The Divine Hunter Chapter 8: Message

Evening.

The reflection of the setting sun sinks into the delta, and twilight begins to close.

The witcher concluded an afternoon of investigation.

"Master, have you seen Whishaw? What did he say?" Linus couldn't wait to ask Oakes, "Why was he absent for a week without any reason? He must give a reasonable explanation!"

Ochs and Cantila looked at each other, their faces becoming serious under the dim light, "He can't give an explanation, Mr. Linus..."

"What do you mean?"

"The door to your assistant's home is open and empty. Not only him, but his old mother, who depends on each other for life, is not in the house."

Linus Pitt looked in disbelief and frowned,

Ochs faced everyone and said in a deep voice, "You should understand that our senses are different from ordinary people and are more sensitive... I smelled a faint smell of blood in his house. I followed the smell and found several pools of dried blood on the floor... Six to Left behind seven days ago, this is obviously not a simple disappearance."

"Moreover, the door was violently damaged and the lock was severely deformed," the demon hunter analyzed. "There were clear marks of kicking on the door, and there were messy horse hoof prints and footprints outside the house. At least seven or eight people broke in, and the robbers Or thugs."

"Intruder, six to seven days of blood stains?" Linus Pitt opened his mouth slightly, stunned for a moment, and his voice became extremely dry, "Didn't my student have an accident just after he got home?"

"Is he so miserable?" The scholar sighed, his expression full of regret.

Wishshaw, a hard-working and honest farm boy, worked hard to get admitted to Oxenfurt University. He will graduate in two years, find a decent job, and help his old mother escape poverty. How could such a change happen suddenly in such a miserable life?

"Is my student still alive? Is there any chance of survival?"

The witcher responded with silence.

Linus clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, "Masters, please help me rescue Whishaw and his family."

"I haven't finished speaking yet... I'm sorry," Oakes said in a low voice and shook his head, "Wishshaw and his family have been killed. We followed suspicious traces near the house all the way, and found him thirty meters away from the house. In a wheat field, the bodies of two members of a family were dug up..."

"A young man in his twenties was killed by a blunt force blow to the back of the head. His appearance matches your previous description of Whishaw. There is also a woman about forty years old with a disabled left leg. The cause of death is the same. It should be It's his sick mother."

After Oakes finished speaking, he stretched out his hand to the scholar and released his clenched fist. There was a bright gold Oxenfurt University student nameplate in his palm:

Wishshaw

First-year Department of Natural History

Linus Pitt took the nameplate with trembling fingers, grief and regret overwhelmed his thin face, his body trembled slightly, and his eyes were faintly red.

"Professor Linus, my condolences... After we took down the token, we buried the poor mother and son on the spot." Cantila explained, "Two wooden monuments were erected."

Linus's face relaxed slightly when he heard this.

"Do you still remember whether he specifically confessed anything before leaving the academy? Or did he show any abnormal behavior?"

Linus shook his head decisively in denial.

"Then this should be a sudden case of home invasion, robbery and murder..." Roy, who had been staying quietly next to him, analyzed, "The perpetrator may be a robber from around Oxenfurt, or he may have moved in from other places. robbers."

"As the academic center of Redania, the bandits in Oxenfurt are so rampant, and the security environment is so bad?" Furius raised his eyebrows.

"That's not the case. There has been no similar vicious murder in Niu Bao's sphere of influence for more than two years." Linus squeezed the nameplate hard and said through gritted teeth, "How dare those **** attack Austria?" The students of Senft took action... I will report this incident to the college management. Vizmir II will never tolerate bandits killing the country's talents again."

"In addition, masters, are you willing to help the academy track down the murderer? This is considered a private commission. I will pay two hundred crowns, no, three hundred crowns, is it enough?"

Roy looked at his companions to confirm, and nodded. Being a robber who killed people and stole goods meant a lot of experience, and he had no reason to give up.

What's more, Linus Pitt takes care of food and housing, and offers generous remuneration, so there is no reason to refuse.

"Sir Linus, I still have a doubt," Oakes paused and recalled, "When I examined the bodies of Whishaw and his mother, I found a large number of traces of abuse and torture on the body surface, such as The bruises on their wrists and ankles from being **** with hemp ropes, the burns from candle oil on their skin, the slap marks on their cheeks... there is no need to torture them during ordinary home invasions."

“A dilapidated and shabby house, a lame old mother, what other things are worth coveting and being tortured by robbers?”

Everyone fell into deep thought after listening.

"Maybe the murderer had enmity with Whishaw, or wanted to find out some secrets, so he tortured him unnecessarily, including threatening his mother's life." Oakes guessed.

"It is also possible that the murderers were psychopathic and tortured for fun while robbing property; or they were provoked by Whishaw's words and adopted cruel torture methods. With the upright, honest and stubborn character described by Professor Linus, Personality, it is entirely possible to offend the murderer." Serrit offered another view.

"This statement cuts off all the clues..." Reso said, "I temporarily agree with Oakes' analysis. The murderer and Whishaw have already met and want to uncover some secrets, so it is very possible that an acquaintance committed the crime. Big."

"Oakes, Cantila, think about it carefully. Are there any suspicious clues that were missed at the scene? Are there any witnesses near that house?"

