Vintenheim was the northernmost village near the border between Rosenheim and Essenbach. Being close to the Main River, agriculture and fishing coexisted there, and it was famous for its abundant catches of eel.

Eel was considered a high-class ingredient in noble society. I’d tried it once with Hilda. The eel stew, made with all kinds of broad beans ground into it, didn’t really suit my palate.

If it had been grilled over an open flame, I would have enjoyed it, but that was the commoner’s way, and nobles wouldn’t touch grilled food. Just you wait—I’d make it a trend yet. That was one of the reasons I’d come to Vintenheim.

"I’m the temporary manager dispatched from the Administrative Department. We sincerely welcome your visit, my lord."

"Thank you for the welcome. I’m here not as the Lord of Feuzen, but as the commander of the Gale Knights."

"Ah! My apologies, Commander."

I had so many titles that I’d sorted it out: when I was on lord’s business, it was "my lord," and on order business, it was "Commander." My retainers had standardized on "master." So today, it was "Commander."

The fact that there was a temporary manager rather than a permanent estate manager meant that tax embezzlement had occurred here too. The temporary manager was apparently quite nervous, sweating profusely as he greeted me.

"Has your predecessor been called to Breisburg?"

"Investigators from the Judicial Department discovered evidence of tax embezzlement and escorted him to the capital."

This was a time when the Judicial Department’s power was at its strongest. The Administrative Department was being held responsible for the estate managers, and the Finance Department was under Adelbert’s control. The political landscape at the center had become quite interesting.

"What brings you to Vintenheim without prior notice, sir?"

"In accordance with my judicial authority, I’ve come to capture a vicious criminal whose whereabouts are unknown."

The reason I’d come to Vintenheim was, as the Chief Justice had urged, to apprehend a vicious criminal. There were so many wanted notices that I’d been pondering which to start with, and Hilda, who was looking through them with me, had pointed out Vintenheim.

She’d shown considerable anger toward the Vintenheim killer—more than toward the others.

The crimes were so terrible they’d made even Hilda that furious.

"Ah, you’ve come about that case!"

The matter should have been handled by the previous manager, but since he’d been hauled off to Breisburg, it now fell under the jurisdiction of the temporary manager before me. A month ago, a murder case had rocked Vintenheim.

"That spawn of Satan, who brutally tortured and killed his own family, must absolutely be caught. The previous manager didn’t investigate properly, so I conducted a reinvestigation, but the killer’s whereabouts are still unknown."

This manager, with the disposition of ambitious (good), expressed his rage toward the killer. The fact that he’d even conducted a reinvestigation made him a far more proper man than his predecessor, who had been involved in tax embezzlement.

But this kind of diligence should be the basic standard.

"I’ve come to catch him, so first show me the scene. Where did it happen?"

"It happened at a forest keeper’s home in the western woods. I’ll assign someone to guide you."

The temporary manager assigned a villager who had been close to the forest keeper’s family as our guide. Since the manager knew I’d captured the Schwarz Wolf, he showed considerable trust.

He even urged me to issue orders at any time if I needed support.

People really do need to deliver results. Thanks to my reputation, the manager cooperated proactively.

The order’s members were the most startled, since this was the first time a manager had been this cooperative.

It seemed they’d only encountered uncooperative scoundrels up to now.

"Commander, do you think the manager from Eisten was also escorted to the capital?"

"Not just him. All those estate manager scum were probably implicated and dragged off."

Viktor, whose family had nearly been killed by the Schwarz Wolf because of the Eisten manager’s idle bystanding, deeply despised the man. There was no doubt he’d been implicated in the tax embezzlement scandal and escorted to the capital.

The order’s arrival had stirred up the village a bit.

The way the men hid the women was particularly noticeable. And one of the women showed a particularly extreme reaction. When I checked with the Scouter, her mindset registered as extreme anxiety. We weren’t going to eat anyone.

No matter where you go, no one welcomes armed forces entering their village.

I wouldn’t want outside armed forces coming into my village either.

Strictly speaking, the Gale Knights were also an outside force, but the people of Feuzen weren’t the least bit afraid. They trusted them not only because they were the lord’s own troops but also because they hadn’t caused a single incident.

"That’s the place."

The guide pointed to three timber houses located in the middle of the forest. A stream ran nearby, and the area got fairly good sunlight. As we approached, the guide hung back at a distance.

"What are you doing?"

"It’s—it’s a cursed place."

The Church often referred to family murderers as spawn of Satan, and this had a considerable influence on commoners. The area had apparently become known as a cursed place. That damned cursing nonsense—tch!

"You don’t want to be cursed, but it’s fine if I get cursed?"

"P-p-please forgive me!"

"Come over here and open the door. Now."

I could open it myself, but men like this needed to face the so-called curse firsthand. The guide, who had been screaming his refusal, performed a miracle of overcoming the curse’s power once the armed cavalrymen glared at him fiercely.

Creak.

"I’m going to be killed by my own children now! Aaargh!"

"Stop spouting nonsense and recount the details of the case."

The bodies had been removed, but black bloodstains clung to every surface, and with the warmth of life gone, the place gave off a chilling atmosphere. From the outside, it had looked peaceful, but the interior was no joke.

"The Vintenwalds were a family that had served this village as forest keepers for generations. They came to the village every other day to buy daily necessities, and I was close with Ralph."

While the terrified guide was hesitantly explaining, I activated the Searcher Scouter and began searching for hidden spaces. The surname Vintenwald was a combination of the village name and the occupation.

Since commoners didn’t typically have proper surnames, they most often combined the name of their home village with their occupation. The forest keeper family in Feuzen was also named Feuzenwald.

A famous surname in popular media is Schmidt.

It means blacksmith. Is it famous because the pronunciation sounds cool?

"We were friends who’d have a drink at the tavern and play card games together, but one day, Ralph just stopped showing up. Then a beeswax craftsman who had business with the forest keepers was the first to discover the bodies."

The estate manager at the time had gathered the villagers and sealed off the forest keeper family’s home. The guide had seen the bodies for the first time then, and he shuddered as he recalled how they’d all been horribly tortured to death.

The criminal was identified as the sole survivor whose whereabouts were unknown: Ralph. The Church was informed, and they attempted to arrest the horrific family murderer through a wanted notice, but no trace had been found until now.