Hogger's threats were effective. Stalvan trembled like a frightened bird, yet he still insisted, "I really didn't kill anyone. Please, don't eat me, don't eat me."
Seeing that Stalvan was still refusing to confess, Hogger widened his eyes and let out a frightening, cold laugh. "You dare act tough in front of me? I'll eat your arms and legs right now."
Stalvan went pale with fright, his eyes rolling back as he was about to faint. Seeing this, Vanessa's pretty face showed impatience. She kicked Hogger aside and took over the interrogation herself, her voice icy and devoid of emotion:
"Stalvan, you will tell us everything about your time working for the Flintley family. If you lie or hide even the slightest thing, well..."
Vanessa's voice was commanding, carrying a terrifying, oppressive disregard for life. It was like a biting wind sweeping past, or an echo from the depths of a nightmare.
Robbie felt a chill run down his back and rise from the bottom of his heart. He could barely stand. Looking over at Hogger, he saw that his teeth were chattering and his legs were shaking with fright.
Sori Beast Tamer and the Elf Deyuli were just as frightened. The two promptly backed away and tiptoed out of the tent, as if afraid of waking a sleeping devil. Before long, they were nowhere to be seen.
As expected of the commander. That aura of extreme cold alone was beyond anything an ordinary person could possess. For some reason, Robbie suddenly thought of the Whispers of the Old Gods.
Stalvan sat there in a daze, gripped by nightmarish terror, practically out of his mind. Almost instinctively, he answered in a mechanical voice:
"I-I did well in Moonbrook. The headmaster recommended that I go to Stormwind City to qualify as a senior teacher so I could take over his position someday. But I never imagined the world was so unfair. Because I didn't pay a bribe, not only did I fail to qualify, but an enemy falsely accused me of cheating, and my teaching qualifications were revoked. On that rainy night, I ran out of the Lion's Pride Inn in Goldshire, filled with despair at the world. Fortunately, my fiancée Lisa comforted me."
"Lisa?" Robbie blurted out.
"Lisa from Lakeshire." Stalvan's voice was full of tenderness. "Lisa worked as a maid for the Flintley family. Her cherry pies were delicious. With her help, I pulled myself together and became the Flintleys' tutor. I also handled some clerical work, writing letters for Earl Flintley, acting as a messenger, organizing books, and so on. The Flintley family were originally nobles from Lordaeron, but they later ended up in Stormwind City. They had run a ranch and bred warhorses for generations. It's said that all the Order of the Silver Hand's warhorses came from them."
"Earl Flintley bought the Eastvale Logging Camp, intending to return to his old trade and turn it into a warhorse ranch. Miss Tiroya's fiancé, a mysterious man who concealed his face with a cloak, visited often. The earl said the man was a stablehand's son in Lordaeron, but had risen to great heights in Stormwind City and become one of the most powerful dukes. That night, Earl Flintley quarreled with the mysterious man. The man stormed out in a rage, and Earl Flintley sighed repeatedly. He took out three letters he had prepared beforehand and gave them to me and two other servants, sending us by three different routes to Sentinel Hill in Westfall. The earl didn't say who the recipient was, only that someone would come to meet us when we got there."
"Before leaving, I met with Lisa. I ate half a cherry pie and drank a glass of milk, which delayed me a little. By chance, I saw the butler, Fesom, secretly open the back door and lead a group of strangers into the estate. Before long, flames soared over the Eastvale Logging Camp, and sounds of battle rang out. Lisa and I were terrified and fled in different directions. I escaped to the Tower of Azora and saw a strange portal. In my panic, I rushed straight into it. After the world spun around me, I woke up in a room in Karabor Temple. Everything was in chaos there, as if some magical experiment had failed, and no one paid any attention to me. I slipped away in the confusion and begged my way to Lunarfall."
"Do you still have the letter?" Vanessa asked.
"Y-yes." Trembling, Stalvan pulled out a letter. Robbie took it, checked it carefully for anything amiss, then handed it to Vanessa.
Vanessa opened the envelope, took a look, and handed it back to Robbie.
The letter contained only one sentence.
"I have failed. The cold wind of Northrend needs your help."
It was an inscrutable code.
"I don't think he's lying," Vanessa said with certainty.
Commander, under that kind of authority, no one would dare play any tricks, Robbie thought, then nodded.
The Legend of Stalvan itself had a huge hole in it.
World of Warcraft never explained the details of the Flintley family, but it could be inferred that a family that hired a tutor so openly had to be wealthy or noble, with servants in droves. They were certainly no impoverished nobles from a minor household. Without a few powerful bodyguards, they'd be embarrassed to even greet people.
How likely was it that Stalvan, a frail scholar, had slaughtered the Flintley family with ease? On closer thought, the tedious errands, the clues that seemed to have been arranged in advance and appeared with uncanny ease, and the suddenly appearing Banshee had already hinted at something to the players.
"You can question him from here." Vanessa gave a small yawn like a tired cat.
