Chapter 588
“Have you collected all the bodies?”
“Yes, transport is currently underway to the Great War of the Templars.”
Ellen quietly looks around the burned temple.
No body could be found at the scene. Part of the temple had already collapsed, so it was clear that recovering the bodies quickly was important.
Ludwig was looking around the inside of the temple with a firm expression.
Ellen also tours the chapel of the burned temple.
‘It’s highly likely to be an attack by a mob.’
The size of the temple is too small, so it is possible for the temple to be attacked by civilians and the priests killed.
It will be difficult to catch the culprit, but it’s more likely that there isn’t something else lurking in this.
“How was the fire situation?”
“It is presumed that the arson started with all the priests killed. And it seems that those who saw the fire in the temple and onlookers entered the temple and robbed the things.”
“You mean you saw a fire and looted it?”
“yes. There are many eyewitnesses. Seeing the fire, they scrambled to get in.”
“that… … .”
At those words, Ludwig as well as Ellen narrowed their eyes.
As Louise said, there is an order of events.
But arson isn’t the last thing. Looting may be the last thing.
“You didn’t plunder and set fire, you said you looted after seeing the fire?”
“yes… … .”
It may not happen under normal circumstances, but every penny and every meal is important.
The temple caught fire.
Those who watched the fire tried to plunder to take anything, even if it was a rare item or food to be found there.
The reasoning that arson would be the last was wrong. It’s a thought that came about because I didn’t understand people’s desperation.
Looting is the last thing.
And looters are bystanders, not murderers.
He jumped into the scene of the fire and robbed.
It’s possible, of course, that the murderers looted and then set fire to it, after which onlookers stole what was left.
‘If arson came first, the priests would have escaped the temple before being consumed by the fire. The arson happened after the murder. Looting is done by onlookers.’
‘Priests died first, then arson, and last was looting.’
‘Then it’s highly likely that the murderers killed the priests and set them on fire. I still don’t know what their purpose is.’
‘First of all, the marauders that Ludwig saw are not murderers. They’re petty thieves.’
‘Still, did you know one thing.’
After organizing her thoughts, Ellen looked at the restless paladin.
“Is there any chance of catching the culprits in this case?”
“… … I cannot give you a definitive answer yet.”
The paladin hesitantly answered Ellen’s question.
If it’s really the actions of a mob turned into a mob, no matter what priest Rowen actually is, even if Ludwig and Ellen get more involved, there’s no way to find out anything.
Even if they did find it, they would end up catching a few shoplifters, and they might not be the ones who killed the priest.
‘It’s not impossible that the massacre of civilians by the Knights Templar will happen with this as an excuse, but it’s unlikely that the Knights Templar will do such a thing in a situation where people’s eyes are not good… … .’
Ellen is worried.
This is never a good thing, but if you say it’s a case at face value, Ludwig will back down.
A mob stormed the temple and set it on fire.
The culprit was a civilian, and Rowen was mercilessly murdered in front of a knife cutting himself with only the power of recovery because his fighting ability was low.
Whether Rowen’s real title was spy or whatever, there was no reason Ludwig should dig it up in the first place.
“Hero, leave this to us… … .”
However, Ellen is conscious of the existence of a paladin who keeps trying to send herself outside.
It was clear that the thief was numb, and that Ellen was very anxious about being here.
The paladin’s anxiety was preventing him from leaving Ellen.
‘All the bodies were recovered… … .’
It is not incomprehensible that the body was removed quickly, as it might be buried in a collapsing building while preserving the body at the site.
However, it is not that the entire building has been burnt down, and it is not that the entire building has collapsed.
Ellen examines the walls of the building that were not consumed by the fire.
‘Bloodstains… … .’
It was confirmed that bloodstains were left where it was presumably where the body was.
Ellen imagines what the murder scene must have been like.
The victim was killed with his back against a wall.
‘Blood splattered on the wall, and a lot of bloodstains on the floor… … . He would have died instantly on the spot.’
‘The weapon used is a blade. maybe a sword… … .’
‘The direction the bloodstains splattered is the upper right. That means it was cut from the left to the right… … .’
‘It’s not a downward cut, it’s an upward cut, and it’s not a direction where the force goes in that well.’
‘Looking at the amount of blood, it’s not a cut, it’s a cut. cut to the bone If it wasn’t to that extent, the blood wouldn’t be able to splatter like this.’
‘Civilians who don’t even know how to handle weapons properly can cut a person down to the bone at once… … .’
‘Absolutely not.’
Ellen takes a closer look at the red-stained wall.
‘Among the raiders, there were definitely people who could have magical power enhancement.’
Looking at the traces, Ellen read the circumstances of the slaughter, which was impossible with normal human strength.
I don’t know if the Paladins couldn’t find a clue, or if they knew but didn’t talk.
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It is unknown whether Ellen is hiding information simply because she is an outsider, hiding information because it is something that should not be revealed, or whether there is evidence in front of her but she does not know it.
“Something… … . okay?”
As Ellen pondered something, Ludwig quietly asked.
“No, not really.”
Ellen didn’t tell her what she found out, even because of the prying eyes.
Ellen looked beyond the chapel to other areas.
The temple was not intact, but some places were also collapsed.
Beyond the chapel, behind the temple, the roof had completely collapsed, and buildings including the kitchen and the place where the priests lived collapsed, and of course the cold wind blew in from the open ceiling, and snow was already piled up white.
“Hero, there may be additional collapses.”
“are you okay.”
A pile of stones spilled from the roof makes it impossible to know what lies beneath.
“Couldn’t there be other people’s bodies lying in there? What about the search situation?”
“ah… … . All bodies have already been recovered. It was around morning that this side collapsed.”
“okay.”
