"Don’t listen to his nonsense. Ever since Blanche went missing, his mental state has been somewhat unstable."
While the two were talking, a woman emerged from the door, holding a basket filled with selected vegetables, her face full of fatigue and apology. "Come in, Ethan, I just made some cinnamon pie."
Old Leicht glanced at the woman with disgust and said coldly, "You’ve been bewitched by the devil too!"
He needed to stay here now, not going anywhere, to keep an eye on that devil so he could never harm his family!
Ethan vaguely felt that Old Leicht’s odd behavior might be related to his departure from the town five days ago. He followed the woman inside, taking a moment to survey the room. Everything was neatly arranged, much the same as his last visit, and the fire burning in the fireplace drove away the persistent chill.
"Excuse me, who is Blanche?"
Once seated, Ethan asked.
The woman placed the steaming cinnamon pie down and sat across from him. "Blanche is our horse, the brownish-yellow one. The old fellow raised it by hand. A few nights ago, Blanche somehow escaped from the stable and ran out of town. You know, strange things have been happening in town lately. I told him not to go, but he left with his crossbow."
At this point, the woman painfully covered her face. "After he returned, he was , insisting that the devil came into our house, not doing anything except sleeping, staring at Little Leicht every day."
Little Leicht referred to their son, known around town as Little Leicht, a hardworking young lad expected to inherit the farm well in the future.
"Did Mr. Leicht mention anything about what he encountered that day?"
"He doesn’t want to talk about it, but I once heard him mumbling in his sleep, ’Stay away from Blanche, don’t bite it.’ Poor Blanche, it might have been attacked by wolves."
Though her heart was filled with sorrow, the woman felt helpless.
Beasts always roamed the forest, and running into a pack of wolves was not unusual. It was already a blessing that Old Leicht made it back safely.
"Thank you, this information is very helpful to me."
Ethan thanked the woman.
"No, I should thank you, Ethan. The Guild no longer wants to deal with the old fellow."
The woman thought for a moment and asked, "Do you believe him? Did a devil really enter our home? The hunter who came earlier suspected that the old fellow’s mind was just playing tricks. You’re the town’s expert on the occult, and I trust your judgment more."
"It’s too early to make conclusions now; I need to investigate further."
This case was getting stranger, much more complex than Ethan initially anticipated. Little Leicht seemed perfectly fine. Yet, if Mr. Leicht was just driven mad by a shock, why was it only targeting Little Leicht?
Though his mental state was extremely unstable, he could still communicate normally, never mentioning the devil being anywhere else.
Perhaps the missing Blanche was the key.
But that was five days ago. Finding Blanche wouldn’t be easy; the woman believed it had been attacked, and the body would likely be badly decomposed or possibly devoured by other beasts by now.
Fortunately, Rowena had a magical Crystal Ball, and Ethan thought if she switched to being a detective, she would certainly be remembered in history as a legendary detective.
Once he gathered enough information, Ethan took the 12 gold lions he won from a bet last night to knock on Ave’s apartment door. When he entered, they were having breakfast. Rowena’s eyes were narrowed into slits, a half piece of toast in her mouth, swaying at the table, while Ave appeared awake but her golden hair drooped listlessly.
The two of them looked like students forcibly dragged out of their warm beds by their parents on a cold morning to go to school.
When Ethan placed the 12 gold lions on the table, Rowena finally showed some reaction.
"Oh, it’s Ethan. Have you eaten?"
Her tone was still quite hazy.
Rowena, a pessimist, replied, "No, things are quite serious. My whole body aches. I might not make it through this winter, but these gold lions might buy me a few more days."
"She participated in a shooting club event yesterday, then you had her run around the entire town, so she’s exhausted today."
Ave provided the translation, feeling a bit achy herself and lacking energy.
"I have found an important clue."
Ethan brought up the matter of Mr. Leicht’s farm. "Five days ago, one of their horses went missing. Mr. Leicht left town, and he had problems when he returned. I suspect it’s related to the missing horse. I’d like the smart Ms. Rowena to use divination to find out where the horse is. Here is the payment."
Rowena fully opened her eyes and quickly put the 12 gold lions into her purse, "You... just complimented me as smart, right?"
"Yes, only you can find out where the horse is now."
"I need information about it, the more specific, the better."
"The horse is named Blanche, a brownish-yellow stallion. It ran out of the stable five days ago at night, likely heading into the deep mountains."
Rowena immediately stopped eating, fetched the Crystal Ball, placed it on the table, and positioned her hands over it as the light and shadows inside shifted. This time, her expression remained unperturbed. After about a minute, she calmly said, "The horse you mentioned was attacked by wolves. It’s been eaten, and when Old Leicht found it, the body was completely devoured. He cried over the horse for a long time, huh? Wait a moment."
Rowena performed the divination again, her expression much more serious this time, muttering, "Blanche, brownish-yellow stallion, five days ago at night..."
The light in the Crystal Ball brightened a bit, but she frowned, "Hmm, I still can’t see clearly. Is it an illusion? Let’s try again."
The same divination was repeated five or six times, and finally, when the light went out the last time, Rowena spoke, "It shouldn’t be an illusion. I’ve seen it!"
Ave disliked people who spoke halfway the most in her life.
"When Old Leicht was crying over Blanche, it seemed like something entered his eyes."
This piqued Rowena’s interest, as it touched on her knowledge blind spot, "The information is still not specific enough, I can only see a vague outline. It looks like some kind of parasite. Let’s go find Blanche; I need to borrow its bones."