streets with Belenca, sorting through the information he'd gathered.
"That family really hates Maria."
"She killed their son. What do you expect?"
Belenca added, almost as an afterthought,
"But... even if there hadn't been an accident, I think they would've hated her anyway."
They'd always found her ominous, suspicious, that sort of thing. Robert's family had shown their dislike for Maria from way back.
"Still, she must've gotten along with the daughter."
"Hmm..."
Belenca tilted her head.
"That's definitely weird. She didn't touch the people who hated her, but she killed the one guy who liked her?"
Belenca's expression was serious.
"Necromancers really have inscrutable ways of thinking."
"..."
Belenca. Are you serious?
Ian stared at her in disbelief. What the hell did imperial folk think mages were? He shuddered at the deep-seated mage discrimination, as bad as any racism...
"Kira's probably finished investigating the key by now."
"Let's head that way."
Ian went straight to the village chief. But the chief led him to the wrong place.
"Lady Kira went to meet Joseph."
"Joseph?"
"He's Robert's cousin. A young man who works as the gravedigger."
The chief guided Ian into a wooded area. Far off, he spotted a red-haired woman.
"As expected..."
the chief sighed.
As they approached, Kira was intently observing something with a young man. Upon closer look, it was just bare ground. Two grown adults staring at the dirt was pretty striking—in a dumbass way.
Wouldn't it be a sight if Jooabil got thrown in there too?
"What are you doing out here?"
"Oh. Ian. You're here?"
Kira flashed him a light smile before introducing the young man beside her.
"This is Joseph. He works as the gravedigger."
Ian eyed the young man named Joseph. No surprise there—his complexion was deathly pale. The kind of face that made you worry if he was getting enough vitamins.
"Pleased to meet you, mage sir."
Joseph doffed his hat in greeting.
Ian cut straight to his burning question.
"What are you two doing here?"
Joseph grinned creepily in response.
"Heh heh... Just surveying the scene."
"The scene?"
"Yes... the spot where my dear nephew drew his last breath."
"..."
Ian stared him down. This guy. What's with that creepy way of talking? You're a necromancer! Or a warlock! Hard to pin down exactly, but there was something off-putting about him. Ian made a mental note to have Sir Lrshah investigate him later.
"My nephew was murdered here by a necromancer named Maria."
Joseph pointed to a patch of grass.
"Rotten flesh and maggots were left there. The spot where Maria had her ghoul waiting."
"Just to check—why do you think that's ghoul traces?"
Joseph chuckled darkly at Ian's question.
"Heh heh... Mage sir, I've seen plenty of death in my line of work as gravedigger. I know the difference between flesh fallen from a corpse and from a ghoul. That was a ghoul's."
It matched exactly what he'd heard at Robert's house. Maria summoning a ghoul to kill him.
"But Maria said... she has no memory of killing Robert's son?"
"Heh heh... Mage sir, you believe that?"
To some extent. Ian nodded. Maria might've accidentally touched a mystery, unintentionally killing Robert's son in the process.
"Of course it's a lie. If not, how do you explain the ghoul waiting there?"
"It just happened to wander by..."
"A ghoul standing still for 'hours' by coincidence? Not that I know of. Only possible under a necromancer's command."
...This guy. Why is he so logical?
Ian gave Joseph a second look. He'd pegged him as just a creepy bastard, but nope—a creepy bastard who made sense.
"So... you think Maria deliberately killed Robert's son?"
"Naturally. Maria used necromancy to murder my nephew. When the crime was about to be exposed, she pretended to lose her memory."
Only necromancers can control ghouls. Therefore, Maria's a necromancer. That was the gist.
"Fair point..."
Ian had to rethink things. Accidentally swept up in a mystery? The moment she deliberately prepared a ghoul, it stopped being an accident.
Maria had prepared that ghoul with some motive.
"Heh heh... Mage sir, did you perhaps not sense anything odd about that girl?"
"Odd?"
Joseph's grin turned three times creepier. No, seriously, this guy screams necromancer.
"I've met a few who deal in death. They all share something."
"...Death's mystery."
"Exactly. Hard to put into words, but... necromancers give off a certain spiritual aura. And I felt it from Maria too."
"...!"
Ian was floored by the gravedigger's perceptiveness. He knew it already. Maria radiated the power of death.
But damn, why could this gravedigger sense it too? With his pale, gloomy look, Joseph seemed like the exact type death's mystery favored.
"Maria's definitely a necromancer. Heh heh..."
Ian asked just in case.
"Ever met Sir Lrshah?"
"No. Heard he's out handling business outside the village. But when he returns soon, I'll tell him everything I know."
Ian was certain. If Joseph spilled to Sir Lrshah...
Maria was as good as dead.
"That's what we've been talking about."
Kira sidled up and whispered.
Ian nodded and said,
"I heard the story. Thanks for cooperating, Joseph."
"Heh heh... My pleasure."
Joseph slunk away creepily.
Ian gathered his companions for a quick debrief.
"What do you all think?"
"Think? What's to think?"