Looking at the bony skeleton of the collapsed roof, Ellen knew that the paladin’s words that there might be more collapses were true. The snow is still accumulating, so if a little more snow accumulates, the temple might collapse.
Ellen was convinced that the paladin’s words about the mob’s attack were either false or because she did not know the facts at all.
The assumption that they might not have been able to resist armed civilians is incorrect. The attackers were probably not civilians.
The sequence of events was murder, arson, and looting.
It is Ellen’s guess that it was not the mob that emerged during the killing phase.
Then why?
For what purpose did the raiders raid this place?
Of course, it must have been because this place had meaning.
But what meaning and value does this modest temple have? Although burned, Ellen did not find much value in the temple.
If this raid isn’t just an attack by an angry mob, there must be a reason.
reasonable reasons and grounds.
However, there are situations in which Paladins intentionally hide information.
All the bodies were recovered, and if so, all meaningful clues that Ellen could obtain except for the bloodstains on the walls would have been destroyed even if there were already.
Ellen recalls Louise’s words.
three stages of events.
Murder, arson, looting.
The first killings made it clear that they were not civilians. And in the first place, the purpose was not to plunder, but to kill the priests.
At the end of the looting, they were just onlookers who were watching the fire scene turned into looters. The looters, then, are those who have nothing to do with the real heart of the case.
Ruiz said that each of the three incidents may have been caused by different people.
This is not simply an incident initiated by angry people.
The thieves rushed to the scene of the fire because there might be things that would be incombustible in looting, so there was no reason for looting, rather it was natural.
So loot is an incidental occurrence, and the point is murder.
Why was this temple attacked?
It must have been because there was a good reason for that.
There will be more than meets the eye.
What happened in the second stage was arson.
Why was arson necessary?
Maybe it was because it was necessary.
Why is arson necessary?
Consequences of arson.
Ellen looks at the temple about to collapse.
Did you need to burn something?
Or, was it necessary to collapse?
I don’t know.
Ellen is certain of one thing.
It was certain that this temple was by no means an ordinary temple.
“This temple, what was it doing?”
At Ellen’s question, the paladin tilted his head as if asking what he was talking about.
“yes? It was the temple of Tuan, the goddess of innocence.”
“… … .”
I couldn’t tell if he really didn’t know or if he was pretending not to know.
Ellen looks around.
“Ellen.”
And Ludwig, who had been silent, called Ellen.
“huh.”
“Something… … . Doesn’t it smell?”
At Ludwig’s words, Ellen was silent for a moment.
It’s clear that it smells suspicious.
I don’t know if the paladins are hiding the truth even though they know it, or if they want to let Ellen go because it’s really dangerous.
Ellen knows that Ludwig isn’t confident in using his brain, but Ludwig also says he’s suspicious.
Certainly, this scene is a story that anyone can see.
no.
smell?
Ellen looks at Ludwig.
The figure of Ludwig twitching his nose.
It wasn’t a strange smell, it was the real smell.
“… … .”
After all, this idiot was noticing and nabbing, and he just literally talked about the real smell.
It does smell quite literally. Since it was the scene of the fire, Ellen was holding her breath as much as possible because of the terrible burnt smell.
“What smell?”
“that… … . the stench… … .”
stink.
You can smell the burnt smell, but the stench is a little out of the blue.
A terrible burnt smell that vibrates everywhere.
But there is something else mingled in it.
Subtle but definitely present.
A stench that enters your nostrils.
To be precise.
“Yes, it smells like excrement.”
“yes… … ?”
feces and urine. i.e. the smell of feces.
“The smell of blood is also mixed in.”
The fishy smell of blood is also smelled from somewhere.
It could be the smell from the traces of the dead, but what Ludwig and Ellen sense of smell is not the smell of the scene.
It’s a very thick smell.
It didn’t disappear or get buried in the fire, but the kind of smell that clearly flowed from somewhere.
Ludwig couldn’t help but focus on the smell.
The smell of filth and blood.
It was a smell I had smelled so many times over and over the battlefield.
A smell that was terribly familiar to Ellen and Ludwig.
and the source of that smell.
Ellen rolls up her arms.
“Ludwig.”
“huh.”
“Help me clear the rubble.”
“Oh, uh! okay!”
“Yo, warrior… … !”
The paladin stood in front of Ellen as if it was absolutely impossible.
“Just one more time, if I needlessly add a word.”
Ellen lifted her robe and tapped the sword hanging around her waist with her fingertips.
It refers to the moonlight sword and void sword Lament.
“I know it will be a good sighting.”
Ellen was starting to get annoyed.
* * *
Out of nowhere, Ellen and Ludwig started clearing the rubble of the collapsed building, and the paladin’s nervousness reached its peak.
Fortunately, the exterior of the building was unharmed, so Ellen and Ludwig could not be seen from the outside as they removed the rubble.
It was not even a task for Ludwig and Ellen to clear the accumulated snow and clear the pile of stones the size of a house.
And both Ludwig and Ellen were convinced without lifting a few stones.
The thick smell of blood and filth was intensifying.
There is something under this rubble.
Others came and watched Ellen and Ludwig, but none of the tall paladins dared to stop Ellen’s actions.
Unable to stop or help, I had no choice but to watch as Ellen cleaned up the rubble.
Like that, how much rubble was removed.
“There was a basement.”
“… … That’s right.”
A space that could not be seen hidden by the wreckage of a collapsed building.
In it, Ellen and Ludwig could see the stairs going down to the basement.
And the smell of filth and blood was clearly coming from the basement stairs.
Ellen stared at the pale paladins.
“Don’t follow me, don’t go anywhere, wait here.”
Since I was deliberately trying to fool Ellen, it was a bluff that I would have to be prepared for whatever I saw.
“let’s go.”
“huh.”
Ellen led the way, followed by Ludwig.
