Dragons are actually very fragile animals.

Their scales are so strong that only their own and their kind's claws and ebony crowned with the blood of the gods can break through them. Their wings are powerful and their claws are sharp, and they are capable of whipping up storms and destroying mountains.

Their roars can interfere with time and space, shaking the whole world.

But they are still vulnerable.

They are dragons.

Dragons, on the other hand, do not have an independent self-will.

If you don't touch it, it won't move. If you don't mess with him, he won't fight back. As long as you leave it alone, even the most powerful dragon will only sleep in your own nest until the end of the day.

They are flawed, they are incomplete.

They are fragments of the original spirit, small aggregates of time and space.

They are separated, self-sufficient, closed individuals, devouring each other, fused together...... Or a self-sufficient, closed individual.

Therefore, dragons are vulnerable. Especially the kind of dragon that has not been interfered with by any external factors, and has no goal and direction at all, is particularly easy to deal with.

If you want to make a dragon that meets the above conditions a little more survivable and not so easy to kill...... The best way to do this is to poke her hard with a small wooden stick.

"Then let's find it separately. I'll go to the east, you go to the west, and if there's any clue, shout loudly. ”

In a small burned village outside Mossar. The two adventurers simply assigned their tasks and split into two paths, exploring the area from different directions, a thriving small settlement just a few days ago.

Jamila to the east and Alice to the west.

It wasn't that they didn't want to investigate the lumberyard directly, but it was clear that the place was now well guarded by the guards of the main city and the medical officer who collected the corpses. Not to mention that they can't get in, and even if they do, they probably won't be able to find anything valuable.

Since the first scene is not good, then we can only retreat to the second.

It was easy for them to find out that a village outside Mosal had been slaughtered in the same way as the lumberyard massacre a few nights earlier. So they quickly bought the equipment and supplies they needed from the Night Star and Moon Chamber of Commerce, and then slipped over to take advantage of the fact that the soldiers who were originally responsible for investigating the village were transferred back to the city due to the shortage of Mosar's guard resources.

So, the investigation began.

[It's really incomprehensible, it's obviously a scene where even the guards of the main city who are responsible for handling murders are confused, what can two part-time mercenaries who obviously don't have much adventure experience do?]

Alice walked nonchalantly along the crumbling gravel road. The thoughts in my heart turned one after another.

She wasn't worried about what was really going on. Whether it's a man-eating monster or a cult, or some murderer with a convulsive head, she has the confidence to deal with it. After all, the people of Sirodil are good at persuading those who disagree with them - the tongue or the sword are the right and proper ways to persuade them.

She was worried that the reckless actions of the two men would be caught by the sentinels who stayed behind - the main city guard would most likely leave one or two people behind - as prisoners involved in the massacre, or at least accomplices. After all, the two of them had been suspects in another murder a few hours ago, and now they were in this kind of place...... If the guards don't think there's something wrong with them, then it's just that there's something wrong with the guards' brains.

But......

Alice glanced at Jamila, who was banging and bumping into each other with great interest, and finally decided to throw the complicated feelings in her heart into her stomach.

It's a new friend.

It's someone you can communicate with and trust.

So, shouldn't the willfulness of accommodating friends be taken for granted?

As for the danger that may lead to zhì......

It's just a bunch of guards, just a few dead farmers.

[Even if I have become weak, I will never fall into the process of being troubled by such things. 】

[Even if there really is an enemy that can't be solved.] Can't you run if you can't beat it?]

Alice then withdrew her gaze and focused on what was in front of her.

Jamila craves adventure and will find trouble even if it doesn't exist. The reason why she chose to follow Alice was because she sensed that Alice had the ability to attract trouble.

And that's exactly what happened.

People whose hearts are not commensurate with their strength, whether they are strong or weak, good or evil, young or old, will always encounter all kinds of troubles. Because in the events that befall them, the events that are in line with their hearts are often contrary to the power they hold. And vice versa.

Alice's power has never been matched by her heart.

Whether it is a strong past or a weak present, her flaws have never been remedied in any sense.

However, until now, she still has no understanding of this situation.

………………

"So, where do you start?" Alice looked at the layout of her surroundings. While most of the wooden structures are unable to maintain their original structure due to the arson of a few days ago, it is not much of a problem to just make out the general outline.

"This place should be the doorstep of this village. ”

She pressed against the low, charred stone wall, and a cold, rough touch came from her fingertips. The village must have had quite a long history. The outermost layer is a trench about four feet deep, followed by a thick barrier of wooden fences and stones. The permafrost peculiar to Skyrim had tamped the foundation, and even though it had been burned out to a rough frame, Alice's slightest push could not shake it. Presumably, this impregnable line of defense has kept the ferocious Northland predators at bay countless times.

