Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 134 The Deer-Headed Spirit and the Missing Miner

After leaving Triss's family mansion, Wayne did not linger in Maripo. Soon, led by Allen, he arrived at the mine where the murder had occurred.

It was about five or six kilometers from the city of Maripo, but because the mine had a long history and huge mineral reserves, the Duke of Maripo had specially built a road leading to the mine. The two rented a carriage and arrived at the mine in no time.

This is a large mine located inside a forest, covering a vast area. Not only have several huge mine shafts been excavated, but many houses have also been built near the mine shafts to provide housing for the workers.

Upon entering the mine, Wayne discovered that there were very few workers, and they were all just moving ore. No one was going into the mine shafts. In such a large mine, there were hardly any people working.

According to Allen, half a month has passed since the first murder. Due to the large number of deaths, even though the Duke of Maripo ordered the miners to continue working and even increased their wages, not many people were willing to risk their lives to return to work at the mine.

Considering the revenue from this mine, this is perhaps why the Duke of Maripo is so eager to resolve this matter.

They traveled smoothly without any obstacles. Perhaps the people inside the mine had already received the news and knew that Wayne was the expert in charge of handling this matter. Allen led him around to observe, and no one stood up to stop them.

"Take me to the scene of the murder first. Since we haven't seen any trace of the monster, I can't determine what it is."

Allen hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then looked at Wayne and said:

"Lord Wayne, the initial murder occurred deep inside the mine. Half a month has passed, the body has been cleaned up, and the environment inside is very dark, so it may be difficult to find anything."

Wayne glanced at Allen, knowing that the young man was probably afraid of danger, afraid of evil spirits or ghosts, after all, in places where too many people die, murderous ghosts really do appear.

This is understandable, Wayne thought for a moment and said:

"Okay, you just take me to the mine where the incident happened and show me the way. You don't need to come down with me."

Seeing Wayne's insistence, Allen had no choice but to agree and led him into the mine.

The mine was indeed dark and the roads were complicated, with various rocks blocking the way. However, as a witcher, Wayne used his keen sense of smell to follow the smell of blood, flesh, and decay to find the crime scene.

He poured himself a bottle of Cat's Eye Potion, and after a thorough investigation, he returned to the ground with a strange expression.

It turns out that Wayne not only found traces of monsters fighting at the crime scene, but also traces of humans killing each other.

Moreover, based on his knowledge and experience, the culprit who made the move in the mine was probably not a stag-headed spirit that controlled the vines, but rather a large monster like a troll that used a giant wooden club.

Besides the fact that monsters like stags rarely enter narrow caves like mines, it was also because he discovered troll-like three-toed footprints on the mine floor.

However, the combination of humans killing each other and trolls attacking humans does indeed seem like the work of the Leshen.

Unlike other monsters, the Deer-Headed Demon possesses not only immense physical strength and various magical abilities, but also a unique power that instills fear in ordinary people.

In the forest, the stag spirit uses totems, spells, and dark magic rituals to create its own territory.

Then, by controlling and marking a human, the stag-headed spirit can resurrect indefinitely as long as the human remains within its territory, thanks to the power of dark magic.

To defeat the Leshen, you must either kill the human or drive him out of the Leshen's territory; otherwise, you will not be able to kill the Leshen.

Moreover, weak monsters such as demons, wolves, and crows are easily bewitched by the Deer-Headed Demon and become its combat puppets, assisting it in battle.

Therefore, to kill a stag-headed demon, one often has to deal not just with one monster, but with a group of monsters united under a common command.

Perhaps the trolls that appeared in the mine were bewitched by this stag spirit and became its accomplices.

Although none of them are particularly strong individually, even for a monster expert like a Witcher, a Leshen dwelling in the forest is definitely a formidable foe.

But there are still two questions. The first is, where is the troll now? Has it returned to the stag spirit's side, or is it still hiding deep in these mines?

The second question is, where is the human traitor who helped the trolls kill the miners? Was he abandoned by the stag and died here, or did he also return to the forest?

Back on the ground, Allen paced anxiously back and forth. Seeing Wayne emerge, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and approached to ask:

"Lord Wayne, how's your investigation down there? Any leads?"

Wayne waved his hand, not telling Allen about the clues and speculations he had found, but instead asked:

"Allen, do you know if there were any survivors when the mine murders happened?"

Allen shook his head upon hearing this and said:

"No, when the guards entered the mine, they found no trace of any survivors."

"There were only corpses scattered on the ground, all of them chopped into pieces. The city guard commander had to hire a professional coroner to piece together their bodies, and even then, many parts were still missing."

Upon hearing that the body had been hacked to pieces and many parts were missing, Wayne's eyes lit up, and he asked:

"Is anyone's head missing, or is anyone confirmed to be missing?"

Upon hearing this, Allen scratched his head and said:

"I'm sorry, Lord Wayne, I've only heard rumors about the condition of the body, and I don't know the specifics."

"However, Mr. Plant, the coroner sent from the city, is still at the mine. Would you like me to take you to see him?"

The coroner? Wayne stroked his chin and nodded. That's good. It's better to ask the professionals about professional matters.

"Take me there, I happen to have something to ask him."

The coroner, Plant, was an old man in his fifties. He was initially uninterested in Wayne's arrival and didn't want to talk to him. However, after Allen introduced him as an expert invited by the sorceress Triss, the coroner reluctantly began to answer Wayne's questions.

"A missing person?"

"What you're saying does match my guess somewhat."

In the morgue, several corpses still lay on the wooden plank bed in the hall. The smell of decay permeated the room. Allen, who rarely experienced such a scene, hung his head, his face pale, and dared not look at the already somewhat decomposed corpses.

