Chapter 124

While Arenheit had shown consideration for Amelia by arranging for her to rest in her room,

Perhaps due to her experience of having seen many shocking sights,

It didn't take long for Amelia to calm her startled feelings.

However, even after calming down, Amelia remained alone in her room without going out.

Instead, she thought about the bizarre corpse of the horse she had seen.

The horse with only its outer shell remaining, its body emptied.

In Amelia's opinion, this was absolutely not the work of a beast.

If so, then the culprit was human...

Who on earth would turn a horse into such a grotesque form and dump it on the street?

Amelia focused on precisely this point.

Long ago, when she had been at Hartmann Castle, she had never heard of such incidents occurring.

Additionally, there was what the innkeeper had said when they lost the horse.

-People without even cows or pigs are more common!

While Arenheit had immediately focused on the point that 'there couldn't be no livestock in the village' upon hearing this,

Amelia's question arose from a different angle.

There was never a time when this village had no livestock.

No matter how much she recalled the reports she had heard as assistant head butler, there were no peculiarities about this village.

A slightly larger village suitable for travelers to stay in.

A peaceful residential area with no unusual characteristics.

That should have been all.

Moreover, another strange fact.

Other than Amelia's party, there were no guests at all at this inn.

Of course, if one went down to the first floor, many people were drinking or dining.

But all those people knew each other well.

They all greeted each other familiarly and spoke about how their wives were doing or what they had brought in from somewhere—aspects that even the most obtuse person could easily notice.

...Of course, Duke Arenheit Hartmann seemed to be aware of nothing.

'What could have happened?'

Amelia calmly drew a table in her mind.

First, the Hartmann ducal family. During this period, everything was normal.

Next, starting with the head butler, the inside began to rot.

Eventually, leaked confidential information and the movements of the Hartmann ducal family caused the royal family to act.

All the "traitors" of the Hartmann ducal family were captured. Except for Arenheit.

After that, all others were executed, excluding Arenheit, whose whereabouts became unknown.

And several years later, Arenheit, who had come of age, returned to the royal palace and his ducal title...

'Come to think of it, how was the Duke able to return to the royal palace?'

Well, this wasn't an important issue, so she would think about it later.

Anyway, it seemed that Glico village had become strange during Hartmann's absence.

More precisely, from the time the royal family began to manage Glico village.

'The current king is almost a figurehead. I don't know who the representative is, but essentially, the royal family has neglected this territory, allowing it to become like this.'

Amelia was well aware of the rumors surrounding the royal family.

Before the current king became reclusive due to illness as he was now, there were quiet rumors in the capital that the king was impotent.

This was not without reason, as he had never had children with any woman, including the late queen.

Eventually, due to voices of concern about succession, the king adopted Yurik, said to be a distant relative found by tracing the royal family tree.

However, no one was able to discover the background of this person called Yurik.

It was as if he had dropped from the sky or sprung from the earth.

Afterward, Yurik, who took charge of state affairs in place of the king who had rapidly weakened from illness, skillfully strengthened royal authority and checked the nobility despite his young age.

That alone was sufficiently surprising, but Yurik also utilized various strange artifacts that nobles like herself had never heard of.

Some said the Crown Prince was a child of a magic tower,

Others said he made deals with demons to bring such things from beneath the earth.

Amelia didn't believe any of these rumors,

But she did feel that Yurik was a suspicious person.

Yurik's attack on the ducal family, and the incidents in this village now under royal management.

Could these two events, separated both temporally and spatially, be connected?

Of course, it was more likely they weren't, but.

"...F-for the s-sake of preparing f-for all possibilities..."

It's good to prepare for the future as much as possible.

If the two events weren't related, she would just be laughed at for being paranoid.

But if that wasn't the case, even more terrible things might happen in the future.

Amelia left her room to find Arenheit who had returned with her.

-Knock, knock.

"E-excuse me, I w-wonder if you're s-sleeping."

But no one was in the room where she thought Arenheit would be.

