Arc 2 - Chapter 19: On the Trail (2/2)

When they arrived at the Chember family's modest mansion, Yu knocked on the door.

The Chember family was founded by ordinary people who rose to power as the new prime minister's reforms began. They took their surname from a battle that took place in a village called Chember in İlonya during the War of Heroes.

A middle-aged woman, short and stout, answered the door of the mansion. She was dressed in a black French-style maid's outfit with a few patches and a white veil tied over her black hair.

"Who is it?" asked the maid who opened the door. The moment she saw Yurine, her face soured.

"Is this how everyone will react when they see Yurine here? She is an extremely sweet girl. I wonder if the people of this world and I have a different perception of sweetness, but Sivina and Ana found her sweet too. Hmm... I guess some people are just bad."

He did not like the way Yurine was treated. For the time being, he was going to tolerate, but he would not allow it to happen again in the future.

"What are you looking at? Get your disgusting eyes off me."

Naturally, Yurine was also disturbed by the woman's expression.

"Okay, okay. Let's not fight now." Yu suppressed his own anger and tried to address the purpose of their coming here. "My name is Yu Valarfin. We are investigating the Thomas..."

The moment she heard the name Thomas, the maid's sour face tensed, her eyebrows rose and her lips twisted in an ugly way as her eyes widened.

"...we are investigating the murder of Thomas Chember." He hesitated to continue after the maid's statement. "I hoped we could get some information here."

"You seem a little late to investigate him. Why are you investigating the murder?"

"We are adventurers and our goal is the prize. I hope this is a reason that will satisfy you. Now will I find myself an interlocutor?"

"If you are hoping to talk to one of the Chembers you are in the wrong place, there are only two maids here and one of them is me."

"We can talk to you too."

While thinking that the maid did not want them, she took a step and let them enter the house.

The mansion was as modest as it looked from the outside. It was furnished in an unpretentious, minimalist style. Inside it was clean and tidy, but the silence in the house was frightening.

The maid brought them directly to the main hall. Yu sat down with Yurine in a gray two-seater armchair and the maid chose the single seat opposite them.

"Let me introduce myself again, my name is Yu Valarfin and this is Yurine Valarfin. We are adventurers in search of the Redchapel Killer."

"My name is Ortetite, the other maid here is out shopping."

"Where is the owner of the mansion?" Yu quickly jumped in.

"The current owner is in the capital. The Chembers all left Redchapel after the murder. The current owner of the mansion wanted to sell it, but no one wanted buy it. He was not willing to leave it alone, so he left me and my friend in it and moved to the capital. He rarely comes here."

He had visions of his sisters' room. After Ortetite's words, he realized that he felt guilty for leaving that room alone.

"I wonder what it's like now? Probably the police went in there when they realized I was gone."

This was the case if time in the First World flowed simultaneously with time in the Second World. If a year here was equal to a second in his world, there was no way to recognize its absence yet. And thanks to his experience with Satoshi, he could understand that the times were complicated. So his absence could still have gone unnoticed.

"Can you tell me what you know about Thomas Chember? Tell me everything you know about him, including rumors."

"He was the second master of the Chember family. I can't say he was a good man, not many people were sad after his death."

Dead people could not hear the words of those who mourn them, still it would be sad if no one mourned for them. But if Thomas Chember was not mourned, there must have been a reason for it, so there was no need to pity him.

"Although he was a knight, he did not possess a tenth of the virtue that knights should have. He was fond of drink and women and gambled away most of the fortune his father had bequeathed him. After his death, the new master of the family worked hard to get the family out of debt."

"I can understand not mourning."

A father would not want such an ungrateful son and a son would not want such an ungrateful father. A man like him being in someone else's life would have brought nothing but inconvenience to the person in whose life he was.

"Wasn't there anything good about this man?"

"When he drank, he wasn't the type to nag too much, he just lay down and slept. That must have been the only good thing about him."

It was clear that Ortetite had no respect for her former master. No one would have respected someone like she described.

"So, did he become like this later or was he always bad?"

"His father and mother died in the sinking of their ship, and the servants before me say he changed after that. Of course, he was a terrible person before that, but at least he was tolerated because of his sword skills. When his father died, he left the royal knights and became the head of the family. After that, he turned into an insufferable person."

"What else is there about him? Incidents involving his name and so on..."

"His name was often involved in incidents. It was mostly fights and harassment. He was once suspected of murder and rape, but I don't know much about that."

Thomas Chember really did look like someone who deserved to die. Maybe William Berry thought he was making justice when he killed him.

"Let's continue with the news about murder and rape, what do you know about them?"

"It was immediately covered up, the names involved were never revealed. I only know that guards often came to pick him up after the incident."

"Nothing explained? Is this really a cover-up?"

"Yes. The only people who know about this are the guards who are investigating it."

Yu couldn't understand why it was being hidden. He was especially demoralized because it was something that could help him solve the murders.

"Can you tell me about the murder?"

"When he didn't come for breakfast on Friday morning, my friend who worked here at the time went up to his room to wake him up. When she knocked there was no response and she tried to get in but the door was locked. We didn't have the key to the door so we called the gardener and he broke it down."

Without thinking, Ortetite began to explain, seeming to remember that day clearly.

"When we came in, we found the body of him. His bed was covered in blood, it was the most horrible sight I've ever seen. His completely skinned body was lying next to the bed."

Yu felt goosebumps when he heard the story.

"We later found out that the killer used a drug to keep his mind open while he skinned him. The man lived every moment, but he couldn't move or make a sound. The killer left his signature on him and then ran out the window."

"Has there been any follow-up on the case since then?"

"If it was recorded, I don't know about it."

"Is that all? Is there nothing else you can tell me?"

"That's all."

After Yu finished making notes in his diary, he thanked her and they left the house.