episode_0049

Even if you try to turn your gaze, there is nowhere to turn. Are you asking me to interrogate you? I feel like vomiting from the unspoken pressure.

“Seollang will have to look after you, but it is possible.”

“I heard so?”

My head is already aching as I don’t know how to find the hunter. Should I say I want to buy paper in bulk? Should I say I’m looking for a carriage?

If a child asks something like that, of course they will look at it strangely. This can only be an object of suspicion. Anyway, this map is somewhat blurred and the surrounding terrain is unclear. Plus there is no river there.

“Are there any rivers around here?”

“Yes.”

The map was made too roughly.

No matter how close Juul is to the south, it won’t be able to draw a river on a map.

How should I ask this?

“How far was the body from the river?”

“Okay. Even I can’t get a feel for it just by looking at the map.”

There is no river on the map, so it is not visible at a glance.

Looking at their expressions, it seems like the two elves already figured out what I was going to say.

The deer-headed Ramrat must have been listening to our conversation, so he rummaged through the table drawer and brought out a translucent piece of paper.

“The river will only come out when you cover it with this paper.”

The answer came out when I covered it with the greaseproof paper that Ramrat had brought.

The body was abandoned near the river. Not only are the bodies located near the river, but people who died on the same day are also abandoned in various places, upstream or downstream.

The reason there are corpses around the river is because of the smell.

The South is a place where bears roam outside the house.

Bears are so curious that when they smell something unusual or blood, they come down to the village and wander around. As a result, blood removal and skinning are usually done at the riverside, where the smell is swept away.

“The plunderer will pass through this river once the victim is found.”

Elysia’s eyes are cold.

I was just saying this, but I guess now wasn’t the right time to bring it up.

“Are you trying to wait for the victim to come out?”

“No. The most important thing is that there are no victims. That’s just the way it is.”

I think everyone here noticed when the waterway map was written. There was no need to say it for no reason.

“Is there anything else you can say besides that?”

······Can I say this?

From what I know, this may be correct.

“I think the opponent is not a hunter… but an experienced ranger who hunts demihumans.”

There are only two elves who react to the word ranger.

Although it may sound cool at first glance, to put it negatively, it is said to be a hunter who catches people.

“Tell me more.”

Juul has been subtly urging me on from earlier.

Could it be like parents bragging about their children at a party?

“It’s just a prediction…”

“The only thing we can do is predict the current situation.”

Why don’t you stop?!

How do I know this?! How many things can we know now?!

“Why are you really doing this to me?! Everyone here is an expert! It’s embarrassing!”

A few bailiffs burst into laughter.

It was the same with Jules. Do not laugh! you are!

“It’s because we are experts. Just looking at these incidents from an outsider’s point of view is enlightening.”

Then, he looked down at me with expectant eyes.

I don’t know. If the owner criticizes me, I should criticize him.

I caught my breath.

“The opponent knows Ajin’s weaknesses and strengths.

Even when they walk around, they will smear mud all over their body. It’s warm in the south, so you won’t die even if you don’t make a fire. If you put mud on it, mosquitoes won’t get caught, and I think it’s a human being who has learned how to fight with the southern subhumans, who have an excellent sense of smell.”

I did whatever I could.

A hypothesis that anyone can think of about not smelling. Everyone learns in the military not to light a fire for prayer.

This is an answer that everyone here probably knows.

Nevertheless, Vas tilted his head.

“A human who learned how to fight the southern demi-humans? It’s already been 100 years since the war broke out?”

Certainly, in Bath’s situation, it may not be understandable.

But other people seem to know everything I think. It seems completely boring. The weak have their own way of fighting.

First of all, I should explain about the colon wall and humans.

It’s not like there aren’t long-lived demi-humans in Drekkar.

They have Hosot’s archenemy, the Rectalians. They also live over 200 years. As such, many of those who experienced the war must have still survived.

50 years is the time for a generation to change among humans, but it is a different story if it is trained by someone who has experienced war, even if they have not fought demi-humans for a long time.

“There are native settlers like me in the south, but humans who are expelled from the Great Wall by the Drekkar are also flowing into the south. Most of them are people who committed serious crimes and were deported.”

Several people showed interest.

In particular, the word “serious crime” makes my eyeballs shine. ···When I look at those eyes, I get goosebumps. I don’t know the details as it’s just a story I heard from my father.

However, it is not difficult if you just make a prediction by referring to the past history of the Earth.

“There is a possibility that the ranger who learned how to fight the demihumans was exiled to the south. Drekkar is a conscription system, so anyone can use a weapon. Besides, the only thing I learned was how to hunt demihumans.”

