Chapter 144: The City Where Black Rain Falls Part 9

The next day.

I quietly met with Draven. After explaining the whole situation to him and asking for his help, Draven readily agreed to my request.

"First, please increase the number of guards in the village. We don't know what might happen."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"It would be helpful if you could select three or four people to assist us."

"I have to look after the village myself, so I can't go. But, there's the trio of beastmen hunting dogs. They're quick and capable of doing the work of five."

"That should be enough."

"Thank you."

"Haha. It's not too late to thank me after everything is done."

"Thanking you in advance isn't bad either. Once again, thank you. It's no exaggeration to say that despite living in Dihid for a long time, you're the first to care for us like this."

"...."

"You deserve our gratitude."

Draven clasped his hands together and bowed deeply. I responded with a slight bow of my own.

"I didn't do this to receive gratitude."

"Excessive humility isn't good."

"Is that so…."

Haha. I burst out laughing and scratched the back of my head. Still, it's quite embarrassing, these situations.

"…If we capture those guys and find out how they created the plague, we should be able to make an antidote."

"I hope that child can hold on…"

"I will return before it's too late."

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

Anyway, since the plague was spreading through the food supply, the village's food warehouse needed countermeasures. I set up a barrier using a "golden rope" at the food warehouse. This golden rope which was made from clean straw braided with herb stems, salt sticks, and pebbles inscribed with spells, was placed on the warehouse door, and a subtle purification aura began to spread.

"It's working well."

It looked quite different from a traditional golden rope, but still. With this, the remaining food supply shouldn't be tampered with.

I decided to station a guard in front of the food warehouse and then returned to the caretaker couple's house with the trio of beastmen hunting dogs. Lloyd who had been keeping watch nodded his head.

"Mr. Lloyd, these are the people sent by Mr. Draven. This is the eldest, Sean; in the middle is the second, Roy; and over there is the youngest, Cade."

While Lloyd and the trio of beastmen hunting dogs greeted each other and discussed the vulnerabilities in the area, I blew a long whistle toward the dark mountain.

– Phewwwwwwwwwwwwt!

Then, not long after, Ayla emerged from the darkness and ran towards us. Despite the absence of moonlight, Ayla's silver fur shone beautifully.

-Kuuun!

"Yes, I'm happy to see you too, Ayla."

Unlike before when we were always together, we had been apart more often since arriving in Dihid, so Ayla expressed her excitement more intensely. Her tail wagged so fast it was almost invisible, and the force with which she ran at me was overwhelming. I braced my legs firmly to avoid being knocked over as I petted her.

"Is, is that a wolf?"

One of the three brothers asked me.

"Yes, she's a Shadow Wolf. Ayla, say hello."

-Kuuun!

Ayla sniffed the three brothers cautiously, more so than she would with most people, and then happily wagged her tail. The three brothers were the same. I could see their tails wagging beneath their clothes, and I suppressed a laugh. Ayla was a wolf and they were hunting dogs, but still, kin is kin, right?

"There will be at least two of them."

The ones who had visited the caretaker couple were two, so there would be two today or maybe even more.

"Mr. Lloyd and Sean, when I give the signal, take the front and back doors respectively. We can't let them escape."

"Understood."

"And Roy and Cade, keep watch outside the house. If there's anyone else, subdue them immediately."

"Understood!"

I entered the caretaker couple's house with Ayla. On the table, there was still a bucket filled with rotting bloody chunks and a contaminated sack of food.

"Whew…"

I blew out the small candle that was dimly lighting the house and waited in the darkness for them to arrive.

How much time had passed?

-Creak…

They opened the door and entered without knocking. Just like thieves.

"I didn't expect you to be polite, but this is too much."

"....!"

The voice in the dark seemed to have startled them. Then, the sound of metal scraping was heard.

-Grrrrrrrr…

"Whatever you're planning to do, it's best not to."

"…Who are you?"

"If I say Theodore… will that ring any bells?"

I stood up with a low chuckle. Ayla's growling intensified, and her teeth glinted sharply.

"Now, it's my turn to ask questions."

"...."

"Who are you?"

"...."

"No, actually, I'm not interested in you guys. Who sent you?"

"You arrogant…!"

One person and one wolf. Did they think it was a fight they could handle? I saw the guy in front raise his sword high.

