The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 340 - Investigation

                                                  When the Bloody Knights and the other soldiers returned to the base, they looked beaten down in all senses. First, they didn't accomplish anything even when the enemies were holding back and when they went all out, they were completely defeated. Thanks to that, all the troops suffered a huge blow on their morale. The bloody knights looked particularly gloomier than others since they failed in avenging their Captain, and their unit would most likely be dissolved once they returned home. Thanks to that, they didn't sleep much on the first night after their return. As if things weren't bad enough, they heard some suspicious news in the morning.

"The mansion of the lord of the region was attacked?" Cohnal asked after he heard that from the lips of commander Ruvyn.

"That is right, and I would like that and the bloody knights investigate the place for vestiges left by the criminals," commander Ruvyn explained after he nodded. "Unfortunately, we won't have time to mourn our losses because we need to increase the defenses of all villages and towns in the area and I will need all my soldiers."

"Understood," Cohnal said.

          Of all units, the bloody knights were the ones who suffered fewer losses. Their unit still had seven hundred members left, and even though they were depressed, they seemed to be the right group for that kind of work. However, since it was only an investigation, Cohnal only took thirty members with him. Melisse and Nyana came because they had skills that came in handy regarding magic and stealth.

              Around noon, they reached the area where the mansion could be found and noticed that half of the place had been burned down. After asking around, they confirmed that there were no fatalities, but the lord was enraged. He was complaining with the guards because they didn't notice anything.

"We were sent by commander Ruvyn to investigate the incident," Cohnal said. "I know that you are busy and angry due to your losses, but if you cooperate with us, we might catch the culprits."

          After asking around for a while, the group didn't learn anything, aside from the fact that no one was attacked. The guards didn't want to admit that, but they obviously fell asleep on duty. Cohnal thought that they slacked off, but soon he realized that it hadn't been an unfortunate incident… They were forced to sleep.

"I guess some spell put them to sleep," Nyana said. "There are some hysterical registers of the followers of the demon god using that kind of spell, but they stopped for some reason."

"It seems to be a pretty convenient spell, why do they stop using it?" Cohnal asked.

"Apparently, anyone aside from the caster was put to sleep and covering one's ears wasn't enough to stop it," Nyana explained. "It is weird though, without horses, how would they reach this area so fast?"

"Hmm… did you notice anything weird, Melisse?" Cohnal asked. 

"Apparently, the fire started on the back of the mansion, but there is something weird there…" Melisse said. "The ground behind it fell and revealed an underground compartment of the mansion. The head of the family doesn't want anyone there, though."

"... What about traces of the culprits?" Cohnal asked.

"I only found one and the traces disappeared when they reached a grove three hundred meters from here," Melisse replied. "Another weird thing… apparently, those footprints belonged to someone who was wearing armor, or at least boots of steel."

              That was indeed weird… it wouldn't be strange if the followers of the demon god loot the bodies of the fallen soldiers and use the armor to protect themselves. Now that Cohnal thought about it, maybe they used a fallen soldier to put the place on fire after using the spell to make the guards sleep. If only one of them tried that, it would make sense why nothing was stolen, and the culprit left after just setting the house on fire.

"Use all our men to look in the vicinity for any other vestiges," Cohnal said. "We need to return to the base with more than we already know."

            Those three worked hard to learn more about the incident, and thanks to that, they found some faint traces that showed that someone had climbed the mansion's walls. Considering the place where they found those, they discovered that the culprit invaded the mansion and set it on fire after that… even without trying to enter. That only raised more questions, though.

              Cohnal knew that he could learn something if he had the chance to take a look at the back of the mansion, but the head of the family didn't let them do that. Without any other choice, they were forced to return almost empty-handed.

"I guess we aren't that special without the Captain," Cohnal said with his head down.

"I know that he was something else, but that doesn't mean that he recruited us because we would be useless," Melisse said.

"Hmm…. I suppose so," Cohnal said.

"What is that?" Nyana said, pointing toward an orange point in the distance.

          The group had just crossed the main passageway of the base, so it was clear what was there… Some part of the base was on fire. The group hurried in that direction and then quickly found some horses running around nervously. Something scared the crap out of them, and it was related to the stables. When those three approached, they saw some soldiers using snow to extinguish the fire, and others were moving the bodies of some sleeping guards. Even though the flames were pretty strong, those guys were sleeping like rocks.

"They attacked our stables as well… look around for any footprints of people wearing armor!" Cohnal said.

          It didn't take long for Melisse to find some, but the footprints disappeared after they entered the stables. It seemed the criminal wanted to steal some horses… while finding the right footprints after the havoc the horses caused would be difficult.. Melisse already knew which direction to go.