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Chapter 138: Night Watchmen's Commission
The sky gradually darkened. Dressed in a black suit and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Ben approached the northern city gate closest to Saint Joseph Street in a large carriage gotten from the rental agency.
Indahl had no curfew, but the city gate would be locked after nightfall. As the carriage neared, two guards in uniform emerged from the guardhouse and halted the carriage. "Hey, stop! Don't you know you can't enter or leave the city gate after dark?"
Ben, atop a single-horned gray steed, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the exorcist credentials. Then, tilted his chin slightly, his eyes peering ominously from beneath the wide-brimmed hat at the two soldiers.
Upon seeing the Church of Lady Gold Coin's emblem on the credentials, the two city guards paled slightly. Without further words, they immediately backed off and began operating the winch by the city wall.
With the creaking and clanking of the mechanism, the sealed city gate slowly began to rise.
Ben put away the credentials, shook the reins, and drove the carriage into the darkness.
Behind him, the massive city gate slowly descended once more.
The older city guard watched the carriage as it departed and shook his head, murmuring, "Leaving the city in this direction Is 'Redwall Farm' going to be stained with blood again?"
The other city guard, sweating profusely, secured the winch and curiously inquired, "What are you talking about? What farm?"
Night duty at the city gate was often dull, especially at the usually quiet northern gate. The veteran beckoned his companion back to the guardhouse, took a sip from the nearly full bottle of corn rum on the table, lowered his voice, and mysteriously shared unsettling rumors circulating about a noble family in Indahl
Inside the carriage steered by Ben, as soon as the words "we've left the city gate" were spoken, the canvas covering the cargo was promptly lifted from the inside, revealing over 20 skeletal figures seated underneath.
"It's really inconvenient without teleportation points. We have to rely on transportation like this for our quests. And a carriage, of all things," complained Orange Cat. "Sis Zhao, when is the development team going to open up more teleportation points? Any insider news?"
Zhao Zhenzhen was also among the playersshe couldn't trust this bunch of players with their quirky traits and preferred to keep a close eye on them.
"How would I know! I'm just using a tool player account, not a GM one," Zhao Zhenzhen skillfully defused the question with ease. She pulled out rolled-up paper documents from her backpack and continued, "We still have some time until we reach our destination, so let's first understand the details of this hidden quest um, storyline. Take a look at this."
With that, she handed the documents to Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy, who were sitting together.
Yang Ying, who sat next to Unceasing Entropy, and Study Obsessed, who was next to Yang Ying, also curiously leaned in to read.
Players couldn't communicate with the NPCs, but they had translation functionality thanks to the imprint matrix, so understanding the text wasn't an issue:
[Catastrophe No. 016: Redwall Farm Incident]
Investigator: Codename: "Goldfish."
The Bankcroft family, located 17 kilometers west of Neuen Town, built the Redwall Farm 30 years ago. Strange occurrences were reported after the autumn harvest of 1029, prompting a request for assistance from the local church.
2nd day of the 11th month, 1029. "Goldfish" was assigned to investigate the Redwall Farm.
Young Master Wilhem's personal servant claimed to have heard the laughter of a baby in the courtyard while changing the master's bedroom chamber pot at midnight.
Rumors quickly spread among the servants that a maid had an affair, gave birth to a stillborn child in secret, and buried it in the garden.
After investigation, it was confirmed that the rumors were baseless and originated from the jealousy of a kitchen maid toward a library maid.
After the incident of the baby's laughter, Young Master Wilhem began to weaken and claimed to be haunted by nightmares. However, he would quickly forget the content of the nightmares upon waking.
A mental assessment of Young Master Wilhem was conducted, ruling out the possibility of mental illness.
An investigation into Young Master Wilhem's social interactions over the past year ruled out the possibility of promiscuity leading to the birth of a ghostly child.
It was suggested that Young Master Wilhem receive a baptism at the church, which he firmly refused, claiming his family and godfather were devout followers of the Storm Lord and would not accept a pagan baptism.
The first investigation was halted.
18th day of the 11th month, 1029. The Bankcroft family sent another distress letter.
The case was once again assigned to "Goldfish."
The number of witnesses claiming to hear the baby's laughter increased to 12, including Young Master Wilhem himself.
The butler, cooks, coachmen, gardener, and several others all claimed to suffer from recurring nightmares and sleepless nights, just like Young Master Wilhem.
Young Master Wilhem's personal servant died suddenly 10 days ago, and Wilhem himself was on the brink of death.
On the 20th, Young Master Wilhem died in his sleep.
On the 24th, the butler died.
On the 25th, a coachman and gardener died.
On the 26th
On the 33rd, besides the study maid and four low-ranking servants, there were no other survivors left on Redwall Farm. The second investigation ended.
1st day of the 12th month, 1029. "Goldfish" claimed to hear a baby's laughter in his own home.
6th day of the 12th month. "Goldfish" disappeared.
