“May I ask who you are?” the middle-aged man, although not recognizing Rein, still bowed respectfully and asked.
It was mainly because the present Rein was no longer the thin, ordinary citizen of two months ago.
Rein, now of average height and build, rode a tall horse, clad in a knight’s armor, and carried a Dual-Handed Greatsword wrapped in sheepskin, clearly a formidable warrior at first glance.
The impression he gave was, if not of an official knight, then at least of a knight in training.
“I am Rein. Is this Agatha Mill? I heard about the mysterious events here and have come to handle it,” said Rein as he dismounted and nodded to the middle-aged man.
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s face lit up and he exclaimed, “Yes, this is Agatha Mill. Lord Reine, I am Gregory Victor, the steward of the Watson Baron family. I am very pleased to meet you!”
“Mr. Gregory, could you please tell me the details of what happened here?” Rein looked around and noticed that while the issue involved two windmills, there were very few people grinding flour at the remaining one.
It seemed that the rumored presence of ghosts and the series of deaths had left most people feeling fearful.
“Of course, Lord Reine, please come this way and have a seat, drink a cup of bitter chamomile tea.”
Rein followed Gregory into a nearby farmhouse where they sat down, and Gregory began to recount the full details of the incident.
“Not long after Baron Watson purchased Agatha Mill, one day a thick fog enveloped the mill and lasted the entire day. By the next day, we found two farmers who had come to grind their grain dead inside the windmill closest to the mountain.”
“They had been gutted, a gruesome death, with clear claw marks on their necks and bodies. Initially, we thought it was some kind of beast, so we hired a Bounty Hunter to come, but by the next day, the Bounty Hunter, too, had been killed by whatever was here.”
“After the successive deaths, an experienced Bounty Hunter came, examined the wounds on the bodies, and inspected near the windmill. He said that he smelled decay and ghostly spirits.”
“Since then, no Bounty Hunter has dared to take on this task.”
“Until recently, Baron Watson sent a squad of family guards to inspect, and after one night, all five of them lay dead inside the two windmills.”
“Their chainmail had been torn open by claws, and their flesh was mangled! After that, the two windmills were isolated and closed off.” At this point, the middle-aged man looked slightly terrified, still haunted by the memory of the scene.
Rein nodded, noting that this ghost or monster’s claws were highly deadly, capable of tearing directly through chainmail.
“Mr. Gregory, have you ever seen the monster?”
“I haven’t… No one has actually seen what the monster looks like. That’s what is most unsettling,” Gregory replied, frowning.
The unknown brings fear.
“I understand, leave the rest to me,” Rein nodded and said.
Whether it was a ghost, was still unknown.
Rein planned to first visit the two windmills, despite the bodies having been dealt with, the scene might still have some traces.
“Lord Rein, here are the keys to all the farmhouses and the three windmills,” said Gregory as he respectfully handed Rein a set of bronze keys.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Lord Rein. I will immediately report your arrival to Baron Watson.”
Rein nodded, took the key, and then went down alone to the two windmills.
It was near noon by then, but strangely, the weather began to change; instead of the sun shining brightly, a faint mist started to rise.
This made Rein feel odd, as mist usually occurred in the early morning or evening. At noon, when the sunlight was usually at its strongest, any mist should have dissipated, but now it was forming.
This instinctively made Rein more alert.
Using the bronze key, Rein unlocked the door of the first windmill with a “click,” and immediately, a musty smell of damp grains hit him, mixed with a kind of rancid odor.
Because both windmills were shaped in a cylindrical form that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, the mill area on the bottom floor was vast, approximately over a hundred square meters in a circular area.
It contained numerous pieces of farming equipment, millstones, and other items.
Going forward, Rein began to inspect around the millstone. Although some time had passed, he could still see distinct dark red blood stains on the side of the millstone.
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Rein crouched down and examined it closely. From the splattered blood stains, combined with what the steward Gregory had said, it appeared that the farmer who came to grind flour had been attacked by some kind of claw, hitting directly at the neck, causing blood to spray and leading to his rapid death.
After examining the first windmill, Rein opened the door and walked out.
By then, the fog outside had thickened further, and visibility had started to decrease significantly. Rein could only see objects about ten meters in front of him; beyond that, even with his vision, he could not see clearly.
After a moment’s thought, Rein did not retreat but went to the door of the second windmill, used the bronze key to open it, and stepped inside. This windmill had almost the same interior structure as the first.
Similarly, Rein found blood stains of previous victims near this millstone, also in a radial splatter.
From this, Rein believed that the two victimized farmers had died from the same type of attack.
That meant the killer was the same beast or type of creature.
Suddenly, Rein keenly sensed something flowing in the air. The exposed skin of his hands felt the movements in the air within the room.
This made Rein immediately grab the ‘Glimmering Greatsword’ from his back and hold it in his hand.