Cantilla glanced at Oaks, who had no unique talent for investigation.

But Oakes looked displeased and glared, "I searched the scene twice and found absolutely nothing! If you don't believe me, go check it out yourself. As for the witnesses," Oakes said disappointedly, "the Whishaw house is completely deserted for a mile. Further away is the main road leading to Oxenfurt, with frequent carriages and horses, which is extremely disruptive."

"Looking at it this way, there is no better choice at the moment. Let's start with the acquaintances in Whishaw." Letso made a decision, "Professor Linus, what do you think?"

"That can only be the case." The scholar said blankly, "Although I admire Whishaw very much, he has been under my command for less than a year, and my understanding of him is limited to his family and relationships with relatives and friends. In addition to being a widower, he A mother in the suburbs has no other relatives."

"I know the relationships in the college quite well. The ones we have a lot of interactions with are... first of all, my roommate in the dormitory and another assistant in the eco-park, Ben..."

Linus listed them one by one, "Then there are the students from the natural history department. But I don't think the students would commit such a heinous atrocity."

"Leave the interrogation work to us..." Reso said firmly, "Lying to a witcher is a technical job, especially for nerds... You just need to find a time to gather the students, we will never We will not unjustly accuse innocent people, and we will not let any murderer go!"

Linus Peter nodded, but it was already late today and he could only take action on tomorrow's working day.

"Professor, besides the inside of the academy, Academy Island, and the town of Oxenfurt, who does your assistant have more contact with?" Roy said more. He felt that it was not that simple. The murderer was probably not among the students.

The scholar rubbed his swollen head and said, "Wishshaw has been responsible for purchasing food for the endangered animals in the ecological park. When it comes to dealing with him, I just want to talk to him about the fish and meat vendors in the Cowburg Market. The most. This kid is very honest. How much money he spent on each purchase and which store he made the transaction are all recorded in the account book. I will give it to you."

After getting the account book, everyone discussed for a while, made plans for tomorrow, and then returned to the dormitory arranged by the professor to rest.

…

Linus Peter left Roy alone and entered the rare zoo together, because he had promised to do a physical examination for the restored Golfin.

"Why don't you solve your student's case before you continue to be busy with this matter? I'm not in a hurry." Roy said softly, observing the other party's haggard expression.

"Don't worry, I can distinguish between work and life!" Linus heard this and rubbed his sore cheeks to cheer up.

"Then I'll help you."

Roy practiced swordsmanship and crossbow shooting in the zoo, sweating like rain for several hours. Late at night finally came, and the Gorfin Half-murloc transformed back into his true form in a burst of rising smoke. He was the size of a calf, with a brown body and gray-black body. A young griffon with wings and black and lively eyes.

Compared to a month ago, it has grown a bit, and has a hint of the power of an apex predator.

"Master Roy, please carry it to the operating table and hold it down, but don't hurt it too hard."

Rare zoo, under the bright magic lamp, a pair of thin and pale palms groped for a while on the body as soft as Shi Zi, sometimes opening the long beak to check the tongue, sometimes stretching the hook-like claws, sometimes checking the hair between the neck Mane and two wings.

Despite being cared for by its master, the gryphon's arrogance still caused it to growl in a low voice.

"Okay, Golfin, be patient. After the examination, you will have a nutritionally balanced meal!"

"Roar——"

Half an hour later.

"Well, it's about seven months old and developing normally... Master Roy, the little guy is very healthy. He can't even find any parasites or fleas. I can see that you haven't treated him badly." Linus took his hand from him. Gorfen retracted his furry paws, took off his gloves, and his eyes softened a lot, becoming more and more certain that the other person was a like-minded animal protectionist.

"But remember to repair its nails every month...Golfen has been in a state of deformation for a long time, and there is not enough time to find hard objects to sharpen its claws. The nails may grow in reverse and injure themselves. The amount of daily exercise is not up to standard. ”

"You know, when you carry it through the busy city, you have to put on some disguise." Roy explained, then shook his head, "But it was indeed my negligence,"

He hugged the furry body on the operating table deeply, "I promise to pay attention to these situations in the future!"

Linus then nodded~IndoMTL.com~If there is no problem, Gorfin will live in the zoo in the next few days and further conduct exercise, flight, and hunting tests. By the way, I will customize a recipe for it. ”

"Sorry to trouble you." Roy gave Golfing a look of contact at any time, and then asked hesitantly, "Mr. Linus, I have always been curious, have you ever tried to ride Blake or Chelsea?"

The dark gold pupils of the demon hunter carry a hint of longing, "Sit on their backs and soar into the sky——"

"I understand what you mean..." Linus Peter shook his head helplessly, "Under normal circumstances, a ten-month-old griffon can already bear the weight of a person and fly with a person on its back. It's a pity that as soon as I came here, I I have a fear of heights. Secondly, griffins are such proud creatures and do not allow anything to ride on them. If I force myself to do so, they will be very aggrieved and angry."

Ten months, that’s not long.

"Don't worry, Galfin is very well-behaved and obedient. He doesn't have such a bad temper. Riding on its back is the best way to get close to him," Roy said, patting Galfin's head and rushing It smiled gently, "Am I right?"

"Hoar?"