The Bridge District is the third most chaotic place in the city after the docks, slums, and most of the people living here are small traders and ordinary people who don't have a lot of income, but still enough to make ends meet. Recently, however, there was a vicious case here, where a large number of beggars were inexplicably killed, and their skin was stripped clean.

Captain Ijisfield, who is in charge of policing the area, feels like a criminal. He couldn't figure out the murderer's motives, could it be that the human skin had any unknown function? Or is it some demon-worshipping madman performing some evil ritual? If nothing is found within a few weeks, it is likely to cause widespread panic, and the consequences of a large-scale exodus of residents will be unimaginable.

Suddenly, a group of strangers approached from a distance, and judging by their heavily armed appearances, there was no doubt that they were all experienced adventurers. Especially the dwarf who walks in the front, his hands are always subconsciously at his side, and as long as there is a wind and grass, he will definitely pull out his weapon in an instant.

Ijisfeld felt the need to go up and warn him, and by the way, see if he could hire these people to help investigate the case. Anyway, dead horses are used as live horse doctors, and maybe they can find some clues. I saw him raise a hand and shout, "Hey! Hello traveler, I'm the sheriff of this area, Igisfield. You must know that the night is not peaceful now, so ...... Better be careful. ”

"I don't like your hints, let's be honest, what happened to the down?" Henry asked, frowning. He really couldn't imagine that after the death of the vampire queen Bardi, there would be people making trouble in the streets, wouldn't he be afraid of retaliation from the Shadow Thieves Guild.

He rubbed his forehead. Igisfeld sighed and replied, "Uh...... Now that you've got the point. So I'll tell you the truth. There's a pervert who's been killing beggars lately. Judging from the bodies found, he had been collecting human skins. You'd better be careful all of you, this guy is clearly not any ordinary killer. ”

"Hah! Sounds like a good sign for kicking out beggars. Anyway, these scum are also of little value, and they can save a lot of food if they die early. ”

Needless to say, it must be Viconia who can say such things. She has never been very friendly towards the weak, perhaps because of the influence of the values of the Dark Elf City, or perhaps because of her own experience, but she is like a rebellious person when she mentions these people. Some cynical little girls.

Iggisfeld nodded with a wry smile. "Yes, I expected the murderer himself to say something like that...... But...... I don't think even you will get out of this ...... It's the same crime as a monster. ”

"Don't worry, dear Mr. Captain. We have enough force to defend ourselves, and we might be able to help. Oh, by the way, there should be a bounty if this matter is resolved, right? I don't really care too much, but these teammates still need a little money to buy alcohol. Henry said half-jokingly.

He had already remembered that this was the skinning murder case that the bridge went to in the game, and the mastermind behind it was the Santarin Society. They attempted to create a powerful and evil manskin armor, and the murderer was the owner of the leather merchant. Rejik. Heizmann. But now is obviously not the time to intervene, after all, the first target of this time is the Talisman Society.

"Of course. The bounty is quite generous. Anyone who provides valuable clues can receive fifty gold coins, and if the murderer is caught, the town hall will come up with a one-time bounty of two thousand gold coins. Yes, here is a list of cases related to the case, you can go and ask them for specific information. Remember, be sure to notify me when you find evidence, and don't act rashly. You know, this guy is an extremely vicious murderer, and I don't want to see your corpse in the river. ”

With that, Igisfield pulled out a small piece of dirty parchment, on which he briefly recorded several names and locations. These include a child who witnessed the skinning process, an old beggar who almost became a victim, and finally a girl who often stands down the street at the Five Wine Pot Inn.

Henry carefully pocketed the parchment and solemnly assured, "Please rest assured, I will bring back the evidence of the murderer's crime along with his head before nightfall." ”

In his opinion, the approach of the Santarins had clearly crossed the line. It's nothing to make a magic armor, it's a big deal to spend some money to buy a few pieces of human skin, I believe that many poor people will be willing to contribute a piece of skin in exchange for a few months of living expenses, and there is no need to kill people for this. Perhaps these guys thought that the pain and wails of people before death would add extra strength to the magic armor, so they resorted to skinning them alive.

This behavior has touched Henry's bottom line, and he may not react again until he absorbs the goodness, but now he thinks it is necessary for him to stand up and give the murderer the punishment he deserves. It doesn't matter if you kill adventurers, soldiers, priests, or even paladins, after all, they all have the ability to fight and are ready to die at any time.

