Chapter 371
Chapter 371: The Curious Castaway
Well, it’s me, Hero Alexander, surprised by the sudden arrival of a water corpse while I was leisurely enjoying my holiday on the beach.
Before long, the soldier team arrived at the scene following a report. They were here to confirm any signs of foul play and corroborate with any missing persons.
The peaceful lives of citizens are supported by their diligent efforts. Thank you for your hard work, as always.
“You are…?”
And then the soldiers had that “Oh, it’s you again” look on their faces. I had just taken care of four Night Elves yesterday, so it’s no wonder.
I swear I didn’t do anything this time!
“I was just enjoying a nice swim in the lake…”
“And this is what you found… Are you a harbinger of death or something?”
“…Maybe.”
I couldn’t deny it entirely… Just as I began to feel somber about it, one of the soldiers suddenly gasped, glancing over my shoulder with fright.
“Huh?”
When I looked back, it was just Leila with a serious expression. What’s going on? The soldier looks quite pale… Did Leila scare you? Surely not.
“Did you find anything?”
“Well, I can tell it’s a male at least…”
“It seems like some time has passed since death.”
Putting that aside, the other soldiers continued their inspection.
The corpse is probably of the Human Race. There’s a chance it could be a Forest Elf but let’s skip the details. It’s hard to distinguish even the gender.
From experience, I’ve seen a mountain of corpses, but I didn’t have much contact with water corpses, even from my previous life. So I wasn’t well-versed.
“Hero, may I ask about the circumstances under which you found it?”
One of the soldiers inspecting the body, a brown-furred Beastman, looked up and asked me.
“There’s not much to tell. The first discoverers weren’t me but the children playing on this beach. I was resting under that tree over there.”
As usual, I left my stuff behind in the same spot. I pointed with my thumb while continuing.
“The kids suddenly screamed, so I rushed over, and here it was… this corpse washed ashore. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice anything else.”
“I see…”
The Beastman soldier pondered over the corpse, murmuring.
“Is there something that concerns you?”
“Yeah. This corpse seems off. First, compared to normal water corpses, the smell isn’t that strong.”
He tapped his pointed nose, which was more pronounced than that of a Human.
Now that you mention it, I don’t smell much decay. Even though it’s mid-summer and it seems quite a while has passed since death.
“And… normally, such water corpses tend to turn black as time passes.”
—It has a pale, bluish-white kind of hue. It evokes thoughts of the Undead.
“Not too rotten for summer, and not blackened, huh?”
“Exactly. We don’t really know what that means, though…”
The Beastman soldier looked at his comrades, but they seemed equally uncertain.
“For now… it doesn’t seem like any missing or accident cases match from our town. No tattoos, so it probably isn’t a sailor.”
One of the soldiers flipped through a ledger. It’s common knowledge that sailors usually have distinctive tattoos so they can be identified even if they drown.
“So that means it might be a passenger from a passenger ship…?”
“Maybe. There haven’t been any storms lately, so it’s unlikely they were swept away.”
“If a magical beast dragged them underwater, they wouldn’t be in such good condition…”
“Well then, it doesn’t seem necessary for us to delve any deeper…”
The soldiers were already conveying a mood of wrapping things up. If the corpse wasn’t a resident of this town, it’s outside their jurisdiction, and if it’s an unfortunate passenger who drowned, there’s no way to identify them anyway.
“Hero, can you use any fire magic? If you can perform a cremation, the soldier team will offer a small reward.”
“Sorry, but I’m not a fire element user.”
“That’s unfortunate. What do we do then, bury it?”
“Should we call Mage Dawson or Grandpa Kassoba?”
“Grandpa Kassoba just keeps complaining about raising the cremation fees. I hope Dawson is available…”
By the way, Leila, who could probably turn the body to ash with her breath if she wanted, remained silent. Unlike burning trees or sails, it takes longer and draws attention.
While the soldier team debated how to handle the body, I observed once more. The Beastman soldier still stood beside me, continuing his inspection.
…I hadn’t dealt much with water corpses before, so I couldn’t say for sure, but something felt off.
After staring for a while, I realized the cause.
“Blood…”
It looked like various parts of the body had been pecked at by fish, but—wasn’t the color of the flesh just too pale? At my mutter, the Beastman soldier lifted his gaze as if struck by realization.
“That’s it. The smell of blood! There’s no scent of rotten blood at all!”
After hesitating for a moment, the Beastman soldier drew a knife from his belt. He offered a quiet prayer of “I’m sorry” before sliding the blade into the area around the neck artery.
“…”
The discomfort—began to clarify the contours.
“This corpse… it’s almost like… softened dried meat.”
The Beastman soldier’s comparison was, well, painfully clear.
And I felt a chill run down my spine.
This corpse… isn’t a water corpse!!
“Blood has been drained.”
At my words, the other soldiers also halted their movements.
“Could it be…!!”
Yes, exactly.
There’s only one existence that could create a corpse like this.
“A vampire…!”
I gripped the hilt of Adamas tightly as I uttered the detestable name.
“—Interesting.”
Suddenly, a cool voice echoed.
I turned to see a figure approaching from the town.
“It seems someone else has reached the same conclusion as me.”
It was a young man exuding a mysterious charm. With wavy blonde hair, a hidden left eye beneath his bangs, and a graceful nose. Clad in armor, he held a smooth silver shield in his left hand.
“Hello, nice to meet you. I came to investigate the suspicious water corpses being discovered in various places lately—”
The young man flicked his hand, causing a silver glimmer to spark.
“I am Hero Arthur of the Holy Church. Arthur Hilburn, pleased to meet you.”
