Chapter 35: Case Three: The Third Bride (10)

‘Damn it, I forgot about Bernard.’

The people of the North had all turned into enemies.

I had been so flustered by this unprecedented situation that I forgot about the only person in the carriage who wasn’t from the North.

Was Bernard an accomplice of the enemy or not?

The answer to that question, which I hadn’t even had time to ask, was now unfolding before my eyes.

“Mr. Bernard… I can’t believe he died like this.”

Bernard was lying flat near the area where the horses were tied. Without a hint of suspicion, he looked perfectly like a victim.

His entire body was covered in mud, and his left hand held an oil lamp.

‘The lamp isn’t damaged. Is it different from the one that broke in the carriage?’

As if something had happened, there was white, vomit-like residue around his mouth, and red friction burns covered both of his hands.

‘Hmm, looking at the shape, it looks like it was rubbed by a thick rope…’

The moment I lifted Bernard’s arm to examine the wound more closely, I discovered a startling fact.

“I feel a pulse.”

“What?”

“He’s not dead; it looks like he just fainted.”

“Oh my God! Is that true?”

Lure was shocked.

Marie let out a sigh of relief.

“He was annoying, but I would have felt terrible if he died like this.”

“I agree.”

I was truly glad he was alive.

“Whew, that’s a relief.”

The shadow who called me over smiled, pretending to be a good person.

“When I first found him, he was face-down in the dirt, so I was sure he was dead! I thought he might have been attacked by a wild animal.”

“It must have been that bad man from yesterday who attacked Mr. Bernard!”

“Ahem, yes. The young lady must be right. Forget wild animals; it must have been that bad man!”

One of the bad men himself said.

“He probably did it to steal the horses! What a cursed man!”

“The horses… come to think of it, you said two horses disappeared?”

“Yes. All the horses were tied up around here.”

This was a forest slightly behind the clearing where we stayed last night. The trees grew particularly dense here.

The brush was so thick that although the sound of horses neighing could be heard from everywhere, I could hardly see them through the trees, except for three or four.

“It rained all night. So I had them take shelter here. I tied the horses in pairs to the large tree trunks.”

The shadow sighed, saying that seemed to have been a mistake.

“Since the horses were tied in such a remote spot, it seems Mr. Bernard came to check on them out of concern and was attacked by the culprit who came to steal them.”

“Mmm, that’s a plausible guess.”

‘Right. Except for the fact that the culprit has no reason to steal horses.’

Lure built a new deduction upon the faulty one.

“The culprit probably stole the horses and fled. This is a one-way path, and we were on the other side, so he must have run back the way we came.”

Marie shouted energetically.

“He might not have gone far yet. Let’s follow the tracks!”

The two girls immediately ran into the forest path.

“No, wait — ! It’s dangerous!”

The shadow seemed like he was going to stop them, but I shook my head.

“It’s fine. Since it’s come to this, leave this to us.”

‘Maybe this is better.’

Of course, there was no way we would find tracks of an attacker by following the road. I even doubted whether it was true that two horses had disappeared in the first place.

‘But it’s safer for us to move on our own rather than being stuck between enemies.’

I decided to clear my head with a walk while staying a reasonable distance from the shadows.

“Oh, are you sure it’s okay? Then you should at least take a horse and chase after him…”

“No. We plan to focus on searching rather than catching the culprit.”

That was a lie; the truth was that I didn’t know how to ride a horse.

“While we search for the tracks of the escaped culprit, could you please look after Mr. Bernard? It would be even better if you and the others could move him to a safe, warm place and nurse him.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

‘Mr. Bernard, I’m sorry for leaving you in the hands of the attackers. But you’re a guardian for Marie, just like me. You should be more active than a broken wine bottle. For Marie’s sake, sacrifice that body of yours and tie down the shadows for a while.’

Unfortunately, no answer came from the unconscious Bernard, but I decided to believe that he would have received my telepathy and agreed readily.

I expressed my gratitude inwardly and immediately followed after the two girls.

***

I didn’t have much expectation even as I engaged in the search.

‘There’s no way to find a clue when there is no escaped culprit.’

Unlike me, who was only thinking of ways to deal with the shadows once we returned, Marie and Lure were sincerely investigating. Marie, in particular, was very enthusiastic.

“Look at those marks over there, Sister! Could those be horse tracks?”

“Horses have hooves. No matter how I look at it, those are bear tracks.”

“…A bear?”

Conversations like that continued. Or:

“Sir Hays! I found trash left behind by the attackers!”

