Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 205

After a brief investigation, Zeke discovered that the same rumors were circulating in Marseille.

It was said that Countess Erzsébet Báthory killed young women and bathed in their blood.

This was how she maintained her beauty and youth.

If that were true, there would be some trace of it.

Zeke focused on a warehouse where screams were heard every night.

If the river turned blood-red, a considerable amount of blood must have been spilled.

It made sense, as the blood wouldn’t simply disappear after a bath.

But would they really handle such crucial evidence so carelessly?

Zeke squinted, trying to pick out someone to question.

His eyes landed on an old man mending his nets by the river.

“Richard, could you use your Mind’s Eye to charm that man for me?”

“I don’t have a hobby of seducing men, but if it’s for you, my lord, I’ll do it!”

Since his body was divided into several parts, the power of the Mind’s Eye was considerably weakened.

However, it was still possible to get answers to a few questions.

As Lehman used his Mind’s Eye, the old man’s eyes lost focus.

“Nice one, Richard! Now, answer my questions truthfully. What is your name, age, and occupation?”

“I obey. My name is Tommy. I am fifty-one years old. I catch fish and sell them at the market.”

“You always work around here, right?”

“That’s right.”

“……It’s too easy to be fun. Interrogation needs a bit of blood, you know.”

When using the Mind’s Eye, there’s no need to worry about false answers.

Moreover, you can even extract information that the person doesn’t remember.

In the end, efficiency increases dramatically.

Zeke was able to obtain some additional information from Tommy.

The warehouse was always heavily guarded by several soldiers.

“And on the days when screams echoed, the river would turn blood-red.”

“Hmm… Did the river smell strongly of blood?”

“I’m sorry, master. I have never smelled blood before.”

“Can’t you imagine it, like the smell of rusty iron?”

“Ah! There was a smell. But it wasn’t a bad smell; it was a pleasant fragrance like flowers or tree fruits.”

Lehman added certainty to the statement.

He had flown around the warehouse to check, but there was no trace of blood anywhere.

In the end, what turned the river red was not blood.

Zeke moved more boldly to find solid evidence. This time, he interrogated the soldier guarding the warehouse.

Then he learned something surprising.

The soldier, dazed by the Mind’s Eye, replied.

“I don’t know what they do inside the warehouse. Countess Báthory ordered it to be kept strictly secret. But I happened to see boxes filled with large amounts of cloth being brought into the warehouse.”

“……Something that turns the river red and a large amount of cloth. I think one mystery has been solved.”

The substance that turned the river red was dye used for coloring cloth.

Natural dyes extracted from flowers or tree fruits are highly valuable.

Moreover, mordants [substances used to fix dyes] are needed in addition to the dye to properly dye the fabric.

The main ones used are plant ash lye, apple juice, and hard water containing metal components.

Numerous colors can be produced depending on the dye and mordant used, and the technology is secretly passed down to the point where it is treated as a national secret.

A groan escaped from Zeke’s lips.

“In the end, Báthory was having slaves dye fabric.”

Weaving is so developed in Marseille that there is even a guild. More than 50% of the fabrics distributed in Gaul [ancient region of Western Europe, including present-day France] are made here.

“If you think about it, it’s strange. Isn’t it not shameful to have slaves work in Gaul?”

“Richard, that’s the thing. Maybe they weren’t being used as slaves.”

“What do you mean?”

“Follow me for now.”

In the end, the detective and the vampire headed to the weaving guild. There, a woman was washing fabric.

But strangely, she was wearing a black cloak that covered her head. It was as if she wanted to hide her face.

“Richard!”

“I understand!”

Lehman returned with a satisfied expression after charming the woman. Zeke asked the same questions he had asked the old man.

“Amanda. Thirty years old, and I was a slave.”

“You were a slave?”

“Yes. Báthory saved me after I was sold. Now I work here as a dyeing technician. I’m sad that I had to part ways with the friends I trained with, but I’m getting paid quite a lot. I think I’ll be able to buy citizenship soon.”

Lehman fluttered in confusion after hearing Amanda’s testimony.

In the end, Báthory was spending her own money to buy slaves.

She taught them dyeing techniques and even helped them get jobs.

Why was she doing something that didn’t benefit her at all?

Zeke muttered to himself.

“Noblesse oblige [the obligation of nobility to serve society]… I never thought that a witch would be fulfilling the moral obligations given to nobles.”

If it was revealed that she had been a slave, her hard-earned citizenship would be revoked.

In the end, Báthory was enduring the infamy of being the Crimson Witch for the sake of the slaves she had freed.

Zeke conveyed what he had learned so far to Cainchel through Lehman.

“I think you’ll be satisfied with this. So you have to give me a generous bonus, brother.”

The detective, having completed his mission, dipped his feet in the stream and smiled.

* * *

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all.”

