Night Visit

Matthew had used Legilimency on Sir Rayne.

At noon, he had gone with Link to catch several members of the Mining Brotherhood, but they hadn't learned anything. They only knew that Old John owed the Mining Brotherhood a debt, and that they were there to collect it.

Matthew didn't want to be someone who followed the rules to the letter. Once he had a "problem-solving trick," he wasn't going to leave it unused.

He hadn't used Legilimency in front of Link and Anna at noon. He had yet to encounter Memory Magic in this world, and until he knew how people here felt about "memories being manipulated," he wouldn't reveal that he could manipulate them.

Sir Rayne was just an ordinary man, with no resistance to Legilimency. His expression quickly grew dazed.

Matthew examined Sir Rayne's memories and thoughts, repeating the questions he had asked at noon and prompting him to recall more details. Sir Rayne answered truthfully,

"That day, Old John went to Trina and told her he'd gone with some friends to gamble at the Mining Brotherhood's place. In the end, he wound up owing them a huge debt.

"The Mining Brotherhood threatened to sell Young John to the mines to pay it off.

"He asked Trina to beg me to lend him money to settle the debt.

"The Mining Brotherhood's mines aren't a good place. Trina didn't want Young John sold to the mines, so she agreed.

"I agreed too. I couldn't bear to see Trina upset, so I lent Old John the money.

"But who would've thought?!

"After he got the money, he disappeared!

"He must've run off with it!

"That was my money!

"That damned bastard!"

Sir Rayne's expression twisted with rage. Even under the control of Legilimency, he still looked furious.

Everything he had told Matthew at noon had been true. He hadn't lied.

But when Sir Rayne mentioned the Mining Brotherhood, he revealed something he hadn't said at noon. "The Whitestone Town Branch Master of the Mining Brotherhood is a friend of my brother's."

Matthew's expression shifted. As expected, Sir Rayne had hidden something at noon. Since learning Legilimency, Matthew's ability to read people's expressions had mysteriously grown stronger, too. He had already had a vague feeling at noon that Sir Rayne was concealing something.

Matthew prompted him gently, "Do you know this Mining Brotherhood Branch Master?"

Rayne answered in a daze,

"Of course I do.

"Just half a year ago, the Mining Brotherhood bought the mine on the eastern outskirts of Whitestone Town from my father. The Branch Master was the one who came to negotiate the deal.

"He's visited my father many times over the past six months, too.

"He's a wizard. My father usually had my brother receive him."

Matthew continued, "Why did you hide this at noon?"

Sir Rayne looked conflicted, but still answered,

"My brother owns shares in the mine, and he's also involved in the Mining Brotherhood's human trafficking.

"After our father died, our relationship deteriorated. We hardly speak now, and I didn't want to get caught up in something like this.

"I didn't want Trina to find out, either, so I kept it from her.

"Everyone in the Mining Brotherhood knows me. If they knew I'd lent Old John the money, they wouldn't have made trouble for him.

"Now that old bastard has disappeared. He must've run off with the money!"

Matthew rubbed his chin. He paid no heed to Sir Rayne's speculation and began to think.

Old John was just an ordinary man. Link had investigated him because there had been many Missing Persons Cases in Whitestone Town. Link's grandfather, Old Watson, had led a group into the Winter Forest, but only one person had returned. That person had disappeared not long after coming back to Whitestone Town.

Link had no leads, and they didn't have enough people to investigate deeper into the Winter Forest. So for now, he could only start with the Missing Persons Cases in Whitestone Town.

Wizards had far too many ways to deal with an ordinary person. If Old John had simply run off with Sir Rayne's money, he couldn't have vanished so completely. In this world, only magic could deal with magic.

That was why Matthew had always believed Old John couldn't have run away on his own. Unless a wizard had helped him, but given his financial situation, he couldn't afford a wizard with methods powerful enough to evade Link's investigation.

Matthew continued, "Where does Jack White live?"

Matthew already knew Sir Rayne had an older brother. At noon, Link had told him about Sir Rayne's family, and he had also mentioned that Jack White was a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice.

"After Father gave Whitestone Manor to Lady Alsha, Jack moved to the White Ancestral Home at No. 18, Municipal Square Street. Father lived there before he died, too."

Matthew wanted to "pay" Jack a visit. He might find evidence of human trafficking at the mine in Jack's home, but he couldn't tell Link what he'd learned outright. He would need to find a way to steer Link toward it without arousing suspicion.

After getting his answer, Matthew waved his wand.

"Obliviate!"

Matthew made Rayne and Trina forget what had just happened, and also lifted the Petrification Curse on Trina.

Under cover of night, Matthew decided to take a look at the White Ancestral Home at No. 18, Municipal Square Street.

At Sir Rayne's residence, not long after Matthew had left.

The window of the Third Floor Master Bedroom opened again, and the cold air flowed in from outside.

Sir Rayne woke at the chill. In his half-asleep state, he saw that the window in the room seemed to be open.

Still groggy, Sir Rayne glanced at his wife beside him, pulled the blanket higher over her, and gently kissed her smooth forehead.

"Is the wind really that strong tonight?" He got up to close the window, frowning slightly as he muttered, "Why does this feel familiar? Did I just dream about it?"

When her husband got up, Trina woke too. She gazed at his back with tender eyes. She had been happy ever since marrying Sir Rayne, and felt she must have used up all her luck to meet a man like him.

But soon, she saw a terrifying figure appear behind her husband.

"Ah—!" Trina jolted fully awake and let out a frightened scream. "Rayne—the thing behind you!"

Sir Rayne shuddered and whipped around. Seeing the shadow that had appeared behind him, he cried out in terror,

"What—what is that?!"

He saw a back covered in raw, bloody flesh, with head-sized lumps all over it. The lumps throbbed like hearts, oozing dark-red blood.

"Grr... blood... gurgle... flesh... hiss... more flesh...!!!" it snarled in a dreadful voice. Its words were almost impossible to make out, and its deep-red eyes were fixed on Trina in the bed.

"Trina!" Sir Rayne gritted his teeth and drew the Longsword hanging on the wall.

The blade was bright red all over, as if it had just been bathed in blood. It was a Wizard Longsword that even an ordinary person could use, and it was immensely powerful. At full strength, it could even cleave through Mage Armor cast by a Wizard Apprentice.

But using the Wizard Longsword came at a steep cost for an ordinary person: it consumed their blood to activate. The greater its power, the more blood it drained. Activating it at full strength could drain every drop of blood from an adult man.

Sir Rayne gripped the sword in both hands, his face paling slightly. As he activated it, the blade grew a shade brighter. But years of taking potions had made him somewhat sturdier than an ordinary person. He stepped forward with his left foot, turning his waist to guide his movement and his movement to build momentum. The bright-red blade slashed at the monster's neck.

The Wizard Tool's blade sliced through the skin of the monster's neck, sinking a fifth of the way in. Dark-red pus ran down the blade.

But that was as far as it got. Sir Rayne didn't cut off the monster's head. The edges of the wound began to writhe, extending strands like wriggling Horsehair Worms, as if trying to stitch it closed.

The monster slowly turned its head. Its movement widened the gash made by the blade, but it seemed not to feel a thing. By the time its bloodthirsty eyes fixed on Sir Rayne, the blade had cut halfway around its neck. More Horsehair Worms stretched out from the wound, writhing around its edges.

"Grr... Ray...ne, more—delicious—flesh!!!" The monster opened its mouth. Its teeth were dark red, and dark-red pus seeped between them.

Sir Rayne saw the monster's face. Though it was terribly swollen, he still recognized it. He cried out,

"F-Father?!"