Chapter 68 – Foir (4)

“I checked everything.”

“How was it?”

“Every ranch used a different sign. He put a mark on an inconspicuous fence, and it seems he made a distinction of his own.”

As soon as we checked the letters on the fence, we checked all the other ranches and barns. In most of the ranches, traces of letters engraved with Magi were found in inconspicuous places. It wasn’t a coincidence that the letters reacted to my magic. The devil had a purpose and had marked the entire village of Foire.

“So, what about the money you put on Jack’s bedside?”

This also solved the reason why money suddenly appeared on Jack’s bedside. There is no reason for a person to suddenly put the remaining money after selling livestock on Jack’s bedside. But what if it’s a demon?

“It must have been to put the blame on Jack, right? If you put money on the bedside of a gambling-mad person, of course they will spend it.”

After hearing my guess, Alice raised a question.

“Isn’t that something you need to know Jack very well for? There’s no way he’d be able to pinpoint the tendencies of someone he didn’t know was a demon. If he had blindly left his money in any house, there would have been someone defending Jack who said he had done the same. But the case record didn’t say anything like that. Didn’t you just put the money on Jack’s bedside?”

“…I guess so.”

I nodded. It was as she said. You can’t tell everything about a person just by looking at their appearance. Quite a long period of observation and conversation was the only way to see through people. Alice nodded her head and said.

“Couldn’t there be a devil among the people Jack recently met? There are so many outsiders coming and going in this town. There is no room for being suspicious of being an outsider.”

It was a very probable statement. This speculation, which has yet to be publicized, had to end with just the two of us. The reason behind this speculation was that it could only be confirmed by Magi.

“Let’s go right away. To Jack.”

******

In front of Jack’s house, a dark-skinned boy was arguing with Lorena. A boy with a stick in his hand and a cape around his neck was playing pranks on Lorena.

“Take it! Great King! Hero Slash!”

The way she wielded the stick showed that she had learned quite a bit, but Lorena laughed and lightly let her little stick slip away. And she said as she sat down on the floor clutching her chest.

“Ugh… ! I’m sorry To die like this… !”

And let her pick and fall. The kid raised her sword with a forceful face and then shouted:

“Win! I defeated the terrifying Great Demon King!”

Is the game over? I cleared my throat and called Lorena’s name.

“Lorena.”

“Uh, huh? Evan?”

Lorena, who was lying on her floor, lifted her head and looked at me, then stopped pretending to be her corpse and jumped to her feet. Said the little girl with a disgruntled look on her face as Lorena abruptly stood up.

“Ah, what! Lorena! You were playing with me!”

“Charlie. Sorry. A guest has arrived. Do it later. Huh?”

But the little boy he called Charlie screamed in displeasure at Lorena’s comforting expression.

“No! No! Lorena! You were playing with me! You were supposed to play with me today!”

“Charlie. You are an important guest. Won’t you play with me if I keep doing this?”

“Tooth… !”

When Lorena stopped with her stern voice, Charlie took a step back and looked at us, as if he had finally understood. I greeted Lorena once more.

“Hi Lorena. Were you playing with the kid?”

“I’m not a kid.”

Charlie answered my question in a more blunt tone. Lorena comforted Charlie with a puzzled expression.

“Charlie. You can’t talk like that. Huh?”

Charlie averted her gaze as her face flushed red and licked her lips. When the kids were stubborn, they acted that way. I thought Charlie was living in a wonderful world. All the slaves I used to build up my pride in that way when I was young were broken bones and thrown to the dogs for food.

Surprisingly, the sight of slaves being eaten was a fairly popular show on the black market.

“Do you know each other?”

“Friend. Friend.”

At my words, Lorena nodded her head awkwardly. Her golden eyes rippled like streams whenever she moved her head.

“Oh, hello. Maybe that… Evan’s daughter? Ah… What should I call it… ?”

The naming problem makes people in trouble at this time. Alice smiled bitterly and held out her hand to Lorena.

“Flancia Alice. Call me Alice. It’s from the Charlotte office. I want to talk to my father for a moment today. Would it be okay?”

Legal issues made everyone nervous. Lorena nodded her stiff face at her Alice’s words, then turned her body around and opened the way to her door. I said, holding Lorena’s hand.

“Lorena. Don’t worry. I’m with you.”

