MTLNOVEL Chapter 10: Visiting the Eldra Tribe
It was an hour after Arthur's conversation with Hansa, and now, he was back in the room the Kurata tribe provided for him. There, he pondered over what he watched, thinking about the incident itself.
'The recall magic that old man used is convenience, but that is not what I need right now.' He couldn't help but groan. 'I can only see everything from his perspective, which is not too much. I still don't know the victims' identities, what they were feeling, what kind of activity they had before that, what kind of food they ate that day, all the important kinds of stuff! What I get is just the visual condition of those victims when their condition had already worsened like that, and it didn't even help that much!' He let out a small huff.
Still, that didn't mean he didn't gain anything from what he saw when Hansa used the perfect recall magic, he could see that most of the victims had their faces paled which if this was a food poisoning case, it should be because they vomited a lot and suffered from diarrhea, the two most common symptoms of food poisoning, which led to significant fluid loss inside their body, a case of dehydration. The paralysis most of the victims suffered also supported his idea that this was a poisoning case.
Still, that begs another question; what kind of poison was enough to kill 22 people like that?
Arthur pondered for a moment, cringing for a bit when he picked up a quill and a scroll of parchment given by Shira before. He requested something to write since he couldn't let his mind hop around without taking a note about it. Still, for this era to use a quill…
'Damn, this era is far backward than what I initially thought.'
He shook his head quickly, trying to regain his focus back on the case. He could complain about the inconvenience later, but for now, he had a case to solve. Even though he was not used to using a quill and parchment to take a note, he adapted quickly, starting to scribble anything he could think of on the parchment.
Vomiting, dehydration, difficulty breathing, paralyzed, headache, dizziness
No color change in their skin – shouldn't be a wild mushroom or anything with cyanide
No hallucination – shouldn't be some berries
Certain fishes?
External poisoning?
Why are they targeted? What is the motive?
Get to know their food supply
Visit the Eldra tribe
Ask that Thanos wannabe why he is so adamant that the culprit is from the Kurata tribe.
Arthur pondered for a moment, reading what he had just written over and over again to see whether he missed anything or not. Even though it seemed a lot, most of what he wrote were speculations, and he needed to investigate it to confirm his suspicion. Shaking his head, Arthur rose from his chair, deciding to take action.
"Okay, first thing first, let's visit the Eldra tribe!"
-0-
Much to Arthur's surprise, though, his visit to the Eldra tribe was far more pleasant than he initially thought. While some of them just looked from afar curiously, most of them welcomed him with open hands. Hell, he was even invited to their lunch, to which Arthur agreed immediately.
"So, you are the wise man who managed to get under our boss's skin, huh?" One of the Eldra's men, Banara, chuckled. "Man, it has been a long time since I saw him so flustered like that! I don't know what you are doing, but keep it up!"
"Yes! Just remove the stick on the boss's ass! Maybe, he would relax a bit, right?!"
"Yeah! HAHAHA!"
Arthur joined the laughter as he smiled at the harmonious atmosphere around him. Unlike in the Kurata tribe where most of the people treated Shira – and him to some degree since he was Shira's guest – with respect and a bit distance since Shira was their leader, here, everyone treated each other like old acquaintances. Hell, based on the maroon string he saw, Arthur knew that they even treated that Thanos Wannabe as their brother here, not just a mere leader of their tribe.
"So, what brings your presence here? Is there anything you need?" Banara asked casually, enjoying the potato soup in his bowl. At first, Arthur wanted to make a small talk before going straight to the point. However, right after Banara asked the question, all of them went quiet immediately, their attention was on him.
'They sure didn't know how to be subtle, huh?' Arthur smiled wryly.
Still, after thinking for a moment, Arthur decided to be frank with them. "Well, to be honest, I am here to help your leader and the Kurata tribe's leader to solve the incident two weeks ago. Do you think you can help me by answering some questions?"
For a moment, a pin-drop silence fell among them as all the Eldra tribe warriors there stared at him in disbelief. Arthur squirmed a little at the stare since he was not used to being the center of attention like this. He knew that this was a risky move. Usually, a detective job would need more subtlety, and he would never reveal his intention so openly like this to people other than his client. However, after watching the warriors in front of them interact with each other, Arthur made a judgment that the men in front of them would appreciate it more if he was honest with them.
Well, of course, that was if he could gain their trust first.
"Arthur, right?" An Eldra tribe member who hadn't spoken a single word since the beginning suddenly called him. Arthur tensed a bit, feeling sweat roll down profusely on his back at the pressure radiated from the man in front of him. It seemed the man had a high position in his tribe since the other members stopped talking when he was talking. "Let me ask a question here. What makes you think this hasn't been solved already? We have already been convinced by Master Kali that the culprit is coming from the Kurata tribe, so why do you think your opinion is important enough to change our mind?"