Despite wearing knightly plate armor and possessing the Transcendent trait ‘Iron Skin,’ Rein didn’t want to be ambushed by an unknown enemy, who knew how powerful the attacker could be!
At that moment, the fog around became denser, slowly seeping from the outside into the windmill, making the interior less visible.
The next second, Rein’s hair stood on end because he thought he heard whispering voices near his ear.
Subconsciously, he listened closely. It seemed to be a woman’s shout, like she was saying,
“Danger… run!… Run!… Run!”
This suddenly gave Rein a chilling shock.
He decided to leave the windmill first to think of a strategy, as this place indeed seemed rather eerie.
Just as Rein turned around, he froze in place.
Because right at the door of the windmill he had just exited, there was now a girl standing with a sorrowful expression.
Golden twin ponytails, a plaid long skirt, and a white apron on her chest, her sleeves rolled up on her arms, looking every bit the farm girl.
The appearance of the other party was so sudden and eerie that Rein suddenly felt his scalp tingle, and goosebumps covered his body.
“Is this a ghost?”
“But why is there no warning from my danger perception?”
At that moment, Rein was holding a sword in one hand and began reaching for his waist pouch with the other; he planned to pull out ‘Holy Water’ just in case.
Suddenly, from the thick fog behind him, a long but muscular arm silently extended, aiming for Rein’s neck with sharp nails that resembled eagle claws.
Almost at the same time, a level 2 danger perception warning violently alerted in Rein’s mind, and the next second, his head was suddenly attacked, emitting a grating metallic sound from his heavy plate helmet!
As Rein hurriedly dodged, he swiftly swung his sword backward, and the forceful sword wind stirred the surrounding fog violently.
Rein could sense that his greatsword seemed to have hit something, but the feeling was strange, not like hitting any solid object.
The sensation felt more like he was cutting through water.
Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from behind him, so shrill that it almost affected one’s sanity. Rein too was disoriented by the abrupt screeching, his forehead furrowing deeply.
When Rein looked around again, the farm girl in the plaid long skirt had vanished from the doorway.
“Tick-tock!”
Rein focused his gaze and saw several drops of blood on the ground.
On the blade of his Glimmering Greatsword in his hand, it now began to faintly glow, and there was also a smear of dark red blood.
Red blood?
It seems it’s not a ghost after all.
Rein lifted the Glimmering Greatsword to his nose and sniffed slightly, the blood carried a pungent odor, distinctly different from the rusty smell typical of human blood.
Clearly, it must be the owner of this pungent blood that was attacking him.
Rein had a premonition that the attacker could hide within the dense fog, then launch sudden attacks.
For such ambush-type monsters, Rein could only defend passively, encouraging the attacker to come forth, as it was impossible to find any trace of the attacker in the fog otherwise.
After some thought, Rein added his last Skill Points to danger perception level 2.
[Core Skill: Danger Perception lv3 (Passive)]
Danger Perception lv3 (Passive) effect: Your awareness of dangers around you has markedly increased.
(Note: The acuteness of danger perception is related to the host’s spirit; the stronger the spiritual power, the more sensitive the perception.)
The level 3 danger perception provided Rein with a dramatic improvement; whereas before, the level 2 danger perception only alerted him at the instant an attack was launched.
Now Rein had a hunch about the specific direction from which the enemy was coming.
For instance, he could faintly sense that somewhere not far behind him, there seemed to be a monster watching him.
The level 3 danger perception allowed Rein to feel the rough direction of the danger source.
Rein didn’t turn around but stood still with the Glimmering Greatsword in his hand, having already formulated a counterattack plan in his mind.
Time passed by every minute and second, and it seemed the creature behind him was becoming impatient.
At the same time, the farm girl appeared again.
This time, she emerged about ten meters to the front-right of Rein, closer than before.
She walked slowly towards Rein with a sorrowful expression on her face, her countenance filled with agony.
However, despite the farm girl’s approach, the level 3 danger perception still did not alert Rein!
Instead, alarm bells rang out from behind!
Suddenly, from the dense fog behind Rein, a sharp claw fiercely stretched out again!
Because Rein was already on high alert, he instantly reacted.
‘Limit Break!’
Rein’s chest bulged suddenly, the muscles and veins in his neck swelling like a python.
‘Roaring Strike!’
Instantly, a massive wave of sound, centered at Rein’s mouth, surged outwards.
The dense fog was instantly dispersed by the shockwave, revealing a hunched but lanky creature with sharp claws within the fog.
The creature’s ugly face featured bulging eyes, and it watched Rein in fright, its entire posture poised as if about to pounce from above, its claws aimed at Rein’s neck.
Clearly, the sonic attack was equally effective against this monster hidden in the mist.
During the creature’s momentary rigidity, a bright silver light flashed.
“Thump!”
The sound of a heavy object falling echoed, and a grotesque head now tumbled rolling across the floor of Agatha Mill.
The creature was decapitated by Rein!
The next second, Rein turned his head again to look at the girl.
This time, her expression suddenly changed.