-Grrrrrrrr…

At the same time, Ayla bared her teeth and lunged at a frightening speed.

"Ah, ahhh!"

-Clang!

-Thud!

-Bang!

-Crash!

Ayla bit the wrist of the man holding the sword, causing him to drop it. The sound of the sword falling, the man rolling on the floor, and Ayla subduing him echoed through the house.

"....!"

The other guy seemed a bit smarter and chose to "run". He dashed towards the door, but.

-Bam!

Before he could grab the doorknob, the door swung open to hit him squarely and he tumbled to the floor.

"Lloyd, I hadn't given the signal yet."

"Got bored waiting."

"…. Ayla and I could have handled it."

"Should I apologize?"

"Forget it."

"Alright."

Lloyd answered bluntly and grabbed the man who had fallen to the floor as if he was carrying a piece of baggage before dragging him inside.

"What about outside? Are there any others?"

"There was one watching the situation. I tied him up and threw him in the warehouse. Cade is watching him."

"Good. Sean, Roy, you two keep watch. Signal immediately if anything happens."

While Lloyd tied up the two men, I borrowed flames from Legion to light up the house again. Then, I saw more clearly the man with a mangled arm from Ayla's bite and the man whose face was a mess from Lloyd's hit.

"Now, shall we continue our conversation?"

I smiled down at the two men.

"Who is it? Who's behind this dirty work?"

The man with the mangled arm glared up at me with bloodshot eyes. Oh, judging by his earlier charge and burning resolve, washe the determined type,? Tsk tsk.

"Answer while I'm asking nicely."

Of course, I hadn't exactly been using "nice words" already. I changed targets and spoke to the man whose face was starting to swell and turn blue. He tried to say something but ended up coughing, and a front tooth popped out and rolled across the floor. Oh dear, what a shame. There wasn't even a decent dentist around here…

"The one who caused the black rain, spread the plague, and circulated those ridiculous rumors about the 'Heart of Altan'."

"...."

"Who is he, that bastard?"

"...."

"Wow, you don't seem like the loyal type, yet you're keeping quiet."

"...."

"If that's the case, I guess there's no choice. Just remember this: I tried to be 'nice'."

"...."

"Lloyd."

With a nod of my head, Lloyd grabbed the man's neck and forced his mouth open. The gap from the missing front tooth was visible. I reached for a handful of contaminated barley from a sack on the table.

"Hmm, hmmm! Hmmm!"

Realizing what I intended to do, the man began to struggle violently, but there was no way he could overpower Lloyd. I moved my hand holding the barley toward the man's open mouth.

"Aaaaaaaah!!!!"

Did he sense his fate? A terrible scream burst forth. And, at that moment,

"Stop!"

The man with the mangled arm finally spoke.

The plague had a one hundred percent fatality rate.

Knowing that he was next, he must have been unable to bear the fear.

I poured the barley back into the sack and looked at the man with the mangled arm. He still glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Decided to talk now?"

"…You cruel bastard."

"Cruel? You must be mistaken. I'm not the one who spread the plague in Dihid; you are."

"...."

"Well, enough with the arguing. Let's get to the point."

"Grrrr…"

I smiled as I met his gaze.

"Who is it?"

***

The two men confessed everything. They were that afraid of the plague. They couldn't help it. Knowing as much as they did about the plague, their fear was immense.

"…There's not as much useful information as I expected."

"Disappointed?"

"A little."

The men who came to the caretaker couple's house today were just errand boys. The lowest of the low. So, I couldn't get any crucial information.

But.

"Still, it's fortunate we found the rat hole."

I managed to gather information about the "rat hole" they used.

Underground…

Underground.

Their base was underground. They referred to it as the "Underground Temple", but since they were just errand boys, they only knew about the entrance and were unaware of the detailed structure.

The moment I heard the word "underground", I instinctively recalled the letter tied to the crow's leg.

[Successful Underground Contact]

The "underground" mentioned in the letter must be the same as the "Underground Temple" they talked about.

Fortunately, I was able to learn the entrance location of the "Underground Temple" from them. Boldly enough, the entrance wasn't on the outskirts of the city where no one would be around but rather in the very heart of Dihid.

The sewers.

What on earth is happening there?

"…We should depart as soon as possible. If these guys don't return, they'll get suspicious, so before that."

"And these men?"

"Let's leave them to Draven."

We hurriedly left the house.