Loren crouched beside the ghoul's lair, carefully picking through the pile of rotting flesh and broken bones, his dark eyes scrutinizing every part. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Ghouls are indeed scavengers, but they also know how to store food, and their powerful chewing ability and King Kong's incorruptible stomach allow this monster to digest anything that can poison a cow, even if the bones have long since rotted and weathered into dried corpses, it is still supreme delicious in the eyes of these monsters.

For a whole quarter of an hour, Loren, who was completely numb to the thick stench, still did not find what he was looking for, but there was a look of clarity on his face - among these corpses, there was still no head, not even a part of the bones, not a part of the carrion!

It would be understandable if only one or two were missing the head and torso, or even the vast majority, but now the situation is that these parts of the body are missing, and there is not even the slightest trace left.

Loren now has two conclusions in front of him - these ghouls are particularly "fond of" human heads and torsos, and the other is that the heads were deliberately hidden, and the ghouls are only using them to cover up the real cause of their deaths.

The sensual and romantic poet may choose the first, but the sensible and cerebral will choose the second, and Loren places himself in the second group.

But that's not enough, at least not enough to determine who it was and why it was doing it - I need more clues.

"It looks like this task is going to be a lot more cumbersome than expected. ”

...... After concluding his investigation of the abandoned tomb, Loren did not return directly to the church, but instead went to the tavern in Gumwood, where the first mercenary was killed.

After spending a few silver coins to get rid of the tavernkeeper, Loren was able to enter the bloodstained room - the owner hadn't cleaned it up, and apparently no one wanted to live in a room that had been broken into by monsters.

The walls were covered in blood, and the messy room and the splatters of blood showed that the mercenary had resisted before he was killed, but in the end he was no match for a group of ghouls, and then he was dismembered.

The chairs, the table, and the only bed were all in disarray, and it was impossible to tell how many ghouls there were, or if the mercenary was really the only one in the room.

Loren also found an iron sword in the corner that the mercenary had used, completely rusted and only half of it remained, and the other half might still be in this room, but even if it did, it would be meaningless.

It's just that the cross-section of the blade break is too smooth...... Pitch-black eyes slid over the blade, and the notch didn't look like it was broken or smashed at all, but more like it had been corroded by some alchemical substance.

"Did you find anything of value, Master Wizard?" the strange tavern owner pushed open the door and walked in, looking at Loren with his arms in his arms a little greedily, as if he was expecting something.

"Nothing else, just a few minor issues. Casually inserting the broken sword into the boot barrel, Loren raised his head pretending to be curious: "On the night of this mercenary's accident, this room must have been noisy, right, you really didn't find anything?"

"You also know that this guy is a mercenary, and mercenaries have a lot of enemies. The boss waved his hand as a matter of course: "This kind of thing happens everywhere, although there are not many of us here, but it is not strange." ”

That's why it's never been discovered...... Loren guessed.

"But this guy was really killed by a monster?" The tavern owner didn't show any fear: "He really deserves it!"

"Why?"

"Nothing, just rumors that these monsters are a curse from the Holy Cross to punish the ungodly. The tavern keeper spoke, "The priest of the church said the same thing, and he said that these monsters are all because of ......"

It's all because of us wizards...... Even though the boss kept his mouth shut, Loren could still guess from his expression.

"You just said that these monsters are curses from the Holy Cross. Loren suddenly asked, "Did the eldest son of the local wealthy merchant who died also have any 'not very religious' behavior?"

"Holy Cross, how did you, a foreigner, guess that?!" the tavern owner was shocked for a moment, but shook his head disapprovingly: "Actually, it doesn't count, that young master Kuo just once contradicted the priest, saying that he was not as extravagant as a priest - but that is a priest, how can that kind of big man not have a little style?"

"Well, excuse me. Loren nodded, and after a slight gesture, he prepared to leave. The tavernkeeper, however, grabbed him by the wrist as if he hadn't remembered it until now.

"Oh, by the way, there's a little priest waiting for you downstairs, saying there's something urgent coming. ”

When Loren walked outside the tavern, sure enough, a little priest wearing the robes of the Holy Cross was waiting anxiously, and immediately stepped forward after seeing Loren's figure: "You are Mr. Loren, right? You are really alive, this is really the blessing of the Holy Cross!"

"Priest Draco had asked me to wait for you at the church, but I heard that you were coming to the tavern, so I took the liberty of following. The little priest still looked excited, and kept talking along the way.

"You really defeated so many monsters on your own, this must be the Holy Cross blessing you, sure enough, the Holy Cross is still merciful, I can't bear to continue to watch the poor people continue to suffer, so I solved them with your hand!"

"Where's Priest Draco?"

"Master Draco has other things to do, since ...... After that accident, Father Anthony gave him the work of 'that one'. The little priest was vague, but Loren could guess that "the one" was probably referring to the priest's nephew.

"I've heard that Father Anthony likes his nephew. Loren, who sensed something, continued to lure the other party to continue.

"That's right, but 'that one' doesn't listen to Father Anthony very much, and often causes trouble and likes to gamble, which gives the priest a lot of headaches. The little priest's expression didn't look very favorable to this guy: "It's good that Father Anthony didn't choose him as his heir." ”

Loren kept chatting with the little priest all the way until the two of them stopped at the door of the church. Priest Draco, with an apologetic expression on his face, walked straight through the door of the church: "Sorry I couldn't go to you directly, Holy Cross is on top...... I—I didn't expect you to actually do it! Have those ghouls been completely wiped out?"

"It's true, but I found something else. Loren watched Draco's expression carefully.

"What did you find?" the priest's expression did not change in the slightest, and he could not tell what he was thinking.

"Some not-so-good signs...... These ghouls are probably not actively attacking, but man-made. ”

"Holy Cross, who the hell would ......," the little priest exclaimed, but was immediately stopped by Draco.

"This matter must not be revealed, otherwise it will cause more panic!" Draco, who was calm and calm, waved his hand at the little priest: "You go down first, remember not to mention it to anyone, it is better to forget it completely, otherwise all this will only startle the snake and let the real culprit behind the scenes go unpunished." ”

"Yes, yes!" the little priest was completely frightened, and rushed into the church as if he was running for his life, disappearing from the sight of the two men.

After looking around at the crowd and not noticing, Draco resumed conversation, "How many did you find?"

"It's rare, it's almost impossible to take as evidence. Loren shook his head: "But the people behind the scenes seem to have been using ghouls as a guise to create an atmosphere to punish those who do not believe in God or have done something unfriendly to the church, and it can be seen that he is probably quite disgusted with wizards." ”

"Y-you mean ......" Draco's eyes widened, and it was clear that the answer was on the verge of being called.

"It's too arbitrary to make a judgment now, and it's not yet the last moment. Loren shook his head: "Tomorrow I have to go to the place where the last incident took place to see if there are any other clues." ”