Chapter 66: Cloak

"Creak."

Accompanied by a grating sound that made one's teeth ache, the wooden door was slowly opened.

Moist and cold air currents, wrapped with a faint metallic rust smell, surged in through the door crack.

Golden half-long hair completely soaked by the rainstorm, and standard short plate armor still dripping with water, came into view.

"Sorry for the disturbance."

Karanfor's sheriff "Ingram" looked at the pairs of eyes in the dining room all looking at him and said in a deep voice.

His slightly reddened eyes swept lightly across the messy dining table, stopping on Xia Nan and Alton.

"If possible, I'd like to trouble you two to come out for a moment."

The door wasn't completely closed, but left open about a quarter.

So that whether inside or outside, they could roughly observe each other's movements.

Just that the voices might not necessarily be heard clearly.

But quite obviously, after Xia Nan and his companion walked out of the room, the adventurers in the dining hall seemed to resume their previous boisterous atmosphere.

But the overall volume was considerably lower.

Occasionally you could still catch undisguised gazes sweeping toward the doorway.

"You two, I'm really sorry to come disturb you so late."

Ingram stood at the door, behind him two guards with equally serious expressions.

"First, I must state that I have no intention of suspecting you two. This trip is only to inquire about some specific circumstances."

I looked at the sheriff's inexplicable words and didn't answer, only furrowing my brow and nodding to indicate he should continue.

"Joey, is dead."

Sweat mixed with raindrops slid down his angular cheeks.

Ingram turned his head, his gaze lowering, his deep blue eyes reflecting the halfling Alton's figure, his voice slow and slightly hoarse.

"Tonight."

The name from his mouth sounded vaguely familiar. After briefly recalling, I connected it with that young pickpocket from this afternoon whose theft attempt had failed.

"After all, with what happened today, even though I'm clear you two have nothing to do with Joey's death, but... it's my duty. Please understand."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. Through his expression, I roughly understood the current situation.

The thief Joey had attempted to steal from Alton this afternoon. Although he ultimately failed, it had created a connection between him and us two.

Now that he'd suddenly died, as the sheriff who'd witnessed the entire scene at the time, he naturally couldn't avoid coming to inquire about the situation.

About this, I didn't really mind.

After all, the halfling and I, after returning to the inn before dark, had been with the caravan's adventurers the entire time.

Anyone could provide an alibi.

Alton seemed somewhat excited.

The suddenly interrupted dinner, and the murder case happening nearby, made this naturally enthusiastic and curious halfling's interest blaze up like flames.

Of course, the premise was that the other party not waste too much time here.

Otherwise, repetitive and boring questions, and a case with no progress, would quickly extinguish the flames in the halfling's heart.

The halfling and I both had clear alibis.

And before coming, the sheriff seemed to have already confirmed that we two had nothing to do with the case.

Therefore, in just over ten minutes, the questioning quickly ended.

"Thank you both for your cooperation. If there are any discoveries later, please contact me."

Ingram spoke sincerely to me and Alton, his gaze also glancing toward the dining hall inside the half-open wooden door behind us.

His mouth spoke words of farewell, but his right hand lifted, using his sleeve to wipe the water droplets gradually falling from his forehead.

My gaze naturally swept across the inside of his sleeve.

The golden sun pattern that had been quite conspicuous when I'd seen it this afternoon was now completely soaked by rainwater.

In the slightly dim light of the inn corridor, the sun emblem appeared wilted yellow and distorted.

Seeing the sheriff about to leave, the halfling couldn't restrain his inner curiosity and asked:

"I heard recently there have been strange murder cases in town, where the victims' limb bones were extracted."

"Was that thief the same?"

Hearing this, the sheriff suddenly fell silent.

After a moment, he finally nodded and slowly spoke:

"Yes. Similar cases appeared in town before your caravan arrived in Karanfor."

"This is also one of the important reasons I don't suspect you two at all."

"That's all then. I should leave. I wish you a smooth mission."

Finished speaking, Ingram took the two guards and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Just as Alton and I returned to the room.

Captain Jeff, who'd been waiting at the door since the sheriff appeared, immediately came up with a worried face.

"How is it? Is there a problem?"

"I'm very familiar with Ingram. If there's a misunderstanding, do you need me to help communicate?"

I shook my head, indicating it was nothing major.

Glancing at the halfling beside me and seeing his carefree expression, I took the initiative to tell him about the encounter on the return road this afternoon.

As soon as I finished speaking, a nearby adventurer drunk with a flushed face slapped the table indignantly:

"How could this have anything to do with you! You were clearly at the inn with us the entire evening!"

"I think... hic, this sheriff is just looking for trouble. Seeing we're newcomers, easy to bully, came to establish authority!"

Beside him, an adventurer equally reeking of alcohol chimed in:

"When the little guy and Xia Nan left, wasn't that sheriff still with that thief?"

"If you ask me... who knows who killed him!"

"You're drunk, drunk. You're drunk." A companion who was still relatively sober hastily went up to hold back his teammate, afraid the other party would say something else that wouldn't end well.

Jeff sat at the dining table, his expression appearing somewhat awkward.

On one side was an old friend he'd known for a long time, on the other were adventurers who'd finally established good relations and escorted the caravan all the way.

He couldn't afford to offend either.

So he just lowered his head and ate.

Returning to my seat, I couldn't help recalling the case Ingram had mentioned earlier.

Seeing the halfling's bored expression after getting the sheriff's affirmative answer, his interest gone.

I asked:

"Do you know something?"

Although Alton looked like a child, as a lightfoot halfling developing toward "bard," he'd definitely traveled to many places.

The people and things he'd seen far exceeded my own.

Such an expression clearly indicated he'd already discovered something.

And just as I'd guessed, facing my confusion, the halfling immediately shrugged.

The spoon in his hand stirred the sticky beans on the plate listlessly, saying casually:

"What else could it be?"

"Cultists."

"Those lunatics are everywhere on this continent, just like cockroaches. Usually hiding in corners, jumping out to disgust you at who knows when."

Speaking, he pulled out that lucky coin from his chest again, lightly tossing it.

"No matter how you catch them, you can't catch them all."

"Boring."

The coin reflecting brass-colored luster under the lamplight spun and fell.

My gaze was unconsciously drawn to it.

Then, for the first time.

I saw the coin that fell on the halfling's palm reveal its reverse side—

A cloak floating in mid-air.

More later

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