Four Hundred and Sixty-Second Bandit
Prit, East Tivyán.
In front of the Boyle family’s manor, two guards at the gate were stunned to see their chief, Chief Meishos, suddenly change his attitude completely. They did not know what to say for a moment.
What’s going on? Chief Meishos? This person looks so young, and he’s already a chief? Is there a mistake?
Listening to Homan’s words, the two guards were extremely puzzled. When they looked again at this young man in his twenties, they saw him put away his ID book and then follow Chief Homan through the gate into the courtyard. After walking a short distance inside, Homan turned around and sternly said to the two people at the door.
“You two, continue to watch over this place. Do not allow any strangers to enter. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, understood!”
Responding to Homan, the two guards continued to guard the gate. Then, with a smile, Homan turned to Gregor and gestured invitingly toward the mansion’s entrance, saying:
“Now let’s go in, Mr. Meishos. My men have just arrived here, and the scene has been preserved intact.”
“Mm, thank you for your hard work.”
Gregor and Homan walked together toward the mansion’s entrance. During this process, Homan glanced around and then lowered his voice to speak to Gregor.
“Um… Mr. Meishos, this case this time… isn’t it related to… well, your area of responsibility, is it?”
Homan spoke with a mysterious look, and Gregor, after hearing this, did not immediately confirm or deny but replied ambiguously.
“It’s not certain yet, but I did notice some suspicious signs. However, whether this is related to our side still needs further investigation.”
“Signs? What kind of signs do you mean…”
“Don’t worry about that. Sometimes knowing too much isn’t necessarily good,” Gregor responded firmly in response to Homan’s secrecy. Hearing Gregor’s reply, Homan also showed concern, and did not ask any more.
Thus, Gregor followed Homan across the courtyard and officially entered the Boyle family’s manor. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw a chaotic scene before him.
Broken vases, overturned chairs and tables, open cabinets, slashed sofas, rolled-up carpets… The once elegant room was now in complete disarray, with no spot looking decent at first glance.
Water from broken vases flowed onto the floor, coal dust from the fireplace had been scattered, wet coal mixed with glass shards and sofa stuffing made finding a place to step difficult.
“This is really a mess…”
After seeing the state of the hall, Gregor sighed. Beside him, Homan added:
“This family surnamed Boyle. Early this morning, we received an alarm from one of their servants, saying that the house had been robbed. By the time we got here, things were already like this. According to the servant who reported it, apart from the whole house being in chaos, the butler also went missing.”
“Only the butler and servants… Where are the family members?” Gregor continued asking after hearing Homan’s words, and Homan replied:
“According to the servants here, the family members went to the countryside to recuperate last year due to illness. The only resident lady of the family went abroad for studies earlier this year and hasn’t returned yet. So the household has been managed by the butler and servants. Last night was Coronation Day, so the butler gave the servants a day off. When they came back early this morning, they found everything like this, and the butler was also missing.”
“Did you ask the neighbors nearby?”
“We did. Many of them heard significant noises coming from this mansion last night, and most of the lights were on. Some even thought it was a move.”
Homan explained to Gregor, who nodded slightly upon hearing this. He then cautiously entered deeper into the house to examine the situation more closely.
Entering the chaotic rooms, Gregor observed carefully. He noticed various sizes and styles of footprints scattered all over the floor, crisscrossing in many places.
“These footprints aren’t from your men… ” Gregor turned to Homan and asked, and Homan shook his head repeatedly.
“No, no, these aren’t ours. They should be from the intruders. We certainly kept these important clues intact.”
After hearing Homan’s response, Gregor continued his inspection, leaving the hall to check other rooms, which were similarly in disarray.
Overturned cabinets, shattered decorations, broken glass, fallen bookshelves… Even the floors in many places had been pried up, revealing the rock beneath. Many walls had cracks and peeling paint, with numerous pits and holes. Underneath the pried floors, there were also traces of small rock pits.
Accompanied by Homan, Gregor carefully examined each room, observing the pits and marks on the walls and floors, and meticulously checking every footprint.
After inspecting the second and third floors and finding similar chaotic scenes, Gregor focused his attention on the first floor and stopped at a storage room.
