‘A dead herbalist. And the blood-stained mushroom bag we found…’
The feeling came. Finally, a strong sensation of having found the owner of that mushroom bag.
"Sir Zuckerman, may I ask you something?"
"Yes, I will answer if I know the information."
"Do you know where the supposedly dead herbalist was found?"
Nathan Zuckerman's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing Yuder's question. It was not out of ignorance, but rather a reaction of someone who grasped the implication hidden in the question.
"It seems you have a guess..."
"I do, but I will tell you after hearing your answer. Is the place near the cabin where I stayed?"
Yuder waited for the knight's response.
After a moment, Nathan Zuckerman slowly nodded his head.
"Yes, the dead herbalist was found right in front of the resting place of the herbalists where you two stayed."
Just as thought.
A sharp thrill ran down his spine, confirming his suspicions.
"Since then, the village's herbalists rarely go there. Even the children in the village are forbidden from playing in that direction."
"No wonder. I thought you, Nathan, were using some mysterious means to keep people away during our stay, but it seems that was not the case."
Kishiar joked with a smile, but his eyes, unlike his lips, were serious and focused on Yuder. He clearly shared Yuder's thoughts.
The existence of the herbalist's resting place meant there were enough active herbalists to need such a place. However, no one had disturbed them during Yuder's heat period. Yuder, preoccupied and not venturing outside, hadn't felt this oddity, but Kishiar must have.
'To think there was such a secret behind no one approaching the cabin.'
The feeling was similar to when he found the blood-stained bag. The shadow of death, which Crown Prince Katchian tried to bury forever, was still present there.
"Now, please tell me. Why is the location where the dead herbalist was found important?"
Yuder searched his bag and showed Nathan Zuckerman the blood-stained bag.
"This is something I found among the junk while staying there."
As soon as he took a look at the outside of the bag and the inside containing the Dudureli mushrooms, he immediately realized what it meant.
"This is..."
"What are the chances that the person who left this behind is not the dead herbalist?"
Yuder was confident that the dead herbalist was indeed the owner of the blood-stained bag. Given that the herbalist had met a strange merchant, likely a servant sent by the Crown Prince, he now knew exactly what to ask the herbalist's family.
"Now, we can only hope that this family has enough information to satisfy our queries."
Kishiar looked out the window with a chilly smile.
—---
"Marin! Have you just returned?"
A person entering the village stopped at the call of an elderly man. From under a deeply worn hat, a weary and harsh voice responded.
"Yes."
"Tsk tsk. You seem even thinner than before you left. If you haven't eaten yet, why don't you come over to my house? Syll and Reimi would be glad to see you."
Observing the old man's expression filled with sorrowful sympathy, the person known as Marin pressed her lips together tightly for a moment. She soon shook her head, indicating her refusal.
"No, thank you for your offer, but I'm fine. I've just returned and am tired, so I plan to go straight home."
"Well, then, there's nothing I can do. Oh, but there are visitors at your house right now."
"Visitors? I'm not expecting anyone."
"They're mercenary travelers. They're looking for dried Perdy grass, and I thought you might have some extra at your house. Before your brother Mikey passed away, he had collected quite a lot of it. Since he left so suddenly, I thought you might still have some not yet disposed of..."
At the mention of her deceased brother's name, deep pain welled up in Marin's eyes.
She half-listened to the old man's next words before turning away to walk to her house.
The herbs her brother had gathered before his death were indeed still at the house. However, she had no desire to pass them on to anyone else.
'Whoever that person is... if they are really waiting, I'll just have to reject them right away.'
Before long, Marin spotted three tall shadows standing in front of her dilapidated house. Each one was armed with a sword, unmistakably mercenaries. She had thought the old man referred to a single mercenary, but it seemed there were more in the group.
Two of the three had somewhat vague appearances, but Marin didn't find this particularly strange. Since her brother's death, she had lost much of her interest in others.
She also failed to notice that one man with black hair and a pale face had been staring at her with a hint of discovery since the first moment he saw her face.
"The homeowner has finally returned."
The tallest of the men stepped forward, unfolding his arms. He had ordinary brown hair and eyes, an unremarkable appearance, yet his smiling face had a warm charm. His confident smile, as if he was used to charming people, only made Marin more wary.
"You have extra Perdy grass in this house, right?"
"I don't know. Even if I do, I'm not planning to give it away, so please leave."
"Hmm. You seem very tired. Then, if I visit again tomorrow, can we talk..."
"Not tomorrow, not ever. I told you not to come back."
Marin turned to enter her house, but another voice from behind stopped her.
"You, you're an Awakener."
Her hand, reaching to push the door, froze in mid-air. Slowly, Marin turned her head to look at the man who had spoken. The man with black hair looked at her with inscrutable, deep black eyes and spoke again.
"The ability to grow thorny bushes. That's right, isn't it?"
"What are you people?"
Marin quickly stepped back. Her eyes flickered anxiously between the three men. Cold sweat formed on the back of her neck, but she did not show her emotion and tightly gripped the dagger at her waist.
She had no confidence in facing three robust mercenaries alone, but she wouldn't die in vain if it came to that. Using her ability and the dagger together...
"Well, I understand you're startled, but there's no need to be so defensive. It seems better to just get to the point."
The man with black hair exchanged a meaningful look with the tall brown-haired man, who still had a smile on his face as he spoke.
"Like me, I am also an Awakener, so I can recognize another Awakener. The grass is just an excuse; we are actually looking for information about someone who tried to take processed Dudureli mushrooms from this village a few months ago."
"Processed Dudureli mushrooms?"
Marin reacted immediately to the mention of the mushrooms. Her grip on the dagger's handle unexpectedly loosens. The brown-haired man, quickly noticing this, nods with a benign and harmless smile.
"Yes, and according to what we've gathered so far, it seems likely that your brother was unfortunately involved in this. Would you mind having a brief talk about it? It will only take a moment," he proposes, adding, "Of course, only if you're interested in the 'truth'."
This addition by the man stirs something in Marin. Eventually, she opens her clenched lips to speak in a dry voice, "If you seek to know what happened to Mikey, anyone is welcome. Please, come in."
Entering a cold, dilapidated house that seemed uninhabited for months, Yuder intently observes Marin lighting a lantern.
"I never expected to encounter the 'Thornbush Marin' here," Yuder muses to himself.
In his past life, he had met her. It wasn't a pleasant acquaintance.
Known as 'Thornbush Marin', she was an Awakener mercenary who could rapidly grow various dangerous plants and trees, including thornbushes laced with poison.
During a time when Emperor Katchian was tightening his grip on the four dukedoms, including the Diarca, to strengthen his authority, she was hired to assassinate the Emperor at an external event. However, her attempt was thwarted by Yuder. Impressively, she managed to escape through the encirclement of the Cavalry, leaving a deep impression on Yuder.
Years later, she reappeared at a place later called the Red Field. As one of the key figures opposing the Emperor's tyranny, her name became even more notorious for a terrifying combat style involving poison-laden thornbushes that grew through people's bodies.
Eventually, she fell to a joint operation of knights sent by Emperor Katchian, the imperial army, and the Cavalry, disappearing from history.
Yuder couldn't fail to recognize the intense face of that Awakener.
It was astonishing to meet Thornbush Marin here in such a vulnerable state, having been someone whose hometown and identity remained a mystery to everyone in his previous life.
