Roy’s mana was fully replenished once he exited meditation six hours later, much to his relief. If he couldn’t fully replenish his mana in one session, that’d make Guided Arrows useless in battle, since he would also have to spend mana on signs in the future.
He washed himself up before traveling to the palace. Dennis was already waiting for him, and together they went to the servant’s room. Roy wanted to look into the third victim that day.
On their way there, the duo came face to face with a few knights in shining armor, literally. The knight taking the lead was none other than the order’s captain — Cleveland. He was accompanied by two burly knights, and all of them looked frustrated. Roy could hear Cleveland cursing under his breath as they walked by them.
“Curses. The wanted poster’s been hanging for days, but nobody managed to get anyone at all? The order’s going to lose favor with his majesty at this rate. Hell, we might even get chased out of Ellander.”
“Calm down, Captain Cleveland. The portrait’s too vague for anyone to see. I can understand why nobody’s turning anybody in yet. Besides, Mr. Letho’s missing right now. It’ll be hard for us to find someone who’s deliberately hiding himself in a city this big without a witcher’s help.”
“Hold up. What did you say? We need a witcher… That’s right!” Cleveland looked around, and his eyes lit up at the sight of Roy. “Have you found anything, Mr. Roy?” He strode to Roy.
The young witcher shook his head. “It took Letho two months to track down the killer. I just got here, so don’t get your hopes up just yet.”
“I-I see.” Cleveland froze for a moment. “But the killer might be on the move again.” He sighed. “He’s already killed six civilians by now. I know he’ll kill again.”
“I’m already looking into it, but I need time.” Roy noticed someone was staring at him from behind Cleveland. “And who might they be?”
“My partners. They’re the pillars of the order. This one is Sebastian Beidi, while this one is Simon Patrigadin.”
Sebastian was a burly man with a huge scar on his chin, and he looked unapproachable, while Simon had lustrous golden hair that resembled a lion’s mane and facial features fierce enough to pair with it. Roy could see a blue rose tattoo on Simon’s exposed neck, but that wasn’t the point. The point was Roy recognized their names from Huckle’s list. “Pleasure to meet you, knights. I’ll tell you if I find anything, Mr. Cleveland.”
“Come to us if you need any help, Mr. Roy. We’ll be happy to assist.” Cleveland then shot Dennis a dirty look before leaving them alone.
After the knights had gone away, Roy asked, “Is Patrigadin an aristocrat’s kid?”
“Why do you ask?”
“He’s too good-looking to be a knight. And there’s something else about him, so I’m curious.”
Dennis walked straight into the luscious flower bed beside them and took a deep breath. “I’ve been a guard for many years, and part of my job requires me to look into the noble families and their crests. Patrigadin used to be a big noble family in Nazair, a country south of Cintra, but ever since Nilfgaard conquered it, a part of the family moved to Temeria and stayed there. Their family worked hard for the kingdom and managed to reclaim their status of nobility.”
“What about the knight with a scar on his chin?”
“A native of Vizima. He’s a stubborn one. Dispatched to the city along with Cleveland.”
“You seem to know a lot about the order.” Roy wanted to help Huckle out a bit with the case. “The official knights, not the disciples.”
“I’ve talked to all the members who got dispatched here. Not many. About twenty of them.” Dennis pinched his beard. “Had to do it, you know. We guards and them knights are always at loggerheads. Gotta be on the guard in case they try to pull anything funny.”
“Um, can you look into these people, then?” Roy took out the list Huckle gave him. “I want to know where they came from, their families, their idiosyncrasies, and their daily lives.”
Dennis shot him a curious look, but he took the list without asking any question. “Sure. You’ve been helping me out with the case, so consider this a bit of repayment. I’ll be in touch.”
***
The duo finally went to see the guy of the day — Alex. He was the roommate and friend of the dead servant, Chasel. And he was also a servant. Alex was wearing a dull brown jacket, blue pants with white stripes, and yellow boots. His face was clean shaved, and he looked slightly feminine. Alex had light makeup on, and his jet-black hair was tied up in a ponytail. Roy could also taste the scent of perfume on him.
