Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game Chapter 198: Potentially Relevant Personnel

Unlike the "Redwall Farm" incident, which the Night's Watch had thoroughly investigated before classifying it as unsolved and even identified that a sealed artifact was the cause of it, the "Misty Woods" incident remained a standard unsolved case with no identified source.

The Bankcroft family that owned Redwall Farm were foreigners. After the tragic incident involving Young Master William's death, the Bankcroft family couldn't wait to distance themselves from the cursed farm and sold it to the Church of Lady Gold Coin at a very low price. If the issue were to be resolved, the church could own a valuable farm for practically nothing, so they were motivated to put forth their best effort.

In contrast, the Misty Woods, primarily composed of non-arable sloped terrain, held little interest for the Night's Watch. Not to mention the owner had no intention of selling it cheaply since it was all the Kolv family had left.

That said, the Night's Watch was still an organization with principles. Regardless of the benefits, they still conducted a thorough investigation and compiled dozens of pages of detailed reports, stuffed them all into the file for future reference, should the church decide to revisit the investigation.

In other words, the information in the black leather dossier was indeed messy and seemed largely irrelevant to the incident, which was probably why Qin Guan, who was accustomed to working with text (writing video scripts), found it unbearable.

Even official game texts, designed to be concise and clear, highlighted key content in red to guide players—something many would only grudgingly refer to after exhausting all other in-game options…

Academically driven Unceasing Entropy didn't suffer from "word-induced headaches" and, after patiently reviewing the entire document, pinpointed the key details amid the redundancy.

"First and foremost, page 7." Unceasing Entropy flipped to the page and showed it to Qin Guan. "This is investigator 'Shrew's' interview with a former lumberyard worker. Look at the fourth paragraph."

"Hmm…" Qin Guan feigned patience and leaned in to read.

…Karl: "I don't know, sir, we're exhausted from working during the day, all we want to do at night is sleep. No one has the energy to wander around."

"Then how did you know someone came at night?"

Karl: "Because the rope I left on the tree stump was gone. It was a hemp rope made by Old Shun. It was over four meters long and not something that squirrels or foxes could steal."

"What did you think stole the rope?"

Karl: "Who knows? It's so frustrating. There's wild hemp growing by the gully, they could have just made their own."

"Have people from the nearby villages stolen from the lumberyard?"

Karl (suddenly agitated): "Yes, they do! Sir! Last month, someone who came to collect firewood stole a hatchet that Old Shun forgot to retrieve. Even broken saw blades have been taken quietly. The foreman didn't blame those petty thieves; instead, he made us responsible for the lost items and deducted our wages!"

“Villagers in the area would steal from the lumberyard, is that a clue?" Qin Guan asked.

Unceasing Entropy didn't explain further but flipped to page 14. "Look at this."

…Carudo: "How could there have been deaths in the woods? Don't listen to the nonsensical talk of outsiders, sir. Since I became the steward of the Kolv family 20 years ago, there has never been any incident in the Kolv family's Misty Woods…

Carudo: "As you know, I am the only remaining steward in the Kolv family, and there are only two male servants left. If something significant had happened to the family's important business, I would surely know."

"Then, why do people in the neighboring village say that the Misty Woods are deadly? The rumor was already spreading before the mist in the woods became abnormal."

Carudo: "That's just nonsense made up by idle fools. Not to mention deaths; the lumberyard in Misty Woods hasn't seen any significant incidents since the baron's father's time. The worst accident was a few years ago when a worker accidentally cut off his toe."

"Where's that worker who lost his toe?"

Carudo: "Of course, he returned to work after recovering and worked there until the accursed mist made it impossible to operate the lumberyard. Look over there in the yard; the one with the red nose who always grumbles, that's Old Shun."

[The recorder called Old Shun into the hall, had him take off his shoes to check, and verified the story.]

Carudo: "These workers have served the Kolv family for four or five years now. Even though the lumberyard cannot be operated, the baron still decided to continue providing them with minimum wages. I hope you can see the baron's kindness and assist the Kolv family, Mr. 'Shrew.'"

"I'll try my best, Steward Carudo."

After Qin Guan finished reading the segment Unceasing Entropy pointed out, he still couldn't figure out what the clue was and looked at her in confusion.

Unceasing Entropy turned to page 32 and handed the dossier to Qin Guan. "This part is Investigator 'Shrew's' inquiry in the nearby village. Read these next few pages together."

Qin Guan had no choice but to patiently flip through the pages.

Page 32 read—

Weber: "I'm not lying, sir, it's true, there really are man-eating monsters in the Misty Woods!"

"Did you see the monster? What does it look like?"

Weber: "It's strong like a bear and has an agile leopard-like tail. Its head is as big as a millstone, and its teeth are longer than a child's leg. Although I haven't seen it myself, the hunter has, and that's what he told us!"

"I've asked the hunter from your village. He's never told anyone that he's seen a monster there. He says the bigger prey in the Misty Woods area are rabbits and foxes. He has to travel beyond a mountain to find deer, and at least two to find wild boars."

