"Refined Dudureli mushrooms... I don't know how much you know or how far you've come, but yes. It was indeed those mushrooms that my younger brother Mikey was last gathering."
Marin slumped wearily into an old chair. As she removed her pressed-down hat, her coarse black hair cascaded over her shoulders. She continued speaking, leaving her tousled hair as it was.
"And I did think that if someone were to kill Mikey, it would most likely be the unfamiliar merchant he had met before his death. After Mikey's death, I scoured the village below the mountain to find this person, but to no avail."
"The lord said that Mikey was killed by a beast."
"You've heard that too? Ha. Right. Such a shitty story."
Anger flickered in Marin's eyes.
"Anyone could see he was stabbed to death, but they made up a story about a monster to pretend to hunt it down. They brushed it off simply because it was bothersome. With such nonsense passed off as the investigation's result, Mikey couldn't rest in peace even in death!"
As Yuder witnessed the flame of hatred rising in her tired face, he reaffirmed that this bramble-covered Marin was indeed the one he remembered.
"So, what do you know about this merchant?"
Kishiar asked calmly and softly. After a moment of silence, Marin muttered with bloodshot eyes.
"Not much."
"Not much?"
"As infuriating as it is... I had been outside the village since a few days before Mikey's death. I only learned that he was meeting with a stranger after he died."
After hearing of her brother's death, Marin hurried back to the village and exhausted all her efforts to find the culprit. However, the most likely suspect had already vanished, and the lord only offered a conclusion that it was the act of a beast, showing little initiative. For him, the death of an ordinary villager in a small hamlet was of little concern, but the neglect was excessive.
The villagers mourned Mikey's unfortunate accident, but some whispered that he had suffered for trying to sell something bad. Even though they grew up in the same village and knew better. Baseless rumors about Mikey being cursed also circulated, and people avoided the place where his body was found, fearing a similar fate.
With no leads on the culprit and nowhere to turn, Marin grew rapidly weary and wandered aimlessly. The realization that there was nothing more she could do was truly powerless.
Even today, before returning to the village, she had been helping others at the foot of the mountain, trying to find a way to clear her brother's name. But she failed again and returned, shattered.
"Mikey wasn't like that. He wasn't the type to take risks selling something out of greed, whether for money or anything else."
"Then let's change the question."
The man with brown hair, looking steadily into Marin's bloodshot eyes, changed his question.
"Before your brother died, when he was gathering Dudureli mushrooms, didn't you find anything strange? Even if you didn't see the merchant yourself, your brother must have had a few contacts for the trade. Any memories from around that time would be helpful."
"..."
Marin, frowning in silence, bit her lip and struggled to continue speaking.
"Mikey was not the type to often talk about whom he was meeting or trading with... I don't remember much about that. But... I do recall wondering why he was picking and drying mushrooms that wouldn't even sell for much money."
Dudureli mushrooms were weakly poisonous mushrooms sometimes used by poor commoners. Although not particularly difficult to find, they were not valuable and hardly sold for money. Even herb shops, which dealt with a variety of herbs, often refused to purchase them, as they were considered worthless.
As he suddenly started collecting and drying a lot of them, she had asked him whom he was planning to give them to when she passed by, not thinking that he intended to sell them.
"And what did he answer?"
"He just smiled awkwardly. He didn’t give any answer."
Mikey had a fondness for flowers and grass. Observing seemingly useless grasses had been his hobby since childhood. So Marin had assumed that this was just another part of his hobby.
"…Ah. Now that I think about it, he did say something else."
A faint memory suddenly surfaced in her torn heart.
"Mikey said... that an old friend had contacted him after a long time and that he might meet them soon. I didn’t respond, thinking it was nonsense, and soon left home..."
Yes. He had said that, but it was such an everyday conversation that she had forgotten it. As Marin's expression distorted, the man with brown hair asked again.
"Did your brother have many friends?"
"Not many, but... he was pretty much friends with all the kids who grew up in this village. Now, many of them have gone down to the towns below the mountain or to big cities like Tainu for work. There aren’t many left in the village, just a few who gather herbs like the adults or cater to tourists."
"Then you must have thought he planned to meet one of those friends."
"I did."
"If they had made plans to meet, did any of them contact you after your brother's death?"
"No."
"Is it possible your brother had a friend you didn’t know about?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Marin nodded without hesitation.
"I'm sure."
The man with brown hair stared intently at Marin, as if he could discern any falsehood in her words just by looking.
‘He was said to be an Awakener too.’
Could he have the ability to discern truth from lies? His eyes, usually vague, felt very heavy and sharp in that moment, but Marin did not shrink in front of this strange intimidation. She was too weary to be frightened by anything.
After a while, the man with brown hair turned his gaze to the others. They exchanged opinions with just a look, then suddenly asked a completely different question.
"There’s actually one more thing we wanted to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Do you remember... a few years ago, when nobles came to spend the summer in this village? I heard that you guided them."
"Summer... I remember. Why?"
It was rare for people to come to see the lake in summer. The water level of the lake at the top of the mountain would drop significantly under the hot sun, making the surroundings terribly humid. Marin thought it was as good as liking to be whipped, choosing to enjoy an environment far from coolness in already hot weather. It was a truly unique experience, and so were the events that followed, so of course, she remembered.
As Marin recalled the nobles who had visited back then, a significant and secretive incident from that time suddenly came to mind.
'The fact that these people, who are looking for the one who traded Dudureli mushrooms, are now suddenly asking about the nobles who visited... Does it mean there's a connection? Then... wait a minute. Could it be?'
Marin's expression changed drastically. Yuder, too, was closely observing her face, which she couldn't hide.
'That's not the face of someone who just guided them. There must have been something more.'
"You're not just asking this out of curiosity, are you? What is it? Why such questions......"
Marin, leaning her hands on the table, suddenly stood up. However, Kishiar and Nathan Zuckerman, who had temporarily changed their appearances with magic, along with Yuder, all remained seated without any sign of disturbance.
"Yes, we're not just asking. We believe that one of the nobles who visited this village a few years ago is connected to your brother's recent death. In fact, we suspect that person is responsible for killing your brother."
The man with brown hair, Kishiar, lifted the corners of his lips with his transformed face.
"So, your answer here is very important. Our guess as to why the deceased was collecting and preparing worthless mushrooms and meeting with merchants will depend on your response."
"..."
"Didn't you say you wanted the truth? So do we. I won't presume to understand the feelings of someone who lost a brother overnight, but I promise to make the person who did this pay. That's why we're here."
"..."
"As of now, you're the only person who can give us an answer."
After looking at them for a long time, Marin finally collapsed back into her seat. Her lips, buried between her hands, let out heavy, restrained breaths.
Kishiar patiently waited a long time for her to speak.
And finally, a locked voice flowed from Marin.
"Exactly, it was the summer five years ago. The time when those nobles visited. The incident that happened then, the 'old friend' Mikey mentioned meeting after a long time... and the Dudureli mushrooms. I know one person who could connect all three."
"Who is that?"
"Katchian. He was a friend of Mikey's."
Suddenly, Yuder felt a lightning-like sensation rushing down his spine.
Putting together the information heard along the way, he had speculated that Katchian must be connected to this village. But the truth was always more surprising.
