Oh look, a village on the horizon. Maybe we'll finally get a decent roof over our heads and a nice bowl of hot food to warm our bellies.

Holding my train of thought, I began to realize my butt was rampant sore from the long hours on horseback, but it was a lot better than the swollen feet that would have come from walking the entire way here. With that said, the imperial soldiers riding alongside spoke a different story through their body language. Backs straight and eyes forward; their upper bodies seemed as if they were hovering, never bobbing or weaving, all while their lower bodies rotated hypnotically back and forth as one with their mounts. To me, it was absolutely bonkers that the entire squad made traveling look so damn easy with a full set of imperial armor. The amount of endurance and focus these guys had was straight up insane.

"While we have time, I need to speak with you alone Esried," Stiggs spoke loud enough for everybody to hear.

Every soldier in earshot immediately slowed down to accommodate, giving Stiggs and me space for a private conversation.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, fearful that I did something bad that I wasn't aware of.

"No, but I need clarification as to what happened in Poleman village."

"Oh, that... "

"I was initially sent alongside another Royal Guard, Kallie, and an Adviser to the Emperor, Mithros, to investigate. The specifics were not clear, however, Mithros told me you were the only remaining survivor in the disappearance of the entire town. At first it sounded like he was implying that you were the cause, but I fail to see how that is even remotely possible. You just don't have the power nor the mindset of a person that could wipe out an entire town. You did nonetheless survive such an ordeal—which could be another reason why the Emperor sent me to retrieve you. Can you recount what happened for me?"

"Maybe? I'm not exactly sure. I was..." I mumbled, attempting to pull together a quick recount of what happened.

"Here comes Cospal, we will continue this later,” Stiggs said.

Trotting rapidly past travelers leaving the village, Cospal could be seen coming back from his forward scouting position.

Hanging a U-turn to match paces with Stiggs, Cospal gave his report, "Sir, there is a great commotion in the village ahead. From what I have gathered, there have been several murders and the villagers are blaming the local authorities for their inability to catch the person responsible."

"Let us have a look," said Stiggs, flicking the worn leather reins to increase his pace.

Upon entering the village, people were naturally moving about, eventually stopping to stare at us while we made our way deeper. Each face lit up with excitement and pride as we marched down their little main road. Occasionally, I could spot a regular soldier here and there, wearing guardsman attire; Their leather based outfits color coded in The Empire's white and gold looked far inferior to my riding company's imperial mounted armor when directly compared side by side.

Minutes passed in hushed whispers as we pulled a large wake of villagers behind us, swelling larger and larger into a mass wake of people. After reaching the center of the small village, a crowd filled with pumping fists located in front of a giant stone building chanted, "No perp, no work! No perp, no work!"

Stiggs, Captain Wendy, a couple imperial soldiers, and I demounted, taking even paces toward the entrance and putting a pause on the protesters. Seeing us approach, the visibly distressed villagers parted ways with palms over their hearts and eyebrows unfurling from their previously locked positions. A wave of ease washed over the crowd as if their prayers had been answered. With a loud three knocks, Stiggs' hammered the wooden doors, denting a large hole the size of a fist.

"Royal Guard Stiggs," Stiggs announced with a mana infused voice, clearing the air of all uncertainty of identity.

Not a few seconds later, the locking mechanism behind the doors clicked and the doors swung open inward at the hand of two guardsmen. The room inside was packed with benches before a raised platform, each holding a handful of villagers. Moving forward behind Stiggs I could see guardsmen lining the entire room and more importantly, clustered around the man standing in front of a podium in the middle of the platform. Inspecting the man, he stood six feet tall with a round face and tired eyes, wearing a black silken robe. A sash crossed his chest with several shiny medals pinned in a row.

Bowing a full ninety-degrees, the man said, "Hello my Lordship. I am Lashpirt Somonier, Mayor of Daggerhelm in the town nearby. I sincerely apologize for not welcoming you into the land. As you can see, I have been quite busy as of late."

"Give me a status report," Stiggs commanded, directly moving to formal procedures.

"Ah yes... yes... There has been a string of murders in this village recently. About a week ago, a farmer was stabbed to death in his barn basement, and a few days later, a pair of local merchant twins were found with their throats slit in their wagons. And finally, yesterday an entire family was butchered in their own home which abruptly lead to today's protests. I have done everything in my power to find the culprit, but there has been no concrete evidence toward any particular individual,” Mayor Lashpirt reported.

Shooting to his feet, a dark skinned rathnoc shouted, "No you bloi'dy didn't! You only ah-rived di’s morning! Oi! Don't loi'k so surprised. We here call out bullshite' when we see it."

Lashpirt coughed and tugged at his robes before addressing the now clamoring group of villagers before him, "Settle down everybody, one farmer and a couple merchants hardly calls for the calvary. It is not feasible for me to come down here every time a person passes away."

"How can you say that? We pay our taxes just like everybody else in The Empire! Just because we are a small village, you think our lives matter less?" a woman growled in defiance.

"Enough. I will be taking over this investigation," Stiggs said, removing rising hostilities.

"Of course my Lordship. All my resources are at your disposal," Lashpirt compiled, sighing in relief.

The crowd of villagers went into full gossip mode, clearly excited that a Royal Guard was taking the mission personally.

OoOo a muder mystery! This is gonna be fun!