Chapter 59: Investigation

  No one replied to what Nitaan just said. They simply exchanged glances. They were all seasoned veterans when it came to fighting humans. They are well aware of the dark side of the human heart.

  “I’m not sure about the others, but the little boy is definitely not lying. " Princess Pailin shook her head.

  “He’s genuinely scared and guilty. It’s definitely not acting.”

  “I think so too. His demeanor doesn’t seem like a fake at all. But what Nitaan said also makes sense. It’s better to be cautious,” Leader Mei added.

  The group followed the village chief out of the village and along the edge of the wall until they reached a point where traces of cleaning remained. Upon closer inspection, numerous stains were still visible on the wall.

  A few hundred meters from the wall lay the edge of the forest. This forest didn’t stretch far. When looking from a high place from the outside, the boundary on the other side of the forest was visible. It didn’t seem to cover a vast area, but if a human were to walk through it on foot, it would be a considerable space.

  The three-meter-high stone wall appeared sturdy. Not far away, there was an observation post. Groups of guards patrolled every few hundred meters. The security is especially strict, like Thit said.

  “I’ve deployed even more patrols than before. They will be grouped together and constantly monitoring the area. It won’t cover all the ground, but it is safer for guards as well. If that Devil beast is really a First word Engraver, I don’t want any more casualties,” the village chief explained.

  Princess Pailin nodded slightly. She walked over to inspect the surroundings. Traces of blood and cracks in the walls still remained. The grass was covered with scattered dirt and small craters from the struggle.

  “Please split up and search. Find any footprints, fur, scales, or anything that indicates the presence of a Devil beast,” Princess Pailin ordered.

  Everyone immediately dispersed to their tasks. They worked in pairs, covering the area up to the nearby forest border. Working in pairs was a suitable option if the Devil beast launched a surprise attack.

  Upon arriving at the scene, a ring on Princess Pailin’s hand glowed faintly. Numerous footprints suddenly appeared on the ground out of nowhere. The village chief’s eyes widened. They had surveyed this area many times before. But they completely failed to notice these footprints.

  "There really is something being concealed," Princess Pailin murmured, looking down at the footprints on the ground.

  Nitaan nodded and then bent down to examine them. The footprints were a series of lines and dots, unlike the soles of mammals. They bore claw marks more like those of birds and insects than of land animals.

  Many more footprints were scattered around, making it really difficult to distinguish. This area must have been frequented by villagers, not to mention the events that occurred and the guards who swarmed in. With this much mess, it’s almost impossible to discern the tracks.

  It's similar to my ‘Fade’, but this seems more like an illusion than a psychological invisibility like ‘Fade’ did, Nitaan thought to himself.

  Kiita bent down and sniffed the ground. It tried to distinguish the unique scent of the Devil beast's footprints and find any other similar scents.

  After a while, Kiita let out a soft growl, turned to look at Nitaan, and shook its head.

  Nitaan frowned.

  While he was puzzled by Kiita's explanation, Princess Pailin suddenly walked back into the village.

  Only Nitaan, Kiita, and Princess Pailin didn’t go outside the village to explore. Princess Pailin wanted to question the nearby guards and villagers. Nitaan and Kiita, able to look around with ‘Domain’, they didn’t have to look around either. Since he didn't need to inspect the actual location, he and Kiita became guards for Princess Pailin.

  After all, his mission was to safely return Princess Pailin to the Ratana City.

  “That’s strange. Why would a Devil beast do something like this? It doesn’t make sense, Nitaan. Have you ever encountered a Devil beast with such behavior?” Princess Pailin asked.

  “Nope. Many Devil beast gain intelligence when they progress in Fate Scripting, but I’ve never seen one this smart while still at the level of a First word Engraver." Nitaan shook his head.

  “Then we’ll have to gather more information,” Princess Pailin sighed.

  “Pailin, how exactly are you planning to gather more information? I think questioning the guards and villagers one by one is too difficult,” Nitaan said. For him, this method of gathering information wasn’t efficient at all.

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  “I can only do this much, so I’ll do what I can. Besides, who knows? Perhaps some villagers have some good information that the village chief missed," she smiled brightly. Her small legs took steady steps towards the village. Without hesitation, upon entering, she rushed towards the nearest guard and immediately began questioning him.

  Seeing this, Nitaan quickly went to knock on the door of another house nearby, leaving Kiita to stay close to Princess Pailin.

  After working separately for several hours, Unit Three regrouped.

  "I found this," Napha was the first to speak. He picked up a small scale.

  "It was near the forest border. There were signs of a fight there. I think it might be where Sila encountered the Devil beast, but there weren't any signs of a fierce battle, just broken branches and cracked rocks. It's probably as Sila described," Napha explained.

  "But it's hard to say for sure. There are still bits of fur and fang marks everywhere. I believe it was a spot where other Devil beasts often pass through."

  "Besides, there are indeed traces of concealment. It's easy to overlook them. If I hadn't brought my Enchanted artifacts, I wouldn't have noticed."

  "I had Rain fly around the sky searching for tracks. She found some footprints, but because it's a forest area, many footprints from other Devil beasts overlapped," Kasa said.

  Princess Pailin picked up the small scales and examined them closely. She flipped through her Devil beast encyclopedia again.

  "They seem to be scales of some kind of insect-like Devil beast," she said.

  “So, what Sila said was true then. That Devil beast has the appearance of an insect,” Leader Mei pondered.

