Chapter 143 The day her father died

Hilda's facial expression turned stoic the moment she heard that they needed to find the person responsible for placing a curse on her little sisters, she was also sure that this person was also responsible for her mother's curse.  When she realized that fact, she couldn't restrain her anger as her bloodlust filled the room.

The heavy feeling of bloodlust was so great that if any normal person was inside the room with Hilda they would've puked already. Even the most courageous of people would have shivered in fear of such overwhelming bloodlust. Yet Ren who was with Hilda didn't even flinch in the face of such bone-chilling bloodlust. To him, this level of bloodlust could only be regarded as a gentle breeze.

'Becuase of him, my mom is dead! Because of him, my little sisters are in this state! Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. I need to kill him!'

Hilda's mind was being filled with thoughts of killing the person who did this. She was now starting to blame the person who cursed her family members with every misfortune she had. She pushed the blame on that mysterious person without knowing the reason why. She was starting to believe everything bad that has happened to her was because of that person.

"So what do you want to do?" Even though Ren already knew what Hilda's answer will be, he still asked the question with a smile on his face.

"We kill him!" Hilda answered the question with a tone that could make one's soul freeze over. Even though she knew that killing the enemy will only give them a fifty-fifty chance of breaking the curse, Hilda didn't care she just wanted to kill the person responsible for all this. She might be telling herself that she was doing this for her family, but in truth, she was doing this for herself. She knew that but she could no longer stop her anger from consuming her reason.

"Alright then, now that you picked that option. We first need to find the person who did this. So we need to gather information. Tell me how did your father die?"

Hilda whose hatred was growing by the minute was surprised by Ren mentioning her father. It was like someone splashed cold water in her face. She was not expecting Ren to ask such a question, which led to her bloodlust slowly diminishing due to her surprise.

"What does my father's death have anything to do with this?"

"His death might actually be the reason for all of this. So tell me how did he die?"

Hilda didn't want to answer this question since even after all these years she still felt horrible remembering that day. But seeing Ren's serious expression she knew that she had no choice but to answer.

"My father was killed by bandits as he was returning home from the Capital."

"Bandits?... That's weird, tell me what was the noble rank given to your father?"

"My father was a Viscount."

"Oh, that's interesting, being a Viscount shouldn't your father have sufficient amount of men to protect him? So, how was he killed by bandits?"

"My father was a swordmaster and he believed that he could handle the trip to the capital by himself. Well, he also brought two knights to protect him. One of the two knights survived and he was the one who reported the death of my father and the other knight."

"Wait a minute, everything you're telling me sounds weird. Didn't you find it strange that a bunch of normal bandits was able to kill a swordmaster that had two fully equipped knights with him? Actually, if they were able to deal with your father, how come that one knight was able to survive and leave? Surely you thought that this was weird, right?"

"Of course I doubted this story! But because of that knight's testimony, no further investigations were done. That knight was supposedly one full of honor and his word was like gold. When I became an A rank adventurer, I tried to find that knight only to learn that he killed himself because of the guilt he felt being the only one to survive that day. After that, I had no choice but to believe what he said. Surely someone that was filled with so much guilt that he killed himself after, was worth believing, right?"

Hearing Hilda's explanation made Ren shake his head and sigh.

"How naive, Hilda, how very naive. Didn't it occur to you that it was possible that someone killed the knight and made it look like a suicide?"

Hilda was shaken to her core when her heard what Ren said. He was right, it didn't even occur to her, to think that someone would kill that knight. Still, killing a knight and making it look like a suicide attempt was easier said than done. She only knew a few people capable of such a feat, Gregory was one of them, and another was standing right in front of her.

"That knight was most probably killed because of some sort of information he had. He most likely knew something that someone else didn't want to be leaked. Tell me, Hilda, why did your father go to the capital that day?"

Hearing Ren's question Hilda tried to remember everything she could about the day before her father left for the capital. It was a bit hard to remember seeing as quite some time has passed since then.

"Hmmm, he didn't really say anything about why he... Wait, I think I remember something... I remember him telling me that he was going to meet a friend of his at the capital. He told me that he was going to buy me a souvenir after meeting this friend of his. Also, before he left I remember hearing him tell my mom, that once he returns it was possible that he might rise in rank and become a Count. He never did say how he was going to raise his rank, nor did he say who this friend he was visiting was."

"Is that all you remember, is there nothing else?"

"It's been so long, and I actively tried to forget anything related to that day. So it's pretty hard for me to remember anything, but I'm kind of sure that's all of it."

"How about the day your mother turned mute. I'm sure it was on that day your mother received her curse, when and how did it happen?"

"The day my mom stopped talking was on the same day that the knight told us the news of my father's death. After he told us of father's death mom suddenly fainted and when she woke up, she became something akin to a lifeless doll."

"Aside from the knight was there anyone else there on that day?"

Hilda tried her hardest to remember that day, but it felt like something was stopping her from remembering. As she continued to think as hard as she could, she suddenly remembered that there was indeed another person there on that day.

When Hilda remembered a bit about that person she couldn't help but shake uncontrollably. She remembered that creepy smile that person had as he stood behind the knight. Also, that person was someone Hilda knew, he was someone that was here in town. That person Hilda remembered was someone who she greets every day.

When Hilda came to this realization she couldn't believe it. Why did she forget that he was there on that day? Why does she only have fond memories of him? The answer to her question came crashing down on her. Her mind was being manipulated but then another question arose, since when? Was it on that day the knight reported her father's death or was it even beyond that point?

"Was there someone else?" Ren who saw Hilda's shocked expression knew that she had the answer he wanted, so he asked once again since it didn't seem like Hilda would wake up from her shocked state. Hearing Ren's voice woke up Hilda from her current state. She couldn't understand why she was so scared, but she still answered Ren's question.

"Yes, behind the knight who reported how my father died. The creepy old man that sells fish at the corner of this street was there as well. I don't know why, but for some reason, I can't remember his face properly, even though I see him every day."