The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 333: Investigating at night

Chapter 333: Investigating at night

Hex sat at the window, listening to the birds chirping as the morning sun warmed the gloomy air that hung over the city.

The sound of cheers and cries would erupt now and again, here and there, as the city awakened.

A part of him enjoyed the liveliness of the outside world, while another sat comfortably inside the room, waiting for someone to break the silence.

Despite Marve’s protests, Jonathan had laid his proposal before Elize and Hex. His request required Elize and Hex to join the escort team in bringing the captives to the core region.

Marve had to remain back with his team. With the disappearance of the darkness, the chances of people trying to infiltrate the village would increase. The upper level of the Guardians wished to prevent such an occurrence. Not prior to having investigated the village themselves. Even the dust touched by the Witch couldn’t fall into the hands that didn’t belong to the Guardians.

Hex listened to their discussions without commenting. Thanks to the Goddess of Death, he knew that nothing had remained in the village. Apparently, though he hadn’t checked with the Goddess, the rumors about the Witch’s soul fragment had just been that, rumors.

Instead of pondering about the village, his mind was occupied with something else.

’Where do I start?’ Hex thought, rubbing his chin. ’My priority should be the group of women who belong to the Witchkin. I need to carefully observe and investigate them.’

Having decided not to reveal being ambushed, Hex would have to lead the investigation himself. It wasn’t something he was adept at if he was honest with himself. But he wasn’t clueless either. He had a basic plan in his mind. Start with the people closest to the attacker and follow whatever information he gathered.

His limited yet up-close experience with the Shadow Serpents was also something he relied on. These creatures hunted in nests, used their host’s body for sustenance, and weakened over time. These were valuable clues.

’I will start from the weakest to the strongest.’

As soon as he thought of that, he realized the little flaw with that. The weakest person within the group was without a doubt the mother of the girl ready to sacrifice herself. She was bedridden while the girl...Cyantha, yes...was still recovering and waiting for the dark mark on the back of her hand to disappear.

For the time being both, mother and daughter, were treated like high-level prisoners by the Guardians and Elize. They agreed to wait and monitor. According to Elize, when it came to the Witch, all precautions were justified.

They were in a room under constant monitoring of the Guardians, and that too in person. At all times, at least one Guardian stood sentry at the entrance of the room, and that too on the inside. Orders of Marve.

Even with his Veil Blessing, it would make infiltrating and investigation a little bit of a challenge.

’I can start with the others and work my way around. A nest isn’t limited to one or two of such creatures.’

As he made the list and the route to follow in his mind, his intuition alerted him. He looked up with a start. He didn’t expect anything in the presence of three Enlightened Knights. There were no attackers or signs of danger. It was just the gaze of one person on him, Jonathan’s.

The discussions had concluded a few minutes ago. The powerhouses remained in their seats solely because there wasn’t anything else of interest around their location.

Hex met his gaze and saw a soft smile creep upon Jonathan’s face. Elize sat in her chair, with her head resting against the back of the sofa, whereas Marve scribbled furiously on a piece of paper, the content of which eluded everyone. His darkened face would suggest it to be a strongly-worded complaint of some sort. So, none paid attention to Jonathan or Hex.

Jonathan looked away almost immediately. But there was no doubt his interest lay in Hex. Although he didn’t like being on the radar of an unknown powerhouse, Hex could guess the reason behind the man’s interest. The events at the Witch’s lair.

Marve might have reported the things in detail, highlighting Hex’s presence. From the bits and pieces of their discussions he paid attention to, it became apparent that the Guardians were a unit specially designed to deal with situations related to the Witch.

’Is he sent to observe me?’ Hex suspected it to be the case. After all, even a unit like the Guardians shouldn’t have an excess of Enlightened Knights to have them lead an escort mission.

’But they preferred him above Marve. It could be that Marve is weaker than Elize and they don’t wish to offend her. But Jonathan doesn’t seem stronger than Elize either. She seems aloof and uncaring in their presence, even when outnumbered by them. And if he isn’t stronger then that leaves but one reason, he has a special ability or Technique. Something that they believe will serve better in gaining information about me.’

Another reason to remain cautious when moving around. He didn’t think the Guardians would react better when they learned about the fragment of a Goddess residing inside the crystal.

The topic around the crystal had been broached by Marve during their discussion. Twice. He was careful. But it was for naught. The second time, Elize had replied with only one sentence, Forget about it.

Hex couldn’t deny it was hilarious to see the expressions of both men. They nearly suffocated from their breathing being caught in their throats. They wouldn’t and couldn’t forget about something so important. What if the rumored soul fragment resided inside the crystal? But Elize had closed her eyes and laid her head as if she was done with talking.

The glances the men exchanged between themselves screamed of helplessness and anger. Yet, neither attempted anything. If only they knew that the crystal was in his hands instead of Elize’s.

But they had assumed from the start that he served her. And as the leader, everything of importance – the crystal was important beyond measure as far as they were concerned – should be with her. Hex had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding. He had his stupid moments but he hadn’t lost his mind to such a degree.

...

Hex stood on the roof of the hotel as the night breeze caressed his face. The day had passed without anything of worth happening. He had strolled up to the room in which Cyantha and her mom rested but to his luck, Marve was inside, checking up on them.

Hex believed he could bullshit his way through Marve’s underlings but he didn’t wish to test his luck with the petite, especially not since Marve’s mood didn’t seem to have improved throughout the day.

His next target, the third weakest he detected, was a young girl residing in a room on the uppermost floor. Under the pretext of enjoying the nighttime, he had taken the keys to the door to the roof from Jade.

The roof wasn’t empty. It was filled with all kinds of tanks, old tools, and statues. To Hex it looked more like a shed than a roof.

It was midnight when he sensed the people below at rest. The leaves above were shut entirely, preventing any light from seeping through them, cloaking everything in darkness.

Hex willed it and focussed on the scratch marks on the back of his hand. He didn’t notice anything, aside from seeing the scratch marks give up a dark vapor-like substance. Hoping that it worked, he descended.

Flex Step

He reached the window of the room of his target and slipped through it. The people in the City of Changing Colors liked to sleep with their windows open. It baffled Hex. The place was filled with tramps and outlaws. Yet people would keep their windows open.

Inside the room, everything was silent. The girl, as he gathered from the investigation reports, was an orphan, who was taken in by the Witchfolk as a child.

Hex carefully approached her bed. He sensed her life force. Her body was at rest. But that was not conclusive. The life force of the shadow serpent was almost non-existent inside the host. It only used minimal energy to feed.

Hex placed his hand on her abdomen and injected his energy into her body. The girl squirmed a little with a little frown on her head but nothing else happened.

’She is clear.’

The lack of clues didn’t dampen his mood. On the contrary, he felt elated. This was one of the situations where the fewer clues he discovered, the happier he would be. Hex disappeared back into the darkness, onto the next target.

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