It turned out to be the most elite troops of Koga City!
“What do you mean by saying the name is a title held throughout the empire? Does that mean this army ranks among the top in the empire?” Watching the distant Black Feather Riders already heading off, likely toward Koga City.
“You’re not messing with me, are you? You’re an imperial noble, and you don’t even know this?!” Ignia stared wide-eyed at Sean.
“I really don’t know!”
Luke had never mentioned it either. Besides, in Taylemian, having a personal guard of a few dozen people was already a big deal—there was no real army to speak of.
In the battle stories that had been told in the town for over a hundred years, Baron Weigel back then had only led a few hundred hastily assembled militiamen. They couldn’t compare to these regular troops.
“The Black Feather Knights are the title of a legion in the Basharan Empire. It’s said they’ve existed since the empire was founded, so every region has a legion with that title.”
“Are they all the strongest legions?” Sean asked.
“That depends on the overall strength of the region.” Ignia said, still puzzled as she looked in the direction the Black Feather Riders had gone.
“Strange. I remember the Black Feather Riders of Koga City only answer to Count Hamil, and they don’t return to the city unless it’s for something important.”
“Something important? Like what?” Sean asked, looking at her.
The Count’s household definitely had matters they weren’t willing to share—that was certain. Even if it were him, he’d only discuss such things with trusted confidants. As for what happened or what plans were made, they wouldn’t consult a guest in the house.
And right now, he was a guest in the Count’s home, so he wouldn’t know about any private orders they’d issued.
“For example, mobilizing troops in the north, suppressing a rebellion somewhere, or protecting some big shot coming through—they’d call the Black Feather Knights back.”
Since they were far away, Sean couldn’t see the stats of those Black Knights. That meant they were probably high-level characters too.
“I see. Let’s go. Before it gets dark, we’ll ask around the villagers.”
Putting aside the reason for the Black Feather Knights’ return to the city for now, Sean continued searching for the source of the stream’s problem.
The stream followed the path into the mountains, but along the way, there were quite a few villagers’ houses.
Just like in Taylemian Town, when they had nothing to do, the villagers loved sitting at their doorsteps, smoking or gazing off somewhere.
Carefree and relaxed…
Another day would pass like that.
But most of those who could be this leisurely were elderly folks. The younger ones had long gone to the city to work and live.
After all, the bright lights and excitement were more appealing to them!
Sean took Ignia around several small villages nearby, asking questions, but they didn’t find much.
It didn’t take long—they only needed to ask about the past three or four days. And since the forest ranger had mentioned the kids usually fetched water at night, the stream’s flow rate suggested it should be at night too.
“The last three nights? Nothing special comes to mind.” The old man with a pipe in his mouth recalled.
This was already the seventh house, and still no results.
“Could we be looking in the wrong direction? The water issue might not be related to this.” Ignia reminded him from behind.
Sean was also puzzled.
No leads. With just this little bit of info about the stream, it was too hard to find anything.
“Are you talking about the river, young lady?” Another old woman came out from behind the old man’s house.
“Yes, ma’am. Do you know if anything happened by the river these past few nights? Like something being dumped into it?”
The old woman thought for a moment, then spoke up from the doorway.
“Don’t you remember, old man? Four nights ago, a convoy came by asking to borrow a shovel. They said their cargo had fallen into the river!”
“Oh—right, right! I remember now. You kept asking about three days ago, so I didn’t think of it. Something did happen… It was past midnight, and a young woman suddenly knocked on the door, saying their cargo had accidentally fallen into the river and they needed to borrow a shovel.”
Sean and Ignia exchanged a quick glance.
“What kind of cargo?”
“I didn’t ask at the time. I just lent them the shovel. At that hour, my old bones didn’t have the energy for questions… But when I washed the shovel the next day, I did notice a bit of a smell. Kind of like sulfur.”
Sulfur.
Sure enough, Sean suddenly recalled the plants in the orchard.
“Do you often have cargo passing through here at night?” Sean continued.
“Very rarely. This isn’t a main road, so usually no one comes through… Now that you mention it, I wonder why a cargo convoy would be passing through here so late.” Even the old man who lived nearby was puzzled.
“Thanks!”
“Who are you? That young lady seems kind, not like a bad person.” The old man said.
“We’re not saying anything specific, just asking around… Some cargo went missing, so we came to check.” Sean made up a quick excuse.
“So you’re the buyers. The roads around here are rough, and it’s hard to find your way after dark. A little trouble now and then is normal. Hope you don’t hold it against them! Life’s not easy.”
Sean nodded with a smile.
“What did that young woman look like?”
“I didn’t pay much attention. She had blonde hair, quite similar to this young lady.” The old man pointed at Ignia beside Sean, earning a glare from her.
“Of course. She wasn’t as pretty as you! Looked a bit tired, and she was on the thinner side…”
With just that description, Sean could find tens of thousands of people in the city!
Feeling he wouldn’t get any useful info, Sean took Ignia and left…
Along the way, Ignia also sensed something was off.
“Sean, I think there’s something wrong with those delivery people. Why would they choose to transport goods late at night and take such a remote route? This clearly isn’t the way to the city gate.”
“You noticed too.” Sean looked at her.
No matter what Ignia’s usual personality was like, anyone who could become a witch wasn’t stupid—a little thought and she’d figure it out.
She suddenly looked at him seriously, and above her head, statuses like [Admiration!] and [Appreciation!] popped up.
“Sean, you’re so smart. How did you figure all this out?!”
To an outsider, it seemed like he’d pieced together all the clues just from seeing a bucket… Pretty slick.
Heh~
If I were still in my old world, the title of great detective would probably have changed hands by now!
“Where are we going now?”
“The Brukan Avenue construction zone. I want to ask about some things.” Sean said.
Sulfur~
He hoped it wasn’t what he was thinking.