"Demon worship?" When Anna asked this question, she was very curious. Apart from those true murderers and perverts who thirsted for blood all the time, perhaps only the true lunatics would worship the Demon of Chaos!
They might as well worship the devil dukes, who were much more 'honest'. Therefore, it was not strange that one or two of them worshipped demons, but it was rather weird that so many people died on the spot.
Katrina thought so, too. The reason why the Congress of Magic issued the compulsory task was because of the word "demon worship". If it were someone who worshipped demons and died during the ritual, the Congress might not investigate the matter in such detail.
Almost none of the powerful demons would attempt to develop a church that worshipped them. They might have considered such a problem, but they would quickly throw such thoughts to the back of their minds due to their own chaos and the influence of slaughter and blood. That was why such large-scale demon worship was an inexplicable matter that was implicitly bizarre.
Gulf, the boss of the bar, wiped the cup before him carefully with a clean fur, not letting go of any flaw. He chuckled and said, "It's indeed demon worship. At the very least, the Church announced that it was' demon worship 'after a detailed investigation."
"But it's possible that the Church intentionally covered the truth in order not to raise panic. It's not like there are no precedents." Anna was rather dissatisfied with Gulf's answer. She had been a mercenary for almost four years, and she had seen and experienced a lot of things. She had also run into a few cases where the Church intentionally covered the truth for certain reasons. She did not accept the conclusion of their investigation without any suspicion.
Gulf, as a mercenary for more than ten years and a boss of a bar for more than eight years, was willing to believe the conclusion of the investigation because he had his own secret channels.
Seeing that the two girls were looking at him with their eyes that were as green as a lake, Gulf tapped the table softly. "You'll have to pay for the intelligence, but …"
As he spoke, he looked at the mercenaries who were popping their heads out of the door and chuckled. "However, the two ladies seem to have boosted the business of my bar. So, I'll tell you for free."
Anna looked back and said with a smile, "It's all because of Sister Katrina. I've been drinking in your bar all the time, but I've never attracted a bunch of 'wild wolves' from the wilderness."
"Oh, so your name is Katrina. It's a common female name in Calcate City. Are you a local too?" Said Gulf with a smile.
Before Katrina could answer, Anna said, "No, Sister Katrina is from a noble family in another province."
"A noble family? No wonder he has such a temperament. This is very rare among mercenaries. " Deep in thought, Gulf said, "As a matter of fact, I always feel that you look familiar, Katrina. I think I've seen you somewhere before …"
Katrina's face turned gloomy. Her family had been here for almost three hundred years, and she must've inherited part of her ancestors' looks. She thought to herself, "When the Congress controls the Schachran Empire in the future, when long-distance communication and discussion become more convenient, and when I become a senior-rank sorcerer, I will build my magic tower here …"
"Uncle Gulf, you feel that every beautiful lady is familiar. Tell me the intelligence now!" Anna pointed out the truth without any hesitation.
Gulf put down the furs and rubbed his forehead. He said in a low voice, "It was the servant of the villa who discovered it first. His name is Ivan. When he cleaned the hall, he saw blood and corpses everywhere. Some were nobles, some were Knight, some were ordinary people, some were artists, and some were sorcerers …"
Because of Saint Ivan, the most common name in the Schachran Empire was Ivan.
"A sorcerer?" Anna couldn't help but exclaim. It was very difficult to run into an official sorcerer in the Schachran Empire.
Katrina's eyes narrowed, and she became focused.
"Yes. According to Ivan's description, I've confirmed that the sorcerer was wearing a level-one arcana badge and a second-circle magic badge. Also, based on his appearance, I've asked around. He just came to Calcate City not long ago. The materials that he searched for and purchased in the forest and underground were all those that sorcerers need." Gulf briefly described the sorcerer's appearance, especially the mole next to his left eye.
Katrina nodded in her heart. It was indeed the dead sorcerer.
Gulf continued, "It's already weird that dozens of people of different identities were killed in the same hall. What's even weirder is that there's an altar at the center of the hall. Although there's nothing on the altar anymore, the chaotic air of slaughter and destruction is spreading out."
"How did those people die? Suicide, or homicide?" Katrina carefully asked a question that befitted her identity. It was a question that a curious and experienced female mercenary should ask. Judging from Anna's expression, she wanted to ask the same question too.
Gulf's voice was even lower. "That's the third weird part. Those people were killed by each other. Also, it was not a one-on-one battle but a chaotic mass slaughter. Some of the victims had fatal wounds all over their bodies."
