"Mr. Alston, Mr. Lin Mo, you're here."
Phini greeted them first, then introduced, "This is Grandpa Fletcher, the bishop of Silver Creek City Church."
A bishop?!
Alston was immediately startled. This was a major figure, only slightly less prestigious than City Lord Laville, on par with the Branch President of the Adventurer's Guild.
"So, did something happen... Could there be a problem with this tiger hide?"
Lin Mo looked at the tiger hide spread out on the mat.
Phini shook her head. "No, no..."
"The problem isn't with the tiger hide itself... It's this wound."
Bishop Fletcher pointed at the wound on the tiger hide's abdomen. "This wasn't caused by you, was it?"
"Indeed, it wasn't."
Lin Mo nodded, recalling the various abnormalities on the Crimson Flame Tiger. "The very fact that an adult Crimson Flame Tiger appeared where it did was strange."
Acolyte Phini had already told me all that."
Bishop Fletcher nodded. "The issue lies in why this Crimson Flame Tiger was injured for no apparent reason..."
His expression was exceptionally grave as he said, word by word, "The wounds on this Crimson Flame Tiger's abdomen and front paw carry the aura of the undead!"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed.
"The undead?"
"How could there be undead in the Lorraine Forest?"
Alston cried out in shock. "I've been an adventurer for decades, and I've never heard of such a thing."
"That's precisely why it's so abnormal..."
Fletcher furrowed his brow. "This matter requires further investigation. Undead capable of injuring an adult Crimson Flame Tiger cannot be underestimated. If we consider the worst possibility, there may even be a necromancer active in the Lorraine Forest right now!"
Necromancer.
On this continent, that name alone was a nightmare capable of making children stop crying at night.