Lulutia insisted on her innocence to the end.

If he didn’t know the truth of the case, even Zeke would have been fooled by her acting skills.

“Lulutia. You made two mistakes.”

“……”

“If you were watching the situation, you should have appeared when the undead retreated. Then you could have defeated a few blind guys and given the impression that you were helping. But the fact that you missed such a golden opportunity means that you had no intention of helping in the first place. It’s only natural.”

Cainchel pointed to the pile of bone powder on the floor.

“Those aren’t enemies you need to defeat; they’re your precious subordinates.”

“I don’t know anything about that. Really. Please believe me.”

“Besides, you were trying to say that Báthory is a necromancer, right?”

Lulutia’s expression brightened in an instant. It was as if she had found an oasis after wandering through the desert.

“That’s right! The Crimson Witch Báthory! She is the master of these undead and will bring tragedy to Gaul…….”

“That’s your second mistake. She’s innocent. But isn’t it really interesting? Rumors are usually exaggerated and distorted, but the same content is spreading throughout Gaul. It’s as if someone had arranged it that way.”

“……If she’s not a witch, then what is the blood that dyed the river! Isn’t that proof that she killed young women and bathed in their blood!”

“That’s just dye. She’s not used to using mordants, so the dyed cloth was discolored while being washed.”

Lulutia was flustered. It was as if she was asking how he knew that.

But there was still a possibility that Báthory was the culprit.

“If what’s happening inside is dyeing, then what is the identity of the screams that echoed every night! Explain it!”

“That’s…….”

It was something that Zeke hadn’t been able to figure out until the end.

Of course, the results would have been different if he had enough time. It was amazing that he had found out this much in less than half a day.

However, Cainchel figured out the identity of the screams based on Zeke’s investigation.

“……Are you aware that there are insects among the ingredients for natural dyes?”

“Insects?”

“It’s called Giant Cochineal, and it grows on cacti raised in the Ottoman Empire. It’s a disgusting-looking insect with many legs. But if you crush it and squeeze out the juice, you get a very beautiful red color.”

Lulutia’s face turned pale, as if she had imagined the scene.

“Now, think about it. You have to squeeze the juice from insects to get natural dyes. Even if they are slaves, they are young women. How do you think they would react?”

Morgana, who was twirling a sword with aura, cheered.

“That’s right! I would scream because it’s so creepy!”

In the end, Báthory’s innocence was proven thanks to the efforts of Cainchel and Zeke. In the end, all the arrows turned to Lulutia. But there was someone who couldn’t accept it.

“H, how dare you…… Not only did you get rid of half of the undead that I had carefully collected, but you also interfered with my plan to frame Báthory!? I can’t forgive you, I can’t forgive you!”

The helmet that Lulutia was holding shattered, and a tremendous amount of dark energy was released.

She was also a witch who had made a contract with the devil.

Cainchel’s eyes lit up.

“I think we’ve found the third witch at the same time.”

“No. This has made it clear. Her soul has already been eaten by the devil. What’s there is just a puppet moving according to the orders of the contracted devil.”

According to Morgana, commanding five hundred mid-level undead is impossible even if you mortgage your soul.

“Is it possible to know which devil she contracted with?”

“Maybe it’s Bune, the 26th in the hierarchy [of demons]. The acting skills to deceive others and the power to raise dead bodies are his symbols.”

Moreover, Bune’s contractor can summon demons around the tomb.

As she was hit by the dark energy pouring out of Lulutia’s body, the armor of the knights next to her began to weather.

Then the identity of the knights was revealed.

Inside the hollow skull, a pure white light flickered.

“I was wondering why it was so quiet, but they’re all Death Knights.”

“Bune is famous for being eloquent. But he’s not as great as I thought.”

“That’s because you stole the answer sheet first, Cainchel.”

“Answer sheet……. It’s definitely an answer sheet. I’ll have to give Zeke a bonus when this is over.”

Bune was a demon in the form of a dragon with three heads.

His alias was Yonggong (龍公) [Dragon Duke], and his entire body was said to be covered with jade scales.

Lulutia was summoning Yonggong Bune by sacrificing her Death Knight subordinates.

“Great Lord Bune! Now your servant asks for your power here…….”

To summon the main body of the 72 demons, at least a thousand sacrifices are needed.

With just a few undead, you can only temporarily borrow his power.

“Bune’s followers can summon even the Seven Deadly Sins if they have enough budget and time. But it seems like they don’t have either right now, right?”

A high-level necromancer can not only control the undead but also bring the power of the devil into his body.

But until then, he’s just a slightly stronger human.

Cainchel muttered as he looked at Lulutia, who was making her last struggle.

“If you order a dish at a restaurant and they’re growing the herbs to use as ingredients, even the most patient customer will be surprised and run away.”

Then he infused aura into Pragarakh, which was hanging on his waist.