Everyone had assembled in the town hall again. The villagers were praying—it seemed to be their daily routine. So me and Wanora waited outside. After a while, they came out and started doing their daily tasks. Roswal walked over to us with a smile.
"Thank you for helping us once again. Though I was slightly scared at night… you came back safely."
"Ah… sorry," I said, scratching my head.
He chuckled. "No worries. We couldn't sleep either way. But when you returned, I slept peacefully. If you need any help, please talk to us."
"Yes," I smiled as he left.
"He feels relieved that we came back alive. And now he thinks we can do something, huh?" Wanora said.
"Well, I guess. Hope can go a long way if provided some."
"You thought of any ideas?" Wanora asked.
"Nope. Not yet. But I do think we need to talk to Ophean."
We headed to a farm. Ophean was sitting alone, not doing any work. The moment he saw us, he got startled, quickly standing up with a smile.
"Ah. Hello. Do you need something?"
"Just some questions. About the murderer."
He froze. "Ah… yes. What do you wish to know?"
"Did you see how they looked?"
He stared at us, then looked away. "No… no, I don't. I'm sorry. It's my fault… we got punished. And my friend died."
I patted his back. "Calm down. We'll help you out. But can you tell us any significant details about the murderer?"
He paused for a long time before saying, "Well… they were slightly limping, I think. They weren't walking normally. And they had a hood on, so I couldn't see who it was."
"Right. And what about your Clarion? I heard that they disabled it?"
He sighed. "Yes… I can't use it anymore."
"Can you tell what you felt during that time?"
He froze up. "No idea… it was painful."
Even after a while of questioning, we didn't reach anywhere.
"Well, I think the guy is bullshitting," Wanora said.
"I don't know. But I think he told the truth while lying."
"Then our only lead is that the murderer only attacks if you can leave… Hey, come to think of it—how did he reach the continent anyways?" Wanora asked.
"Hm?"
"I mean, he needs a boat. And this island is isolated, right? Then how did he leave? There's no way a boat was present for him at the dock. And there is absolutely no way he swam all the way there."
"...Yeah. He's hiding it. Trauma? Let's ask him later. First, let's figure out something else."
We talked to all of the people there, asking them about other villages.
It was weird. If the deity could attack from the ground, why not just kill people in their sleep?
No one knew either. Either there was some kind of charm, or some barrier preventing it from attacking the village.
"Should we lure out the murderer?" Wanora asked.
"How?" I asked.
"Well, we get another Clarion user."
"Aren't Clarion users rare? And I'm sure there isn't any other than him."
Wanora turned and walked toward Roswal's house. "Well… it's a last-ditch attempt, I guess."
The second she barged in, Roswal looked up, surprised. "Oh, you're back. You startled me. Knock, please."
I bowed a little. "Ah, apologies. She isn't good with manners."
"Hey, elder. Do you have any Clarion users? Like Ophean? Particularly smell Clarion users?"
He looked at her, cautious. "Why?"
"Well, I dunno. To lure out the murderer?"
"I'm not sure," he said. "I'll look into it, But can you detail it—"
Wanora began, rolling her eyes, but I stepped in.
"Well, you see, Ophean was attacked since he almost left the island. But the problem is, when we did the same, we weren't attacked. Since a smell Clarion user can be a trigger, we need one to actually bring out the murderer."
"Ah," he gasped. "Ah, yes. We do have a smell-based Clarion user."
"You do? That's great," I said, and the two of us exited the building as he called out, "Tonight, I'll introduce you to them at the dinner."
"Sure, that would be great," I said.
"Well… dinner, huh? Hey, I guess we can finally eat something decent," Wanora said.
"Only if the dinner goes well."
Disclaimer: it doesn't.