For some reason, he reminded Roy of the boy toys kept by the aristocrats. And Alex’s voice was soft and shrill, making Roy uncomfortable. The only saving grace was that Alex moved like a man instead of a woman.
Alex was disgusting to Roy, but the young witcher held down his nausea. “I’m sure the knights have asked a lot of questions, Alex, but that’s not what I’m here for. I need some different answers.”
Dennis was playing the bad cop to make the investigation easier. “This is important, so you have to tell the truth. I’ll know if you’re lying, and you won’t get off easily.”
“O-of course, sir. I’ll tell you everything I know.” Alex bowed fearfully.
“Tell me about your roommate. How did he get along with everyone?” Roy stared at him, and Alex looked down at the ground.
“He got along with everyone well. Says hi whenever he ran into anyone, and he was a nice guy, too. Never heard of him getting into trouble with anyone.”
“Was he a criminal, then? Petty thefts count, too.” Farquhar’s case reminded Roy that not everyone was what they claimed to be at first.
“No, no, no, sir,” the servant answered nervously. “Chasel wouldn’t take anything from the castle, even if it were the last thing he did. Why, that would cost him his life. Nobody would do it.”
“Was he a lazy man, then? Did he slack off?” Roy wanted to see if the killer had a specific trait in mind when he killed.
“No. Quite the opposite, actually.” Alex gave it some thought. “He was a hardworking man.”
“Did he have any addictions, then?” If the killer is a vigilante, decadence would be the first thing he would punish.
“Well…” Alex hesitated to talk about that.
“Is that hesitation, I hear?” Dennis looked impatient. “Keep any secrets and I’ll tell the majesty you’re complicit.”
Alex quivered in terror. “No, please. I’ll tell you everything. Chasel… Chasel loved to take a bite out of people’s food whenever nobody was looking.”
“He stole food?” Roy and Dennis looked at each other, surprised.
Stealing food wasn’t that much of a deal in the castle, but that depended on the situation. If Hereward didn’t know about it, then all was well. Even if he did find out about it, he might laugh it off if he were in a good mood. But if he were in a bad mood, say because of a certain serial killer still on the loose for months on end, then he might just kill the servant off.
Dennis wanted to ask more, but he decided against it. “I won’t tell his majesty about this, so tell me everything you know. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cranmer!” Alex was overjoyed and nearly groveled before them. “Chasel wasn’t a greedy man. He never showed any desire for money or power, but he loved food. And technically, Mr. Roy’s right. He stole a bit of food he served whenever nobody was looking.”
“A bit? That’s an understatement, isn’t it?” Roy asked.
Alex picked his next words carefully. “The servants would finish his and her majesty’s leftovers. Chasel was a glutton, so he ate the most every time.”
“I see.” Roy nodded and waved him down. Alex heaved a sigh of relief before scurrying off.
Roy spent a moment piecing the information he had gotten thus far together. Farquhar was killed because of his greed. Barre was killed because of his sloth. Chasel was killed because of his gluttony. Arthur… If I had to say anything about that knight who tried to duel Letho, then I would say he was arrogant. So, pride, huh? We have six victims right now. The number’s not right, but it’s only a matter of time.
An idea struck Roy. All the crimes the victims had committed could be summed up in one phrase, but Roy found it unbelievable. He massaged his temple as he processed the possibility of that concept. “Impossible,” he muttered. “That’s Christianity through and through. That concept shouldn’t exist here. I’ve never even heard of it. I might be imagining things, but I need more proof.”
If he were truly a native of the witcher world, he wouldn’t have even thought of that possibility, but since he used to be an earthling, he had an idea about the bigger picture.
“Roy, about what you said earlier… You were saying that Chasel was killed because he stole some food? That’s preposterous.” Dennis broke his train of thought. He couldn’t understand why Roy even posed that question to begin with.
