"They're all people I know. Can't we go straight in?"
Kebi was a little puzzled. Why was the captain, usually so friendly, so stern today?
"Young Master Kebi, you may enter, and so may that lady, but... this witcher must register." The captain looked solemn. "You must understand, we're all following the rules. It would be bad if some unauthorized person slipped into the fortress."
"But..." Kebi was about to argue further when the witcher cut him off with a wave.
The latter said in a low voice, "My name is Dick. I'm a witcher."
With a perfectly serious expression, the captain took out a notebook and wrote something down with a quill.
Only after a moment did he say, "No offense intended. Hmm, you may enter."
Dick said little and followed Kebi into the courtyard.
Kebi explained beside him, "This is where my adoptive father lives, so the guards are stricter with their checks. Please don't take it to heart."
"I understand," Dick replied.
Naturally, he understood the reasoning and knew why he was being singled out.
But none of that mattered. Obtaining Energy Points was his top priority.
And again, what did the trouble the body's original owner had caused have to do with him, Dick?
Only when he saw that Dick remained composed and completely unaffected did Kebi relax. He did not want to fall out with Dick.
He then looked questioningly at Xiya, who merely pressed her lips into a smile.
Seemingly encouraged, Kebi pointed ahead and said, "Look, this towering fortress has stood for a hundred years.
"Back then, my adoptive grandfather captured a great many Jatu barbarians on the plains and forced them to build this fortress."
The mention of the Jatu suddenly reminded Dick that there was a stretch of grassland in this game world called the Jatu Plains. Everyone there was a soldier, all mounted warriors carrying bows on their backs and long spears in their hands.
They lived by plundering, leaving the plains at intervals to raid the surrounding countries.
The surrounding countries had also joined forces to wipe out the Jatu.
But the plains were simply too vast, and the Jatu were superb riders. After several attempts, they could only give up.
While he was thinking, a maid opened the fortress gates from inside.
Kebi had already handed his horse over to a groom, and the three entered the fortress.
Dick looked around. The entire fortress was built of marble, and its interior was extremely spacious.
In the middle of the sitting room before them stood a long table, with chairs arranged on either side. It appeared to be the master's dining table;
a fireplace vented directly outside was installed in the wall facing the far end of the long table, to ward off the dry cold of northern winters.
"Young Master Kebi, you're back," a maid said.
"Where is my adoptive father, Odin III, right now? I've invited a professional witcher to help resolve what's been troubling him these past few days."
At these words, the servant's eyes widened, filled with terror. It seemed she, too, had been troubled by that ghost before.
"Jatu have been spotted around the nearby villages lately. They've come to 'hunt' again, and Master Odin has left with the troops. He may not return until evening."
"Those damned Jatu bandits crawl out of their lairs to rob people every autumn!
"Hunting? They make it sound so nice. Those women and that food are their prey. Sooner or later, I'll become a full-fledged knight and lead an order of knights to wipe them out for good."
The young master's words came quickly. He clearly loathed the Jatu.
He turned back and looked at the witcher hesitantly, unsure whether to ask Dick and Xiya to leave for the time being.
"It's fine. We can wait. And this lady..." Dick looked at the maid. "You seem to know about this ghost incident. Could you explain it to me?"
Seeing this, Kebi felt relieved. He really did not want the two to leave just like that.
For one thing, the witcher had genuine ability and should be able to resolve the trouble in the fortress;
for another, he wanted to get to know the apprentice sorceress better.
Xiya, standing nearby, was nowhere near as physically robust as the witcher. She had risen early that morning, walked outside the city, and cast a large-scale spell. Already feeling somewhat weak, she sat down on a chair at the dining table to rest.
Seeing this, Kebi immediately picked up a porcelain pitcher from the dining table, poured its juice into a cup, and handed it to the apprentice sorceress with a fawning expression.
After taking a small sip, Xiya nodded lightly, seemingly quite satisfied with the taste of the juice in the cup, and finally said softly, "Thank you."
Kebi looked even more delighted. He simply sat on the stool beside Xiya and began chatting with her in a low voice, leaving the commission alone and taking a completely hands-off approach.
Dick did not mind, instead listening carefully to the maid before him.
"This is what happened, Master Witcher. These past two days, we've kept hearing a woman crying at night."
Dick waved a hand lightly. "I've already heard that from Kebi. What I want to ask is, do you know why this happened? Or why that strange entity, or ghost, or whatever it is, appeared?"
At the witcher's words, the maid's gaze shifted evasively. Her lips opened and closed several times, but she was too afraid to speak.
One look told Dick there was more to this matter.
He glanced sideways and saw Kebi chatting animatedly with the apprentice sorceress. He simply gave the maid a wink, then went to a corner of the fortress to ensure Kebi would not hear the conversation that followed.
Seeing this, the maid could only follow Dick to the deserted corner.
"Can you tell me now?" Dick asked softly.
Then he continued, "Don't worry. I won't say you told me the reason behind this. I'll say I learned it by asking around and investigating."
The thin, small maid glanced timidly toward the dining table. Only after seeing that Young Master Kebi's attention was entirely occupied by the beautiful lady beside him did she relax and say quietly:
"This is what happened. Three days ago, one of my sisters-her name was Rose. She wasn't really my sister. We just both came from poor farming families and came here to serve the lord.
"But while she was cleaning, she accidentally broke the lord's favorite antique vase from his collection.
"The lord punished her severely that day, ordering the servants to lash her hard more than ten times with a leather whip.
"Heavens, whenever I think of that sight..." The maid could not help clenching her hands.
"When she returned to our quarters that night, I applied medicinal herbs for her myself. Her back was covered in whip marks that had torn her skin and flesh open."
"So... she killed herself?" Dick asked.
"Yes, but I don't think that was why Rose killed herself..." Not expecting Dick to draw the conclusion outright, the maid replied timidly.
Dick knew they had reached the heart of the matter.
"At the time, Master Odin said that since she couldn't pay for the antique, he wanted to have her sold straight to a brothel once her wounds healed.
"I comforted her for a long time that night, but Rose just cried. In the end, there was nothing else I could do, so I went to sleep on my own.
"Who would have thought that at midnight, I would feel a chill and open my eyes for no reason, then see a figure swaying gently from the beam opposite my bed.