This storage room used to contain many exquisite collections with elaborate decor, but now it was in the same state as the rest of the house. Many glass display cases were broken, with shards scattered on the ground. Various paintings on the walls were taken down and thrown on the floor. Some items in the display cases were overturned, others were missing. The floor had sections pried up, and walls had various marks. In one corner, Gregor found a small pile of ash.
After inspecting the storage room for a while, Gregor squatted down to the corner, picked up a little bit of the ash, sniffed it, nodded slightly, and stood up. Turning to Homan, who had been following him, he said:
“Chief Homan, what do you think of this group of bandits?”
Gregor asked Homan, whose brows furrowed slightly after hearing this. After some thought, he replied normally.
“These bandits… In my opinion, they are audacious but also very peculiar, quite unusual.”
“Oh, how so?” Gregor continued questioning, and Homan responded while pondering.
“First, breaking into someone’s home and turning it upside down, then openly kidnapping people, clearly showing their audacity. But what’s puzzling is that they went overboard with the search. Ordinary thieves would only rummage through cabinets, but these guys didn’t stop there; they even pried up the floors, smashed bottles, knocked on walls, and even dug out the coal from the fireplace. They even toppled huge bookshelves…
“Frankly speaking, Mr. Meishos, I’ve been a police officer for many years and have seen many theft cases, but this is the first time I’ve seen a case where the thief made such a mess. If one doesn’t know better, they might think these guys weren’t here to steal but to demolish and renovate.”
Facing Gregor’s question, Homan straightforwardly expressed his opinion. Gregor nodded after hearing this and added:
“Yes, these aren’t ordinary bandits. They come from Northern Ufeiga, a group of bandits specifically targeting ancient artifacts.”
“Northern Ufeiga… bandits? Foreigners?!”
Hearing Gregor’s words, Homan’s expression became very confused. He couldn’t understand how this case suddenly connected to bandits from Northern Ufeiga thousands of miles away.
Gregor did not directly respond but scanned the surrounding rooms and then paused before continuing:
“There are about five of them. Three of them are around 65 inches tall, one is around 68 inches, and one might be around 69 inches. They are all from Northern Ufeiga, with darker skin than us. Men have a tradition of growing beards, and the beard growth is quite significant. Most of them probably don’t speak Prit, and if they do, their accents would be heavy, making them sound foreign.
“They might not be in a good mood if they interact with others, and they carry a bunch of tools, often oddly shaped—strange shovels, hammers, and some bone tools that are hard to figure out. It gives the impression they’re heading to some construction site.
“They haven’t been in Tivyán for long and might not be fully adapted. Clues could be found near the port area. Oh, and they might recently buy clothes. You can check the clothing stores near the port or nearby areas…”
Casually, Gregor described the specific appearance of a group of unknown individuals to Homan, who stood there speechless upon hearing this. Only when Gregor turned to him again and spoke directly did he respond:
“Do you understand what I said? Do you need me to repeat it?”
“Ah… Yes, Mr. Meishos. I didn’t expect you to get such detailed results so quickly. How did you gather such detailed information about the criminals?”
Homan looked at Gregor with a strange gaze and said, and Gregor smiled mysteriously.
“Some normal deductions, plus some methods specific to my field… Anyway, I won’t go into details now. The urgent task right now is to find leads on those bandits and locate the kidnapped person.
“Chief Homan, follow my intelligence. Have your men focus on searching the port area and nearby locations. Check hotels, clothing stores, and restaurants. Report anything you find to me promptly.
“By the way, if you directly discover their hideout, do not act rashly. Do not confront them directly. Come back and inform me, and I will make arrangements.”
Speaking with a stern tone, Gregor directly told the chief. The originally curious chief nodded seriously upon hearing Gregor’s explanation about his field’s methods and did not ask any more.
“I understand. Thank you, Mr. Meishos, for assisting with the investigation. I’ll immediately arrange personnel to do this. But before that, would it be okay if I first return to the bureau to send a telegram to confirm your identity?”
“That’s fine. Since your command has been transferred, I understand the caution. I will also explain the current situation to the bureau.”