Belenca tilted her head like he'd said something stupid.
"Maria doesn't seem to be the necromancer making undead outside the village. But she has connections to one. Where else would she learn magic?"
Belenca figured there was another necromancer outside the village, and Maria learned from them.
"Sir Lrshah must think the same, which is why he's scouting the outskirts."
"So... someone taught Maria necromancy?"
"We could just interrogate her and find out."
Belenca said flatly.
"Pull a few nails, and she'll spill everything quick..."
"No, screw that. That's not interrogation—that's torture."
"Nails grow back, don't they?"
"..."
That's not the point.
As Ian shot her a look of exasperation, Belenca snapped her fingers.
"Ian. Get your head in the game. She's a murderer and a necromancer. Without that level of force, she won't say a word."
"..."
"What, or are you feeling sorry for her pretty face?"
No, that wasn't it. Ian was modern-born, but he didn't mind the medieval mindset of extreme punishment for killers. Smashing bad guys? No issue there.
But Ian hesitated for one reason only. Something nagged at him. Puzzle pieces that didn't fit yet, so he couldn't advocate torturing Maria.
What if she wasn't the killer...?
What if she wasn't a bad guy, and they tortured an innocent? That'd be on them.
"There are still two things that aren't certain."
"Two?"
Belenca eyed him in surprise.
Ian nodded.
"First: Why did Maria kill Robert's son?"
The motive was murky. Ian thought so, anyway. Belenca seemed to peg Maria as a crazy psycho, though.
"Second: Whether Maria could even have killed Robert's son is debatable."
"Debatable? There's ghoul traces at the..."
"That just proves a ghoul was waiting there."
He needed precise eyewitness testimony. Or at least to hear Maria's side again.
Kira was impressed by Ian's calm reasoning.
"That's... really logical. So you think Maria didn't kill Robert's son?"
"Maybe? Hard to say."
"Whoa..."
Honestly, Kira couldn't keep up with Ian's thought process. It was a way of thinking she'd never tried.
Circumstantially, Maria killed Robert's son, right? So she's a murderer!
That's how most medieval folk saw it. This world didn't do evidence-based trials. Hell, trials themselves were rare here.
Thinking like Ian was the weird part. Especially since Maria herself admitted to killing Robert's son.
Doubting her guilt? No reason to.
But Ian grasped basic concepts of 'deduction' and 'evidence' at least. In his past life, he'd dabbled indirectly in the legal world...
Through Legal High and Ace Attorney!
Not deep like a lawyer, but hey—knowing about evidence was something.
As long as doubts lingered, Ian wouldn't jump to conclusions.
"Huh?"
Heading to the shed where Maria was held, Ian ran into a familiar giant on the path.
"Ah! Sir Ian!"
Oh, right. Jooabil. He'd told him to play with the kids.
"Hey, Jooabil. How'd the task go?"
Ian asked shamelessly, despite just remembering.
Oblivious, Jooabil grinned.
"We had a blast!"
"Waaah~"
As Jooabil laughed, the village kids playing nearby joined in.
Hmm. They did seem to have bonded a bit. Jooabil looked scary, but chat a few words and his idiot(...) side shone through quick. The kids, cocky as ever, figured he was dumber than them and messed with him. Did that count as bonding?
Seizing the moment, Ian gathered intel from the village brats.
"Kids, did you have fun with big bro here?"
"Yeah!"
"Mind if I ask a few things?"
Ian asked casually, figuring kids wouldn't know much anyway.
But that was his mistake. Surprisingly, the kids knew plenty.
"Maria sis?"
"She always wandered alone. Except for Eric bro!"
"Pael bro visited all the time, but Maria sis seemed annoyed."
'Eric bro' was Robert's dead son. And Pael bro was...
"Who's Pael?"
"The shepherd bro!"
Ah, that guy. Ian knew him. Sir Lrshah and he had saved him from undead wolves before.
"I, I think... both Eric oppa and Pael oppa liked Maria unnie..."
A girl piped up boldly. Classic teenage girl, hooked on romance gossip.
"When Pael oppa saw 'that,' he was probably heading to find Maria unnie."
"That being...?"
Ian asked the girl.
"When Maria used necromancy?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. When Maria unnie... k-killed Eric oppa. Pael oppa said he saw the whole thing..."
...One more person to meet. Pael. The village shepherd. Eyewitness to Maria's necromancy.
Then, a boy yelled,
"We knew Maria sis was a necromancer!"
What a jealous little shit. Probably yelled out of envy while Ian chatted with the girl.
~I know stuff too~
"What do you mean?"
"Pael bro once took Maria sis to his sheep pen. I saw it!"
"..."
Why the hell were you watching?
Ian was more curious how the kid spied on their date, but he asked anyway.
"Saw what?"
The boy shouted excitedly.
"Maria sis! A rotten wolf corpse lunged at her to eat her!"
"...?"
What the...?
Ian puzzled over it for a bit. Then it clicked.
That had to be a mishap where death's mystery interfered with Maria's mind.