"A sorcerer was killed by an ordinary person and an artist?" Not just Katrina, even Anna found it hard to accept. "Was there a Knight on the spot?"
"Yes, there was a Knight, but he was killed too." Gulf couldn't help but be scared when he talked about that. "There are no traces of the blood power used by the Knight, nor are there any residual waves or phenomena of magic. It means that … It means that they carried out the 'slaughter feast' as ordinary people. Also … Also, judging from the position of the bodies, nobody tried to escape …"
It was much more detailed than the intelligence that the Congress of Magic gave Katrina. She considered carefully and said, "Is it possible that it's the influence of illusions in magic? I'm told that the altars of some cults will release illusionary power during their rituals, allowing their believers to do all kinds of unbelievable things. "
"You're truly a noble lady. You know more about cults than I do." Gulf chuckled. "It's possible. That's why it's said that it's a case of demon worship. At the very least, devils won't let their believers kill each other but let them die in more valuable places. Other cults, on the other hand, are more like devils. They won't choose their believers even if they want to obtain the pure power of faith through slaughter. Of course, I don't know how the Church ascertained that the victims were all demon believers. Perhaps they were just 'ordinary people' …"
"It sounds really weird. It's much more terrifying than the stories of the bards." Anna patted her chest. "Uncle Gulf, is there anything else that's weird?"
"Weird?" Gulf recalled carefully. "They all looked peaceful after they died, as if they were liberated instead of killing each other. Right, Ivan felt cold when he entered the hall, but it was the end of May when it was still warm."
Anna's curiosity was fully triggered. She kept asking about it, but that was all Gulf knew. He couldn't help but sigh. "There may be more weird signs on the spot, but Ivan was too scared to pay attention to them. After the investigation, the Church purged the villa with holy light, fearing that the air of demons would affect Calcate City. So, we will never know even if there are any."
"The Church purged the villa with holy light …" Katrina repeated in a low voice. It was a great problem for her investigation, which meant that it was barely possible to find any valuable traces on the spot.
Then, she pretended to be curious and asked, "Did Ivan remember anything later? It's been a few months. "
"Yes, yes." Anna nodded in agreement. She was always worried when a 'story' was cut off in the middle.
Gulf's lips twitched. He tried to put on a creepy smile, but his smile was full of panic and fear. "Ivan had nightmares every day because he witnessed the bloody scene. Also, the Church gave him a huge reward. So, he often came to my place to drink. He could only fall asleep when he couldn't remember anything when he was too drunk. However, a week after the incident, he accidentally fell into a tributary of the Negrin River that passes through the city because of his drunkenness and drowned. "
"Well …" Anna felt that coldness surged into her heart. She did not dare to ask anymore.
Katrina had similar feelings, but she was more wary and frustrated. Although she had accomplished her mission by bringing back the files that she had investigated so far, as an excellent arcanist, she was very curious about things and wanted to investigate more. "Do I have to sneak into the inquisition of Calcate City and read their files?"
She was not very confident about that, because such a big city would definitely be supervised by a red robe.
Anna, who was scared by the 'demon worship incident', returned to the hotel with Katrina after drinking a few glasses of wine to calm herself down. At this moment, Yakov, who reported to the city hall that his blood power was activated, had returned.
He was sharing with the other mercenaries that he would be knighted as a formal Knight in a week in delight, but when he saw Anna's and Katrina's pale faces, he stopped smiling and asked concernedly, "What's wrong?"
Seeing that there were no strangers around, Anna told him the intelligence that she heard in the tavern exactly as it was.
After listening attentively, Yakov hesitated for a moment and asked, "A formal sorcerer … What are his features?"
Anna pointed at her eyes. "There is a mole next to his left eye."
"A mole …" Yakov repeated and did not say anything else.
Katrina looked at him and returned to her room with the excuse of being tired.
In the middle of the night, a shadow suddenly flashed out of Katrina's room and snuck to the district of nobles.
Before she left, considering that it might be inconvenient to perform magic in the Schachran Empire, she exchanged for a bottle of blood power activation potion and became a formal Knight. After the modification of the Congress of Magic, the power activated by such a potion was as good as when she activated it herself. She would no longer be a fake Knight, but there would still be hidden problems that prevented her from advancing into a great Knight.
In the howling wind at night, Katrina, who had activated 'Blizzard' blood power, seemed to have melted into the environment. Although the Church had cleansed the villa with holy light, she still had to investigate it in person. It was like an experiment that she had to verify in person. Also, it was rather illogical that the official sorcerer worshipped a demon soon after he came to Calcate City.
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