Upon hearing Homan’s words, Gregor replied directly, and Homan continued:
“Okay, I’ll go explain to my subordinates.”
As Homan left the storage room, Gregor sighed deeply and scratched his head.
“Phew… No wonder he’s a detective. He can gather so much information so quickly…
Speaking, a hint of envy appeared in Gregor’s eyes.
“If I had his ability, it would be great…”
…
Iwig, Adria.
Next to the Adria church square, in a high-end hotel, Dorothy sat seriously on a comfortable sofa. Just now, she had used Gregor’s senses to conduct a remote investigation of the Boyle mansion in Tivyán and obtained preliminary results.
The Boyle family had been invaded by a group of treasure hunters from Northern Ufeiga, and Nunut had been taken. Their goal was likely to find the golden scepter that could protect the Boyle family from curses.
While Gregor was investigating the Boyle mansion, Dorothy had already instructed Nephnis to sacrifice her detailed memories of the family’s home to Akka. Therefore, when Gregor observed the invaded Boyle mansion, Dorothy had a reference point of the uninvaded mansion in her mind.
Through this reference, Dorothy discovered that many cultural relics that were originally stored in the Boyle mansion were missing. These relics were mostly from Northern Ufeiga culture, suggesting they might have been taken by someone familiar with them.
The second clue came from the various pits and cracks on the walls and floors. To others, these marks might not mean much, but for Dorothy, who had read the works of Balar, a scholar-type tomb raider, these marks were immediately recognizable. They were left by a specialized small hammer tool used by tomb raiders to determine if there were secret chambers or hidden layers behind walls or under floors.
Using this special small hammer to tap on walls, if it produced a special sound, it could indicate the presence of something behind the wall. Different sounds could indicate different things: a hidden compartment, a mechanism, or even a nest of tomb-guarding creatures. This small hammer could detect heavy objects behind walls, making it a common tool for identifying treasure points and avoiding traps during tomb raids.
Additionally, Dorothy found traces of sigils’ ashes in the corner of the storage room, possibly left by their use of listening sigils to search for secret rooms.
The third clue was the footprints. As Homan mentioned, footprints could provide many key clues. From the numerous footprints throughout the mansion, Dorothy deduced that there were five people in total and estimated their heights based on the size of the footprints.
More importantly, Dorothy noticed that the soles of the shoes that left these footprints were not typical of Tivyán residents but suited for sandy environments, indicating the desert climate characteristic of Northern Ufeiga.
These people rushed to Tivyán without changing their shoes, suggesting they might have been in a hurry or not fully adapted to Tivyán’s climate. This could lead to another consequence: they might need to buy clothes due to the cold weather.
Although Tivyán’s climate wasn’t particularly cold compared to Northern Ufeiga, it was still much colder. March in Tivyán was much colder than in Northern Ufeiga due to its higher latitude. Without proper preparation, Northern Ufeiga people might freeze, even with the “Cup” physique, they would feel somewhat better. Thus, Dorothy asked Gregor to have Homan and his team pay attention to the clothing store situation.
Clearly, these Northern Ufeiga tomb raiders weren’t just tearing up floors and knocking on walls for nothing; they were confirming the presence of secret chambers and hidden layers. They were looking for the secret chamber where the Boyle family stored the golden scepter.
Fortunately, according to Nephnis’s memory, the mechanism to activate the secret chamber was intact. Although the tomb raiders spent a lot of effort, they couldn’t find the secret chamber. Many of Boyle’s vases were broken, some unnecessarily. The reason might be that these people were frustrated at not reaching their goal, so Dorothy judged that their current mood wouldn’t be good.
And they didn’t find the secret chamber because it was built by Davis, an absolute veteran tomb raider. Davis, of course, knew all the tricks of tomb raiders, so he set up various countermeasures when building the secret chamber. This made these people search for a long time without success.
“It seems these guys might have something to do with that prince. The specifics still need to be confirmed by finding them.
“But in Tivyán, this shouldn’t be a difficult matter.”
Dorothy muttered, then flipped through Adela’s contact page. In Tivyán, she still had some connections and influence.