“That’s the trash we threw away yesterday.”

“Oh.”

This cycle repeated endlessly.

So when Marie shouted “Oh!” again, I said listlessly without even checking what she was surprised by.

“That’s the carriage we pulled to the side of the road yesterday.”

This was the exact spot where we had moved the broken, tilted carriage to the side so it wouldn’t block traffic. It was only natural for a carriage to be visible there.

“No! It’s not!”

However, Marie shook her head and shouted again.

“That carriage isn’t tilted! It looks perfectly fine!”

What?

Only then did I look closely at the carriage.

‘She’s right. It’s a carriage that looks perfectly fine, without a single tilt.’

But this was definitely the place where we had pulled the broken carriage.

Yet, the broken carriage had vanished without a trace, and in its place stood a perfectly intact carriage.

“Is it someone else’s carriage?”

Lure muttered.

“I don’t see a single horse, let alone a person.”

I retorted. It was far too suspicious for a carriage to be sitting all alone on a mountain path like this.

‘What is this? Did a toad visit overnight?’

Did it take the old carriage and bring a new one?

“Why don’t we check inside?”

Following Marie’s suggestion, we opened the carriage. The inside was packed with various pieces of luggage.

“It’s definitely not the carriage we abandoned.”

Since all the luggage from the broken carriage had been distributed among the other carriages, this carriage should have been empty if it were the same one.

“But this luggage looks quite valuable.”

The items were all wrapped in beautifully colored cloth. When I touched them, my hand slid smoothly along the texture of the fabric.

Even the wrapping cloth was a high-end luxury item.

“I don’t know what’s inside, but it looks like it could rival Marie’s dowry.”

“It doesn’t just rival it; these are Marie’s dowry items, Teacher!”

“What?”

“Look at this. The cloth used to wrap the luggage, the way it’s wrapped, and even the knots are exactly the same as Marie’s dowry.”

Lure unwrapped one of the items to check and then nodded.

“I’m certain. These are our belongings!”

So, this was our luggage?

And this was our luggage carriage?

“Did anyone check if all the carriages were still at the camp?”

I asked while raising my hand, but no one followed suit. Then again, with everything that happened yesterday, no one would have had the presence of mind to check the carriages.

“We should go back and check for ourselves.”

At Lure’s words, I also nodded silently.

I hadn’t yet fully decided how to deal with the shadows, but it seemed it wasn’t the time to be lost in thought.

‘I thought the talk of missing horses and Bernard being attacked were just decoys to fake an intruder’s break-in…’

I began to feel that there might be something more to it.

***

Returning to the camp, we began checking the carriages.

We had started with seven carriages in total. Six of them were luggage carriages. Since one had broken down, five luggage carriages should have remained. It was simple arithmetic that even a kindergartner could do.

“One, two, three…”

However, we counted the carriages several times.

It was because it made no sense.

“It’s certain. All five luggage carriages are perfectly fine.”

“I thought maybe the broken carriage was mixed in, but that’s not it either.”

Nothing about the carriages at the camp seemed to have changed overnight.

“We need to check if the luggage inside the carriages is all still there.”

We asked the shadows if anything was missing from inside the carriages. The drivers would likely remember at least roughly what was in the carriages they drove.

“Well, all the items in the carriage seem to be the same.”

“It doesn’t seem like anything is missing.”

The shadows all shook their heads.

‘Is that a lie, or did truly nothing disappear?’

Only one shadow gave a different answer.

“Uh… I’ve never seen the inside of the carriage.”

It was the shadow who drove the luggage carriage with the red cloth — Bernard’s dedicated carriage.

“Mr. Bernard was so sensitive. I don’t even know what’s inside.”

The shadow shrugged, saying he was still afraid to check the inside even now.

‘In that situation, wouldn’t checking the inside be of little help anyway?’

Since we didn’t know the initial amount, looking at the remaining stock was pointless. How could we determine if anything was missing or not?

“Then what should we do? Is there anyone who would know if something disappeared from that carriage…?”

“There’s only me. I can check it myself.”

A familiar, gruff voice cut into the conversation.

“…! Uncle!”

“Mr. Bernard? Are you awake?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Bernard replied curtly and coughed repeatedly.

“Ugh, I’m going to end up with a chronic illness at this rate.”

He was grumbling, but he didn’t look to be in such bad shape.

‘Good. Bernard must have seen something.’

Once I gathered more information, it would be much easier to deduce what was happening.

