The first session is a chance encounter

The autumn breeze is blowing, and the climate is pleasant. Under the clear sky, a dirt and stone path can be seen stretching along the base of the mountain, cleverly skirting a jutting hill and extending into the field in the distance.

With the sound of horses' hooves and wheels, a horse-drawn carriage came along the road.

It was a typical aristocratic carriage. Four-wheeled, two-horseed, and the carriages were decorated with ornate red satin. In the driver's seat of the carriage sat two men, one the driver of the carriage and the other the servant who was ready to wait for the orders of the master in the carriage. Both men wore ornate uniforms that made them instantly recognizable.

In fact, according to tradition, there should have been two other servants, standing at the back of the carriage waiting to be dispatched. But in any case, just this car, the two people in the driver's seat, clearly show the identity and status of the owner in the carriage. If these weren't obvious enough, there was also a noble coat of arms inlaid on the body at the rear of the carriage.

Perhaps because the road was a bit remote, the carriage walked for a long time without encountering pedestrians or other carriages. On the long dirt and gravel path, there was only this one car.

The carriage, which had been maintaining a steady speed, suddenly stopped, because the driver stopped the carriage on his own initiative.

"What's wrong?" the man in the car asked. You can tell from the voice that it is a woman, and it is a woman of some age. Although this is a wilderness, the security in the vicinity is not bad, and there are no bandits and thieves, so the hostess in the car did not react, but was just curious.

"Ma'am. The servant jumped out of the carriage. "There seems to be a corpse in front of it. ”

"Corpses?" the hostess muttered, "well, I'll go down and have a look." ”

She spoke in a direct manner, and the servant did not stop her. Although, under normal circumstances, a woman would not have the courage to observe a corpse. Especially a noble woman.

The servant opened the door from the outside. Out of the car came an old woman in her sixties with a serious expression. Although she is said to be in her prime, her youth is no longer there, and her black hair has turned gray, but there is still a remnant of her peerless beauty in her face. Even the wrinkles at the corners of the eyes can't completely erase this natural beauty.

The old woman wore a long dark gray dress that was nothing out of the ordinary. In aristocratic tradition, this is a very appropriate dress for this age. She wore no hat and her hair was traditionally coiled in a loop at the back of her head. She didn't have a cane in her hand, and she didn't need any help when she got out of the car - she was very nimble and got out of the car with a single jump.

The old woman, guided by the servant, came to the corpse. The corpse had very coincidentally (or deliberately) collapsed in the middle of a group of bushes. If it is a pedestrian who walks by, then he will not be tall enough, and the bush will obscure his view and the body will not be visible, and if he is a horseman, he may not notice because he is driving the horse. Only the servant, who sat tall and did not need to care about the route, could find the body.

"No smell...... Looks like he just died. The old woman glanced at it, and then she walked half a circle around the bushes, and came to the corpse through a gap without bushes.

"Aunt Mary, is it a robber?" As the old woman approached the body, two more women came out of the carriage. These two were young women, who looked to be only about fifteen years old, with almost identical faces and dresses, and could be seen at a glance as twins.

The twins wore white and pink dresses. By aristocratic standards, this kind of clothing was not particularly ornate, but rather a modest attire, and usually only worn by unmarried girls. Both have natural silver hair with a pale blue color, and their long hair is combed into a single braid. For the convenience of the car, the thick braid was wrapped around the neck at the moment, and the excess was hung along the shoulders on the chest.

"Nonsense!" replied the old woman disdainfully. "If a robber chooses to rob here, he will soon starve to death...... Besides, there are no visible injuries. ”

The corpse lay reclining on the ground, all around it clean, free of the black blood stains that would normally result from murder. There was no smell of blood in the air, and there weren't even flies gathered here. In addition, the corpse had a noticeable snug-fitting pouch around its waist. The small bag was so well buckled that it had obviously never been opened.

In the case of robbers, it is impossible not to search the victim's body.

"Starving homeless people?" one of the twin sisters asked.

"Not quite like ......" Aunt Mary, though she seemed courageous and experienced, did not attempt to touch the corpse. However, judging by the appearance of the corpse, it is not difficult to judge. Because he didn't look like a homeless man dying of starvation. These homeless people have almost one thing in common - they are thin and dirty. The corpse was dressed in an ordinary leather travel garment, which was so well preserved that it was not "worn" by any measure.

"Let's go to the sheriff. "Another proposal among the twins.

