After interrogating Cross and Kave, Liam sorted the information in his mind before turning towards the last person.
"Priestess. Plutarch van Deeran just said that young master Tem was pious. Would you agree?"
"Oh, of course. Tem often came to the Temple of Light. I'm sure Cross can confirm this as well."
"I can…"
"Mhm. Commendable. So, you and Tem knew each other?"
"We were acquainted, yes. But we didn't have much contact."
"How have you experienced young master Tem?"
"Well, he was indeed somewhat frivolous as Master can Deeren said. I saw him with a few different women. But deep at heart I think he was a good man. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to step into the temple so often."
"This sounds like he wasn't a good man from an outside perspective?"
"Ehm…"
Priestess Ivreya froze for a moment as she glanced towards Kave. She sorted her words before saying carefully:
"The environment of Talor is… highly competitive. It is not easy to navigate. This is also something I have tried to change over the years but unfortunately, I only achieved limited success."
Liam quickly understood. From what he knew about Talor Republic there were countless quests which asked the players to sabotage the competition with underhanded means. The dark side of Talor was like a pitch-black abyss and even the chaos faction could be hired as assassins. After all, chaos and order didn't matter if there was money to be earned.
"Thank you, priestess. I am certain you will find success in the future. Now, please let us talk about the current case. Can you tell me about the dark magic surrounding the corpse?"
"Of course. When the victim was discovered, the entire room was filled with dark magic and thus Master van Deeran called for me. So far, I managed to dispel most of it. Without the dark magic I could inspect the victim. I can now confidently say that the victim died due to a curse. Here, do you see the symbol on the victim's forehead? This is a curse mark. Are you familiar with curse marks?"
"No, I am not. Please explain."
Of course, Liam was familiar with curse marks. However, he wanted to see the reaction of the others as they listened to Ivreya's explanation. Both Kave and Cross showed grim expressions, but no one appeared surprised. Obviously, the theory of curse marks was not unknown to them. After Ivreya had finished explaining, Laim acted surprised and continued with his question:
"So, this is the work of a powerful master of curses? I'm certain this greatly narrows the field. Do you have any possible suspects?"
"To be honest… no. Someone able to cast such a curse usually shouldn't be an unknown individual. If they resided within the Talor Republic, they would have been discovered by Guardian Ova sooner or later."
"So, you say the murdered might be from outside the republic?"
"The likelihood is high, yes."
"Hmm. Can you tell me something else about the curse? Do you know which curse was used?"
"That I do know! The curse which killed young master Tem is called 'Curse of the Debtor'. It can be used to kill someone who owes you a debt. The higher the debt, the stronger the curse."
Bang!
Before Liam could ask another question Kave suddenly stomped heavily on the ground. His red eyes stared at Ivreya as he asked a question:
"Can this curse also be used in the name of someone else? Say, could I hire someone to kill a person who owes me a debt?"
"Of course. You as a business man should know that debts can be transferred…"
"DAMN!"
Kave let out a roar. Everyone was startled as the plutarch stormed out of the room. Liam knew he couldn't hesitate and immediately rushed after the man. And the guards seeing their boss like this naturally followed as well.
Thus, the crowd grew to about 20 people as they left the estate. Kave stormed across the street and stopped in front of the neighbouring hill. He ignored the shivering guards in front of him as he let out a thundering shout:
"Rihb van Bearan! Roll out here right this instant!"
"What's going on?"
"Who is shouting?"
"Look, it's the plutarch!"
The commotion naturally attracted a big crowd. Even some players got alarmed, wondering why the NPCs were putting on such a show. Everyone was conversing carefully, avoiding drawing the plutarch's anger.
As there was no movement from the estate, Kave's eyes gradually grew dark.
"If you don't come out, I will alarm the guardian. I suspect you are colluding with the chaos faction, Rihb!", growled the plutarch.
Those words finally had some effect. Three luxuriously dressed men appeared together with a troop of guards. The person leading them was a stout, middle-aged man. Even the jewels bound into his hair and the golden rings on his fingers couldn't make up for his ugly face. Behind him walked two other men with similarly unsightly appearances, definitely the man's sons.
Liam carefully observed everything that was happening. Seeing the newcomers Liam understood why Kave was so agitated. Rihb van Bearan was one of the 20 plutarchs best known for gambling and betting places he owned. He wasn't only active in the Talor Republic. Everywhere were there were arenas one could see his men setting up betting stalls.
"Kave! What are you causing such a scene in front of my home?! Daring to accuse me of colluding with the chaos faction? If you don't have strong evidence, I will make sure you won't leave here easily today!"
"Ha, daring to do the deed but not willing to admit it?! The evidence lays in my basement. It is my beloved son whom you killed in cold blood! You, Rihb, have broken the silent agreement of the competition between plutarchs! Today you have to account for your sins!"
"Ridiculous! Just because you say I did it? You are overreaching, Kave!"
"Hmpf. My son was killed by something called 'Curse of the Debtor'. Aren't you yourself always boasting that every person in Talor owes you a debt? So what, still denying?"
Kave and Rihb continued to go back and forth. The more Liam watched the more he felt that Kave was not genuinely touched by the death of his son. Instead, he seemed to use it as a means to accuse his biggest competitor. Even if Rihb didn't have anything to do with the murder, he wouldn't dare to use any dirty means for the foreseeable future. After all, such a public argument would surely draw the attention of Guardian Ova.
Soon, Liam felt that there was not much more to learn from staying here. Thus, he left silently and mixed into the crowd. Just now he had heard a few discordant voices. It seemed Keva and Tem van Deeran were not exactly popular among the common people. But Liam didn't come far before someone suddenly touched his shoulder. He glanced to the side and noticed a person wearing a robe, pulling the hood deep into their face. They gestured Liam to follow.
In reality Liam might get suspicious but here he had nothing to fear. He followed the hooded person towards a tavern where they entered a shadowy back room. The hooded person closed the door and pulled the hood from their head. Liam was surprised to see the familiar face of a young woman. It was the servant he noticed earlier, who had a black eye.
"Adventurer, you are investigating the death of that bastard Tem, right?"
"Eh… yes. I am."
Liam was somewhat taken aback as the young woman's voice was oozing with hate.
"My name is Ganna. I work in the van Deeran estate. I might have a clue for you."
"Go ahead."
Ganna took a deep breath. Liam could see that she was struggling heavily. He allowed her to take her time.
"Two years ago, my sister and I arrived in Talor. At the beginning we were quite lost, taking every job we could find. At that time, we had just managed to get the job of polishing armours for the guards. The pay was nice, and we thought things would be going well from now on. But then… my sister suddenly went missing."
Ganna's body shivered, and a few tears ran down her cheek. Liam didn't know what to do, carefully laying a hand on her back. After a while Ganna composed herself and continued:
"I told myself not to panic. During the day I diligently worked my job and at night I searched for my sister. That was until I overheard two guards a few days later. They talked about the pitiful girl they found outside of the van Deeran estate. She was covered in wounds and died a horrible death. Her description matched my sister."
"Looking back at it, the two clearly wanted me to hear. Afterwards the captain came over and instantly told them to shut up. I quietly investigated and found out that the captain is accepting money from all the plutarch families."
Ganna only made it so far before chocking up. She couldn't get another word out. Her sadness and despair looked so real that Liam couldn't remain unaffected.