[Wastewater.]
The craftsmanship in this world wasn't particularly advanced. If this was just domestic wastewater, there shouldn't be something this lethal around here!
Sean looked at the withered plants nearby. Nothing could cause them to wither this quickly unless it was chemicals...
"What's wrong? Did you find something?" Igunia, though lacking Sean's abilities, was perceptive enough to read his expression.
"Where did you get this water?" he asked the little boy again.
The child, who had been running from the old man's scolding, paused and looked at Sean.
"What are you staring at? Answer the gentleman quickly," the old man urged impatiently.
"I... I fetched it from the river a few days ago," the boy said, pointing at the small stream flowing nearby.
"A few days ago? Shouldn't you fetch water the same day?"
It wasn't that far—though the terrain was a bit rough, a diligent person could make the round trip without wasting much time.
"Oh, well, sir, it's like this. We workers are all young, and sometimes we oversleep or get drowsy at noon. So some clever kid came up with this idea: put a big water bucket at every spot that needs regular watering, fill it up at night... The saplings here don't need frequent watering, and the big trees even less, so it lasts a long time."
The old man pointed to the large bucket in front of Sean. A full bucket like that could last ages—sometimes more water evaporated than was used.
But the main thing was it saved the effort of going back and forth each time...
Sean stared at the withered plants. Indeed, if the water had been fresh from that day, it wouldn't have caused this right after watering, especially since it came from the stream.
"I see! Igunia, come with me."
"Huh? Okay."
The girl didn't understand why Sean suddenly ignored the orchard and headed straight for the stream. The old man started to follow, but Sean stopped him, saying they'd stop for today and might come back for advice later if time allowed.
After a polite farewell, they walked toward the stream...
"Sean, what did you find? You won't tell me when I ask," Igunia said, a bit annoyed as she followed.
"The industrial zone."
"Huh?"
Sean's sudden turn startled Igunia.
"Is there an industrial zone around here?"
"Impossible. Cogar City's engineering district is in the north of the city. How could it be out here? Otherwise, this place wouldn't be an orchard." Even if she wasn't the sharpest, she knew that much. But as she said it, the earlier incident came back to her.
"Sean, do you think there's something wrong with that water?"
Sean turned and smiled at her.
"I remember you used to ask me a lot about what Count Hamil and I talked about." He glanced at her, thinking it was about time.
Back at the count's estate, they'd had no chance to talk privately. Now that they were alone outside, he could tell her. He didn't have many people in Cogar City he could trust, but Igunia was definitely a guileless girl—otherwise, he'd have noticed by now.
Sharing information would help him establish himself in Cogar City.
"Yeah, but you never told me."
"Back at the count's house, anything I said or did could have reached his ears... Now I can tell you what Count Hamil and I discussed."
Sean recounted his conversation with the count that day, leaving Igunia stunned.
"You mean someone's planning to move against the southern nobles?"
If it weren't for the lack of any strange status indicator above her head, Sean would have thought she was playing dumb.
It was so obvious!
And she still couldn't see it...
"Didn't that big rat the other day give you any ideas?"
"Oh, that. I thought about it too. I even asked my senior why it showed up in the city, but he didn't have an answer... I figured it was a stray magical beast—don't stories like that happen all the time?" Igunia said, looking at Sean.
Sometimes he envied people born without a care in the world.
"Never mind that... Count Hamil asked me to track down the mastermind behind it all. I agreed, but I've had no leads."
"You think it's connected to that water? How?"
Sean didn't answer right away. Since Igunia couldn't see what he could, he couldn't explain that part.
Water casually taken from the stream carried such a high concentration of waste material. How much must have been dumped to make it like this? Unless a factory in the engineering district was secretly dumping industrial wastewater into the stream—something forbidden by Cogar City law.
More importantly, the two places were far apart!
Cogar City wasn't like his small town. Going back and forth took a long time, making the cost too high.
So it had to be someone near the stream.
"It's just a water issue. Maybe it's a prank by those kids!" Igunia continued.
"Shh, let's go. Whatever it is, we won't know until we see it."
Sean couldn't say for sure yet. It was still just a guess, far from confirmed.
And sometimes, the more you dwell on a question, the more the details seem to align... He'd been focusing mostly on Cogar City itself, not looking outside.
Maybe the answer he couldn't find inside could be found outside.
They followed the stream. Near the city, it turned off, not joining the canal but stretching into the eastern mountains.
Going into the mountains would be tricky. There were villages around Cogar City, and you never knew where something might come from.
"Niya, when did that kid say he fetched the water?"
"He said a few days ago, but didn't specify."
A few days ago...
Sean looked at the sky.
[Daytime: Clear: 5:23:40]
Given the recent weather and the fact that they used water, it was probably two or three days ago. So he just needed to ask about the nights two or three days back.
Just then, a hundred-man knight squad appeared on the road in the distance.
Real knights!
Since coming to this world, Sean had only heard people called knights but had never seen the fully armored, horse-shod knights he imagined. Now, here they were.
They wore black armor that gleamed in the sunlight. Most distinctive were the two long feathers on their backs, sticking out from their shoulders and rising above their heads.
"What unit is that?"
"The Black Feather Cavalry. Why are they coming to Cogar City?" Igunia said.
Black Feather Cavalry?
He'd never heard that name before.
"Are they part the military?"
"Yeah, they're Cogar City's elite force. Their name is known across the entire empire. Didn't you know? But they're usually stationed outside the city. Why are they suddenly coming back?"