Weber (face turned red and started to stammer): "I-I-I… I actually heard it from Drunkard Mike. He said the hunter revealed all this when he treated the hunter to a drink… Damn, that guy is so stingy he wouldn't even share his scallions for soup, how could he afford to treat someone to a drink? He must have been exaggerating and fooled me!"

Page 33—

…Nidam: "It's just ghost stories made up by idle villagers to pass time. Before the Kolv family started their business in the Misty Woods a few years ago, not many cared about that place. When I was young, I used to go there to pick up some firewood, and I never encountered anything scary."

"Have you been to the woods there during the last few years the lumberyard has been operating?"

Nidam: "I go there to pick mushrooms and wild vegetables during the planting season and look for wild pears in autumn. Old Master Jeff's second wife really likes to use those wild pears to make fruit wine. She generously trades salt for the wild pears we gather."

"Does Mr. Robert Jeff often stay in the village?"

Nidam: "He returns and stays for a month or two each year while spending most his time in the city. Usually, only Lady Jeff is in the Jeff's cottage. We are quite close to the city, and Mrs. Jeff often returns to the city, too. She's very kind and always willing to give villagers a ride to the city."

"Village Chief Nidam, do you think Robert Jeff is a kind lord?"

Nidam: "Of course, sir. Since our village became Lord Jeff's fiefdom over a decade ago, we haven't been harassed much during the autumn tax season."

Qin Guan was astonished when he saw this. "What the heck? A lord for a single village? Are lords that common?"

"He is a family's knight granted a fiefdom by a local noble family," explained Unceasing Entropy. "Robert Jeff is a family knight of the Darcys. Viscount Darcy purchases a village and conferred it to this knight. This is detailed on the last few pages which introduces individuals potentially related to this incident."

Qin Guan hurriedly flipped the pages to the end, and indeed, in the list of potentially relevant personnels compiled by the investigator "Shrew," he saw the name Robert Jeff with a long background introduction beneath it.

Regardless of whether the Church of Lady Gold Coin's sole focus was on monetary gain or not, the Night's Watch organization was meticulous in their work. Investigator "Shrew" not only listed a detailed background of Robert Jeff he had personally investigated but also analyzed why Viscount Darcy, whose fiefdom was in Kain Town, didn't allocate a piece of land on their own territory for "Lord Jeff" but instead purchased a village on someone else's land for him.

Simply put, "Shrew" believed the Darcys intended to support Robert Jeff's ambition to rise in status and compete with the waning but still titled Kolvs—the surrounding villages of the Misty Woods were originally Kolv's fiefdom, hence why people here naturally consider it their right to collect firewood or hunt in the forest, as the people and land were originally Kolv's property.

In theory, the taxes paid by the people on the fiefdom didn't directly concern the minor nobility who "owned" them, as the Rhine Kingdom's law stipulated that a third of the tax belonged to the church, a third to the throne, a third to the overall territory lord, such as the previous Adra III or current Rex.

However, the people in the fiefdom could only sell their grain to the minor nobility who "owned" them, and then used that money to pay the taxes, which left a lot of room for manipulation…

Unsupervised, when it came to collecting grain, these minor nobles could do as they pleased.

When Rex previously said he didn't want his portion of the taxes, it was actually openly "forcing" Yang Qiu not to suck blood of Weisshem's people.

Qin Guan carefully read the introduction of the knight Robert Jeff and flipped through a couple more pages to view information on other potentially relevant personnels.

The introductions for those others, such as the Kolv family, their steward, the lumberyard foreman, workers, the hunter, the village chief, and villagers that "Shrew" the investigator specifically questioned, all contained information gleaned by the investigator himself. However, none was as detailed as that of Robert Jeff, with even the number of mistresses he had noted down.

"So, it seems that investigator 'Shrew' suspects Robert Jeff is a key relevant personnel?" Qin Guan's eyes lit up.

"The investigator probably isn't certain either; he didn't find conclusive evidence." Unceasing Entropy shook her head. "Otherwise, this investigation report wouldn't be so haphazard, listing all information in such meticulous detail."

"Anyway, you also think Robert Jeff is the key person, right?" Qin Guan didn't want to delve too deeply.

"I do have that notion, but my focus is different from that of Investigator 'Shrew,' and of course, I don't have evidence, so it's hard to say." Unceasing Entropy first nodded, then shook her head. "Anyway, let's try to find that 'rope.' If we can find that lost 'rope,' we'll have solved half of this quest."

Qin Guang immediately broke into a cold sweat. "Hey, don't joke with me, sister. Do you see how big this place is? Finding a rope in such a vast forest? That's ridiculous!"

"We don't need to search the entire area, just around the lumberyard… um, within a hundred… two hundred meters should be enough," Unceasing Entropy said, looking ahead of where the players were. "We've arrived. That's the lumberyard, right?"

At the end of the small road, in a slightly flatter clearing, there were several lonely little cabins and a few piles of logs that hadn't been transported away, haphazardly placed in a sun-facing area.