  “In short, it’s a highly intelligent insect-type Devil beast with illusion-like abilities. That’s why the villagers see it in different forms,” Tawan summarized from the gathered evidence.

  “If Nitaan is right that there’s only one Devil beast,” Gion interjected.

  “If these are really its scales,” Nitaan added.

  Everyone lowered their heads in thought. Hunting a First word Engraver Devil beast was far more complicated than they had anticipated.

  “Nitaan, can’t you just track it like normal and then bring us to kill it? I’m more of a fighter than a detective.” Napha scratched his head and sighed. Analyzing things so deeply wasn’t his forte.

  “True, we have both footprints and scales. Can you bring us there?” Gion added.

  “It’s not that simple,” Nitaan replied. "I tried tracking it earlier, but these footprints just disappear at a certain point. And these scales don't leave any scent behind." Nitaan shook his head.

  "How is that possible? A Devil beast that can even conceal its own escape tracks?" Leader Mei frowned.

  "If its abilities can conceal footprints and appearance, it wouldn't be surprising if it could expand to completely conceal escape tracks," Tawan offered his opinion.

  "Wow, this is troublesome. What kind of Devil beast is that smart?" Napha exclaimed, frustrated.

  "Pailin, do the villagers and guards have any more information?" Nitaan turned to ask Princess Pailin.

  Napha and Leader Mei raised their eyebrows when Nitaan addressed Princess Pailin so casually.

  "A bit. I asked the guards and villagers. They said there's something a little strange," Princess Pailin replied, opening a small notebook where she had written down testimonies.

  This time, they were even more surprised to see Princess Pailin respond so calmly.

  Even though Princess Pailin didn't care about her title or status seriously. But few people could converse with her so casually.

  Kasa and Gion raised their eyebrows slightly. Napha smiled subtly, while Tawan and Leader Mei exchanged knowing glances with small smiles.

  They simply exchanged glances without speaking. Nitaan didn't notice these reactions at all, as he was focused on listening to Princess Pailin's explanation.

  "The guards said they also heard the screams, especially the third victim's, which was particularly loud. When they arrived at the scene, the villager was already dead, just as the hunter had described," Princess Pailin explained.

  "But there's something noteworthy about the screams."

  "Screams?" Nitaan wondered.

  "The guard said that because he was close, he heard the screams particularly loud. He said they didn't sound like screams."

  "Didn't sound like screams?" Gion tilted his head.

  "He said that usually when attacked by a Devil beast, they would scream 'Ouch!' 'Help!' or 'Devil beast!' or something like that, right? But the sound he heard was like a single, short, unintelligible cry," Princess Pailin tried to explain, building on what the guard had told her.

  "A single, short cry? What was that?" Leader Mei sighed.

  "People might panic and scream incoherently when attacked," Kasa added.

  "I thought so too, but the guard insisted it was strange, so I wrote it down just in case."

  "Could it be that the sound was cut off midway?" Nitaan asked.

  "Imagine someone got attacked, so he shouted with all his lungs. But then he was killed with the next strike, so the sound got cut off."

  Napha shuddered, picturing it in his mind and feeling sorry for the victim. The other members who imagined it also made disgusted faces. What Nitaan suggested was plausible.

  "How sad," Napha shook his head.

  "There's another one. This one's a bit strange." Princess Pailin turned the page.

  "Among the villagers who gathered to watch the third incident, Sila’s one, one possessed a healing Word of Power. He is the only healer in this village so he is quite adept to human body.”

  “He said that he caught a glimpse of a body from afar, and it stuck to his eyes. He felt like there was something wrong with the body."

  Princess Pailin took a deep breath as everyone waited for her to speak.

  “He said the body's organs looked like those of someone who had already died, as if they had died before being attacked and slashed,” she said.

  Unit Three exchanged glances and sighed.

  “It’s truly sad. He must have suffered so much and then died before the Devil beast was satisfied.” Gion placed his fingers on his palm, a gesture of respect of the First Knowledge.

  “The villager thought the same thing. He was just curious because the fatal wounds weren't that extensive. He found it strange.”

  “People's mental strength varies. It’s not surprising that the villager might have died of extreme fear,” Tawan said, his heart aching at the thought of the victim.

  “The point is, since he died long before the body was found, what did Sila see? He did mention that the villagers were asking for help, so he couldn’t attack.”

  “Sila is absolutely certain he's not affected by illusion." Princess Pailin frowned.

  After she finished speaking, everyone in the room fell silent. They had all noticed the inconsistencies in the story.

  "Could Sila be mistaken?" Gion suggested.

  "That's unlikely." Leader Mei shook his head.

  "Controlling corpses is also possible," Kasa added.

  "Or perhaps Sila is lying," Tawan said with a cold expression.

  "I’ll make a note of all that," Princess Pailin replied calmly.

  "In short, we haven't obtained any new or useful information, have we?" Leader Mei sighed.

  "Yes. That's why we'll have to remain stationed in this village for a while, wait for it to reveal itself, and then deal with it," Princess Pailin answered.

  “Nitaan, you'll need to keep watch in the village. We’ll patrol in groups. If anyone finds anything suspicious, contact me via the transmitting stone. Be mindful that it is a First word Engraver. Whoever found it, don’t engage. Just stall for time until I arrive,” Leader Mei ordered.

  “Yes, ma’am!” Everyone responded firmly. They all shared the same sentiment.

  They had to deal with this cunning and ferocious beast!

  Nitaan also responded firmly, but he still felt something wasn't right.