The destruction of the Blood Wolf mercenary group did not bring the anticipated vitality to Frostwhisper Village.
Igor stood in the dilapidated courtyard of Snow Vow Manor, watching the guards escort the captured mercenaries one by one into the dungeon.
The rescued family members of the villagers were mostly women with pale faces.
Their eyes were empty, and they only shook their heads numbly at the water and food offered by the guards before scurrying back behind the tightly shut doors of the village like frightened moles.
Igor felt somewhat helpless.
Even though he had eradicated the Blood Wolf mercenaries and brought superficial peace, the deep-seated rejection and wariness permeating Frostwhisper Village had not vanished.
Recalling the old man’s words at the village entrance about “not much to squeeze,” Igor frowned, realizing there must be hidden circumstances far beyond mere banditry.
After some thought, he summoned the accompanying guard captain.
“Captain Harold.”
Igor spoke carefully:
“What was the reputation of the lord who governed this place before me?”
The guard captain looked embarrassed, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face.
But under Igor’s calm and sincere gaze, he finally gritted his teeth and said in a low voice:
“Lord Bolo, the previous lord was named Carey Leslie, a distant relative of the Baron… To be honest, his reputation… was indeed not good.”
The guard captain paused, his voice dropping even lower:
“He was once authorized to manage the family’s merchant caravan, but… he was greedy, lecherous, and vindictive, causing many disturbances. The once orderly caravan and outposts were thrown into complete chaos by him in less than two months.”
“It was to quell public anger that the Baron… exiled him here.”
Seeing Igor’s slightly raised eyebrow, he quickly added:
“Of course, part of the reason the Baron sent him to the Frostwhisper Domain was also because Lord Carey was a Thunder Elementalist.”
“You know, the Thunder element is active and restless, and most dislikes the heavy, congealing environment of the Ice element.”
“Although the Frostwhisper Domain is remote, its mana node has little effect, or could even be considered a punishment for a Thunder Elementalist. It’s not that the territory itself is bad.”
Igor nodded slightly, indicating understanding.
The villagers’ hostility was likely mostly due to that notorious former lord.
Unlike the pioneering knight who founded the village, the previous lord was not a virtuous man. The Leslie family name here had probably long been equated with tyranny and exile.
The wall of estrangement was not built in a day, and to dismantle it, there were no shortcuts, only time and persistent, sincere actions.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel a headache.
Indeed, there were no free gifts in the world.
The knight’s domain Baron Leslie had granted him was truly a mess.
The bandit-suppression mission was successfully completed, and the guard captain suggested escorting the prisoners back to Gray Harbor to report to the Baron.
But Igor raised his hand to stop him:
“Lord Bolo, do you have further orders?” the guard captain asked respectfully.
Igor nodded:
“The Baron also ordered me to investigate the population disappearance case in Frostwhisper Village. The village situation is complex, and these prisoners might know more details. I need time for detailed interrogation. And…”
His gaze swept over the desolate village and ruined manor, and he smiled wryly:
“As you can see, the villagers are not yet willing to accept me. I must achieve something tangible.”
“Whether it’s repairing the manor or stabilizing morale, I need you and the soldiers to stay a few more days.”
Captain Harold thought briefly, then nodded in agreement:
“I understand your concerns, Lord Bolo. In that case, I will personally take two men and ride quickly back to Gray Harbor to report the situation to the Baron. The rest of the brothers will stay here at your command.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Igor nodded with satisfaction, then took out a pouch of Gold Crowns and a list:
“Additionally, I must trouble the Captain to purchase a batch of food, livestock, and urgently needed building materials on my behalf. No matter what, we cannot let the people continue to suffer, and the manor must regain basic functionality as soon as possible.”
Hearing Igor’s words, Harold’s expression turned solemn.
He nodded slightly, solemnly accepted the items, and left to carry out his orders.
After seeing Harold off, Igor immediately turned and headed for the dungeon.
