A rudimentary carriage jolted along the forest path.

A dull groan of pain sounded, and an embarrassed figure covering his forehead sat up from the carriage.

Francois, who had a splitting headache, suppressed indescribable nausea, and his stiff, sour eyes looked mottled around.

The shadows of terror and the hoarse screams of the mounts that swept around them turned into straight tall birches and crunching wheels with the clarity of sight and consciousness.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. ”

A voice rang out, and the others in the carriage gave him strange looks.

"Where am I......"

Every time Francois tried to remember what had happened, a sharp pain that tore through his skull.

"We're almost there." The man who accosted him was full of vicissitudes, "I have been away from my hometown for more than ten years, and I finally came back......"

"What time is it ......?"

"It's just dawn."

The canopy of trees on both sides of the road distinguishes between shadows and faint dawns.

Francois closed his eyelids, tears moistening his dry eyeballs with headaches.

"What's going on......"

"We still want to ask you." It was still the vicissitudes of life that spoke, "You rushed from the woods to the road and fainted, if it weren't for the fact that you didn't look like a poor man, you would have been left behind...... We saved you, how do you want to repay-"

Horrific memories suddenly exploded in his mind, and Francois recalled something, and disordered muttered: "Dead...... All dead......"

Other passengers gloat – the most modest happiness often comes from the misfortune of others.

Francois suddenly stopped trembling, his eyes oozed bloody tears of horror, his handsome face was full of hideousness, and he raised his head and roared at everyone: "I am a scavenger, go back to Breeze City, the rat tide is invading the north!! ”

……

"We don't know anything, we're just civilians—"

Annan, who had heard of Francois's return, rushed to the city gates and happened to meet the scavengers who took the civilians from the carriage.

The carriage of the coat of arms of the King of the North was blocked by the scavengers, but Francois spotted him and welcomed Annan.

"What's going on?"

"Surprise." The embarrassed Francois had an excited look on his face: "We found that the nezumi were holding a feast of rotting flesh near where you were attacked. In order to get the news out, we dispersed and retreated, and as a result, I saw the convoy as soon as I ran to the side of the road. I was worried that they were pretending to be rat people, so I made an excuse to sneak in and test the ......"

Annan handed him a handkerchief.

"Thank you......"

Flattered, Francois took the handkerchief and wiped the blood from his cheeks. "Now that I think about it, it's too pompous."

Blood and tears are real, and piercing the eyelid will do the trick, but a scavenger shouldn't react that way.

"A feast of rotting flesh and blood?"

It sounds chilling, and Annan is worried about Pinglin Town, which is not far from there, "Pinglin Town is near there, there won't be any accidents, right?" ”

"Please rest assured, the feast of rotting flesh and blood is just a ritual and feast for the nezumi to communicate with the clan." Francois first greeted his "fellow scavengers", followed Annan into the carriage, and recounted in detail everything he encountered after his departure, and said that he had found traces of dragon's breath.

Annan had thought that the mage's robe was just a blue dragon or ghost picked up from the place where he was attacked.

It seems that the blue dragon is involved?

Then, in order to escape the feast, Francois and the scavengers disguised themselves as nezumi, participated in the feast, and ate the carrion-

The biggest problem is that blessed carrion brings rot compared to disgusting and foul smell.

Annan lamented that the baron had paid too much, and Francois smiled absently: "It's nothing, this is to let you also help me wash away my shame......"

“…… What are you going to do next? Annan was silent for a short time and changed the subject.

"Let's go to the scavenger headquarters first." Francois said, "Even though I took the purifying potion in advance, I still had to go for a check-up. ”

"Do you need me to be with you?"

"Of course!"

Francois told the location of the Marf Scavenger's headquarters, then asked, "Did your investigation go well at the dinner?" ”

"Didn't find anything...... There has been some progress, though. Thinking of this, Annan asked, "Do you know Count Morgan?" ”

"Earl Morgan is a member of the royal family, but he died of old age a few days ago, how can you ask him?"

"I met his wife at the banquet."

Annan told Francois about his contacts with the countess and his plans to investigate the attack through her.

"You said the Countess was going to paint you a portrait?" As a result, Francois was frightened out of honorifics.

"Any questions?" Annan was puzzled by his reaction.

"It's a big problem. It is said that the Earl of Morgan and several of his wives would paint a portrait before they got married......"

"You're saying that 'portraiture' is a marriage curse? ”

"Not really, spells aren't that cheap, but it might be a ...... Tradition. Francois asked tentatively, "Have you painted?" ”

"Not yet."

Annan shook his head and said, "...... My sister sent a letter from the Raven Messenger, so I left the banquet early. ”

Francois also felt a little sorry for Annan.

A dead Earl left behind no match for the King of the North, but there aren't too many people in Breez to provoke.

……

The carriage that drove into the park stopped in front of a wooden house.

"This is the Scavenger headquarters?"

Annan asked Francois, who jumped out of the carriage, and was incomprehensible when he got the answer: "Do they work on the grass?" ”

Francois said mysteriously: "You'll know right away." ”

Led Annan to the wooden house, an old man in a dirty linen coat held a book and leaned against the leaky wooden house.

It's just that Annan was stopped outside.

Francois solemnly introduced to him: "Standing in front of you is Annan Reeves, one of the twelve kings of the northern realm who guarded the northern realm and expelled the demon tide, the beast tide, and the rat tide. ”

The old man drooped his eyelids: "Where's the badge?" ”

"Nope."

"You can't enter without a badge."

"It's okay, I'll wait for you here."

Annan watched curiously as Francois burrowed into the hut and then disappeared as if engulfed in darkness.

Attention falls on the elderly. Annan didn't feel the aura of Augusta Olmedo in him. Leaning a little closer, his gaze swept over the words on the book—

[Padilla bites down on the pink grape ......]

"Hmmm......"

Annan returned to the carriage without waiting for Francois to appear.

Later, a scavenger came over and told Annan that Francois had a slight corruption and needed to be purified.

In any case, Francois's trip confirmed one thing: the attack on the King of the North was indeed related to the Nezumen.

Driving back to the manor, as soon as he returned to the bedroom, the head maid handed Annan a letter.

"A maid who calls herself the Earl's Manor has brought you this letter."

(End of chapter)