Spansom, at the foot of the Mahakam Mountains, had no more than two hundred households in all. Most of its able-bodied residents had left farming behind and gone to work in the mountain mines run by the dwarves.
That had been the way of life for more than fifty years, passed down from one generation to the next.
Unlike the timber-and-earth buildings found in ordinary villages, Spansom's homes were built from the region's abundant stone, making them sturdier and more attractive.
Roy sat on the carpet in the village chief's house, finished a bowl of thick soup made with shriveled vegetables, and ran a hand over his smooth chin.
"Business must be awfully good for witchers. We'd barely left Edessberg and hadn't even had time to catch our breath before someone came looking for us."
"Chief Cassili, according to what you've told us, there have been four murders in the village in the past three months?"
The red-nosed man beside him nodded gravely. "Three unmarried young men died some time ago. The most recent victim, Brady, was found just a few days ago. He left behind two children and a widow. From now on, they'll have to rely on the village's charity to get by."
He sighed.
"Since Spansom was founded, nothing this terrible has happened in more than twenty years. The whole village is in a panic. Everyone says a fiend is at work in the mountains, and they're all on edge, afraid their own families might be next. Please help us catch the culprit. We can negotiate the reward."
The witcher waved a hand. "The reward can wait. First, we need to learn more. When we came into the village just now, why were there almost nothing but old people, women, and children around? Where are the men?"
Cassili pointed at the sun outside the window. "At this hour, everyone's still working in the mountain mines. They won't finish for another four or five hours."
"Something this serious has happened in the village, and the men still go to work instead of staying home to look after their wives and children?"
Roy asked in surprise. "Aren't the men afraid something might happen to their families?"
The chief rubbed his large nose and gave a helpless smile. "We don't have much choice. I've already talked to the people in charge up in the mountains about what you mentioned. They've cut the villagers' daily working hours a little, so everyone can get home before nightfall. And they promised to catch the killer."
"But they aren't professionals. Three months have passed, and they still haven't made the slightest progress. It seems that dealing with a monster's work will have to be left to witchers."
As he spoke, he looked toward Letho with eager, yet somewhat cautious, hope.
"The people in charge up in the mountains?"
Roy turned the phrase over in his mind, finding it rather novel.
As far as he knew, in the current social order, the Elder Races—dwarves and elves among them—were far weaker than humans. But in Mahakam, it seemed the two groups had switched places.
Humans worked in the dwarves' mines and called the dwarves their lords.
Roy could sense the genuine reverence in Chief Cassili's voice whenever he mentioned the dwarves.
"Could Mahakam's elder, Borin Hog, be a tyrant?"
Meanwhile, Letho picked up where the chief had left off and got straight to the point. "Let's get down to business. We need to know the general circumstances of these four deaths. For example, the cause of death..."
Cassili said indignantly, "As chief of Spansom, I was at every scene as soon as I heard about it. I saw exactly what had been done to them, and I'll never forget it. Fiends are a pack of vicious beasts!"
The man described everything he had observed.
The witcher and Roy fell silent, lost in thought.
"They died in the woods. Every one of them had their abdomen cut open, then was hung high in a tree with his face toward the ground. Birds pecked at the bodies, and beasts gnawed at them..."
The witcher shot his partner a look. Roy understood at once and offered his assessment.
"From what you've told us, I'm almost certain they weren't killed by fiends, despite what the villagers say!"
"I can tell you plainly: under normal circumstances, fiends don't wander around attacking people at random. They hate open woodland and prefer to lurk in dark, cramped places like tombs. What you've described sounds more like... some kind of ancient ritual. We'll need more clues. We have to examine the bodies ourselves."
Roy fixed the chief with a keen stare. It took the man a moment to recover.
"If it wasn't fiends, then what was it?" he asked, looking apologetic. "I'm afraid examining the bodies won't be possible. We were afraid the young men would be infected by fiends... turned into something unclean, so the village burned their bodies... burned them. It may be disrespectful to the dead, but we had no choice. We did it to protect the living."
Roy was at a loss for words, and something about the situation struck him as odd. After a moment, he said with a complicated expression, "Who told you fiends could infect people? They aren't viruses or plagues. How could they spread from person to person? Now that you've burned the bodies, it'll be very difficult to continue the investigation."
Cassili's expression froze.
"Who first told you that fiends were behind all this?"
"The people in charge up in the mountains."
Roy fell into thought.
Letho clapped his hands and stood up.
"Ordinary people don't understand monsters. Don't be too hard on them, kid. How about this, Chief Cassili: take us around the village while we gather some clues."
"And the contract...?"
"We'll learn more before deciding whether to take it."
As the two stepped out of the chief's house, a crowd of village women and children who had been watching closely immediately looked away like startled rabbits, then clumsily and nervously pretended to be busy.
"Is this case really that difficult, Letho? You're not even willing to take it on?" Roy had noticed the witcher's serious demeanor and could tell the contract would be a tough one.
"Kid, haven't I told you not to take on contracts beyond your abilities? Especially when you've barely learned the basics and are already getting careless." The witcher's voice was stern.
"First, figure out what level your opponent is at. Otherwise, you might not even know how you died..."
Led by the chief, the two arrived at the home of the latest victim, Brady. A simply dressed woman with a flushed face had been waiting at the door.
After introducing himself, the witcher got straight to the point. "Has your husband been acting normally lately? Anything strange, or anything in particular he told you?"
The woman's eyes filled with sorrow. After a moment's thought, she shook her head blankly.
"How well was your husband liked in the village?"
"Brady always had a good reputation. If anything happened to anyone, he'd be the first to help. Besides working in the mines, he was good at hunting, too. Whenever he brought game back to the village, he'd share it with everyone."
Chief Cassili added, "I can vouch for that. Her husband was well liked in the village. The three young men who died were hotheaded and had arguments with some of the villagers, but Brady was mild-tempered and never argued with anyone. Everyone had a good word to say about him."
The village woman seemed to remember all the good things about her husband. She covered her face and wept.
"Brady... He'd been at the mine for half a month without coming home. I never imagined the last time I saw him would be the last time ever. I... I couldn't even keep his body safe!"
As she sobbed, two chubby little ones suddenly rushed out through the door behind her. They ran over and clung tightly to her legs, their little mouths quivering as they began to cry, too.
"Ah, poor Tina and Jim. They're only five, and they've already lost their father. How are they supposed to get by now...?"
The chief couldn't help reaching out to gently stroke the boy's hair. The boy suddenly lifted his little face, wiped his tear-streaked cheeks with a dirty hand, and stared at Roy with misty eyes.
"Y-you... you'll catch the killer, won't you?"
The woman and her daughter looked toward them as well.
Roy glanced at the witcher. Letho's expression hadn't changed at all, so Roy could only take a deep breath to calm the stirring in his chest and look away from the tear-streaked little face.
"Chief, let's visit the homes of the other victims."
"Do villagers often spend ten days or half a month in the mountains without coming home?"
"Only Brady worked that hard. He wanted to save up some money to send Jim to school in Edessberg."
"I see..."
The visits to the other three victims' homes revealed nothing unexpected. They had simple social lives, and though they'd sometimes had minor squabbles with the villagers, none of those disputes came close to giving anyone a reason to kill.
The witcher didn't even use the Axii Signs.
Roy, too, had a strong feeling that the killer wasn't human.
"Then take us to the scene of the most recent murder."
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