Starting with the sentries on the frontier

After leaving the post, Zhag returned to the sentry post immediately.

The house was completely transformed. The burned tables and chairs had been moved to a corner next to the fireplace, and even the floor had been cleaned by the diligent girl, making it look much cleaner.

Since the tables and chairs were burned, Rosa placed the cooked soup and roasted potatoes on the countertop in front of the brick stove, using the burning fire to keep them warm.

She even carefully tidied and folded Zag's clothes and placed them by the bedside.

When Zhage returned home, he was greeted by such a heartwarming scene, which gave him a feeling reminiscent of returning home after evening self-study sessions during his student days.

"Looks like that foolish Motoro is actually a little useful after all!"

Snowball, having crawled into the house, took an exaggerated deep breath and commented on Rosa's cooking: "Hmm, no dried anchovies in the soup, minus points! But she added milk to the potato pancakes, plus points!"

"Mr. Sentry!"

Rosa was overjoyed to see Zag return.

But when she turned her head and saw the complex expression on Zhage's face, she had a premonition. Her eyes immediately reddened, and she opened her mouth but didn't dare to ask a question.

I'm sorry.

After much hesitation, Zag decided to tell the poor girl the truth.

Because after careful consideration, he felt that no one could make the decision for her, regardless of whether her initial intentions were good or not.

"We found your father, but he... has become a werewolf."

"How...how could this happen..."

"The victims weren't just your father, but also another citizen of the town, Lanmir. Both he and your father took a potion from an alchemist who called himself Peter, which caused a strange mutation that turned them into werewolves."

Rosa was completely stunned. She had been overjoyed, thinking that Zag's return meant good news—

She had considered the bad news, but that's how people are; when they're anxious and timid, they secretly yearn for good fortune.

More importantly, she had considered that her father might have gotten lost due to a strange illness, or perhaps he had been injured by some magical creature she didn't understand. But she never imagined that he would turn into a werewolf by drinking a potion from an unknown alchemist while trying to raise money to find her.

"The alchemist...is he the one who gave me 200 shillings?" Rosa's eyes were red, she couldn't understand why. "But, but why? Why would he do this? My father and I don't know him at all, at least not before. Why would he do this? Why?"

At this point, saying anything would be futile, and Zag could only manage a weak attempt at comfort: "I'm sorry."

Rosa murmured, "200 shillings, 10 gold pounds, and you can buy my father's life, is that it?"

Zag didn't speak. He didn't know what to say, and he even felt a little guilty, even though he knew he hadn't done anything wrong in the whole thing. But the matter itself wasn't about right or wrong, but about the regret of "it could have been different."

But Snowball seemed to lack empathy, or rather, it had virtually no empathy for humans. It even quipped, "She should be grateful that the old, dying motorbike could be sold for 200 shillings before it died. Elsewhere, even if you dismembered a lowly motorbike and sold it on the black market, you wouldn't get 200 shillings!"

Rosa couldn't hear Snowball's complaints. She was still immersed in the fact that she couldn't accept it, her whole body trembling, her voice barely a whisper: "He... he's still alive, isn't he?"

Zag nodded: "Yes, but for security reasons, he's being held at the Association's headquarters. You know, he's practically indistinguishable from a pure werewolf now."

Rosa persisted, "But aren't werewolves supposed to be intelligent? Stories always say that werewolves use trickery to harm innocent civilians... Does that mean that Father can still recognize me? Maybe, maybe I can change his mind? I promise I'll watch over him, please, please don't kill him, please!"

As she spoke, tears finally welled up in her eyes, her face filled with despair.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make that decision. I will try my best to get your father treatment, because the perpetrator has escaped. We need to prove the truth of this matter to the lord and the Golden Palace, so your father should be out of danger for the time being."

"Please, please, can I visit him?"

Zag sighed, not daring to make any promises: "I can only take you to try."

So Zag picked up the lantern and key, and hurriedly returned to the association's headquarters with Rosa.

The night investigator was dozing off at his desk when Snowball complained bitterly about running around so late: "I really don't understand why you're so nice to these stupid Modos! Damn it! I've never seen a more 'kind' dragon than you! It's ridiculous! I never thought dragons could be described as 'kind.' If Mother Goddess heard this, she'd probably laugh herself into daylight!"

Zha Ge first knocked on the glass door of the station, but when the investigator on duty did not respond, he had no choice but to carefully push the door open and then gently tap the table a few times.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but the victim's family members, after hearing about the incident, are very eager to meet the victim in person... This is Miss Rosa."

The investigator was startled after his dream was interrupted, and then smacked his lips as he remembered what had just happened.

He frowned, his expression impatient. "What's there to see? He's a complete werewolf! Your father, that innocent citizen, is long dead! I advise you not to hold any hope. If it weren't for the need to report this, I would have nipped the danger in the bud!"

Despite saying this, he still stood up and led the two through the building of the residence, through the back door of the kitchen, to the storeroom.

The wooden shelves on both sides of the warehouse were filled with locked safes, most of which were labeled. Some were labeled "File of [Name]", others were labeled as supplies and items such as alchemy potions and magic scrolls, and still others were simply replaced with a string of unintelligible codes, making it unknown what was inside.

But the most conspicuous creature was the werewolf locked in a cage, constantly emitting angry howls and panting sounds in the quiet darkness.

Rosa stared at the werewolf with a muzzle strapped to his face, his face deathly pale. He asked incredulously, "This...this is my father?"

"Yes, that's it, yes, that's it! I told you! Don't get your hopes up! It's turned into a werewolf! Your father is dead!"

The investigator remained impatient and stopped Rosa as she tried to get closer, snapping, "Calm down, citizen. Werewolves are not to be trifled with. You must keep a safe distance, or get out!"

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[Snowball's Mini-Drama]: Since the abolition of the Slave Act, the laws of the Eternal High Kingdom prohibit the buying and selling of people from intelligent races. However, it only prohibits buying and selling; slaves still exist in practice among the nobility. Furthermore, if these slaves need to be circumvented, they usually circumvent the law through "gifts" and "rewards."

Moreover, corpses are not included—

Although there are no openly sold corpses on the market, there are many on the black market.

"The Northerans are the most disgusting Mordos ever!"