He needed to extract details about the previous knight’s death from those mercenaries and find clues for his second task.
The dungeon was cold and damp, the air filled with the smell of mold and blood.
The interrogated mercenary leaders shivered under Igor’s icy gaze.
However, when Igor asked about the specific details of former Lord Carey’s death, most were vague and all vehemently denied any involvement in his murder.
“No… not clear, it was handled by the Captain himself with his men… when we arrived, there were no living people left in the manor…”
“Oh, right, before we occupied the village, the Captain… no, Blood Wolf led many people out once, but only he returned in the end.”
“He said… they encountered an attack by magical beasts, and the others couldn’t escape.”
“Perhaps… that was just Blood Wolf’s excuse. Maybe that was when he brought his men into Frostwhisper Village, killed the former knight, and silenced the rest.”
“But we… we really weren’t involved!”
Silenced?
Igor frowned.
Killing a knight-lord was something that couldn’t be hidden. Why would Blood Wolf go to the extra trouble of silencing witnesses?
Unless… what he wanted to cover up wasn’t the murder itself, but something else.
More suspiciously, despite committing such a grave crime, he hadn’t fled.
‘This means there is something in Frostwhisper Village that he couldn’t bear to abandon, something more compelling than a warrant…’
Igor’s thoughts churned, his fingers unconsciously tapping his sword hilt.
Immediately, a term flashed across his mind like lightning: the disappearance case.
Those unresolved population disappearances that occurred in the Frostwhisper Domain.
He suddenly looked up, his gaze locking onto the mercenary before him, his voice low and imposing: New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Now, tell me everything you know about the population disappearances in the village.”
“Disappearances? It seems… there were some, but the Captain forbade us from asking too much…”
“The Captain… the Captain seemed to be trying some strange ritual for a while, he was especially excited, often wandering near the dungeon alone…”
A mercenary added tremulously under the pressure of Igor’s elemental aura.
“Trying a ritual?”
Igor pressed.
“Don’t… don’t know what it was… but the Captain said that once it succeeded, he could… could shed the inferior brand and become a true Elementalist…”
The mercenary looked terrified, clearly not knowing the specifics.
Shed the inferior brand and become an Orthodox Elementalist?
Igor was slightly stunned, finding the notion utterly absurd.
The reason Inferior Elementalists were inferior was precisely because they could never become Orthodox Elementalists.
This was a universally known, cruel fact, a law affirmed by the Divine Thrones of Elements.
If there really was a method to escape this fate, those ancient, heritage-rich great families would never have overlooked it, how could it fall to a wandering transcendent mercenary?
However, Blood Wolf had silenced many mercenaries before entering the village, which might be related to this?
‘Could this Blood Wolf… have gotten involved with some strange, evil cult?’
Igor felt suspicious.
“Is there anything else?”
He looked at the mercenaries.
The mercenaries glanced at each other. Another one seemed to remember something and recalled:
“Oh, I remember now…”
“Before… we did hear rumors about population disappearances in Frostwhisper Village, but they were all old people, and the villagers… didn’t seem very anxious to look for them. It was strange…”
Old people gone?
Villagers not anxious?
Igor’s suspicions grew deeper.
Blood Wolf was attempting some mysterious ritual in Frostwhisper Village, had silenced many mercenaries over some secret, and there had been disappearances of old villagers that no one searched for…
All of this seemed to point to some unknown secret, and this secret… was likely related to the village itself.
Unfortunately, these mercenaries knew too little. The ones who truly knew were probably the still-unconscious Blood Wolf and… those silent villagers.
‘But the villagers don’t trust me yet. This matter… unless there’s absolutely no other way, forcing it isn’t suitable.’
Igor thought to himself.
Just as Igor finished the interrogation and walked out of the dungeon, a guard suddenly came to report:
“Lord Bolo, there’s a villager outside the manor who claims to be a carpenter, named Ruben. He’s willing to assist in repairing the dilapidated manor.”