But civilians and beggars are not. They have no ability to fight at all, and they just want to live their lives in peace, even if they have to endure poverty and hunger. But the reality is cruel, and even such humble aspirations are difficult to achieve. The struggle between the gods affects mortals all the time, and the open and secret strife between various churches and the war of underground forces can destroy a family at any time.

Henry never considered himself a good man, and his attitude towards gods and beliefs was quite extreme. He believes that the turmoil in the world is entirely the fault of the gods, and that if all these guys are dead, then with the help of a strong state of violence, society must be kept in a relatively stable state. Of course, human nature is greedy, and there will certainly be open and secret fighting, but there will be a long buffer period before natural resources begin to scarcity.

Henry has always maintained a sympathy for ordinary people, which can be seen in the tax aspect. Although the commercial tax has not been reduced, the agricultural tax, the poll tax, and the city entry tax have all remained at a relatively low level. If he could make all the gods fall at a very small cost, he wouldn't mind giving it a try, the world was bad enough anyway. No worse than that.

Igisfeld saw the anger burning in the young mage's eyes. He shook his head with a wry smile. "If you insist. All right. Try to be careful, and always come to me if you need help. ”

"Wait for my good news!" After saying that, Henry waved his hand, and continued to walk forward without his head.

As the name suggests, all the houses, inns, markets, shrines, and shops are built on a huge stone bridge, with the river flowing down to the west. Due to the limited amount of land here, all the streets are very narrow to make the most of every inch of space. And it's close to the river, and you can see intricate stairs and small piers everywhere near it.

It can be said that the environment here is more complicated than the dock area of the shadow thief control zhì, and those who are not familiar with the situation will be dizzy in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, Henry was prepared and sent a thief who was familiar with the road to wait here in advance. However, the halfling named Bartow was obviously a little overzealous, and his mouth never closed along the way.

"Look, the biggest house over there is Selke. Farad's house, but I don't hear a good thing from the aristocracy that lives there. On the opposite side of it is the Merchants' Square, where weapons, armor, food, and drink cannot be bought as long as there is money. At the back of the square is the famous Five Wine Kettle Hotel, where there is a nice theatre on the basement level, where there are often troupes performing interesting stage plays......"

Kogan finally couldn't help but pull out his axe and threaten hatefully, "Hey! Little cub, if you dare to talk nonsense again. I promise you'll be a little shorter than you are now, because this sharp axe will cut off the part below the knee completely. ”

"Oh...... Dwarven dude, don't be so grumpy. I promise not to say a word from now on. As he spoke, Barto made a gesture of pinching his lips, indicating that he would definitely remain silent.

Seeing this, Henry smiled and shook his head. Halflings and gnomes are both enthusiastic and cheerful races, and rarely produce a series of negative emotions such as despair, frustration, and pessimism. However, their hands and feet are generally not very clean, and petty theft is simply commonplace. These little guys are natural thieves, especially in stealth, pickpocketing, lockpicking, and dismantling traps.

"Why were you angry? It can't be for the dirty beggars, right? Viconia asked quietly, taking advantage of the fact that the others were not looking. She was a little confused by the anger expressed by the (lover).

After sighing slightly, Henry explained in a low voice: "You don't understand, I can kill thousands of monsters, soldiers, adventurers, and even paladins without even blinking an eye, but ordinary people can't. It's not that they can't be killed, it's that they can't die worthless. Obviously, the assailant only wanted a few human skins, and there was no need to kill so many beggars. This matter touched my bottom line, so he had to die. ”

"I see. You treat ordinary people as a resource that can be used, but it is absolutely not allowed to be wasted. Viconia immediately grasped the meaning of the words, albeit slightly off.

Henry smiled and said, "That's pretty much the case. Do you know? In fact, no ruler in this world is aware of the problem, that is, the wealthy commoner class can bring more benefits. They don't understand that wealth will become more and more when it is circulated, and they just want to concentrate all the money in their own hands. ”

"Well, I don't quite understand what's going on, but it sounds pretty good. But these words are better kept to the goddess of wealth, Wokin, who may be mixed up with the electorate. Oh, I almost forgot, she's still imprisoned in the palace of the Edark Prince Grazt, and if you want to see her, you'll have to venture into the abyss. ”

Viconia sneered. Obviously, she doesn't like to see anything related to business, and even the goddess is implicated for no reason. In fact, Henry thinks that Wokkin's teachings are not bad, although there will be some dark forces in some kind of Cheng dù (because she is the god of wealth, she will look at the money as soon as she looks at it, whether it is a legitimate transaction or a black market transaction, she will be protected, and she will also help some criminal organizations sell stolen goods). (To be continued......)