Since Dennis was too short to be the killer, Roy thought he could tell him a bit about his assumption. They came to a quiet room, and Roy said, “I think I finally caught on to the killer’s motives after all this time, but it’s just a guess.”
“It’s fine. Do tell.” Dennis was getting excited. “Don’t keep it to yourself like your mentor did. That’s going to make things hard.”
“Let’s start off with Tailles. What do you think about him?”
Dennis tilted his head. “Lofty, arrogant bastard.” Then he saw Roy squatting down and wrote Arthur’s name on the ground before adding the word ‘pride’ under his name. Roy looked at him quietly, signaling him to go on.
“Think about the way he died. He was kneeling with his heart in his hands. I think the killer’s trying to tell him to be humble.” Roy stopped for a moment to let Dennis process the information.
“Next, Farquhar. I looked into his case and found out he did something before his death. He tried to take money from the bank.” Roy added the word ‘greed’ under Farquhar’s name. “But he was killed before he could get away with it. His fingers were sliced off, and his eyes were gouged out. The killer was trying to send a message of self-control.
“Chasel the servant snuck food out without anyone knowing. His sin was gluttony. The killer sewed his mouth shut to keep his gluttony in check. Bruce the butcher was a hothead, making wrath his sin. Barre’s sin was sloth. Boris the Fleetfoot used to be a racing champion, but he spiraled down a path of self-destruction after his loss. He envied his rivals, but he vented all that envy on his horse in the form of torture. His sin was envy.
“He couldn’t even love himself and stand back up, making him worse than his horse, who stayed by his side until the very end. The killer switched their insides to send a message of love. Twisted, I’d say.” Roy stopped for a moment. “The victims embodied the worst sins of humanity.”
Realization struck Dennis, but that only served to shock him more. “You’re saying the killer’s cleansing the world of sins?”
“These are just petty crimes in most cases, so the killer’s probably a heretic or an extremist. He’s trying to perform a ritual through bloodshed. And a systematic one, at that.” Roy’s eyes gleamed. “He has cleansed six sins so far, so that means there’s only one left — lust. That’s the last of the seven deadly sins. The killer has one target left.”
“Wait, Roy.” Dennis was intrigued. “Why’s it ‘seven deadly sins’? Care to explain? Why that particular number? Which religion started this?”
“You’ve never heard about the seven deadly sins before?”
Dennis shook his head. “I’m not a theologist, but I’ve lived a long life. I had a conversation with a theologist about all the major religions’ doctrines, but not even one in all the northern kingdoms has the concept of the seven deadly sins. Not Lebioda, not Melitele, not Eternal Fire. Heck, not even small-time religions like Kreve or the Lionheaded Spider ever talked about that concept. The seven deadly sins effectively don’t exist here.”
Roy spaced out for a moment and smiled dryly. I could have been taking this the wrong way. The killer might just be doing this at random.
Dennis didn’t want to douse Roy’s enthusiasm, so he continued, “Maybe I haven’t been looking into this religion business deep enough. The deaths match your description, and eerily so, I might add. He might just be cleansing the land of the seven deadly sins, just like what you said.”
Roy sighed. If not even the Eternal Fire or Kreve have the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins, then what’s the reason behind the murders? Why do all the deaths match my assumption? Or could there be a secret religion in the city?
Dennis broke his train of thought again. “If the final sin is lust, shouldn’t we be keeping an eye out on all the brothels and inns in the city?”
Roy pondered on the suggestion. “Yeah, but keep it quiet, or the target will know something’s up. Dispatch a guard or two for every brothel and inn, and keep everyone else close to the palace. The deaths happened around this place, and two of the victims were related to the royal family. The killer might pick his final victim from the staff.”
“I need to make a trip to the temple, so get prepared in the meantime.” Roy thought he could find some answers about the land’s religions among the sea of books in the temple’s library, and Jarre the librarian could help him out too.
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