A Detective's Unfortunate Adventure in Another World

Arthur coughed a little, trying his best to ignore the embarrassment he felt right now. Hell, he could still feel the blood rushing on his cheek after his last outburst, and the amused stares he received from those men from the Kurata tribe only made it worse. If he could, he would want to be eaten by the ground alive rather than having to face this embarrassment right now.

"Eh, don't fret over it, Arthur!" Banara had a shit-eating grin that was so infuriating that made Arthur want to punch his face. "We all have that kind of embarrassing moment, you know?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, to which Arthur replied by shoving the man's shoulder in the same playful manner.

"Oh, shut up!" Arthur grumbled. "You will react the same if the last time you asked for anything to take a note, what you received are a scroll of parchment and a quill! Those things are a pain in my ass!"

Some of the men there – hell, even Zadar joined the laughter, knowing what Arthur meant.

"Yeah, that is what you get from a tribe that is so stubborn to accept change. Now, they are stuck as if they live in the year 15." Zadar said mockingly yet without any heat in his words. It was clear that the Kurata's backward living style was a common topic for the Eldra tribe to mock. Still, Arthur saved this information on the back of his head, especially about the year Zadar said. 'Year 15, huh? Interesting…'

"So, are you going to ask or what?" Another Eldra warrior, this time a short man with a giant axe that was far bigger than his size asked. If Arthur remembered correctly, the name should be Orin.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I got distracted." Arthur shook his head quickly. "Okay, first thing first, can you name all the victims of the incident, their ages, and their health conditions? I mean, did they have any diseases or something that made their lives uncomfortable when they were still in the living world?"

All of the men in front of him looked at Arthur in disbelief. "You are going to ask for all of the 22 people? Are you sure about that?"

In return, Arthur just frowned. "OF course, I am serious. Knowing the identity of the victims is always important to start the investigation."

If before, they still didn't have a hope that Arthur would be able to figure out anything about the incident, this alone managed to convince half of the Eldra men who were there that he was a real deal. After all, who would want to bother himself by asking about 22 dead men?

After exchanging glances with his men, Zadar finally rose from the ground, saying, "Wait a second, you will know about it soon." Before he walked through the same building where he got Arthur a book before. A few seconds later, he came back with another book in his hand, handing it to Arthur who was curious about it.

"Here, this is our death note." Arthur had to hold back the urge to choke at the familiar name he heard. He was afraid for a second that touching it would allow him to see a Death God or two. Fortunately, even though he was isekai-ed, this world wasn't that outrageous. "This is the book that we use to record all of the deaths of our brothers and sisters. There, you will see all the details of the victims at the latest entry."

To Arthur's surprise, he found out that the note was far more detailed than he initially thought. There, he could see the list of all the victims of the incident and their reactions before they died.

Ovid, Son of Aroi – Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, dark skin, pale face

Somir, Son of Aroi – Nausea, vomiting, numbness, muscle cramps

Harika, Daughter of Vaisa – Nausea, vomiting, hallucination, disorientation, dark skin

…

…

…

"Damn, your tribe did a good job here." Arthur whistled, impressed. He noticed that nausea and vomiting were the most common symptoms that could be seen here, which also confirmed the idea that this was a food poisoning case. Nevertheless, he was impressed with how detailed the report he read was. "Honestly, after spending my time with the Kurata tribe, I have to admit I don't have so much hope about this, but you prove me wrong here."

In return, though, Zadar just snorted a little. "What uses this detail report is if it cannot help us figure out what happened?" He asked bitterly. Arthur just ignored him, knowing full well that this report was far more useful than Zadar and anyone from the Eldra tribe gave credit for.

"So, you all should've met a conclusion that this is food poisoning, right?" Arthur asked once again, to which Zadar and his men answered with nods to confirm it. "So, what kind of food did you eat that day? Have you investigated whoever the ones who provided that?" He followed with another two questions.

"Well, let me think about it. At that time, it was during lunchtime, so each person would have two slices of bread, salad, two slices of hams, and the water we brought from the river nearby." Banara answered.

For that, Arthur stopped writing and raised his head at him. "You boiled it first, right?" He asked. That was a valid concern. With how backward this world was, he didn't know how good the food safety standard was here.

"Of course, we boiled it first!" Banara said, affronted. "Who do you think we are, a group of mindless barbarians?!"

"Okay, okay, calm down! Sorry for offending you, but I just have to make sure, right?" Arthur raised both hands to appease the man. Fortunately, things didn't escalate too far, and he had a chance to ask his question again. "So, have you investigated your food source?"

"Of course, we have! But our source is from the merchant guild related to the former mayor, and we know that he is trustworthy! They have been supplying our food for the last couple of years, and we have never had a problem like this!"

"Yeah!"

Arthur raised one of his eyebrows once again at that. Listening to the wave of support the former mayor of this city received from the group in front of him, he was a bit curious about this mayor. Also, he took another note to investigate this guild merchant later. However, there was still one thing that bothered his mind, and he decided to be frank with it.

"So, if you don't think it comes from your supplier, why would you think it is from your neighbor?"