Lorena smiled as if her words were reassuring. It was at that moment when Alice grabbed the doorknob and we warmly exchanged glances.

“Eight!”

“Sir, fuck!”

Suddenly, I felt a tingling pain in my shin. I couldn’t control my swear words as the pain, which had been burning like a candlelight, gradually pierced my skin and spread through my bones. As I grabbed my shins and jumped up, Charlie was running away with a stick.

“Charlie!”

Alice was staring at Charlie with a bewildered face. Lorena looked at her Charlie, holding me with a puzzled expression. Charlie looked at me and Lorena and stuck her tongue out, she said.

“Nyah! Meeeeelong!”

He was even running away.

“Gwa, are you okay?”

Lorena said with a worried face. Pain was momentary, but body odor is eternal. I pretended to be sick a little longer, savoring the smell of her flesh. Alice came back to my side and said.

“That child. Isn’t that Hanson’s child?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Sorry. I’m not such a bad kid. He’s a bit mischievous and mischievous, but…”

“Are you okay. Are you okay. A child might be like that.”

As I said that, I lightly brushed my pants once. There was a small bruise on the part hit by the stick, but the devil’s body was able to quickly recover from such a wound. I shook my legs lightly to show off that I was fine, and went back into the house with Alice.

“Dad! The guest is here! You are from the Charlotte office!”

Then Lorena disappeared into the kitchen. As soon as I entered the house, I snorted at the smell of alcohol, and Alice’s expression was rotting. Bottles of alcohol were rolling around on the floor, and a pretty good sword was placed in the living room. Was she drinking the fact that she was a knight?

Facing the miserable reality now, is the reason why only the sword and medal shine quietly because managing those two things is the only act of masturbation for him?

“Uh, welcome…”

A shrunken posture and eyes full of shame were facing us on the stairs. Alice and I exchanged greetings with embarrassed faces at his miserable face. Lorena was preparing tea, and it was clear that hot water would be all tea in this poor house.

Alice said to Lorena.

“Oh, tea is fine. And Mr. Jack. I want to talk a little bit about the above. Could you go upstairs first?”

“Ah yes. All right.”

As Jack came down the stairs without a sound, he quickly climbed the stairs with quick steps. Alice said to me as soon as Jack opened the door and disappeared.

“How is it?”

“You don’t feel anything? I don’t think he’s a demon follower.”

I looked at the possibility that Jack was a teammate with the devil, but if the devil and he were a teammate, there was no way that he would be so suspicious. Since Magi didn’t feel it, we decided to assume that he was definitely a victim of this incident.

“Nu-chuu.”

As he said, his room was dirty and shabby. The room of a former knight had an unbelievably musty smell, and the bed could be believed to be homeless. Alice took the chair Jack had brought out and sat down quietly, and I stood beside her like a strong bodyguard.

“Jack. Among the people you met in the village, is there anyone who was particularly memorable?”

“Yes?”

“Were there any outsiders you were friendly with, gambling or drinking?”

“Well, why are you asking such a thing…”

Jack asked Alice, trying to recall vague memories. Alice pressed Jack with a firm expression.

“It is an important matter. Jack. Think about it. Among the people I met at a drinking party, friends who talked about personal things, gambled or drank together. Among them, think of someone you met really recently.”

Jack was eagerly trying to recall his memory. His mind, once smart enough to solve a bribery case, was so consumed with alcohol and gambling that even impressive relationships were confined to drunkenness.

“Ah, um… !”

After thinking for a while, he opened his eyes and shouted.

“Ah… Ah… ! There was! There was a guy who pretended to be exceptionally friendly. She became close over drinks, and I remember confiding in her. When I said it was difficult because I couldn’t stop gambling or drinking, he was a friend who encouraged me by patting me on the shoulder.”

“By any chance, when was the last time you met that friend?”

“It was before the incident.”

Jack said that, and he frowned at him as if he was weird too.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that friend since the incident.”

Alice asked in an urgent voice. Her expression was like that of a hound dog finding a fallen duck.

“Do you know where that friend lives?”

“I never told you where I live, but… As we were parting, I remember seeing that friend going towards the woods at the end of her ranch. I tried to stop it because it was dangerous, but I just went home because I was tired.”

Alice and I rolled our eyes.

This baby