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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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What on earth was going on?
William put on his clothes and opened the door. As he did so, the cool morning air brushed against his cheek. He immediately walked down the corridor to the first floor to assess the situation.
“M-my lord! W-what is the meaning of this?!” the man who appeared to be the innkeeper stammered, unable to hide his bewilderment as he asked for an explanation. A middle-aged man with his hands behind his back stroked his goatee and answered the innkeeper’s query:
“We were informed that the thief who stole the treasure Master Zhang was planning to display yesterday is hiding in this inn.”
Is the thief hiding here?
There certainly hadn’t been any disturbances up until they had returned and gone to sleep.
William quietly leaned against the wall and surveyed the inn. There were hardly any people on the first floor, but the atmosphere was as tense, with people looking around uneasily at each other.
Was everyone shocked at the sudden situation? William quietly kept his mouth shut and began to observe how things would unfold.
“The thief is I-in o-our inn?!” the innkeeper exclaimed.
“That’s right!” the man replied firmly.
William recalled the events of the previous night. He recalled the image of the black-clad figure who had swiftly stolen the treasure and fled. If nothing else, the way he had descended as lightly as a cat and disappeared had been impressive.
But why would he hide in this inn?
What could be here?
…Did this mean that the culprit who stole the manual was among the guests staying here?
At this rate, William felt he was becoming more similar to that young detective who encountered murder cases wherever he went. Why did the thief have to choose to hide in this inn of all places?
No, before that, how did they know that the thief was here? The black-clad figure had seemed to shake off their pursuit in an instant, so did they have some special method of tracking?
“B-but we haven’t received any suspicious guests!” the innkeeper protested.
“Are you saying I’m lying?!” the man retorted angrily.
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
The innkeeper’s face fell as he waved his hands frantically. He seemed thoroughly perplexed.
It was understandable. Once a search began, he wouldn’t be able to do business for days. For an innkeeper, this must be like a bolt from the blue. But when an important person demands your help with something like this, there is no way to refuse, so he would inevitably have to nod in agreement.
“tell all the staff and guests to come out!” the man ordered.
“Y-yes, sir!”
How troublesome.
Now that they were already caught up in this incident, it would be better to try and resolve it as quickly as possible. William descended the stairs completely and revealed himself to the people on the first floor.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned towards William. He took off his bamboo hat and said:
“I’m just a traveler staying for a night.”
“A Westerner…?”
Is this the first time you’ve seen a Westerner? Well, of course, it would be. Seeing a Westerner in the heart of the Central Plains was as rare.
While it might not be unusual in coastal trading cities, seeing a Westerner in the inland areas of the Central Plains was truly a difficult thing.
The physical distance alone was hard to traverse in this era.
Only through a series of coincidences, like in William’s case, could one reach this place.
“I speak the language of the Central Plains well, so there’s no need to worry,” William assured them.
So please calm down he thought. They were making the same expression Koreans make when a foreigner asks for directions. Was there really any need to react like that? Any Westerner who had made it this far into the Central Plains would surely be able to communicate at a basic level.
“A Westerner who speaks the Central Plains language well… Could you be the Blue-Eyed Lion?” the man inquired.
“That’s right,” William replied honestly, seeing no reason to hide it.
Having some degree of fame made things convenient in situations like this. Even as a Westerner, having recognition made it easier to be accepted.
“I didn’t expect to meet the Blue-Eyed Lion in a place like this…” the man with the goatee muttered, looking at William with curiosity.
William, wanting to get to the main point, asked:
“May I know what’s happening here?”
“You heard about the thief who stole Master Zhang’s treasure, didn’t you? We tracked the thief to this inn. That’s why we brought soldiers to search this place.”
“You mean… you are sure he is hiding here?” William asked.
“That’s right.”
Why is the thief hiding? Why didn’t he just escape?
Something seemed off. William pushed aside the questions forming in his mind and said:
“Actually, I spotted a suspicious man in black yesterday and even shouted out a warning, but I find it hard to believe he hid here.”
“So you were the one who shouted yesterday, I see.”
“That’s right.”
It seemed someone had heard his voice despite the commotion.
“Hmm… Well, back to the main point, I’d like you to cooperate with our investigation. The treasure is extremely valuable, and Master Zhang will be furious if we don’t recover it.”
William immediately agreed. He had no intention of complicating matters by resisting.
