dognovel Chapter 164 Investigation
Chapter 164 Investigation
Autumn 1447 A town in the west of the King of Midland
This is a very ordinary town in Midland. In this small town, people from different regions stop by to make a short stay, sell goods, or beg for food. To outsiders, this is no different from other towns.
The town gate was naturally crowded with people, with carriages and people constantly coming in and out. The knight guarding the gate was concentrating on watching the people passing by. On the wall behind him, there were several torn and yellowed wanted posters, but no one had caught the criminals so far. Not far away, a ragged beggar sat at the foot of the city wall and held out his broken bowl with several cracks to the people at the gate, but it was empty, as if to indicate that the beggar might be hungry again today.
A carriage slowly drove out of the city. At first glance, the carriage seemed to be no different, but there was something covered with linen on the carriage. Judging from the outline, it seemed to be a large cage for some large wild animals.
This abnormal scene was also seen by the soldiers guarding the city gate. The leading knight rode his horse and led the soldiers to signal the carriage to stop. After looking at the coachman's cold eyes, the knight dismounted and lifted a corner of the linen.
Through the linen, the knight saw a group of women and children locked in a cage. However, they seemed to have no idea where they were being sent. The children also looked at the knight outside the cage with innocent eyes.
The knight was also frightened by the children's stares. He knew where these women and children would be sent. As if out of conscience, the knight was about to say something to the coachman, but as if he remembered what he had seen, he trembled as he covered the cage with linen and signaled the coachman to leave.
Although the knight tried his best to cover the cage, a burly man wrapped in a cloak and wearing a cape not far away saw the whole process, and then walked into the city after paying the entrance fee to the gatekeeper.
In a pub on the town street, drinkers were talking about what they had seen and heard in the past few days, while the owner nearby was wiping the wine glasses with a wet rag. However, judging from everyone's dejected expressions, it seemed that they came here not to drink and chat, but to drown their sorrows in alcohol.
"Boss, any news today?" a customer asked the boss who was silently washing his wine glasses.
The boss shook his head, wiping his wine glass and complaining gloomily:
"Not really. The city has been getting more and more chaotic recently. If it continues like this, my business will not be doing well."
At this moment, a bearded customer next to the boss asked, "Could it be... really because of him?"
However, before he finished speaking, the boss's big face looked at him and warned him:
"Be careful, if they hear it, it will be over!"
Just then, there was a noise at the door of the tavern. Everyone looked and found a girl slumped at the door of the tavern, looking outside with horror. Following the girl's gaze, they saw four men in armor looking at the girl with malicious smiles.
The tavern owner saw this and hurriedly whispered to the drinkers around him: "It's the bandits from Kashi City again. Although the girl is pitiful, don't mess with her. Be careful not to get into trouble."
Even if they didn't listen to the boss's advice, everyone knew what they should do, so they all lowered their heads and remained silent, fearing that the four people at the door would turn their attention to them.
At this moment, the girl saw the four robbers who had ill intentions towards her, and she trembled and whispered to the drinkers around her for help:
"help me."
However, the girl received only silence from the guests and the boss. Seeing this, the leading bandit with long yellow hair looked at everyone and said unscrupulously:
"Ah, it looks like no one here is willing to save this poor little girl, right?"
Seeing that no one responded, the yellow-haired robber walked to the table in the middle of the tavern and slapped it hard, then looked at the drinkers sitting next to the table and asked:
"I think you think so too."
Several drinkers were so frightened that they didn't know what to do. One of them took out a few silver and copper coins from his pocket in fear, said to the boss, "Boss, my money is on the table," and hurriedly left the tavern. The others followed suit, put their money on the table, and quickly left this place of trouble.
After seeing the embarrassed looks of the few people, the yellow-haired robber laughed and said:
"Finally, a kind person gave up his seat. Boss, bring the wine over!" After saying that, he did not forget to put the money on the table into his pocket.
At this time, a robber grabbed the girl and came to the wine table. After the boss handed over the wine, the yellow-haired robber stuffed the wine pot into the panicked girl and said:
"Now that we have good wine, we need a beautiful woman to pour it for us. So please help us pour the wine for us."
Although the girl was afraid of the robbers, she knew that if she did not obey them, there would be very serious consequences. So she suppressed her fear and took the wine jug handed to her by the robbers.
As the girl poured them some wine, the yellow-haired bandit reminded them playfully:
"Girl, be careful, don't spill it."
The robber at the side touched the girl's head and said: "Yes, if it spills, you will have to clean it up later." After that, the mercenaries laughed. In contrast, the girl showed aggrieved and sad expression, and the surrounding drinkers showed angry but helpless expressions.
At this moment, an old man with a cane at the door trembled into the tavern. Seeing the girl being molested by the robbers, the old man hurriedly pleaded:
"My Lords, please let Kelian go. She is only 12 years old."
One of the robbers saw that an old man dared to ruin their fun, so he immediately stepped forward and kicked the cane in his hand to the side, then kicked the old man to the ground and cursed:
"Old man, don't mess with me. If you want to die, I can kill you right now."
"grandfather!"
Seeing the old man struggling on the ground and unable to get up, the girl named Kelian shouted worriedly.
"Oh, so this is your grandpa. Since your grandpa came to disturb us first, we must teach him a lesson."
A bandit next to him also said with a grin:
"Come on, pour me a glass too."
Seeing this, Ke Lian could only obediently pour wine for the robber. However, while she was pouring the wine, the robber suddenly took the wine glass away, and the purple wine immediately spilled onto the table.
"Oh my, you are so careless. How could you spill the wine? In that case, you can only lick the wine on the table clean yourself." Looking at the frightened girl, the yellow-haired bandit said with a wicked smile.
Before Ke Lian could react, the robber next to her immediately pressed the girl's head with his hands and pushed her towards the wine spilled on the table.
Kelian resisted the bandits' oppression at first, but when she saw her grandfather lying on the ground with his eyes closed, she was afraid that her behavior would cause the bandits to hurt her grandfather. Finally, after her inner struggle and the bandits' oppression, Kelian had no choice but to obey the bandits' arrangement and soak her cheek in wine.
"That's right, that's the way to behave, lick it clean for me, don't leave even a drop." Seeing the girl surrender, the yellow-haired robber said smugly, causing the surrounding robbers to laugh.
"Squeak——!"
At this moment, an untimely sound of a door opening was heard in the tavern. Everyone looked outside and saw a man covered in a cloak appear at the door.