Chapter 164 - 164 Finding the real culprit (Part 3)

164 Finding the real culprit (Part 3)

The sudden terrible news keeps ringing in Justice’s mind. He was standing and couldn’t muster any words from his mouth.

“Hey, did you hear me?!” Xavier even shakes his shoulder for him to be convinced that Justice was listening or not.

The distraught crown prince nodded his head, even though he still couldn’t believe the news. “Yes, yes, I heard you…” He went quiet for a short time and begin to ask Xavier the details, “How many casualties?”

“We don’t know for now.” Answered Xavier to Justice.

“Who’s the one that reported the attack? A witness or one of the group?” He asked Xavier once again.

Xavier pointed at the west gate. “It was a witness, a pair of farmers. They were inside the west tower right now.”

“Let’s go there.” Said Justice. He leads Xavier to the west tower.

Inside the west tower, there was a pair of an elderly couple, with Henry and one of his new subordinates, a female knight named Ruby. Henry and Ruby were in the middle of questioning the witnesses, justice doesn’t want to interrupt him, he prefer to go into the corner and listen to their story.

“So, both of you really don’t see anything?” Asked Henry to the couple.

.....

The woman took a glance at her partner. She let him do the talking for both of them. “My husband probably saw something, captain.”

“Stupid woman, I’ve already told you to shut up!” The man scolded his wife.

“Wait, you should never hide something from us. We will eventually know,” Henry warned the farmer.

The farmer tried to look at Henry’s ice-cold stare. He shivered and told him everything, “We… we saw a troop, captain.”

Justice, Henry, and Xavier were shocked by the news. Justice goes in front of the farmer and asked him another question. The farmer was in shock when he saw the man in front of him. “Did you see their banner? Or something significant?”

Both of the witnesses shake their heads, “No! No, your majesty, we saw some faces, but… nothing else.”

“Are you sure?” Asked Xavier from behind.

“Yes… Yes, we were sure, captain, we saw nothing more…” The two farmers were trembling. “Please, we came here to report.”

Feeling some sympathy for them, Xavier hold Justice’s shoulder and whispered, “Vale and his teams will already go into the location to investigate. Do you want to go as well?” He then continued on, “Let these two farmers alone. I think they had enough already from Henry.”

Justice looked into the two farmers, and just like Xavier was saying, they were terrified. Probably already traumatized by the terrible event, and when they came to report, as all the good citizens should, they interrogated them like some criminal instead.

Huffing a breath, Justice told Henry to stop the questioning. However, they still need to keep them inside the tower for a while. Henry thankfully agreed with Justice. They walked outside, and let Ruby and the lower-rank knight guard the entrance.

“Don’t let everyone get inside, but gave them some food and drink.” Order Henry to his subordinates.

“You still have some heart, after all.” Teased Xavier while the three of them were rushing to take the horses from the stable.

Henry smacks Xavier’s back, but his face tells them that he was amused by his friend’s teasing, “Shut up! This is no time to laugh. You do know Anne would be devastated by this news.”

“Yeah, you’re right, this is her teammates we were talking about, even though she knows them recently.” Xavier’s agreeing with Henry, while Justice just kept his silence.

In the stable, they saw Nathan already waiting for them. His face was pale, and it seems he had just woken up from a much-needed rest.

“What are you doing here?” Justice asked him, while the others prepared their horses.

Nathan looks at Xavier and Henry, who were preparing the horses. “Please, let me join you. I need to see them.”

Shaking his head, Justice tried to prevent the tired senior healer from going with them. “No, just wait here. We don’t know the condition of the incident.”

“That’s why I need to be there!” Nathan shouted at Justice. He was so concerned about his team and probably clouded his judgment.

Xavier saw him and walk as fast as he could to Nathan, he punch the senior healer’s face. Everyone was surprised by his action, including Nathan himself.

“Why… Why did you punch my face?” He asked Xavier with a confused face.

“Did I clear your mind yet?” Said Xavier, with a stern face towards Nathan. “The witness reported that there were no survivors! Do you want to go and see your teammates’ bodies laying down on the road?!”

Nathan’s face says it all. He falls to the ground, holding his swollen cheeks, and tried to say a few words with a trembling lip, “I… I… Oh, my Gods!”

“Senior Nathan!”

The soft voice of a young woman makes all of them turn around. They saw Anne rushing into her senior healer. The obvious traces of tears were visible on her face. “Senior, let the crown prince and the others go there. We should wait here.” Justice, Xavier, and Henry don’t know how to console the two of them, especially Nathan, who looked so devastated by the tragic news. Anne turns her attention to the three of them. “All of you should go now. Let me handle senior Nathan.”

“Alright, don’t worry Anne, we are going to get more clues about this.” Said Justice to her.

She nodded her head and smile at him. She consoles Nathan while the three of them ride their horses out of the encampment. The moonlight shining the road, making it easier to go through the thick forest and cliff. Almost five hours went by when they finally reached the place. They were so distraught by the looks of the terrible crime that was happening in these places.

They were searching for Vale and found him with Brom in one of the dead bodies that were already being covered. The primary captain of the mage saw them. His face looks so grim.

“This is terrible.” That was his first word to the three of them.

Justice feels his desperation. “So, there’s no survivor, after all?”

Shaking his head, Vale confirmed it to Justice. “We counted. All of them were here.” He open the cover on the body that was lying on the road. It was Hector, the alchemist. “He was here, alone, while the others were dead on the road.”

“Anne would be sad. He was one of her first friends at the main hospital.” Justice was muttering with a bitter smile, looking at Hector, but then his eyes saw something, a peculiar piece of fabric on Hector’s hand.