The Laws of Werewolf Hunting

Chapter 371 Frequent Disappearances
When the expanded yellow sclera on the surface of Clayton's eyeball was exposed to everyone, Sheriff Albert and the ascetics had different reactions.

Albert's eyes narrowed slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. It was obvious that he was glad that Clayton's eyes were not green.

Notigo and Nate dropped their hands and made way, but their hostility did not disappear.

"Not Conleone, but a bastard too," the Ascetic Notigo whispered.

Clayton glanced at him.

The fanaticism of the believers is understandable, but it is not something the werewolf can tolerate. He will not choose to fight a big battle with the two ascetics immediately, but it is still easy to cause some minor trouble to their cause without causing mortal enemies.

Equal retaliation is the life creed that Clayton has always adhered to.

"Didn't religion teach you social etiquette? Or is it your nature to be rude?" He deliberately used the word "nature", which was not often applied to humans, making the ascetics feel immediately offended by the implicit blasphemy.

"Who knows if you're the wolf-bastard who came to join Kong Lione?!"

"Even if you're not a wolf-bastard, you're not welcome here! Get out of here now!"

The two ascetics were not formal employees of the police station, but they seemed to have treated this place as their own territory.

Julius also began to support his employer: "Honestly, has your training really made you kinder? Or are you training your bodies just to get more beatings after you piss off others?"

The wizard's ridicule made the monks furious, but they did not move an inch while roaring, just like two vicious dogs tied tightly to a tree with iron chains, which could only bark at passers-by.

The rules and regulations of the Brotherhood of Sincerity are now also a help to Clayton and his gang.

As soon as the Ascetics realized they couldn't handle them, they turned to Albert for help off the field.

Sheriff Albert had previously shown himself to be full of justice, but now, seeing that the "coroner" he had invited to the morgue with great difficulty was going to drive away the guests from other places, he also stood on the side of the arrogant monk with embarrassment.

He pushed Clayton and Julius with both hands and pushed them all the way out the door.

"You shouldn't have made them angry," he complained.

Even though he had warned Clayton before to be careful about matters concerning gods and ghosts, he obviously did not have much practical experience, otherwise he would not have failed to notice the conflict between Clayton and the monks.

"That's it." Clayton didn't want to offend the kind-hearted sheriff, so he ended the topic in time.

After getting rid of the arguing mentality, he also realized some problems.

The Conleone family has black hair and green eyes, and the seller's appearance fits this description, and he is also a shapeshifter. The two ascetics just now said that the Conleone family is accepting "wolf bastards", if the "wolf bastards" they are talking about happen to mean werewolves.
Clayton couldn't help but think that the Conleones might be the Black Claws that Des Jorrad had mentioned.

There were some details that could be explored, but Clayton, based on his experience as a werewolf, determined that the others were unlikely.

There was only one point of doubt that left him with a seed of suspicion, that was that the Conlionet family was the noble rulers of Berdalabik according to Albert, and he had never heard of the Darkspawn being made nobles in Dorne.

He once went with a noble friend to view the "Blue Blood Book" of the Kingdom's Heraldry. There were less than 800 valid surnames on it. Although he could not remember all of them, he was sure that he had no impression of the surname Conrionay, so even if the lord of Conrionay had a title, he was probably just a knight.

Some powerful nobles were granted the power by the king to privately appoint knights without having to declare it. Therefore, many knights were nameless. If one wanted to know their deeds, one could only look for them in the places where they had lived for generations.

Julius provided a new piece of information at this time.

"Konrione is the ancient name for a poisonous plant. We call it white mandrake. Some people also call it devil's root or wolf hybrid." The wizard consultant whispered to his employer, "Although it is poisonous, as long as it is prepared in a complicated way, it can be used to treat diseases or as a talisman."

Hearing him say this, Clayton immediately knew that his guess was correct.

The surnames of nobles sometimes come from their territories, sometimes from their achievements, and sometimes from the professions they once held.

"Konglione" is none of the three. According to the meaning of this name, it should be the surname given to them by a great lord in order to prove his strength after he conquered the werewolf family.