Robbie stared into Stalvan's frightened, anxious eyes and asked, "Why did you frame the people from the Ninth Divine Realm? What grudge do you have against them?"
Stalvan had recovered a little, but he was still nervous. "When I reached Lunarfall, I worked odd jobs everywhere and barely managed to get by. By chance, I recognized the people from the Ninth Divine Realm as the thugs who attacked the Eastvale Logging Camp back then. Earl Flintley treated me well, and I wanted to avenge him, so I infiltrated the Ninth Divine Realm and became an odd-job man, waiting for a chance to take revenge. That day, the Ninth Divine Realm's Warlock, the greedy Blackwater, came to me and forced me to deliver a secret letter to the Pale Orcs' leader, Norn Bloodseeker. I didn't know what was in it, but I had the feeling there was infighting in the Ninth Divine Realm, so I went gladly. When I reached the Pale Orcs' lair, Norn Bloodseeker beat me badly, and I told him everything."
Robbie frowned inwardly. So it had all been infighting within the Ninth Divine Realm, and they had pinned it on the silent Kinndy. The greedy Blackwater really was sinister. That had been a clever move.
But what had caused the infighting?
Vanessa seemed to have expected it. She snorted. "I thought so. Back when the Alliance and Horde joined forces to attack Kael'thas's Tempest Keep, the Ninth Divine Realm guild, led by the gnome Warlock Blackwater, suddenly withdrew. Strategic supplies worth over two million gold coins disappeared along with them. SI:7 has been keeping an eye on the matter, but unfortunately, they've had no evidence."
"The greedy Blackwater wanted to keep those supplies for himself. Where is he?" Robbie asked.
A bitter smile touched Vanessa's lips. "Prophet Velen has taken him in. We can't touch him for now. Robbie, think of something. Persuade Velen to hand over the culprit, Blackwater."
"I'll have to give that some careful thought."
Robbie scratched his head in difficulty. Someone like Velen, who had lived for countless years, had grown cunning with age. He must have some ulterior motive for taking Blackwater in, and he wouldn't be easy to persuade.
Vanessa was in no hurry to press him. "There's no rush. Just keep it in mind. This Stalvan is still of some use. Garona tried to kill him to silence him, so his life is probably in danger at any moment. We have to protect him, but wasting a Follower slot on him wouldn't be worth it."
"That's easy," Robbie replied. "Isn't he Undead? Just say he's Delvar Ironfist's Ghoul. That makes it perfectly legitimate."
Vanessa's eyes lit up. "Good, that's a good idea."
Robbie thought to himself that he would assign Stalvan to clean the keep's toilets full-time from now on.
Vanessa brought up another matter. "Oh, right. Just now, Garona failed in an attempt to assassinate Archmage Khadgar. I suspect it's a plot by Gul'dan. Robbie, what do you think?"
Robbie was thinking about Blackwater and was somewhat distracted. Hearing Vanessa's question, he casually said, "It was an act."
"An act?" Vanessa was visibly taken aback.
Damn it. Robbie was filled with regret and wanted to slap himself hard. He didn't know how the idea had occurred to him, much less why he had blurted it out.
But on second thought, perhaps it did make some sense.
Robbie steeled himself and explained, "Garona's attacks deal shadow damage. Her ambush could pierce my Divine Shield. Khadgar may be a powerful mage, but how could that prematurely aged body of his possibly withstand it? The fact that he didn't die proves there's something fishy going on."
"An ambush piercing Divine Shield is nothing remarkable." A trace of disdain appeared on Vanessa's face, but she soon fell into thought. "Your reasoning has given me a new perspective. Only that answer makes sense. Fortunately, you reminded me, or those fools would have fallen for it."
Commander, who are those fools, and what would they have fallen for? Robbie was baffled.
Vanessa offered no explanation. She suddenly fixed her gaze on Robbie, her beautiful eyes flickering, and asked, "Do you think Khadgar is loyal or treacherous?"
"I don't know," Robbie answered honestly.
If they were talking about Khadgar in World of Warcraft, he was absolutely, one hundred percent a good man, a flawless heroic figure with a glorious, magnificent image. But after crossing over to the Azeroth Continent, Robbie found himself less certain in his judgment of these heroes, given his own memories and what he had personally seen and heard.
Vanessa snorted. "What makes me most suspicious of Khadgar is that he suddenly became young again. There must be a plot behind it."
Commander, that isn't important, is it? Robbie said to himself.
"What did the Elf Deyuli say?" Robbie asked.
"Yuli comes from another time period. During the campaign to attack the Black Temple, she was accidentally swept into the Twisting Nether and ended up in Lunarfall Camp."
Vanessa narrowed her eyes, and a frightening chill radiated from her delicate face. "A conspirator was conducting space-time travel experiments in Karabor Temple. Stalvan and Yuli both crossed over by accident when the experiments failed."
"There's nothing much to that. Why wouldn't she tell us before?"
"Yuli thought I was investigating the Demon Hunter Illidan's secrets... Hmph, what's there to investigate about that blind fool?"
It seemed Robbie had heard something he wasn't supposed to know.