Ch. 11 - Clues in the Footprints

The lord's manor was situated on the westernmost side of the town, adjacent to Dawnmist Forest, pressed against a continuous mountain range that extended into the woods and was separated from the small town by a wheat field.

This geographical location couldn't be called advantageous—it was chosen entirely for the soil conditions.

The closer to Dawnmist Forest, the higher the quality of the starberries.

The starberries cultivated by the town's residents were mostly jet black, dotted with scattered white, similar to mulberries dusted with a bit of sugar-frost.

The starberries produced by the manor, however, displayed a deeper purple hue, eliminating any possibility of passing off inferior goods when submitting the quota.

Therefore, whenever someone passed through the dim forest to greet clear skies and sunshine, the first thing they'd see would almost invariably be the vast berry orchard sparkling with starlight, surrounding a three-story villa.

When Tang Qi followed the group of mercenaries on a twenty-minute walk before finally arriving at the orchard, he became certain that Anbi absolutely couldn't be the thief.

How could a little girl have the time to transport a ton of starberries, let alone spend forty minutes making a round trip?

"Just take me directly to see the footprints, will you?" Tang Qi suggested.

Black Snake said nothing, sulking as he led the way.

At this point, just hearing Tang Qi's voice made him feel irritated for no reason.

He realized he'd been influenced by a spell without even noticing it.

Aside from impatience, this added a measure of wariness—

He didn't know why someone who was a spellcaster would have fallen to Tang Qi's wretched state.

Maintaining vigilance was the minimum respect one should show a spellcaster.

As they stepped into the orchard, everyone's breath filled with the fragrance of berries.

Since the starberries grew on bushes half a person's height with dense foliage, even after a morning of sun-drying, large swaths of land still appeared soft and damp.

The closer they walked toward the mountain's base, the thinner the fruit fragrance became.

Soon, Tang Qi spotted that the starberry bushes on the side near the mountain bore only verdant leaves.

"Over there."

Black Snake stopped everyone from continuing forward, simply pointing toward a string of clear footprints.

The moist soil made the footprints distinctly visible.

Judging by their direction, the thief had lingered in the orchard for quite some time, causing the footprints in that area to be somewhat chaotic and irregular.

It was even difficult to determine whether they belonged to just one person.

Then, the thief seemed to have gathered enough starberries, climbed over the fence, and walked directly toward the town.

The footprints were rather small, with a certain degree of distinctiveness.

"The fruit farmers all saw it—a short-statured thief! Now the footprints are identical, so what's there left to argue about?"

Jackal pointed at Anbi's shoes.

That morning, they'd already compared the footprints, otherwise they wouldn't have pushed her onto the execution platform.

"It really wasn't me, I never came here."

Anbi tightly gripped Tang Qi's hand, nearly crying.

The poet brother was her only lifeline.

Tang Qi, however, examined Anbi's shoes.

A very typical pair of handmade leather short boots, still covered with quite a bit of mud, dirty and shabby, yet the more he looked at them, the more familiar they seemed—

The young boy beneath the execution platform earlier had seemed to be wearing a pair just like these:

"Where did you buy your shoes?"

"My sister bought them from the cobbler Toby."

"Is there only one cobbler in town?"

"Yes, but my boots were bought by my sister, not stolen..."

Tang Qi looked toward Black Snake and said,

"I've seen the same style on other people's feet too, only differing in shoe size."

Black Snake could understand his implication,

"But the shoe size matches, doesn't it."

"The shoes are a bit big for me." Anbi hastily countered.

Tang Qi shrugged and explained:

"She's still at a developing age, her shoe size will gradually increase. Catherine couldn't possibly have a pair of shoes custom-made specifically for her, so she'd deliberately buy them larger—

In other words, if you call over children from the town of about the same age for comparison, you'd get the same result.

Moreover, I heard the cobbler's boots were stolen too, weren't they?

This can't count as evidence for conviction."

"Hmm? So you're trying to clear her name? Well, you've succeeded."

