The female thief was none other than the famous half-Orc Garona.
In the Warcraft movie, Garona was practically the female lead and had plenty of screen time. Apart from losing points for her green-dyed skin, she was quite attractive, with a slender yet full figure. She was an outstandingly sexy woman, so it was no wonder the male lead, Duke Lothar, had fallen head over heels for her.
Unfortunately, the real Garona did not live up to her reputation. By human standards, her fangs and bulbous nose were not much to look at. Perhaps Orcs considered her a peerless beauty.
Her overpowering body odor and bad breath were even harder to stomach. Robbie nearly threw up. Ever since he had been force-fed mysterious demon blood, his sense of smell had improved dramatically. What rotten luck.
Did Orcs not bathe or clean their mouths? Then again, according to Orc customs, their body odor served as a hormone that attracted the opposite sex. As for bad breath, their teeth were widely spaced, and they rarely suffered dental problems, so they had no need to brush.
Of course, Orc women looked down on humans just as much, considering human men malnourished bean sprouts.
With her dagger poised over Robbie's throat, Garona let out an unpleasant sneer. "Why should I?"
"Because I have the Fangs of the Father in my hands, and because I'm a rogue who stays hidden throughout a fight. Garona, how confident are you that you could escape me if I hunted you down?" Vanessa's words carried immense authority, putting her opponent under great pressure.
The pair of snow-white... daggers Robbie had seen through the gap in the tent were the most famous legendary weapons of the rogue class, the Fangs of the Father.
A faint fragrance drifted through the air. Robbie knew it well: it was Vanessa's scent.
Garona sniffed hard, countless nose hairs stirring in her large nostrils as she tried to locate Vanessa by the scent. But the fragrance drifted on the wind and seemed to be everywhere. Clearly, it was no ordinary body scent.
"I need a weapon, a real weapon, a pair of sharp daggers." Garona flew into a rage as she backed away bit by bit, disappearing into the shadows.
At this point in time, Garona had yet to obtain the artifact weapons "Anguish" and "Sorrow."
After Garona withdrew, Robbie forced himself to his feet and entered the nearest fortress, finally breathing a great sigh of relief.
Vanessa had frightened Garona away, but she never showed herself or made another sound.
Robbie found it a little strange.
The Holy Light had completely healed his injuries, but he was still unsteady on his feet and dizzy.
The Holy Light could heal injuries, but it could not replenish lost blood.
Before long, a beautiful and rare Hyacinth Macaw flew over and landed on Robbie's shoulder, clutching a sachet. "That was close, that was close!" it squawked.
Its voice sounded so much like Vanessa's that it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
At the sight of the macaw, Robbie suddenly understood.
"I was actually saved by a parrot." Robbie was dumbfounded. When would he be able to hold his own?
"Hey, there you are. The commander has arrived." Hogger suddenly appeared beside him, giving Robbie a fright. Evidently, the Hyacinth Macaw had brought Hogger there.
"I heard Garona taught you a lesson. This parrot came especially to get me to back you up. With the great me here, you can rest easy. Garona? I'd swat her dead with one claw." Hogger reveled in Robbie's misfortune, waggling his eyebrows. His smug behavior made Robbie furious.
Robbie followed Hogger to Stalvan's tent.
Vanessa, Delvar Ironfist, Sori Beast Tamer, and the elf Deyuri were examining Stalvan's corpse.
There were no wounds anywhere on the body.
Sori Beast Tamer suggested dissecting it.
"A skilled master skinner can find clues on a corpse." Sori Beast Tamer produced a knife. "Finkle's Skinner. I've skinned the Beast before. Leave this to me."
Sori Beast Tamer was eager to get started and show off extraordinary skills when inspiration suddenly struck Robbie.
"Wait!" Robbie hurriedly stopped Sori Beast Tamer.
In the Legend of Stalvan quest, Stalvan ended up becoming Undead, but it was never explained how he had turned. Recalling the quest from the game gave Robbie an idea.
"Why don't we let him tell us himself?" Robbie said.
Faced with everyone's skeptical looks, Robbie pulled Delvar Ironfist over and pointed at Stalvan's body. "You're up, Ironfist. Turn him into a Ghoul."
A fresh corpse turned into an Undead could retain most of its memories from life.
Then interrogating him would be easy.
To his surprise, Delvar Ironfist said in a muffled voice, "Sorry, I'm not very good at necromancy."
Weren't you a top student? How could there be something you're not good at? How can you face your instructors at Acherus: The Ebon Hold after all their earnest teaching?
Robbie was sorely disappointed. Then again, only Unholy Death Knights were skilled in necromancy.
"That's a good idea." Vanessa's eyes sparkled. "I can turn him into an Undead."
Robbie asked in surprise, "Commander, do you know necromancy?"
"There's no need to go to all that trouble." Vanessa took out a handbag. Just as women on Earth liked them, women in this world favored handbags of all sorts of brands. The best and most expensive were made not from crocodile skin, but from chromatic dragonhide, with one bag requiring the hides of five kinds of dragon.
Vanessa opened her chromatic dragonhide handbag and took out a small sealed box. An intricate magic circle was drawn on its surface. She carefully opened it to reveal a few grains of rice.
Gray rice.
A rotten stench spread through the tent.