Plant stroked his beard, then took a list from a worn box, thought for a moment, and said to Wayne:

"Actually, I also noticed this problem. According to the list, thirteen people should have died in the mine, but I only pieced together twelve of the body parts they brought back."

"Unfortunately, the body parts they brought back were too badly damaged, and many of the faces were disfigured. I can't be sure if I put them together correctly, and of course, I can't be sure who the missing person was."

At this point, the old man revealed a mocking smile, and then said:

"I had reported this matter to the vice-captain, Sir Rams, who was in charge of it, and suggested that he investigate the missing persons one by one, but the knight thought it was too troublesome and ignored me completely."

"Later, they sent soldiers to search the forest, but a whole squad was wiped out. They brought me back ten bodies, and that was the end of it."

As he spoke, the old man scrutinized Wayne's young and handsome face. Although he didn't believe a young man like Wayne could uncover anything, he still handed the list to Wayne and said:

"Later, I did some investigation and used characteristics such as age, skin color, and scars to narrow down the thirteen people to three. If there really is a missing person, it should be one of these three."

After handing over the list, the old man waved his hand, signaling Wayne and the other man to leave his workplace, while also giving them a warning:

"Anyway, be careful. After handling corpses for so many years, I can tell there's definitely a powerful monster behind this."

"Don't lose your lives while you're investigating."

With the intelligence in hand, Wayne left Plant's morgue. He was surprised to find that the old man was not only quite dedicated but also kind.

After memorizing three names on the list, he handed it to Allen beside him and asked:

"Allen, do you remember these three people?"

Allen looked at the three names on the list, scratched his head and thought for a moment before saying:

"I think I vaguely remember them all."

"Craig and Esdock are both from the city, and both are under thirty. However, they are probably very poor and have always lived in the workers' dormitory provided by the mine, rarely going home."

"The last one, Link, lives in our village. He's in his early twenties, but he's a bit mysterious. He only came to our village three years ago, living alone without any relatives. Later, he went to work in the mine."

After hearing the brief information about these three people, Wayne instinctively focused his attention on the young man named Link. After all, he was a loner and very mysterious, so people would definitely suspect him first in this kind of situation.

However, just to be on the safe side, he still had Allen take him to the foreman at the mine to ask him for details about the three men.

After comparing them, Link was indeed the most suspicious, because the other two had families and children in the city. Although they were poor, they shouldn't have cooperated with monsters to kill their coworkers.

They have neither the motivation nor the ability.

Only someone like Link, with a mysterious background and no ties, could be suspected in this way.

Soon, led by Allen, he arrived at his village and found the house where Link lived.

It was a rather ordinary little wooden house located in a corner of the village. After opening the door, the interior was also very simply furnished, containing only the things that ordinary people need for daily life.

However, after a thorough search, Detective Wayne did indeed discover some anomalies.

The house was so tidy. Pots, pans, clothes, and bedding were all neatly put away. Unless someone has obsessive-compulsive disorder or a germaphobia, most people who go out to work every day wouldn't keep their home so tidy.

Link seemed to anticipate that he would never return, and he tidied the house up very neatly.

Secondly, and most importantly, Wayne found a well-hidden letter under Link's mattress.

A confession letter awaiting discovery by a destined person simply and clearly declares that the murderer is Link himself, and also explains his reasons for doing so.

It turns out that Link wasn't originally called that. As for his original name, it doesn't matter. His father used to be a miner in this mine, and he lived happily with his wife and son.

However, six years ago, a mining accident occurred, and his father was buried in the mine pit and became a corpse.

Strangely, only his father died in the mining accident, and the subsequent compensation was not given to him and his mother.

When his mother tried to go to the mine to claim the compensation, she had also disappeared.

Fortunately, Link was already fifteen years old at that time. He sensed the danger, ran away from his original home, and was adopted by another elderly couple.

Three years passed in this way. After Link grew up, he said goodbye to the old man and came to live in Allen's village. He changed his name and went to work in the mine.

It took two years to uncover the truth of what happened back then.

It turns out that the mining accident was actually planned by several of his father's coworkers. Besides wanting to pocket the compensation, they also committed the murder because they had a grudge against his father.

His mother was also killed on her way to the mine, and her body was also violated by several people. In the medieval environment, no one cared about the deaths of a few poor people in the wild, and no one would investigate the truth.

With no way to seek justice, Link planned the massacre that happened half a month ago in order to avenge his parents. Together with the monster, he killed the murderers who had killed his father and mother.

After explaining the ins and outs of the matter, the letter mostly denounced the shamelessness and cruelty of the miners, as well as the hatred and resentment he harbored when he became an orphan.

It is worth mentioning, however, that about half of the miners who died were innocent people.

Link, however, remained completely silent about their deaths.

After reading the letter, Wayne sighed. No matter how tragic the past was, or what right or wrong it was, the murderer had been found.

Although Link's letter didn't mention the Leshen, he is most likely the human who was marked by the Leshen.

Although it's unclear why the monster helped Link take revenge or why it let him leave the area controlled by the Leshen.

But if Link thinks he can escape the law, move to another place, and continue living under an assumed name, it only shows that, as an ordinary person, he still knows too little about magic.

As long as he is alive, his whereabouts are no secret to the sorceress, and once his location is confirmed, the area where the deer-headed spirit is located will be roughly known.

Wayne collected some of Link's personal belongings from the room, especially the hair that had fallen out of his hair and was still in the bedding, and then took Allen back to Maripo City.

(End of this chapter)