Black Snake crossed his arms with interest, looking Tang Qi up and down before continuing,

"But this doesn't change anything—if we can't find the stolen starberries, I'll still fulfill the agreement."

Tang Qi neither confirmed nor denied this.

But Anbi beside him gripped his sleeve tightly.

Despite having cleared her name, she looked even more worried instead.

He patted the little girl's fluffy ears to comfort her.

Tang Qi then crouched down, carefully examining what appeared to be chaotic footprints.

This was the only clue.

It was also the most peculiar clue—

"A ton of starberries, even using the most standard wooden crates for storage, would require a full twenty boxes. To move such a batch of starberries in a single night would require either a gang working together or multiple trips for transport.

Yet the footprints crossing the fence are just this small, irregular string."

Tang Qi raised a point of doubt.

Black Snake narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

Jackal, however, didn't understand, saying whatever came to mind:

"Then they transported them over several consecutive days. It didn't rain the previous two days, so even if there were footprints, the rain would have washed everything away."

"Last night saw heavy rain, so failing to properly guard the orchard is understandable. But if on clear days you also let thieves find opportunities..."

Tang Qi didn't make it completely explicit.

But Jackal still grabbed his collar, flustered and exasperated:

"You trying to say it's our responsibility? Don't get too damn cocky, you bastard!"

Yet the more furious he became, the more it proved he'd hit a sore spot—

In previous years, there had been no theft incidents at all.

These mercenaries drawing salaries would naturally only focus on drinking.

And so no one fulfilled their duties or put their hearts into guarding the orchard.

Tang Qi looked toward Black Snake and said, "We're grasshoppers on the same rope."

Considering Tang Qi's identity as a spellcaster, Black Snake couldn't quite figure him out, so for now he yanked Jackal back:

"Let him keep looking."

After Jackal released his grip, he couldn't help spitting.

Tang Qi straightened his clothes and continued questioning them:

"So, when was the last time you tended to the orchard?"

"Three days ago."

A gaunt fruit farmer answered tremulously.

Last night, he'd discovered the thief, but the perpetrator had vanished in a flash.

The moment he realized the orchard had been robbed, he reported it to the mercenaries who'd drunk all night and returned at dawn.

This led to the current situation.

"This place is near the forest, the climate is humid. Even in summer, it only needs watering once every three days..."

"Which means the earliest batch of stolen starberries might have been taken three days ago."

Anbi couldn't help muttering, "Won't they have rotted by now..."

Tang Qi continued observing the only clue, almost lying on the ground, his pupils focused as he analyzed carefully:

"The direction of the footprints points straight toward the small town, but nearly every household among the residents cultivates their own starberries. I really can't find a reason why anyone would go to such great lengths to steal the lord's starberries.

Moreover, the stride intervals don't differ much, meaning the thief had been unhurried and calm during departure—

Hmm? Wait, that's not right..."

"What's not right?"

Everyone had been quietly listening to his methodical analysis, and now they hurriedly asked.

"The depth of the footprints is wrong." Tang Qi said in surprise.

Jackal couldn't help but step forward. After looking for a long time, he still didn't see any problem:

"How come I don't see it?"

Tang Qi pointed ahead:

"Now follow this string of footprints and walk to the fence position as naturally as possible."

Jackal said dissatisfied, "You're ordering me around?"

Tang Qi looked toward Black Snake.

The latter coughed twice:

"Listen to him."

Jackal made a bitter face, pouting as he walked to the fence.

"Now walk back."

Tang Qi instructed,

"This time, walk backwards."

Jackal didn't understand Tang Qi's intention, but under pressure from his boss's authority, he reluctantly complied.

"So what does this prove?"

"Next, crouch down and smell carefully."

"What's there to smell in footprints... ugh! When the hell did I step in horse shit!?"

Only then did Jackal react, glaring furiously at Tang Qi,

"Wait, you're fucking with me!?"

Tang Qi looked at him as if he were an idiot, grinning cheekily but remaining silent.

But with Jackal's actions, not to mention Black Snake, even Anbi noticed something strange:

"When walking backwards, the toes touch the ground first?"

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