Where could he have gone?

Amelia made her way downstairs, peering here and there.

The customers were still the same familiar faces, and the innkeeper was busy going back and forth among the guests, as Jen, the young man, had gone somewhere.

Seeing her, the innkeeper hurriedly approached, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Miss, can I get you anything? Do you need something?"

"N-no. It's just. My b-brother, I w-wondered where he m-might have gone."

"Your brother? The red-haired young man? I'm not sure. I was in the kitchen earlier, so I haven't seen people coming and going very well."

"B-but he's n-not in his r-room, so I w-wondered if he m-might be around here."

As Amelia was stammering her explanation, the inn door opened.

"The young master? I saw him hurriedly going out somewhere earlier. I didn't see where he was going though."

Jen entered, carrying a bucket and broom in one hand.

Amelia glanced at the items Jen was holding, then examined him, noticing he smelled of soil.

"W-where did you s-see him?"

"I think I saw him when I was going to clean the stable. It would have been several hours ago? It takes me a long time to clean the stable."

"Y-you clean an e-empty stable?"

"Dust tends to accumulate. We built it needlessly when there's no livestock now. The inn is extremely old."

Jen spoke as he set down what he was carrying near the entrance.

"He probably went to look for his horse, don't you think? I would be worried too. That black horse, I heard it was one the young master cherished. I know what that feeling is like."

His tone was lightly infused with pity, apology, and guilt.

Amelia's expression involuntarily furrowed.

You say this in front of me, knowing what's lying dead in the middle of the village?

"A h-horse lost due to the i-inn's fault. Y-you say such th-things in front of m-me? It seems u-unpleasant and i-impolite."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I absolutely didn't mean it that way..."

"Ahem, Miss, I apologize. My nephew is a bit, you know. I think your cousin brother will return before it gets dark, so please don't worry too much and have a seat. We'll soon put out a search for horses and have them ready for you."

The innkeeper intervened to calm Amelia while Jen stood at a loss for what to do.

Amelia gave Jen a cold glance and went to sit at a corner seat.

She intended to wait until Arenheit returned.

But no matter how long she waited, Arenheit did not come.

By the time the sun was beginning to set, only Leandros had returned.

Leandros blinked once in surprise when he saw Amelia out.

"Your... Young master, is he upstairs?"

"N-no. I h-heard he went o-outside. D-didn't you r-run into him in the v-village?"

"Not at all. If he had come my way, I would have spotted him immediately. Since when has he been gone?"

"I'm n-not sure, but I've b-been waiting for q-quite some time."

Leandros was silent for a moment.

"I'll go out and look around. Please wait here."

After saying this, Leandros went back out to the village,

But he couldn't find Arenheit among the returning people or the shopkeepers folding their stalls.

When Leandros returned without any result, the sun had almost completely set.

"The young master doesn't seem to be in the village. Could you perhaps recall any place he might have gone?"

"I d-don't know either. E-earlier, Jen s-said he saw him g-going out. H-he thought he m-might be going to l-look for his h-horse."

"You mean Sleigh. But in this area, it's hardly..."

As Leandros's eyebrows were gradually lowering, Jen, who had been watching Amelia and Leandros conversing, approached and said.

"Could he have gone to the mountain?"

"Mountain?"

"Yes, if not to the flatlands where farming is done around here, the only other way is to the mountain."

"But there's no guarantee the horse went up the mountain."

"But there's also no guarantee it didn't go up. Besides, that horse, I heard it was one the young master cherished. Wouldn't he want to search for it himself?"

It was a plausible reason.

Even in Leandros's opinion, Arenheit did seem to have been greatly shocked by Sleigh's disappearance.

Of course, he pretended not to be, but Leandros could easily guess what Arenheit had been imagining as he stared fixedly at the gray horse's corpse.

His Duke tended to be quite rational, but he showed considerably persistent behavior when it came to things he cherished.