20th day of the 12th month. Neuen Town residents discovered the corpse of "Goldfish's" horse outside the sealed Redwall Farm.
1st day of the 1st month, 1030. Redwall Farm was declared a restricted area and the archives sealed.
Appendix: Copies of two distress letters signed by Wilhem K. Bankcroft.
After flipping through the documents, including the appendix, which amounted to just five pages, Blossoming Strokes couldn't help but inhale sharply. "A quest given by the night watchmen really has an eerie vibe. This is definitely a horror storyline!"
"Is this all the quest text?" Unceasing Entropy asked, puzzled. "It seems kinda disjointed. They took the time to investigate rumors and conduct mental assessments at the beginning, but later on, there's no record of anything, just a straightforward list of who died. It feels a bit incomplete, doesn't it?"
Zhao Zhenzhen hesitated, unsure if she should tell the truth.
"It's probably that we need to unlock subsequent plotlines to see the details of the second investigation. Games with suspenseful and mysterious elements often follow this pattern," Blossoming Strokes said.
Zhao Zhenzhen gave Blossoming Strokes a nod of approval. That was a reasonable explanation and saved her from having to explain further.
"This quest involves solving the occult incidents that occurred on this farm. From the information we have now, the key point seems to be the laughter of a baby," Blossoming Strokes, while fearful, still had her intelligence intact and continued rationalizing. "The first to die was the personal servant, followed by the master. Obviously, they died in the order of hearing the baby's laughter. When we arrive at the location, we should focus on searching for any quest items related to baby products."
"There's also the phenomenon of it being passed on to others. If one person hears it, the people they come into contact with will gradually start hearing it too" Unceasing Entropy paused, furrowing their brow. "But it doesn't make sense. It clearly states that the library maid and four low-ranking servants survived or perhaps these five also died, but it wasn't recorded?"
"Do the deceased turn into undead?" Yang Ying interjected. "If they become undead, we ought to be able to communicate with them, right?"
"It's hard to say. Seems like some undead aren't that right in the mind; those undead we encountered in the sewers couldn't communicate with us," Study Obsessed added.
"We'll find out when we get there," Unceasing Entropy said. "The 'baby laughter' takes quite a while to kill, around half a month, so it isn't much of a threat to us and we can freely explore."
"Eh? Right!" Blossoming Strokes slapped her thigh. "That's right. This sort of killing method is quite scary, but it only scares the living and has nothing to do with us. Who doesn't die every few days!"
"Uh Blossom, it's probably best not to die if we can avoid it. If you die, you'll respawn back in Weisshem," Fallen Mulberry Leaves chimed in.
"I know, I was just saying!" Blossoming Strokes responded.
Zhao Zhenzhen silently wiped away the nonexistent sweat on her brow.
How should she put it Players controlling undead shells and appearing in this world like they were playing a game was indeed convenient.
As the players chatted along the way, Ben steered the carriage swiftly and arrived at the Redwall Farm, which was about 30 kilometers from the Indahl city area.
Redwall Farm, covering over three hundred acres of land, had canals and waterwheels, and its irrigation systems were well-constructed. Within a radius of two kilometers, there were no other dwellings. The once fertile fields were now overgrown with weeds and inhabited by wild animals. When Ben got off the carriage and cleared the wooden barriers blocking the road, there were even wild wolves lurking in the bushes, watching with curiosity.
As the large carriage followed the high stone wall around the Redwall Farm and approached the main entrance, a large flock of crows perching on the wall flapped their wings, creating an eerie atmosphere that startled Blossoming Strokes, who was sensitive to such ominous events.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a rusted iron gate. Ben jumped off the carriage and pulled out an axe from under his seat. He broke the lock and chains on the iron gate and pushed the heavy door open.
Before the players appeared a dilapidated and luxurious mansion, a four-story building formed by three connected buildings in the shape of a recessed T.
"Wowthis is a hidden quest that might not even be triggered, and they've created such an amazing scene for it?" Unceasing Entropy marveled.
"Hey, you haven't seen the scale model of Indahl on the ground," Runaway Goldfish, a cosplayer skilled with makeup, gushed. "The modeling of the Indahl city area is even smaller than the real city. Now, that's impressive. This kind of quest scene can easily be duplicated from the modeling of a mansion."
"Don't stand around chattering. Let's go inside and take a look," Unceasing Entropy said, waving her bone claw and taking the lead entering the gate.
"Wait, I'll go ahead." Yang Ying was worried that her robe-wearing friend might be instantly killed by some unknown monster that suddenly appeared. She quickly stepped in the front and turned back to address the others, "Come on, let's go together. The players in plate armor should walk in the middle and not take any risks."
Zhao Zhenzhen looked down at her cotton T-shirt and, with no hesitation, squeezed into the middle of the group of players.
Ben had been told explicitly not to enter. He took off his hat, stood by the carriage, and silently watched as the undead disappeared into the darkness.