But that's not enough. This line of defense cannot stop creatures that are more powerful than predators.

[Huh? 】

Several shallow pits outside the fence caught Alice's attention, and she carefully observed and compared the shapes of the shallow pits, and soon came to a conclusion.

It's a tread.

Powerful warriors jumped from outside the fence and jumped directly over the villagers' defenses.

[The wooden fence is seven feet high, and the imprints are basically ten feet away from the trench...... Such a distance. Only the physique of the court guards of Xueman can do it. And they are not yet able to wear heavy armor. No...... Judging from the depth of the footprints, even light armor may not be feasible, and even if there is, it is an extremely thin kind. 】

Alice immediately constructed several slender and strong figures in her heart. They wear leather armor or overalls that do not allow the slightest obstacle, and they move quickly and have a keen senses. They took advantage of the darkness to silently weave through the forest and meadows, and then leaped to their feet outside the fence.

[Some of them rolled forward after landing, and some of them made a second jump.] 】

The land within the village was quickly identified with the corresponding shallow pits. Some are light and some are heavy, some are big and some are small. The shallow pit was surrounded by dried blood stains, and reddish-black stains seeped deep into the earth.

[They use some kind of long, sharp sword.] The man outside the house was even cut open whole. 】

There was a particularly deep blood stain on the side, and there was an oblique cut on the collapsed beam, which was probably due to the end of the blade when the human body was cut. The person who did the hand held the sword very steadily, and even when cutting the spine of the villagers, the sword did not get out of shape in the slightest.

Alice should be able to do the same, but if she wants to achieve the exact same Cheng dù, then she needs to have a better, sharper sword.

But that means a four-digit gold Septine coin. And such a large sum of money is not something she can afford now.

[Strength, speed, skill, wealth, each of which is superior to the average palace guard, there are at least five of them, but such a powerful warrior came here in the middle of the night to kill the villagers?]

Alice tilted her head slightly. Look at the ruins of the house to the side.

It's very unreasonable, very unreasonable, it's just a nameless little village, it's not impossible to be sacked by robbers and swallowed up by beasts. But it had no reason to attract the hostility of so many powerful warriors.

Unless......

[Cult sacrifice rituals?]

The girl lowered her eyes and fluttered through the ruins and gravel, and soon came to a well-preserved stone house.

There is definitely no more valuable thing. In terms of looting skills, the Town Watch's abilities are generally far superior to those of the average bandit. The cosy nest, which was supposed to belong to a family of four, felt like it had been stormed, with tables toppled over, beds overturned, and the remains of tattered baskets and scraps of fabric falling everywhere. A few dirty clothes were spread on the floor, and they escaped the fire, but they were treated with the same rough treatment.

There are a mess of shoe prints and footprints on the ground, mainly the iron shoes of guards, as well as the barefoot footprints of children and adults.

"Footprints?" Alice frowned slightly.

These people ...... Why barefoot?

It's okay for children to say that it's too strange for adults to not wear shoes.

Wait, there's not a single pair of shoes in this hut!?

The girl's figure moved, and in the blink of an eye she appeared in another ruin, and soon in another, and then another.

No, no, no!

"Not a single pair of shoes. ”

There are at least hundreds of people in the whole village. Alice searched six ruins, but couldn't find a pair of shoes.

"It doesn't make sense, is there a custom here that don't wear shoes?" Alice rubbed her head, but she soon noticed that the many footprints on the ground belonging to the villagers who had been killed in the first place clearly indicated the existence of shoes.

"It's ...... What is the logic? The Shoe Cult would slaughter entire villages in order to collect shoes? So why not loot shoe stores?"

The girl followed the barefoot footprints, and eventually found that they were all concentrated in a place where the blood was extremely strong. It was clear that this was the place where the slaughter had actually taken place, and even after many days, Alice could still faintly hear the wails of the dead.

But she still couldn't find a pair of shoes.

[Headache.] 】

It's obviously a cruel disaster, but it has to be shoehorned into such a strange episode. Is there really such a miraculous church as the Shoe Cult? So how sad must this deity they worship......

That shouldn't be their main purpose. Maybe it's just in passing, or maybe it's just to mislead. ”

Alice thought to herself. If it weren't for the respect for the deceased, she would have planned to dig the grave to verify it. But that's too bad......

It's a dragonborn anyway, at least it used to be! Tomb robbery or something is too embarrassing.

She took a deep breath and decided to approach the investigation with a different strategy.