“Then, what do you think is the most difficult thing to overlook when dealing with demihumans from a human perspective?”

Of course it is.

“The other person is probably also the most wary, but I think it’s a smell. I’m not looking for human scent. Shouldn’t we look for natural smells that are different from the surrounding environment?”

I don’t even know what that is.

They will find it on their own.

“If you are a meticulous person who can hide even that, you should leave a bait.”

The human sense of smell is embryonic compared to that of humans.

To a serious extent. However, any hosot or ramrat with an excellent sense of smell can basically think of what I said.

The words I uttered may only serve as the basis for tracking them. As I finished speaking, I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t raise my head. Why on earth do you let a layperson express his opinion in front of experts?! How insignificant that seems!

“Bait.”

Elysia realized what I meant and frowned.

“After all, that person is also a human being, because he or she is thinking of sacrificing something first.”

Although the tone is reproachful, it is still nice to listen to.

“But it’s also realistic. You don’t even kill them before you skin them in the first place, right?”

Claudia seemed to agree with my opinion.

I was so embarrassed that I didn’t even know what I was saying. But now that I think about it, it sounds like a villain. I’m crazy.

“I do not agree. We are here to help people, not to catch monsters using people as bait.”

Elysia was disgusted and denied it.

“I have the same thoughts as Elysia.”

Juul also denied it.

I see Juul also denies it, so it seems like I said something wrong.

“Although it is said to be around the river, why do you think the bodies are randomly dumped?”

Ramrat suddenly asked a question.

“There is no randomness in the world. The hunter himself knows that best, right?”

“That’s right. It’s just a deception tactic, so don’t worry about it.”

Jegird agrees with Yuthria’s answer.

These two elves must also have been trained as rangers. Elysia seems to have a lot of ugly hair firmly planted on her.

Jules touched his chin and scanned the map with his eyes. Then he sighed and lifted his head up.

“What do you think is the reason for hunting? Even if you took the skin, why didn’t you take the meat?”

Don’t ask me!

······Hosot hunts to eat, not to sell. This part may not be fundamentally understandable to Juul.

“Humans do not eat demi-human meat. I think it’s probably purely for the purpose of making money.”

“So, money is tight?”

Jules rubbed his fingers mischievously. ···What kind of gesture is this again? Other people’s expressions are also confusing.

“······That will happen, right?”

“It’s rainy season soon. The rain will pour down like a waterfall. If paper is stored in an awkward place, it gets wet from moisture. An enclosed space is absolutely necessary.”

It was a difficult statement to follow.

“It’s paper, can’t you just dry it later?”

“Paper soaked in moisture becomes wrinkled even when dried, losing value. That’s not all.”

ah!

“It’s more expensive than paper. Horses need to eat constantly, and they cannot gain strength by eating only grass.”

“Then, what do horses eat?”

“Yes, it is grain. Even if you give it something like grass, it’s not enough. The horses brought in from Horus were large, and if they couldn’t eat grains like oats and wheat, they would starve to death.”

If there are three horses, they eat one bag of grain a day.

One bag is enough for a family of 3 to 4 people to consume in a month, and it requires a lot of manpower and money from the weight to the price.

There’s no way a looter could have taken that with them.

Digging all day is not enough to pick grass and give it to an animal, and even if an animal eats grass, if it is allowed to graze in a strange place, it will pick up poisonous plants and die.

But what if you make grass porridge? The location is revealed by smoke.

The horses of Horus are not native to the South and cannot distinguish between poisonous plants. If released, they could pick up anything and die.

In other words, whether you keep a horse, sell it, or own it, it must somehow be handled by humans. That’s why you suggested going to a human village from the beginning…!

The important thing is that even though I knew the horse’s habits and the amount of food it eats, I failed to take this into consideration. This is something I learned from the priest that a horse’s appetite is greater than that of a pig.

Strictly speaking, they do not eat more than pigs, but because they are picky eaters, the maintenance costs are difficult for a single family to bear.

“Then where and by when will they organize the three horses, the carriage, and the countless papers?”

“The only place worth buying that much stuff would be… the Great Wall after the rainy season ends.”

The South was isolated.

Thanks to this, the circulation and flow of money are poor. Thanks to this, Daejangbyeok often provides daily necessities in exchange for local products or goods, or exchanges them for money.

“That’s right. They can’t escape until the rainy season passes. So there is no need to be too anxious. Slowly and surely, we find their traces.”

It was a perfect deduction.

Next, Jules looked at the map and hand-picked all the potentially dangerous terrain and all areas where the carriage could pass.

“It’s going to get dark soon. That’s it for today. Thank you all for your hard work.”

At Jules’ last words, people began to leave the conference room.