"That's... the plague!" the elf Deyuri exclaimed.
The plague that could turn people into Undead and had destroyed the Kingdom of Lordaeron. At the sight of something so dangerous, everyone present took an involuntary step back, their expressions turning grave.
"Oh, there's not much left." Vanessa sighed softly and poured a small handful of ordinary rice into the box. The plague spread incredibly fast. In an instant, the once-translucent grains turned blackish gray and gave off a rotten smell.
According to Warcraft history, the plague in Lordaeron had been spread by the Cult of the Damned. Those deranged villains had mixed it into the grain in granaries, and the residents who unknowingly ate it had become Undead.
Robbie had a question. Just how strong were the tastes of Lordaeron's people for them to swallow this disgusting stuff? Didn't they wash their rice before cooking it?
Vanessa handed the small iron box to Robbie, who pried open Stalvan's mouth and poured in a few dozen grains of rice. Before long, Stalvan's eyes actually opened. The moment they did, he saw Hogger's mouthful of sharp teeth. He froze, then rubbed his eyes hard, unable to believe it.
"The Gnoll Hogger is in my tent. Haha, I must be having a nightmare." Stalvan closed his eyes and rolled over to go back to sleep. He had completely failed to grasp the situation.
"So he's an idiot. Hogger." Vanessa tipped her chin up slightly in a signal.
"Haha, interrogation is what I do best." Hogger seized Stalvan with a claw as large as a palm-leaf fan and shook him for all he was worth. Then he opened his enormous maw to threaten him. "Talk! Where's the treasure hidden? Dare to say 'no,' and I'll kill you."
Those were completely the wrong lines.
Stalvan was frail, and he had only just become Undead, so he had yet to adjust to his new body. After being shaken so violently, his eyes rolled back and he passed out.
"Another idiot." Vanessa sighed, holding a hand to her forehead.
"Huh, he can't take much punishment. I'll fetch a bucket of water and be right back," Hogger said.
"No need." Robbie stepped forward and cast Holy Light.
The Holy Light could heal Undead, but it also caused unbearable pain.
A flash of Holy Light woke Stalvan with a scream of agony. Because the Holy Light healed his injuries, he could not pass out again and could only endure the cruel punishment while conscious.
"Stop, stop, let me go! Please, no!" Stalvan begged loudly.
The Holy Light was endless torment to an Undead. Robbie stopped and stared into Stalvan's eyes. "Stalvan, do you know what happened to you?"
Stalvan lowered his head and thought for a long while. At last, he seemed to understand something and asked quietly, "Did I die, and then you turned me into an Undead?"
"Exactly right. You seem pretty calm about it," Robbie said.
"I know my fate: I'll become an Undead, then be killed by adventurers." Stalvan spoke wistfully. "Thankfully, my great vengeance has been fulfilled. I can die without regrets."
His great vengeance has been fulfilled. Robbie repeated the words in his mind and decided not to follow Stalvan's train of thought. One interrogation technique was to ask about trivial matters to lower the other person's guard, then bring up the crucial question unexpectedly, leaving the subject no chance to make up a lie.
"Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?" Robbie asked.
"I was originally from Southshore, but later settled in Duskwood. I had a house and fields, and life was full of happiness." Stalvan looked a little nostalgic. "Then an enemy framed me and ruined me, and my older brother Tobias and I had no choice but to travel around and make a living."
"Travel" was a euphemism. "Wander" or "adventure" would have been more appropriate.
"So you were a resident of Duskwood?" Robbie asked casually. "Then tell me about your time teaching in Moonbrook."
One interrogation technique was to jump from one subject to another. People were accustomed to thinking in a continuous sequence; deliberately breaking that continuity made it easy for gaps to appear in the lies they had woven.
Unexpectedly, Stalvan answered without haste. "I lived quite comfortably in Moonbrook. The pay was good, and the children were all well behaved. Very few caused trouble, thanks to the Defias Brotherhood keeping Westfall in good order."
Huh? That obviously doesn't match the account. According to the game's quest chain, Moonbrook had fallen into chaos after the Brotherhood took control, and Stalvan had lost his job, leading to the tragedy that followed.
Robbie looked at the commander. Vanessa nodded, indicating that Stalvan was not lying.
Suppressing his doubts, Robbie decided to get straight to the point. His tone changed abruptly, and he asked coldly, "Stalvan, tell us the truth. How did you kill the Flintley family?"
The Flintley family were prominent nobles of Stormwind City who had employed Stalvan as a tutor. According to World of Warcraft, Stalvan had fallen for his student's older sister, the noblewoman Tiroya. Sadly, his love had not been returned, and it had turned to hatred, leading him to murder the noble family.
At those words, Stalvan was struck speechless, his face draining of color. "No, I didn't kill anyone. I didn't do it. I've been falsely accused, I really have!"
That Stalvan actually dared to deny it.
Robbie secretly signaled Hogger with his eyes.
Hogger understood at once. He opened his enormous maw, his ferocious appearance on full display, and deliberately said in a loud voice, "Robbie, you can't interrogate him like that. With certain stubborn types, you have to get tough. Your name's Stalvan, right? I haven't eaten Undead meat in a long time."
One played good cop and the other bad cop, a tried-and-true interrogation technique.