"I didn't know it had this meaning," said Sheriff Albert. Julius' whisper did not escape his ears. "The Conleone family and the clergy of the Brotherhood of Sincerity are at loggerheads. I heard it's because of their different religious beliefs. They don't allow these ascetics to beg in their territory and openly call them heretics."

He looked at Clayton and said, "You are somewhat similar to the Conleone family. Perhaps that is why the two priests hold a grudge against you."

"They are too narrow-minded," said Clayton. He didn't think Albert knew the truth. The Brotherhood of Sincerity was not a wandering ascetic. They would build a fixed base, and the Conleone family was the lord of Berdalabik. They should have been together for a while. If the ascetic monks were authorized by the bishop of the diocese to attack the Conleone family, then Viodi should not be calm on the surface.

Most likely the government recognized the status of the Conrione family, but also restricted them and banned them from certain occasions.

That is why when the two ascetics thought he was a member of the Conleone family, they showed obvious hostility.

"Do you still go to the prison to visit?" Albert asked.

"Of course," Clayton replied.

The jail was just a street away, and they soon arrived, where there was another group of violent criminals.

The men were originally sitting scattered around, but when they saw the police passing by outside, they all stood up and gathered around the black iron railings, glaring at Albert and his group passing through the outer corridor.

"A dog in black skin!" A thin man grabbed the iron railing and shook it violently.

The accomplices next to him also shouted loudly.

Judging from their accent, they seem to be from the North.

"Who are these people?" Clayton asked Albert.

Albert hit one of the men's outstretched hands with a stick, and then he had time to answer him: "A group of smugglers, they hid a batch of banned hallucinogens in the guise of beer distributors, and originally agreed to trade with local folk chemistry enthusiasts. But when the time came, the contact person they had originally agreed to trade with disappeared, so they met with someone else. The client therefore refused to continue the transaction, and they disagreed, so they fought with the client."

"What hallucinogen?" Julius asked with interest amid the prisoner's wailing.

"I don't quite understand this. It's not the case I'm responsible for."

"What about their clients, are they here too?"

"No, they're not breaking the law. It's not illegal to publicly declare your needs, but smuggling is." The sheriff found a provocative hand and swung the stick hard. The police officer who was originally guarding the place heard the sound and rushed over to help with sticks. The echo in the enclosed space sounded like someone wailing in harmony when a music teacher was playing the triangle.

"So they have people missing, too." Clayton is more concerned about the disappearances than the crime of smuggling.

"Yes."

"Did the missing person leave anything behind? That might point to the reason for his disappearance."

Faced with this question, Albert suddenly felt a little uncomfortable: "Nothing is left. What was there originally is gone now."

The police agency had only been established in Wei'aodi City not long ago, and the people above were still quite hostile to it and had imposed various restrictions.

The newly appointed police officers lacked people, money, equipment, and training. Apart from uniforms, they retained the bandit habits of the soldiers and used second-hand garbage left over by former sheriffs. If they seized anything valuable from criminals, they would not hesitate to turn it into funds or hide it in their own pockets.

Albert could control his own hands, but he couldn't control others.

Clayton was also a veteran, and he knew what kind of predicament Clayton was facing at a glance, so he didn't ask any further questions.

Albert was grateful for this neglect and reminded them: "If you don't find the two workers in Berdalabik, you should go back quickly."

"Also, try not to go out at night. It's best to find a shared dormitory where there will be more people around you and you won't be easily targeted by bad guys."

Clayton Bello nodded and thanked Albert, then they left the prison and headed towards their next destination.

Albert stayed where he was, suddenly feeling a little worried.

He did not explain all the circumstances of the disappearance to the two outsiders. He believed that he had reached some conclusions, but his identity prevented him from releasing those conclusions which were mostly based on speculation - as his boss said, without solid evidence, those speculations were just rumors that would only make people uneasy.

He found no concrete evidence, but he couldn't give up his suspicion.

The identities of those missing people were different and their residences were scattered in different areas, but they all disappeared at night. People found bloodstains in the places where they disappeared. No one thought they were still alive, but no relatives or friends of the deceased had ever found their bodies.

But how can we deal with so many corpses without leaving any traces?
He shuddered, and images of various monsters and ghosts emerged in his mind. He walked out of the prison quickly and came to the morgue. Chatting with the clergy might help dispel these terrible thoughts.
(End of this chapter)