“Mr. Bernard. What exactly did you experience last night?”

“Ah, about that…”

Bernard coughed repeatedly, stalling for time, and then said:

“Actually, I don’t remember at all.”

“What?!!”

“It seems I fainted after being hit hard in the stomach, and perhaps because of that shock, I don’t remember a thing.”

Lure and Marie shouted in surprise.

“That’s a big problem!”

“Exactly! What if there was a lady you were having a fresh, secret romance with, Uncle? What if you, having lost your memory, treat her coldly, and the hurt lady runs away while carrying your baby…?”

“As if that would happen!”

“Well, it is true that there’s no way you were in a relationship, Uncle.”

“I just don’t remember what happened last night! The rest of my memories are perfectly fine!”

‘He completely forgot the events before and after fainting due to a strong impact…’

It was suspicious.

Of all times, he happened to lose only his memories of last night, right when Bernard’s testimony was desperately needed. Wasn’t that too convenient?

‘He doesn’t even seem like he wants to remember.’

If he truly had lost his memory, given Bernard’s personality as I had seen it so far, he should have been trying his best to remember the culprit to seek revenge.

That detached attitude didn’t suit him.

‘Is he trying to hide something?’

Because he had something to feel guilty about? Or was he being threatened?

“More importantly, what is all this?”

Bernard asked, changing the subject.

“I overheard something about searching the carriages for missing items. Did someone get robbed last night?”

“It seems you really have no idea what happened last night.”

“What happened?”

“It was a huge deal! Last night, someone broke into our carriage and — “

I cut Marie off and stepped in.

“We were searching to see if that intruder stole anything.”

As I spoke, I subtly turned toward Marie and made a gesture of zipping my lips shut.

‘Bernard is suspicious. It’s better to limit information as much as possible.’

Marie nodded and kept her mouth shut.

“Oh dear, that’s a serious matter! I’ll check my carriage to see if anything is missing as well.”

Bernard readily entered his carriage draped in red cloth. Not long after, he shouted.

“Nothing is missing! There’s no problem here!”

He was too fast for someone who had supposedly checked everything.

I couldn’t stand the suspicion any longer.

I strode forward and yanked open the entrance to the cloth-covered carriage.

“Ah!”

Both Bernard, who suddenly had the inside of his carriage exposed, and we, who saw the inside, couldn’t help but scream in surprise.

Inside the carriage, the one draped in red curtains…

“What happened! There’s nothing here!”

It was completely empty, with no luggage at all.

“So the claim that no thief broke in was a lie after all, wasn’t it?”

Marie asked accusingly.

“Is it possible you’re helping that thief, Uncle?”

“It’s not like that! Whew, I have no choice. I’ll tell you the truth.”

Bernard said brazenly.

“I’m sorry for only revealing this now, but there was never anything in this carriage to begin with.”

“Wh-What did you say?”

“I was the one who checked the luggage of each carriage at the Baron’s estate. I didn’t load anything into this carriage from the start. I didn’t want to travel uncomfortably squeezed between luggage. And I didn’t want to ride in the same carriage as you, either.”

“So that was the reason you didn’t let anyone get near this carriage…”

“You’re truly the worst, Uncle!”

But I couldn’t easily believe his words.

“If no one lost any luggage, then where did those items come from?”

“Hmm? Luggage? What do you mean they came from somewhere…?”

“Actually, a moment ago, we found an intact carriage full of luggage. Right at the spot where the broken carriage had been left.”

“Wh-What?!”

Bernard’s face turned deathly pale.

‘It’s strange, but is it something to be that terrified about?’

As time went on, Bernard’s behavior only seemed more suspicious.

Just as I was about to interrogate Bernard, dramatic news arrived.

“Everyone! We found the missing horses!”

The shadow with the familiar voice was approaching us, leading the horses.

“My goodness, Mr. Lehman! Where on earth were the horses?”

“Well… I’m not sure. I’m embarrassed to say, but I didn’t find them; they returned on their own. Honestly, these fellows. I wonder where they went.”

When the shadow stroked the horses, they snorted as if they were in a good mood.

*Snort!*

The moment the sound of the horses neighing rang out:

“He-Heek!”

Bernard screamed and fell backward.

“Un-Uncle Bernard?”

He sat on the ground, his body trembling.

The place his pale, terrified gaze was fixed upon was…

‘A horse?’

Bernard. The man who was said to be so obsessed with horse racing that he loved horses.

He was shaking in fear at the sight of a horse.