"What is this?" said Aunt Mary, bending down and picking up something from the ground. It was a large piece of red metal, but it was neither copper nor lacquered steel, something beyond her knowledge. You can clearly feel that this metal is very hard, but the texture is unexpectedly light.

There's not just one piece of the ground. If you look closely, you will see that there are quite a few such metal fragments, scattered throughout the bushes.

"Strange stuff. The twins also found the metal fragments on the ground and picked them up to look closely. It is easy to see that these fragments were supposed to be a whole, perhaps some kind of artifact or utensils, but now they are worthless pieces.

"It's not robbery, it's not starvation. I think it should be a sudden attack. Aunt Mary came to a conclusion. "Poor fellow. Halfway through walking, she suddenly fell ill, and she was still in such a remote place......" She turned her head and threw away the metal block in her hand. But after throwing it away, she seemed to remember something, so she picked up the largest piece of metal from the ground again and put it away.

"It's a lot of fun. Aunt Mary whispered to herself. Then she spoke loudly to the servants. "Take note of this place a little. When we get home, we have to find someone to report to the sheriff so that he can collect the body. ”

It seems that this is the end of the matter. As Aunt Mary turned around and wanted to leave, her foot suddenly stepped on a small rock. Although she was still nimble on her hands and feet, the kick still made her stagger and staggered two steps to the side, kicking the corpse.

The reclining corpse was kicked like this, lost its balance, flipped over, and lay on the ground in a position facing the sky on its back.

"I'm sorry. Aunt Mary took two steps back and apologized to the corpse. Then she turned her head and tried to get out of here, but at that moment he noticed that his niece didn't seem to look right.

The two nieces had very surprised expressions on their faces. Their surprise was not directed at Aunt Mary, but at the nameless corpse on the ground. A few seconds later, one of the nieces even covered her mouth with her hand to hide her gaffe.

"What's wrong?"

"It's him. After a while, one of the twins suddenly spoke.

"He?" said Aunt Mary, looking back at the corpse on the ground again. The deceased was a young man, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with his eyes closed and his face pale (as has always been the case with dead faces). There was a conspicuous scar on his face, and at a glance it was clear that the scar that ran diagonally across the bridge of his nose from his left eyebrow was caused by a sharp weapon. But even with this scar, his face was still well-rounded, and though not handsome, he was a pretty young man—if you didn't consider him a corpse.

The clothes on the deceased's body—as she had observed before—were not worn. In fact, there is no dirt other than dirt. There are also no signs of wear on the collar, cuffs, etc. of the clothes. From this you can see that the dress is still very new. The body of the deceased was well-proportioned, and the waist was slender—not the kind of slenderness that made people feel weak, but the kind of slenderness that resulted from the tightness and strength of rigorous training.

If he lived, he would have been a nice young man. It's a pity that he died. Then again, since he is dead, it doesn't matter who he really is.

"Ashrufat......" one of the twins said softly. "I remember I said his ......"

"That forcibly ...... you," came to Aunt Mary's senses, but she immediately kept her mouth shut. Not far away, the coachman and his servants were watching.

"Anyway, he's dead. Aunt Mary came to her senses at once. "Let the sheriff collect the body. You can get a small sum of money so that he can have a decent grave......"

"He's moving!" Suddenly, one of the twins let out an exclamation. Aunt Mary immediately turned around and looked closely at the corpse. After a few seconds, she realized that it was not her niece's delusion. The man, whom she saw as a corpse, twitched again.

The old woman immediately crouched down, one finger lightly placed under the nostril of the "deceased", and the other hand pressed on the deceased's chest, the place of the heart.

Breathing was barely felt under the nostrils, but the hand pressed to his chest could clearly feel the twitching of the muscles. The man is not dead.

The old woman looked up at her two nieces. She opened her mouth, as if to ask for the two of them's opinion, but the next second, she spat out very firm words.

"Take him back!" said the old woman. Then he faced the coachman and the servants in the distance. "You two, hurry up and get him into the carriage!"

"Wait, Aunt Mary. As the two servants carried the "corpse" into the carriage, one of the twins approached the aunt and asked softly. "We should ...... It's too conspicuous to bring him back...... He's a ...... That ......"

"Nope. Aunt Mary replied in the same voice. "I don't think he's going to die. In that case...... He might be of great use...... For you. ”

"We?"

"That's right, it's useful for you. Aunt Mary glanced around quickly. The road is in the middle of nowhere, so there is no one else around. "Of course, it's just 'maybe'. ”