"You are finally showing up! I paid good money and all they send me is a single adventurer?! You better do a good job. You nephilim think you are at the peak, but don't forget that money rules the world!"
Liam looked towards the source of those unfriendly remarks. It was a tall man with rosy skin and a slightly protruding belly. His long, lustrous black hair fell on a luxurious robe decorated with pure gold. Each of his fingers were adorned with decadent rings. Liam immediately recognised him as Kave can Deeran, one of Tarol's twenty plutarchs.
Before answering, Liam scanned the rest of the people present. In the centre of the room laid the victim, Tem. A young man of barely twenty years old dressed similarly to his father. His corpse was pale and surrounded by conspicuous dark magic. There was a strange mark on his forehead.
Next to the corpse stood a female priestess. Her white robes bore the symbol of the goddess of light. She had beautiful golden hair, but her face looked somewhat rough. She was currently waving a long staff to dispel the dark magic surrounding the corpse.
And closest to Liam was a man in strong leather armour with two blades attached to his belt. From his lean body and vigilant posture Liam could tell that this man was a real warrior, definitely far more competent than the guards outside.
After getting a good look at the scene, Liam frowned faintly. Kave van Deeran was alright, but both the priestess and the warrior appeared extremely unfamiliar to Liam. This in itself was already suspicious. It showed that these two were usually minor characters and if it weren't for this quest they wouldn't have appeared in the eyes of the players.
"So? Seen enough? Any clues?"
Kave appeared quite impatient. Liam first turned towards him and introduced himself before asking the priestess to stop dispelling the dark magic for a moment.
"Alright. But… be careful."
"Thank you, Priestess Ivreya."
Liam learned the priestess's name from a quick check with [Inspect]. He took a step forward and knelt down next to the corpse, getting a good look. The dark magic pricked his skin dealing continuous damage, but it was not enough to worry him.
Tem's skin was pale. He had a wound on his head, but Liam could tell that it came from his head hitting the ground. Other than that, there were obvious injuries on his bare back. Long streeks of red. It didn't look like something a sword or magic would cause. Liam glanced at the whip not far from the victim's hand.
Apart from the victim's injuries, the strange symbol on Tem's forehead was extremely conspicuous as well. It was a curse mark.
Curse marks were naturally the product of curses. However, a curse mark would only be left behind if the curse reached a certain intensity. Usually this signified that the victim had some means of protection against curses, either from their own prowess or external items. It was not surprising that the wealthy van Deeran family could afford items to protect against curses. However, the murderer still managed to kill Tem, which showed that they were quite well versed in the art of curses.
After a thorough check of the corpse Liam took a step back and began to ponder.
"Adventurer! Don't stand there silently! Find out who killed my son! And you, priestess! Do your job!"
Liam glanced at Kave, noticing the man's red eyes. The plutarch appeared strongly affected by the death of his son, barking at everyone. But with someone of Kave's status it was difficult to tell if his emotions were genuine. Yet Liam tended to believe him. Kave was certainly distressed over the death of his son. Even if it wasn't out of affection, then because this marked the death of the only male heir.
In the Talor Republic the position of plutarch could be bought and would afterwards be inherited by the eldest son. Now that he lost his only son Kave had to father a new son or his family was set to lose its influence. Losing the position of plutarch meant no decision-making power, no influence over the republic's military which was also called Coin Guard, and even the loss of valuable trade routes. Certainly, there were people who wanted to see this happen, making them possible suspects in this murder case.
But for now, Liam decided to advance step by step as he addressed the room:
"Who was the last person to see the victim alive?"
"That was me.", answered a rough voice. Liam turned towards the warrior in leather armour, scrutinizing his composed face.
"You are?"
"You can call me Cross. I was the personal guard of young master Tem."
Instantly Kave bellowed from the side:
"Haha, a nice guard you are. Cross! You will assist in the investigation and afterwards I never want to see you again!"
"Yes, master van Deeren…"
Cross gritted his teeth but other than that he didn't show much anger. It seemed he already anticipated this outcome.
"Please, Cross. Tell me what happened before Tem van Deeren died."
"It was a day like every other. The young master discussed some business with one of the family's caravan leaders in the morning. Afterwards he went to launch with a few friends, with whom he spent the afternoon as well. When we returned, the young master went to take a bath before coming down here."
"Mhm. Were you with him all the time?"
"Yes."
"During the business discussion as well? Was there anything concerning the caravan's cargo which might be worth killing for?"
"No, no. It is just a standard trade like we have done countless times before."
Liam nodded lightly. He knew that these kinds of caravan's usually carried immensely precious goods. Teleportation costs energy, and energy costs money. And magical items were even more difficult to teleport. Therefore, large trade volumes were transported per caravan. Even after considering the wages for the necessary guards a caravan was still less costly than teleportation. But this led to a situation where each caravan was usually worth at least 1000 gold. They were lucrative targets. However, killing Tem wasn't helpful in robbing a caravan. Thus, this was a rather weak clue.
"You said after the discussion Tem met with friends? Was there anything suspicious happening? What was the atmosphere like? What were they talking about?"
"No, everything was as usual. They were talking about the topics young men like to talk about. I'm sure you know what I mean. However, now that I think about it there was a short incident where someone mentioned the young master's ex-girlfriend and was silenced by the young master."
"Oh? Can you give me the name of the young master's ex-girlfriend?"
"I'm sorry but I don't know. I haven't been with the young master long enough."
Raising his brows, Liam stared at Cross suspiciously. But as far as he could tell the guard was telling the truth. Thus, he turned towards Kave, who scoffed instantly.
"Don't look at me! My son was a young man who had a new girl every other week. How would I know which ex-girlfriend they were talking about?!"
Being glared at by Kave, Laim wasn't intimidated. He felt there was something fishy here. However, since no one was willing to tell him, he could only move on for now.
"Cross. After you returned home young master Tem came down here into this… basement. Did you go with him and what did he do here? Was he alone?"
"No, I was waiting outside. I wasn't allowed to…"
"Tsk. What could a young man be doing in such a room? Of course he was having fun! I told you my son had many girls. Nothing wrong with being a bit more… creative, is it?!"
As Kave suddenly interrupted loudly, a pressure pressed down on everyone. Cross instantly stopped talking and Liam knew he wouldn't get any more out of the guard. His eyes wandered around the room. He noticed some dried bloodstains on some of the tools and a wave of disgust hit him. He didn't quite believe that everyone entering this room had a lot of 'fun'.
Doing his best not to show his disgust Liam turned to Kave next.
"Master van Deeran. What can you tell me about your son?"
"Tsk. Unfortunately, not that much. I was always quite busy, something I regret now that it is too late. And after Tem got old enough, he was also quite active in the business. He was clever and on a good path to succeed me. The few times we talked it was mostly me teaching him about the business world. Other than that, he liked women as I told you before. Oh, and he was quite pious."
"When was the last time you have seen your son?"
"Two days ago. We had dinner together."
"Did he appear strange in any way?"
"Hmpf. He was somewhat absentminded but that's not too surprising. We are currently going through a stressful phase."
"Stressful? Why?"
"There is some trouble with a trade route of ours and one of my competitors is now trying to usurp my client."
"Competitor? A plutarch?"
Kave didn't answer Liam's question, but his silence was saying enough.
"Other than that. Did your son have any enemies?"
"Tsk. Of course. As one of the most prosperous families in all of Crunaboul we have more enemies than I can count."