"Where's the quickest way to the mountain?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain, so I'll guide you. It's dark, so you might get confused about the path. Would you wait here for a moment while I make some torches?"

Jen spoke in an accommodating manner.

Just as Leandros was about to nod, Amelia tugged at his sleeve.

"Miss?"

"J-just a moment. I'll c-come too. W-we'll prepare in our r-room. I sh-should grab a c-cloak at least."

Amelia hurried upstairs with Leandros without waiting for Jen's response.

Her appearance was that of a tender-hearted lady worried about her cousin brother.

Shortly afterward, a total of four people gathered in front of the inn.

Leandros and Amelia, Jen, and a villager who had ended up accompanying them at the innkeeper's request out of concern for Jen, despite Jen's vehement refusal.

Jen and the villager guided Leandros and Amelia to the foothills with torches in hand.

"There's a path to the mountain, but since there's no path for climbing the mountain, I think we should split up and search from the bottom as we climb up."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course. Otherwise, we might all miss each other."

The villager nodded at Jen's opinion.

"That would definitely be better. Then I'll take the lady and go this way. Jen, you go the opposite way with the mercenary fellow."

Jen agreed to this opinion, and ultimately the four were split into two groups going different ways.

Amelia was wearing riding pants instead of a cumbersome skirt for easier movement.

The villager looked at this with curiosity and asked.

"Do they dress like that in merchant groups? Even women?"

"It's c-clothing for r-riding horses."

"That's quite fascinating. I thought women wore skirts even when riding horses."

"Th-that's not always the c-case."

"I see. Well, I'd have to have ridden a horse to know."

The mountain path gradually became steeper.

The torch held by the villager walking ahead only illuminated a small portion of their surroundings.

A situation where visibility was not properly secured.

Amelia tried to remember the direction they were moving in and asked.

"H-have you never s-seen a h-horse, not e-even once?"

"Never, not once. Even if they're borrowed from elsewhere, they're quickly returned. Because a terrifying witch's curse has been placed on this village."

"A w-witch?"

"Yes. The witch released monsters that eat livestock in the village."

"If it's a m-monster, what k-kind?"

"There are half-human, half-beast monsters. They say these monsters were originally human. But they received the witch's curse and their appearance changed. Such monsters must eat either humans or beasts to return to one side."

"One s-side, meaning they c-could become either h-human or a-animal?"

"That's right. That's why those creatures kill and devour livestock. From then on, our village decided not to raise livestock, that's what I'm saying."

"In-interesting..."

What a bizarre story.

Thinking this, Amelia was short of breath.

The path was unpaved, so leaves and grass rustled underfoot.

Because of this, she almost fell several times, staggering.

Moreover, the villager walking ahead seemed accustomed to such paths and was climbing almost twice as fast as Amelia.

Eventually, Amelia leaned against a nearby tree and stopped walking for a moment.

When the footsteps ceased, the villager, looking back, came down with an "Oh my" and took her hand.

"Just a little further and we'll be there. Miss, hang in there. Being so thin makes it difficult."

"P-please don't worry about m-me. S-so because of that s-story, you don't r-raise animals, and o-our horses were t-taken by... Th-those monsters?"

Amelia panted as she was led upward by the villager's hand.

The villager leading her had his back turned to her.

"Well, that could be the case."

"B-but why did the w-witch start doing s-such things?"

"Because the witch did harmful things to the village? Since the villagers tried to drive her out together..."

"D-did the witch r-really exist? If the m-monsters are real, w-was the witch also a p-person who actually e-existed?"

"It's said she existed. But I don't know well. No one ever saw the witch's appearance."

"W-why not?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

What was obvious?

Amelia heard a small stone rolling from under her feet.

Thud, tud-tud.

The villager looked back.

"Because everyone who tried to see the witch ended up dead."

The hand that had been holding Amelia suddenly pushed her.

Her light body, unable to maintain balance, swayed greatly,

And in her wide-open eyes, the emotionless gaze of the villager collided.

The villager murmured.

"Just like this."