Medieval: Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Chapter 199 Demon Fire

Chapter 200 Demon Fire

Soon, they arrived at their first investigation point: the residence of the old priest Richard.

"The legend of the subterranean demon was confirmed by the old priest, who also presided over the monthly demon sacrifices. He must have known about it. We might find clues in his belongings."

Peter explained to the crowd why he had come.

Inside the church, the group stopped in front of Father Richard's simple yet tidy dwelling. Sunlight streamed through the oak windowpanes, casting dappled shadows on the dusty floor. The room was filled with a faint mingled scent of incense and mildew.

"Yes, the old priest was a kind and wise servant of God; he must have left behind important clues."

"Perhaps they even left behind a way to deal with demons."

The villagers nodded in agreement, and some suddenly realized what was going on. Vladimir, a villager, unconsciously rubbed his rough hands together, his eyes darting around.

"The old priest was a good man," murmured an elderly farmer with white hair. "Every time the Cumans came to the village to rob our grain, he was always the first to stand up and protect us."

"Yes," another villager chimed in, "Last time those damned heretics came to collect grain, the old priest stood at the village entrance and argued with them, but they beat him up and he hit his head..."

Everyone sighed repeatedly.

Peter walked slowly into the bedroom, each step exuding a sense of composure. Chris and Brienne followed closely behind, cautiously glancing around.

Inside the bedroom, a simple wooden bed was placed against the wall, and the dark red bloodstains on the linen sheets were still clearly visible, silently telling the story of the old priest's suffering before his death.

Peter knelt down on one knee and carefully examined under the bed. His fingers gently brushed across the floor, tracing a rectangular outline in the dust.

"There used to be a box here," Peter asserted.

Chris immediately bent down to examine it: "Your Highness is right, judging from the dust marks, this box is not small."

The group began searching and actually found the abandoned box in the grass outside the house, but it was empty.

"This is the kind of box used to store armor."

Peter stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "Where did the contents of the box go?"

Father Marian looked bewildered: "When I took over, these were the only pieces of furniture in the room."

Whispers arose among the villagers. Peter noticed that Vladimir's face was pale and fine beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

"In other words," Peter's voice suddenly turned serious, "did the grain requisition team steal anything from the old priest's house when they came last time?"

"No, absolutely not!" a villager said definitively. "Those Cuman barbarians may be fierce, but they wouldn't dare to rob openly in a church."

"Since it wasn't robbed..." Peter paused meaningfully, "then it was stolen."

Vladimir shuddered violently and almost lost his balance.

Peter then began to carefully search the room. His fingers traced the rough stone wall, stopping near the niche for the Virgin Mary. Below the niche was a hidden compartment almost blending into the wall, nearly invisible without close inspection.

"Chris, open this for me."

Chris stepped forward, carefully pried open the hidden compartment with his dagger, and took out a beautifully decorated oak box. The box was carved with crosses and grapevines, and the keyhole was rusty.

"The key..." Peter hesitated, "usually it's in..."

His gaze fell on the wooden cross on the headboard. He gently turned the base of the cross, and a small brass key fell out with a click.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Peter opened the wooden box. Inside lay a roll of parchment, sealed with red wax.

Father Marian took the parchment and carefully unfolded it. As he read on, his face grew paler and paler, and his hand holding the parchment trembled slightly.

"My God..." he murmured, "So this is the truth..."

The illiterate villagers exchanged anxious glances, but dared not ask a question. Father Marian simply shook his head, rolled up the parchment again, and offered no explanation.

In the eerie silence, Peter suddenly turned, his sharp gaze fixed on Vladimir: "Vladimir! Do you know your crime?"

The shout was like a thunderclap; Vladimir's legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." His voice was barely audible.

"Did you steal the armor and weapons from the old priest's trunk?" Peter pressed on. "Where did you hide them?"

Faced with this precise accusation, Vladimir finally broke down. Amidst the villagers' scornful and shocked gazes, he choked out, "I was helping the gravedigger sort through the priest's belongings... I accidentally discovered that box..." He wiped away his tears, "I opened it with a lock pick... inside was a complete set of Kutenberg plate armor... worth over four hundred Groschens... I couldn't earn that much money in my entire life..."

He described in fits and starts how, driven by greed, he would sneak away each day when no one was looking, hiding pieces of the armor under his clothes. It took him a whole week to move the entire suit of armor.

"Where is the armor?" Peter's voice was icy.

"In...in the attic of my cowshed..." Vladimir collapsed to the ground.

The group immediately headed to Vladimir's cowshed. Chris climbed the rickety wooden ladder and, sure enough, found the armor pieces wrapped in oilcloth in a cobweb-covered corner of the attic. There were plate breastplates, greaves, arm guards, a unique enclosed dog helmet, and a beautifully decorated longsword.

"God will punish thieves!" a villager exclaimed indignantly. "No wonder your cow was killed by the devil; this is retribution!"

Peter gestured for Chris to repack the armor. As for what to do with Vladimir, he left that to the priest and the villagers to decide.

"Your Highness, where should we go next?" Father Marian asked, his voice filled with admiration.

Peter looked toward the scorched earth at the edge of the village: "Go to the ruins of Mary's house, which burned down six years ago."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the villagers.

"That place is cursed by a demon!"

"No one has dared to come near for six years!"

"I heard you can hear babies crying in the middle of the night..."

Peter remained unmoved: "If you don't even have the courage to face the truth, how can you dispel fear?"

When they arrived at the scorched earth, apart from Peter, Chris, Brienne, and the priest, the other villagers shrank back ten paces and dared not approach.

In the ruins, charred beams pointed to the sky like the ribs of a giant beast. Peter trudged through the black ashes, carefully examining the remaining foundations. His steps were still slow, but each one was firm and powerful.

"Look there," Father Marian suddenly pointed to the center of the foundation.

Where the bed should have been, two skeletons lay quietly. The larger skeleton was in an embracing posture, holding the smaller skeleton in its arms, as if a mother was protecting her child until her death.

Chris made an even more heartbreaking discovery at the doorway: "There's another one here."

The skeleton of an adult male is kneeling by the door, his raised hand still in a knocking posture, clearly trying to open the locked door in his last moments.

Who did this?!