“I’ll cooperate,” he said.
“Thank you.”
A perfunctory thanks was his reply to my assent. Was he grateful that William wasn’t making things difficult? William folded his arms and turned around. There was no need for him to do anything right now.
He also needed to wake up the others.
“I’ll go wake my companions,” William said.
He went up the stairs and immediately opened the door to their room.
“Sir William, what’s the matter?” Elder Baek asked.
“It seems the thief who stole the treasure from last night’s night market has left traces leading to this inn,” William explained.
“Oh my…”
Elder Baek unfolded his legs from his meditation posture, his expression showing he realized the situation had become quite complicated. The others wore similar expressions as they began to put on their clothes properly.
Unless they were high-ranking officials, they were no different from ordinary people in the eyes of the government, so there was no need to create unnecessary friction. The best solution was to cooperate as much as possible to resolve the matter quickly.
“I’ll go wake Hye-ryeong up,” William said.
“Go ahead,” Elder Baek nodded, looking at William with a strange expression.
Why is he looking at me like that? William wondered.
Pushing aside this question, William headed towards the room where Hye-ryeong was staying.
Arriving at the door, William carefully called out to Hye-ryeong.
“Hye-ryeong?”
“Mmm…” came a muffled response.
“Hye-ryeong, wake up.”
“Ugh…”
Is she still in her dreamland? William wondered if it was just his imagination that the girl seemed to be getting lazier as they traveled. He sighed and listened for footsteps on the other side of the door.
He heard her getting closer, and then the sliding door was pushed aside.
“Uncle… what is it?” Hye-ryeong asked sleepily.
“Hye-ryeong, put your clothes on properly,” William said, averting his eyes from her exposed shoulder.
“Oh!” Hye-ryeong exclaimed, startled by William’s words. She fixed her disheveled clothes with an embarrassed expression. An awkward silence followed.
“Hye-ryeong, things have gotten a bit complicated. Get ready and come downstairs,” William instructed.
“Okay…” Hye-ryeong replied in a small voice, turning her eyes away.
“Thank you all for your cooperation,” said the man with the goatee, who had introduced himself as Constable Meng. He was the first to speak as he looked around at the guests and staff gathered on the first floor of the inn. Unlike the typically forceful image of government officials, he showed a gentlemanly attitude as he said:
“Women on the left, men on the right. These people will examine your bodies.”
“The Tang family…”
The Sichuan Tang family?
That Tang family?
Why was the Tang family here?
For the Tang family to come directly to help when this wasn’t even Sichuan, Master Zhang must be a more influential figure than I thought. However, I couldn’t understand why such an important person had such lax security that his treasure was stolen.
We obediently split into two groups and waited for the inspection.
Then, from behind Constable Meng, a woman and a man who looked like martial artists came forward and began to sniff us.
This strange examination continued, and the two martial artists quietly approached Constable Meng and whispered in his ear. Constable Meng nodded as he listened then looked at us with a troubled expression.
“It seems this won’t be easy,” he muttered.
It appeared that the tracking fragrance wasn’t on any of us.
So did that mean they were cleared of suspicion for now?
Constable Meng, seeming to realize that this method wouldn’t catch the culprit, told the two Tang family martial artists to continue tracking the fragrance’s trail, then turned to us and said:
“If anyone here went to the night market last night, please raise your hand.”
I immediately raised my hand. It seemed he was going to start by investigating those who had been to the night market.
“Those who raised their hands, please come forward. I need to hear what you did last night.”
That’s reasonable.
Gathering statements is important.
“Blue-Eyed Lion. Since you said you were the first to spot the man in black, please testify first.”
“Alright,” William agreed.
“The rest of you, please wait in your rooms. I’ll have my subordinates call you one by one.”
I sat down opposite Constable Meng and looked at him.
“Hmm…”
This feels like being a suspect in a detective novel.
“Should I just give my testimony?” William asked.
“No, before that… I have one thing to ask,” Constable Meng said.
The atmosphere changed.
It was a familiar atmosphere.
Government soldiers surrounded me.
I looked at Constable Meng, noting the soldiers’ actions.
“Blue-Eyed Lion, why is the tracking fragrance on your body?”
…What?
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It is very easy to confim that William is not the thief they are looking for from what happened so far, So now the main question is who is trying to frame him? And why?
How tho
Thank for the chapter!