Golden Leopard

The battle did not last long.

As the smoke thinned slightly, the sounds of fighting had already ceased.

The Skeleton Warrior stood stiffly in place, while the Skeleton Dog dragged back the corpse of someone who had tried to flee.

After confirming there was no one else nearby, Wu Heng turned his gaze to the bodies on the ground.

He was also curious about who these people really were.

Why had they entered the village from the other side with such precise timing, after the crazed crowd had been lured away?

And what had they taken?

He pulled back the cloaks of the people before him, revealing their faces and armor beneath.

They did not look familiar.

Moreover, their armor was not standard-issue, making it impossible to identify which faction they belonged to.

He came to the last person, the one dragged back by the Skeleton Dog, and continued pulling aside his cloak for inspection.

The instant the man's face was revealed, Wu Heng's brows furrowed.

It was him!

The butler who stood beside the Mine Owner, Archido.

So Archido really was behind this?

What did he stand to gain from it?

Just as the Curly-haired Investigator had said, the mining accident had affected him the most.

Wu Heng searched the butler's body.

Other than weapons and leather armor, there was nothing else.

It seemed their objective had been clear: get in quickly, then get out quickly.

Seeing that there was nothing else to find, Wu Heng said, "Take these bodies away. Leave everything else untouched."

The waiting Skeleton Warriors moved into action.

They lifted the bodies from the ground and returned through the Portal.

On the road outside the village.

A cloaked figure hurriedly fled into the distance.

"Damn it, there was actually a Necromancer. Why was he with the Investigation Team?"

He cursed under his breath and quickened his pace.

The situation in Mining Village had already exceeded the original plan.

If the identities of the corpses were discovered, they would all face a siege from the Guard Squad.

Damn it, how could there be a Necromancer in the Investigation Team? Since when had Necromancers been accepted into the Guard Squad?

Luckily, he had been standing far away to keep watch, which was why the Skeleton Horde had not found him.

Otherwise, he too would have been left there as a cold corpse.

"I'll take what I'm owed, then leave this place."

Hm?

Muttering to himself, he abruptly stopped.

A carriage stood ahead on the road, blocking his path.

Dawn was beginning to break, and he could vaguely make out the exquisite patterns on the carriage.

The man's expression shifted. He took two steps back, intending to slip into the forest.

But just as he moved, a yellow leopard sprang from the carriage and pounced at him like lightning.

The man's face changed drastically. He drew the short blade at his waist and slashed at the leopard.

Splat!

But the leopard was faster.

It bit down on the wrist holding the blade. Bone snapped, and the short blade fell to the ground.

The man was knocked flat onto his back. The leopard planted its paws on his chest and stared down at him with cold eyes. Its crimson, barbed tongue licked across his face like a bone-scraping sickle, leaving a streak of blood.

"Wolf Head Mercenary Group! Greetings, Madam Slyther! Please make it leave!" the man shouted.

"Kuro!" a woman's lazy voice called from inside the carriage.

The Golden Leopard leaped off the man, but did not leave. It circled him, its eyes studying him like prey.

The man sat up, clutching his injured arm, his face twisted in pain.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked again.

The man quickly glanced at the leopard beside him and said, "I just finished a job and was heading back."

"Kuro!"

Roar!

The leopard pounced again, clamping onto his arm and tearing at it viciously.

The man struggled and screamed. "I'll talk! We took a job in Mining Village."

"What did Archido have you do?"

The man froze. He had not expected her to know about that as well.

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head and asked, "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"That depends on whether you're honest."

The man glanced at the leopard beside him and gritted his teeth. "We helped—"

Gritting his teeth, he said, "We helped Archido retrieve something from Mining Village. Everything had gone smoothly at first, but midway through, a Necromancer from the Investigation Team blocked our way. He killed everyone. I was the only one who escaped."

"What were you retrieving?"

"I don't know. A small package, taken from the very depths of the mine. It was wrapped up tightly."

The carriage fell silent again for a moment.

The man's body swayed slightly as he asked in a low voice, "Can I go now?"

"Go."

"Th-thank you." The man stood, cradling his dangling arm as he ran toward the forest.

Then the voice inside the carriage sounded again. "Kuro, go kill him."

The leopard darted into the woods, followed by the man's agonized screams and curses.

Before long, the leopard returned with blood all over its mouth and leaped back onto the carriage.

"Go. Head back."

The carriage turned around and vanished into the night.

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

The Guard Squad and Adventurer Team gathered together once more.

An hour earlier, the crazed crowd had suddenly stopped attacking and collapsed in swathes, like wheat being cut down.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, everyone escaped the village and regrouped.

As they recovered their strength, they also felt fortunate that those madmen had lost their ability to fight. Otherwise, not a single one of them would have escaped.

"Captain, we didn't find Wu Heng." Cavina emerged from the village as well, her expression somewhat grim.

She could not say she had formed much of a friendship with Wu Heng, the newcomer, but she did not dislike him either.

They had just become teammates, and he had died on their first mission.

That was not a good thing by any measure.

The Guard Squad had also suffered severe casualties.

Only three of the original six remained, and every one of them was injured.

"Not finding him is also good news. Let's wait a little longer," Captain Ortluk said.

Though he said that, last night's situation had been extremely dangerous.

It had been Wu Heng's first mission. Separated from the crowd, it would be difficult for him to have survived.

Though Cavina could not bear the thought, there was nothing much she could do.

She sat down nearby to recover her strength.

At that moment, Commander Plamon walked over.

"Captain Ortluk, what do you make of this?"

The investigation into Mining Village had been full of suspicious points from beginning to end.

Yet they had never found any useful evidence to point them in the right direction.

If no one had died, they could have endured it and left Blackstone Town to handle the matter.

But now that both teams had lost people, they could not simply let it go.

Ortluk said softly, "Provide the information to Blackstone Town and have them send more people to inspect Mining Village. At the same time, investigate the person who provided the intelligence. We should be able to find some clues."

"Mm." The commander continued, "Archido is highly suspicious, but it will be difficult to trace it back to him. We still haven't found any evidence connecting him to this matter. Even if we question the intelligence, he can come up with plenty of explanations."

As long as Archido insisted that the intelligence he had provided was what he knew at the time, it would be difficult to do anything to him.

After all, no one could demand absolute accuracy from intelligence.

Especially intelligence provided by civilians—some errors were perfectly normal.

"Then there's no other way. Have someone look into Necromantic Magic. Something was clearly wrong with those villagers," Ortluk continued.

"Mm, that's all we can do. Let's head back first."

Just as everyone rose to leave.

Two figures emerged from the village.

Wu Heng!

And that skeleton.

Not only was he alive, but he did not appear to have any obvious injuries.