Chapter 109: The Bizarre Case

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: The Bizarre Case

Olay only rushed back, weary from his journey, after the banquet had ended.

When he learned that Vili had been promoted to a Knight, Olay’s reaction was exactly as Baron Kels had predicted.

He was proud and overjoyed, yet also a bit awkward, as if his student had graduated on his own before he had taught him anything of substance.

It was a strange, indescribable feeling.

After bidding farewell to the Baron’s family and Olay, Vili took Vilia back to Fandou Village.

For the next half-month, Vili allowed himself to relax properly. He didn’t rush to continue practicing the Middle Level stage of the Frost Knight Breathing Technique. Instead, he spent several days carefully surveying Fandou Village and discussed its future development at length with Old Yor and Lake.

Vili had wanted to continue resting at home for a while longer, but Dane made a special trip to Fandou Village to visit him. He tactfully reminded Vili that as the deputy captain of the Personal Guard Bureau, he ought to be working diligently at the start of the new year.

He needed to set an example of diligence.

Although Vili was loath to give up his leisurely days, he had to accept Dane’s well-intentioned reminder.

Twenty days after the New Year, Vili returned to the Personal Guard Bureau.

Inside Vili’s office at the Personal Guard Bureau.

Thick stacks of documents were piled on Vili’s desk, taking up nearly half its surface.

These were all the documents Sandoor had processed in his stead while he was away, and now they all required his review.

’Thank goodness for Sandoor...’

Vili mumbled to himself as he flipped through the pages. The tedious text bored him to no end. ’If I didn’t have to maintain an image of diligence in front of my subordinates, I’d leave this place right now.’

Vili was flipping through the files out of boredom when suddenly, an interested expression crossed his face as he came across a summary of a public security case in Diamond Town.

The Guard Team was responsible for maintaining public order in Diamond Town and its surrounding villages and hamlets. Although the Personal Guard Bureau was nominally the workplace for Personal Guards, the Guard Team also fell under its jurisdiction. Therefore, summaries of the Guard Team’s public security incidents were all reported to the Personal Guard Bureau.

On the last day of each month, the Guard Team had to compile a summary of all security incidents from that month for Vili to personally review.

And the very case that piqued Vili’s interest appeared in this brief.

’The bizarre disappearance of poultry...’

Vili sat up straight and read the entire summary without missing a single word.

In Stone Village, south of Diamond Town, a series of rather bizarre incidents had occurred before the New Year. Starting on a certain day, the village’s poultry began to disappear continuously. However, on the following mornings, the villagers whose poultry was stolen found no signs of their doors being forced open.

A few villagers decided to lie in wait at night, hoping to catch the thief in the act. But on that night, the villager on watch was frightened out of his wits.

According to that villager’s recollection, the clouds were thick and dark that night, and the stars were dim. Only a sliver of pale, ghastly moonlight filtered through the cloud cover, blanketing the entire village.

The chickens and ducks, which had been sleeping soundly in the yard, all seemed to respond to some mysterious summons at the same time. They rose as one, formed a single file, and marched forward with perfectly synchronized movements. They followed a wooden plank propped against the wall, jumped out of the yard, and disappeared into the night.

This seemingly bizarre and absurd account was what the villager described when he ran to Diamond Town early the next morning to report it to the Guards.

He also said that he had been completely frozen in terror, not even daring to breathe loudly. He didn’t sleep a wink all night and only ventured out of his house after daybreak.

The Guards who received the report didn’t believe it at first. They only sent two or three men to verify the situation because they were bound by regulations.

After an investigation, it was confirmed that poultry had indeed been stolen. However, the villager who filed the report was the only one who claimed to have seen the bizarre scene.

At the villager’s desperate pleading, one of the Guards was stationed in Stone Village for three days. But during those three days, the poultry disappearances did not happen again, so the Guard returned to Diamond Town.

In other words, the case was currently unsolved.

The Guards involved in the investigation, including Sandoor who had approved the report in Vili’s stead, all believed the informant was mentally unstable and that his words could not be considered valid evidence.

But in Vili’s eyes, that wasn’t the case. ’What that villager said is very likely true.’

Because he himself was capable of achieving such a seemingly bizarre feat.

The knowledge and Beast Taming Techniques bestowed by his title of Middle Level Beast Tamer would allow Vili to make the poultry develop a kind of conditioned reflex through specific, unconscious habit training. By combining certain animal instincts with the external environment and then emitting a particular signal, he could also achieve this level of control.

’The villager was probably too stunned by what he saw to notice if a specific signal was being given at the time.’

’Like a rhythmic sound or some other sign.’

’Very interesting...’

Vili had finally found something that interested him.

’Could there be a master Beast Tamer even in a tiny place like Stone Village?’

Vili, who usually just traveled between Diamond Town and Fandou Village, suddenly felt he could use this opportunity to begin inspecting the other villages and hamlets under his jurisdiction.

"Guard!"

Vili shouted.

A moment later, a Guard with a Cross Sword at his hip walked in.

"Sir Vili."

The Guard bowed, awaiting Vili’s orders.

"Send for Dane."

Vili ordered.

Sandoor usually handled more administrative matters, while Dane was relatively less busy. That was why he chose to have Dane arrange things for this matter.

"Yes, sir."

Not long after the Guard left, Dane hurried in.

"Captain, what are your orders?"

Dane asked.

"Take a look at this."

Vili handed Dane the summary report detailing the strange case.

A strange expression flickered across Dane’s face. In his memory, Vili had never seemed to care about the Personal Guard Bureau’s work, and he’d certainly never seen him seriously scrutinize a document before.

Nevertheless, he took the summary and lowered his head to read it carefully.

"I seem to recall this case was considered unofficially resolved. After all, no more poultry went missing after that incident."

Dane, who also had some recollection of the case, said to Vili.

In this day and age, once a minor problem stopped occurring, the Guards wouldn’t waste manpower investigating it, especially when it was so trivial.

"This case is quite interesting. I need you to arrange for a few men..."

After a pause, Vili changed his mind. "Actually, just the two of us—you and I. We’ll go to Stone Village together and investigate this matter from beginning to end."

"You, sir...?"

Dane was momentarily incredulous. ’For such a minor case, the captain who never paid any mind to official business actually wanted to investigate it personally?’