By Zephyria 
I deliberately didn’t answer. At that, Ralph and the other hunters sighed. They looked around busily, as if searching for Magical creatures around the area.
“Shouldn’t we go down to the village before more damage occurs?”
“We should have just left yesterday…”
“Then innocent people wouldn’t have died.”
“They’re going to come to kill us… They’re going to come to kill us…”
Everyone started adding their own comments, and the atmosphere quickly turned heavy. Abyss seemed to have something to say, but perhaps because I was silent, he just watched without replying.
“Could they have followed us?”
“Maybe. Let’s pack our things and leave quickly.”
Ralph said hastily, looking at Abyss. I hadn’t said anything, but the hunters behind him were flustered. They seemed ready to leave immediately, so I hesitated before speaking.
“That man wasn’t attacked by a Magical creature; he just ran into a hungry wolf.”
As if on cue, all five hunters turned to look at me. Ralph asked suspiciously.
“A wolf? There are no wolves around here. We’ve been hunting all over the Rollaine Mountains for a long time, so we know.”
“Then it must have been some other wild animal.”
“There are no animals around here that attack people. You must have seen wrong.”
Seeing his certainty without a hint of doubt, I stared at him and said, “The person who first discovered the body saw the animal running away.”
I pointed to Abyss. Abyss was startled by my sudden words but soon nodded.
“Yes, I saw a wolf. It was too dark, so it might not have been a wolf, but it was definitely a quadrupedal animal.”
“That can’t be…”
“I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”
While the two were talking, I carefully observed the hunters’ expressions and actions.
“In the first place, if it was really a Magical creature, why would it run away from me? It’s just the work of a hungry animal, so don’t worry too much. We’ll strengthen security further to prevent the same thing from happening again.”
“…”
“It seems you’re all very scared. We’ve been here for a few days, but we haven’t found any traces of Magical creatures, let alone the creatures themselves.”
Abyss, as if sensing something strange, suddenly started babbling and laughing. Ralph, momentarily taken aback by his deliberately lighthearted behavior, said,
“You’re outsiders, so you probably don’t know, but this area is prone to Magical creature appearances. Haven’t you heard that traveling merchants have been attacked? It’s not just the work of animals.”
I had definitely heard it. But I pretended not to know and asked in surprise, “Traveling merchants?”
“You must have heard it from the villagers? At least dozens of merchants who travel across the mountains selling goods have died. How can we find all the bodies in this vast place? There are definitely more than what’s known.”
“Oh, dear…”
Ralph, who had been looking at me with pity, turned his gaze back to Abyss.
“As you said, maybe I’m just too scared and overthinking things. I was just too surprised to see another dead person today after what happened yesterday.”
“You’ve been hunting in this area with so many Magical creatures for so long, so you must be very cautious. I understand.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Ralph laughed awkwardly at Abyss’s sharp words. But I clearly saw his eyes harden for a moment. He glanced at me briefly before asking Abyss,
“I heard you’re here to do an ecological survey. Are you employed by someone? Your tone and posture seem like a soldier’s… Ah, my father worked as a guard in the capital when he was young.”
At those words, Abyss’s eyes widened.
“You have a really good eye. I did something similar for a short time, though I quit soon after. I was just a low-ranking soldier, not much to call myself a soldier.”
“Oh, I knew it. I thought your posture and gait were similar to my father’s. From Actan?”
“Yes, there were too many rules to follow… It didn’t suit my temperament.”
“Working in the castle can be tough.”
The two laughed and chatted like friends who had met after a long time, but there was a subtle tension in the air. It was clear that something was suspicious, but there was too little information.
But a person had died at dawn. Even if they weren’t related to me, they were an employee of Sakira’s merchant group. Sakira’s subordinates were, strictly speaking, my subordinates as well.
I had been debating whether to get involved in a strange incident in a strange place, but now I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I listened to their conversation for a while before naturally interjecting.
“If you’re a hunter, you must see a lot of animal carcasses.”
At my sudden question, Ralph turned to look at me. He nodded and opened his mouth.
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you handle them yourself? Skinning them, removing the organs, and cleaning them, things like that.”
“Yes, of course, I do it myself. What hunter would entrust their prey to someone else?”
“Then you must be familiar with using a knife. You must also know where the vital points are.”
I stroked my chin slowly with my fingers and muttered. A cold silence had already fallen before I finished speaking. But Ralph nodded with a smile.
“That’s right. I’ve been catching small rabbits and squirrels since I was young. As you said, knowing the vital points is a basic skill for a hunter. If I make even a small mistake, I’ll be the one getting hunted.”
“Oh, I see…”
“But if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the intention behind your questions? I’m a bit anxious because I’m a worrier. Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
Hearing such questions at a murder scene where someone had died, it was natural to feel bad. Just because Ralph was a hunter who was good with a knife didn’t mean he could be identified as the culprit.
But that wasn’t my intention in the first place.
“Please take a look here.”
I said, approaching the body. At that, Ralph followed me with a stiff face. I was about to bend my knees, but my back ached, and I flinched involuntarily. Fortunately, Aska grabbed my arm, so I didn’t stumble.
I cleared my throat and pointed to the exposed abdomen of the corpse.
“What do you think?”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Please look closely at the wound on the abdomen.”
“…”
He was reluctant, but he didn’t say anything more and examined the body.
“I’m saying this because you said you’re good with a knife and know the vital points well. Actually, he wasn’t attacked by an animal. I was planning to say he was attacked by an animal to avoid causing unnecessary confusion.”
“Then it was a Magical creature after all…!”
Looking at Ralph, who raised his head in horror, I pondered. I was about to tell him it wasn’t, but then I pointed to another part of the wound.
“Here.”
He stared intently at the exact spot I was pointing to with anxious eyes.
“What do you think of this wound?”
“…”
If he was really a hunter, he would definitely know, but he remained silent for longer than I expected. I could almost hear him racking his brain, which only increased my suspicion.
“This is…”
Then Ralph finally raised his head and looked at me. He looked at my face for a long time, as if observing me, before saying,
“It looks like a sword wound.”
At those words, I smiled brightly.
“I knew you’d recognize it. I’m glad I asked for your advice.”
“Are you saying he was murdered?”
“Yes. What animal or Magical creature would stab a person to death with a knife? As you can see, even just looking at the location, it’s clear that he was stabbed intentionally to kill him. Right?”
He stared blankly at me before nodding.
“Yes, it does.”
Ralph thought for a moment before saying,
“We can’t be sure since we don’t know the appearance or attack methods of Magical creatures.”
This time, I nodded.
“That’s also true.”
“But it doesn’t seem like a completely absurd story, so wouldn’t it be better to report it? It seems like withdrawing before a bigger problem arises should be the priority.”
He wasn’t wrong. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that they had been trying to drive us out of these mountains since yesterday. I didn’t have any evidence, but my gut feeling was usually accurate.
The unidentified group I met when I went to the lake to get the necklace, and the merchants who died from Magical creature attacks in a mountain range where there were no Magical creatures.
“…”
I crossed my arms and stared at Ralph before suddenly thinking of a possibility.
Just as they used an animal to hide the fact that the body had been murdered, what if the merchants’ deaths were also a similar situation?
Aska and Pipi had confirmed several times that there were no Magical creatures in this mountain range. Yet, the fact that Magical creature attacks continued to occur meant that this was no longer an unexpected accident.
If my deduction was correct, the chances that the person or group who killed the traveling merchants and the man who was on guard duty at dawn were the same were over 90%.